Rhonda Finds Dating Isn't a Game

Betty chimed in. "It's Danny, right? Danny, you were in a position of weakness, maneuvered there despite what you wanted. Martin is much better at maneuvering than any of us expected. As Rhonda said, you only had the option of attacking him, giving him the moral high ground and removing you from a scene that Mary apparently had carefully worked to put you into. The other option would have been for you to call for help and feel emasculated when guys told you to man up and take care of it yourself. We understood, Rhonda had to be her own hero for herself and for you."

A comment came to Rhonda's memory. "Betty, wasn't there some threat?"

"Sometimes," the tall woman said, "you realize a line has been crossed and you need to take a stand no matter the consequences. Like you're going to HR. I'm not going to have the day when I walk into my dungeon and find Martin's stupid sneer and a dead or paralyzed girl. Avery pointed it out to me, it had to end."t

Suddenly Carmen cut in. "Oh shit, where am I going to sleep tonight? Are you two going home together? That's going to be really awkward if I'm there. Melody, can you take me home?"

Rhonda turned to Carmen. "You are NOT going home. As for your place, your stuff is at our house now, and I haven't heard yet whether my husband is coming home with me or not." She looked directly at him. "I, personally, would very much enjoy having him home again, though he would need to sleep in a spot that might smell a bit like Carmen's perfume."

They all laughed. Betty took charge again, as she enjoyed doing. "Next Friday, we meet at my house and just enjoy ourselves. For some of you it might be a little extreme, but I promise to behave, and," she smiled at Rhonda, "to have Avery fully dressed."

Danny looked at Rhonda with an unspoken question, and she turned to him. "Honey, don't worry. She keeps him in a chastity cage." She got a wicked grin and turned to Betty. "You don't have a spare, do you?" The women laughed and giggled while Danny looked uncomfortable.

Over the next hours, Danny danced with Rhonda, slowly relaxing and getting better, then Rhonda insisted he dance with Mary, since she had trained him. While he took his turns with Melody and Carmen, Rhonda asked Mary about the dancing.

"The day after we had dinner together, I paid him a visit. You said enough about him it wasn't too hard to figure out where to find him. I told him that the only problem you guys had was dancing, and if he was serious about getting you back he needed to get off his ass and dance. He explained that he had signed up for some online lessons, but when he thought of dancing in public he got a panic attack and froze. I had to push him past that point, and girl, it wasn't easy. We did it at his warehouse after hours, and he had to sneak into your house one day to get a CD player for us to use."

Rhonda remembered the missing item, and now she knew where it went. She still had to be secure in one thing, though. "Mary, I don't know how to be nice about this, but you are really sexy and have no problem letting people know it. How can I believe you didn't seduce my husband?"

Mary put her hand on Rhonda's and smiled, looking directly into her eyes. "You know I'm married to a politician, but I said I tend to just lay things out there. You can believe it because you're my friend, and if you weren't, why would I have spent two hours a night and four hours during the day on weekends to help him dance, then invite him to be here, and to dance with you, like you told me you just wanted him to do?"

Danny returned and Carmen sat down, thanking him and telling him she might offer a few tips one day if Rhonda and Mary let her get close to him again. He turned to Betty, but she just held up her hand. "I'll pass, thank you. I think I learned something this past week and I need to limit my dances to Avery or to a play partner that Avery might approve of. Speaking of Avery," she stood up, "thank you all for a wonderful night, and you Rhonda for standing up to that fool Martin. It was a pleasure meeting you, Mister Rhonda," she smiled, "and I hope to see you at my house next week." She grabbed her purse and left.

Danny turned to Rhonda. "What's in her house that's so extreme?" She smiled a smile that wasn't convincing, but Carmen held her hand and that helped. "You need to see for yourself. Maybe I'll even strap you into some of it."

He repeated very softly, "Strap me in, oh shit, strap me in?" His eyes went wide and once again the women laughed.

Rhonda got up and took his hand. "Are you coming home with me?" He nodded. "We need to go slow. I know I have some baggage now, and you need to be able to deal with that. I'm sorry I created this problem." He didn't run or change his mind, so she turned to Carmen. "You can ride with him if you want to, but I'd love to have your company."

Carmen stood up and looked back and forth from Rhonda to Danny. "If you trust me, I think I'd like to ride with him. I'm sure he has questions and I'd like to help get him answers. Not that he won't believe you, but sometimes another viewpoint, you know?" She looked at Rhonda, who looked at Danny, and noticed his mouth was open, but then closed.

Risking one more comment, Rhonda looked at Danny and told him, "See? I told you that you would like the women I danced with." Ne nodded.

Rhonda told Carmen she was trusted. Then they said their goodnights to Mary and Melody. Both Rhonda and Carmen noticed the flash of lust that went between them. Yes, Rhonda thought, it's time to leave them alone and start rebuilding my marriage. As they walked down the street to the parking garage, she watched her husband's ass and wondered why she had ever risked losing that.