Crystal Clear Ch. 27

Both women now sat in rapt attention at my story. I continued, "In my grief, as you probably know from Jed and maybe a news article or two, I rebuilt an old motorcycle that had belonged to my father before he died and started on a road trip that took me to forty-eight states – I visited Jed along the way. I'd quit my job; it didn't mean anything to me any more. I didn't know what I'd do when I ran out of money, but for a while I was poor, jobless, and a lone rider on a rebuilt 1988 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail meandering from place to place, seeing a few friends along the way and meeting new friends – nothing specific."

"In Tennessee, I ran into Crystal and gave her a ride to an important recording session. That day, in those few hours, she changed my life forever. The most important thing that happened that day wasn't that I started to sing country music, or that I met Terry who would make me a star and even get me into movies. No, the most important thing was that Crystal and I fell in love with each other. We clicked. Instantly."

Lea said, "But you have all these other women around you? Does that take away from how you love Crystal?"

I said, "Does it? Do you have brothers or sisters?"

Both Lea and Janice had siblings. I asked, "Who did your parents love more?"

A long silence ensued. Janice broke it, "My parents loved all three of us. From day to day it might be different, but I always knew I was loved."

Lea validated the same conclusion about her family.

"Ah, so your parents loved more than one person at a time."

Janice protested, "But that's different. We were their children. They had to love us."

"Did they?"

Lea backed me up, "No. I had friends whose parents didn't love them in favor of another child they had, and other friends whose parents didn't love them at all."

I said, "Incest aside, the more love your parents put out the more they got back. Your mothers loved your fathers and all of you. There's no limit to the number of people you can love. The more you give away; the more you get back."

"But we get jealous of each other?"

"Why?"

"Err, umm, well, we see something happen and we're not part of it, or someone has something that we want. So we feel bad."

I posited, "What if you saw someone you love having a joyful experience in their life; how would you feel?"

"Glad for them. Happy. Maybe as happy as they were ... possibly even happier."

"What if they were making love to someone else?"

In a knee jerk reaction, Lea said, "I'd feel jealous."

"What's the difference?"

After a silence, Janice said in a small voice, "There doesn't have to be a difference does there? We could feel just as happy seeing someone we love being loved by someone else as we did when it happened to us."

I supported her, "Sure. Did you ever see your parents kissing or making out?"

Both women nodded. I asked, "How'd you feel?"

Lea said, "Glad, happy, romantic, warm inside, maybe a little embarrassed to have caught them, but overall good." Janice agreed.

I asked, "Did you get jealous?"

Both women said "No."

"What you felt is called 'compersion.' Now just carry that to your own lives and romances." I thought for a minute and probed, "You each make love with Jed. How do you feel about each other?"

Lea said, "That's different. We have assigned nights to be with him. I guess you might say we have expectations that are usually met."

I asked, "But aren't you all affectionate with him and each other during the day and at other times? Aren't there some spontaneous times for each of you?"

Janice said, "Yes, and when I see Lea or Sam or Sally or Nicky making out with Jed, I feel glad because I know it makes him happy."

I yelled, "BINGO." My shout echoed around the mountains like a Swiss yodel. Both women laughed at my theatrics.

I pushed further, "What if there were no schedule? You all just came and went in Jed's bedroom as you wanted?"

"He'd need a bigger bed because all five of us would want to be with him continually."

"Could he make love to all five of you?"

"No. A man has limitations." She chuckled at the understatement.

"Would you feel jealous of whomever he made love with?"

Lea slowly said, "I think I'd feel joyful that one of my 'sisters' got to make love with him, but I'd still need a turn sometime." Janice nodded in agreement after thinking the situation.

I asked, "Do you make love to each other – girl on girl?"

Janice said, "Yes, but we prefer a man."

I asked, "Is Jed jealous when two of you make love or kiss?"

"No, he encourages us. He's told us repeatedly it makes him happy and horny."

I declared, "So, now you see the kind of relationship Crystal and I have? We have extended the circle of people we love rather widely. It overlaps a lot – Crystal's and mine, but we both have significant others besides just each other, and neither of us is jealous about it."

Janice said, "May I be so bold as to ask who's on your list?"

I said, "Sure. You've met three of them: Crystal, Ellen – her sister, and Claire. Back in Tennessee, there's also Nadia and PJ. Then there's Cindy Wonder – another singer, Anna – my sister, Lauren – my sister-in-law from my late wife, Jill Danes – the actress, Tina Devoe – an exec at Sony, Summer Ellis – the mother of my two children, Nancy Martin – a friend who works in the government, Margo – a detective in London, Caroline– a young debutante, Tanya LeBed – a pretty Russian chauffeur, and many others. I'm not bragging, I'm trying to show you how open you can be in your loving and how compersion works."

"But you don't have exclusive relations with any of them," Lea protested.

"Right. We don't hold each other back from reaching our potential or growing. It's about expectations; we never formed expectations about exclusivity. We each care deeply about each other, and support each other's growth in mind, body, and spirit, even where sexual relations are involved because that's the proving ground of the philosophy – the place where it all comes together."

I went on, "I try to meet the expectations of each person. If I sense they are creating an unspoken contract that I haven't signed onto, I try to make sure we bring it out in the open; that way, no one gets disappointed in some way. For instance and as you might expect, I've had several women 'presume' that we were getting into an exclusive, monogamous relationship that would lead to marriage; I had to bring out into the open their assumptions and turn it around to be more realistic with what I was thinking that was none of that."

Janice jerked my arm around her shoulder and held it to her breast although it was buried under several layers of clothing. She said, "Well then, I think I'm in love with you and your philosophy. Right now, you've given us a lot to think about." I noticed how she used the term 'us,' assuming a leadership role of some kind with Lea and probably Samantha.

Lea studied us for a while, and then she too cuddled in and did the same thing with my other arm and my other hand. There was a lot more than a handful underneath Lea's sweaters. We quietly sat for a while, looked at the impressive mountains in front of us, and watched some of the skiers pass by a hundred yards away. The day had turned out to be so beautiful.

As dinnertime neared, the three of us started to walk back to the inn. After a few yards, Janice asked in a shy voice, "You know we want to sleep with you?"

I nodded. I couldn't think of anything to say further.

Lea said, "I'm glad Crystal and your other friends won't mind. We are not trying to break up anything."

I asked, "I know and they know. What do you hope will happen? What are your expectations?"

Janice answered quickly, showing forethought on the topic, "Jed and Sally said you are a consummate lover, and that you understand the female body like that fine musical instrument you referred to earlier, and that you know how to play it and get the absolute best from it. We want to be played and to learn what that's like. We want you to teach us how a real lover likes to be loved and satisfied."

"But you must be experienced? I know from what the house was like when I was there that you sleep with Jed. You probably had lovers before that."

Janice retorted, "True, but Sally and even Jed told us you are the expert, and I trust their judgment. I've only been with three men in my life, and one of those was when I was fifteen. In college I got serious about an upper classman when I was a freshman, but he graduated, and I haven't heard from him since; and most recently Jed since I started graduate school."

Lea volunteered, "That sounds like my love life too. Jed's been the only man in my life in the past three years. Before that, there were a couple of not-very-serious relationships and a one-night-stand." She paused and asked, "How did you learn? Who taught you?"

I replied, "I'd been with a few women in college and after, and then I met Karen. Everything in my life was plain vanilla up until she died. I started my road trip on my motorcycle, and Karen's sister Lauren seduced me and in the process taught me a few things."

Janice innocently asked, "Just her?"

"No, after I saw Lauren I visited a friend in Pennsylvania. He lived in a polyamorous relationship with another guy and three other women. The guys weren't gay or bi. Each of the women taught me still more, and then I met Kim in North Carolina, the sister of one of the women. She was married, but had a high sex drive and an open marriage. She taught me about Tantric sex – at least her version of it; that's when I learned control of my ejaculations and my sensitivities; it's when I learned to make love for hours; it's when I learned how to be attentive to my lover rather than only seek my own gratification and release, although I'd had that mindset before. Along the way, I learned still more about technique and how to 'really' make love, rather than 'wham-bam-thank you ma'am' self-gratification approach, although I'd always tried to bring my partners along to an orgasm when we made love. After Kim, I visited the wife of an old Army buddy, and she lived in another polyamorous relationship; she and her female friends – including the daughter of one of the women – taught me different techniques, and even made some of our lovemaking playful. I learned from each woman I've been with."

Picking up one comment from all I's said, Lea reflected in awe, "You make love for hours? Do you really mean that?"

I nodded.

Janice asked, "How many women did you sleep with on your road trip? Jed explained that you scored five when you visited on your road trip, and you added three more a year ago when you visited him again."

I shyly chuckled and blushed; "I was not keeping 'score,' but I did keep a diary of my trip. Crystal made me list the women I'd been with on my road trip one day. There were over seventy, and I should tell you when I started that trip I didn't expect there to be any – nada, zero, nil, zip, nothing at all. I didn't set out to do anything like that. I was grieving and just wanted to take the long way to my sister's home in San Diego, but things happened in almost every state. So, I learned about love and how to love. I learned about caring. I learned about selflessness. I love every person I've met and that I meet now. I love you."

Lea asked, "Will you teach us to be one of the best you've ever been with?"

Janice nodded enthusiastically, demonstrating full support to Lea's idea.

"With pleasure – mine, and hopefully yours, especially."

To be continued