Mingling and questioning

While you're heading off to Mary's, you take the time to text Carrie at a stoplight, as you realize that she hasn't heard from you since late last night.

J: Hey hun. Just texting to let you know that as you predicted, Natalie seems to be warming to the idea of the harem. What sucks is that Chelsea saw us kissing outside, so we'll have to deal with that soon

C: Well, she'll keep her mouth shut once she starts bobbing up and down on your dick. You know, because it'll be stuffed with your fat cock

J: Is that going to be your next choice? You did win the bet

C: We can discuss which slut is going to get railed by you after we finish with Helen. Until then, you just keep being your usual charming self

J: Will do

The rest of your trip to Mary's is uneventful, the Sunday morning traffic a far cry from the usual rush hour you have to contend with. After a mere fifteen minutes you're pulling up at their place, a cozy two-level colonial in the suburbs. You're far from the first one to arrive, as you can see roughly four assorted cars parked in the driveway and curbside. You suppose you shouldn't be surprised, because Mary made no mention of you being the only invitee. You park, and as you get out of your car and walk to the front door, you wonder if you should have brought the traditional gift of a bottle of wine. Or since it was brunch, some sort of alcoholic breakfast drink.

You step up to the front door, and give it a quick but firm series of knocks, and you await an answer. It's not long before the impressive mahogany door swings open, and there stands James, clad in a sharp green polo shirt and a set of khaki slacks.

"John," he greets you jovially, "Come on in. You're right on time for Sunday brunch." You shake his hand steadily, and you catch a slight scent of **** and orange juice on his breath. You suppose that best part about hosting parties was the fact that you didn't worry about having to drive home while drunk, so one could get a nice buzz rolling.

"James, good to see you." And you muse to yourself that it is true. Despite your long held crush on Mary, James had that kind of affable easy going energy that made it easy to casually spend time with him. While you don't think you would ever be close friends with him, you had a soft spot for him which was another reason why you buried any nascent feelings you had for Mary.

As you walk with him into the dining room, you take a closer study at James. You suppose it was a side effect of pursuing married women, but you were beginning to feel the need to compare yourself to their husbands. And to be honest, you could see why Mary and James were together. James had a couple inches on you in height, and had the typical triumvirate that women found so appealing: tall, dark, and handsome. A bright white smile, a sturdy jaw line, and a hint of dimples on his cheek rounded out his facial assets.

You arrive to the dining room to witness an impressive spread of breakfast foods laid out on the hefty oak table in front of you. Scrambled eggs, Belgian waffles, and blueberry pancakes headline the brunch, while bacon, sausage, and cinnamon rolls make up the strong supporting cast. There's even a couple pitchers of what looks to be orange juice, though a small label indicates that they are actually mimosas.

"Impressive looking brunch. Excellent work, as usual for the two of you."

"Ah, it was all Mary. She's the one that should be credited with the success. And speaking of Mary, here she is right now." You turn to Mary, looking differently than you tend to during work. She's in domestic goddess mode, with her soft brown hair done up in a pony tail with a couple of loose strands framing her face. She's wearing a billowing blue shirt with a white apron over it, tightened up so that it shows a modicum of cleavage.

"John! I'm so glad you could make it." She sets down what she was holding, a giant tray of thick cut French toast. She leans into you and gives a quick peck on the cheek in greeting, and you are slightly ashamed at the burning feeling it left behind. "We're about to start brunch in a couple of minutes, find yourself a seat."

You acquiesce, and after nodding both James and Mary off for them to do further preparation, you find yourself nearest seat at the immense table. You're tempted to dig in, but since no one else has dished themselves any food, you don't want to appear out of place. You take a moment to examine the other guests around you, and are struck a pattern that emerges. Everyone else here seems to be with their partner, so you are the only person without their significant other that is here.

Well, that made sense. Often when people got married their friends were other couples, so it shouldn't be too odd for you to be the only one without a date. Still, you note it down in your mind.

"John! It's good to see you. I barely see you around the office anymore." You think you recognize that voice, and you crane your head to see Beth, a stunning black woman who is an accountant at Simmons.

"Beth. It's nice to see you again." Accompanying Beth this morning is her mountain of a husband, Roger. He nods at you in greeting, then sits down two spots away from you. Beth fills the gap between the two of you, and takes a draught from her glass of orange juice. Thinking, you realize that Beth could be your answer to investigating Ted.

"Hey Beth, I have a question about some of the company's policies for severance pay and maternity leave?"

"Really? You planning on knocking up one of your coworkers?"

"No," you reply blushing. "Just curious as to how they compare."

"Well, I can give you the full details tomorrow morning. But that's really more of HR's jurisdiction."

"Well, I'm curious as to how each of them affects the company's bottom line."

"Alright, I'll give you the full details of each of the policies tomorrow morning. Besides, it's no longer tax season so I'm freer than usual."

"Sounds great. 9:00 a.m. good for you?"

"I'll check my calendar after we leave here, but it should be good for me."

You are happy at the little bit of progress you made just now, as sleeping with Natalie again last has ignited your desire to complete for other married women, especially Ted's wife, Helen. You weren't planning on advancing your seduction progress over the weekend, so that'll be a nice little nugget that you can tell Carrie when you see her tonight.

Shortly thereafter, James sits down next to you at the head of the table. Scanning the table, you see that Mary has sat down at the other end of the table, with the various couples in attendance paired up together along each side.

Before brunch is officially served, however, James stands up to make a toast. He politely coughs to get everyone's attention, then gives a trademark bright white gleaming grin.

"To getting to know each other better through my wife's fantastic cooking. You've truly outdone yourself this time, Mary." Mary blushes under the praise, a charming smile adorning her face as she stresses that it was no trouble at all.

"Hear, hear." Some other guest at the table says, and you join in, saying "hear, hear" with the others. From there, various guests start to dish themselves out servings of the sumptuous food, and you join in, honing in on the blueberry pancakes, though making sure not to dismiss the presence of bacon and sausage.

You've just started to dig into your meal when James interrupts your process, speaking to you right as you put a forkful of blueberry pancake in your mouth.

"So, John. How's life treating you these days?"

"Can't complain. Ted's nigh unbearable, but that's about all that isn't good."

"I hear that about Ted. If I had a dollar every time Mary came home with tales of what assholish thing Ted did, well, I wouldn't have to work. I still would, of course, but I wouldn't have to." James tutored and helped out low income youth, so that made sense to you of how his passion was in helping others. He continues on, "So you and Carrie and doing well then, I presume?"

"Definitely, we're closer than ever."

The conversation tapers off from here as you continue eating while taking intermittent swigs from a glass of orange juice. You're tempted to dip into the ****, but you do want to run errands before Carrie gets back tonight. You spend a lot of time getting to know Beth and Roger, as you tended to only interact with him at company Christmas parties.

"How have you adjusted to taking on Karen's workload? Since she got pregnant out of the blue, I assume it's been rough on you," James asks, after a lull in the conversation

"Well, it hasn't been ideal. But I have a feeling that things are going to get easier for me on that front soon."

"Well don't worry. Mary and I aren't planning on having kids any time soon. So you won't have to deal with taking on her duties any time soon."

"Well, I certainly appreciate that."

"I mean," James cuts in, wanting to clarify his position, "we will have kids, down the line. There's just some things we want to do first."

"Makes sense to me," you reply, and your attention is quickly caught by Roger asking you about where you went to college. The meal soon ends, and every one spreads out to mingle once more before departure. You're gazing intently at the quaint little garden that dominates a sizable portion of the backyard, it's vibrant colors brightening the surroundings, when James approaches you, drumming his fingers nervously on his mimosa glass. You nod in greeting as you wait for him to speak first.

"John, I have a couple questions for you, and they're a little personal."

"I'm fine with that. Shoot."

"You and Carrie are... adventurous in bed, right?"

"I would say so." You think you have a handle on where this conversation is going, but to be sure you decide to wait for James to broach the subject.

"Adventurous... with other people?"

"Slightly. We've had one threesome together, just this past week with one of her female friends," you say, conscious to not reveal any specific details about Natalie.

"And...how were the two of you after that experience? Still good?"

Your suspicions are confirmed, that Mary mentioned your threesome with your girlfriend to James. You honestly didn't expect Mary or James to be interested in a threesome, but you suppose that you weren't one to judge about other people's sex lives.

"Of course, better than ever. To be honest, I think Carrie wanted the threesome more than I did," you say, attempting to allay his concerns. And that was true. Though you initiated talk about having a threesome, it was Carrie who delved her energy and ambition into the process, eventually snaring her best friend into your sex games.

"All right. Thanks for answering me, John. I appreciate it."

You wave him goodbye and continue making your way through the post-brunch catching up. Since you only really know Beth and Roger, you try to make an effort to meet and learn about the other couples here today. Diane was a lovely willowy blonde who was college roommates with Mary, and her husband Lance was a personal trainer. Amber was a short and cute redhead, and her fiancée Tim towered over you. The two of them were neighbors down the street, so they were both wielding flutes of mimosas, and talking about how they often went rock climbing in their free time. And lastly, Scott was a coworker of James, and he and his wife Amy had the healthy bronze glow of people who had the luxury to spend long summer days on a boat or at a beach house.

The party winds down, and before you know it you're the last one there. That was something to tried to avoid, because you didn't want to be the one to impose. But every time you tried to make your leave, James had to ask you a question or show off something mildly interesting in the house.

You wander around the living room, thinking if you should just jet and apologize to Mary tomorrow at work, but you catch glimpse of an animated conversation in the kitchen. Despite your curiosity imploring you to listen in, you don't trust your stealth skills to be able to maneuver in close enough to hear what was being discussed. What you do see is James moving his arms in an frenzied manner, trying to convince Mary of something. You dart out of their line of sight before either one of them can see you, as spying was the last thing you wanted to be accused of, especially when it was true.

A couple moments later, James comes trotting out of the kitchen on a beeline to you. Mary, on the other hand, waits in the doorway, a slight frown on her face.

"Hey. I really should be heading out. Sorry for staying so long, but thank you for the incredible hospitality. Mary, brunch was absolutely delicious."

"The pleasure was all ours. Though we do have to catch up with both you and Carrie sometime. Are the two of you available for a double date sometime this week?" James asks.

Wow, it seems like everyone wanted to double date with you and Carrie now a days. "I'll have to check with Carrie, but hopefully we can manage something this week. I'll let Mary know our availability tomorrow. Bye you two."

Mary nods slightly, while James claps his hands once, the grin on his face both enthusiastic and overwhelming.

"I can't wait John," James says as you exit out the front door, heading to your car. You just lift your arm in an abbreviated wave goodbye, but for now, you have to run some errands.