“What did you get?” said Cynthia.
“Groundhog Day. It’s one of my favorite movies.”
Greg closed and locked Cynthia’s front door. Then he walked over and sat down on the couch next to Cynthia.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.”
“You’re gonna love it.”
“Who’s in it? What’s it about?”
“It’s about this egotistical weatherman, played by Bill Murray. He gets stuck in a time warp. Then he finally realizes he’s gonna keep reliving the same day over and over again until he gets it right. And it’s got Andie MacDowell. I love her. I can’t believe you’ve never seen it. It’s a classic.”
“Well, it sounds good.”
Greg loaded the DVD and started up the movie.
Cynthia had the popcorn ready to go.
They laughed as Phil did everything he could think of to win Rita’s heart. By the end of the film, they both had watery eyes.
“That’s a wonderful movie,” said Cynthia.
“I told you.”
“Hey, I’ll be your Rita and you can be my Phil.” She was ready for a kiss.
Greg started to kiss her, and then stopped. “But what if I’d rather be Ned Ryerson?”
“Shut up and kiss me, Stupid.”
“But first, Ned wants to sell you some insurance.”
“Ned can go step in a mud puddle. This is for Phil,” said Cynthia.
She grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him hard on the lips. “Still want to be Ned?” she said with a grin.
Greg pulled her close and started a kiss. After a few seconds, he was about to pull away when Cynthia took over for a while. Then Greg again. It went back and forth. He hoped Cynthia would keep him in check, because he was feeling more out of control by the second.
It would be different if Cynthia’s mother were living in the house, he thought. Could they still make out on the couch like this? Not likely. Beverly could walk in on them at any moment if she lived there. Greg was committed to having no sex outside of marriage, but Cynthia’s amazing body and passionate kissing were tempting him to the limit. He was in danger of going on autopilot. His body could explain it all to his brain later.
Oh, by the way, Brain, earlier tonight I took over for you, and made wild, crazy love to Cynthia. She was on autopilot too. It was great. Hope you didn’t mind. Signed, Your Body. P.S. I forgot to ask if you wanted to use protection.
Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing for Cynthia’s mother to move in with her sexy daughter. But what if he and Cynthia were making out at his house?
*
Macy Golong peeked into Mallie Mae’s room and was not surprised to see her sleeping. Elmo’s mother rarely stayed up past 10:00 PM, and it was nearly 11:00. She closed the door and started to go back to her room across the hall. She was halfway through a romance novel. But Hadley’s delicious oatmeal raisin cookies were calling to her.
She walked down the stairs to the kitchen and put a few cookies on a plate. Then she poured a glass of milk. She wondered what Elmo was doing. Was he in the Media Room with Carsie? Their Media Room? Before Elmo and Carsie got together, Elmo and Macy used to spend hours almost every night in that room. Some nights he had almost kissed her.
She left her milk and cookies on the kitchen counter and went down another flight of stairs, which came out in the Recreation Room. Macy could hear the sound of the TV coming from Media Room. She tiptoed to the open doorway and peeked in. There she was—that conniving slut—sitting where Macy should have been. How could Elmo have replaced her like that? She thought he had been falling in love with her. How could she have been so wrong? But it could still happen—if that woman would just go away.
Elmo said, “Yeah. So, beginning Monday there will be two doctors in the office. That should take a little pressure off. If I need to be out for a day or two, Dr. Edwards can fill in for me.”
“Yeah, or if you need to take off a week for a trip to Hawaii with your beautiful new wife.” Carsie gave him a sexy smile.
“That’s right. Dr. Ernie will take care of everything while I’m gone.”
“Dr. Ernie?”
“Yeah. I asked if he would mind being called ‘Dr. Ernie’. His name is Ernest, but I thought ‘Dr. Ernie’ would fit in well with the Sesame Street theme of my office.”
“So the two of you are Drs. Elmo and Ernie?”
“Yep.”
“That’s cute, Honeypie.”
“The kids will like it.”
“The only thing better would have been Bert and Ernie.”
“Yeah. But unfortunately, Baby, my name is not Bert.”
“No problem. I don’t want Bert anyway. I want Elmo.”
Carsie threw her leg over Elmo’s lap and straddled him. She placed her hands on the sides of his head and snuggled it in between her breasts. Then she began to slide her body slowly toward and then away from his crotch. And again. And again.
“Oh, yeah. I want some Elmo. And I want it right now.”
Macy had seen more than enough. She would try to erase that last few seconds from her memory. She and Elmo would still get together. Somehow.
She had been so busy watching the doctor and his bride-to-be, that she had not even noticed Carnie, who was sitting across from her in the dark Pub Room, sipping her Vodka Tonic. The light from the TV shown through Macy’s flimsy gown. Carnie had been enjoying the silhouette of her firm, shapely body standing in the doorway.
Carnie admired a well-toned body—male or female. She loved the feel of the smooth, tight skin. Sometimes it made her want to rip off her clothes and have sex. Other times she just wanted to slash that beautiful skin with a razor blade. Once she got a taste, her lust for the flesh was ravenous, whether making love to it…or mutilating it.
She strained her eyes to watch, as Macy moved out of the light, and became a dark ghost moving across the room to the stairs. It would be so easy to follow her to her bedroom…
*
Macy brushed the cookie crumbs off the edge of her bed and into her hand. A couple of tiny bits of cookie fell between her fingers and onto the floor. She got down on hands and knees and studied the carpet at very close range, retrieving every morsel. The maid service vacuumed twice a week, but that was no excuse for sloppiness.
She went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth for a full three minutes. Then she flossed. Then she flossed again. She brushed her perfect thick, shoulder-length brown hair until all of the tangles were gone. Then she brushed it another thirty times.
Macy eyed the paperback adoringly as she approached her bed. She had read fifty more pages while enjoying her cookies. The characters in her romance novels were her closest friends. She wasn’t simply reading a book. She was visiting another world—the world where she felt most at home.
Macy switched off her lamp and rolled in between the sheets. Then she turned over onto her left side, closed her eyes and began to relax. Within moments, she heard something. Someone sneaking into her room. Through her peripheral vision, she could see a figure standing behind her. Standing over her. She pretended to be asleep. Maybe they would go away. But what if they planned to kill her? Her back was completely vulnerable to a vicious thrust of a knife. Her head was sitting perfectly still on the lacy pillowcase—just inviting the blow of a heavy blunt instrument.
She felt the bed move as the person got under the covers with her. She cringed when she felt a hand on her shoulder, the warm breath on the back of her exposed neck. Then the soft, smooth hand caressed her right arm and moved down toward her hip. What was about to happen to her? She began to tremble.
Then she felt the fingers work their way under her nightgown…over her stomach…under her right breast. The intruder’s body inched ever closer to hers, until they were spooned.
Then a voice whispered, “I want you, Macy.”
The warm tongue just behind her ear gave her goose bumps. She moved away slightly. Then she rolled over onto her back.
Macy said, “I was afraid you weren’t coming.”
Then the warm body was on top of her. There was a long, deep kiss. Her feelings were so powerful she thought she would faint at any moment. But the feeling went on and on, building to a mind-bending crescendo.
Then it was over. She lay spent. The hot passion that had worked her body into a sweat was almost as good as the real thing. Now she was ready for a warm, peaceful night’s sleep.
But cold reality would be waiting for her again in the morning.