CASA CIELO
Original © 2006
Revised © 2007
BY:
Gerry Young
[To DREW in Yorkshire, England, my LOVE for his continued inspiration, encouragement, ceaseless instructions over my hardheadedness, and his determination to help me make this the best that I think it can be, even though I may not have followed all his suggestions to the letter.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The phone rang and woke Gerry from his reverie. He hesitated. They're not coming. Beckie doesn't want to come up.
It rang again. Maybe it's a new wallpaper client. He ran to the kitchen and as it rang for the third time, he answered, "Hung Right Wallcovering Services, this is Gerry. How may "
Ted interrupted softly and seductively. "Hellooooo, there. It's meeeee."
Gerry nervously responded, "Oh, hi. What's happening, Buddy?"
"Well " He was still speaking softly but continued in a normal, non-seductive voice. "Beckie got back, and uhhhhh "
"Yeah? And " Gerry's excitement grew a bit.
"I told her we met, and I saw the house, and then told her about your uhhh proposition, and uhhh "
"She wants to come up and see the place?" Oh, Thank you, Lord!
"Yeah but, uhhh there might be a little problem."
"What's that?" Gerry asked, dropping his voice and suddenly coming down from his emotional high, feeling a tightening in the pit of his stomach.
"One of her girlfriends another interior designer came back with her." Ted sounded a little at odds with the unexpected arrival, almost as if it were an imposition.
"Oh! OK I see "
"And I was uhhh sorta wondering if she could well, maybe, come up to the house with Beckie and me?"
"Oh, yeah don't worry about that. Yeah, sure! The more, the merrier! A girlfriend, huh?" A smile came back to Gerry's face, not only because he'd soon see Ted again, but also thinking about what kind of 'relationship' this 'girlfriend' and Beckie might be having with each other. But it's probably nothing more than a 'business' friendship, Gerry reflected, a little deflated, again.
Oh, the emotional ups and downs Gerry was going through! One moment he was standing up straight and happy; the next, he was slumped over, leaning on the kitchen counter; then back up and then back down.
Ted had been saying something, but Gerry had been lost in his own thoughts.
"What's that, babe? I'm sorry. I was you're not on a speaker-phone, are you?"
"No," Ted replied matter-of-factly.
"Whew! I just called you, 'babe.' Anyway, I was gonna say that I was thinking about dinner tonight, and I didn't hear what you were saying."
"I was saying that I would pay for the three of us "
Gerry cut him off. "No, you will not! Tonight's on me, ya hear? I'm buying I invited you and you're all my guests tonight So there!' He even strawberried in Ted's ear.
"Why," Ted begged. "It's not fair to have someone unknown and unexpected just drop in even if Beckie did bring her."
" 'Cause I said so; that's why," Gerry replied, stressing each individual word!
"Oh Sir Yes Sir!" Ted shot back, and then in his normal voice added, " but I want to pay something SIR!" Then he chuckled aloud at the little game that had begun. He also shifted his weight, trying to loosen the tight leg of his work-shorts for that special something that was slowly growing.
Oh, yes, Gerry would let him pay something eventually, if not sooner. But standing there, in the kitchen, in the nude, from sun-bathing, his own something was slowly starting to lengthen and thicken. His right hand reached down, gently grabbed hold, and lightly squeezed.
"OK you can pay the tip, but that's all."
"Well, if that's all you're gonna let me pay then, okay," Ted remarked with a twinkle in his voice, but then asked normally, "What's the dress for the evening?"
Gerry let Ted's comment slide for the moment but quickly answered, "The dress? In this heat, in the desert? It's always casual." Then, chuckling, he changed the subject and asked, "When can you be here?"
"In about an hour, if that's okay? Or a little more."
"In about an hour? Yeah, that'll be great. What time is it now? I must have dozed off. I was out grabbing some rays in the courtyard."
"It's almost 3:30."
OK, we'll see ya about 4:30 then "
Ted interrupted. "Is anyone there with you?"
"Nooo. No one's here but me; why?" Gerry asked.
"You said, 'WE'LL see you about 4:30."
"Oh 'WE' that's me, myself and I 'WE!' " Gerry chuckled again.
"Okay just checking," Ted responded seriously, then after a few seconds, could not contain his quick, almost silent, snicker, any longer.
"I think " Gerry began. " Did I just hear jealousy in your voice?"
"I'm not going to give that the courtesy of a comment," Ted flatly replied, almost under his breath, and then burst out, chuckling aloud.
They were both in a playful mood.
Gerry squeezed a little harder. "You're whispering now, aren't you? The girls nearby?"
"Uhhh yeah. And they're just in the bedroom, unpacking."
"I love it!"
"And you're grinning, too, aren't you," Ted continued whispering.
"Yeah, I'm grinning You can hear it in my voice?" Li'l 'Omar-the-tent-maker' was nearly at full mast at this point in their repartee. Gerry squeezed, yet again, and slowly began stroking.
"Yeah I can hear something and I bet I just bet that you're getting horny, too, aren't you, you sex fiend, you?"
"Oh, shit! Yeah, I'm getting horny very horny as a matter of fact. You make me horny. I can't help it." Omar was definitely fully erected now, and Gerry was speeding up his manipulations??? Then he abruptly stopped, a wicked look of wonderment came to his face, and he facetiously asked, "And you can't risk doing anything about that hardon in those tight little shorts of yours, I'd guess, with WIFEY and friend close by. Can you?"
"You're gonna pay for that smart-ass comment, Gerry, if I have anything to do about it," Ted joked.
"We'll see; we'll see. We'll discuss THAT later OK?"
"You bet your sweet boopy, we'll discuss something later!"
They both roared hilariously, even though Ted failed miserably at trying to control his volume.
"Okay. Let me go shower and get some clothes on," Gerry tried to terminate the phone conversation.
"Okay, but don't do anything in the shower that I ain't planning on doing, given half a chance," Ted replied, again very softly. "By the way just what are you going to wear tonight?"
"Sandals, shorts, light polo shirt that's what I was thinking about. What would you prefer?"
"I'd prefer you in nothing. But for public decency I guess a pair of loose fitting Bermuda shorts a la commando! I wanna watch 'Omar' wiggle." He snickered again and even added a giggle.
"You are bad, Ted. You are bad !" Gerry began giggling, and then said, "Okay. Commando, it is! I like that better than what I was planning, anyway, babe."
"Let's sit next to each other in the restaurant so I can rub my leg against yours, get you all hot and bothered, and then rest my hand in your lap." Then as an after-thought, Ted added, "They don't have glass-top tables, do they?"
"No they don't, and if you do what you just suggested, I'll just have to lay you across my knees and paddle that cute, sweet little butt of yours!"
"You wouldn't! Would you? But it's so tender and untouched, don't you remember?" Ted sounded so serious and concerned.
"Tender and untouched, eh? In that case, I'll just have to be prepared to lick and kiss the soreness away Hahahaha."
"Hey! Let me go shower, and I'm sure the gals will want to freshen up a bit, too. We'll see you in about an hour from NOW, and that'll be about a quarter of five. We're wasting time!"
"Yeah, yeah, OK, OK, all right, already! See ya soon."
"OK."
"Kiss kiss."
"Uh huh."
"On down the road, par'dner," Gerry said.
"What's that mean?"
"I'll 'splain it to ya later, babe.
"Ok. See ya soon."
"Ciao." <Click>
Like a schoolgirl who'd just been asked to the prom, Gerry hugged his arms around himself and danced all around the kitchen and family room. It's gonna work. It's GOTTA work!
Double checking that everything around the house was neat, clean and in its place, he busied himself while whistling:
You are the sunshine of my life
Thats why Ill always be around,
You are the apple of my eye
Forever youll stay in my heart.
I feel like this is the beginning,
Though Ive loved you for a million years.
(By Stevie Wonder)
Fresh clean sheets on the bed in the master suite, but this time, rather than the gray, he decided on red red, sexy, sensual, slippery, stimulating satin. Then he replaced the mink with soft, fluffy, white Alpaca hides, normally used as area rugs. Whether on the floor or covering the beds, the hides gave a nice masculine aura to the space. He wanted to scatter red rose petals over the white fur, but thought that to be a bit much, and so decided against the idea.
Then a rushed shower, getting dressed in sandals, polo shirt and loose fitting Bermudas, a la commando, of course, and the hour flew by. Right at 4:45, he heard a car pull into the drive. He certainly is punctual! I like that. Oh, yeah!
Going out to welcome his prospective tenants and guest, he found the car to be a newer model Lexus, desert beige in color. If this were Beckie's car, it was nothing ostentatious just pure Class with a capital "C", particularly for an Interior Designer living in the desert.
"Hiya, Ted," Gerry said as all three exited the car. "I see you remembered all the twists and turns to get up here."
"Yes," Ted replied, "it's not all that hard to find," he accentuated the word and winked and smiled at Gerry as the two ladies came up from behind him and stood at either side of him. "I'd like to introduce " he started, as he looked to his right, but Gerry interrupted him.
"You must be Beckie," he said with a smile as he extended his hand to take hers. She gave him her hand and he held it for a moment. Turning his head toward Ted but never letting his eyes leave Beckie's face, he said to him, "Ted, my friend, your description and Beckie's photo do her absolutely no justice at all." Gerry turned his head back to join his eyes toward this ravishing beauty. "Beckie, you are absolutely beautiful. I am very pleased to meet you."
He looked quickly at Ted, and in a deeper voice said, "You lucky dog!" just before he raised her hand and kissed the back of it.
Beckie gave a little chuckle and said, "Why thank you, Mister "
"Gerry, please," he interrupted her. "I hope we become good friends," he continued as he openly winked at Ted. Ted smiled back at him.
"Well, thank you, Gerry," continued Beckie. "Thank you for the lovely compliment, and I must say, you are quite the gentleman. That's not seen often enough these days."
"No, I agree," Gerry replied. "Some of my ways may appear to be a little old fashioned, I know, but I'm comfortable withthem. And YOU must be " he continued, turning his attention to the gorgeous woman standing at the left side of Ted.
Ted started to introduce her, but Beckie cut him off, leaving his mouth hanging open. Oh, those soft lips, that sexy mouth. I want to kiss you right now, dammit. Down, Omar, down, boy! <sigh> A-Ten-HUT! Get back to the business at hand.
" my best girlfriend, Sheilagh (pronounced SHE-lah) Monohan, originally from Dublin, but now living in both Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Vail, Colorado.
"HOW do you do, Mis uhhh Gerry?
"How do you do, my dear," Gerry asked, likewise taking her hand, raising it to his lips, and kissing the back of it. Sheilagh seemed to blush. How delightful!
Beginning to walk backwards toward the entry gate, Gerry summoned with both hands, "Come, come. Come on inside. Welcome to Casa Cielo, as I call her, my little house in the sky."
"But it's not so little, as you'll see," Ted joined the conversation. Gerry took a double-take at him, and with the tip of his right index finger, suggestively brushed away something on his upturned lips, as Ted, slightly behind the girls, licked his own, and winked at Gerry. He was enjoying this. Gerry was getting turned-on. And the girls were ooo-ing and ahh-ing over everything from a distance.
"Oh! I forgot something," Gerry said, primarily for the sake of the girls. Turning toward the center of the garden / courtyard, he said in a stronger voice, "Lurch?"
"Yesss, Master?"
"Wha " asked the girls in unison as they looked to Ted for some answer. He started laughing.
Fighting to control his own laughter, Gerry continued, "Everything but lights!"
"Yesss, Master. Right away, Sir." The little boy statue began peeing into the lily pond. The Jacuzzi bubbles were activated. The misting system began its cooling work. And Cirque du Soleil's Quidam began to surround their senses.
"OH MY GOD! How ?"
Ted began to explain, "It's V.Aaaaaaaaaa V.A. what, Gerry?"
"V.A.E.C."
"Yeah, that's it. V.A.E.C., Voice Activated Electronic Control," Ted took over for the moment. "YOU've seen that little shop on El Paseo called uhhh Creative Electronics, haven't you, Beckie?" She nodded. "Well, Kyle ?" he looked to Gerry for help.
"Taylor."
"Yeah, Kyle Taylor," he began again, directing his attention back to Beckie, "he's the owner of the company. And he and Gerry are pals, and Gerry tells him what he wants, and Kyle does all the schematics and then the actual installation itself. Don'tcha just love it?"
"Let me interrupt just a moment," Gerry jumped into Ted's explanation. Let's all go in the house and get something to drink." They headed toward the kitchen.
"This is gorgeous, Gerry," Sheilagh said. "How long have you had it?"
"About five years," he answered. "It was a wreck when I got it. I've done most of the remodeling myself, and I'm kinda proud of it. What does everyone want? Cocktail? Beer? Wine? Soda? Lemonade? Sun tea? Iced Perrier? I've got a good stock of everything."
Ted jokingly asked, "Coffee, tea or me?" as he innocently looked around at the three of them.
The girls looked at Ted; then at each other; and then at Gerry. He froze for a second, stunned, then looked at Ted, frowned, and pensively answered, "I'll have to think about that for a bit." Then he looked at the girls quickly, shrugged his shoulders, put a stupid, crooked smile on his face, and laughed. They laughed. Ted laughed. They all laughed.
Beckie and Ted wanted Sun Tea. Sheilagh asked for Lemonade, and Gerry took a Corona from the 'fridge. He placed the sugar bowl between the two Sun teas.
They were sitting on the stools at the breakfast counter, and Gerry was standing at the other side of the counter in the kitchen.
"Sooooooo," Beckie began, "is the entire house under uhhh V A E C ?"
"Oh, no," Ted jumped in again, "Just the courtyard for right now, but eventually everything will be voice controlled. Gerry and Kyle are working on that right now."
"I see," replied Beckie as she quizzically searched Sheilagh's face. Sheilagh shrugged ignorance, then Beckie redirected to their host, "but it's a great concept, Gerry. I'd like to meet and talk with this 'Kyle', to learn what I can about VAEC, and then suggest it to a few of my affluent, more eccentric clients. I know two who would love it!"
"And I have some clients in Vail who would go absolutely ba-NAH-nas over the idea," added Sheilagh with very dra-MA-tic inflections; " particularly in their LEATH-er-covered 'PLAYroom' as they call it. AC-tually it's their DUNgeon which takes up the enTIRE second SUB-level of the house underground, but we won't tell ANYone around there about it." Looking straight at Gerry, Sheilagh winked, and kept that one eyelid closed for about three seconds, and then smiled at him. He got the feeling that this rather quiet, seemingly somewhat timid, extraordinarily beautiful young lady, had his number!
Clearing his throat, Gerry asked, "Dungeon???"
"But of COURSE, darling! Variety IS the spice of life, you know?"
"So I've heard. So I've heard," he grinned, not knowing where the conversation was leading. Sheilagh was coming alive. He surely didn't expect what she said next
"What say, I go out to the car, get my valise, and my black leather dominatrix outfit with bull whip and spiked boots, and show you what pleasures can be derived from a 'dungeon' atmosphere? What say, huh, toots?"
He didn't know what to say, and in his hesitation, Ted somberly and quietly spoke up, almost under his breath, "I don't think Gerry's into all that, Sheilagh; OK?" Evidently, Ted knew what she was referring to. So did Gerry. He just didn't want to let on that he understood. Not with a dominatrix! No way in hell! Now if it had been Ted asking as a dominate male wearing a black leather harness, black leather cod piece and jock strap, black leather motorcycle boots and whip, he would have jumped at the opportunity to fulfill a newly developed fantasy! Oh yeah! Oh well! Shit happens!
Straightening up from standing stooped over at the counter, Gerry stretched, cleared his throat again, took a deep breath, and acted as if the last segment of the conversation had not happened, and asked, "So, Sheilagh, you mentioned clients. Are you an Interior Decorator?"
"No, Gerry," she coldly replied. "I'm an A.S.I.D. Interior Designer. There's a big difference between the two."
"Gerry, that's one of Sheilagh's biggest pet peeves," Beckie interjected. "We met in design school in New York nine years ago " Sitting between Ted and Sheilagh, Beckie reached over, squeezed Sheilagh's hand, and kept her own hand there as she continued, " and then we were both accepted into the prestigious American Society of Interior Designers, two years later." Gerry noticed her hand was still on top of Sheilagh's. "That's when she was offered a position with a firm in Denver " Her hand then moved to gently, soothingly rub Sheilagh's back, as she continued yet again, " and I was offered a position with a design firm in L.A."
Gerry also noticed that Ted, who was sitting at the end of the counter, had his elbows on the counter and his chin anchored in his hands. He was staring into his glass of tea and only occasionally would he look up. Each time, the look was at Gerry, and then quickly back into his own glass. Gerry moved around behind him and began massaging his shoulders and said, "And what about you, big guy? When did you and Beckie get together?"
Ted raised his head to answer, but Beckie replied, "It was just a couple of months after I came to L.A. We were both at a uhhh a party up in Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills; isn't that right, Teddy?"
Ted turned and looked sharply at her. Then she added, "He always hates it when I call him that, don'tcha, lover boy?" She tickled him under the chin; Gerry could feel him tense up, tighten his muscles, and stop his breathing for just a few seconds.
Beckie, obviously oblivious to Ted's feelings, continued while turning to Sheilagh. "We had had a little bit to drink, a little bit to smoke, a few different colored pills, I was wearing my black leath I was wearing a skimpy little outfit. Teddy and I got totally like turned on, tuned in and fell madly, passionately in love that night, didn't we, honey?" She reached over and placed her hand high on the inside of his thigh and squeezed a couple of times.
Gerry wanted the subject dropped. He could see, sense, and feel that Ted was uncomfortable with the forthcoming information. "I haven't been a very good host. Refill, anyone? I know, for one, I'm empty."
"No," from Sheilagh. "No, thank you," from Beckie. "I'm fine," mumbled Ted. Gerry decided against another beer.
"It's about 5:30 now, and while it's still light, why don't I show you around the house, Beckie? I guess Ted told you we met yesterday " She nodded in the affirmative. " I invited him up to see the place, and after hearing about the bungalow where you live and the kids and all, I suggested that y'all might like to rent here for awhile. I don't need all this space for myself. You could have one or two bedrooms, a separate office and each of the rooms with a separate bath; full access to everything but the master suite. Let me show it to you."
They, all four of them, walked through the entire house; Gerry pointed out different pleasing "selling" points about each room or area, and finished the little tour back in the family / entertainment room. "So whata ya think?"
"Well, if I weren't living in Wyoming and Colorado, I'd love a place here, Gerry. It's beautiful with everything so carefully detailed out." Sheilagh seemed genuinely taken with the amenities, but Gerry wasn't offering her a place to rent.
Beckie looked around the room, shaking her head in disbelief. "Nearly everything I've ever dreamed of is right here in this house, Gerry. But I've got to think about it for a couple of days, and of course discuss it with Teddy."
"Of course; but what's missing? I noticed you said 'NEARLY everything ' so, what else would you want, Beckie.
"Ownership, rather than tenancy," she quickly answered, taking no second thought.
"Oh," Gerry chuckled. "Yeah, I see whatcha mean. So, Ted, my man, now that you've been through the tour twice, whata you think?"
"You know what I'd like, Gerry; I've already told you I'd love to live up here," he said, directing his whole body-language toward Gerry so the girls couldn't see his face as he closed his eyes dreamily and mouthed a tiny kiss toward Gerry.
"Yeah, I know that's what you said last ni last evening; just wondered if you still felt the same way."
"Yeah, I still feel the same way. It's quieter up here, cooler up here, and at night, the lights in the valley down there I still can't get over the beauty of it. I love it up here!"
"Well, good! I'd love to have you up here BOTH of you. Now take as long as you want to decide. I don't want to pressure you."
Like hell, I don't want to pressure you, Ted. I wanna pressure you, and I want you to pressure me, like neither of us has ever been pressured before.
Ted's eyes got as big as saucers and he had a shit-eating grin on his face. Gerry swore to himself that Ted had just heard his thoughts!
"What are YOU grinning like a Cheshire Cat for, Ted?" asked Beckie as she looked at Sheilagh and back to Ted.
Happily chuckling while speaking, he answered, "Oh, nothing I don't know. It's like like suddenly I got the craziest sensation, the craziest feeling that everything's going to work out; that somehow I uhhhh " (he looked straight into Gerry's eyes) " WE yes! WE are going to be living up here. Yeah, it's gonna work out. This is gonna be HOME! I feel lucky tonight, everybody. I feel really lucky! Where were you planning for us to go for dinner, Gerry?"
"Well, I WAS going to ask if y'alld ever been to the Agua Caliente Casino for dinner? It's the one out at the junction of Bob Hope Drive, Ramon Road and the Interstate #10 Freeway." All three shook their heads and said "no" at the same time. "Well, in that case, and seein' that my new buddy, Ted, here, feels so damned lucky tonight, I'm gonna insist that we go out there. They have a great Buffet dinner of uhhh let's see uhhh Mexican, Asian, American and Italian foods, plus a beautiful salad bar, and the most sinfully delicious dessert bar anywhere around. AND it's quite reasonable."
"Sounds great to me, Gerry," Ted chimed in.
"Sounds like fun," Beckie said.
"Count me in," said Sheilagh.
<><><>
To be continued.Author's Note:
Dear Readers: Thanks to a very sharp fan, it has come to my attention that I made a serious boo-boo in Part IV (Casa Cielo), Chapter 4. I wrote, Picked it up for a song from a tax/lien sale about fourteen years ago. It should have been five years ago.
My sincerest apologies, but it shows that someone is reading! I must say that from the time that Gerry meets Ted, I am starting to play with the time-factor, and you will possibly notice that places and people are out of their time-line some did not even exist at the time and place I put them. This is, as you know, nothing but fantasy.
Please enjoy.
Comments welcome, please drop the
author a note:
Posted: 10/12/07