The Bridge Club Ch. 10

I tried really hard to find new players – male players – for the bridge club.

There was one guy who worked with me, named Pete, who admitted that he used to play. I invited him out for a beer after work, in order to check him out a bit. It wouldn’t do to invite a psycho, or a social reject.

Pete was a little shy, and a bit of a nerd (not that there’s anything wrong with that). He seemed like a decent guy, who could hold up his end of a conversation. He was also willing to sit in for a game with us.

I called Beth, to let her know that I had found a player, but was still trying to find a second.

– “We’re good to go, then.” said Beth. “Christina has given us the green light to invite Emily to fill in. Your new guy makes eight.”

– “Emily?” I asked. “Christina is ok with that?” I remembered that Emily made Beth nervous. “And how about you? Are you ok with it?”

– “I’ll survive.” she said. “Look, stupid: you have to sleep with Emily to catch up with Massimo. Christina knows that. It’s part of your deal. Just keep your shirt on, and let Carmen make the approach.”

Darren hosted the first game. It was the first time we had played in quite a while. Pete was introduced to everybody. I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head; I had mentioned that most of the other players were female, but I hadn’t told him how hot they were.

For my part, I was walking on eggshells. I was hyper-conscious of Christina, and didn’t want to say or do anything to annoy her. And Emily was there. She was wearing jeans and a polo shirt, which did little to conceal her firm breasts and slim figure. She had long, flowing auburn hair. At first glance, Emily looked younger, because of her trim body and the way she dressed. Upon closer inspection, though, you could see that she was closer to forty than to thirty.

Emily had those little crow’s feet at the corner of her eyes. They were even more apparent when she smiled. But she also had that look … I’m not 100% sure how to describe it. Well-traveled? Her eyes suggested considerable experience. There was quite a bit of mileage on that slim, hot body.

I wondered if Christina had had a hand in setting up the new schedule. I found myself at the second table, partnered with Carmen, against Emily and Pete. Was this because Christina wanted me as far away from her as possible? Or was it to give Carmen and me a chance to get closer to Emily?

Pete didn’t let me down. He knew all of the major conventions, and played well, considering that he had never met any of the others before. Emily talked a better game than she played, as far as I was concerned. Carmen was her usual self, and I played like shit. Trying to hook up with an older woman for a threesome, while the girl you are in love with is sitting across the room? Bizarre.

In the second game, Beth and Abigail came over to play against Pete and me. The girls were extra nice to Pete, putting him at ease. I was more relaxed, too.

After the cards, I followed Beth’s advice and stayed away from Emily, leaving the field open for Carmen. Beth and Abigail were laughing with Pete. That left me with Darren and Christina.

– “Pete seems like a nice guy.” she said.

– “Can he play?” asked Darren.

– “Better than Massimo. Or Emily.” I said.

– “That’s a pretty low standard.” said Christina.

Darren shot me a sympathetic look.

On the plus side, Carmen left with Emily. That looked promising. I drove Pete home. He was in high spirits.

– “That was awesome, Norm. Best bridge club I’ve ever heard of!”

– canlı bahis “So if the others want to make you a regular, you’d be up for it?” I asked.

Pete just laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

*****************************

Beth called me two days later.

– “Can you come over tomorrow night? At 8:00?” she asked.

– “Jesus, Beth – you sound terrible. Is something wrong?”

– “We have a problem.” she said.

– “A problem? What kind of problem? Is there something I can do?”

– “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” said Beth. Then she hung up on me.

The day passed agonizingly slowly. I couldn’t concentrate on my work. Pete, by contrast, was whistling when he came by to say hello, and to thank me again for inviting him to join the bridge club.

– “That’s the fourth time, Pete.” I told him. “I get the message.”

I arrived at Beth’s at 7:45. Ten minutes in the lobby of her building was all I could take. I knocked on her door. Beth opened it.

– “Are you OK? What’s wrong?” I asked her immediately.

– “Calm down, Norm.” she told me. “We have a problem. It’s not an emergency.”

– “It’s not? Jesus, Beth, you scared me. You sounded terrible on the phone. Why all the mystery, then?”

– “Just come in.” she said. “I’ll let Carmen explain it.”

Abigail and Carmen were both sitting at the kitchen table.

– “Here – sit down.” said Beth. “Carmen, you tell him. From the beginning.”

Carmen looked like she was going to cry. “I’m so sorry, Norm.” she said. “I drove Emily home after bridge the other night. Everything was going so well. I flirted with her, and she was really responding. So I suggested the three-way: you, me and her.”

– “But?”

– “But she said ‘No’.”

That was not the news I had been expecting. Maybe I had been counting my chickens prematurely. Now I was well and truly stuck. Massimo was ahead 4-3. There was no way to win the bet. Only if Christina would relent and sleep with me could I even tie it up.

– “Carmen!” shouted Beth. “Don’t leave him hanging – tell him the rest.”

– “Sorry – there’s more, Norm.” said Carmen. “I asked Emily why. I thought she had enjoyed the threesome with … with Massimo. She said she had. So I asked her why she didn’t want to do it again with me, and she said ‘Been there, done that’. And then -“

– “Holy shit, Carm!” interrupted Beth. “You’re the worst story-teller I’ve ever heard. Just get to the point! Look, Norm. It boils down to this: Emily isn’t interested in Carmen anymore. She wants a new experience. She would be willing to do you and another girl – but it would have to be somebody else.”

– “Oh.” That was all I could get out. “That’s the problem?”

– “It’s not the end of the world.” said Abigail, brightly. “We just have to find another girl.”

We sat in silence for a moment.

Beth made a face. “Norm, I …”

– “Don’t, Beth. I wouldn’t ask you to do it. I know that Emily gives you the creeps.”

She nodded. “I’m not sure why. I’m pretty open-minded about most things, you know? But I just couldn’t. I know I couldn’t. Besides, I’m not sure that Christina would want us to have sex again.”

– “And Abigail can’t do it, either.” said Carmen. “She has a boyfriend.”

– “She does? That’s great!” I said – and I meant it. “Good for you, Abigail. How long has this been going on?”

Abigail blushed. “Since Saturday night.”

– “Saturday? This past Saturday?” Sometimes I can be remarkably slow on the uptake. “You mean Pete? You and Pete?”

– “I really like him.” said Abigail. bahis siteleri “He took me out last night, and we’re going out again tomorrow.”

– “Young love.” sighed Carmen.

– “I wish I could help you, Norm.” said Abigail. “With Emily. But I really like Pete. I don’t want to cheat on him.”

– “So that’s the problem.” said Beth. “We have to find you a girl that Emily will be interested in. She has to be willing to have a threesome. And we have to convince Christina to accept it, too.”

– “Easy peasy.” said Abigail

– “Wait a minute.” I said. “What’s with all of this ‘we’ stuff?”

Beth had the answer for that. “It’s ‘we’, Norm, because the three of us were stupid enough to sleep with Massimo. That gave him a chance to win the bet. If we hadn’t done that, he would never have told Christina about it – screwing up your chances with her. It’s up to us to help you fix this. She’s our friend, and you’re our friend. So we are going to help you find a hot bisexual girl.”

– “What else are friends for?’ said Abigail.

*****************************

All three girls tried hard. They called up old girlfriends, college acquaintances, and even younger sisters of old girlfriends. Carmen spent a few hours on internet searches, looking for people she might know.

It was a serious matter, but I was frequently tempted to laugh out loud. How exactly does one steer the conversation around to asking: ‘So … are you now, or have you ever been bisexual?’

We had to cancel the next bridge night. Emily wasn’t available. I offered to take my three headhunters out to dinner, as a reward for all their hard work. I sent them a text invitation.

Abigail answered first. “Can I bring Pete?”

-“Forget dinner.” was Beth’s reply. “I have a better idea: let’s go clubbing. Plenty of hot girls, out for a good time.”

– “I know just the place.” answered Carmen.

-“Umm … should we invite Christina?”I asked.

Beth’s answer was brief. “Not her style.”

Carmen’s reply made me smile.”to help u find a bi hottie who will f*** u she has to drive her sister somewhere. It’s OK, though. We found a new substitute.”

Carmen hosted. I was overly self-conscious from the very beginning: far too aware that Christina wasn’t there, and far too aware of Emily, who was appraising me like some item at an auction. Carmen had found a new player, a tiny Eurasian girl she introduced as Marina. There was something vaguely familiar about her.

– “Have we met before?” I asked.

Marina giggled, holding one hand over her mouth. Carmen glowered at me.

– “The club.” she hissed. “Molly’s.”

Then it struck me. Marina was one of the three young girls from their office. Without the heavy makeup, she looked even younger. This was one of the girls that Carmen had stayed to ‘party’ with. I took a closer look.

Marina was tiny – barely five feet tall, if that. I would have put her weight at 90 pounds. Despite her diminutive frame, she did have curves: apple-sized tits, a wasp waist and gently swelling hips. She had blue-black hair, with long bangs that covered her entire forehead, including her eyebrows. The contrast between this little pixie and Carmen’s busty linebacker build was intriguing – and more than a little arousing.

I managed to corner Beth, and whispered in her ear. “Are they …?”

– “Maybe.” she said. “It depends. Now pay attention to Emily. You’re supposed to be flirting.”

It depends? What the hell did that mean? But I followed orders. It wasn’t that hard to do, to be honest. Emily bahis şirketleri looked good. And if the smoky looks she was casting in my direction were any indication, we only needed a female partner to seal the deal.

For the first game, I drew Beth as a partner, against Carmen and Marina.

– “How long have you played bridge?” I asked my new opponent.

She giggled. “Oh – not very long. But I really like it.” She had an accent; it wasn’t very heavy, but definitely noticeable.

– “Where were you born?” I asked.

– “Singapore.” she said.

– “Marina’s mother is Chinese, and her father was Dutch.” added Carmen.

– “What a lovely mixture.” I said, raising my glass.

Marina was cute, and seemed fairly bright, despite the giggles. But a bridge player she was not. She took an ungodly amount of time to pass, and counted points with her fingertips.

I glanced at Beth, with a look of horror on my face. Beth slowly raised her index finger to her lips.

It was excruciating. A good card game goes smoothly, at a crisp pace. This was more like a three-legged race with a pair of drunken sailors, who have to stop frequently to pee. Nonetheless, I tried to be encouraging, patient, and non-judgmental. The last thing I wanted was to screw up Carmen’s new relationship, if that’s what it was.

So I suffered in silence, stealing a look at Emily now and then. Finally, mercifully, Beth and I got the cards to win the rubber and put us out of our misery.

During the interlude, Carmen took her new friend to get a drink. I looked at Beth accusingly.

– “What?” she said.

– “Tell me that this isn’t her first time ever playing bridge.” I demanded.

– “She read a couple of books on bridge, and Carmen coached her.” said Beth. “Now shut up, and be nice.” As she stood up, Beth pinched my ear – hard. “Be nice.” she repeated.

Abigail and Pete moved over to join me. And then Marina returned.

– “Oh! It looks like you and I are partners.” she said. Then she giggled.

There was nothing to do but grin and bear it. I dared not risk the wrath of Beth. Abigail must have known in advance: when Pete realized just how bad a player Marina was, he looked at me with a duplicate of my earlier horrified expression. Abigail kicked him under the table. Twice. We played nice.

I survived until the second break. We snacked on some pretty decent sushi. Emily flirted with me a bit, but she was definitely interested in Marina, too.

– “You owe me for this one.” I told Beth, privately.

– “No, we don’t.” she answered. “Just shut up and be nice.”

Yes, I was at the same table with Marina again. This time Darren got to share the fun. He evidently was in on it, too, because he showed very little reaction to Marina’s play (except to grit his teeth a few times). Surprisingly, Carmen was our fourth. Somehow, the tables had been set so that Emily was the only person who didn’t get to experience our newest player.

It was agonizing. I endured it only by vowing to resume my search for another player. To make my suffering complete, Carmen and Darren colluded to let Marina and me win.

After the cards, Abigail and Pete stuck around for one quick drink, and then left. Marina was enthusiastic about her first bridge game. I will admit, now that the ordeal was over, that it was entertaining to watch her high spirits. There was a certain freshness there, an innocence, I guess, that was very appealing. I will also admit that I briefly wondered what she would be like between the sheets, if she weren’t playing for the other team.

Emily stuck around for a while, apparently also interested in our newest player. That gave me a chance to catch up with Darren. I was preparing to call it an early evening, but Beth grabbed my arm.