The place is busier than usual, but it isn't the overcrowded madhouse that the more famous bars and clubs in town are that night; it's possible to get around inside without bumping into more than a couple of people going from one side of the place to the other. Peggy gets us over to a small table off to the side of the main action and tells a group of 4 youngsters that they need to move: the person that had reserved the table showed up; the reservation thing is a complete put-on, but the young folks are sloshed and mellow enough to go for it. They pick up their drinks and wander off; Peggy cleans the table off real quick and we sit down. A minute later, Alicia is back with our order. Helen comes up with a credit card (damned if I know where she could have been keeping it), and says "We'll start a tab, if you don't mind."
Alicia assures her that's fine, and leaves to get the bill started. She's back in just a couple minutes, and hands Helen her plastic; that's when I get to see that what I was pretty sure was costume was just that – and that it had a cleverly designed-in pocket.
The three of us barely had time to take a sip of our drinks before a couple of the other regulars showed up to say how glad they were I was able to make it to the party. I was able to make the introductions that time; Chuck, a retiree that was fitter than I was, offered to take Helen out for a tour of the dance floor. Lou, who was younger than me and owned his own music store, made a similar offer to Sarah. Both women accepted the offers, and the four of them disappeared into the crowd.
I'd finished my drink before they came back again; Helen and Sarah were both visibly flushed and perspiring slightly from their efforts. Chuck and Lou thanked them for the dances, and left us alone again.
About that time, Peggy turned up to take my empty drink glass and leave me a glass and bottle of club soda, telling me "When I told Mike that you still had to work tonight, he said to tell you that you're welcome to as many of these as you want – you shouldn't be one of the drunks that'll be out tonight."
I started to protest, but she just gave me a Look, turned around, and walked away. When I looked at Helen, I could see that she was both surprised, and quietly amused.
It was maybe ten minutes later when another guy I knew came over: Arty, who had some ill-defined job in the city planning office. After introductions, he asked if Helen was of a mind to do a little dancing; she was, and they did. A few minutes later, somebody closer to Sarah's age came up to ask if she wanted to dance, as well, which she did. For the next couple of hours, the two of them seemed to have a pretty good time, judging from their laughter and smiles. Enough people came by to take them out dancing that neither one had any reason to feel like some kind of wallflower, but they weren't constantly being hit on, either.
When they decided they were ready to leave, Helen and Sarah were with me as we swung by the bar so I could thank the bartender, Mike, for the club sodas. At six and a half feet tall, built like a power weightlifter, bald, and black as the darkest night, he looked like someone you'd want to make sure you stayed on the good side of; the truth of the matter was that he was happily married to a cop that worked the same hours he did, had a couple of kids, and was as easy-going and friendly as you could ask. After I thanked him, he just waved it off and told me to watch out. I assured him I would, and he gave me another wave and smile.
Helen and Sarah opted to go to the cab with me rather than wait for me to pick them up; both were a little tipsy, but certainly not drunk – and having obviously had a great time. When we got close to my hack, Helen told me "Jim, we've had about enough fun for tonight, I think. If we stay out much longer, I think we will be taking the chance of meeting up with some of the drunk drivers that I'm sure are going to be out tonight. So if you'd be kind enough to take us home? Or at least, back to where you got us?" – her small joke drawing more laughter from both of them that I thought it really deserved (I did say they were tipsy, didn't I?)
On the way back to their cabin, both of them repeatedly told me how much fun they'd had in the Shot Glass, and thanked me several times for taking them there. They also spent a few minutes huddled together and whispering; comparing notes on the night, I figured.
When we got there, I got the door opened for both of them, and when they were standing Helen asks me "Would you mind coming inside with us? There's something I'd like to give you."
I figure she just wants to give me a tip, and agree easily enough. I follow them to the door, and it's Sarah that pulls the key out from someplace I can't see – but wish I could. Once we're all inside, I see that the cabin is decorated in Expensive Rustic: there's all this exposed wood paneling, the furniture looks like the kind of thing you'd find in a frontier cabin (only a lot nicer), and all the fabric I can see has generic-Southwest designs on it. Looking around, I can see that it's the kind of place that somebody with money (and plenty of it) would really go for.
While I'm checking the place out, Sarah leaves the room while Helen goes over to where her purse is laying on a table. She rummages around inside for a bit before finding what she's looking for. When she stands up, I can see it's her billfold; she opens it and pulls out a couple of bills before closing it again. My first thought is that maybe it's twenties, and that I'm getting a pretty nice tip. But when she comes back over and hands them to me, I see that they're fifties, and that 'pretty nice' tip suddenly turns into outstanding. I sincerely thank her, and she answers "You earned it, easily, between your excellent driving and service, helping get us away from that idiot, and being kind enough to take us where you go to drink. That was by far the best place we went tonight, and Sarah and I both had much more fun that we expected tonight."
I thanked her again, after I told her "Well, I hope the two of you enjoy the rest of your stay…" with the obvious intention of leaving them. Helen put her hand on my arm and said "Would you mind staying for a few moments? There's something else that Sarah and I would like you to have."
Puzzled, I asked "What would that be, Ma'am?"
Just then, a very naked Sarah entered the room, and came over to stand next to Helen, who promptly told me "Us."
Trying my best not to stare at the delectable Sarah, I could only say "Ma'am?"
Both of them smiled and Helen told me "What Sarah and I, both, would like you to have is… us."
Having said that, Helen calmly proceeded to shed what little bit of her Lady Godiva look that wasn't actually her – and there was less of it that was costume than I'd thought. When she was as naked as her daughter, Helen told me "James, my husband and Sarah's father, Tom, died nearly a year ago. He was a stock broker, and spent the vast majority of his time and energy on his work. I suppose that God must have a sense of irony, or justice, because Tom died of a massive coronary while working the stock floor one day. From what I was told, he wouldn't have lived through it if it had happened while he was in the best hospital in the world; he was simply living with too much stress, coffee, and fatty food, and not enough exercise or home life."
Gesturing to Sarah, Helen went on "Both of us loved him, deeply, even though neither of us got to see him, or spend time with him, as much as we would have liked. For Sarah, it was her gymnastics and swimming meets that he missed, as well as tucking her in, reading her stories, and all the rest. For me, it was pretty much everything involved in being married – and that includes the bedroom. Because of who Tom was, and what he did, and the people we know in… our home town, I wasn't willing to take any kind of lover, even if I hadn't been as serious about my marriage vows as I was – though I'm a fairly passionate woman, physically. For similar reasons, Sarah wasn't inclined to become too physically involved with any of the boyfriends she's had. She isn't a virgin, but that change didn't happen all that long ago, either."