Frank & Isabel

After leaving the park together, Frank and Isabel are steered toward a nearby bus stop by Lulu.

Frank helps Mrs Dimple sit before everyone else joins her on the bench.

While they wait for the bus, they begin to get to know each other. Frank and Mrs. Dimple exchange numbers, and she agrees to come over the next day.

The next evening, Frank & Isabel are circling the table in their gazebo. "Is everything perfect? It has to be perfect?" Isabel asks as she fusses with the candles. "Do you think this will provide enough light after the sun sets?"

Frank walks up to her and clasps her hands between his. "Relax, my darling songbird. We might not even still be outside by the time it gets dark. And the path is well-lit tonight just in case we linger."

Before they can argue any more, they hear the doorbell ring. "They're here."

Frank opens the door for Mrs Dimple and Lulu. They are standing side by side. Today was a bit warmer than the day at the park, but Mrs Dimple is still wearing a soft cardigan of pale pink. Underneath that is a floral dress. Lulu is wearing a pink collar with an actual leash held by Mrs D, a silky blouse through which the outline of a camisole is visible, a brown skirt with a tail sticking out from underneath, brown tights and high heels. She has little silver earrings shaped like bones. Today her hair is down but she has a headband with dog ears.

"Welcome to our home," he says.

"Thank you," says Mrs Dimple as she steps in first. "It's a lovely home. Thank you for inviting us." Lulu looks a little more nervous as she enters behind her owner.

Many of the wildflowers went away with the summer, a few bushes have changed colour or dropped leaves, but the evergreen bushes still give life to the yard. The stone path that leads to a cage-like gazebo causes no problems for Mrs Dimple with her cane. The gazebo is a six-sided structure made of wrought iron. Four of its corners are tangled with delicate rose plants whose nearly bare branches are just starting to reach the iron bars of its roof, while the remaining two sides are cut out to form entrances - one facing the house, the other the back of the yard. There's a white metal table in the centre of the gazebo, already set for a dinner for four.

Isabel excuses herself to get the food.

Lullaby asks, "Can I help with anything?"

Isabel replies, "Don't be silly, darling. You're our guest. You just sit right there and be waited on." She leaves and comes back with a soup tureen. "I thought this lovely fall day deserved a beef barley soup."

Meanwhile Frank had directed them to be seated around the circular table. Mrs Dimple was nearest the entrance so that she didn't have to walk as far. Lullaby was seated to her right, between her and Frank who was the furthest from the entrance. Isabel had the chair between Frank and Mrs Dimple which still had easy access to the entrance.

Once the soup was served, the conversation could begin. "So, Mrs Dimple,"

"Oh, please, call me Dottie."

"So, Dottie, how did you and Lulu decide she would be your pet?"

Mrs D looked at Lulu for a second before replying. "Well, we've only been together a couple of years. Donny and I were married for many years and then he passed away. So I sought the companionship of a pet. A petgirl seemed like the best fit. So many of them seem so ... young ... and silly. And then I met Lullaby. She was the oldest at Friendly Pets Inc. but also the calmest and easiest to talk to, real talk. It's been great."

Lulu pipes in. "For me, it was an easy decision. I had wanted to do more than just sit around and play fetch. I had been at FPI for a while, but not long. When she walked through the door, I was immediately drawn to her. We truly get to do things together so I don't have to be a pampered pet. And she's a joy to spend time with. I like being her companion. What about you two?"

Isabel says, "Us? We're not interesting, not like that!"

Frank pats her hand. "Nonsense, Isi. You sell yourself short here. I'll tell the story." Then he looks at their guests. "Isi has always loved to sing. She has been singing all her life, in school plays and pageants and the like. It's been her dream since she was a kid. I was in the same grade and we were often in the same choirs. Then I stopped singing once the choirs asked me to play piano for them instead. I've been accompanying Isi ever since. We dated a bit in high school, so when she discovered she was a pet, we just decided the easiest thing would be to register her as my pet." She moves her hand so that they are holding hands on the table.

She gazes into her eyes as she says, "No other owner ever stood a chance."

"And the singing?" Dottie asks.

Frank faces them again. "We didn't see why she should give up that dream when she became a pet. We put up a couple advertisements and places started hiring us. I got a job at a phone repair shop when I was still in high school. They liked my fine-tuned ear and nimble fingers. But now, I can do that part time so that I'm available to accompany Isi on the piano when she sings."

"It must be a good life to be available to afford all this!" Lulu blurts out.

"Well there's that," Frank chuckles. "Plus some of my family money. And the house was inherited from a great-uncle of hers. It was her great-grandparents' before that."

"Speaking of houses, what made the two of you agree to come to ours tonight?" Isabel asks. "We can come on a bit strong but you reacted like you'd been waiting for our invitation."

Mrs D squeezes her pet's hand. "We've been looking for opportunities. I know my Lullaby likes to be more active than I can keep up with, and I'm not just talking about exercise or throwing a Frisbee around. There are some things I'm too old for, but don't want her to lack. It's something we talked about when she asked to move in with me instead of finding a younger owner. She said it wasn't necessary then, but honey, I've heard you taking care of yourself after I go to bed."

"You heard that!?" Lulu blushes. "I thought I was being discrete."

"You might think that you've got quiet vibrators, but you forget that you make noise yourself. It's time that you had real flesh and bone between your legs. I miss my Donny something fierce some nights. I don't want you missing out."

"Well, if you excuse me, I'll go get the main course," says Isabel as she stands up. "Then we can talk some more about what we want to do with the rest of our evening." She gathers the bowl from Frank and finds that Lulu has already gathered Dottie's and hands it over with hers.

After Isabel leaves the room, Frank asks his guests a question. "This might be uncomfortable to answer in front of Isabel so I'll ask it now. Are either of you attracted to her? We normally do this sort of thing together, you see."

Lulu blushes again and shakes her head. Dottie responds with words, "I'm here for my pet. Not that there's anything wrong with Isabel. She's a lovely girl and I could listen to her voice all day. But I wasn't planning on getting ... intimate with either of you."

Frank pauses a moment. "Thank you for your honesty. Just wanted to know which direction we were taking this in and didn't want to put you on the spot in a way you felt pressured to not hurt my Isi's feelings."

Isabel comes back to the gazebo with a large platter between both hands. When she puts it down, she reveals roast beef with roasted potatoes and carrots. While Frank begins carving the meat she rushes back to the kitchen for the gravy boat. Food is served and they all begin eating.

"Darling, while you were in the house, I asked our guests about their intentions. It seems that Dottie doesn't plan on getting involved."

"Oh? Does she want to watch?" asks Isabel.

Now it was Mrs D's turn to blush. "Not really." She looked at Lulu. "I will if you don't want to be alone, but I'm just as content to sit this one out."

Lulu smiles at her. "That's OK. If I'm not comfortable enough to be alone, then I'm not comfortable enough to do it. You supporting me this far is enough."

"Oh, Frank! We can't let her sit alone. One of us must entertain our special guest."

What and who will be entertaining Dotty is left unspoken for the moment while everybody quietly enjoys the meal. When their plates are nearly scraped clean Dottie broaches the subject again. "So how does this arrangement usually work?"

"Well," says Isi, "we normally stay together. This situation shouldn't be too different. Normally we know when we're having sex so that should stay the same. We prefer to have it all happen at our home. Lulu, you will be welcome to come over any time you have the urge, and Dottie, you'll be able to visit whenever you want too. So I guess Lulu's preference should decide how we do this."

All eyes turn on Lulu. She looks at Dottie, who smiles at her, and then at Frank and Isabel last of all. Lulu looks apologetically at Isabel when she says, "I think it's like Mrs. D said. I need a man between my legs. Tonight I need something to fill me up."

"Oh, I promise I will leave you satisfied," says Frank.

Lulu wonders, "But is there anything I can do to satisfy you in return? Something you want but don't normally get from Isi?"

Isi pipes in, "I have my singing to consider so I look after my throat very well. So I don't do fellatio."

"I could do that," says Lulu, "if you want me to, Frank." She glances at him and he nods vigorously.

"Great, that's decided," Isabel says. She notices that everyone has finished eating, so she begins to clear the table. Lulu wants to know if there's anything she can do to help.

"Well," replies Frank. "If you want to know what you'll be getting later, you can get your first taste of it now."