Once they had caught their breath and lazed comfortably together on the bed, Bette took on the task of rallying the troops. “So, what are we gonna do with the rest of our day?”, “Should we get our ski gear?” Dana asked. “I don’t think I’ll be skiing, I mean, I’m just not a skier ya know” Shane admitted. “Awww I can teach ya, Stud” Alice offered. “Well what are you going to do all week then Shane?” Tina asked in a motherly way. “I’ll find something”, “or someone” Alice chimed in. Shane smiled knowing Alice was probably right.

It was mid afternoon and the ladies were wandering the shopping strip. They picked up provisions for the week then headed for the ski hire place. Shane took the provisions back while the others got their gear. When she rejoined the gang, they were almost done fitting their boots. Shane took a seat on one of the benches opposite Alice as she waited. Dana was walking around in her boots like Frankenstein “these feel weird” she remarked, Alice couldn’t help but tease Dana “Wait till they’ve got ski’s attached to them”. “Don’t make fun Al, you know I’ve never been skiing before in my life”, Alice rubbed Dana’s thigh as she stood beside her, “awww don’t worry baby, I’ll help you out”. Dana smiled softly at her honey, running her fingers through Alice’s golden locks.

Behind the counter was a sandy blonde woman with shoulder length wavey hair. She had been assisting the ladies with their boot selection and was now grabbing skis and poles for them. Bette and Tina were at that counter collecting their sets from the woman. Tina enquired about the weather and conditions over the last couple of days and “Natasha”, as her name tag said, was happy to give them a report. Alice and Dana joined them at the counter and picked up their things “ok Shane we’re ready, lets go!” Dana declared. “Ok Dad” Shane responded cheekily, dawdling along behind as the others exited. Natasha giggled at the exchange, smiling as Shane’s eyes met hers. “He’s sooo bossy” Shane remarked as she smiled and walked out the door.

Shane caught up and helped the ladies with some of their things. A discussion began about what to do tonight. “We could hit a bar” suggested Shane, “or go out for dinner” added Alice. Bette wasn’t convinced, “it’s been a long day, maybe we could just stay in tonight”. Tina nodded in agreement looking over to Dana who had stopped in her tracks, looking across the road. “Dana? Honey?” Alice walked over to her as she raised her arm, pointing at something over the other side of the road. Alice looked where she was pointing, her jaw dropped “oh no … not that”. The others looked over and saw the sign on the outside of the building … BOWLARAMA! “Yesssss!” Dana squealed, jumping up and down excitedly.

Bette opened the door to their cabin, the others filing in. Dana was still going on about bowling “Ohhh come on you guys, it’ll be fun. We can drink beer, chat, have fun like we used to. Awwww pleeeeease!”. Alice was quickly melting at Dana’s cute insistence, “it’ll be fun guys, c’mon, Dana’s right”. “Okay okay, I guess we can get a bite to eat at the alley” Bette conceded. Dana hugged all of them, galloping off to the bedroom to get changed. “Don’t tell me she has a bowling outfit” Tina questioned Alice. “We may have some kinky fetishes Tina, but ‘league bowler and shoe rental wench’ is not one of them” replied Alice as she went to get Dana. “I bet that IS one of their fetishes” Bette stated, drawing giggles from Tina and Shane as the mental imagery floated through their minds.

Bowlarama was fairly crowded, and had a great party atmosphere. The lights were low and the pins seemed to glow under the ultra-violet lighting. Everyone looked to be having fun. The gals grabbed some rental shoes, much to Bette’s displeasure. “Do I really have to do this?” she whined, scrunching up her face like a kid asked to eat broccoli. “I brought some socks for you” Tina offered. “I have to wear SOCKS?” Bette continued to protest. Alice knew just what to say “well Bette you COULD just put your bare foot right there into the sweatpit …”. “Putting on the socks now” Bette announced, causing the others to laugh. They each picked out a ball and went to their assigned lane.

Alice input their names into the scoring system … Tee, Bee, Dee, Al & Stud. Dana ordered a round of beers and some nachos. Tee got the ball rolling, so to speak, and showed that she was fairly good at it. Bette on the other hand was finding it hard to keep the ball in the lane. Dana was a picture of concentration, she had a ritual to her delivery and appeared to be taking things very seriously. Alice couldn’t help but chuckle at how cute her serious lil bowler was. When it came for her turn, Alice stood at the line with her feet well apart and rolled the ball down with both hands. Dana covered her face “oh my God Al, so ladylike”. What Dana didn’t notice was that Alice had bowled a strike with her unorthodox style. Alice turned around and poked her tongue out at Dana and strutted back to her seat, giving the others high fives.

“Okay Stud … slide one right down the middle” Alice yelled over the music. Shane picked up her ball and stood at the top of the lane, doing her best Fred Flintstone twinkle toes bowl and watched it go straight into the gutter. “Way to go Fred heeheehee” Alice remarked in her best Barney Rubble voice. Shane’s second shot was an attempt at seriousness yet the result was the same. Shane shrugged as she sat back down. “Just goes to show ya, I never strike out when I get my fingers in the right holes” she boasted. The gals roared with laughter “So THAT’S her secret!” Dana exclaimed. Alice joined in the smutty conversation “Ya gotta love a girl that can bowl though… just think of the fingers. Great wrist action, nice curve and spin, just the right speed”. “Oh geez Al” Dana cringed “What? Don’t act like ya don’t know Dana” Alice teased.

The night wore on and the challenges and dares started after several beers. The scores no longer mattered, it was all about fun and embarassing yourself. Dana tried to stay serious but her bowling just got worse the drunker she got. At one point her ball went down the next lane instead of their own. It wouldn’t have been so hysterical had Dana not stood at the ball return for five minutes waiting for her ball. A woman tapped her on the shoulder to give Dana her ball back, “noo shhh shhh go away, i’m waiting for my ball, it’s in there somewhere … I hope the bowling Gods didn’t swallow it cos I’m bowling so badly, did I just hear it burp?”.

Alice was laughing so much she had to excuse herself from having an accident, Tina and Bette were leaning against each other in hysterics. Shane being the not-so-drunk rational one took the ball and thanked the woman, showing it to Dana who just about cried when she saw it. “Don’t you EVER go away again Al … hey I didn’t know your last name was Brunswick … where’s your lipstick gone?”. Shane slipped her arm around Dana’s shoulder and helped the drunken mental patient, who was now kissing her “Al Brunswick”, to sit down.

Alice returned and sat with Dana, so Shane could have her last bowl of the night. She stood at the line and prepared to make a real effort to knock some pins down. First throw … nothing but gutter. As she turned to walk back to her mark, she noticed a familiar face bowling 6 lanes away. The face smiled at her and mouthed a “hi”, to which Shane responded in kind. Shane collected her ball and walked up to the line again and threw it down, this time it stayed on the lane and managed to frighten a pin into falling over. She punched the air with her fist in triumph. Natasha, the familiar face from the ski hire store, giggled as she saw Shane’s score. She started applauding, to which Shane graciously bowed and sat down to remove her shoes.

By now Dana was coming down from the alcohol and feeling a little worse for wear. “Al … take me home I don’t feel so good” she murmurred. “I’m not surprised honey, you kissed a bowling ball” Alice reasoned as Dana grabbed Alice by the shirt collar, “I didn’t kiss the ball, I kissed YOU”. Alice chuckled “Baby, if you can’t tell the difference between kissing a bowling ball and kissing ME, you have had way too much to drink … let’s go”. Shane and Alice held Dana up on either side, helping her to make it back to the cabin. Bette and Tina were quite content to take their time, enjoying the crisp night air. Bette leaned toward Tina and joked “she DOES kiss like a bowling ball”, Tina giggled and linked her arm with Bette’s.

**********

~tbc~