Chapter 14 (Chapter includes M rated material)
Friday at the theater was tech rehearsal and it went better than they'd expected, for the first run. Very few tweaks were needed, the actors, costumes, props and make up were perfect. The weather outside was as warm and sunny, as it had been the previous day, and pleased with their efforts, no one felt like working anymore, so, at lunch Leslie West agreed to knock off and call it an early day. Chantelle had arrived at her customary 11:30 a.m., and learned of the free afternoon. She asked May Alice if she wanted to do anything in particular, and was a little surprised to her say she needed something appropriate to wear to dinner Saturday night. Clearly, Chantelle realized, she had missed something overnight. "You decided to go?"
"I did. Well, I sort of did," she didn't continue, and Chantelle didn't push. They went shopping.
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Saturday arrived and resulted in a busy morning. Denita and Dr. Blades had arrived mid-morning from Chicago, and the four had enjoyed a nice lunch in the restaurant at the Plaza. After, May Alice returned to the room while the others set out for FAO Schwartz. She briefly thought about phoning Ben, in a last-ditch effort to change his mind about the evening, but she didn't because she was actually looking forward to it. That day in the theater with him, she realized she felt the most normal she had in over a year. She'd longed for that feeling and it was why she changed her mind about dinner. She didn't care about his motives, she just wanted to feel beautiful again, to wear make-up and nice clothes, and forget, for a little while, that she would be in a wheelchair the rest of her life; and nothing could make a woman feel more beautiful than being on the arm of Bennett Marley.
Chantelle returned in plenty of time to help her dress for dinner. In her absence, May Alice had done her own make-up and hair, and Chantelle was quite impressed with the combined effects. She had noticed, in the first few days of their arrival, that May Alice had put more effort into her appearance than she did at home. Her hair grown long in the months since summer, and Chantelle had believed that was more out of neglect than real intent, but during that first visit to the hair salon, May Alice had not requested the length to be shortened any, only trimmed and styled. Once done, Chantelle observed, the woman had some pretty great hair. Even that evening, with just some minor effort, a little more eye make-up than usual, and a killer red lip stick, Chantelle witnessed, first-hand, the star quality that she'd only heard about. "You look very glamorous," she said honestly.
"Darling," May Alice responded with a sarcastic, southern drawl, "I am very glamorous."
Ben Marley arrived with his usual flourish, an hour later, bearing his killer smile, and bouquets of roses, one for each of the women. His suit, Chantelle speculated, had to have cost a thousand dollars. It was impeccable, and if she'd thought he was good looking before, he'd now achieved demigod status. She was pleased to see that May Alice could hold her own with the man. Her suit was also impeccable; a smart, navy pin stripe Armani with a red silk shell underneath. She'd tried to convince May Alice to shop for a dress but she was not comfortable with her legs, in spite of all the work she'd put into keeping them in shape; and wearing heels, she'd thought, was out of the question. That was, until she'd tried a pair on. She remembered how great her legs looked in those kinds of shoes. Chantelle had quipped that paraplegics were the only women in world whose feet would not hurt from wearing such heels. May Alice liked that thought so much, she, indeed, bought the shoes, but still opted for the suit over a dress. Ben didn't care either way; he seemed genuinely happy to see May Alice again, and complimented her in his most charming manner. He greeted Chantelle with the same broad, beautiful smile, as he presented her with a bouquet of a dozen yellow roses. He then introduced himself to Chantelle's father, before either woman had a chance to do so. Upon hearing the doctor address himself as Doctor Blades, Ben spoke briefly about medicine being, "the mercy of the civilized world," and then turned his full attention to Denita. Taking her little hand in his, he bowed to her, and declared, "I thought I was having dinner with the loveliest woman in New York City this evening, but, it appears I have been misinformed." He plucked a single white rose from May Alice's bouquet, turned back to Denita and offered it to her saying, "Please allow me to welcome you to New York City, Miss Denita." Denita was speechless as she took the rose. Ben finished, with his undivided attention, on May Alice. He presented her bouquet, two dozen, all white roses, as he bent and kissed her lightly on the lips. "You are exquisite," he said simply, as he'd expected nothing less.
She smiled at him, then asked Chantelle if she'd not mind tending to the roses for her. As she handed them over, Ben asked May Alice if she'd like to take one rose along with them. "You mean," she said, only half joking, "You don't have more for me in the car?"
"May Alice, you know me too well! Of course, I do!" He turned, once again, to the family of three, and said with a wink and a smile, "A lady can never have too many flowers." With that, he bid a hearty farewell to the others, helped May Alice with her coat, then whisked the wheelchair out the door.
When they'd gone, Chantelle turned to her father and daughter, only to find both staring, agape, at closed door and the remnants of the encounter. "Wow," is all Denita could say.
"Yeah," was all Chantelle could respond.
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The evening was starting perfectly. Ben had done his homework and had arranged a limo service with wheelchair room, and a driver who knew how to handle his guest. He had been ready with every yes, to May Alice's no's, about the night, and he was happy to find that he had not needed to use any of those persuasions. And, he did, in fact, have another bouquet of flowers for May Alice in the limo. Upon seeing them, May Alice shook her head and smiled, "They're beautiful." She held his hand as the limo made its way through Manhattan to the best of Ben's favorite, five-star restaurants, the one with the best wheelchair access, of course.
Picking up the spirits list as soon as the two had been seated at the restaurant, Ben began perusing its ample selection and asked her if he she'd be having her usual. That had been the only apprehension about the evening she'd allowed herself all day; how to explain, without admitting, to Ben, that she could no longer keep a handle on her drinking. It was so un-New York. She hesitated a moment, then answered, "No, I won't be having any drinks this evening."
Ben's eyes met with hers over the top of the drink menu, "Now, how am I going to seduce you without blurring your vision a bit?" he chided in response.
She smiled, and lied, "It interferes with some of the medications I take; but please, do have some yourself." Without missing a beat, Ben ordered a scotch and started, again, with the compliments to May Alice's appearance, which she welcomed like the warmth she'd no longer get from, her usual, Kentucky bourbon.
Following the completion of their appetizer, May Alice leaned in and locked eyes with her handsome companion. "All right, come on, Ben, what is this really all about? Tell me the truth."
"I told you, I missed you." She wanted to believe him, but she was nothing like the dim starlets, often on his arm, the ones who would believe anything he said, so, she continued her stare, and added a narrowing of her eyes, for emphasis.
"Oh . . . there's that savvy woman I know. All right," he relented, "here it is - my big, sinister plan. Your play already has a buzz, which is unheard of for a daytime-actress-turned-playwright; hell, for any actor-turned-playwright; but there is talk. If it holds up, Wyatt will need a bigger producer. I want it."
"Oh, thank God. I was afraid this was about some gimp fetish I never knew about," she said, again, only partially joking.
Ben flashed his stunning smile in response and said, "Well, as you know, I am always looking for undiscovered talent." She laughed, and smiled and, finally, fully relaxed into the familiar scene. This is who she and Ben had been, casual, playful companions who didn't expect, or demand, anything from one another, and who didn't bullshit one another. She was, again, grateful for that feeling of normalcy she'd hoped would return.
In keeping with normal, following dessert, Ben leaned in toward May Alice and said, "Stay the night." May Alice laughed out loud, as she had done in the theater, only days before, but Ben did not. He simply looked at her and smiled, and sent for the check, and the car. Once settled in the limo, Ben removed the phone from its cradle and instructed her to call "her friend, Chantelle". May Alice was impressed he remembered Chantelle's name, so few got it right the first time. But that was all part of Ben's charm. Charm that, God help her, was sincere and, rarely, solely, self-serving.
"What do you want me to tell her?" She asked, with curiosity.
"Not to wait up. I will take the night shift this time." As she pondered that, most bizarre, thought, Ben instructed the driver to return to his place, not the Plaza. As the car moved, May Alice dialed her suite.
Chantelle answered right off, and said, "Are you here? I'll come down." She nearly fell over when May Alice announced that she would be staying the night with Ben. Chantelle was torn as to whether this was a silly joke Mr. Beautiful had convinced May Alice to pull on her, or whether she was really hearing sincerity in May Alice's voice. It was the latter, she realized. "Well, are you sure? I mean . . ." but Chantelle knew May Alice would have thought through all her questions already, so she simply asked, "Are you all right? He's not holding you hostage or anything, right?"
May Alice managed a nervous laugh, and said, "No. I will be fine for one night. Enjoy your time with Denita. Get some sleep."
"You know I won't sleep a wink," Chantelle said honestly.
"Well, that makes two of us," May Alice said with a wicked smile. Both women hung up, having no idea what the next six hours would bring.
Upon having closed his front door behind them, Ben turned to May Alice, dropped to his knees, and kissed her passionately. Her mouth responded to his immediately, as though no time had passed between them, and, as though she could feel her excitement in the same way she once did. It was there, it was different, but present, and it unnerved her. She stopped kissing him, and asked, trying to mask her breathlessness, "What do you think is going to happen here, Ben?"
He did not answer. He picked her up out of her chair, carried her down the hallway, into his room, and laying her on his bed, he kissed her again, this time deeply, and slowly, and when he stopped, he said, "The good Lord wouldn't take away one thing, without giving you something else, in return. Let's see which of your senses are going to take over for your lower half, shall we?" And then, the best-looking man Chantelle had ever seen, removed his jacket, and shirt, and began removing May Alice's clothing. Oh God, is all she could think ,as she dialed up memories of their many nights together, and while her hands worked to free his belt.
She knew, and trusted Ben, and, for the next few hours, she willingly followed his lead. They learned what still worked, what didn't, and near the end, with Ben on top of her, she watched his face. She could feel his body moving, and heavy over hers, she felt the heat of him, and of her own body, and she could see he was reaching his climax. She was happy for him, happy that her body had betrayed only her. She couldn't feel all of him, of course, but what she could feel, felt good, and she realized the rest of her body must still have been able to respond to Ben's presence inside her, just as her mind vividly remembered how he used to feel there. The combination of the foreplay, the memories of him, the scent and actual feel of him, the months without alcohol dulling her senses, the return to almost-normal, and now, the rhythm of his movement, and the familiar look on his face, everything, had worked in glorious concert to bring Mae Alice to her own climax. Among the other sensations, she felt her upper body shake in response to what could only be an orgasm. She was simultaneously thrilled and shocked at that idea. How the hell, quickly gave way to, holy shit, and, finally, she allowed her mind to rest, for the first time, since her life had been so drastically altered over a year ago. She fell soundly asleep in Ben's arms and remained there the rest of the night.