3 Coins in the Fountain

My eight slices of bacon became two four slice piles. She looked across the table and spotted an extra fork on Sobie's tray. She stretched across the table and eighteen jaws dropped simultaneously.

Maria had changed out of her usual fitted jeans. Her ass was still heavenly ...probably moreso in the looser white capris she wore. She was also wearing a V-neck T-shirt and when she bent to extract the fork she showed a generous amount of cleavage.

She took the top off of my bowl of chopped fruit pieces and stuck two forks in it.

"We could have just shared the one fork," she smiled. "But this will be better."

"We're gonna have to share the coffee and the juice, but don't worry I have great dental hygiene so you won't get cooties or anything," she added.

The next thing I knew she was eating Bacon. Then she took her fork and speared a chunk of pineapple. For the next twenty minutes we ate and sipped coffee and juice while it seemed like the entire world ... Or at least the room watched us.

At one point Sarah, the tall skinny blond came over to ask Maria something. Maria looked at her and then at me and whispered something back to her.

By that time it was nine o clock and time for us to head to our assignments. Maria was on the track and I was going to class.

She stood up and turned her back to me. "Reid, hold this," she said, sitting on my lap. She had gathered her long shimmering hair into a loose pony tail and had me hold it for her while she grabbed a hair tie from her pocket. She had to wiggle a little bit to fish it out of her pocket.

Seeing her wiggle her delicious heart shaped ass while sitting on my lap gave a couple of the guys heart attacks. She quickly braided her hair in a long controlled ponytail and looked over her shoulder at me.

"Thanks for breakfast," she said. "I'll buy you lunch. Let's go somewhere else. I'll meet you by the track." And then she was gone.

As if time had just restarted, the guys at my table and the one next to it suddenly realized that breakfast was over and they hadn't eaten.

"Fuck food..." said Luke."I need an explanation for what just happened."

"We'll talk about it later," I said.

"So Fuckin' be it!" declared Sobie.

It was a strange morning. Suddenly subjects like driving the optimal line or the proper time to brake or downshift were as important to me as breathing.

Many of my classmates on the other hand were simply staring at me and whispering.

Our instructor, a former formula one driver sensed that I was an engaged student and started doing his best to pour as much of his knowledge and history as he could down my throat.

A lot of what he told me was just fluff. Stories of him dueling it out with Jackie Stewart were interlaced with tidbits about local roads in the area that he had practiced on that helped him master different things. I soaked it all up like a sponge. I hoped that some of it might someday help me.

After class was over, I made my way to the track. Passing by the cafeteria, I grabbed two bottles of Iced Tea. I figured I'd keep them in the car with me so I could do more laps without having to stop to cool off.

On days like that one, with temps in the eighties or low nineties it would be over a hundred degrees in the cars and they had no air conditioning.

As I got to the garage, my timing couldn't have been better or worse depending on your perspective.

The guy in my class who shared a car with Maria was watching her get out of the car. As she pulled her helmet off and then stripped off her driving suit, he held up a bottle of water.

"Thank you so much," she said as she wiped the sweat from her brow. "I really appreciate the gesture, but you should save it for yourself. You're about to go out on the track and it's really hot out there. I wouldn't feel right taking it. Besides ..." she looked over at me and a simply dazzling smile came out. Her smile caused the guy she was talking with to glance over his shoulder and see me.

"...My friend's got it covered," she continued.

I'm not sure which of the three surprised me the most. I was torn between her brilliant and blinding smile, the evil and angry glare that my classmate gave me and her statement that not only was I her FRIEND, but that she thought one of my bottles of iced tea was for her.

I have no idea where she got that idea. I swear they were both for me.

I did notice the waves of hate coming from my classmate though. And sure enough, they weren't directed at her. They were aimed straight at me.

They also seemed to become more intense when she patted him on the shoulder and floated her way towards me.

She came over and smiled again as she looked at the two quart sized bottles of Snapple Iced tea.

"Made from the best stuff on earth," she giggled. She had no idea that at least ten guys were watching us and taking it all in.

"Maybe it's the SECOND best stuff," she said elbowing me in the side like I knew what the hell she was talking about.

"I'll take the Raspberry," she said, picking my favorite flavor. That left me the peach tea. She brushed my very short hair back, which made absolutely no sense. It wasn't like I was fuckin' Fabio. My hair is shorter than a crew cut, so I just didn't get it.

I also didn't know why all of the guys were staring at us. It made no sense. The guys in her class should have been heading for the showers. The guys in my class should have been checking out their cars or getting into their driving equipment.

Maria wrapped her sweaty arms around me and hugged me again. My hands, out of habit went to her waist.

She was the first woman other than Maddie that I had ever hugged since before I was married.

She felt amazing.

"Make sure you hit the showers before we go to lunch," she said. Then she turned to leave and it all made sense.

The white Capri pants that she was wearing were soaked with sweat. They had become almost see-through. The guys were looking straight at her ass through the almost invisible pants.

She was wearing a very tiny pink thong that left nothing to the imagination. I quickly snatched her driving suit from her hand and wrapped it around her waist.

My actions earned me a round of loud boos and a couple of death threats from the guys watching us.

I saw Maria's eyes flash with anger at me for snatching her suit from her hands. Then she suddenly understood the situation and redirected her fury at the guys booing me.

"At least there's one gentleman here," she spat. "Sorry, Reid," she said quietly.

Then she reached up, pressed that amazingly sexy but extremely sweaty body against me and kissed me. I'm not talking about a peck. I'm talking about a full on lip lock.

"See you at lunch, Reid," she gushed.

I struggled into my driving suit and helmet with my emotions in a flux. Had I just cheated on Maddie? At that moment I not only didn't care about Maddie, I barely remembered who she was.

People are always talking about light bulb moments, or when things suddenly just clicked for them. That morning from the time my ass hit the seat, I blanked out everything except driving.

My first two laps were driven the way I always did them. That means I drove like a freeway racer. I wove in and out of traffic just trying to pass other cars. But with the temperatures climbing and guys getting out of their cars to cool off or get a drink, I found myself with a nearly empty track.

I decided to try a few of the instructor's tips about braking and shifting. I also tried my best to hit the apex of every turn and drive the type of drive line we'd discussed in class.

After a few laps I had it down. I was feeling pretty good too until I heard my name over the intercom they used to warn or penalize us or to bring us in.

"Richards, what the fuck are ya doin? Get your ass up here, now!" It was the first time I'd ever heard, Ian, our gruff old track manager curse at me. Usually he just left us alone unless we were driving too aggressively or refusing to give way to faster cars. And even then all he did was told the guilty party to sit out a few laps.

As I got my car off the track a lot of the guys were looking at me or trying not to. The ones who looked at me were smiling or laughing at me. The ones who were trying not to look at me were laughing too, but they were nice enough to hide it.

I dropped my helmet and zipped my suit open to get some air on me. It was even hotter now than when Maria was on the track. I was dripping with sweat.

I walked into the control room and looked for Ian. He was sitting in front of his computer analyzing telemetry as usual.

A brown cigarette that seemed to be more than halfway to being one long gray piece of ash dangled from his lips.

"What the fuck got into you?" he asked.

"Sorry, Ian, I guess I lost focus. I was just trying to practice some of the things we learned in class and I got into a rhythm. I'll try to do better ne..."

"What's the track record for students in an RS Cosworth?" he asked.

"I'm sorry Ian ... They told us the first day of class but I've forgotten," I said.

"You should have forgotten it," he said, sarcastically. "You just broke it twice. If you keep driving like that you may end up driving more than a few laps on Sunday. And the surprise we have in store for next week might be right up your alley. Hit the showers.

I saw Jackie in the hall as I left the control room. She waved to me. I waved back and went to grab my gear. I needed a shower badly and I didn't want Maria to have to wait for me.

"Hey, slow down," I heard from behind me. I turned and saw Jackie running to catch up to me.

Watching her trying to run was like watching a penguin trying to fly. Her huge breasts were bouncing up and down so hard it looked like she would give herself a TKO ... That stands for Titty Knock Out ... at any second.

"Hey, Reid, you should come out to the club with us this evening," she said breathlessly.

"I'm not really into the whole drinking and partying thing," I said. "I gave that up about halfway through college. But thanks for asking."

"You should give it a try," she said, sticking out her already impressive chest. "You never know, you might get lucky."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said trying my ass off not to laugh. Jackie was obviously trying to win the contest that she and Sarah were having.

I felt sorry for her, because if she had to fuck me to win, she had already lost. Even after what Maddie had done, I wasn't a cheater.

I took a shower and got myself clean and smelling good. I told myself to calm down. I was only going to lunch with a friend ... Or a colleague.

I was playing it cool ... Like a pop sickle in the snow at the North Pole in January. That is until I saw her.

She was passing by the cafeteria area and heading in the general direction of my room. It was simply unfair. She'd left the braid in her hair until she got out of the shower. Then she'd taken it down, resulting in a head full of incredible S shaped waves that cascaded down her back nearly to her waist.

The Capris were gone. In their place was a very short, frilly skirt that was playful and sexy at the same time. The peek a boo V neck had made way for a deep scoop neck leotard like top that left nothing to imagine in terms of how spectacular her breasts were.

The skirt revealed truly spectacular legs. They were the most incredible legs I had ever seen. If you compared Maria's legs to Sarah's, it just made Sarah seemed to be too thin. If you compared the, to Jackie's it made Jackie seem like a fat girl with giant boobs.

Her feet were open and free in tiny flat sandals with straps that criss-crossed their way up her calves.

As she passed by the cafeteria, it emptied. Even the guys sitting with Sarah and Jackie got up. When she saw me, it generated another million watt smile. And suddenly nothing mattered.

"Guess what?" she gushed. "We have the afternoon off. They said it's too hot to drive the cars this afternoon."

I have no words to describe that afternoon. After lunch we visited several museums and an ice cream parlor. Of course they called it by some weird Italian name but it was ice cream.

We lost track of time and by the time we wandered back to the hotel it was well past dinner. We hugged each other goodbye and wished each other good luck. We both had to race the next day.

She told me not to be nervous I only had to finish in the top five of my group to move on.

I went back to my hotel room feeling better than I had since I'd left home. But as soon as I got there I started thinking again. I began to wonder how much of what Maddie had done was my fault.

If I had never left home, would any of this have happened? After thinking about it, I had to admit that the chances of it happening if I had kept my ass at home were remote.

All in all I had to admit that what had happened was just a spin of the karmic wheel that resulted in escalating lies.

Each lie and its corresponding consequences got worse until our marriage exploded. Maddie lied about her phobia. She lied about going to Europe. So to cover her guilt about it she told me to take the trip alone. Her being lonely and missing me for those first couple of days was her punishment for her lies.

I lied about why I was here. I came here to race. I never told her that I was going to do it, or even mentioned it in passing. So my punishment is having my wife screwing other men. Somehow, the punishment doesn't seem fair.

I debated checking the cameras again and decided that the material I had recorded the day before was enough. I just didn't think she would ever do it again, but I didn't have the stomach to watch it if she did. Besides, she'd been drunk the first time and had felt, or claimed to feel really badly afterwards.

I realized then that I was lying to myself. I wasn't afraid of seeing more video. I was afraid to text or speak to her on the phone. I had no idea what to say to her, or even if I wanted to.

Above all else I needed time to figure out if we still had a marriage. If there was any chance of saving our marriage, talking to her in my current state of mind wouldn't help.

I could already imagine how that conversation might go...

"Hey, Reid, Honey I missed you," she'd say.

"Probably as much as you miss that huge dick up your ass, right?" I'd scream at her.

Then I'd really go at her. I'd...

I'd probably get up and answer the knocking at my door.

"There's a party in my room," said Maria.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I just don't feel much like partying."

"Me neither," she said, brushing by me with one of her megawatt smiles.

"It's not my kind of party anyway," she continued. "Five guys, one of whom isn't even a part of our group, plus Jackie and Sarah. It does not sound like anything I'm interested in. So I decided to crash on a friend's couch."

She looked around the room. "Where's the couch?"

"It's a love seat," I said. "It's under my suitcase and a bunch of junk."

I grabbed my driving suit and a suitcase off of the small sofa. "You take the bed," I said.

"I knew you were going to say that," she said.

"Sure you did," I laughed. She threw me her purse.

"There's a small note pad in the purse," she said. I looked in the purse and found the pad. The very first sheet read, "Thanks for giving me the bed, Reid."

She went into the bathroom and came out a few moments later. I'd been clearing the love seat and getting myself a pillow and a blanket.

When she came out of the bathroom my mouth dropped open. She had bound her hair up into two very long pony tails, one on each side of her head.

She was wearing a pair of small square glasses and no makeup. She was also wearing some sort of one piece pajama suit that covered her from the neck down, including the feet.

The tightness of the outfit showed off her gentle yet insane curves. It outlined and draped over her scrumptious ass. And from the way her breasts moved under the upper part, she was clearly naked under it.

"Sorry," she smiled. "No Victoria's secret stuff this trip. But I can always give you the key to my room and you can go and watch Jackie walk around with those big old titties coming out of her bra."

"No thanks," I said. "I'd much rather look at y..." I caught myself just in time.

Or maybe I didn't. But she was kind enough to let it drop, as she got into bed.

"Goodnight Reid," she said.

The next morning brought a surprise. Maria woke up as happy as a lark. She was smiling like the cat that ate the canary every time she looked at me.

She actually went through the breakfast line with me. She threw in several items that I never would have eaten. She also stared at each and every fruit bowl before deciding on one.

"Why are you eating two bowls of oatmeal?" I asked.

"The strawberry oatmeal is for me," she said. "The maple cinnamon is for you."

"Oh no, it's not," I said. "I hate oatmeal."

"Don't start with me, mister," she said. "We're racing today and oatmeal will give you energy throughout the entire day."

"So be it!" said a voice behind us.

We sat down at the table with my friends and again every person in the room seemed to be watching us. Some out of curiosity, but a couple seemed to be angry or jealous.

"Reid, I think I lost one of my hair clips," she said as she stacked our bacon and arranged the tray. "It's probably in your bed."

Every jaw in the vicinity, several pieces of silverware and a plate or three all dropped at the same time as Maria chattered on.

"You snore, Mister... It's not a loud annoying honking. It's a very low, little buzzing. It was kind of comforting. I liked it. I thought it was cute," she said.

"Maria," I said.

She looked up and smiled at me again. I twirled my finger around gesturing for her to look around and see that nearly everyone in our group was listening to her.

She shrugged her shoulders, dug into her oatmeal and pushed a spoonful into her mouth.

"See, Reid," she said. "We didn't miss anything. If your friends are so interested in what we did, they couldn't have had much fun. I did though. Did you?"

I think all nineteen guys in our group were staring at me and waiting to hear my answer.

"I think yesterday was the best day of my life," I said.

After that the day started. We were surprised to find out the way the day would go. We were told that classes were over and it was time to start racing.

We went to the track to find all ten cars were there and ready to go. By the luck of the draw, Maria's group got to race first. They all pulled numbers to find out who got to start where. I had expected it to be a NASCAR type thing, where they would win the pole by qualifying runs.

Maria was starting seventh. "Last year I started ninth," she smiled. "It won't matter. All I have to do is come in fifth and I'll be racing against you tomorrow."

"I don't think I'd like that," I said. "I'd hate to have to try to pass you."

"Honey, it's only racing," she said. "I'd expect you to do your best. Now come on. You can help me get into my car."

When we got to her car, the guy from my class that she shared the car with was there.

"I came to help you get set," he said.

"You are sooo nice," she gushed. "But Reid's got it covered."

He smiled, wished her luck and told her not to damage the car because he'd need it next and then walked away.

I held her helmet while she shimmied into her racing suit. Then I held her hair while she braided it.

Just as she was about to put the helmet on, she looked at me and smiled. "Reid, can I trouble you for one more thing?" she asked seriously.

"Sure," I said. "Anything!"

She shook her head as if I had no idea what I'd just promised.

"I need a hug for luck," she said. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her against me. Time stood still.