THE "COMPANY" INCLUDES TWO

CHAPTER 1

The "Company" includes two

This particular party proved to be no exception to our usual high standards. We didn't have as many people as we thought we would, but we did get the "core" group together, so we had a good party instead of a big one. On the whole, it was a WONDERFUL occasion. Steve brought a stunning woman along, as usual, to greet the audience. Shelly was so adorable. She was a little short, about 5'4", and a little heavy, but I was immediately drawn to her for some reason. I approached Steve and whispered to him. "Who is the girl?" "Oh, you don't know Shelly?" He said with mock surprise. “Shelly, this is Kurt, Kurt this is Shelly”

"Hello, my name is Kurt, nice to meet you." We typically refer to him as "Speedy" "Hey, buddy, I don't need any more of your crap tonight," he said. “Well it's true,” he said with a grin.

With him around, it wasn't worth trying to make a good first impression. I decided to give it a shot later. She extended her hand to me and said, "I'm Shelly... We met a couple months ago in Chicago." A woman as physically pleasing as this I would have remembered… and I know I wasn’t THAT drunk.

“I was with Steve and you were with… what was her name?” Steve heard her say. "Who, his squeeze toy... Karen was that?" “Steve, give me a break… it's been a long day and I cannot defend myself again this barrage”

"Agreed, I'll give you some breathing room." "Nice to meet you, Shelly. I think I'll look around the party to see if anyone is having a good time." “Ok, nice meeting you again”

They turned back to their conversation and I slipped away through the crowd with my tail neatly tucked between my legs.

The night went quite smoothly. Everyone was having a good time because the music was played at a good volume and people were dancing, which is always a good sign at a party. After an hour or so of “socializing” I decided that it was time for me to return and make another attempt and enticing Shelly.

I went back to the kitchen, which was getting too warm by this point. With the punch and all the other drinks there, it was no surprise that everyone wanted to gather there. As I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, I whispered into her ear, "It's much cooler on the front porch." "And a little quieter, making it better for conversations than shouting matches" She leaned her head back onto my shoulder and smiled. “Sure, let me get some water first”

How can this be both adorable and friendly? It was unbelievable to me. I escorted her through the crowd of dancing people and out the front door. We sat on the railing which surrounds the porch.

“So, what have you been doing with yourself these days? Since... Wow, January, I haven't seen you. I asked, "What's new in your life?" in an effort to kick off the conversation. “Not much. I've been working, going to school, and hanging out with Steve. You know, the normal boring stuff.”

“Yeah, I’ve been working by myself. I haven't been in school but I’m trying to work my way up to it again.” I paused for a short while to reposition myself and she stood up.

“Leaving me?? How soon? I asked, with a mock pained expression on my face.

"No, I wanted to turn around and stretch my legs," she replied. She straddled the railing, turned her back on me, and reseated herself. “Comfortable?”

“Yes. You were saying, "Go on," She leaned into me as I lightly lifted up her shoulder-length hair and began to gently massage her neck and shoulders.

“Thank you,” she said.

“You are ALWAYS welcome to this.”

To give my hands a better position, she sighed and bowed her head. "Well, as I was saying... What's going on with Steve and you?" She became tense as I uttered my ill-informed inquiry. “I don’t know. We have been…” She looked up, glanced quickly around and continued “…hanging out together for a while but nothing else going on… we are good friends.”

Sigh, I thought to myself. ‘Just good friends’ doesn’t cause a reaction like that. I may be deceived by the eyes, but the muscles in my back will never lie. I decided to let it go for now. I didn't have time to consider Steve's uncertainty because I was making progress right now. I leaned forward to give her a long hug and said, "Sorry, didn't mean to bring up a bad topic." She once more leant against me and embraced me with her arms and hands closer to her body. “That’s ok. It's not that bad of a topic. Just a little touchy about it.”

“Why?”

Well, here I am talking about Steve while sitting in your arms... Doesn't that make you a little nervous?" “No, Steve is a good friend. We share everything… EVERYTHING”, I said, giving her a little squeeze for emphasis.

Yes, that's right. “No, really, didn’t he tell you”

“No, he didn’t”

Okay, I'm just kidding. “I thought so,” She giggled. “I feel so comfortable being with you,” she said, turning around to stare me in the eyes.

DAMN, the words I certainly didn’t wanna hear right now. Comfort isn’t what I’m shooting for… I’m looking for “oh, Kurt, you make me feel so HOT and HORNY” or “oh, Kurt, I wanna gobble you up”… not… comfortable. Your brother makes you feel comfortable. I could feel the flames threatening to consume me. “Dis’d in the Malibu”, I whispered, more as an uncontrolled verbalization than for anyone’s ears.

“Hmmm,” she quipped.

“Sorry, nothing. I'm just talking to myself; would you like to join in? “I thought I was already part of the conversation,” she said, with a slightly confused look on her face.

“You are, hon. Just thinking about… things. I mean, I want you to feel at ease around me, but that wasn't really what I was looking for, if you get my drift. "Yes, I understand what you mean, and I regret that you said that." STRIKE TWO: I need to learn to speak from the heart rather than from my ego or alcohol. This is going to hurt! “Why not,” I asked, trying hard to salvage what little bit of decency that was left in this conversation.

"Well, I kind of had the same thought. You seem like a really nice guy and all, you actually seem interested in what I think and want AND you give good massages…” That last bit threw me. I hadn’t realized that I had not stopped rubbing her neck and shoulders. “…but I feel a little uncomfortable about having Steve around”