Identity Crisis (Rocky Mountain Novella Series) (2 page)

     “They’re great for each other, but just don’t get your hopes up,” Steel answered.  Even though he wished the best for Kawoski and Julie, he was more cautious as a general rule.

     “Oh, you’re just not romantic,” Kristen teased. 

     “I’m plenty romantic.  I won your heart, didn’t I?” Steel replied between bites of his perfectly cooked steak. 

     After dinner, Julie pulled Kristen aside and told her that she and James were going to go out for drinks. 

     “I knew you guys would hit it off,” Kristen told her best friend as they hugged.  “Just take it slow,” she warned before wishing Julie good luck. 

     James felt awkward as they walked the down the street to a local jazz club.  He wasn’t used to having to make small talk and didn’t really know what to say now that they were out and away from everyone else.  He felt his hands sweating and rubbed them on the inside of his pockets to dry them off. 

     Kristen, for once, was also at a loss for words.  She was afraid she was coming on too strong and wanted to let James lead the conversation, but in doing so left them with just silence and the sounds of the city. 

     “I’m sorry,” they both said at the same time after an awkward ten minutes. 

     “It’s my fault,” James confessed.  “I’m just not good at small talk.”

     “Well, maybe you can tell me about how you and Steel met and became friends,” Julie suggested. 

     Once he started talking, James proved he could be just as talkative as the beautiful lady he was entertaining.  As they sat at the bar, with a couple of drinks in each of them, they managed to shed their earlier shyness. 

     “Would you like to dance?” Kawoski asked when a slower song played.  There was something about Julie that made him less nervous.  He felt as though they had always known one another. 

     “How strong are your shoes?” Julie joked.  She wasn’t a great dancer.  In fact, she was known amongst her friends as quite the klutz.

     James assured her that she would be fine.  “I’ll have you a dancing pro in no time.”  Unbeknownst to Julie, he was actually a great dancer.  In high school, he played football and his coach made all the players take both ballet and ballroom dance lessons.  He found that he was very coordinated at it and actually excelled. 

     Julie did step on James’ feet a couple of times, but he didn’t even flinch.  She was amazed at how such a large man could move so gracefully.  She wondered what other talents he had that she was unaware of. 

     As they danced, drank and talked, the two completely lost track of time.  “Last call,” the bartender bellowed causing Julie to look at her watch. 

     “How did it get so late?” she asked.  She didn’t want the night to end, but had so many things to do for the bachelorette party the next day. 

     James offered to drive her home, but Julie had her own car.  “Well, at least let me walk you to your car,” he insisted.

     This time, as they walked, the two held hands.  It had been a long time since James had felt the feelings swirling around in his head.  He really hadn’t dated much since college.  His career took a lot of his time, and for a long time had been his main passion.  Relationships always took a back seat.  He was ready to change that, though.

     When they reached her car, Julie stood on her toes and gave James a kiss on the cheek.  She considered kissing him on the lips, but didn’t want to come off so forward.  “I had a really nice time,” she told him before unlocking her car’s driver-side door.

     “Me too,” James echoed before asking her to call him when she got home so he would know she arrived safely. 

     He felt like a teenage boy in love as he watched her drive off.  After she disappeared from sight, he made his way to his own car and headed home.  About halfway there, his cell phone rang.  James smiled to himself as he looked at the caller ID.  He didn’t recognize the number, but was sure it was Julie.  It was and they stayed on the phone until he reached his house. 

     After saying goodnight to James, Julie soaked in a hot bubble bath.  She wasn’t ready to go to bed just yet.  She wanted to replay the day in her head, especially the time she shared with James.  Back at his house, James was in bed doing the same thing.  Even with his eyes closed, he could picture Julie as clearly as if she had been right there in his room with him.  If she really was there, he wasn’t sure he could control his desires.  James turned over, determined to go to sleep but  the thoughts he was having were exciting much more than making him tired.  He secretly hoped that the time he and Julie spent together had inspired similar feelings for her. 

     The next morning started out normal for Steel, but by the time the sun set, it was anything but usual. 

     BANG, BANG, BANG!

     Steel knew the banging at his door was likely Kawoski.  He had insisted on throwing his friend a bachelor party, even though Steel said he didn’t really need one. 

     “You gotta have one, it’s tradition!” Kawoski urged. 

     Steel wasn’t one to normally go against anything the man he once called boss told him, so he broke down and agreed.  “I don’t want anything tasteless, though,” he warned.  Kawoski agreed, but there was something in the
gleam in his eye that told Steel to be on the lookout for a few surprises anyway. 

     “Hold on!” Steel yelled as he got up off the couch and turned off the TV.  He was watching a college game on ESPN, but hadn’t really been interested.  He wasn’t huge on watching sports, but liked to catch a game every now and again. 

     When he answered his door, expecting to see just Kawoski, he was surprised to see practically every guy he worked with on the force there as well.  They were all yelling and being obnoxious as they ushered Steel into the waiting black, stretch limousine. 

     Steel was a bit shocked, but managed to ask Kawoski, “What did you do?”

     “Don’t worry.  There won’t be any hot, young strippers,” James answered to alleviate his friend’s concern.  The statement caused a barrage of moans and boos from the other men in the limo.  “Calm down, boys,” the Sergeant answered.  “This is Steel’s night and we have to respect his wishes.”  Again, Steel noticed what seemed to be a wink as Kawoski said his last words. 

     At the same time, Kristen was on her way to her bachelorette party.  Unlike Kawoski, Julie made no such promises about keeping the night clean.  She planned on giving her best-friend the typical night of wanton debauchery.

     Within minutes of arriving at Julie’s house, Kristen was given a drink.  For someone who rarely drinks, she found it to taste wretched.  It must’ve contained four times the normal alcohol, but it was pretty and blue.  It was a special night, so Kristen downed the drink as fast as she could.  “What the hell,” she said as she drank the mixture as if it were just a large shot.  She promised herself it would be her only drink of the night though.  She definitely didn’t want to be hung-over for her wedding.

     The women’s party started with Kristen opening presents.  If Kristen thought the presents at her bridal shower were embarrassing, they paled in comparison to the presents she was about to open.  “What am I supposed to do with this?” Kristen asked as she held up a giant, blow-up penis. 

     “Well, if you don’t know, we need to have a very looonnnnggggg talk,” Stephanie, one of the bridesmaids, answered from the crowd which elicited a cackle from the other women at the party. 

     As Kristen opened the rest of the presents, she was glad she had the strong blue drink.  She wasn’t sure she could manage opening the rest of the gifts if she had been sober.  The great theme in the gifts seemed to be penises, but there were some other gifts as well.  Even those were of a sexual nature, though.  Kristen had given similar gifts before at bachelorette parties she had attended, but for the first time, she wondered why women would waste so much money on items that most likely would end up in the trash.  There was no way she was going to store a box of penis shaped presents in her garage or attic. 

     In spite of the tacky, erotic gifts, Kristen was having fun.  The night’s events were keeping her from thinking about the wedding the next day.  She knew she loved Steel and didn’t have any doubts about marrying him, but she was still nervous of the big day, or at least she would’ve been if her friends weren’t keeping her busy. 

     Back at the men’s bachelor party, Steel stopped worrying about Kawoski’s intensions.  When they arrived at Kawoski’s cabin, there was a poker table setup and a keg of beer waiting.  For the next two-hours, the men indulged in playing poker, drinking beer, sports on the big screen, smoking cigars and teasing each other.  It had been so long since Steel had just had a guy’s night with all of his friends and he was having a great time.

     At about ten o’ clock, the door chimed.  “That will be the entertainment,” Kawoski announced. 

     It was Steel’s bet, but he put his chips down.  “What entertainment?” he asked.  “You promised no strippers!” he reminded his Best Man, as if anything could be done about it.  Whatever the entertainment was, it had already arrived.  He would have to just deal with it.  There was no sense it making a big deal of it and ruining the night for everyone. 

     Steel couldn’t help laughing as he watched the front door open.  Standing on the other side was a woman holding open a trench coat.  She was wearing sexy lingerie.  “The party has begun, boys!” she shouted and pushed her way into the room. 

     “She’s like a hundred,” Steel whispered to Kawoski.

     “Well, you said you didn’t want some hot, young stripper at your party.  It’s a Best Man’s job to make sure to honor the groom’s requests,” Kawoski answered with another wink. 

     Steel watched as the old and wrinkled woman removed her coat and setup a boom-box with some burlesque music.  He wasn’t sure whether to cover his eyes or look on.  It was sort of like a train wreck that was hard to look away from.  Luckily for him and the other men, the only thing the erotic granny did was dance.  There was no nudity involved.  Steel would’ve been somewhat traumatized by that.  He was treated to a special lap dance though.  The entire time, his face was bright red.  His buddies all seemed to enjoy his discomfort and spent the remainder of the show tipping the lady heavily.  If there was one thing she provided and provided well, it was entertainment.

     After the dance, Steel invited her to stay and play poker with them, but she declined….saying she had to get home to babysit her grandchildren. 

     At Kristen’s bachelorette party, there was also a dancer.  Hers, however, was young, ripped, and handsome.  And, unlike the burlesque granny at Steel’s party, Kristen’s erotic dancer was a stripper.

     “Take it off!” the women at the party screamed as they watched the young man, who could be no older than twenty-one or twenty-two, seductively remove pieces of the police officer’s uniform he was wearing.  Julie thought it would be a nice touch. 

     Had Kristen been sober, she probably would have never been able to enjoy herself.  It was a rite of passage though, and she went along for the fun.  The boy was sexy, she had to admit that.  Steel was no slouch in the body department, but there was something about a young, athletic guy who had just entered his sexual prime.  Kristen placed a hand over her face, but watched through spread fingers as the stripper removed his skimpy thong.  Her mouth dropped as her eyes travelled down to his thick and very long penis.  He had to have been at least nine inches.

     “I know who I’m going home with tonight!” Stephanie shouted and laughed. 

     Soon, the women all chanted, “Lap dance!  Lap dance!” and the stripper obliged, rubbing his firm sweaty body all over Kristen. 

     The dance cost extra, but Julie had paid for the whole package.  As she watched the young man shake his semi hard penis in Kristen’s face, she wondered if she maybe should’ve chosen something a little less x-rated.  If she were getting married, she wasn’t sure how her husband to be would react to her participation in such an erotic event.  She hoped it wouldn’t Affect Steel and Kristen’s wedding or life together. 

     Once the stripper finished, she pulled Kristen aside to apologize in case she overstepped her bounds.  “I’m sorry if that was too much,” she began. 

     It was probably the alcohol talking, but Kristen told her best friend not to worry about it.  “It was fun,” she said with a smile as she pictured the hot, young stripper’s trim and muscular body. 

     “Is it okay if I take off?” Stephanie interrupted.  She wasn’t kidding about taking the stripper home.  Kristen’s and Julie’s eyes travelled to the door, where the stripper was dressed and waiting for Stephanie. 

     “It’s fine,” both women answered in unison with a chuckle.  “But, you gotta tell us all about how he is in bed,” Julie added. 

     As promised, Kawoski and Julie had friends back home well before midnight.  They would need their rest before their wedding the next evening.

     Before bed, Steel called Kristen to tell her that he loved her and couldn’t wait to start his life with her the next day.

     “I love you, too,” Kristen lovingly replied into the phone as she lay in bed imagining what it would be like to finally be Steel’s wife.  “How was your night?” she asked.