The new normal
Liezel had left long before Ikay and I venture downstairs for some supper. Ikay is in one of Maricar's robes. I have pulled on my shirt and shorts. The house is quiet as we sit eating the Chicken Adobo over our rice. I give Ikay a Sprite and I have a beer.
Sir, can I really come over and use the computer here?
Yes. I expect you to do that.
Even when your wife is here?
Yes, even when Maricar is here.
Huh. Does she know I am your girlfriend?
No, she doesn't.
OK. Did I do OK for you?
I try not to laugh. Honestly, how do you deal with that?
You were wonderful. I could not have hoped for anything better. Was I OK?
Sir, you are kidding me, right? You were great. I have never felt anything like that.
I am pleased. Now, you need to understand that you must not have sex with anyone else.
Why would I do that? I am your Girlfriend.
You are one of my girlfriends, Ikay. Each of you can only be with me. Do you understand?
Yes, Sir. Are there other girls like me?
One. I think you will like her.
Really? You want me to meet her?
Yes, I want to see if the two of you can become friends.
Does she live close to here?
She lives in the floor below you.
Wow! WOW! When can I meet her?
I don't know. I need to talk with her about you first. Then the two of you can meet.
Do you like her better than me?
No! Never. You are not in a competition!
Ah, OK. So you will not chose one and say goodbye to the other?
Never.
OK good. Why you have two of us? What is wrong with your wife?
There is nothing wrong with my wife. Why do you women always think it's a competition and only one of you can win?
Because that is what God wants.
I see. You have spoken directly to God?
Why do you ask such a mean question? You know it's a sin what we do. Why are you not happy with your wife?
I love my wife, dearly. What we are doing is not a sin to me. I do not care if you think it is a sin. Are you going to tell me 'no'? Tell me now!
No, Sir. I will not tell you 'no.' It is a sin, but I like it. I like you. I just do not understand. It is confusing.
There is much you do not understand and there will be more that is very confusing. You have been brought up to believe many things to be true and some of these things are not true. There is a lot you will learn and there is much you may need to unlearn. For now, don't try to figure anything out. Just pay attention to what is happening around you and to you. OK?
Yes, OK, Sir.
It's late. Do you want me to fuck you again, or do you want to go home.
Haha... I will beat you - I will be in bed first!
§ § §
Ikay goes home three hours later that night. I clean up the bloody towel before I go to bed alone. If Ikay is confused, I cannot help it. It is confusing even for me as I work my way through it. I want these females, but have no way to justify it, even to myself. My marriage to Maricar is sound but is no longer based on sex in any way. I wish it was. There is no option in marriages, as they become more platonic, to bring in a relief pitcher or a designated hitter. No you are supposed to play with the card you had at the start, no substitutions; certainly not three hitters at one time! Yet, that is what is going on and I am having a ball.
Surely, Maricar will learn about all this soon enough. What happens then? How long can I keep this going?
§ § §
I have Ikay in the house just about every day and I get to bed her about half of the times. The other times, Maricar is here and so there is no practical way.
Ikay has not complained about this, and seems happy with the arrangement. She is asking about 'the girl on the third floor,' but she doesn't know who it is. I don't have a good excuse to bring Jovelyn in to the house, and so I have not brought the two together yet. I am seeing both Jovelyn and Imee every few days, but I can't exactly traipse over there every day. Imee is wanting me to be with her more, but I see no way to do that.
Maricar has no clue yet and I am not sure the roof isn't going to cave in on me, but I don't want to stop.
§ § §
Lawrence, Liezel wants to go to Cebu to stay with our Aunt.
I suspect that Liezel's real motivation is to get away from the majority of her family in Gensan and spread her wings, more than they are allowing her. Though she is an adult, there is something childlike, and not in a good way, about Liezel's choices when it comes to with whom she chooses to make friends. Still, I can't say I am sorry to see her go. Maricar's feelings on the matter are unknown to me. She has just presented the information in a 'matter or fact' way that conveys nothing else.
Well, she has been functioning as a maid. Do we get a maid now or do without one?
Doing without will be harder on Maricar than it will be me as I am not expected to do the laundry here or cook Filipino meals. Maricar is loving the ability to see old friends with whom she had only had limited contact for the last eight years we as had primarily lived in the USA. Taking care of the house will tie her down more. While it will have an impact of my fucking Ikay upstairs, it isn't something that really bothers me much. Ikay has been upstairs almost every day for the last two months. If you total up the number of times I have fucked her or she has given me head in these 60 days, it far exceeds that which I have had for the last three years from Maricar. The last time Maricar gave me head was six years ago. I suspect I will still have opportunities going forward no matter what happens, maid or no maid.
I love Maricar and if she was here more... maybe we would fuck more; catch a noontime delight! Hey, a guy can hope.
Liezel said that there is a woman in the apartments who would be a good maid for us.
Really? For the life of me, I have no idea who that might be. Who the hell is Liezel talking to over there? They are all employed from what I know and there are no single women without children.
Liezel will tell the woman to come over, this weekend. Evidently, she has a job, but she thinks is going to get laid off next month.
Well, that explains a little. I know they are all employed. Still, none of them are single and without children.
Oh yes, Liezel did say the woman has children, but I don't think that is a huge problem, But it is one of the things I need to check on when I interview her.
Well, while you are considering this woman, please make sure we like her cooking before you offer the position. Also maybe you should look at her apartment - and see if she keeps her place as clean as you want this place to be.
I see you thinking with your belly! You didn't ask what she looks like, or if she is nice and respectful, only if she can cook! Yes, Lawrence, I will make sure she can cook. As to cleaning, you are right and make a good point. I will visit her place and just drop in and take a look, before she comes here on Saturday.
Good plan.
So who is it? Huh, I have no clue. It clearly sounds like Liezel is highly motivated to get gone. I have no idea if that is good or bad for us. It seems I will have to wait until Saturday.
§ § §
And wait I do. Maricar's 'home visit' gets mentioned only in passing, without a name attached, and that is Saturday morning when I ask if the interview is still going to occur or did the home visit kill the deal. Maricar says it went fine.
§ § §
It has been two years since we arrived in Manila with my newly issued immigrant Visa. I'm not saying I don't miss a few things back in the States, but things are going well for us. Financially, we are doing very well. Our local loans are netting us better that ₱600,000 a year. And that's ₱50,000 a month. The apartments are grossing ₱1.5+M a year, or ₱126,000 a month. Out of that we have ₱60,000 in expenses, leaving ₱66,000 net. Combining the two gives us ₱116,000/mo which is damned close to $3K a month. I won't file for SSA for three more years. If we don't do anything else, at that point we will have over $4K a month to live on, which, in the Philippines, is a shitload of money.
The average family lives on ₱10K to ₱15K a month. We will have ₱160K a month at that point, probably more as we are increasing on the number of loans we are making. In truth, our monthly spend is about ₱45K to ₱60K these days. The rest is used for the new loans. We could afford two or three maids if we wanted them. Of course, my old buddies back in the States think I'm full of shit when I tell them how good things are. They think I'm full of it, and I haven't even told them about all the pussy I am getting.
§ § §
I want to see Imee but I don't want to miss who Maricar will interview, so I am hanging around the house. That's not such a bad deal. Ikay is upstairs on a computer. Maybe I will see how she's doing in a little bit.
§ § §
I must have been distracted. Maricar is in the dirty kitchen talking to someone. It isn't Liezel, as she is busy waxing the floor in the Sala. I get up to pour a glass of water when the door from the dirty kitchen opens and Maricar walks in followed by Imee!
Lawrence, I am sure you know Imee.
Yes, of course. Nice to see you Imee.
Good afternoon Sir Lawrence.
Lawrewce, I have invited Imee's daughter, Jovelyn, to have supper with us. Imee will cook for us. Liezel will go see friends tonight. I told Imee what your favorite dishes are and am giving her money to purchase whatever ingredients she needs to make the dish.
Great. That's perfect. Imee, don't you have a son too?
Yes, Sir, but he will stay with friends tonight.
Lawrence, I showed Imee the maid's quarters. She thinks that the three of them will be very comfortable there. I suspect she is right.
I see. Well, I will leave it to the two of you to figure things out. Have you shown Imee the house yet?
No, I haven't. You can show her the second floor. I will talk to Liezel and get the money. Don't take too long. Imee still needs to go shopping and cook a supper.
I smile, Yes, ma'am. Imee, come with me. We walk up the stairs. There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms and my office on this floor. I quickly show Imee the two spare bedrooms and the hall bathroom. I then take Imee to the master bedroom. I lead the way and she follows, closing the door behind her. Before I can say anything meaningful, she is in my arms.
See? I told you I am yours forever. And she kisses me in a way that I rarely get from Maricar these days.
I see. Imee you need to be more careful. There will be many good opportunities, but for now you need to open the door. She does. I then beckon her back into the master bathroom door where I am standing. I just want you to see that this bathroom is here. We are out of the site line from the hall now, and I bring Imee in for another kiss.
You are happy Sir Lawrence?
I will be if you are a good cook Imee.
You will see. I will make your belly happy too.
I hope so. Now before I take you into my office, you need to understand something. You and Jovelyn are both my girlfriends and that is real. But, I have a third girlfriend. Her name is Ikay and she... Imee interrupting... From upstairs Lawrence? Is she the pretty one from upstairs?
Yes.
OK, I thought so. I see her come here almost every day and I say to Jovelyn that you have another girl. Does Maricar know?
No.
Ah, OK. I will be careful and tell Jovelyn to be careful.
She is in the office right now, so you will walk in first. I will walk in, and kiss her, and then kiss you. OK? I will then explain to her. She already knows there is someone else. She just does not know who. But we must be quick. Maricar will be waiting downstairs.
Yes! Yes of course!
I have always wanted to get these three (Imee, Jovelyn and Ikay) together, but this was not how I had envisioned it. Still it needs to be done and done quickly.
Imee opens the door to my office. Ikay looks up, I guess in anticipation of seeing me. Her expression changes as Imee walks through the door. I am in the dark hallway, and she doesn't see me. Imee says hello to Ikay who returns the greeting just as I walk in and go directly to Ikay. She is sitting down. I take her left hand, raise her up, pulling her into my arms and kiss her. She kisses me back just as fervently as I started the kiss. When done, I motion for Imee to come over and while still holding Ikay in one arm, I kiss Imee as fervently as I kissed Ikay.
Ikay, meet Imee, Imee meet Ikay. Both of you are mine and have been for months. You are both going to be together in this house. Be good to me by being good to each other and keep each other's secrets from Maricar. Do you understand?
I thought the other one was my age. But I will be good to Imee. I promise Lawrence.
There is one more. It is Imee's daughter, Jovelyn, and the same goes for her. OK?
OK Lawrence. Why will they be here a lot?
I think my wife will hire Imee as our maid. She will live here.
Ah, I see. OK so this is good. If Madam goes out then there is no need to be quiet!
I have to admit, that made me laugh. Ikay, I will ask Maricar if we can add you to the supper table tonight. Imee, maybe you can take Jovelyn with you shopping and speak with her about Ikay.
And with that, I usher Imee back downstairs. As it is, Maricar is apparently just finishing a discussion with Liezel. I get a look from Maricar that is pretty easy to interpret. She wants to know what I think. I smile and say, I sure hope supper is good, and leave it at that. Maricar indicates agreement, finishes off one last sentence with Liezel and turns to Imee.
Here is some money. Please take a tricycle. We will eat at seven and you need to have supper on the table by that time. Lawrence will want beer with his supper. Please make sure there are two bottles of San Miguel Pale Pilsen for him. Any questions?
No Ate, I understand.
And with that and a few parting words, Imee left.
What do you think?
Well, she was the one I had to collect the rent from the first time. She seems nice and I like her. We don't know how good a cook she is. I think she kept her apartment clean, how did you find it?
Yes, she is a good housekeeper. We will see about the cooking. You like her?
Now, that is a loaded question. Of course I like her, I'm fucking her and her daughter. Yes, I like her.
Good.
§ § §
Supper is really good. It is different from Maricar's good cooking, but there is nothing wrong with being different. Jovelyn joins us for the meal. She is having a hard time not staring at Maricar and Ikay. I do my best to ignore it all.
My wife is seemingly pleased with herself as she asks, Jovelyn, would you like to live here?
Yes Ma'am.
Lawrence, do you agree with me that this was a fine meal?
I am laughing, Yes, yes... Imee you cook very well.
Then it is done. Liezel, when you move out, Imee will move in.
§ § §
I am back in my office. Fifteen minutes ago Ikay went home at the same time Imee and Jovelyn left. They walked back to the apartment together. I would love to have been a fly on the wall for the conversation on that stroll. I am writing all this down, but it is getting weirder and weirder. How does Maricar not have a clue that I am fucking these girls? How did Imee maneuver Liezel to get Liezel out and Imee in? This is the most outrageous retirement any man has had.
A thought occurs to me. I have not been practicing birth control because I have been unable for all these years to get Maricar pregnant. I have been assuming that it was me, that I was incapable to producing viable semen. What if it has been Maricar? So far, as far as I know, there have been no pregnancies with my three new loves. What if there is or will be? I remember what Imee said to me that first day. In all likelihood I have no viable sperm, but I need to get that checked.
§ § §
Maricar? I know you always wanted to have children with me. You know I have tried with you. Maybe the something wrong with me can be made not so bad with pills. I have heard that it helps on occasion. I think I should be tested.
My sweet Lawrence. It has been so long since I gave up that hope. I assumed you did too. Have you not?
No, I guess I felt guilt about letting you down. But I am getting old and if we are to have any chance, I need to do something about it now. Is that OK?
Yes, but let us both see the doctor.
§ § §
We do see a specialist in Manila and when the results come back, it is clear that my sperm have some legs...The doctor tells us that I am not as potent as I once was, but I do have swimmers. If my wife was able to have children, some pills that he can prescribe might result in a pregnancy. Maricar on the other hand has a problem. It is unlikely she will ever bear children. My dear wife is devastated. I am sad, but my role at the moment is to console my wife. She is not to blame for what God gives her and I tell her that I love her as much today as I did yesterday and that is the absolute truth. After a month or so, she seems to be coming back to life, but I can tell there is something on her mind. It doesn't seem to be a bad thing, as we are close and touching a lot more these days.
§ § §
Lawrence, I need to talk to you about Maricar.
What is it Imee?
She came to me yesterday and asked me if I would be willing to have your children! I say nothing to her about us! Did you?
No. What did you tell her about having children?
I say, you mean, you want me to have sex with your husband? She says, Yes! So I say, if I have sex with him I will love him. She says, then we will both love him. She says, if I can give you babies, she will be very happy. I tell her I will think about it.
Do you want to have my babies?
Yes but I think she will change her mind after I have them and bad things will happen to me and maybe to you. What should I tell her?
You tell her exactly that. You would agree and be happy to have my children but you are afraid of the things you just said. Also say, you don't know if I would love you back and that scares you.
OK I do that.
§ § §