Mandy

"Isn't it time you got over it?"

For Mandy, there were no harsher words.

"When you lose somebody you love, it destabilizes your world-view," a therapist told her a number of years ago. "You view life as fragile. It is normal to temporarily lose faith in the stability of life. You believe that at any moment, you could lose the things you cherish the most."

Mandy appreciated his help, but his words were clinical and hollow. Mandy was alone, truly alone. As she participated in the world, she saw happy, smiling, busy people everywhere leading their own lives. Mandy felt different, as if she didn't belong.

"That should be me and Alex," she would think to herself. "It should be the two of us shopping, buying for our children, enjoying life."

Friends and relatives began setting her up with blind dates, all of which crashed and burned.

"You need to get out and meet men," they would tell her. "Alex has been gone for awhile now, don't you think it's time you got over it?"

Those words stung. She was distraught, grieving and her closest friends and relatives saw her grief as a problem that needed to be fixed.

"Get over it?!" she once retorted. "Oh, gee, the love of your life died and I guess you're supposed to just move on like you burned your fucking tv dinner."

In time, Mandy isolated herself even from these acquaintances. It wasn't their fault, she supposed. They didn't understand. How could they? As outsiders, they approached the issue logically, but there was nothing logical about any of it. Mandy was proud of Alex and knew, even in passing, that he would remain a part of her life. She did not want to let go of that feeling and simply move on.

She remembered how Joe and Melissa welcomed her into the neighborhood. Smiling and helpful, with open arms. She also recalled how depressed they seemed, how trapped they felt with their marriage and their restaurants. Like her, they seemed lost and lonely, in search of something. Both Joe and Melissa responded warmly to Mandy, intrigued by her optimism and energy.

When Mandy brought her new friends to the cemetery and told them about her relationship with Alex, they listened compassionately. She loved that they didn't try to give her advice, or try to change the way she thought about Alex, or, for god sake, tell her to move on. Indeed, Joe and Melissa were drawn to her, because Mandy had a passion that they had been lacking.

Passion. Joe and Melissa appreciated the very thing that others saw in her as a weakness.

- - - - -

"It may be nothing, but look," Joe whispered to his wife, handing her a pair of binoculars that he had retrieved from his basement closet. Melissa went to the window, peering out between the blinds.

"How long has it been there?" Melissa asked.

An older model vehicle was parked down the street from them, near an intersection approximately one half block away. Someone sat silently in the vehicle, smoking. Only the orange tip of the cigarette gave away the presence of a person inside. The sun had set hours ago, and the vehicle was parked away from any street lights.

"At least an hour," Joe whispered back. There was no need to whisper, but they did anyway.

"Do you think we should call 911?" Melissa asked.

"I'm not sure..."

"Women have to be so damn careful," Melissa muttered, shaking her head. "Especially when they live alone..."

Joe looked across the street. Through two of Mandy's windows, you could see inside just enough to make out the location of some of her furniture and who might be home. Mandy was home, but not in any of the rooms a person could see. Joe looked back at the car. It was facing directly toward Mandy's house.

"Yeah, do it, let's have the cops check this out."

- - - - -

"Son of a fucking bitch," he muttered. "I am so fucking stupid."

He saw someone in the house on the far left side of the cul-de-sac watching him for just a moment. A brief glint from behind one of the windows caught his attention just enough for him to know he had probably been seen. He was enshrouded in darkness, however. No chance they got his plate or even the make of his car. He started his engine and slowly drove down the street, lights off until he cleared the area.

He arrived back at his apartment ten minutes later, safe from the cops and safe from the scrutiny of nosey neighbors. He sat down at his kitchen table and opened a manila file, containing candid pictures of Mandy as she worked in her yard or walked her dog. He shuffled through several small index cards on which he had scribbled notes. He looked at each one until he found the one he wanted.

The note simply said:

Mandy. Wednesday. Walks dog alone. Park - lots of trees. 9 AM.

"You're mine, you fucking cunt," the man said aloud while he puffed on another cigarette.

- - - - -

On Monday, Melissa and Joe asked Mandy out to dinner and a movie.

"You're asking me on a date?" Mandy asked with a chuckle. "That's unique."

"Yeah," Joe smiled. "Will you join us?"

"I don't know. I've never been asked out by a married couple before."

"Kinky, huh?" Melissa laughed.

"Yup," Mandy smiled. "Of course I'll go."

At dinner that night, Mandy and Melissa both enjoyed a glass of wine – or two - with dinner. Joe was content with a T-bone steak and a baked potato. The girls talked while Joe tried earnestly to pay attention. He was distracted by a television showing a college football game.

The girls chuckled at something. Joe turned to see what was so funny.

"You know, Joe, a girl is not obligated to sleep with someone just because they paid for dinner," Mandy teased while leaning over the table, as if she were passing along a trade secret.

"We were, ummm," Melissa began laughing and Mandy soon followed. Joe grinned as Melissa tried to collect herself. "Not...thinking of sleeping."

Mandy and Melissa began giggling uncontrollably, a side-effect of the wine and the apparent hilarity of the joke. Joe didn't think the joke was quite so funny, but he understood that beneath the humor was the assumption that the three of them would go back home and...not sleep.

- - - - -

Joe found that their still developing three-way relationship posed many challenges, but among the joys were having images that he had only been able to dream about become live, three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood reality. One of these moments came soon after arriving back home after the film. Joe offered to pour iced tea for himself and both girls. By the time the glasses were filled, Melissa and Mandy were already in bed snuggling, stripped down to their panties. Joe realized just how surreal this scene was; watching his own wife of twenty years be attracted openly to another person was a curious thing. Having this other person be an athletic, sensual woman was another step beyond.

"Come, join us," Mandy offered.

"Mind if I just watch for a minute?" Joe replied. "You are both breathtaking."

Joe set the drinks on an end table and observed. Melissa held Mandy's neck and kissed her so gently that Joe didn't dare make a sound, afraid that the slightest noise would shatter the moment. Joe contained his excitement – barely - and focused on details. Mandy and Melissa's breasts pressed together. Melissa's tongue inside Mandy's mouth, barely visible through their kiss. Mandy's leg draped across Melissa's. How their toes danced with each intimate touch. The small imperfections in their otherwise smooth skin – bumps and moles – that made these women more real than any fantasy he ever had, and, as a consequence, far sexier.

Joe silently slipped into bed behind Mandy, no longer satisfied to be a passive observer. He wanted to be involved, to touch, taste and smell both women.

"Don't mind me," Joe whispered. The girls accepted this as an invitation to continue unabated.

Joe moved leisurely around both women, feeling and kissing exposed flesh wherever he desired. The women were very aware and inviting of his touch, but they kept their attention on each other. Joe's powerful hands massaged their way in and around both girls. He fondled and squeezed their breasts, thighs and ass cheeks. Both women shifted slightly and spread themselves, making them fully available.

Joe was particularly fascinated with the cute little bulges hiding under the girls' panties. He marveled that he could see his wife's slit through them, with a small area of wetness forming in the center. One at a time, he grasped their panties and pulled them taut. He proceeded to kiss their soft little bulges as they strained against the fabric. Joe moved between Mandy and Melissa, savored the smell and heat emanating from each woman. Every time he pressed his mouth or tongue against their panties, he heard a cute sigh or moan escape from somewhere above.

Joe pulled Melissa's panties to one side and licked her just as Mandy rolled Melissa on her back and sucked a nipple. Allowed no apparent say in the matter, Melissa adopted a submissive posture. Joe and Mandy happily took over.

Mandy loved pleasing Melissa's nipples, but she soon joined Joe down below, at her opening. They each held one leg firmly and took turns kissing her pussy lips, then, in turn, kissing each other. Mandy's lips were full and sensuous – kissing them made Joe's manhood ache. Mandy leaned down and poked her tongue inside Melissa, her face pressed against her mound, penetrating as deep as her tongue would allow. She pulled out and kissed Joe, allowing him to taste his own wife on her lips and tongue.

Melissa closed her eyes and retreated inside herself, close to climax. Mandy gingerly pulled back the fleshy hood covering Melissa's clit and licked the swollen bump below. Joe took his turn and did the same. Joe and Melissa traded off, hoping to provide Melissa with a slow, luxurious climax.

"Oh god..." Melissa wailed. "Oh fuck..."

Joe loved it when Melissa swore, because Melissa never swore.

"Ooohhh fuck...fuck..."

Melissa covered her face and climaxed hard. Both Joe and Mandy knew right away; there was no mistaking the rhythmic tightening of the muscles between her thighs. They continued to eat her as her body erupted, enjoying the taste of her orgasm every step of the way.

"That feels...oh my god...so good..." Melissa gasped.

"You are so sexy when you come like that, baby," Joe chimed in. Mandy nodded in affirmation.

Each one took a turn that night to be ravaged by the other two. When it was Mandy's turn, Melissa planted herself between her legs while Joe kissed her and played with her breasts. Mandy, not normally one to simply rest and let others do the work, had no choice this time. Joe was a large, strong man. He had Mandy pinned as he lay atop her, rolling her nipples between his fingers. Mandy had gorgeous, large, dark brown nipples. Joe loved teasing them, making them erect and holding them between his lips. Mandy playfully struggled under Joe, but she was thrilled to allow Melissa and Joe free access to her body.

Mandy came several times, none stronger than when Joe and Melissa each took a nipple and sucked, while Joe mercilessly massaged her clit in tight little circles, using her own drippings as a lubricant. When Mandy pretended to struggle, Joe and Melissa draped one leg across each of hers. She was stuck between them, legs apart, given no option but to quit struggling, relax and allow them to finish her. Melissa and Joe smiled at each other, taking great satisfaction in their ability to satisfy their new lover.

Joe was last that night. Mandy and Melissa lie on either side of him, their head on his chest, tucked in his strong arms. Joe was normally introverted, but he relished showing off his thick erection for both girls and couldn't wait for them to see his orgasm. He felt huge, masculine and powerful, holding two little angels in his arms. He wanted them to see just how powerful he was.

Mandy had a firm grasp of his erection at the base and pumped slowly while Melissa kissed him; then they would switch, and Melissa would pump while Mandy kissed him. The girls took their time, enjoying each moment, in no hurry to complete. Their kisses were loving and sensual and messy. Joe's erection was throbbing. It looked enormous in their delicate little hands.

Melissa pumped him rapidly. Mandy kissed Joe gently, her hand resting on his cheek. Joe's body tensed, he moaned deeply and – at long last – exploded. Mandy slid her tongue smoothly into his mouth as he did. His semen shot onto his chest, his stomach and all over Melissa's fingers. The girls were delighted.

As Joe calmed down, Melissa drew a happy face on his stomach with his semen. Mandy laughed and joined her. Joe thought it was simultaneously cute and ridiculous. Mandy pushed it a step further by offering Melissa her soaked finger. Melissa took her finger, held it and sucked it between her lips, exactly as she might take Joe's cock into her mouth.

With Mandy and Melissa, sex was easy and natural. They had – somehow – developed a mutual trust, some kind of bond that allowed them complete freedom to express themselves. He didn't understand it, couldn't measure it or quantify it, but was grateful for it nonetheless.

"This is crazy what we have going," Joe said with a relaxed smile. Joe was still on his back, Mandy on his left and Melissa on his right. The girls held hands across his chest.

"It's kind of wonderful," Melissa said.

"What is happening, though? I am not sure I understand this."

"Don't try to understand it," Mandy responded. "The moment you understand it, the mystery will be gone."

Joe pondered Mandy's words, but he wasn't comfortable with ambiguity. He wasn't prepared to force the issue, however. The experience was, as his wife had said, wonderful.

"Live in the moment, sweetie," Melissa said.

"It's not such a mystery, really," Mandy interjected. "The world is a large, unfriendly, lonely place, but the people who accept you as you are will be the people you are always drawn to."

"That simple?" Joe asked.

"If not, then you find a better answer," Mandy challenged.

- - - - -

Wednesday morning, Mandy prepared for her morning walk. She walked her dog alone, without Melissa, because Melissa volunteered at the local library. Mandy snapped the leash onto her dog's collar, and the dog replied with several excited barks and proceeded to run toward the door, nearly choking itself in the process. Mandy's dog, Spark, was small, easily excitable and friendly to everyone.

Mandy proceeded down her street toward the park, stopping only occasionally when Spark found something curious that required investigation. The day was brilliant and sunny. Mandy didn't mind the occasional stop, and it allowed her to reflect upon her life and her relationship with her new friends.

"Enjoy what you have while you have it," she had told both Melissa and Joe. She felt a need to follow her own advice. Mandy loved both of them, but knew that someday down the road, she would need to find her own path. The thought frightened her a great deal, because no man would ever be able to compare to Alex. Melissa and Joe were wonderful, safe and fun. She could not fall for them like she did Alex, she could not marry them and most importantly, she could not lose them the way she lost Alex.

"I feel good when I am with them," Mandy told Spark as she kneeled down to pet him. "I love them. That's not so wrong, is it?"

Spark panted and sniffed some flowers.

"I know, I know," Mandy admitted to her dog. "I need to find a man to fall in love with. I know."

Spark turned to Mandy and looked at her, as if to ask why they stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

"If we all enjoy it, and we protect each other and don't hurt each other, then why is this wrong, Spark? Tell me, huh?"

Spark was silent.

Spark continued bounding toward the park, anxious to run among the trees and playground equipment. The park was always empty and quiet in the morning, which was certainly one of the attractions this activity held for her. She liked the serenity.

As Mandy and Spark ambled their way past a small grove of trees, she was struck hard from behind and knocked to the ground. The attack blindsided her; she hadn't heard or seen anything in the area. She was dimly aware of the presence of another person, a male. She had let go of her leash and didn't know where Spark was. She tried to gather herself, turn over to look for him, but the attacker had forced himself on top of her, trapping her to the ground.

Mandy realized she was being attacked, maybe on the verge of being raped or killed. She knew she was in great danger. She didn't know where Spark was, but knew he would not be valuable as a defender. She felt dizzy, her arm was aching – perhaps broken from her fall – and her shorts were being pulled from her body.

Suddenly, she heard a thud and her attacker was gone. She heard something, a moan, a scream, a struggle from somewhere. She rolled herself over and looked around.

Joe was there. He was fighting the attacker. Where Joe had come from, she had no idea. She didn't understand. She tried to pick herself up from the ground, but couldn't. Dizziness overwhelmed her.

She passed out.

- - - - -

"I am so sorry, baby," Joe told Mandy, caressing her face. "I am so sorry."

Joe was almost in tears. He had stopped her attacker, but was upset with himself for not finding him sooner. Mandy was unconscious. He picked her up from the ground and planned to carry her to his car, but thought better of it. If Mandy's neck were injured, the best thing would be to keep her there with him, motionless, while an ambulance came. He pulled out his cell phone and made two panicked calls; one for an ambulance and another to Melissa. She would want to know.

Then he held Mandy and waited. She was unconscious but looked beautiful and peaceful in his arms. He kissed her forehead, holding her close to his chest.

"I should have been here sooner. I don't like to see you hurt, sweetie. The world is a far better place," he said, choking up. "when you are smiling, Mandy." Joe held her still, her face to his chest, talking to her in a calm, soothing voice, listening for the ambulance.

"I love you, baby."

Joe held her tight, his face buried in her hair. After several minutes, Mandy stirred.

"What....happened...?" Mandy mumbled, squinting, trying to get her bearings.

"That guy...attacked you."

"Oh..."

Joe rocked Mandy in his arms. At last, he heard the sound of an ambulance in the distance.

"You called an ambulance?" Mandy frowned.

"Yes. Your arm is broken, so don't move."

"Oh...I can't feel it...that's funny..."

"Don't move."

"Where is the guy?"

"Over there," Joe answered, pointing toward a tree. An older man was crumpled unconscious, face-down in a pool of his own blood.

"You saved me. You're my hero..." Mandy smiled wanly. She could barely keep her eyes open. She winced as if the ambient light was simply too bright for her eyes to bear.

"I should have been here sooner. I saw this guy headed for the park. Smoking..."

"Oh..." Mandy tried to concentrate but couldn't.

"I'll explain later. Just relax."

"Thanks for getting that guy off me."

"I enjoyed it, actually."

"Is he...dead?"

"I don't know."

Mandy rested in his arms. Melissa pulled up and parked at the edge of the street, then ran from her car. She immediately leaned down, kissed Mandy on the forehead and checked her eyes.

"Oh my god...what happened?"

"That guy," Joe responded, pointing toward the crumpled man. "I think he's the one who was watching her. I saw him driving toward the park, smoking, so I followed him back here..."

"Are you okay?" Melissa asked Mandy.

"Mmmm, yeah. He killed that guy..." Mandy was barely coherent, pointing in the wrong direction.

Melissa wanted to know more, but knew this wasn't the time. The ambulance was on its way. Mandy was banged up but would be fine. Melissa sat down and curled up with Joe and Mandy as they listened to the wail of the ambulance in the distance, gradually getting louder.