Cougars (6 page)

“Ummm, I've never done this before,” Travis had said. “What's your name?”

“You know that question is against the rules.” She was firm with him.

“That's right. I'm sorry, I forgot.”

“Someone did explain the rules, didn't they?” she had asked, placing a hand on his right shoulder.

“Yeah, I know the rules. I'm just a little edgy, that's all.”

“I hope that doesn't mean you're going to have performance issues.” She had stepped closer to him and had placed her hands on his behind, then had squeezed. Travis flinched nervously as she stepped around to face him.

“Oh, no. Not at all, trust me, I don't have any trouble getting hard.” Travis had laughed nervously as he had wiped sweat from his forehead.

“You're a virgin, aren't you?” She had smiled naughtily at him.

“No I'm not.” Travis had denied it.

“Yes, you are. There is no need to lie about it. Everything about your manner says inexperienced virgin.” Travis had remained silent because he didn't want to blow it.

“It's okay. I have a soft spot for bashful boys. In fact, I'll probably enjoy giving you your first real orgasm. It's kind of empowering, spreading open the pillars of my paradise to a young man ready to graduate into full masculinity.”

“I promise I won't mess this up for you.”

“I know you won't. Because I'm going to take the time to show you all of the miracles and wonders of a woman's body. Consider it a gift from a stranger.”

The following morning, Travis had awakened to find himself all alone in bed. His British lover was gone. On the nightstand, she'd left a note for him that read:
Thank you for a pleasurable evening. Remember what I've taught you.

Travis never saw the British woman again, but she opened up an entirely new world for him. Alex was right. After the experience, his confidence level skyrocketed. Travis, being the perfectionist that he was, spent countless hours reading literature on the art of making love. With his newfound skills and interest, he embraced his new lifestyle and his love for mature, intelligent, and sexy women. Then after the incident with the woman from Rio, he realized that his hedonistic indulgences were keeping him from fulfilling much more ambitious goals.

After college Travis went on to graduate school but Alex's life took a different turn. He was on track to go pro, and even had the Philadelphia Eagles highly interested in him. But then all types of false allegations surfaced and Alex's name was mentioned. Even though Alex was cleared, it weakened his chances of playing professional football. Travis asked Alex what happened but at that time, his wound was too raw and Alex was too emotional to discuss it. One year after he'd graduated from college, Alex was invited to attend a football camp for the Dallas Cowboys, but wasn't able to secure a spot on the team.

The following morning Jasmine awoke feeling a little jetlagged from traveling across a time zone. Although the time difference was only an hour, she still felt as if she needed more sleep. She glanced over at a digital clock sitting on the nightstand and focused her vision on the time.

“Shit, it's already eight-thirty. I'm supposed to be in the lobby to meet everyone by nine o'clock.” She huffed before tossing back the sheets and sitting upright. She reached for the remote, aimed it at the television and pressed the power button. She flipped the stations until she found the Weather Channel.

“Ninety-five degrees and sunny; it's going to be a hot and sticky one. My hair is going to end up looking messy if we hang out in the hot sun all day shopping high-end stores in Manhattan. That's Tiffany for you though.”

The girl certainly qualifies as having champagne taste and a beer-belly budget. She loves to tell everyone how much she's paid for merchandise, even if she's paid too much for it. She believes telling someone the price makes it seem more valuable than it actually is.
Jasmine grumbled at Tiffany's values as she rose to her feet and went into the bathroom.

After an invigorating shower and face time in front of the mirror, Jasmine exited the bathroom and unzipped her suitcase in search of something to wear.

“Okay, I want to look fabulous, but I don't want to upstage Tiffany because she's put on a few extra pounds. She's gone from a healthy size ten to a robust fourteen.” Jasmine began laughing at her impolite comment. “Be nice, Jasmine. Tiffany is celebrating her birthday and you shouldn't be so critical,” she said to herself.

Jasmine finally decided on wearing her denim capris, her brown leather sling-back sandals and a simple top. No sooner than she'd put on her clothes and began squirting on some of her Cool Water perfume, her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. It was Tiffany.

“Happy birthday, darling,” Jasmine answered.

“Thank you! I'm just too damn sexy and fine at forty. Where are you? We're waiting on you.” Her voice was jovial and full of life.

“Beauty takes time, honey. I'll be there in a moment.” Jasmine laughed.

“Well, beauty had better get her narrow ass on down here before she gets left.” Tiffany was trying to sound tough, but Jasmine knew her friends wouldn't leave without her.

“I'll be there in a moment. I'm walking out the door now,” Jasmine informed her as she slid her key card into her pocket and grabbed her purse.

When Jasmine arrived in the lobby, Millie was trying to convince Tiffany to grab something to eat in Times Square.

“I don't want to eat in Times Square. I want to go up to Harlem and eat at Amy Ruth's Restaurant.”

“But Tiffany, you know all of that soul food cooking isn't good for you,” Millie reminded her.

“Millie, stop arguing with her. She's got her mouth all set to eat at Amy Ruth's and we should just go. It's her birthday and it's what she wants to do,” argued Lauren who was trying to diffuse the situation before it blew up into a shouting match.

“Hey, I'm really looking out for her. I want to make sure she sees another birthday. Don't you think I'm doing the right thing, Jasmine?” Millie said, not willing to back down.

“Oh no you don't. I'm not co-signing that check with you, Millie. If that's what Tiffany wants to do, we shouldn't be trying to change her mind.”

“Thank you, Jasmine,” Tiffany said as she started moving toward the exit.

“Okay, I'll go along with the will of the group. But when we're all sitting around the waiting room while she's having open heart surgery, I'm not going to say a word.”

“Millie, that's not nice,” Lauren said. “What's wrong with you? Why are you acting so snippy?”

“Forget it.” Millie dropped the subject and her attitude.

“Amy Ruth's, here we come,” Jasmine bellowed as they all exited the hotel.

When they arrived at Amy Ruth's, everyone ordered the type of food they had a taste for.

“Oh my goodness, it is so great to be here with you guys. I feel like the chicks from
Sex and the City
,” Tiffany said as she took a bite of her waffle.

“Oh yeah, and what character would I be?” asked Millie.

“Miranda,” everyone said on queue.

“And I would be like Carrie. Mild-mannered, yet always analyzing everything and looking for understanding,” admitted Tiffany.

“So that leaves Samantha and Charlotte,” Jasmine said as she glanced at her sister, Lauren. “Neither one of us is like those two.”

“Damn, is that thunder and lightning I hear?” Tiffany looked out of the window.

“And what's that supposed to mean?” Jasmine asked as she took a sip of orange juice.

“Girl, you know that you have some Samantha-like tendencies.” Millie busted her girlfriend out.

“I am nowhere near as promiscuous as Samantha.” Jasmine didn't like the comparison.

“No, but you damn sure flirt with men like her,” said her sister, Lauren.

“She would know better than any of us. She's lived with you most of her life,” Millie said.

“So I guess that means you're Charlotte, the sensitive and prissy rich girl who secretly likes kinky sex,” Jasmine shot back at Lauren.

“I think that pretty much sums me up.” Lauren continued to laugh.

“Hey, do you guys realize that we are all now in our forties, unmarried, well, with the exception of Millie, and we don't have any children.”

“I'm so thankful that I don't have children. It's entirely too hard to juggle a demanding career and change a diaper,” Millie chimed.

“With the amount of money you make, Millie, you can get a nanny to do that,” Lauren said.

“Do you really want a nanny to raise your child?” Tiffany asked. “I mean, doesn't that take away from the mother experience?”

“I guess that's why none of us ever became mothers because that's an experience we didn't want,” Millie said.

“Well, I don't agree with that, Millie. I really wanted to have children at one point. I wanted to be a mom and take the kids to the zoo and water park. I think I would've been a good mother.”

“Well, I know one thing is for sure, it's too late now because I'm entering menopause.” Lauren leaned back and threaded her fingers though her hair.

“You guys know what this means, right?” Tiffany asked.

“No, what does it mean?” Jasmine played along.

“It means that we're Cougars. We're women who aren't afraid to date younger men and who refuse to be judged by what other people think. We make no apologies for our lifestyle, we know what we want and we're not afraid to go get it. We're healthy, radiant, desirable, and financially secure,” she said excitedly.

Lauren frowned. “Why do we have to be called Cougars? Why can't we just refer to ourselves in the way you just described? Cougars sounds so predatory, like we're desperate women who'll jump the first hard dick that happens to come swinging along,” Lauren said.

“I kind of like the name,” Tiffany laughed. “It's sort of empowering if you ask me and now that I am a Cougar, I'm much more comfortable in my skin. Plus after sex I can look over and say, ‘Don't you need to be somewhere right now?”

“I like dating younger guys, but thirty-three is my cut-off.” Lauren repositioned herself in her seat.

“You don't know what you're missing,” Tiffany said, emphasizing the word
missing
.  

“Ooo, Tiffany, how low did you go, girl?” Jasmine laughed and teased her.

“Let me tell you. I love my job. Being on a college campus filled with young men who constantly flirt with me and tell me how good I look just excites the hell out of me.”

“Uh-huh. But girlfriend, how low did you go?” Millie now wanted to know.

“Twenty-one,” Tiffany boldly admitted.

“You had sex with a twenty-one-year-old boy?” Lauren spoke louder than she intended to. Some of the orange juice she was drinking went down the wrong pipe and she began coughing. She gathered herself. “That's borderline cradle robbing.”

“He wasn't a boy when I got done with him and I didn't rob the cradle; I rocked it until the legs broke off.” Tiffany laughed through her words.

“Well, hell, girl, what was it like?” Jasmine asked.

“Honey, he was all energy and he didn't run out of gas. Just stayed hard and that's the way I like it. I was so sore the next day, but I felt good.”

“I'm sorry, that's just too young for me. That's entirely too much teaching,” Lauren said.

“I like teaching them about life, and, honey, he took to coochie like a squirrel to a tree. Once I showed him what to do, he stayed on it without complaining.” Tiffany raised her hand above her head and clapped twice.

“That's what I'm talking about,” Jasmine chimed in. “I like it when they don't complain and just do the job.”

“Okay, I didn't want to bring this up, but I'm having an affair,” Millie blurted.

“What?” everyone exclaimed.

“I always knew you were a slut,” Lauren joked.

“Honey, I knew you and Mr. Egotistical Prick were having trouble, but not to the point of you having an affair.”

“Who is the guy?” Tiffany asked.

Millie paused for a long moment and debated whether or not she wanted to spill her little secret. “He's an intern,” Millie reluctantly admitted.

“Well, how good is he in bed?” Jasmine asked.

Millie gave her a mannish glare. “Unbelievable. I haven't had a fully erect dick inside of me for so long. Glen, my egotistical husband, suffers from erectile dysfunction, and he can't take Viagra because of his heart problems.”

“So you've been walking around sexually fuck-straighted,” Jasmine concluded.

“That's putting it mildly. I mean the vibrators just weren't cutting it.”

“Well, you shouldn't feel bad about it. It happens to the best of us. Just have your fun and move on.”

“It's a little more complicated than that,” Millie continued.

“Do tell, is he married, too?” asked Tiffany.

“No, but I am under investigation.”

“Investigation for what?” Lauren asked.

“Somehow, someway, the disciplinary commission is investigating me for allegedly fixing court cases.”

“You've been fixing court cases?” Lauren's voice was filled with horror.

“Hell no! Someone is trying to make it seem that way, and if the media gets wind of it, I'm afraid some ambitious journalist will start snooping around and uncover my affair.”

“Well, let's just hope that doesn't happen. And if it does, fuck them. They don't have any right to judge you. Who do you think is behind this smear campaign?” Jasmine said, continuing her inquiry.

“I have no clue,” Millie said.

“If you want, I could call in a favor and see what I can find out for you,” Lauren offered.