I want to thank my editor, Cabone, for the excellent help with the story. This is a work of fiction and none of the characters are real.
The Vancouver weather began to improve towards the end of May and by the end of June the days were sunny and hot. The evenings were warm and humid, but usually enough of a breeze to cool things off comfortably. My mom and dad had taken our two boys for a few days to give us a bit of a holiday. My wife Mary and I were enjoying to the break to the fullest, going out almost every night to movies or for dinner. Both of us are professionals, she an MD and I a researcher at the university. We had been working hard, establishing our careers and had had almost no time off in years.
The weekend rolled around and we decided to stay home and have a barbeque, rather than eat out. To tell the truth, all the going out had started to wear me down and I was looking forward to a lazy evening of relaxing in the comfort of our home. I went out to the local butcher and picked out two perfect rib steaks. There is nothing quite like a rib steak cooked over open flames. As my oldest son now puts it 'Meat, Fire.... Good!' These were about an inch and a half thick and nicely aged. To go with the steaks, I also picked up some good looking peppers that I thought would grill up nicely.
On my way home from the store I marvelled at how fortunate I was. I have to take the time here to describe my wife. She is, and always has been, the love of my life. The very first time I ever laid eyes on her, I felt an almost visceral pull. She has the most gorgeous medium brown hair, long and silky. And her eyes are amazing, steel grey, that flash sparkling blue when she is happy. I have always thought that she has a great figure. Now, I am an admitted leg man and hers are long and lean. I suppose here is where you are expecting me to describe her luscious 42DD chest, but not so. The second thing that I noticed when I first saw her was her beautiful 32A bust line (I find nothing appealing about huge breasts, so I guess I fall outside the North American norm in that respect). Regardless, although my wife is close to my ideal in appearance, she also has an amazing personality. We are very compatible in terms of our outlook on life and so on.
That afternoon had been hot, so I was wearing shorts and a muscle shirt since anything else was simply too hot. Now, I am not an Adonis, but I didn't look too bad in that outfit. Plus, Mary thinks I look a bit sexy in that kind of t-shirt (I don't know why she does, but I'm not going to argue). I drove down our street and as I rounded the last corner I noticed an unfamiliar car parked out in front of the house. I thought nothing of this since the neighbours are always parking in front like that. I pulled into the driveway and collected the food, before heading into the front door. Entering, I almost tripped over a small suitcase that was sitting in the entrance. I could hear Mary's voice, drifting through the open kitchen window, coming from the back yard. I couldn't make out what she was saying and I heard another voice that sounded familiar, but I just couldn't quite place.
I walked into the kitchen to put the food away, just as Mary called be out to the patio.
"Look who's here," Mary said.
I could barely control my surprise when I saw my old grad student friend Pamela. We had shared an office when we were both Masters students in Alberta, and then we both came out to the coast to do our PhDs at the same time. After we had graduated, we went to different cities for our Post-doctoral fellowships, she to Baltimore and I to Montreal. I hadn't seen her in several years. When the opportunity arose, I had jumped at the chance to come back to the west coast to teach. Pam had taken a research position in Florida, making it very hard to get together. Pam jumped up and came over to give me a big hug, which I returned with pleasure. We all sat and chatted a bit about the good old times.
Mary said, "Pam is staying with us for the rest of the week."
"I am really looking forward to catching up," Pam countered.
She gave us both a look that was hard to describe. When we were PhD students, I had inadvertently fixed Pam up with another grad student. He had turned out to be one of the biggest pricks on the planet as far as I was concerned. I should confess here that I have always had a thing for Pam. She is a beautiful, petite brunette with a sparkle in her eye all the time. Coming from Montreal, she has that eastern chic that has always appealed to me. Even when she is dressed super casually, she is always put together. I have often thought that if I had met her before Mary, the names on the marriage certificate would have been different! I'm sure Mary knew I carried a torch for Pam, as she often teased me along those lines.
The heat was almost stifling and Pam went up to change. I mixed us all up a round of nice cold Rum Collins' and then went and fired up the BBQ. Pam returned, wearing shorts and a tube top. She sat out on the patio, keeping me company while I cooked the steaks. Mary went to change into her new sundress and joined us. As the steaks were sizzling away, I threw a handful of hickory chips on the coals, just before tossing on the peppers. The air was completely still and the smells of the steaks, the hickory and the peppers just hung in the air, creating a delicious, sensual aroma.
Perhaps it was because of the heat, but we all had several refills of our drinks and were feeling appropriately tipsy. Not drunk, but in that delightful zone where everything feel great and you don't have any inhibitions. The food was ready and we sat down to a magical meal. The steaks were perfect and the peppers provided just the right complement. To top it off, we all had a couple of glasses of a really great Malbec that Pam had brought as a bit of a housewarming present. Although Mary and I had been there for several years, this was the first time Pam had seen the place.
By the time the meal ended, we were all acting a little silly. Even the smallest thing caused us all to laugh. The sun was setting and we decided to go inside to eat our dessert. The women went and sat in the living room while I went into the kitchen to dish up three bowls of homemade ice cream topped with fresh strawberries. I liberally drizzled liqueur over the tops and delivered them out to the two loves of my life. As I did, I put on some good music and we all sat talking and eating the ice cream.
The heat caused the ice cream to melt quickly, so we were basically eating ice cream soup after a few minutes. Perhaps the alcohol was having an effect, but Mary dripped some ice cream down her chin and onto the rise of her breasts, just above the low neckline of her dress. We all laughed at this and Mary was just about to get up to get a napkin when something happened to change the feeling of the entire evening.
Pam blurted out, "Maybe Bob should lick that up, since he is such a devoted hubby."
