Chapter 5 - The Invitation 

Eric Oswald walked out of the windowless Stone Pole book store. Having just passed the threshold of his own sexual inhibitions, everything seemed renewed. He paused in front of the store. The exhaust from the cars passing by was crisp, the clouds dancing over the sky were more lucid, even the warmth still radiating from his crotch seemed more real. He thought that he had previously been living his life behind a curtain, but now it was raised and the show had started. 

He walked around the corner and onto the gravel parking lot. While heading to his car he passed a man sitting on the hood of a car, smoking a cigarette. Something seemed familiar about this man and Eric couldn't put his finger on it. 

When not more than ten feet from the man, Eric heard, "Hell of a ride, right?" 

Turning around, Eric was able to match the voice with the moans he heard earlier. Getting slightly embarrassed he fumbled out, "I'm sorry?" 

"I usually don't stick around to shoot the shit, but I was curious to see what you looked like in daylight, and I got to tell you," he said looking Eric over, "you take care of yourself." 

"You were in the other booth... I didn't recognize you without the blush and eye-liner," Eric said. The man was still smoking his cigarette. He was lean, not quite six foot tall, and had on tight jeans, white t-shirt and bomber jacket. 

"The name's Brandon," he said extending his hand toward Eric. "I only doll myself up for special occasions, mainly to attract the pedigrees." 

"Nice to finally meet you, I'm Eric," he said shaking the others hand. 

"I've never seen you here before." 

"Well, I took the wrong exit trying to get to Galaxy bookstore and I just stopped here for the hell of it." 

"You're lucky you came here, Galaxy doesn't have booths, either way, both places aren't much to speak of. I'm only here because I work down the street and it provides for an interesting lunch break. Let me give you a card for a nice place, it's exclusive so you'll have to show them the card at the door." Brandon handed Eric a laminated card with a bar code printed on the back. 

Eric read the name on the card, "PheromoniXXX... sounds like a record label." 

"Trust me, go to this place and you'll go platinum. If you need company give me a call," Brandon said, handing Eric a regular business card with his name and phone number. "I usually hang out there on the weekends, it draws the best crowd. Anyway, I got to get back to work," He said patting Eric on the shoulder, "hope to see you there." Eric nodded, said good-bye and walked on towards his car. 

He had pulled out onto the main road heading back to the interstate when he got a phone call. Digging through his pocket he pulled it out to see it was his wife calling. He took in a deep breathe, came up with a reason for still being on the road and answered. 

She had arrived at her destination and was picked up by her best friend and on her way to the retreat. She told Eric that during the retreat, there was no use of any technology, so this would be her last call for a week. 

Eric made an effort to sound disappointed and told her he'd miss her terribly. She reciprocated and they had a tender moment on the phone. Eric was trying very hard to control his enthusiasm about a interruption free week without the wife. He managed to make her feel loved and missed and they said their good-byes. 

He hung up the phone and yelled out a cry of excitement even though the traffic had began the rush hour backup and he was slowing to a crawl. 

