Triad Ch. 01

I'd take walks when I was blocked, which became an almost daily event. At first, Abby had stayed at the house, but after a few days she started to come with me, assuring me that she had adequate telephone coverage. I found out later that she'd had the landline automatically forwarded to her cellphone, which she carried. Mostly we'd walk the beach, heading a mile or two up or down the beach. Sometimes, we'd walk far enough to get to the concessions near the town beach. I'd buy us lunch or a snack, and then we'd walk home.

One time, as I started to walk, Abby ran into my bathroom and came out a minute later wearing only her bikini. This was a bikini that left little to the imagination and made me take five deep breaths, jam my hands in my pockets so I didn't molest her, and then do a triple-take on how good she looked. I could barely tear my eyes away from her curves.

For her part, Abby gave me a sly smile, seeing that I'd obviously noticed her in a sexual way. She put on her oversize dark glasses, a sun hat, and a light cover, and we strolled over the dunes to the beach and started to walk.

Abby asked, "Do you think I'm sexy?"

I shot her a sideways glance. "I should not answer that. You're too young to know what I'm thinking, and especially on that topic."

"Oh, I can guess what you're thinking, and I'm thinking the same thing too. I have been for years about you."

"Uhmmmm."

"I'm not a virgin."

"That's nice. I hope your deflowering was a pleasant experience."

"It was. I orchestrated it. I did it so I'd eventually be ready for you."

"ABBY! I am NOT going to have sex with you." The level of exasperation in my voice was highly evident.

"I don't want you to have sex with me; I want you to make love with me. I think they're different." Abby's voice was calm and measured.

"Do you even know what love is?"

She responded, "I believe I do. I've read a lot of books on the subject, and many fictional stories about couples, including the two main characters inThe Pumpkin Man. I could ask you the same question, plus who have you loved during your life?"

She caught me off guard, and I started to think of this as one of our intellectual conversations. I responded, "Yes, I have loved a number of women in my life, including several old girlfriends and more recently my ex-wife."

"Do you love anybody now?" Abby's tone had changed; she wasn't teasing.

"Maybe Anna Pechet. I'm not sure how serious we are."

"Holy shit. The movie star? She's only four years older than I am."

"Yes, the movie star, and you shouldn't swear."

I just never thought I'd have that much competition.

"This is NOT a competition for me, Abby. You are my friend and neighbor."

"But you find me sexy, right?" Abby smiled in an obvious tease.

"Yes, BUT you are only a few months past being jail bait if I even had the inclination to do anything with you."

"I know I am, but I'm very mature for my age."

"I don't think that'll change anything. You'll still be my friend and neighbor." There was a long silence and Abby didn't say anything. I then said, "Anna is going to come for a couple of weeks. You'll get to meet her."

"Really? That'll be so cool. I promise I won't embarrass you or anything. Just can I hang around with you guys for a little?"

"Not as much as you have been when I'm alone with her, OK? I want some personal time with her for a number of reasons."

"Explain what that means."

"We're trying to see if there's some significant chemistry there."

"You mean ... to see if you want a long-term relationship ... something serious? You want to have lots of sex I bet?"

"Exactly." I figured I'd call her bluff on the sex thing. If she wasn't a virgin, she'd understand.

"Oh." Abby's one syllable response had the overtone of immense displeasure in it. I thought it amazing how so much could be communicated with such a small word and the intonations with it.

After silence for a hundred yards in our walk, Abby changed the discussion completely; "I like the direction you've taken with chapter seven. I think you've finally got a direction to take the entire novel, although it'll involve a lot of rewrite. I think if you stop writing as thoughStar Struck were a movie, and wrote as though it was a novel revealing how people think, that you'd have an easier time of it."

"Thank you." I thought about Abby's comment. She was spot on. Most of my blockages had come from my inability to visualize a character in a scene - in a movie sense. When I put trying to be a film director aside and came at my characters in a cerebral way, I realized I just flowed with the plot, the dialogue, and the character development. I was an author not a screenplay writer.

I glanced over at Abby and she smiled back at me. She knew she'd nailed it.

I asked, "How did you get so insightful into how I think and write?"

"We talk. I've read a million pages about authoring and how writers think. I just finished Stephen King's book,On Writing. What I said about how you focus is not original. You can come back to the screenplay after you get the book written; that's a different step and others can help you with it once they see the overall plot."

"You are a wonder. Why did you read so much on authoring?"

"The man I love is an author - a very good one."

I thought, 'Oh, shit. I guess I walked into that one.' What was I going to do about this infatuation Abby had about me? It had gone on six years now, maybe longer. This was almost becoming stalking.

"Abby, are you stalking me?"

She laughed gaily. "That's an imprecise term. Am I obsessed with you? A little. I have always thought you liked me hanging around, so I don't think my intrusions into your life is harassment. I do moderate my behavior so hopefully I'm not objectionable. I draw a line too. I'm not trying to threaten or frighten you, quite the opposite. I'm trying to get you to fall in love with me, or did you not know that."

I came to a stop along the water's edge. I turned to her and blurted out, "Why?"

Abby rolled her eyes. "Because I love you, grasshopper." She reached out and took my hand and pulled me along towards the concession stands. I noted that she passed up an ideal opportunity for a passionate kiss. She was showing restraint.

"But ..." Again, I didn't know what to say next.

Finally, it dawned on me.

"Abby! I'm thirty-two and you're eighteen." I observed, "I'm almost twice as old as you are."

"Almost nineteen, and so what?" She kept pulling me up the beach. "I am the most mature eighteen-year-old you'll ever meet. I have an exceptional IQ, I'm highly motivated, I start my junior year incollege in the fall - did you know that? I hope I've proven to you that I'm working to be your equal in our discussions and debates. I always try to be supportive of you when you're blocked or looking for just the right turn of your plot or what you want your characters to do next; you even use some of my ideas."

"But I'd be robbing the cradle."

Abby laughed, "Hardly." She patted her flat abs and gestured to her other curves; "The baby fat is all gone - just luscious woman here. Think about all the benefits I'll bring when we finally start dating and get serious."

"UGHHH. I'd rather not at this stage in our relationship. Can't we just be friends?"

"Yes, that's fine ... for now."

We reached the burger joint, and I noticed that every red-blooded American male in sight started to drool excessively at the sight of Abby. She ignored them. She said in a cute way, "Now, buy your 'secretary' a burger and fries, with a diet coke."

We ate on a bench on what the locals called the boardwalk. Afterwards, we headed back to my house talking about my book all the way. I was beside myself based on our earlier discussion. Abby hadn't backed off at all from her 'girlfriend' posture she'd adopted when she was twelve. All my discouraging words to the contrary, she'd even escalated things.

At the house, I went right back to work onStar Struck, although later I threw away all the words I wrote that day because I was so disturbed by Abby. She was a nice kid and I didn't want to hurt her. I realized that I did have feelings for her, but I talked myself into believing that I shouldn't.

Two weeks later I drove up to the city's large airport and picked up Anna Pechet. She looked gorgeous as she came through security, and amazingly no one seemed to have spotted the burgeoning star. Had she been arriving at LAX, the paparazzi would have been all over her with a million questions.

Anna gave me a full body press, and a kiss that melted the nails in my shoes. This would be a 'hot' few weeks, and I wasn't only thinking of the temperature.

We arrived back at my house about five-thirty. Abby had left me about six pink 'Someone Called' slips with names, numbers, and messages for me. They were lined up on the kitchen counter. The last one was from her; it said, 'Have fun. Think of me once in a while. Abs.' She'd put three little hearts at the bottom of the note that I took to mean her, Anna, and me.

Anna took in the notes. She asked, "Who's Abs?"

I grimaced, "My eighteen-year-old next door neighbor who seems to have an incurable crush on me and has for six years. I hired her as a part-time assistant for the summer. She's very smart."

Anna laughed, "Well, I suspect she'll get over the crush eventually." I wondered at that pronouncement from a twenty-two-year-old. When I thought of Anna, I realized that she wasn't that much older than Abby. I had an age difference with Anna too. What was I thinking? Moreover, in terms of maturity I thought of the two of them as equals.

We had cocktails on the porch looking out over the ocean. The evening was perfect in terms of temperature and the company was superb. We walked to the small commercial center near my house for a romantic dinner.

Anna was amorous, and it didn't take us long before we were making out, and then making love on a chaise on my porch as a partial moon smiled down on us. We eventually went inside, snuggled into bed, made love again, and went to bed. I loved being a well-known author with a starlet for a girlfriend.

In the morning, I pulled on some briefs and gently kissed Anna. She gave a languorous stretch of her sexy nude body, smiled at me, and said she'd be right with me as soon as the aroma of coffee filled the air. I gave her another kiss and promised that coffee would be ready in five minutes.

I think there is a mysterious force in the universe that makes interesting things happen in the same space-time continuum. In the case that morning, Abby arrived coming in through the kitchen door just as I finished pouring Anna and me cups of coffee. Since my briefs could also pass as a bathing suit, I didn't think much about her arrival other than to greet her. Abby had a work area in a corner of the living room where I would leave her messages or thumb drives with pages on them to edit on an old laptop I'd given her. This was often how she'd start her day, even when I wasn't around. I greeted her.

Simultaneously, Anna meandered out of my bedroom and across the living room completely nude, and looking like a million dollars despite that freshly fucked look from our middle-of-the-night romp.

The two women stopped and looked at each other. Displaying no modesty or embarrassment, Anna waved slightly at Abby and said, "Hi."

Abby smiled back and said, "Hi. I'm Abby. You look just like your pictures. You're beautiful ... all over." She laughed at her own humor.

Anna showed no discomfiture, but she did look down at her body and fluffed up her messed up hair a little. "Thank you. Jim told me about you and how you've impressed him in so many ways."

I wanted to intervene, but I could think of nothing to say or do. If neither of them were embarrassed, who was I to upset that delicate balance?

Abby moved closer. "Yes, Anna. Please excuse me for barging in. In the meanwhile, let me get out of your way. I thought I'd check my workspace and see if Jim left anything for me."

Anna took the initiative, "Come back around lunch. Maybe we can all walk down the beach and get lunch. You should know that Jim thinks very highly of you, and I'd love to get to know you too."

I shot Anna a glance. Was she serious? Why was she inviting this interruption, and someone I'd explained had a crush on me? God, Anna was sexy as all sin when naked. I was getting a hard-on.

Abby gave a start, and even glanced at me for verification. "You want to get to knowme? But, you're a movie star."

Anna nodded, her pert breasts shimmying in a very sexy way as she did. She laughed and added, "Yes. I'm friendly and you look like a nice person. I liked you instantly."

Abby said, "I'm honored. I'll see you at noon." On that note she left with some papers from her desk.

Anna chuckled, "She wasn't put off a bit by my nudity, plus we'd obviously made love."

I muttered, "Obviously?"

Anna pointed at her pussy. The blond pubic that she kept neatly trimmed and manicured seemed to have garnered an unkempt look and also displayed the seminal residue from our evening sessions that had leaked from inside her.

I just rolled my eyes, as Anna flowed into my arms for a huge morning kiss - a kiss that resulted in us going back into the bedroom for forty-five minutes.