THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING |
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Rick Archer's Note:
Two
serious dance accidents in a row involving Victoria had left me badly
spooked. It felt like I had violated the Will of
God in some way. I believed I was being told by the
Universe to step away from Victoria in no uncertain terms.
My
problems reminded me of a movie titled The Man
Who Would be King. The film was based on a
fascinating adventure tale written by Rudyard Kipling. In 1888, two soldiers of
fortune desert the British army in India and head north.
By
chance they stumble upon the lost Kingdom of Kafiristan hidden
deep within a remote Himalayan valley. The two soldiers
immediately get involved in a battle between warring
sides. In the midst of the battle, Danny appears to be struck in
the heart by an arrow. Fortunately the arrow strikes a
metal amulet on his chest. He doesn't die, he doesn't
bleed. Instantly all fighting on the battlefield
ceases as men stare.
When the High Priest rips open Danny's shirt,
he is amazed to see the Masonic tag around Danny's neck
contains the sacred symbol of "Sikander", better
known as Alexander the Great. To these people, Alexander is a
God. Prophecy says Alexander will send a son one
day to rule the Kingdom and bring peace.
Danny's
seeming invulnerability plus his possession of the 'All-Seeing Eye' amulet
convinces the High Priest that this stranger is Divine. Everyone stops fighting and Danny is proclaimed
King of the realm. However, there is one condition. Because he is
a God, Danny cannot take a wife. Legend states that any mortal woman who marries a God
will die if she has sex.
One
day Danny spots Roxanne, the most beautiful woman in the land.
Danny cannot resist her, so he proclaims to all he will
marry this woman. Not a good idea. The High
Priest immediately protests. Does that stop
Danny? No, of course not! Being King has gone to
Danny's head. A King's word is more important than the
High Priest. A King can do whatever he wants. To the dismay of everyone, Danny defies the High Priest and
insists on having
the wedding.
The
ensuing Omens are
terrible! First the birds die. Then the
fish die. Locusts appear and crops fail. Famine
strikes. Plague takes hold. Every bad omen known
to man suggests the Gods do not approve of Danny's decision
to marry Roxanne.
Poor Roxanne. She is
terrified. Due to her superstition, she fears she will
burst into flames if she consorts with a God. When
Danny tries to kiss her following the ceremony, Roxanne
frantically resists. Her eyes roll up and she
trembles with uncontrollable fear. Ignoring his
bride's obvious panic, Danny forces Roxanne to kiss him.
Hysterical, Roxanne has a violent epileptic seizure that causes her to
bite Danny hard on the lip.
Roxanne's bite draws blood!
Uh oh. Gods are not
supposed to bleed. When everyone sees the blood,
they realize Danny
is human after all. Tough break. Danny is
swiftly beheaded.
In my mind, Roxanne and Victoria were
linked. My omens
were saying the exact same thing as Danny's omens.
Do not touch a Forbidden Woman!
In my heart, Victoria belonged to Michael. I was
certain these weird
accidents were a firm warning from the Universe to drop any thought of a serious
relationship.
Meanwhile, I had
four accidents in a row to deal with. What the heck is
going on with my life?
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RICK ARCHER'S LIST OF
SUSPECTED SUPERNATURAL EVENTS
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THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY |
|
077 |
Serious |
Strange Accident
Dance Curse 4 |
1979 |
| |
Victoria's Greased Lightning Disco pants cause her to go flying at Foley's.
She narrowly
misses serious injury |
|
|
076 |
Serious |
Strange Accident
Dance Curse 3 |
1979 |
| |
When a
ceiling fan blade nips Victoria's toes at the Lighthouse, Victoria narrowly
misses serious injury |
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|
075 |
Serious |
Strange Accident
Dance Curse 2 |
1979 |
| |
When a drunk woman shoves Rick in the back during a dance contest at
Spats, his elbow gashes the inside of Patricia's lower lip, thereby ruining the
performance |
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MAGIC CARPET RIDE |
|
064 |
Suspicious |
Cosmic Blindness
Dance Curse 1 |
1978 |
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The Ritz Debacle is caused when the Ritz DJ loses his mind and
turns out the lights during Rick's performance |
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AUGUST 1979, the disco years
SET ME FREE
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To be
perfectly honest, my Realistic side knew
Patricia and Victoria were right about finding a more
respectable job. With the Dancing Cowboy sneaking
ever closer
like the proverbial Grim Reaper, my August Disco enrollments were
significantly down
from July. With a heavy heart, I wondered if this
downturn
signaled the much-feared beginning of the end. If this trend continued,
Disco would be in real trouble. I had a nice nest
egg saved up, so this might be a
good time to apply for business school or brush up on
those computer skills. However, in my heart, after
all the lucky breaks I had received to get this far, I
believed it was God's Will for me to continue what I
was doing. Based on that belief, I stubbornly clung to my dance
career despite the Biblical flood of Bad Omens surrounding
me.
Nothing in the month of July had
given
me the slightest encouragement that a Romance with Victoria
was in the stars. From the moment Victoria's father portrayed me
as an exploitive Playboy and gigolo, her infatuation eroded
swiftly. Her Cold Feet gave rise to the Husband List where
I was judged inferior to Michael in every important
way. As if that was not bad enough, the dwindling
enrollments reinforced
Victoria's growing pessimism that my Disco dance career was
doomed. Now even God was making things tough.
This bizarre Dance Curse left me badly shaken. I was no expert on
tea leaves, but my intuition strongly suggested God was telling to
stop
entertaining thoughts of any romance with Victoria.
Hey, no
objection from me! After an
entire month of negativity in July, I was more than willing to
back off.
Could we even call it a Romance? Back in the days
of April, May, and June there had been several close
calls of spontaneous combustion. However,
Victoria's attack of Cold Feet had put a swift end to that.
Throughout July, there was a total absence of sexual
attraction on Victoria's part. Not once had we looked
longingly in each other's eyes. Mind you, we were
alone in Victoria's car shrouded in darkness. The
conditions were ripe for romance, but all we did was
continue these endless Negotiations to Nowhere. This was
ridiculous. As I listened to her blab away at how
Michael was treating her badly, I fervently wished Victoria would come to her senses and
set me free. This obviously
wasn't working, but
Victoria
refused to admit it was hopeless. Maybe it
was true that Love is Blind. The woman was making
a fool of herself. However, due to my refusal to
alienate her for fear of retaliation, I continued to play
along.
As July rolled
into August, Victoria needled me incessantly about the accident
at Foley's. I was sick and tired of being
picked on for causing an accident I did not believe was my
fault. I asked her to knock it off, but the subject
kept popping up. So I decided to
confront her. On Tuesday, August 7, at the end our private lesson,
I insisted Victoria try Around the World again with Glen watching.
We had done this after the Lighthouse accident, so let's do
the same thing again... put the move to the test.
Victoria turned white. It took considerable courage,
but to her credit she finally agreed.
This time she had shorts on, so the much-needed friction
returned to
her legs and the move worked fine.
We tried it a second time. The move worked fine again.
Glen said the move looked right to him. That left us
with three explanations. The Realistic
answer was
the slick pants. The Mystic answer was the Dance
Curse. Then Victoria offered a third
explanation, one I did not see coming. Victoria suggested I had done this deliberately. Victoria looked
at me, then looked at Glen. "Maybe Rick was trying
to kill me."
Was she making a
joke? I waited for
the smile, but there was none. Nothing
more was said, so I left it alone. However, I could
not help but feel Victoria
had been
semi-serious. After the lesson, we went over to La
Madeleine. Victoria wasted no time lighting into me.
"That was a cheap stunt with Glen
and I didn't appreciate it. I don't know what to believe
about you,
Rick. You have accident after accident, but you
keep saying
it's never your fault. This time you're
wrong. I know you didn't cause the Lighthouse problem, but at
Foley's I think you
deliberately loosened your arm to hurt me. You're
mad because things have gone so poorly between us."
Her
words stung deeply. I did not appreciate being accused of
hurting her deliberately. How could I prove my innocence?
We argued back and forth, but it did no good.
Victoria's sharp words hit right on top of a painful nerve.
I hated being blamed for things that I could not possibly
anticipate. The accidents at Ritz,
Spats, and
Lighthouse were each out of my control. As for
Foley's,
how was I supposed to guess Victoria's
skin-tight pants were a threat? I was upset that Victoria
half-believed I was trying to
hurt her. I understood Fear was making her
say these ugly things, but that did not prevent her bitter words
from getting under
my skin.
I snapped back in anger.
Right there in the restaurant, I said, "Victoria, look me in the eyes. Now think about what you
just said. Do you really want to accuse me of trying
to hurt you?"
I stared
directly at Victoria. She stared back for a moment,
then looked away. She took a long breath, then spoke
up. "No, you're right. You would never hurt
me intentionally. I'm sorry, I didn't really
mean that. I guess I'm just deeply frustrated.
Nothing is working out like I hoped it would. My world
is falling apart. Michael doesn't love me, you don't
love me, Disco is failing and I've almost gotten my neck
broken twice."
|
Did Victoria
just say what I think she said? Victoria had
admitted she was discouraged too. Things were not
working out like she had hoped. Hmm. This might
be my best chance to end the Medieval Siege. I wasted
no time seizing the opportunity.
"Victoria, you
are absolutely correct. I know exactly what you are
saying. You are right, none
of this adds up. Listen to me. Have you ever
considered the possibility we are star-crossed lovers who
are never meant to be together? We did so much better
as friends. I am sorry I suggested we explore a deeper
relationship back in July [a face-saving fib. I
wished I had never gone near her]. I thought that
was what you wanted. However the events of July have
convinced me you are better off staying with Michael.
Don't worry, I am okay with that. Why don't we stick to being friends?"
|
 |
I held my breath.
I had just given her the perfect opening to back off,
no apology necessary. Take it, Victoria, please take it!!
Nope. To my dismay, Victoria turned it down.
"Oh, no, Rick,
don't be absurd. There is a future for us, I am
certain of it. I can feel it in my heart. I just
have to figure out how to make this work. I need more
time to allow our path to reveal itself."
What
Path?
As far as I was concerned, the correct Path had already
revealed itself... Victoria goes back to Michael and sets me
free. I stared
at her with keen disappointment. After all
these excruciating problems, why couldn't she see
the writing on the wall? What Future is she referring to?
I once thought Victoria was the most perceptive woman I had ever
met. Not any more. Why couldn't she see this
wonderful
relationship she talked about all the time had no
chance in hell? Undeterred, I gave her a
second chance to back off.
"Victoria,
if you want a future for us, that's fine. But
this romance angle is not working. Wouldn't
it be easier if we simply went back to the way things were in 1978 and try having fun as friends
again?
Let's just stick to business and dancing together."
|
A look
of horror crossed Victoria's face.
"Listen, Rick, I
have jeopardized my marriage to help you build this dance
program. This program is just as important to me as it is
to you. Michael has begun to insist that I
choose. Otherwise he says he may just leave me. If
that happens, I better be able to support myself.
Right now Disco is my only job, but it looks pretty shaky.
That makes leaving my husband a huge decision. Plus
I have a daughter to think about. You owe it to me to give
me the proper time to think this through."
I
groaned inside, but did my best to disguise my
disappointment. "Okay,
Victoria, have it your way. Take your time. Let me
know when you have an answer."
Back to
the Siege. I was disgusted to find the Waiting Game
was still on. This was getting old in a hurry.
Victoria had spent the past month insulting me
in just about every way humanly possible. Now
when I asked permission to walk away, she jerked me
back. I was bitter. I felt like Victoria
was toying with me. She pretended I was mighty
King Richard, Ruler of a mighty Disco Empire. Nonsense. I felt like a convenient dupe to feed her ego and
help her play nasty games with her husband. Ultimately I was no more than a pawn, her
little plaything, arm decoration for Camelot.
Prior to
July, I believed Victoria wanted a life with me. Now
it seemed obvious Victoria was never serious about
a committed relationship. I was really angry at being
duped. How stupid of me to believe Victoria was serious. Our
relationship was one giant waste of time.
Her father had
labeled me a Playboy,
but 'Puppet Boy' was more like it.
|
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AUGUST 1979, the disco years
TEST OF WILLS
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Since
deep down Victoria knew I
could never support her. With the Disco World
vanishing before her eyes, one would think the
Material Girl would fold her cards and return to her
secure life with Michael. Guess again.
Victoria refused to give me my freedom. Every
Tuesday and Thursday in July we had trudged out to her
car to continue Negotiations. Whenever I
pointed out the Negotiations were not making
progress, her reply was always the same. "Be patient, I am
weighing my options, I need more time."
Following the Lighthouse and Foley's accidents, things had
gone downhill rapidly. Now that the
Negotiations had dragged on into August, every night
I faced more criticism. Listening to Victoria drone
on and on about my shortcomings, one thought passed
through my mind on endless loop..."Okay, Victoria, I get it. I am
not worthy of you. Can I leave now?"
Baffled
by her indecision, I tried my best to understand what
Victoria's problem was. My best guess
suggested Victoria knew her husband was by far the
better choice for her, but Michael was so disgusted
that living with him was a daily ordeal.
The only way Victoria could make a relationship with
Michael work would be to quit the Dance World and
crawl back begging for forgiveness.
Victoria wasn't willing to do that. Victoria
was not the Humble Pie type. She refused to let go of her Dance Dreams even though they were
on life support thanks to the Dance Curse and the
Dancing Cowboy. Although
I was not a suitable option to replace Michael,
Victoria kept buying time with the same old bullshit... "Please
be patient, this is a very important decision for
me."
This is
just a guess, but I think Michael was just as much captive to his wife's manipulation as
me. At this
point, I think we can all conclude a normal woman
would have little trouble making up her mind.
Disco is dying, Rick is unsuitable, Victoria's
husband is a Prince (albeit rather grouchy at the
moment). So what's the problem
here? Yes, Michael has said some harsh words,
but Victoria could solve that by abandoning her
Dance World. Victoria and I had never kissed. Since no
forbidden lines had been crossed, Victoria's halo
was still somewhat intact. Why
not give in to Michael's perfectly reasonable demand
and patch things up while there was still time?
If asked, I would return to Michael's house and
swear nothing had happened. Michael would be
skeptical, but he would eventually forgive her.
Returning to Michael is
what any reasonable woman have done, correct?
However, no one ever said Victoria was reasonable.
I had
not yet reached the far-fetched conclusion that Victoria was
operating under an Evil Cosmic Spell (yes, the same
sort of thing we read about in Fairy Tales). That would
come later. However, I was already mystified
by the woman's reluctance to face facts. All she ever did was ask for more
time and every week her home situation deteriorated
further. At this rate, Victoria was in danger
of running out of time. If Michael got angry
enough at this absurd runaround, he might just hit
the Exit Door. What man puts
up with a wife who openly entertains ideas of
leaving him for a gigolo? My guess was
that Victoria was playing the victim. I
suspected she was feeding Michael a pack of lies and
blaming everything on me.
What other explanation could justify Michael
allowing this nonsense to continue? Most
men would have visited the lawyer by now and
delivered a powerful threat to the wife. "Leave
Rick or I will leave you." Did
Michael do that? I don't know, but I would bet
money he said something to that extent.
|
 |
I believed Victoria
had
negotiated in good faith throughout July. However,
Victoria should have seen the Light by now, especially after
two dance accidents. Now all she was doing was
stalling. During the month of August my gut told me Victoria
cynically ran Michael and me around in circles to avoid making a choice.
Playing one against the other, Victoria kept us both in line by appealing to our good
nature... "Oh, please give me more time.
This is such a huge decision for me!" Woe is me, alack, alas.
The problem was
that Victoria refused to grovel which (in my opinion) was
her best option to end this dilemma. Victoria was so
used to being the dominant one that she could not bring
herself to say she was sorry. What a shame.
Michael would have forgiven her, I am sure of it.
As I continue to
stress, NO LINES HAD BEEN CROSSED. It wasn't like
Helen of Troy begging Menelaus to take her back after
running away with Paris. All Victoria had to do was say she was
sorry and her nightmare would be over. Why Victoria
refused to do this is beyond me. Maybe she'll write
her own book someday. Hey, send me a copy. I would love to read it!
|
Although Victoria made
me miserable, I am certain Michael suffered more. At least I got to go home at night
for refuge. Not Michael. He had been
saddled with
Victoria's Dance World Drama and her flirtation with the
wicked dance teacher for
nearly a year. It gets old, right? As for
me, I suppose I was a little more patient because I only had to listen to Victoria's
ceaseless
whine, wail and worry two nights a week. That
said, I
will admit Victoria's continued insistence that I figure
out a way to support her exasperated me no end.
She never seemed to grasp that
I was under no obligation to support her. Yes, I
had desired Victoria back in April. Yes, I had
desired
Victoria in May and June too. And yes, I
had wanted Victoria at the start of July. However,
now that August had rolled around, a failing business,
two dance accidents, plus an entire month of
useless
Negotiations had convinced me I did not want Victoria under any circumstance. And
let's not forget the Husband List. I still seethed
every time I thought about that. Since
I had made no promises, did
Victoria honestly think she could bully me into
marrying her or letting her move in with me?
One would think Victoria could figure it out, but no, all I
ever heard was "How will you ever support me?"
Victoria told me
over and over that Michael didn't want her anymore.
Fine, I replied, sue for divorce and we can take it
from there. Victoria did not like it when I
said that. The word 'Divorce' was
kryptonite to her. She had a better idea.
She
said Michael was pleading for her to move in with
me just to get the suspense over with. Yeah,
right, like I believe that. Nor would she get very
far. Over my dead body! Was
Victoria really sincere about moving in? Who knows? But
here's the irony. Victoria's indecision had created an absurd game of Hot
Potato. Here, Rick, you take her.
Oh, no, Michael, you keep her, she's all yours.
|
So why
didn't I tell Victoria to knock it off? That's a good
question!! In Victoria's case, I suppose I had made an
unconscious
Devil's Bargain. I had traded my independence
in return for Victoria's ability to create the
spectacular rise of my dance program. There's
an old saying, don't
bite the hand
that feeds you. With Disco in serious trouble,
any overt defiance would
accelerate the death of the dance program. Why antagonize the woman?
Since
I assumed Victoria would eventually come to her senses, I
preferred to be cautious and pray she would see it was
hopeless. That way I could avoid being the
Bad Guy and hopefully we could remain friends.
By waiting the woman out, I
assumed it was only a matter of time before she gave in and
returned to Michael.
Unfortunately Victoria was in no hurry to make up her mind.
Despite all the tension, she liked having Michael
around for security and she liked keeping me
around for the exciting Dance World. What
Victoria wants, Victoria gets. Victoria wanted
to keep things just the way they were. So
despite the fact that neither man wanted her based
on the way she was behaving, she continued to juggle
us both. Give the woman some credit.
Victoria sure knew how to
manipulate men.
However, Victoria
was playing a dangerous game. Walking a tightrope,
Victoria had to make sure neither Michael nor I
ditched her. She probably sensed I was
reluctant to confront her for fear of damaging the
dance program. As for Michael, I suppose he talked 'Divorce' all the
time, but Victoria understood he was reluctant
to put his daughter Stephanie through that ordeal
unless absolutely necessary. By way of her uncanny intuition,
Victoria sensed Michael and I were easily manipulated due to
our mutual belief she would come to her senses before it was too
late.
|
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MID-AUGUST 1979, the disco years
CHANGE IN STRATEGY
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|
I began losing patience with my
Siege strategy in mid-August. Sensing
I was getting the runaround, after
the dance accident at Foley's I thought seriously about
unilaterally
calling it quits and finding someone new.
Unfortunately
Victoria
read my mind.
"I
know damn well you are thinking of looking for a new girlfriend.
This cannot happen! You were
clueless when I first met you. I created
this program and elevated you to an importance
you would have never achieved without my help.
Now you owe me the respect to keep your hands to
yourself while I am making the most important
decision of my life. Do you understand?"
I
shrugged, then sarcastically replied, "Yes, dear.
Whatever you say."
Here is
where it got interesting. Victoria understood that if
I walked, the game was over. She also realized
with Disco headed out the door,
what did I have to lose? She knew her grip on me was rapidly waning. Feeling
desperate, Victoria
needed a compelling reason to make me hang in
there against my will during her holding pattern. And so
mid-August marked a serious change in strategy. Why not try
temptation, the oldest trick in the book? You
know what I mean, a honey trap to obligate me to
stick around.
Okay,
before we continue, let's get something straight.
I have no right to claim I knew what Victoria was
thinking. The best I could do was observe her
behavior and surmise her motives. So when I
say Victoria wanted to get me into bed
as a surefire way to keep me from walking, this is
not fact, this is speculation.
Trust me, I was not
irresistible. Victoria had spent ten nights
alone with me in the dark without any hint of sexual
attraction. Nor was it love, that's
for sure. From the moment Victoria chased
Patricia out of my life, there had not been a single
warm moment between us. Therefore I was
shocked the night Victoria flipped the switch.
If July was all about Cold Feet,
then August was Turn on the Heat. The
contrast between her July behavior and August
behavior was so startling I believed Victoria
gave up on the 'Committed Relationship' idea
and moved onto a new strategy of 'Seduction'.
Faced with a renewed onslaught of temptation, I was very
much on guard. Convinced Victoria would never leave
her husband for me (nor did I want her to), I concluded
she wanted an Affair
and nothing more. This
'meaningful relationship' possibility had been my idea, not
hers. Victoria preferred to give lectures on
European infidelity, not Holy Matrimony. Well, I wasn't going
to be party to that. Not my idea of fun. I was very
bitter. Victoria had the nerve to call me a
Playboy, then blamed it on her father. I would
never allow this woman to reduce me to a 'Playboy'
label. I was not a womanizer. I was not a gigolo.
Her father was wrong about me and so was Victoria.
Okay, so I admit I was not equal to her husband in
many ways, but I did have integrity.
|
Unfortunately, I also had a powerful sex drive that
could care less about integrity. My virtue was under direct attack.
Victoria knew full well I was spending my nights
alone. Once she decided to press her
advantage, my desire sabotaged my Siege Mentality. I
reminded myself constantly that we could never have
sex. If that happened, I would never get rid
of Victoria. However, I had a problem... I wanted her!
And Victoria knew it. All she had to do was
turn on the charm. And so she did. I hate to admit this,
but no matter how much I disliked Victoria, she was
unbelievably hot. I hated her
guts, but I
still wanted to have sex. My desire was based on
passion, not undying love. And now for a confession.
The idea
of
revenge sex fueled my passion. I was so tired of
being Victoria's puppet, the sexual conquest of my tormentor would do my
damaged pride
considerable good. Fortunately, I held onto my common
sense. This was same
foolish attitude that had created the Dangerous Liaison.
Surely I was not so stupid as to repeat that mistake.
Or was I really that stupid? I
was sorely tempted.
Right now Victoria was the only
game in town and she was hell bent on practicing the
horizontal Tango. The ancients used
catapults to break down castles, but Victoria had a
better idea. Why not use short dresses?
During Acrobatics practice, every time
I touched those long and lovely bare legs, another piece of
my resolve was
dislodged.
I knew what she
was doing. I was certain Victoria wanted to have sex because this
was the easiest way to keep me from chasing other
women. In this
test of wills, if I were to find a new girlfriend, her sway would be seriously eroded. However,
there was no woman out there worth the risk of defying
Victoria. My only choice was to maintain my resistance
and pray the dual threat of Disco Extinction
and Michael's impatience would cause her to fold
before I gave into desire. Unfortunately, once she turned up the heat,
I began slipping fast.
In a Medieval Siege, the biggest problem was lack of food and water. During the
Victorian Siege, my biggest problem was sexual starvation.
Could Victoria's
seduction overcome my resistance or would I escape her
clutches and find another woman? A woman knows when a man wants her.
Victoria figured it was just a matter of time before I
gave in.
And then
she would own me forever.
|
 |
Thursday, AUGUST 9, 1979
MOONLIGHT MADNESS
|
 |
|
To
Victoria's credit, throughout July, she played fair.
Despite the fact that she was frequently in my arms when we
practiced, not once did she make a move on
me.
Nor did she bring up the subject. Victoria
seemed perfectly content just to keep me on her leash and let
Puppet Boy
do her bidding. However, August was a different story.
Victoria went on the offensive.
Victoria worked
at the studio on Tuesday and Thursday night.
At least one night a week,
usually
twice, we would retreat to her car for long, useless
conversations where Victoria would Negotiate and explain how hard this
decision was
for her. I had tolerated
this charade throughout July, but
now that August was here, I was fed up. Victoria could see
it in my eyes. On Thursday
night, August 9, Victoria could tell by our conversation that I
was rapidly losing interest. Sensing I
was ready to call the whole thing off, she made a bold move.
|
Victoria
lunged across the seat and kissed me!
Her wildly
impulsive action took me totally by surprise. The
moment her lips touched mine, I was on fire. Flames
seared through my body. With our faces locked in a
passionate kiss, my hands quickly found their way inside her
clothes.
Victoria offered no resistance. We were in a
frenzy as I began to remove her clothing. The
moment I touched her breasts, I had
to have her. More of her clothing quickly disappeared.
So did mine. Only her panties were left when a
small voice in the back of my head begged me to stop. The small voice whispered
that if I
went any further, I would never be rid of this woman.
That did the trick...
In a
panic, I
pushed Victoria to her side of the car and threw the door open. I
actually fell on the ground
getting out because my unbuckled pants were down to my knees. I
pulled my pants up, got back on my feet, then staggered to
the safety of my car. I trembled violently as I drove
home. That was a close call.
I did
not answer the phone Friday morning. I also skipped going to Camelot
that night.
Unable to get the memory of those soft, full breasts
out of my mind, I did not want to be anywhere near the woman.
If Victoria pulled that stunt again, I did not know
if I could hold out a second time. Victoria
had come so close to getting her way, I feared she was bound to try again.
Unfortunately, on Saturday morning, we both had
private lessons at the studio. This meant I could not avoid Victoria any
longer. Pulling
me aside, Victoria was full of
sweetness. She apologized from the bottom of
her heart for losing control like that... except
that I was oh so special... and it was oh so
difficult not to touch me... and I turned her on oh
so very much and...
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Feeling
a renewed stirring, I was reminded that men are not
properly
wired to turn down beautiful women who plead to be
satisfied. Thank goodness there were other
people around. Otherwise I might have taken
her to the back room where Lance Stevens had a love couch
reserved for his flings. I had never used the
couch, but I knew where it was. Right now
that couch seemed like a very good idea. Shaking
like a leaf, I put up my hands to discourage her
from coming closer.
"Look, Victoria,
I lost control Thursday night and let things go too
far.
I am deeply ashamed, you have my word on that. I think we need to cool down before we
do something stupid. If you don't mind, I am going home.
I need to calm down."
"I thought you and I were going to
practice today. We will be dancing at
Annabelle's tomorrow night, so I would like to go over that new move
Glen taught us Tuesday morning."
Our new
move was an acrobatic move known as Scissors.
Victoria would kick one leg in the air. After
scooping her leg, I would hoist her up my shoulders.
After a brief pose, Victoria would sinuously wrap
her body around me on her slow descent to the floor.
One look at that flimsy low-cut dress she was
wearing today told me that practicing this move was
a very bad idea given my
current weakness.
"Let's do it another time. Frankly, I am still
upset over our near-miss
on Thursday. Right now I
need some distance."
Victoria
looked at me petulantly. "Okay, Rick, if you say so. But don't
forget you promised to take me to Darya's
country club tomorrow. Can I still count
on you? You know this is important to me.
I would be embarrassed to go alone. Will
we meet at the usual halfway point?"
I
groaned. Why did I ever agree to this?
Because Victoria owned me, that's why.
"Yes,
Victoria, I will meet you at the halfway point at 4 pm
and we can drive together to Darya's club as planned."
I took
careful note that Victoria did not wish to
be picked up at her house. Obviously she did
not want Michael to know we would be spending Sunday
together. Just to be perverse, I asked, "Does
Michael know about this?"
"No,
of course not. No reason to upset him.
I reminded Michael that I would be teaching at
Annabelle's
later tomorrow night. However I also told him
I wanted a new
outfit so I would leave early and
make a pilgrimage to Foley's."
In other
words, she fibbed.
Michael had
no idea that she was spending the afternoon with me. For the umpteenth
time, I wondered
just how much Michael knew about his wife's
motives and activities. Realizing how close I
had come to breaking my vow to resist his wife, I
was filled with shame. This could not happen
again.
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