The Matchmaker's Match

      Breann, now 21 years old, had been matchmaking since she was a little girl, and quite honestly was pretty good at it. She had this special knack for seeing what two people had in common and then bringing them together.
      Only, Breann herself had never been in a relationship of her own. She enjoyed love through the ones that she matched up. Her match matching skills had begun to hone themselves when she was merely eight years old, with her Sunday school teacher and the nice man at the hardware store.
       Who would have guessed that they would have had so much in common? Breann had somehow innately sensed it.
Then there had been her best friend’s nanny and her best friend’s daddy. They were perfect, since they already lived in the same house. It went on and on, even when she was in high school and fixed her best friend up with her newspaper boy. It was so great to find out they both loved sunsets, the Mets, and eating cold pizza for breakfast.
       This time Breann had her sights set on the third grade teacher at the local elementary school, who she worked as a teacher’s aide with, and the fire chief of their small city. She adored Ms. Mayes, and on the day that Chief Collins and his lieutenant had come to the school to give the children a talk on fire safety and a ride on the big, loud, fire truck, Breann had gotten a chance to talk with him, one on one.
He had arrived a little early, and the kids had still been eating lunch, so Ms. Mayes had asked her to entertain him until she could get the kids settled back in the classroom. Breann had taken Chief Collins into the room next door and began to make casual conversation; she had always been good at that.
She found out he was 30 years old, single, the same age as Ms. Mayes, loved to ride motorcycles, as did Ms. Mayes, was hooked on health food, as was Ms. Mayes, and had one gigantic lovable golden retriever, named Hoser, and Ms. Mayes loved animals, especially big dogs.
       He lived with Hoser in a small condo near the firehouse. He had been a fireman since he graduated from high school and loved every minute of it. When a woman passed by, she could not help but look him over and over and over. He had enticing, dark chocolate eyes, light brown hair and a soft smile that never left his lips.
With his open and friendly demeanor, Andy never met a stranger and he always made you feel comfortable to be around him. Even so, he was not conceited and was not a big womanizer.
       Ellen Mayes’ big, bright smile first thing in the morning, when the kids arrived at school, made the day sunny even when it was cold and dreary. Her pretty, light green eyes had such a sparkle that they could light up a darkened room. She had adorable dimples, which showed up only when she laughed.
       And her laughter was so contagious; you’d begin to laugh along with her before you knew what was funny. Ms. Mayes was five foot four; her dark auburn, naturally curly hair hung in huge ringlets to frame her perfectly symmetric face. Her skin was a golden brown, even in the winter, because of her Italian heritage. The 130 pounds she carried was proportioned in all the right places. She was just very shy when it came to men..
       After spending some time that afternoon talking with his lieutenant, a nice young man they called Smooth because of his skills at basketball, Breann had also learned that Chief Collins was kindhearted, a gentleman, and he knew when to stand up for what was right, still knowing when to walk away from what was wrong.
       Ms. Mayes talks about someday meeting a kind and gentle man that knows when to step up and speak up, but who can also walk away when it becomes necessary.
       The lieutenant had also revealed that Andy was always saying he wanted to settle down someday and have kids of his own. This was part of why he loved coming to the schools and working with the kids.
       Ms. Mayes has an amazing touch with the kids and has a way of making each and every one of them feel special. She’s always saying “Some day I will have four or five of my own.”
       Immediately, Breann’s mind had started to weave a romantic web for Ms. Mayes and Chief Collins. He had all the characteristics for the kind of man Ms. Mayes would be attracted to. During that short period of time, Breann had also convinced Smooth to help her with her plan to match up these two individuals.
       After giving the children his talk on fire safety, and more importantly a ride on his truck, Andy was finally helping the last of the children down off of the fire truck and was preparing to leave for the day when Smooth approached him. He shared that Breann had asked that the two of them come to a cookout at her house that weekend - her way of thanking them for taking time out of their busy day to talk with the children. Andy seemed a little reluctant, so Smooth further begged, “Will you please help me out, buddy, and go to this cookout with me? Breann is a really pretty lady, and I really think we could hit it off. But I just have this feeling that if I don’t go to her cookout, then she may never go out with me. And Ms. Mayes will also be there. She is a fine looking lady as well, in case you haven’t noticed, so you wouldn’t have to sacrifice much. What do you say?”
       Andy gave his young lieutenant an amused smile. Here we go again. Romance of the week, he was thinking.
       Smooth was six foot tall, had a full head of gleaming blond hair and appealing, sky blue eyes. Like Andy, his body was also large with muscle in all the right places. The nickname Smooth did not only fit his younger counterpart because he was good at basketball. It also fit him well because he was good at romancing the ladies. Smooth was only twenty three years old, and he was a striking young man, so Andy saw nothing wrong with him playing the field.
       “Okay, I’ll go to the cookout.”
       “Great!” Smooth said with an enormous, grateful smile. “You won’t be sorry, boss. You’ll see.”
       While Smooth was inviting Andy, Breann was asking Ms. Mayes if she would like to come over. She fibbed a little and told her it would merely be a few intimate friends and everyone would bring a dish. After taking only a few minutes to think it over, Ellen decided it would be fun to go to a cookout. It had been a long time since she had spent some quality time with adults.
Breann was very pleased that Ms. Mayes had agreed to come to the cookout. Ms. Mayes also offered to bring her favorite dish, broccoli casserole.
       Smooth came back into the school before they left and told Breann that he had gotten Andy to consent to come to her cookout. Breann shared that she had also gotten Ms. Mayes to agree to come, so the two parted feeling very satisfied with their efforts.
       On Saturday afternoon when Ellen arrived at Breann’s home, she was befuddled to see only Breann’s car and one other car in the driveway. She began to wonder if she was wrong about the time and was actually early. Ellen knocked on the door and when Breann answered, she was surprised to see Chief Collins sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter and his lieutenant putting burgers on a tray to take out to the grill.
       “Hi, Ms. Mayes, please come on in, we were about to put the burgers on the grill.” Breann shuffled her into the living room, and at the same time reached to take the hot casserole dish from her hands.
       “Breann, please call me Ellen,” she requested. “I only ask that you call me Ms. Mayes in front of the kids.” As she handed Breann the casserole, she added, “If you have a microwave, just sit this in it and we can heat it up just before we sit down to eat.” Ellen noticed Chief Collins smiling in at her. Then she asked with some concern, “Where is everyone else? Are there a lot of people running behind?”
       Breann smiled and tried to explain, without giving the plan away, “Well, I did say I was inviting just a few intimate friends and here we are. To be quite honest, I have just a couple of intimate friends.”
       Breann was really smiling then, unable to hide her delight. Ellen had the strangest feeling that this was not just a casual cookout, but she liked the company that was attending so she settled down on a stool at the kitchen counter beside Chief Collins. Breann was feeling exceptionally good about tonight. She had to admit the vibes she had were even stronger now that she had the two of them together under one roof.
       Breann also noticed that Ellen looked extremely pretty, and from the way Chief Collin’s eyes were studying her, she thought he had noticed this as well. Ellen was thinking the same thing about Breann. She thought Breann was an attractive young woman, but tonight she looked like a smashingly beautiful lady.
       Breann had her long, shiny black hair swept up off her neck, with only a few strands purposely falling in dangling loose curls along the back of her neck and to frame her face. Breann had applied a shimmer of green eye shadow and some mascara, which gave a dreamy look to her eyes. She had finished off the look with a sheer shinning lip-gloss. The shadow and mascara made her large, emerald green eyes look extraordinary, and her mauve lip-gloss perfectly complimented Breann’s attractive full lips. This was a look Ellen had never seen her in at school. Ellen secretly hoped that Breann and Smooth were able to hit it off. She believed that Breann deserved the love of a good man in her life.
       While the ladies prepared the dressings for the burgers - tomatoes, lettuce onions, pickles and all the condiments, the guys set to cooking the burgers on the grill. Smooth had brought some margarita mix and had whipped up a batch in the blender, so he poured each of them a drink. As the food came close to being done, they all moved to the deck.
       With drinks, good food and small talk, the evening progressed as planned. Breann quickly sat beside Smooth on one side of the table, so this forced Ellen and Andy to sit beside one another on the other of the table. Breann intentionally brought up how Ellen loved motorcycles, and Andy jumped at the prospect of taking for a ride on his.
       Then Smooth mentioned that Andy really got into health foods, and that them eating burgers tonight was okay, because the burgers were Turkey meat. Ellen began telling him how she really stuck to her guns when it came to eating healthy too.
       The four of them had a wonderful dinner together. Andy and Ellen comfortably talked and laughed together. Breann observed with satisfaction - They are hitting it off. I knew they would.
       Unbeknownst to Breann, Ellen was also watching what was transpiring between Breann and Smooth. They make such a cute couple. Look at how he is gazing into her eyes. And Breann obviously is attracted to him as well. I think they may very well belong together.
       By eight o'clock, after finishing up their food and drinks, Breann and Smooth had worked their way back into the kitchen, leaving the happy little couple alone to get to know one another even better. It had turned out to be a beautiful romantic night. There was a comfortable warm breeze, and a dark blue sky with bright shining stars sprinkled all about it.
       Breann was so excited when Ellen came into the kitchen and shared with her that Andy had asked if he could have her number and possibly take her to dinner some evening soon. Yes! Breann silently cheered in her mind. She gave Smooth the most brilliant of smiles. He felt like his insides were melting. God, she is gorgeous! And she is so down to earth and easy to talk to, and we share a lot of the same interests. I don’t want our time together to end either.
Breann questioned Ellen with excitement, “You did say yes, didn’t you???”
       Ellen gave her a funny little look of ‘maybe, maybe not’. Breann was a little surprised and anxious. Then Ellen finally conceded, “Yes, of course, but only under one condition?” And Breann heard Ellen’s familiar contagious laughter.
       Breann was suddenly not sure what was going on in this other woman’s head, so she had to know right away what this condition might be. “Okay, come on, what condition?”
       “That you and Smooth have to double date with us.” With that, Ellen’s laughter bubbled through the screened in, glass doors to where Andy was sitting and he could not help but laugh too. He vacated the table and came inside with everyone else, standing very close to Ellen’s side.
       As Andy and Ellen had sat outside and talked, little by little, they had figured out that this cookout had been a scheme to get the two of them together. After talking some more and getting to know each other a little better, they had decided that it had been a very good plan. In the short time they had spent talking out on the deck, under the romantic night sky, after Breann, the matchmaker, and her accomplice, Smooth, had escaped to the confines of the kitchen, Ellen and Andy had discovered that they really enjoyed each other’s company.
       They had decided that they too would be matchmakers. Their plan was to get Breann and Smooth together. They had observed, in the course of the evening, that Breann and Smooth also seemed to have a lot in common.
       Breann looked over at Smooth with a shy smile and he responded with some unbridled excitement, “Hey, a double date wouldn’t be a bad idea, what do you say Breann?”
       Breann was rather shocked to hear these words coming from Smooth’s mouth. Is he just teasing with me? she wondered. But she could see by his eyes that he was serious. She could also see in his eyes that he was attracted to her. Oh my gosh! What’s going on here?! she pondered with slight alarm all at once.
       “Breann, I think you are great. I know this did not start out as a real date, but it has become one to me. I’ve never felt this connected to another woman before, and I’ve dated a lot of other woman. I know I might be coming on a little too strong, but I really would like to date you. So what do you say?”
       She stared at Smooth in silence for several more moments, allowing all he had just said to her to fully sink in. Well, I have been enjoying spending time with Smooth tonight, and we do seem to have a lot in common. All at once, it hit her like a ton of bricks: Oh my gosh! Is it happening to me? Have I finally found my match? Can this be possible?
       Now, looking at him in this different light, Breann saw a very attractive man. His thick blonde hair framed his face nicely. His eyes were those of an honest and sincere person. He had pretty white teeth that showed as he began to smile under her examination. As she began to study his body, Breann could see that Smooth was also a strong fit man, and she could almost feel his hands holding her at that very moment. This feeling of magnetism towards this man was unexpectedly overtaking Breann.
       As she looked again at Smooth’s face and noticed him intensely studying her expression, she realized that she had been caught doing her visual assessment of this young man. With embarrassment, she began to blush. This, in turn, excited Smooth, and he got up from where he had been sitting to walk over and stand directly in front of Breann. His face was just inches from hers. He smelled so good that he was becoming intimidating.
       The two of them had totally forgotten that there were two other people in the room, and they came very close to kissing at that very moment. If it had not been for a little cough from Andy, it would have happened.
       “So, what do you say, young lady?” Smooth said as he brought himself back to reality. Breann was still trying to deal with the sudden desire to touch this man, to feel his warm skin against her fingertips. Abruptly, Breann turned to look at Andy and Ellen, and then she slowly turned back to Smooth and with a gentle smile replied, “Yes, yes. I would like to go out with you. And I think I may have just found my match.”
“Well, if I have anything to say about it, then you most definitely have,” Smooth said and before he thought about what he was doing, he grabbed Breann and engulfed her in a warm hug in his large arms.
       In seeing the two of them, Andy and Ellen could not help but also embrace and the two happy couples all laughed together at all their careful efforts had accomplished this night. This all felt so right. Breann was astonished. What had started out as another simple matchmaking of another couple by her had led to her finding her perfect match. She could feel this in her heart.

The Irresponsible Ones

Maxwell Meyer was a short, rather plump man, with a chubby face, soft green eyes and thin gray hair. Then there was Jemma Clark, who was an obese woman with hair colored orange like carrots and somewhat sad brown eyes. If it were not for her very large breasts a man would not give her a second look. These two slightly unattractive people made the perfect partners for one another. They had several things in common. Only one similarity posed a terrible problem; they were both married - yet not to each other.

Maxwell was the head of the town council in a small midwestern city, named Waverly Heights, and Jemma was his loyal, adoring assistant. Their private relationship all began very innocently, with a few quiet dinners alone at a local restaurant in town, named Sally’s. The two of them soon began occupying a private room in the back of this restaurant and spending hours there together, supposedly talking about business. But little did people know they had begun to confide in each other about their personal lives.

Jemma told Maxwell that her unhappy marriage was the reason for her having gained so much weight. Maxwell commiserated with Jemma that his marriage was also unfulfilling. He told her that he was not even sure if he loved his wife anymore, but because of the political office he held, he did not think it was wise to get a divorce.

Their relationship was used to fill the empty places that were left by their marriages. Maxwell and Jemma were friends, confidants, and were edging closer and closer to becoming lovers. First with an innocent neck rub that Jenna gave Maxwell in the office after a long stressful day. Then there was the afternoon that Maxwell had caught her crying about something mean her husband had said to her. Maxwell had held her in his arms, just to comfort her.

Their last evening together, they had talked more and more about how unhappy they were; business never entered the conversation. As usual, Maxwell had walked Jemma to her car once the evening had ended. But to both their surprises, while standing just inside of the opened car door, they had come together, a yearning in their bodies that could not be controlled, and the innocent evening had ended with a long, forbidden, heated kiss.

Tonight, instead of meeting at Sally’s restaurant, wishfully Maxwell had taken the initiative to suggest that they go someplace new. The place he wanted Jemma to go with him was a small hotel on the outskirts of town. Jemma naturally knew what this would mean. She was excited and scared all at the same time about the thought of being with another man other than her husband. Should I do this? Can I do it? So far everything that had transpired between her and Maxwell had not been immoral – except for maybe that kiss the other night.

Even though Jemma knew that meeting Maxwell at this hotel would be wrong of her, she had still agreed to do so. She wanted him very deeply, and he made her feel desirable, like she was an attractive woman, something which her husband had ceased to do many years ago.

So after work that day, Jemma climbed into Maxwell’s car, and he drove them out to Kirk’s motel. He rented a room and paid cash for it. Jemma nervously waited in the car for Maxwell. When he came out, he moved the car from in front of the office to a parking space around on the back side of the hotel and parked in front of their room.

The room was nothing fancy, smelled a little of cigarette smoke, but neither of them cared. It gave then the privacy they needed most and a queen sized bed. Jemma also thankfully noted that the bedspread appeared to be fairly new and clean.

Maxwell wasted no time in initiating romance between the two of them. He took Jemma in his big thickset arms and he began to kiss her. Jemma was so overwhelmed by all that was transpiring that she feared she would swoon. “Maxwell, I need to sit down,” she told him in a breathless whisper.

“Of course,” he agreed. He sat down on the side of the bed, gently took her hand, and softly pulled her down beside him. Jemma sat nearly in Maxwell’s lap. Then he began kissing her again. His lips were warm and wet and his tongue was so persistent now, searching the inside of her mouth.

Jemma’s head was spinning because of the heated excitement that Maxwell was arousing so easily in her. Her large bosom was heaving with anticipation of what was yet to come. “Oh, Maxwell! I want you so badly!” she proclaimed and panted with hot, eager breath in his ear.

“Jemma, I want you too, my darling!” he declared with equal fervor.

They quickly undressed one another and then the two sprawled backwards across the bed and let nature take its course. They had now become lovers and were cheating on their spouses without giving it much thought, or having little guilt about what they were engaging in.

****

They began stowing away to Kirk’s motel on a more and more frequent basis. Jemma was amazed that Maxwell could afford to go to the hotel and pay cash for the room on such a consistent basis. After all, Maxwell’s salary as head of the town council was only supposed to be $12,000 a year.

Jemma realized that Maxwell also received monthly retirement and pension checks due to his long years of service at a factory in town. However, she still did not see how he could afford to spend so much money on hotel rooms. She raised the issue with him at one point, but Maxwell told her not to ‘worry her pretty, red head about it’, so Jemma swiftly let the subject drop.

As it came closer to election time, the town council members began strangely voting in several no-bid independent contracts for $2,500 each. Jemma thought that this seemed a little strange, so she asked Maxwell about this on one occasion. He told her it was just for some capital improvements that needed to be made around town. For Maxwell this was a smart investment with the election coming up. ‘We have to keep our voters happy,’ Maxwell had explained. With lust controlling her judgment, Jemma accepted this explanation without doubt.

Even though Jemma had heard around town that several folks were unhappy with the job that Maxwell was doing, he miraculously was elected for another four-year term. Most of the town council members were also reelected for their two-year term, with the exception of two. There were six town council members, so the majority retained their seats, even though they would have to contend with two outsiders for the next two years.

After the majority of the town council and Maxwell were convinced that their jobs were safe, they met to vote for a significant tax increase for the town. Even though the majority of citizens who showed up for the town meeting were furiously against the increase, Maxwell and the council voted it in anyway. Jemma knew that people were upset with Maxwell, and she did not like the idea of having to pay for a tax increase either, but she decided that she would support her man.

Jemma did not fully understand why the town would have to raise taxes so high, since they had always seemed to have a good amount of money coming in each year, but again she did not question Maxwell about this. If he and the town council say they needed more money, then they must truly need more money to run the town, she foolishly convinced herself.

Everything seemed to be going fine between the two of them until Maxwell’s wife somehow found out about their affair. Some anonymous citizen had spotted them going into Kirk’s motel together, on more than one occasion. Maxwell tried to deny that this allegation was true. He told his wife, “It’s because of this tax increase. I have made some enemies in doing this and they are trying to slander my good name.” His wife seemed to accept his explanation, mostly because she needed to. Maxwell and his wife were prominent Catholics in the community, so divorce would ruin them both.

Since Maxwell could not take the chance of this anonymous citizen getting solid proof of his affair, he and Jemma went back to Sally’s restaurant again and reserved their private room in the back to talk things over.

“Jemma, I care about you, and I think you are a wonderful women. But I cannot let our affair destroy my marriage and my political career. I think we need to cool things off…. at least for a little while.”

Jemma was shattered. She did not want to hurt Maxwell, and she certainly did not want to hurt his wife, but she did not know how she could survive without their weekly trysts now. They had made her feel more alive than she had in years and supremely happy. She had even been thinking of asking her husband for a separation.

She began crying hysterically. “Shh, Jemma. You need to calm down,” Maxwell had told her, getting very distressed by her emotional scene. “It will all be okay. Maybe when all of the tax increase business is not such a hot issue, then we can look at getting together again. You just need to give me some time. That’s all. You can do that, can’t you?”

“I just don’t know, Maxwell,” Jemma truthfully sniveled.

“Well, maybe this will help tide you over for awhile,” Maxwell said and handed her a leather briefcase. “Call it a bonus for being such a great assistant to me. If you are a good girl and you keep your mouth shut and let our little affair go by the wayside for awhile, then I will try and get you another raise like this next year.”

Jemma was not sure what Maxwell could be talking about. She watched as he unzipped the briefcase and held it open toward her. Jemma was shocked to see a large amount of money inside.

“Maxwell…. what is that?”

“That is eight thousand dollars, Jemma. That’s what it is. A nice little raise for all your hard work, And its tax free. This can keep you warm on those cold nights for a while, can’t it? Especially if I tell you there will be more to come next year if you play our little game.”

Jemma was speechless. Where did all this money come from? If he took it out of his personal account, isn’t his wife going to wonder what he did with their money?

Suddenly the cold truth hit Jemma like a ton of bricks. This was not money from Maxwell’s personal account. This was taxpayer’s money. He had been using taxpayer money all along to fund their escapades. The large amount in the miscellaneous office supplies that I couldn’t explain maybe. This was why Maxwell and the town council had suddenly had to raise the town’s taxes so significantly. Did he also bribe the council members to go along with this?

The $2,500 personal no-bid contracts! Had he used these to buy votes for himself and the council members? It all made sense now. The pieces of the puzzle were all starting to fit perfectly together, and Jemma did not like the picture they were forming, at all.

“So how about it, Jemma? You’ll stay quiet about our little affair and just let it go by the wayside for awhile, right?”

“I need to think about it, Maxwell. Give me a few days. Let’s meet here again on Friday night, okay? Just three days. That’s all I’m asking. You’ll give me that, won’t you?”

You could tell that Maxwell did not like Jemma’s request at all. But, since she was not turning him down, he finally agreed to her terms. “We’ll meet here again Friday evening,” he reluctantly conceded. The two left the restaurant then. Maxwell was still carrying all the money. Jemma asked that he be sure and bring it back with him when they met there again on Friday.

* * * *

Everything seemed to be fine with Jemma the next few days. Judging by her actions, Maxwell was convinced that Jemma had decided to accept the ‘quiet’ money. He could not wait for Friday evening to come so that they could go to Sally’s restaurant again and ‘transact business’, even though he was still wishing they were going to Kirk’s instead.

They had barely sat down in their private room when Maxwell brought up the issue of their affair and the money again, “So did you make a decision, Jemma? I have your bonus with me.”

“Yes, I did,” she said with a deceptive smile. “I will take the money, and we will cool things down for awhile, and I won’t say anything to anyone about anything.”

“I knew you would be sensible,” Maxwell praised, giving her a large, conniving smile. He placed the briefcase on the table and began to slide it toward her.

However, just as he did, the doors in the back and the doors leading from the restaurant burst open. All around the room stood members of the FBI, a fair size of them who had guns drawn and pointed at Maxwell. Jemma stood and backed up behind a few of them.

“What is this?” Maxwell asked, trying to feign innocence.

“Maxwell Lincoln, you are under arrest for bribery and the alleged embezzlement of taxpayer’s money. You have the right to remain silent….”

“I know my rights! This is crazy,” he protested as the FBI agent proceeded to handcuff him. “You have no proof!”

The FBI led Maxwell out of the room still snarling and objecting to his wrongful arrest. He threatened to have their jobs. Jemma walked out with a few of the officers.

She was shocked to find her husband waiting for her outside. They had engaged in a very long talk Tuesday night, and she had confessed to having the affair with Maxwell. She had told her husband about the money that Maxwell had offered her as a bribe to keep her mouth shut about the affair. Her husband had left the house, and Jemma had just assumed that he was leaving her life as well.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him.

“I did a lot of thinking the past few days,” he told her, glancing alternately at her face and at his feet. Jemma knew him well enough to know that he was in pain. She felt very badly about this. She had never meant to hurt him.

“We’ve been married a very long time, Jemma, over twenty years. Somewhere along the line, I started taking you and our marriage for granted. I haven’t been there for you like I should have. That’s why you turned to someone else.”
“So what are you saying?” she nervously asked.

“I’m saying that I’d like for you to give ‘us’ another chance. Let’s try to recapture what we used to have in our marriage. Let’s not just throw away twenty years together. You are a good, brave woman. You proved that today by what you just did with the FBI against that crooked politician. Can we give it another try?”

Jemma was so moved she had to fight to keep from crying. She had been the one who had wronged her husband, but here he was begging her to give them another chance. She was truly amazed, and she immediately realized how foolish and irresponsible she had been. She had allowed herself to be taken advantage of by a crooked politician, a womanizer, and she had almost thrown away a truly good man in the process.

“Let’s go home,” she said to her husband and linked arms with him. “Let’s start all over.”