Giselle and I Ch. 01

"That's inherently more interesting than strip poker," I commented. "Here is a perfectly logical way to introduce bawdiness into game, by attaching a negotiated value to the offer. A little like how we tip the loser when they get drinks or snacks."

"What're you talking about?" Madeline asked.

I replied, "When we play poker, everyone buys in the same amount of chips, and we limit losses and the length of the game by not letting you buy more. If you're really low on chips, you can sometimes go to the kitchen for drinks or chips for tips, which usually means about a dollar a person. If someone's been recently, it's OK for the others to decline the offer, and then no tip. We've also had people make a tip from a neck rub, and once Giselle got me to give her a dollar for a passionate kiss."

"Well that sounds like it's worth it," Madeline quickly answered.

"I guess, but I'm generally entitled to those gratis", I said snarkily.

"Oh, you think because we're married you don't have to keep earning it, every day?" Giselle said loudly in jest.

"OK, so I guess that day I paid up in cash!" I retorted, losing the vigor towards the end realizing that it was just a dollar.

"Paid...but paid up? Maybe you still owe me for past favors."

"Or, it could be the other way around," I said with maybe just a little too much acid in my tone. She was drunk and a bit belligerent and I didn't like where this was going.

She calmed down from my sharp retort. She looked at me as she sorted things out in her mind. "No, of course not. I thought we were talking within the context of the game, where we're competing – well, I guess I just got off on a tangent and was mouthing off since I'm drunk. But I think me and you are talking about the same thing. If you were playing a poker, you could extend the barter to include not only drink tips, like we do currently, but clothing as well."

"How often do you guys play poker?" Madeline asked.

"I play two or three times a month; Giselle, only once or twice. I have a regular group that includes Jason that is all guys except Giselle. In addition to that, we often play a few rounds with Anjali and Jason whenever they're babysitting for us. It's become a regular thing for us."

Madeline smiled. "So, since I think it's pretty clear I'm not driving home tonight - I've had way too much to celebrate – I'll try a few hands."

"Regular poker, right?" I said and grinned.

"Whatever kind you're playing!"

Anjali and Jason were curled up together, cuddling (fully clothed of course, both of them in sweat shirts and sweat pants), watching a romantic drama. There was a fairly loud background white noise from the audio baby-monitor being on. Every so often there would be a surprising grunt or coo from Maya and all was well.

Anjali was beyond what anyone would hope for in a baby sitter. We met Anjali when she first arrived at the University. She came from a very conservative Indian immigrant family. Through high school she was always set apart, a genius by anyone's estimation. She was offered a chance to come to the University for free, even enrolling a year earlier. Her parents did not want her to live in coed dorm, and due to a slight over-demand for female-only housing, she ended up in another Victorian on our street, just a few blocks away, where she rented a room from an Indian family that was sensitive to her dietary and modesty restrictions.

We met her shortly after she moved in. A friend of a friend connected her to us for babysitting work. My wife and I, both having professional jobs, require a lot of day care. Fortunately, her job is regular hours, but University jobs tend to require a lot of extracurricular hours. Mostly I go with her to these functions, at that is our usual circle of friends. To our delight, Anjali and Maya got along so well, and Anjali is so conscientious we never feel like we were neglecting Maya. In the past few years, Anjali and we had become really close, and often she came over just to hang out or study. We ended up just giving her a weekly salary since she spent so much time with us that figuring out the exact hours was pointless.

Anjali and Jason met during their freshman year (both are seniors now). Over the course of their freshman year, Anjali and Jason became best friends. Jason is a total gentleman, and he never pushed Anjali into a deeper relationship before she was ready. Anjali is gorgeous, like a goddess carving from an Indian temple come to life - but so completely social awkward and shy about her body she never really attracted attention. I suspect Jason knew her hidden potential from the start, but it took 14 months of them knowing each other before he asked her out on a date. Jason himself is so awkward that, after all that time, instead of just leaning over and kissing her, he actually asked her out "on a date".

So, they became an item. They were still both really awkward and I NEVER asked them about their love life. Jason and I became good buddies and we now hang out often. I found out Jason ran a Dungeons & Dragons campaign and while I hadn't played in many years, decided to try it out. I had a blast, with him and his college buddies. We play just once a month, but we've been doing it for a few years now, and even Giselle plays sometimes. We got Anjali to play on a couple occasions, but she was so disciplined, she would only play when on vacation – between semesters and summer internships.

Anjali is still a vegetarian. In the three and a half years I've known her, I had never seen her thighs. On the other hand, college changes people. Anjali was brave in dating someone her parents didn't pre-approve. And dating in college usually implies a level of intimacy her parents would not approve. Not long ago, she announced that she had tried and enjoyed drinking wine. Probably the only college student in history who waited until she was 21 to drink!

For all of this weight of tradition, Anjali herself is completely undaunted. She never backs down from an intellectual argument, and she speaks directly and clinically about sensitive physical and emotional issues. She is headed to grad school and plans to get both a PhD and an M.D. Anjali isn't ashamed of herself, her gender, her background, her practices, or her beliefs. But she is socially awkward,

I gave them a big smile. They both blushed when we came in; the scene on the TV was fairly salacious, and the way they were spooning I assumed Jason was pushing up against Anjali. They sat up and I noticed Jason rearranging himself less discretely than he had hoped; Giselle noticed too and laughed.

The three of us practically crashed into the house. After a few pleasantries and congratulation, as well as confirmation that Maya was asleep, fed, clean, etc., Giselle announced that she was going to get Champagne. We aren't people that just have chilled Champagne sitting around. This bottle was never opened on New Year's Eve and had been sitting there for months. (So I guess we are the sort of people that have chilled Champagne sitting around.)

Madeline was already acquainted with Anjali and Jason from the neighborhood and through us, but not having seen each other for six months, there was a very short bit of catching up between them.

Eventually Madeline told the Anjali and Jason she was looking forward to a few hands of poker, and she wanted to get started before it got too late. For someone who said she never played poker, she seemed pretty interested. I wondered what kind of poker we would be playing.

I got a deck and poker chips, and we started to play. Each of us bought $50 in chips. As I said, our house rules are that we all start at the same amount and no one can buy more chips mid-game. Maximum raise is 5 dollars; if you can't call a raise, you can't bet.

Giselle was drinking most of the Champagne and betting wildly. After just a few hands she was out of chips; she was in a bidding war with Jason and she wanted to raise, but was almost out of money.

Jason, looked at her pityingly, "Giselle, since you got us the Champagne from the get go, here's a buck tip, to keep you in. Anyone else?"

Everyone gave her a dollar chip and she pushed them all to the center. "Call your two dollars and raise you another two!" she shouted. It seemed crazy. He was still sitting on $60 in chips, and Jason wasn't going to back down. If she couldn't call his raise, she was out.

"OK, Giselle. I call your two dollars and raise you another five. Game over"

Giselle around, and sheepishly said, "Anyone need another drink?" Everyone shook their heads no.

She looked at me and untied her hair. Mischievously she said to be, "How about a kiss big boy. I'll make it worth it."

She gave me a nice long deep French kiss for about 10 seconds, and then pulled away. I handed her a dollar chip, and she looked up with a jerk, "That's it?"

I gave her another dollar. Now she was looking a bit cross. "What kind of a cheap slut do you think I am?"

I rolled my eyes. "Look, I don't know what the market rate is for kisses. But Jason has got close to $60 in chips. How much kissing are you going to be doing here?"

Madeline said abruptly, "I'll give you $5 if you play for the rest of evening without your top," and looking around she said, "Anyone else?"

"I'm in!" I chimed, wanting to help embarrass Giselle.

Anjali and Jason looked at each other. Jason was clearly conflicted. Anjali helped him out. "You're wondering if chivalry requires you to give her the money, because she asked, or if you refuse, since you're here with me and it is immodest. Meanwhile, you are betting with real cash. And, finally, Giselle has a really nice body, as we've seen at the beach. I think, I for myself, am not that excited to see her in a bra, since I've seen her in a bathing suit anyhow, and I just don't think seeing a bra is all that embarrassing. And," she grinned, "I'm a little tight right now to be giving my money away to see a woman in a bra. As for you Jason, you've seen her in a bikini, so I can't see why you'd spend too much."

Jason didn't still looked like he didn't know what to do. "OK, I think I'm in a no win situation. I think I'll go with Anjali's advice, or else I'll hear about it later.....and I am trying to win this hand - we are still in the middle of this hand. So, I'll pass on the offer."

Giselle looked at Jason and Anjali with a fake glare, and then cracked a smile. "I see that the competition is not easily intimidated."

Madeline looked at her, "Well, are you taking the $10 for the top?"

"Yeah, but those two get a free show for nothing. It seems somewhat less than fair," Giselle pouted.

"I think you have to make your choice, honey", I said gently, wanting to keep things from getting ugly. Giselle smiled, and pulled the sequined top over her head, revealing a lovely lacy black bra translucent enough to see her nipples.

We all cheered, and Jason threw her a $5 chip, "Oh, I didn't realize how lovely your undergarments would be!"

Giselle stood up and lean forward a bit, and then pushed her breasts together and massaged them for a moment, giving us all a brief but quite erotic little show. She stopped and it appeared she had made herself a little flush, not just Jason and I. "All of that and I still don't have enough to challenge you for the hand."

Madeline said, "I have another thing I'll pay you for. Let me see you secret stash of toys." Gisele looked at her bit quizzically. "You know..., your sex toy stash! Doesn't every girl have a stash, even if their husbands don't know?" Now it was my turn to look quizzically.

"Oh, I have some things...um from years ago of course, but...I don't know. This is pretty personal; that stuff must be years old.... How much will you give me?"

Madeline looked at her chips and said, "I'm in for another five."

I piped up immediately, "I'm really interested. I don't have much to spare, but I'm in for $10. Anjali, Jason, aren't you two a bit curious?"

Anjali spoke first, "Well...I don't have any such things. But I am interested. I'm in for $5."

Jason said, "You bring out your secret stash and I'll fold - you can take the hand."

Giselle was thrilled, "OK, then here I go, to help engineer THE most embarrassing moment of my life."

Madeline got up too. "Oh no, not without me. I want to make sure you don't remove any items from the box before the contents have been inspected."

The two women went upstairs. We sat in silence for a moment, and I looked at Anjali and Jason. "This is, um, interesting. They both had quite a bit to drink beforehand– I was the designated driver. Madeline always brings out the most daring in other people."

Just then we heard the baby monitor pipe up. The microphone was right near the door and the door had clicked open. The voices were whispering, but we could hear it loud and clear.

"What a beautiful darling. You guys really got a good one", said Madeline. They were obviously looking at Maya sleeping.

"We're really blessed," Giselle said.

A little more quiet, something muffled, and then Madeline said, "Nice to see Jason and Anjali. I feel like they've really grown up. Last time I heard, she had stopped working for you."

"It was sort of a weird six-week hiatus. Anjali said she went off the reservation, didn't want to talk about it. I know she was just moping around her room; but I don't know why. Anyhow, she eventually called us and we took her back in a second. Maya was so happy. She's still full of the same love and vigor, but she's definitely a little different, more grown-up. It's almost like when she left she was a niece, and when she came back, a cousin."

Another pause, and there was some shuffling, and some unintelligible talk.

Madeline must have moved back to the doorway, since she came in loud and clear now. "I'm so glad Jason shaved that awful beard. He's not hairy enough and it was way too thin. Did he lose weight?"

We couldn't hear the muffled answer, but Madeline replied, "That's really impressive. Good for him, he looks great. By the way, do you think they're ok with this? I mean, we're being pretty naughty!"

The two of them giggled, and Giselle's voice got louder as she was obviously approaching the microphone again, "Oh, they're both adults. If they wanted to go, this would be a good time for them to bow out – they may be doing that as we speak. We've already played a bit and no one could blame them for leaving. It's midnight." At that remark, I noticed a very slight change in Anjali's demeanor.

Madeline replied, "Well I sure hope they stay! I'm looking forward to their contributing towards your embarrassment when we go through that box of toys. We better get back down there, or they'll leave out of boredom."

Jason turned to Anjali, "Well, are you ok? We could leave if you're uncomfortable."

Anjali shot back, "Are you freakin' kidding me?" Anjali was from Queens. She could go from a slight Indian/British lilt - she had spent some years in England as a youth - and then launch into straight New York City. "You could not get me to leave this room if you told me Johnny Depp was outside handing out free hot fudge sundaes; I have to see what these toys are all about."

"Well, if we're going to be up longer, maybe I'll build a little fire in the wood stove. It would make things cheery and it looks like we're going to be here a little while. Jason, there's a bottle of red in the den near the bar. Can you get it and open it. There's a corkscrew around the bar somewhere."

Jason got up and Anjali spoke up as soon as he left the room, "You know, he can't stop staring and Giselle's breasts. I mean, the bra is nice, but he's intoxicated with what's underneath."

"Well I happen to think Giselle's breasts are beautiful, and worthy of anyone's attention, but yeah, I did notice he was a bit fixated," I answered

"I think I want to give him a little grief," she said mischievously. "Will you play along? Just for fun!"

"Sure, what should I do?"

"Just play along, let's see how it goes. But I want to see if we can get him to start selling clothes. He might not be that eager to stare if he were on display himself."

Jason walked in just then. "Here I am, with some fresh glasses too." I started to pour and Giselle and Madeline finally got back.

"Oh you built a fire, that's great!" Madeline exclaimed. Instead of going back to her seat, she moved the chair back against the wall and sat down on the ground in front of the fire next to the coffee table where the playing cards were. Giselle sat down on the floor next to her, carrying a large shoebox. I was in my usual comfy leather armchair; Jason and Anjali were still on the couch.

Giselle put the box on the table but Madeline grabbed it. "No I think there would be a lot more drama if I brought the items out, one at a time." Putting the box under the table, she lifted the lid just a bit, so only she could see the contents. "First up, a three-pack of condoms."

Condoms? I wondered why Giselle had those; thankfully my question was immediately answered.

Madeline tossed them in the wastepaper basket. "These expired 9 years ago; they're garbage," Giselle immediately stood up and hustled them off to the kitchen garbage in the next room where no one would seem them later. She came back to see Madeline pulling out two different types of lube.

"I admire the fact that you like to vary the lube. And that neither is strawberry scented."

No one seemed to bat an eye so far. Condoms and lubrication weren't exactly X-rated.

"Next we have the classic white vibrator. The workhorse of the American Female Orgasm."

Anjali looked at it, looked at Giselle, and then immediately lowered her eyes. "Do you, put it in you? What's it like?"

Madeline answered before Giselle could, "Of course you do sweetie! But most women just put these things right on their clits, and rub it around until the magic happens." She smiled. "Yup, 60 seconds later, bang, and you're ready for the day."

"It's not really that big is it?" Anjali commented.

Madeline twisted the bottom and it started making a loud buzz. "That's the magic....and this battery is fresh!" She undid the bottom and checked. "Look these batteries don't expire for years. You can't tell me you haven't touched this stuff in years, Giselle, or these batteries would be dead."

Giselle looked at her silently for a moment, and slowly answered, "I think you paid to see the stash, not get the guided tour. You can decide for yourself."

I bent over and looked at the battery, and then picked it up and waved it at Giselle, "Hey this is the battery I asked you about last week. I remember it being that off brand. I needed the whole pack for that RC vehicle and you said you didn't know anything."

Until now Giselle was playing it cool, but now she blushed. "I'm keeping my mouth shut. Let's get through the rest so we can back the game."

"Next up, a very nice black rubber one, I'm guessing about 6 or 7" long and very nicely proportioned."

"That one's my favorite", Giselle piped up. "Oh yeah, I wasn't going to comment."

I said, "It looks like mine, except in black rubber."

Giselle looked at me and said, "Darling, that's why I like it best. It reminds me of you." She said it genuinely and I smiled back.

"OK love birds, the next one seems to be wrapped in plastic wrap. It's one of those softish jelly things that gets really dirty, so the wrapping makes sense. I see this one is hollow so you can put your finger, or a vibrator inside." After a bid more fiddling in the box, out came a giant purple thing, about 11 inches long, proportioned just like the black rubber one but BIG. "Oh you are a naughty." She looked at Giselle. "You've used this? – it's enormous!"

Anjali didn't look at Giselle, but instead at Jason. I wondered what that meant, but for the moment I was far too interested in the contents of that box than Anjali's body language.