Lana\u2019s portrait of her friends on \u201cAmy Tells All\u201d was almost completely fiction.
\nShe did indeed have two close friends that had the hair color and physiques she described, but they did not act out in public.<\/p>\n
They gathered one evening when Scott was off on his sales trip, not a bar and grill, but at a fairly nice Parkersburg restaurant. Spat\u2019s at the Blennerhasset is situated in a historic hotel that has all the amenities: a gym, a pool, a library, meeting rooms, a business center, a gift shop, and a Starbuck\u2019s. Hell, the place will even entertain and accommodate your canine friends. The \u201cevil sisters\u201d were nothing of the kind. To all the world, they were cosmopolitan women, very well dressed, affluent and refined, out for a night on the town sans spouses. This take was the truth. Lana Marietta sat at table between Lisa Roiter, (Red), and Christine Miller (Blonde). They enjoyed several cocktails ahead of ordering an exquisite dinner. The Blennerhasset also sports a cooking school. Christine was a graduate. She knew her food and had the slight extra girth to show for it. None of these women were anything but lovely. They were not models, exactly, but they made their men very proud as head turners or arm candy. That is not meant to be pejorative; though Chris and Lisa were not as well read and arty as Lana, they were successes in their own right. They shared some mutual concerns. These did not include the wicked doings that Lana put into their heads in her blog. They all loved the blog of course. If it had a comments section they would have lit it up. As it was, they slapped each other in high fives on Facebook. All of this was something that their husbands did not pay attention to. They didn\u2019t hide it; it was girls stuff, and as such of no interest.
\n\u201cLana, how long do you have until Scott gets back?\u201d Christine asks.
\nLana scrunched up her face.
\n\u201cOh, he extended it to go somewhere in Ohio.\u201d
\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Lisa, \u201cthat\u2019s just the next state over. How fast does that plane go?\u201d
\n\u201cToo fast.\u201d
\nA sip and a sigh.
\n\u201cScottie\u2019s always been a tight leash kinda guy.\u201d
\n\u201cYeah. I sort of envy your dapper Mr. Miller.\u201d
\n\u201c\u2026and rich. Don\u2019t leave off rich.\u201d
\n\u201cLana, we\u2019ve been all over this topic. We\u2019re here to help if you need it.\u201d Lisa spoke and then looked at the flickering candle and the floral centerpiece.
\n\u201cThanks, Li. I know that. I don\u2019t think he means to\u2026 I don\u2019t think he means any harm. He just doesn\u2019t get it about the Bar. I really need to buckle down, hit the books and take that test.\u201d
\n\u201c\u2026and so far, it\u2019s no sale,\u201d said Christine.
\n\u201cHe just puts up a hand and says, \u2018I\u2019ve made up my mind.\u2019\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s your life, babe.\u201d
\n\u201cIt was his frickin\u2019 idea!\u201d
\n\u201cGo figure.\u201d
\n\u201cI absolutely wouldn\u2019t tolerate that level of\u2026\u201d Lisa searches for an ugly word.
\n\u201c\u2026abuse,\u201d Christine supplies it.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not just that.\u201d
\n\u201cNo? What else then?\u201d
\n\u201cHe does whacked stuff. He hides the books.\u201d
\n\u201cHe hides the law books?\u201d
\n\u201cYes, and when he catches me looking at them, he\u2019s\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cYes? Do spill the black beans!\u201d
\n\u201c\u2026he\u2019s on about \u2018his being within his rights to decide my level of involvement in stuff he thinks is a waste of time.\u2019\u201d
\n\u201cHe doesn\u2019t object to the blog?\u201d
\n\u201cHe never reads the blog.\u201d
\n\u201cHe objects to the drawings.\u201d
\n\u201cYes, we heard about that last time we talked. He\u2019s not\u2026destroying your artwork is he?\u201d Lisa\u2019s voice registers her concern.
\nLana looks at her drink as if it held the answer. Perhaps, for tonight, it does.
\n\t\u201cNo. I mean, I\u2019ve learned not to draw when he\u2019s at home. I hide the books. Most of the time. Not all the time. Oh, I don\u2019t know. I knew Scott was trouble. That\u2019s what I liked about him in a way. I loved him for his hard bod and his plane and his earnest way of talking about the way he could really make some money doing what he loved doing. And all of that he has, and in a very short time.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou used to always rave about the sex,\u201d said Christine.
\n\t\u201cI still love to make love to that man.\u201d
\n\t\u201cThen great. Good for you. Me and Ron have sort of collapsed in that department.\u201d
\n\t\u201cNo!\u201d Lana and Lisa speak in tandem.
\n\t\u201cYes. Since his surgery, he\u2019s just not taking an interest.\u201d
\n\t\u201cTime to hit the Victoria\u2019s Secret, girl,\u201d says Christine.
\nA wan smile from Lisa. No snappy come back.
\n\t\u201cSo. What are we going to eat to fatten ourselves up for the slaughter and to forget about our troubles?\u201d
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m going for the Andouille Tri-Color Tortellini. I hear that\u2019s quite good,\u201d says Christine, in the know.
\n\t\u201cLana, why don\u2019t you and me split the duck?\u201d
\n\t\u201cFuck a duck.\u201d
\n\t\u201cThere, now. That\u2019s your old salty self!\u201d
\nThe wait staff does its thing.
\n\t\u201cLana, I gotta say, I love the \u2018three evil sisters\u2019 bit.\u201d Lisa is leaning back, away from the wreckage of poultry on her plate. \u201cWe think you write like dream, so breezy and inventive\u2026\u201d
\n\t\u201cMany thanks, my lovelies. It\u2019s fun.\u201d
\n\t\u201cYeah. We do worry a little about some of that fantasy sexy stuff. Scott would be appalled if he caught on. But it\u2019s not for real.\u201d
\n\t\u201cWell, I really did go to the barn dance last Friday night. With his vapor trail still hovering in the ruddy sky.\u201d
\n\t\u201cHa! A fine speech, lass.\u201d
\n\t\u201cWhat about my ass?\u201d
\n\t\u201cAll joking aside, we think you might consider selling some of those gems.\u201d
\n\t\u201cSelling?\u201d
\n\t\u201cYou know, get an agent. Pull together a book.\u201d
\n\t\u201cBe the pie-in-ear woman?\u201d
\n\t\u201cBe the Lana Marietta Andrews woman.\u201d
\n\t\u201cI might could, perhaps. If he won\u2019t let me be a lawyer, ya think he\u2019ll let me be a writer?\u201d
\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re back on the same topic!\u201d
\n\t\u201cSorry sisters. Besides, I\u2019m what, ten posts in, if that?\u201d
\n\t\u201cLana. Listen up. You did the family law up one side and down the other. You took the damn course. We don\u2019t have to tell you. \u2018If you\u2019ve got a possessive man, you\u2019ve got a problem.\u2019\u201d
\n\t\u201cI agree with Lisa. It breaks my heart and offends my soul as a woman to hear all of this nonsense about a man telling you what you can and can\u2019t do. It does not bode well. It leads to nothing good. I hesitate to say it, but you might consider getting out now.\u201d
\n\t\u201cOf my marriage? That\u2019s crazy talk!\u201d
\n\t\u201cWell, then. Get some counseling. Get him to a counselor. Get him a book. Get some help. Jeez.\u201d
\nLana\u2019a wan hand was up, more or less in that same position it found when she was on top of Scott and she was going over the waterfall to orgasm. Her fingers grasped at the air as if in agony or ecstasy. At the moment it was the former. Her friends were demonstrating their friendly concern. They were putting their finger right on the problem she knew was a problem. She was ultra bright, ultra empathetic, and ultra scared. She felt herself easing towards tears. She needed a joke and fast. Why did the fucking duck cross the road?<\/p>\n
They could see they\u2019d upset her. A silence fell upon them. Her friends couldn\u2019t think of a thing to say. The next words had to come from Lana\u2019s mouth. Her mouth trembled slightly. She was fighting, they could plainly see and feel. All heaven and nature hit pause. She was nature\u2019s matchless gift, the talented young woman who had no end of understanding and intellect. A fireball of feeling and wonderment was gathered under the roof of her mind; it would not do to have it corralled in any way, much less silenced. They were all, they knew on some level, fighting for her life.
\n\t\u201cI know you mean to help. I know that, and I am grateful. But I can\u2019t walk out on Scott. It\u2019s not just\u2026 that I\u2019m afraid. Which, of course I am\u2026\u201d
\nNow, as the realization of what she\u2019d said out loud hit home for them all, her voice broke and she felt scalding tears run down her cheek, here in public, at Spats. All eyes, she felt, were suddenly on her and she froze, fighting for control. She seized her napkin and dabbed at the wet and makeup. She let her head fall almost so that she was six inches above her picked at plate.
\n\t\u201c\u2026I love Scott Andrews. I know he can be bossy. I can be a royal bitch. I am not going to give up on him. I am going to try\u2026 to outwit him. He\u2019s no dummy, and nobody\u2019s fool, for sure. But I think\u2026 I can reason with him.
\nThe two women listening to this speech looked at each other. Lana saw the doubt in their faces. The love. The concern. Joke, please!
\n\t\u201cBesides\u2026the sex is just so good!\u201d
\nNobody laughed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lana\u2019s portrait of her friends on \u201cAmy Tells All\u201d was almost completely fiction. She did indeed have two close friends that had the hair color and physiques she described, but they did not act out in public. They gathered one evening when Scott was off on his sales trip, not a bar and grill, but at a fairly nice Parkersburg restaurant. Spat\u2019s at the Blennerhasset is situated in a historic hotel that has all the amenities: a gym, a pool, a library, meeting rooms, a business center, a gift shop, and a Starbuck\u2019s. Hell, the place will even entertain and accommodate your canine friends. The \u201cevil sisters\u201d were nothing of the kind. To all the world, they were cosmopolitan women, very well dressed, affluent and refined, out for a night on the town sans spouses. This take was the truth. Lana Marietta sat at table between Lisa Roiter, (Red), and Christine Miller (Blonde). They enjoyed several cocktails ahead of ordering an exquisite dinner. The Blennerhasset also sports a cooking school. Christine was a graduate. She knew her food and had the slight extra girth to show for it. None of these women were anything but lovely. They were not models,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapters","comments-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ken-beck.com\/bloggers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}