HYPERION [ 6 / 10 ] 4K words
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Glory was sitting and moping in her apartment late in the afternoon when the doorbell rang. She opened her front door, and there stood an unfamiliar yet extremely attractive woman at the door, looking a bit lost. She couldn't understand at first what a supermodel level beauty with just about the biggest pair of breasts she'd even seen would be doing at the door of her modest third floor apartment unit.
"Hello. Who are you? ... Wait a minute, I recognize you." It finally came to her, as she'd seen her at some school events. "You're the mother of Amy and Brad Pestridge... And Alan's..." Glory's voice trailed off.
Suzanne finished the thought. "Alan's lover. Yes. Well, one of them anyway. Hi. The name's Suzanne." She held out her hand.
The mention that Alan had multiple lovers made Glory wince, but she shook Suzanne's hand anyway. "Right. Suzanne Pestridge. Alan's told me a lot about you."
"And I know all about you, too. It's nice to actually meet you after all this time."
"Yes, likewise." Glory paused to check out her visitor.
Suzanne wore a fancy red business suit in an attempt to look unassuming and responsible. However, her attempts to appear unsexy were a complete failure; she simply couldn't look unsexy if she tried. For one thing, she didn't have anything in her wardrobe that didn't make her look fantastic. The clothes she'd chosen for this visit were remarkably tight, and she couldn't even think about wearing her suit without wearing dark red pumps as well.
When she'd finished sizing up her competition, Glory asked, "So what's this all about? How did you even find out where I live?"
"You're the only Gloria Rhymer in the phone book. Look. I know about what happened between you and Alan yesterday and I thought that you might want to talk about it. You know - your big disagreement with him. There are some things I'd like to tell you that you might find interesting. Perhaps we could go get a cup of coffee or something?"
Glory was in pretty bad shape. She had been crying on and off, with little sleep, for the last twenty-four hours. She wore baggy sweatpants and generally looked like she was recovering from a bad hangover. If she was going to talk with anyone, she wanted to do it elsewhere because her extremely modest apartment was a complete mess at the moment.
Suzanne waited patiently while Glory got presentable.
Glory was flummoxed. Not only did she know that she looked like hell, but she was awed by Suzanne's beauty. Even though, rationally, she'd decided to break up with Alan, she felt more than a little jealous about Suzanne, and pegged her as her main competition for Alan's affections. Her strong competitive streak came out, and she tried to dress in the sexiest yet casual clothing she could quickly throw on. She wore a deep blue, skin-tight top that showed off a lot of cleavage, and green shorts. She surprised herself by not even wearing a bra.
When Glory came back to the door to leave with Suzanne, she ostentatiously yawned and stretched. It was like she was throwing down a gauntlet.
She thought as she preened, Suzanne, you may have some of the biggest tits I've ever seen on a thin woman and a smolderingly sexy face to boot, but I'm not exactly chopped liver here! Look at these muscles I've gotten from surfing. Alan loves them! Frankly, I'm far more fit and trim than you are, and I could easily kick your soft ass. So don't give me that "I'm the sexiest thing on Earth and you know that Alan fucks me every day" haughty look! I'm not intimidated by you.
However, this was largely bluster since she was feeling very down on herself and uncertain since breaking up with her lover.
Suzanne had heard about Glory's competitive nature and decided the safest course was just to play it cool and act friendly. She smiled warmly and said, "You look great!"
They walked a short distance to a local diner. As Glory walked, she realized her initial reaction was irrational, especially given that she'd decided to have nothing to do with Alan anymore. She decided to try her best to listen to what Suzanne had to say instead of being judgmental.
Suzanne carefully picked a spot in the diner that would give them some privacy. Once they were settled, Glory asked, "So then. Now that we've dispensed with the pleasantries, what's this all about?"
Suzanne replied, "I know everything. Alan told me all about what happened between you two yesterday. We're very open and like family."
Glory spoke bitterly. "That's the problem, isn't it? He seems to confuse his lovers and his family."
"Now, hold on. That's just what I want to talk to you about. I've known him since he was a baby, way back when he was first adopted. He's such a good kid. I'm so proud of him. I don't think you understand all that's going on. Furthermore, I think it's a big mistake for you to break up with him."
Glory grunted. "If you're so happy with him, then he's all yours. This is absurd! Here we are, both lovers to the same man, or should I say, the same BOY, and you're trying to convince me to stick with him? That's crazy! Don't you want him all for yourself? In any case, I've made up my mind. I've cried a lot, but that's over and done with now. I'm at peace with my decision. Let him love entire volleyball teams and packs of wild gorillas for all I care. I'm washing my hands of him!"
"Come now. You're just saying that. Deep down inside, you know that you still care for him and love him. I know you do."
"How can you know that?! I've never seen you before except in passing at a couple of parent teacher conferences. And now you're an expert on my private love life?"
"I'm telling you, I know you rather well. I feel you're a kind of kindred spirit. Alan was talking all about you long before you two got involved. He's been moony about you since forever. For the past two years it's been 'Ms. Rhymer says this,' and 'Ms. Rhymer thinks that.' He looks up to you like you wouldn't believe. He admires you and respects you. He loves you deeply, and I know you love him too. I can just tell. Things wouldn't have gotten this far if that wasn't the case. Your eyes wouldn't be all red like they are now if he didn't mean something to you."
Glory was very moved to hear of Alan's love, but she barked defensively, "So what if I do? A little, maybe? I'll admit he means something to me, though calling it love might go a bit far." She corrected herself, "MEANT. He meant something to me. I really admired him too. One of my most promising students - so handsome, so smart, and such a heart of gold. Okay. Shit. I love him. Loved him, I mean. But that was the old Alan. He was the one I loved. This new Alan ... he gives me the shivers."
She interrupted herself and gave Suzanne a piercing look. "But hey! What's it to you? I still don't understand. Why are you even talking to me? You and he obviously love each other, so go off and be happy. There's only so much of him to go around."
Suzanne replied patiently, "I know. And we both know that he's already spread quite thin. There was a time, even a week or so ago, when I would gladly have said good riddance to you and thought, 'There's more Alan for me.' And I would still think that, except that now I see how much he's hurting, and how much he loves you and needs you. The two of you have a very special and unique bond. You're a good influence on him, and, well, kind of a mentor to him. You give him the strength and confidence he's going to need in life. It would be so sad to see you two lose the special thing you have for each other."
"I know, I know." Glory looked pained. "And I'm touched that you think that. But I've made up my mind. He and I should have just stayed good friends, safe within the confines of the student-teacher relationship. But he's gone sex mad, and I fell under the spell of his rampaging sex drive for a while."
She looked around and then lowered her voice. "I shudder to think what goes on in the Plummer house, between his sister, his mother, and then you and your daughter Amy, his so-called 'girlfriend' from next door. Have you no shame? Why would you all agree to such an arrangement? Don't drag me into that madness! And that's not even the half of it. If it's got a pulse and a pair of tits, he's probably shagged it already. I just can't look myself in the eye and remain involved with someone like that. I'll admit that I was blinded, blinded by lust and what I thought was love, and I was blinded for far too long. Now I'm paying the price for all that. At least I feel this great sense of relief now that it's all over and I don't have to be afraid anymore. Afraid of losing my job. Afraid of the scandals. If he was a little younger, I could have even gone to prison! I've been living in mortal fear of getting caught for weeks! And what a relief not to be jealous anymore! For crying out loud, how many women are enough for him? I don't even want to know!" Then, with great disgust, she spat out slowly, under her breath, "And his own family!"
Suzanne reached out and held Glory's hands across the table in an attempt to get closer emotionally to her. She leaned forward. "Glory, I understand. That's why I had to see you today. You do know both he and his sister are adopted, don't you?"
"Of course. That doesn't excuse anything. If that's the big thing you wanted to tell me about, then forget it."
"No, that's not it. You see, I know that you think Alan has kind of gone off the deep end sexually, and that he's no longer the darling, innocent boy you knew even a couple of months ago. There's obviously a lot of truth in that. But it isn't his doing. It's my doing. I'm responsible for everything."
"You? I'm sorry Mrs. Pestridge, but I don't buy that. He's really come into his own with his newfound aggressiveness. He needs to take responsibility for his own actions and mistakes. Don't go making apologies for him. There's no excuse for the moral lines he's crossed. I consider myself a pretty open minded and sexually liberated woman, but the things that young man has done..."
"Glory. Can I call you Glory? He's called you that so much that that's the name I mentally give you."
Glory nodded.
"Thanks. And please call me Suzanne."
She paused dramatically, then continued, "I want to tell you a great secret, the biggest secret of my life. I swore to myself that I'd never tell another soul, but I'm going to tell you because I think that you and I will be friends for many years to come, and you, you of all people, need to know the truth. I'm indirectly responsible for all this pain you've been feeling, which makes me feel somewhat guilty about everything that's happened to you."
Glory was normally a very perceptive woman, and perfectly capable of reading between the lines and discerning the truth from a lie. Looking at the slump of Suzanne's shoulders and feeling the grip of her fingers, it started to dawn on Glory that this woman felt very much responsible, and therefore very guilty indeed.
"You know how in September Alan started his rather unusual medical treatment that led to him having a very active sex life from that point on?"
"Yeeeeesss...?" How could I not, seeing as how I became his "mid-day fix"? She shuddered with disgust at how easily she'd succumbed.
"Well, I was the one who got the medical people to tell him all that. I had an ambitious scheme, and I put it into motion. Not only did I want to seduce Alan, but I wanted to seduce Susan and Katherine too. I have an insatiable sex drive and I love both men and women." She relaxed her grip on Glory's fingers, so Glory could pull her hands away if she wanted to. She didn't.
Suzanne continued, "Now, I know what you're thinking, but don't worry, I'm not going to try to seduce you too. Alan has told me that you don't have the slightest interest in other women, and I respect that." She looked at Glory's exposed and nicely tanned cleavage, and thought, However, if my Sweetie gave the thumbs up signal, I'd be so all over you! He has such great taste in women. Glory, if you could only be a full member of our harem, you'd be so happy! You have no idea what you're missing!
But Suzanne didn't give the slightest hint as to these feelings and merely said in a level voice, "I'd developed a tremendous lust for the entire Plummer family that was years in the making. So I created an elaborate scheme, manipulated events, and played them all like puppets so there would be a complete breakdown of sexual barriers within their family. I'm the one who actually encouraged him to be with Katherine and Susan!" She looked around conspiratorially at the other tables, but no one was within earshot. "Nothing, absolutely none of it, would have happened without me. You should blame me, not him."
Glory let go of Suzanne's hands in disgust. Her whole body recoiled. "Good Lord! That's horrible! What possessed you?"
Suzanne found herself starting to tear up. "I love them so much. So very much. This world is such a cruel place, and no one can be trusted. Not even my own husband loves me, but the Plummer family is so special..."
She got a grip on her emotions, wiped away the beginnings of tears, and started again. "My marriage has been all but legally dead for years and years. I started to get lonely, but stayed technically married so my kids wouldn't have a broken home. I had so many adulterous affairs trying to find happiness and true love, but then I realized that my true love was for the Plummer family. I was, and still am, deeply in love with mother, daughter, and son. All of them at once. I had a fantasy of loving the entire family with physical love expressed as freely between everyone as much as any other kind of love. I thought, why not throw away conventional morality and see if communal love could happen, where everyone loves everyone else as much as two people can possibly love each other?"
Glory stayed silent, but she emphatically believed that Suzanne's vision was not only immoral, but completely unworkable. Her disgust showed on her face.
"But here's the thing, Glory. To my surprise, not only has my vision come true, but I've exceeded my own wildest expectations. We all love each other more than ever before, in every way. But I also unleashed a sexual spirit and drive in Alan that took me and everyone else by complete surprise. Not to mention a talent. His medical treatment, which of course had only minimal medical justification, turned out to be some sort of perfect sexual training for him. Just like runners training for a marathon, his body is now trained for sexual marathons. Everything else that's happened, his relationship with the cheerleaders at school for instance, was all either directly my doing or an accidental side effect."
"But why? Why? Why did you take things that much farther than your already wild scheme?"
"Like I said, things spiraled out of control. For instance, I wanted to see him with Katherine-"
"Why?!"
"Because I love her. And I love him. And I knew they loved each other and that she'd had a deep crush on him for a long time. Since they're not biologically related, it was something that could make everyone very happy. And, as it so happened, the way that came to be was through some sort of painting scheme at school that, once started, inevitably led to sexual relations with the other cheerleaders as well. I didn't plan that part, but I'd opened a can of worms, and that's part of what came spilling out. I thought I knew what I was doing but I didn't. The whole thing is completely beyond me now, and I don't even pretend that I can do much to influence events anymore. There are too many people all doing their own thing."
She thought to herself, In fact, I've become ensnared by my own scheme. I almost feel like a bit player in it instead of the original director of it! But she was too proud to admit that to Glory.
"But here's the key point I want to make. Glory, I know this shocks you, and I know you're disgusted by him, and now by me... But look at it from his point of view. He didn't purposely go out to get involved with his... you know. Susan and Katherine." She looked around again, and was careful not to mention familial relationships or the word incest. "Everything just fell into his lap. I got them so excited that THEY were the ones who seduced HIM. What eighteen-year-old male is going to resist when a beautiful woman throws herself at him? He's not the one to blame. I am."
Glory was very surprised by these revelations. Her gossipy side wanted to find out which other cheerleaders Suzanne was talking about, exactly, but there were more important things on her mind. She raised one eyebrow and looked at Suzanne in a new light. But she was still very much confused as to why she was being told all this.
Suzanne continued, "Yes, he's an incredibly lucky man to have so many lovers, but it's not all about his pleasure. He has many responsibilities as well. He's a very good and considerate boy, I mean man, and he's trying to do his best to keep everyone happy. He's had a heck of a time juggling everyone's needs, and the thing is, he loves all of us so much that he just can't say no. He's actually running himself ragged trying to please everybody."
