Chapter 3 - The Invitation
"An invitation to what?" I asked.
Mary Beth had a sultry, smoky look in her eyes.
"I'm sure I don't know. Could be a lot of things. I think you are going to have to figure that one out as you go. I do know that sometimes an invitation is staring you in the face and you don't see it because you never considered the possibility. Just like you never thought it possible for mothers and daughters to enjoy incest. Maybe your subconscious is issuing the invite. Maybe it's trying to get you to look at the world in a different way."
I thought about what she said. I asked, "So you think that this might have nothing to do with sex? Maybe the dream is a metaphor for something else?"
"Lover, everything has to do with sex. It's just that this might be about more than simply sex."
Well, that was no answer. It resolved nothing. I was left with more questions than I started with.
Mary Beth reached over and took my hand. She turned it over and began to stroke my palm with her fingers.
"Now let me ask you something>"
"What?" I responded.
"Does it still make you hot?"
"Does what make me hot?"
"Your dream, Baby."
I was dumbfounded. Her question had brought me to a complete halt. Did the dream still arouse me? I had been steeped in lesbian sexuality ever since it had happened. My level of sexual frustration had recently been higher. Frequency of masturbation was climbing. And I was thinking more about women when I was getting off. Oh, damn! It was.
Mary Beth was waiting for me to answer.
"Yes. It has made me hot. I'm horny and getting hornier all the time. What am I going to do?"
"Well, again Lover, I'm sure I don't know. But if you need my help, call me. Anytime. I keep my private phone by my bed all night long."
I didn't take her seriously. It was just Mary Beth teasing me. Just my friend trying to get a rise out of me.
It was getting late. We finished up our drinks. As we said goodbye, Mary Beth gave me a light kiss on the lips, nothing overtly sexual, but not her usual parting either. Was my best friend really coming on to me?
The next day I had an appointment in my office with a new client. It had been scheduled well in advance, but I had no idea what it was about. It was unusual in that the client requested that I give over the entire afternoon to our meeting. The expense was not an issue and they would pay for the entire time requested even if the meeting did not last that long. The only thing the client would say to my secretary on the phone, is that it was highly confidential. Matters which could only be discussed in person. The name on the schedule was a Ms. Smith.
Ms. Smith arrived promptly on time. She was shown into my office. I asked her to please be seated while we were brought refreshments. She appeared to me to be in her mid-sixties. Ms. Smith was well and tastefully dressed. The clothing was all high end designer, one of a kind. Nothing off the rack here. Her diamond jewelry was large and just as high end as her clothing. Obviously I was in the presence of a very wealthy woman. After my secretary withdrew, I began to speak.
"What may I do for you Ms. Smith? My notes say only that it is a matter of utmost confidentiality."
"Well it is most confidential. But it is not a matter of what you may do for me, it is a matter of what I may do for you."
"I'm sorry. I do not understand."
"Let me be quite frank and open with you. You do not know me. You have never seen me before and you will never see me again. I do not live in this city. My name is not Smith."
She reached into her purse and removed an envelope which she handed to me. The feel of the black paper told me that it was a high cloth content, very expensive. My name had been engraved on the face with silver foil, not silver colored ink, actual silver.
"I have been tasked with delivering to you an invitation. A very private invitation to a most exceedingly exclusive Society. You have been observed and investigated to determine your suitability. I apologize, but that investigation was most intrusive, I'm afraid.
We know everything about you that can be known. We have complete access to all of your records. We know your past, your present and your future ambitions. You have been psychologically profiled by experts. Importantly, you have been personally recommended. Without that recommendation, none of the other would have happened, and I would not be sitting here with you today.
The invitation you hold must never be revealed to anyone outside of the Society. Not only may you never reveal the content, but also the fact that it ever existed in the first place or that you ever received it. If you do, the consequences will be most severe.
You may refuse it. There will be no consequence whatsoever unless you reveal to anyone that this conversation took place. You may return it to me now, I will be on my way. You will never hear from us again. It would be understandable given the mysterious circumstance surrounding the invitation. It is from someone you do not know inviting you to a secret society, about which you know nothing.
The envelope contains instructions to an event that will be both final interview and initiation. If you accept, you must follow those instruction to the letter, no deviation, no questions. Do you understand?"
"Yes" I answered.
"Do you wish to proceed?"
"There is no consequence for refusal, unless I reveal knowledge of this to others?"