The essentials of this story are all truthful. One of my very good friends worked as an office manager for a clinical psychologist. A very conflicted young man came to her clinic one day and began a case with her group. Fortunately he had a patient and understanding counselor to work through matters with him. And, as you will see why, it became our favorite topic as it unfolded over the next few months.

Cubicle

“What are you doing for lunch?”

That was the earliest conversation I could recall having with her. She had been hired about a year after me and placed in the same business group. Initially, she’d been paired with a more senior colleague to train. I’d just turned 23 and she was one of our a recent college graduate hires.

The firm handled the registration and licensing concerns for firms operating in multiple states: compiling business documents, forms, and records and making certain that all requirements were followed. Within it, recent young college graduates were paired alongside a crowd of older workers and slowly and steadily built their professional resumes in hopes of eventually landing a better job, or, they worked there until they became a member of the seasoned crowd. It had a domesticating effect: clock in at 8 am. Process paper, pass along paper, through the process, returning paper, repeating the process. Clock out at 4:15 pm. The younger workers naturally formed a bond. It didn’t matter what clique you belonged to, wherever you were last, hired later or hired earlier; if you were young, or relatively young, you hung out with the young. The pay was called “entry level.” Some still lived at home while a few shared apartments and paid rent. But it was a job that could make a resume look good and that’s what most of them were hoping for.

Over time, friendships formed. And, naturally, so did relationships. Greg, the laid-back, shaggy-haired blond guy was rumored to be dating Jennifer, the energetic gal who sang with a wedding band on the weekends. Mike, the part-time grad student, started up with Laura after her boyfriend moved out, or possibly before, depending on who is telling the story. For me, I wanted no part of an office romance and certainly not there. Just the thought of becoming part of the office gossip or even breaking up with a girl then having to spend eight hours a day in the same office was enough to keep the thoughts away. There were temptations, for sure. Nancy, a former college runner, seemed interesting. Another was Elise, who filled out a sweater better than anyone. Diana, Maribel, Susan and the rest … all seemed to be floating between single and available during that time.

So when Dina started working there, there was little out of the ordinary about it. She was working with Laura, whom I’d known for almost a year and spent a fair amount of time getting to know at the after-work get-togethers. Laura was about as unpretentious as they come and, thus, made fast friends with just about everyone. And so, I didn’t mind sharing a few aspects of my private life with her.

When the invite for lunch came, it seemed as innocent as any: a chance to get to know another friendly new face in the organization. Dina was a bit hard to read: at first glimpse she seemed a bit shy. A small, petite build and dark brown hair kept stylishly short. Her dark features, prominent nose and smooth complexion complemented her Italian ancestry.

“Lunch? Sure, today?”

“Yeah, I’m sick of the cafeteria. Want to go out somewhere?”

“Sure. We could go out to DeLeo’s. Nothing great, but we get can a decent slice of pizza and be back in time.”

“Okay. I’ll come by your desk at Noon?”

“Sounds good.”

I drove us over to the small pizza shop, both of us buying a slice at the counter and got a small table near the window.

“How long have you been working there?” she asked.

“Almost two years now.”

“Really? Are you going to stay there for life?”

I laughed. “No, I don’t plan on it.”

“I couldn’t imagine it. Seems kinda boring, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought when I started. But it does give you good experience, especially when you want to go somewhere else.”

“I guess. Still, it’s hard getting by at that pay unless you’re still living at home.”

Her bluntness seemed attractive to me. I wasn’t used to someone who could so easily switch gears in conversation.

“You know Laura well?”

“Sure. Well enough I suppose.”

“What do you think of her?”

“She’s nice. I always like to hang out with her when we go out.”

“You think it’s weird?”

“What’s that?”

“You heard she’s seeing Mike, right?”

He nodded, not knowing how much to give up.

“Yeah, well, she’s supposed to have had her boyfriend move out.”

“You’re suggesting that he didn’t?”

She grinned.

“Both? She’s seeing them both? Do they know?”

“You’re not going to tell Mike, are you?”

“No.”

“Cool. ‘Cause she’d kill me if it got out.”

We finished our lunch before driving back to work. And for the rest of the afternoon, I had trouble thinking of anything but his co-worker Mike not knowing about his girlfriend.

It had been two years since I graduated from college with a degree in economics. While in school I played soccer, eventually becoming second team all-conference as a junior and senior. All that meant a great deal while I was in school, but once out, it was hard to readjust.

Facing a stiff job market, a friend from school had invited me to interview with a business he knew. “It’ll be a good start,” he assured me. I got the job, only to realize the pay was so low, I’d hardly be able to afford an apartment. Fortunately, my aunt got wind and invited me to live at her house, which happened to be a 15-minute drive from the offices. Aunt Ellen lived in a small, beautiful home which had an extra bedroom. Rent would be $300 a month, but that could be worked off at $10 an hour by doing chores around the house. Since it was such a good deal, I made it a point to give one solid hour of work each day to the property. Eventually, she’d usually just leave me a note requesting some particular chore. Lawn mowing, gutter cleaning, garbage hauling, leaf raking, landscaping … an hour a day, every day, free rent. Not a bad deal. About half the time, she would make dinner and I’d often eat with her. Her husband had died a few years prior and her own children had moved out before that, so it was a beneficial arrangement for both of us.

In all, the arrangement suited me well.

So when a new girl would start at work, I tended to hang back, letting the other guys around the office do the work for me. My friend, Nate, would usually get the lowdown from me via his sources. Being engaged, it allowed him to pass himself off as a disinterested, neutral party when discussing them. Thus, he was usually our primary source on each new hire. Nancy and Elise had boyfriends. Diana, Maribel, Susan were all in various stages of dating. The report on Dina was that she might still be dating a boyfriend. She was hard to read with her petite build and sultry complexion. She was not particularly round or shapely, slender but not thin, attractive without any excess weight. And a taste in fashion that annoyed some of the women in the office, not skimpy or revealing, but relaxed.

A few days later, Dina dropped by my desk again.

“You wanna go with Nate to that pizza place again?”

“Sure.”

The three of us stuffed into her old Nissan Sentra and headed out. Once there, the conversation quickly turned to other employees.

“So Laura finally moved her boyfriend out.”

We looked at her with raised eyebrows, knowing we were getting some interesting gossip. For the next half hour, she would discuss anything and everything, with little apprehension. Often, Nate and I would crack up at her bluntness. At first, I didn’t find her very cultured. Sometimes she could be funny, other times borderline crude. Not very refined, a good candidate for ladies finishing school, for sure. I didn’t have any interest in dating her, not really long-term material, I figured. We didn’t share the same pedigree.

After getting back to the office, I was in my cubicle when Nate stopped by.

“What do you think of Dina?”

“She’s all over the place.”

But over time we’d become friendly: lunches with the office gang or baseball game outings. We grew into friends. I even tried to fix her up with a friend of mine. For one reason or another, she didn’t seem interested. Over lunch one day she mentioned that she planned on returning to grad school, but asked that I keep it quiet just in case the plan fell through.

When we would go out, we’d often find ourselves gravitating to each other. She was upbeat. Loved to joke, notice a detail about a co-worker we’d could share and laugh at. Not particularly opinionated about anything. Enjoyed a good time, but kept everything in moderation.

One summer night we were out for Lois’s goodbye party after her husband took a job in Iowa. Appetizers and a drink at the Chilli’s at the nearest mall. It broke up around eight and Dina suggests that we go out, I mention another bar, she suggest we head over to the beach. “C’mon, it’ll be like high school,” she insists.

After a stop at the mini-mart for some beer, we drove separately to the park adjacent to the beach which was still a little busy with families and kids enjoying a late summer evening. We walked down the long path until it ends near the concrete seawall. Lost in a conversation about work or sports or nothing at all, the crowd slowly dwindles to nothing and darkness falls. We found seats on the distant rocks and sip our beer together. Keeping one eye open for anyone who might not want us out there.

“You used to come out here in high school?”

“Sometimes. We’d hang out here. How about yourself?”

“Not here really. Sometimes I’d go with my friends to other beaches further up.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Are you into girls?”

I laughed, not getting her meaning. “Of course.”

“It’s just that … well, some people at work say that you’re not that into girls. At least, not much.”

“No, it’s not like that.”

“You ever have a serious girlfriend?”

“Hmmm, sort of. A few months or so.”

“But not real, like, you know, you don’t sleep with them?”

I shook my head, wondering what she had been told about me. “Well, not, you know, premarital intercourse.”

“So … what happens if you get a hard-on?”

I shook my head.

“But isn’t that really painful? You know, blue balls?”

Not knowing how to answer, I just shook my head and smiled nervously.

“Hey, do you swim?” she blurted out.

“Sometimes. You?”

“A bit.”

She grins wide and stands up. “Wanna go now?”

“What, now?”

“Come on, it’ll be fun.”

As I consider the moment, she quickly pulls off her top and camisole, revealing her small breasts in the darkness, before yanking down her khaki capri pants and underwear and dancing into the water before ducking her body beneath the calm surface.

“Hey! What are you doing?” I loudly whisper to her, hoping no one else can hear.

“What’s it look like? Swimming. Come on in.”

“Are you crazy? I’m not going in.”

She laughed. “Don’t be such a wimp. Come on, no one can see us, if that’s what you’re scared of.”

Not wanting to end the evening so early, I took a deep breath and pulled off my clothes as quickly as possible, leaving them in a heap before quickly stepping into the water and ducking under the surface.

As quickly as the abrupt chill subsided, I noticed her wading over to linger in the waist-deep water next to me.

“See, I told you it’s not that bad,” she laughs at me.

“Still, it’s not so much the cold.”

“What, you’re telling me you’ve never been skinny-dipping before?”

I shook my head.

“You’re not worried if someone steals our stuff?”

“No, then we’d just have to walk home naked.” The giggle in her voice told me that she didn’t have much concern about it.

After a few minutes, the stillness of the night and the starry sky cast us into a quiet calmness. She wades over to me, and rises from her crouch to let her breasts peek above water. She notices my smile, “What do you think, kinda small, I know” she says. “They’re nice,” I reassure her. She seems completely comfortable addressing the obvious, I note. As we’re floating, I feel her brush against my leg. If she’s just flirting, it’s not going to happen: the cool water kept down the passion. Her easiness is contagious: I begin to relax. Just taking a dip I tell myself.

“Have you ever done this before?”

“Sure,” I lie.

“With a girl?” she grins back.

I figure where the conversation is going and don’t offer much more. Knowing she has a fair amount of dirt on our other coworkers, I’m trying to not become topic of their conversations. After about five minutes, we decide we’ve tested luck long enough, no need for the police to show up and ruin the fun. Letting her leave just ahead of me, I watch as her firm, round derriere leaves the water and heads back to our spot on the sand. I watch as she fumbles around a bit and steps back into her shorts. Figuring it’s enough time, I follow and approach her only to see just my shoes in the sand.

“Hey,” I whisper, “where’s my stuff?”

She smiles back at me, casually standing by, still topless. “Stuff?”

“Come on,” I persist, feeling myself grow anxious. “Don’t get us in trouble.”

“Okay, fine. Close your eyes and put out your hands.”

I sigh and do as she says. I hear her shuffle a bit before I feel the moist warmth on me.

“Dina?”

I look down, barely able to see her in the darkness, her head at my waist, the most incredible feeling I’d ever experienced somehow paralyzing me. A joke, I figure. But after more than a few seconds, she shows no hint of stopping.

“Okay, that’s enough,” I whisper, placing my hands on her head, but was unable to push her off as she continued. And as the initial shock wore off, my resistance did as well. Unable to stop her, part of me hoped she’d stop before I lost complete control. But in less than a minute, I felt the inevitable approaching. Surrendering with a low groan, I felt myself releasing into her mouth. She didn’t pull back in disgust but instead actually finished completely, milking it, before pulling me out and giving us both a soft giggle.

“What … what was that?”

“Called a blowjob, dummy,” she replied, wiping her lips, “wait, was that your first time?”

The shock that she’d pull that trick was allayed by her laughter. I couldn’t answer.

“Wait’ll I tell them tomorrow,” she teased.

“No. No, please?” I feared the story would circulate around, making me the subject of office gossip.

“Hmmm, we’ll see,” she giggled, “c’mon, hurry up, get dressed.”

We finished dressing and made our way to our cars in the lot, me confused by how easily she was able to do that to me. I want to reassure her that it was out of character to me, but it’s late and we both need to work the next morning. We say goodnight and she hops into her car and heads off. Meanwhile, I’m more confused than ever.

My mind was still lost when I looked for her at work the next morning a few cubicles over. By this point in my life, I’d had a few girlfriends, but none with much intimate experience so early on. Her carefree mood did seem to break through to me.

“Dina? No, she’s out on a seminar today,” Laura replied when I stopped by her desk.

“Oh.”

“What did you guys do after you left the party?”

“Oh, not much. Just headed over to have a beer.”

She smiled quietly. “Okay, well, I’ll tell her you stopped by then.”

“Thanks, Laura.”

I headed back to work figuring if she were to hear anything, it would have to be from her.

After a busy weekend spent playing soccer with my club and landscaping the backyard, I returned to work on Monday. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and she didn’t stop by my desk although I heard her down the way discussing a project she had been assigned. If anything, my mood was confused: my sense of intimacy and hers was wildly disparate. Had it been anything more, say, normal, I might have been able to deal with it better, knowing a little as to what to expect.

I even began to suspect that she might be having regrets about the entire matter. That one bothered me the most. I still considered her a friend and I most feared losing her in that capacity.

Finally, Greg stopped by my desk and asked if I was interested in seeing a college football game that he’d received tickets to.

“My uncle is a big Minnesota fan and has season tickets. He can’t make it, you interested?”

“Sure, always interested in free tickets.”

“Okay, right now it’s me and you let me know if there’s anyone else we might ask.”

“How about Jennifer?”

“Nah, she’s working and can’t get off.”

I played it dumb for a second, “how about Dina?”

“The new chick?”

“Yeah, she might be fun to go with.”

“Good idea, I’ll check.”

Although I was a varsity athlete in college, my experience was probably unlike what you’d expect. Coming from a smaller, supportive atmosphere, I was constantly warned of the temptations of the big campus life. As such, I focused on my studies and had a fairly cautious social life. In my second year, I met a girl who introduced me to the purity movement. Without much fanfare, the group would organize events where both sides could socialize comfortably without any expectation of hooking up. Thus, for the remainder of my college years, I had maybe two girlfriends who were little more than friends. Further, going from that to the everyday working world proved quite a challenge where others had a radically different experience.

In my mind, I struggled with my feelings for Dina. Technically, I was still a virgin and I concluded that most, if not all those I’d meet, would be more experienced than myself. But as my attraction to her began to grow, I reasoned that if I spent sufficient time with her, she and I might have a relationship that would be amenable to the both of us.

A few minutes later, I got the message from him: “Thursday, kickoff is at 7. We’ll hit someplace nearby to pregame.”

I looked at the address line, she was included.

When Thursday finally came, we were ready for a night out together. In Greg’s car, we headed out to the stadium, finding a spot in the lot next to the Outback before heading in. Greg and I got quickly buzzed on the 22-ounce beer special they were running, while Dina kept us entertained with stories from her days as a high school cheerleader.

After the game, we got stuck in traffic and our conversation soon turned to the bawdy. Eventually, the question arose “where’s the craziest place you’ve ever had sex.” Normally, I’d try to steer the conversation away, but somehow I was intrigued to hear. Greg thought for a moment and replied the college library.

“How’d you manage that?” Dina asked.

He laughed. “She was working and couldn’t get the night off. So I just dropped by and we did it. Not many people there on a Friday night. How ‘bout you?”

She paused for a moment before breaking into a smile. “The playground at my school.”

“What?”

“No, not while I was in school there. We were walking past there one night and I wanted to try the slide.”

Greg laughed. “And …?”

“I didn’t make it all the way down.”

The two laughed while the mental image of her played through my mind.

Fortunately, Dina changed the conversation before it got to me, saving me an awkward explanation.

About a week later, late one afternoon, she stopped by my desk. “Diana’s got a wedding to go to and we’re going to look at dresses at Macy’s after work, want to come along?” Figuring we could stop at the Chili’s afterwards, I agreed. Diana was a good looking blond, supposedly going out with some wealthy older guy, she was a little quirky, but fun to hang out with.

We agreed to meet up at the mall by the Macy’s end immediately after work. We parked our cars at the end of the lot and walked in together. Figured that I might be asked to provide some feedback on their choices, not that they’d really use it. After a few dresses, Dina would come out and bring another back, disappear into the dressing room, and return again after a few minutes. I stood at the rack with her and she sidled up to me with a mischievous grin, “come with me and be quiet.”

We returned to the women’s dressing room and she escorted me into a dressing stall, then presented some clothes to Diana, in the next stall, before returning to mine. She showed me how to peek through the panels of the wall. Diana was firm and fit, not really my type, a blonde who wore a bit too much makeup. Nonetheless, I looked in: she removed one dress, leaving her naked but for a pair of heels. Her breasts were firm, and pointed naturally outwards. I stood motionless. She turned, revealing a trimmed dark bush. I noted to myself: not a true blond.

“Take it out,” she whispered into my ear from the side, as I felt her hand gently grope me.

Compliantly, I pulled my zipper down and freed myself from my trousers. She took my hand and pulled it to my growing member, before we began to stroke together. After a moment, she released and quickly shimmied out of her panties, wrapping them into my hand, then leaving the booth. I watched as she entered Diana’s booth to hand her another dress.

By now, the scene was almost surreal, as the two lingered casually before Dina slipped out of her skirt to pull on another one. With the two women nude, I couldn’t contain myself, and erupted into the panties I held in my hand. Just then, I saw Dina give a look back towards me.

“Finished?” she smiled, stepping back into my booth, holding out her hand. I nodded and handed her back her panties. “Wow,” she giggled, seeing the mess I’d made. “Kind of like a ménage, huh?” “A what?” “You know, a ménage à trois, a threesome.” To my surprise, she grinned and stepped back into them and before heading back out.

After the dress shopping, we stopped in for a drink. As typical, the conversation became bawdy quickly. Dina asked about Diana’s plans for the wedding. Although she made reference that she wasn’t going with her boyfriend, she would be keeping her eye out for possibilities. I was somewhat shocked that she could be so candid.

The next day at work, she dropped by my desk unexpectedly. “So, what did you think?”

“Think of what?”

“Her boobs,” she whispered.

I could only respond with a wry grin, not wanting to incriminate myself.

“Well, apparently you liked them. You owe me a new pair of panties. Might have to frame that pair.”

“Sorry” I replied, not sure if she were joking. “So, ah, wanna see them again?” I was taken back. “I think she likes you, maybe we can go over to her place, her guy friend is away.” I sensed that she might be acting as scout for Diana at this point.

“I don’t think so.”

“What? Why not? You seemed pretty interested yesterday.”

I asked her if she was going. “If you pick me up, I can go.”

“Ok, we’ll do it then.”

Saturday rolls around and I pick up Dina and we head out. As we’re driving over, I mention that I’m not all that interested in Diana. She asked why, I stammer around and say something along the lines of she doesn’t seem like my type, despite being attractive, knowing this may find its way back to her. “Do you think you might want to do her? I don’t think she’d mind.” It was confusing trying to explain to her that, while there were urges, I didn’t really feel comfortable acting on them, plus I was probably more into Dina at that point, although I wasn’t letting on to her.

“Wait, are you saying that you’re still a virgin?”

I hesitated, not knowing how to answer.

“Oh, that’s so awesome.”

“Come on, let’s not make a big deal of it.”

“Wait, so I was the first to give you a blowjob?”

“Dina, please.”

She sat quietly for a moment, smiling to herself.

“You’re not going to say anything, are you?”

“I might.”

“Might?”

“Yeah,” she turned to grin, “depends.”

During the party I kept getting vibes that she was up to something, but couldn’t place it.

On our way back to her house, she seemed upbeat. I pulled up to her house and was wondering if she’d expect a goodnight hug or a kiss.

“You can come in for a bit, right?”

“Um, sure. I guess.”

I followed her into the house and we soon made our way down to the rec room in the basement to watch television together. We found an old movie to watch and she served me a glass of water before excusing herself. When she returned, I noticed that she was wearing a robe and what appeared to be pajamas beneath.

“Sorry, are you going to bed?”

“No,” she grinned, “not yet.”

She took a seat next to me and steadily worked her way in next to me.

On the movie, the male star had worked his way into a scene with his co-star, an over-made starlet. Just as I started to grow concerned that the scene might be too uncomfortable, I noticed Dina’s leg moving against mine.

“You okay?” I asked.

She giggled softly before letting her leg move against mine again.

“She’s pretty hot don’t you think?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess.”

“Wish they’d hurry up and do it.”

“What?”

“You know. Hurry up. I’m almost there.”

“You’re what?”

She laughed pulled her robe open slightly, revealing her other hand buried inside her panties, steadily moving in a small circular motion.

“Dina!” I whispered.

She giggled. “Oh, please. Don’t pretend you don’t do it. I saw you.”

“Yeah, but …”

“But what? You don’t think a girl can too?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then what?”

“Well, I’m sitting right here.”

“Oh, you want to do it then? Give me your hand,” and before I could react, she pulled my hand to hers inside her robe. She led me down her stomach and between her legs. Almost trance-like, my fingers felt over her skin and down to the wet folds.

“There,” she whispered, “just stay there.” I kept the small circles going, my fingers steadily becoming wetter as I did. After a minute or so, she released her grip and leaned back slightly. By now she had lost her focus on the screen and her breathing became short.

“Aaaawwwwwffffuuuuuuuuuuuuck,” she moaned quietly, her hands reaching up inside her shirt, squeezing her small breasts. Moments later, she snapped her legs closed and gave me a quick smile.

“Okay.”

I looked at her, my hand still trapped between her legs.

“Okay?” I asked.

“Yeah. That’s enough.”

“You mean …”

She grinned. “Maybe.” She added, “okay, stand up.” She didn’t wait for me to respond, instead standing herself and pulling me from the couch.

Without asking, she began aggressively pulling my belt loose.

“Dina, you don’t have to …” I began, but by then, she’d already had my pants down and was yanking my shorts down.

“Shhh,” she grinned, “you’re already hard.”

“Really,” I protested as she fondled me, “we shouldn’t.”

“I’m not going to let you leave with a hard-on. Just learn to relax, okay.”

She gave me a few strokes before dropping her head and taking me into her mouth. My resistance to her was already weakened but with her quick move, I’d lost any remaining bit. I watched her as she glazed me with her saliva and began to work her hand along the shaft while holding the head in her lips. After only a minute I felt my legs begin to buckle and I fell back to the couch. A moment later, I shuddered, erupting into her mouth.

She held herself there for a moment, pulling me before taking a gulp.

“Mmmmmm,”

“Huh?” I asked, lost in the fog of the moment. She pulled herself up to plant a full, wet kiss on my lips. For a moment, our tongues tangled together before she pulled back and grinned.

“Hmm?” she whispered.

“What?”

“Just gave you a snowball.”

“A what?”

“When a girl blows you and spits the come back into your mouth. A snowball.”

I was so relaxed, I couldn’t have protested if I’d wanted to. Just the thought that our first kiss was that threw me for a loop. The look on my face brought a burst of laughter to her.

“Serious?”

“Oh, don’t be such a wuss. Girls swallow all the time.”

“Still …”

I lost my train of thought as I realized I could see inside her top, revealing her small breasts. She noticed and unbuttoned the top then pulled my hand in. Her skin felt so soft and smooth, I began to lose track of my resistance again. As we turned our focus back to the movie, neither of us covered up, instead allowing ourselves to feel up each other. She continued to play with me and, within a few minutes, I was hard again. Without pause, she knelt on the couch next to me and began her slow process again. I was able to last only a few minutes before orgasming. Again, she pulled up and kissed me deeply immediately afterward. I pulled her in and held the kiss for several moments.

“See, it’s not that bad,” she giggled.

I would slowly drift off as the movie played on, only to be awoken sometime later. The sensation of Dina bringing me back to consciousness would only last a moment before I looked down to see her head in my lap.

“Dina?” I whispered.

She looked up and we made eye contact just as I came again.

“Mmm, think I got it all,” she whispered after she slid up to kiss me.

“What time is it?”

“Hmmm, don’t know. Late, I guess.”

“I’d better go,” I explained apologetically. I stood and found my pants folded on the floor. Apparently she’d removed them completely. Dressing, I followed her back upstairs and out the front where she gave me a quick smile and wave, but no kiss. Driving home, I was exhausted and spent, barely making it back without drifting off.

“Knock, knock!”

I looked over at the door to see my Aunt Ellen poking her head in the door, smiling.

“Don’t forget, we have to get there early today to set up for the donuts!”

“Oh, okay. Just give me a minute to get dressed.”

I pulled myself out of bed and was still in a cloud from the night before, trying to retrace my steps. A party, a stop, a …

I looked down and into my briefs to see my limp, sore member. Stepping into the shower, I let the warm water bring me back just enough to get alert. Thinking about what occurred, I began to feel a sense of shame at having given in to her so easily. How was I so weak? I finished off with a cold splash before dressing and heading out to join my aunt for church that morning.

Driving over, I hoped she wouldn’t make mention of my night. It didn’t work.

“I didn’t hear you come in last night. What time did you finally get home?”

“Oh, it was late. I had to give some people a lift after their ride left early.”

“Well that’s nice of you.”

We drove through town finding our way into the lot before the crowds arrived which would leave the lot impassable. Aunt Ellen’s friends had arrived just before with a carload of donuts and coffee urns for the donut-and-coffee reception that morning. Usually it was a good scene, with maybe a dozen or so young women, all in their Sunday finest, mingling about. There’s something special about young women in gauzy dresses at that hour.

My aunt spent the better part of the morning mixing about, making certain to catch up with all the familiar faces, particularly any young women for me, but with little effect. Usually, I’d hoped that she would spend her efforts doing the same with the more attractive ones, but somehow she seemed to know the daughters and nieces of far more modest-looking ones instead.

After the third polite greeting, my mind began to wander back to the previous evening and I soon was imagining each of them in place of Dina. It would keep me occupied for the time.

It wouldn’t be until Monday, just before lunch, that I would see Dina again. By this time, I’d barely been able to focus at anything all morning: missing calls, deadlines and letting the work pile up my in-box. When she made an appearance a few cubicles away, it was almost as if I’d been transported back to late Saturday night.

“And how are you doing today?” she slipped into my cubicle with a file from a project she’d been assigned.

“Good,” I smiled, hoping she’d show some sign of our shared moments.

“I’ve got two filings for the Amalgamated account that I need to finish by today. Seems like the client changed his mind completely from what he’d said on Thursday, so all these will need to be re-done. Probably be here to ten tonight.”

Her business-speak threw me off. None of it was the warm, intimate whispers she’d last spoke.

“Oh, sorry. I’d offer to help, but I’m still swamped myself.”

She looked at me and grinned.

“Still horny?” she whispered.

I darted my eyes around, thinking she might have been heard in the next cubicle over. I gave her a slight grin.

“Good,” she replied, letting her hips brush against my arm before excusing herself and walking away.

By Thursday, I’d almost resumed to normal, between work and my soccer league building up, I’d found a distraction to the recurring thoughts of Dina. It had also been nearly four, full days since I’d last felt the relief and my hair-trigger erections were beginning to subside.

It was late afternoon when I was sitting with my co-worker, Jay, working on hashing out the previous years’ filings for our Broadacre account. Apparently, they’d filed the requisite registrations for the states they’d operated in for the first several years we had them as a client, but in the past three, the registrations were either omitted, neglected or lost. Planning a strategy of how to approach them without coming off as incompetent became something of a specialty of mine, as I’d begun to see several of these cases crop up in the time I’d been employed there.

Jay and I had been hired at the same time, making us what we called “twins” in the business. Both of us were paired with experienced staff until we were sent off on our own. We had something of a bond, as we both were given our own desks, business cards, phone lines, etc. at the same time.

“You hear about the opening in public pensions?”

“No. How’d you hear?”

“Remember that chick, Julianne?” I nodded, recalling the somewhat flirty blonde he’d been seen with a few months back. I’d suspected they were more than friends as they’d been seen out together and would occasionally be out of the office at the same time.

“Sure.”

“Well, she gave me the heads up that one of the other gals is going out on maternity leave, but she has no interest in returning.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to put in for it.”

I sighed. “Yeah, it might be nice to get something a bit more financially rewarding than this.”

“Well then, go ahead and put in for it. They’re probably going to send the announcement around soon. And you know Mike is going to put in for it. Probably a few others too.”

I nodded. It had been rough for us, getting by so modestly on our pay scale. To take a position in another department would mean a substantial raise in pay and, most likely, a chance at even better earning options.

Left unsaid between us was our common opposition for the opening: Mike. Although he was more than congenial from outside appearances, we suspected that he was used his connections to thwart our chances for promotion in the past. Both Jay and I were invited back for a second interview for another position previously only to have the interviews rescinded after Mike went for his interview. We did have some justice in the end, as the position went to an outside hire eventually, but we never trusted him with news again.

Jay, on the other hand, I trusted. Although we had few things in common before coming to work together, we both respected the honesty we shared. With him making me aware of the opening, it was as if he’d hoped that either one of us would get the position more than anyone else.

The thought of a new, and more financially rewarding, position stirred thoughts of my future. Although modestly comfortable in my situation, I sensed that it wouldn’t be enough to sustain me if I were to live on my own, or possibly, with another. That thought led to the next: where I stood with Dina.

“Hey.”

I looked up to see her standing in the entrance to my cubicle.

“I need to drive up by you later. Maybe we can meet up later?”

I grinned. “Of course.”

“Great. Might be late, still don’t know what time he’ll be finished with his interview.”

Later that evening, after dinner with Aunt Ellen, I’d just finished a six-mile run on the winding roads through town and returned to the house. Despite it being late evening, the heat from the day still held strong and I was a sweaty, dripping mess by the time I’d returned. I’d just completed a set of pullups when I heard her car pull up.

“Dina?”

She waved me over from the front seat.

“Hey, just got back. It was longer than I expected.”

“I see. Well, I just got back from a run. You still want to go out?”

“Sure, but let’s get you cleaned up first.”

I led her into the house and passed through the kitchen.

“You live here with your folks?”

“No, my aunt. She’s out with her book club tonight. Hang right here, I just need to shower up and we’ll get going.”

I headed up to my room and undressed before heading into the shower for a quick rinse. After finishing, I returned to my room and was startled to see Dina sitting on the bed, waiting for me.

“Go ahead,” she smiled, “don’t mind me.”

I smiled back at her, seeing the playfulness in her expression.

“What if I don’t get dressed?”

“Fine by me, I’ll just take you out like that.”

“Okay, enough. Let me get dressed.”

The look on her face made it clear to me we wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

“So no one’s home?”

I shook my head. Despite wanting to turn our relationship into something more formal and more decent, it would have to wait another day. I dropped my towel and joined her on the bed, letting her suck me in quickly. Once I came, we lay next to each other on my small bed.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Fine,” I smiled, “very fine, actually.”

“I take it you’ve never been to bed with a girl. Slide over.”

I moved over and she sided up next to me, still dressed. I slid my hand along her shoulder and along the outside of her breast. She offered no resistance, so I kept sliding my hand down until I felt the smooth, toned skin of her thigh. Rising up, she laughed a bit as my hand inched inside her skirt.

She continued to smile at me, slightly amused.

My hand continued to slide up until I crossed her butt and was at her hip. I realized she wore no underwear.

“You’re not wearing underwear?”

She grinned and nodded.

Hiking her skirt up, I saw her neatly trimmed bush for the first time. Almost instinctively, I lowered my face and took in her sweet aroma before planting a light kiss on her upper thigh. She giggled a bit and slipped her leg over my shoulder, leaving me positioned between her smooth thighs.

“Finally,” she whispered.

I ran my fingers along her folds, feeling the moisture beginning to form, before planting a soft kiss on her. I could feel her hands running along my head, nudging me closer. I spent the next several minutes moving from kiss to lick, before sending my tongue probing deeper and deeper into her until my nose was pressed against her mound.

After nearly fifteen minutes, she sighed. “Sorry, I can’t come like this.”

The confused expression on my face prompted her to finish her thought.

“Sorry, didn’t mean it that way. It’s not you, it’s just that I’ve never come with a guy before.”

“But what about the other night?”

She grinned. “Sorry. But … almost?”

I guess the look on my face gave her a sense of sympathy.

“Well, maybe it can happen. Do you want to try something?”

“What?”

“What if I sat on your face?”

“What?”

“Come on,” she grinned, “it’ll be just for a bit.”

I rolled over to my back and she crawled up my torso, her naked crotch finally coming to rest above my lips. I held her butt as I began where I left off, letting her set the pace as her hips began to grind back into me. Slowly and steadily, she began to moan, the fluids from her running down my face as I struggled between keeping my breath and pleasing her.

Finally, she let out a long, loud groan as her hips began to tremble and collapse onto me.

“Oh, fuck! That feels soo fuckin’ good,” she announced, pulling a leg off me and falling to my side.

I smiled, my face covered in her wetness, looking up at her from her loins. She laughed looking down at me and slid down to kiss me.

“Ah, I can taste myself on you.”

“Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s good. Man, you are good. Are you sure you haven’t done that before?”

“Yeah, pretty sure. I mean, I think I would remember it if I did.”

We lay in bed together for several minutes, just relaxing quietly before drifting off.

Sometime later, I was awoken by her whispering. “Hey … hey … I have to go.”

“W-what?” I pulled myself up, still naked in my bed.

“You fell asleep,” she whispered.

“Oh, sorry …”

“Shhh, listen. Your aunt is home. I heard her come in, so I hid in the closet.”

“She see you?”

“No, not at all. But she did come in and saw you.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” she smiled, “you were lying on top of your sheets, like this,” lowering her eyes.

I realized what she was saying and pulled the sheet over my erection. “Oh, no.”

“It’s okay. I heard her go back to her room, so I’m just going to sneak out, okay?”

I nodded.

She was already dressed and held her shoes in her hand as she tip-toed out the door and down the stairs. I watched from the window as she walked back to her car parked on the street.

When I woke the next morning, I actually lasted a minute or two before remembering what had happened the night before. For a moment, I wondered if it were a dream, but it wasn’t as the taste of Dina was still prominent on my lips. I rose and showered before heading downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, Aunt Ellen.”

“Please, you can call me Ellen, if it’s alright. I don’t want you to make me feel so old.”

“Sorry.”

“Thanks. It doesn’t seem like much, but once you get there, you’ll understand.”

“Okay.”

“You out last night?”

“No, just working out. Went for a run up by the golf course.” For a moment, I wondered if she noticed Dina being over.

“Tired?” She smiled quietly to herself.

It was then he recalled Dina telling him about her coming in to check on him.

“Yeah, a bit I guess.”

I finished up breakfast and headed off to work. I would spend the next seven hours in a near-dreamy state as I would catch short glimpses of her as she moved about the office.

“Dude? Are you with me?”

It was Jay. I’d somehow drifted off as we were working on a project together.

“Sorry, what?”

“I gave you the previous year’s files an hour ago and they’re still sitting here. Are you going to need them, or can I use them?”

“Sorry, I … let me see,” I shuffled the papers before me around a bit, trying to make some sense of what I was supposed to be doing.

“Wait a minute …” he moved around me and leaned against my desk.

“What?”

He grinned. “What’s up with you today?”

“Nothing.”

“Ah ah ah. I come in this morning and you’re all grins-and-smiles even before anyone has had their coffee. Then you haven’t done a lick of work and you don’t even seem to care.”

“So?”

“Yeah. So. If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you got laid last night.”

I looked away, surprised at his bluntness, let alone accuracy.

“Hmm?”

“What?”

“Well, any chance you finally got yourself a little action? Huh? Maybe a little proper attention from a real woman this time?”

“Come on, Jay.”

“Okay, fine. If you’re not going to tell me, you’re at least not going to deny it. Maybe I’ll live vicariously through you. I haven’t got any tail in … four, no, five months.”

“Five months?”

“Yeah. Ever since Jenny moved back to Iowa.”

“Jenny?”

“Yeah, you remember, she used to work in the insurance department.”

“Oh, yeah. She came out with us a few times. Why’d she move back?”

“Got engaged. Wedding’s coming up soon. Some of the women from here are going.”

“Wait, what? She got engaged?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “He was back in Iowa, we’d get together whenever she was up for it, which somedays was more than once. Anyway, she moved back. Still, last time it felt weird going at it with her when she’s wearing a ring, you know?”

I chuckled and shook my head. At least he had some sense of honor, I thought.

“You know: a goodbye fuck.”

“A what?”

“You heard me. I just overheard that new chick telling Laura how she had one yesterday. She broke up with her guy, but wanted to give him one last screw.”

“Wait, Laura?”

“No, that new chick who she sometimes works with.”

“Dina?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Guess she was seeing this dude, he was heading off to play baseball in the minors or something, so she gave him the pussy last night.”

I felt as if I’d been punched in the stomach. She hadn’t mentioned any of that.

“You okay?”

“Huh?”

“Looks like you saw a ghost.”

“No, I’m just.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t rub it in. I gotta get some action myself soon. How’s your crew, want to head out this weekend?”

“Um, yeah, maybe. We could do that.”

“Cool. Alright buddy, when you come off your cloud, I’ll be with these files over in my hole, okay?”

I nodded and watched him head back to his cubicle.

My mood immediately crashed.

I knew Dina was a bit more relaxed than I was before any of this, but Jay’s casual news sent me into a near emotional trauma. It would take me at least an hour before I could calm down, telling myself that our relationship might encounter some difficulties I had not experienced before. But the thoughts of her being with a guy just before coming to me left me painfully conflicted.

“Psst,” came the sound over my shoulder.

Finally, she had made her way over to my desk at about four in the afternoon, around the time that everyone bunkered in and made a dash to get the work promised to others off their own desks.

“Hey,” I offered a weak smile.

“Still tired?”

“A bit.”

She peeked over the tops of the cubicles and moved alongside me. “I had fun,” she whispered.

I smiled and nodded.

“Give me your hand.”

She took my hand and set it on her knee. “Now, go up.”

I slid my hand up and under her skirt, only to find she was naked underneath.

“Nothing?”

“Not in the summer. You like?”

“Yeah. But aren’t you afraid of … “

“Give me a kiss.”

I looked up at her and grinned. The animosity I had for her seemed to melt away almost as quickly as it came to me. Just as I nudged myself up to kiss her, she pushed me back.

“No,” she replied, setting her knee on my desk, “here.” Her eyes were still looking over the cubicles, checking for anyone’s movement.

I lifted her skirt and quickly pushed my face deep into her, holding her to me with my hands on her butt. I’d just darted my tongue into her folds as she pushed me back and straightened her skirt.

“Thanks. You made me so happy last night.”

She smiled and gave me a peck on my forehead before heading back down the aisle to her desk.

A couple nights later, after we had gone out for drinks, I’d given her a lift back to her house and we were parked in front when I asked her about the earlier night.

“I meant to ask you, the other night, before you came over, where were you?”

She sighed. “I guess you heard?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to let you know that way.”

“Dina!”

“What? It was just one last time with him. Plus, it’s not like we’re officially going out. Or are we?”

“We could if you want.”

“Okay, but that means we’ll have to fill out the consent form at work.”

I rolled my eyes at her suggestion. It was a policy that we would be expected to follow with the HR department. It had been put in place sometime before, after a rash of personal relationships blew up and began to snarl the work at the firm.

“What?” she persisted.

“We don’t have to do that.”

“Well, they were pretty clear about it when I began. Plus, if something were to happen, it might affect your chance of promotion.”

She had me there. We knew that they were extra cautious in those matters.

“Besides,” she continued, “if we’re not going out, what business is it of yours what I do?”

“Dina. Don’t say that. It’s just that … it’s complicated.”

She sighed. Then leaned in to me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to get you upset,” she kissed me softly before adding, “my little virgin.”

For some reason, I came away from that thinking we were getting closer to agreement and that I could hope to someday bring her to my way of thinking.

A few days later, a little buzz was going around the table in the cafeteria at lunch. Apparently Laura had discovered an online “purity test” whereby one would answer a long list of questions regarding personal or intimate questions and have it produce a score.

“I got a twenty-eight,” she laughed as she presented it to me on her tablet.

I looked down the rows of questions. They began fairly innocuously (have you ever kissed a member of the opposite sex?) before moving into the more serious (have you ever had sex with more than one person in a day?)

Roughly scanning through, I realized that I would get a near 90 on the test.

“A twenty-eight? Laura!?”

She laughed. “Guess I’ve had a more adventurous life than you.”

“Still … a twenty-eight?”

“We’ve all taken it. Diana got something like a thirty-five. And Maribel was almost a fifty. And Susan stopped taking it when she passed me.”

My head was swimming. Diana was usually reserved, but somehow I could see her scoring something close to Laura. Maribel was a bit shocking. There was something about her that suggested she had an adventurous background. But to think Susan had scored even past Laura surprised me. She gave off an image of being a professional woman, but would occasionally be known to say something raunchy.

“So, what did you get?”

“I’m afraid to say.”

“Come on, I told you all the rest.”

“Fine. An eighty-five?” I lied. It was over ninety when I stopped.

“That is so pathetic.”

I attempted to avoid the topic for the next few days, but when I went to pick her up to go to dinner a few nights later, we realized she had the house to herself for an hour. Wordlessly, I followed her to the bedroom where she was changing and we ended up in bed. With some privacy, I was able to get her completely undressed and leisurely knelt between her legs and slowly brought her to orgasm.

“Mmmm, your face is like a glazed donut,” she laughed, breathlessly.

“Thanks.”

“I should be thanking you. Man, that feels so good!” She wiggled her legs together, still feeling the after-effects of my work.

“Maybe we’re meant for each other.”

“Hmm?”

“I said, maybe I’m meant for you. You know, since I’m the only one you’ve come with.”

“Oh. Well, yeah. Only guy.”

“What?”

“Only guy. I couldn’t come with the guys I’ve been with.”

“Wait, you mean?”

She grinned. “Well … “

“You’ve been with a girl?”

She immediately froze up, seeing the look on my face.

“See. You’re just going to get mad. That’s why I’m afraid to tell you things.”

“Sorry.” I paused for a minute, realizing that I was killing the mood. “It’s okay. You can tell me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Tell you what?”

“Sorry. Tell me. I won’t mind.”

“It was with a girl I went to school with.”

“And?”

“It’s nothing really. I was at a party with my boyfriend. We talked for a bit. She was on the dance team, you know the ones who perform at the basketball games? Anyway, I thought she looked pretty nice, so I went back to her room and . . . “

“Just like that?”

“No. We hung out a bit. I thought she was pretty hot and she came on to me, so I just went along with it.”

By now I was getting a bit turned on from it, forgetting about how disgusted I initially was. “And . . . ”

“So, we made out for a bit, then we went to bed together.”

“She go down on you?”

“Yeah, duh. I thought it would be awkward, but she knew what she was doing. I came after about two minutes.”

“Then?”

“Then what? Oh. Yeah, I went down on her. I always wondered what it would be like, you know, with a girl. But I don’t think I was as good. It took, like, so long. I was getting tired.”

“Were you able to?”

“Yeah, she helped me out and I eventually got it.”

“And that was it?”

“No, we did it again in the morning.”

“Wow.”

“What?”

“And your boyfriend didn’t know?”

“No, I didn’t tell him. He was kind of … all about himself. I just didn’t bring it up.”

I laughed. The thought of him in the dark was rich.

“Plus, after a bit, I was thinking he might catch on to us.”

“Wait, you went back?”

“Yeah. Just a few times. Not like we were dating or anything. Just a fling.”

The thought of her in bed with another woman began to arouse me, and she could tell, eventually finding me erect and poking into her hips.

“You like this?”

I grinned. “Yeah, I guess. A bit.”

“So you don’t mind if I sometimes like girls?”

“I guess not. Wait. Sometimes?”

“Yeah.”

“So … how many?”

“Girls? Hmmm. Three. Wait, no, four. Four total.”

I shook my head.

“What?”

“Just weird, I guess.”

“Why? Haven’t you ever thought of being with a guy?”

“A guy? No.”

“Why not? Not even thought about it?”

“No. I just ….”

“Scared?”

“No.”

“Scared that you might like it too much?” she giggled.

“No, it’s not that.”

“Might be. I bet you might like it.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Just wouldn’t want to. Plus, it would be really weird.”

“If you could try it and no one would know, would you?”

“No one?”

She grinned. It wouldn’t be until later I realized what she was thinking.

Susan, Laura, Diana, Maribel.

It was all I could think about when I went back to work with them. I’d known Laura for a while and, despite our obvious differences, I got along well with her. I suppose it was because she was so unassuming. Not a great looker by my standard: I considered her a bit chubby, but she more than made up for it with her bubbly personality. She was usually the one I’d sit near during our firm outings.

Susan was more surprising than anything I suppose. To have scored so low meant that she was admitting to her girlfriends that she was considerably loose in her past. Hard to believe as she set herself off as somewhat neutral around the office: long skirts or slacks, nothing very revealing. Plus, we often got along well: politically, we were quite similar in our opinions.

Considering all that weird things that had been whispered about her, it wasn’t hard to imagine how Diana scored so low. Apparently when she was out with some of the girls, she admitted that when she was younger, she performed fellatio on a male camp counselor several years her elder when she was at summer camp. The worst, she explained, was that when others found out, he was sent home, thus ruining her first romance.

On occasion, I found Maribel to be very attractive: her long, dark tresses and elegant style highlighted her Latina good looks. Although I tried to get to know her better, she didn’t seem to have much interest in knowing me any better socially. I’d always assumed that she was too reserved, coming off as uptight, to consider dating me. But now that I realized her score, my opinion of her fell considerably.

Twice a year, our firm sponsored a seminar at a trade show outlining our firm’s capabilities to our general customer base. With our specialty, we would normally be of little use in these matters, but somehow the directors convinced the vice presidents that it would look good to have several of the staff accompany them and to be on hand if any potential clients were to have a concern that might be along our area of specialty.

Jay and I always thought that it must have been someone’s excuse to get a few of the better looking girls out of the office for a day or two, but the firm made certain that the few who were called were a random distribution.

“Hey,” Dina showed up in my cubicle one morning. “One of the accountants can’t make the seminar day at the trade show this week. Want to join us?”

The invitation meant that we’d have a full day excused, only to be on hand for the seminar before being excused and having dinner on the firm.

“Who’s us?”

“Diana and me. Come on, it’ll be fun. We’re thinking of doing dinner afterwards at Ruby’s.”

“Ruby’s?”

She grinned. “Yeah, apparently is just shows up as ‘Dining LLC’ on the credit card bill.”

The suggestion was known as a fun restaurant located near the airport. It’s billboards along the interstate highlighted its most well-known feature: their buxom and scantily-clad waitstaff.

“Okay, fine. But you’re sure we won’t have an issue?”

She smiled.

That Thursday, I was excused from the office and spent the day sitting at our booth and wandering back and forth through the exhibits until we were finally released at five o’clock.

Ten minutes later, the three of us were seated at a tall table, ordering a pitcher of Margaritas from a smiling waitress whose breasts were within a quarter-inch of revealing themselves entirely to us.

“Like ‘em?” Diana giggled as she left after taking our order.

I shook my head, not wanting to answer.

“Maybe I should wear that around the office,” she continued, mockingly undoing a button on her blouse and pushing her shoulders back, “get a bit more attention that way.”

“I’d do it if I could,” laughed Dina, “but I doubt if anyone would notice.”

“Well, since you never wear a bra, I think it might be noticed.”

“Stop!”

“What, we’ve seen ‘em Dina. Haven’t we?” she turned to me, looking for my reaction. Despite our friendliness, I still pretended to not have a personal interest in Dina – at least among those in our office.

“Yeah, he’s seen ‘em,” Dina answered, surprising me and leaving me with little defense.

After our food came, Diana returned the conversation to me.

“Where are you living now?”

“Port Clinton.”

“Whoa. How do you live there?” She recognized it as a well-to-do area and completely unlikely that someone of our professional level would be living there.

“He lives with his aunt,” replied Dina.

“With you aunt?”

I nodded.

“Just your aunt?”

I explained to her our situation and the mutual benefit we were.

“Still, it seems weird. She let you have girls over?”

“No, not really.”

I caught the two of them making eye contact as I replied.

“How old is she again?”

“I don’t know. Maybe around fifty. I’m guessing.”

Diana laughed. “And single. You seen her naked yet?”

“No.”

“Sure?”

“She’s seen him,” Dina retorted before taking a sip at her drink again.

“Dina.”

“Oh, it’s no big deal,” she replied before catching herself in the double-entendre. “Unless it is. What happened, she walk in on you in the shower?”

“When he was in bed.”

I gave a stern look at Dina, trying to show my displeasure, but really only able to mock the look as I was well into my third Margarita by that point.

Diana laughed at my discomfort. “Well, does she have a boyfriend?”

“No, a few friends, but no real guys. At least that I know of. She’s really pretty conservative, so I don’t think she worries about that too much.”

“Please,” Dina responded, “he got an eighty-five on that test.”

“Eighty-five? How? I think I was past that by … fifth grade.”

Nervously and quickly, I steered the conversation away from their topic and, thankfully, returned it to the servers at the restaurant.

Domestic Life

Over the next few days, I began to think of my score. Even someone I considered was significantly more selective had scored lower (Maribel) and I wondered if I’d been too sheltered. It was also the same time, I’d been thinking that about what Dina had told me about Aunt Ellen.

I didn’t want to think that she’d seen me while I was sleeping that one night. Even if she had, she still hadn’t shown any difference in the way that she treated me since. I suppose in some ways it had me nervous as I considered her somewhere between matronly and womanly.

My mother and her brother grew up in several towns, as they spent their youth following their mother around as Air Force brats. Even the both of them were only half-siblings, as their mother buried her first husband before remarrying her second. The children were separated by ten years, so when he married my Aunt Ellen, the family tree was hard to keep track. Add also that their two daughters came right away, leaving her ahead of my family by that time.

I faintly recall hearing the news that her husband had died in a car accident several years back. He had just driven their youngest to the airport for her to serve a mission with the Peace Corps in Africa when his car hit a patch of ice on Route 50, spinning out before sliding in front of an oncoming semi.

By the time I’d taken the job, Aunt Ellen was living by herself for the past four years. So when I moved in, there was an immediate need for upkeep on the house. On Saturday, I spent the morning on the roof, repairing the tuckpointing on the chimney, getting down before the heat grew too warm, making any repairs impossible. Following that, I helped haul the fresh topsoil to the planting beds we had been working on along the side yards. And with Dina out with her grandmother’s birthday, we agreed that if she were to leave early, we’d go out together that night. With no call by four, I headed out for a long run along the trail.

It was about five in the afternoon that I’d returned. With Aunt Ellen out at one of her church groups, I took a cold can of beer from the fridge, made my way up to the shower and washed off a day of dirt and sweat. I suppose I was exhausted, as I recall little after drying off and leaning back on the bed to finish my beer.

Sometime as the sun was setting in the late evening haze, I faintly recall hearing a car door shut before hearing my bedroom door creak. Still minimally conscious, I lay still for several moments, thinking that possibly it was Dina. When I heard nothing, I assumed it was a dream and let it go. Somehow in my dream, I was chasing Dina around, always coming up just short of catching her. I knew there was an urgency to my chase, but couldn’t define it. But somehow at that moment, the feeling didn’t match the dream.

It would take several moments, but felt a touch on my erection. As was the case with most young men, nearly every sleep would end in an uncomfortable stiffness, usually necessitating an immediate bathroom visit. Most of the time, I’d half-consciously slip a hand into my shorts to check the urgency of the situation, but this time I didn’t. With both hands above my shoulders, one arm across my eyes, it would take just a moment for my mind to process it wasn’t me.

I held my position for a moment, letting the touch continue as my mind swirled in a surreal state. Staying in position, my eyes covered, the touch turned warm. I peeked out just enough to see the figure of someone leaning over me. Figuring Dina had slipped in and was up to her sneaky ways, I let the moment continue, relaxing just enough to feel the first spasm hit me. A moment later, I felt the three, quick spasms erupt from my groin, just before the touch disappeared.

I waited a moment, expecting Dina to reveal herself but after several quiet moments, nothing happened. Thinking something might be up, I lay motionless before realizing the room had now grown completely dark. Looking over at the clock, I could barely see the red lights glowing: 9:35.

By now I was completely conscious, and also fully aware I was alone in my room. I looked around for her, but she wasn’t there. Sitting up, I realized I was still naked from my shower several hours earlier. I peeked outside, saw the car, and realized what had happened.

I spent the next hour with my mind swimming in a rapid-fire, confused state. I dressed in a pair of shorts and biked over to the nearest tavern for a drink, trying to piece together the evening.

Aunt Ellen was already in the kitchen cooking eggs and bacon when I walked downstairs the next morning.

“Good morning,” she greeted me cheerfully.

“Morning.”

“Thanks for all that work from yesterday. The garden’s looking better than ever.”

“Sure, you’re welcome,” I replied trying to gauge her for any indication. As much as I tried, she wouldn’t offer any in our next ten minutes of conversation. Just about everything else came up, but nothing from the previous evening.

“Ready to go?” she finally asked. I looked up, she smiled back. “To church?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Let me just get my shoes.” I began to have my doubts, not trusting my memory from the night before.

Later I would meet up with Dina and, very similarly, I couldn’t get any clue from her. She told me she spent the evening out at her grandmother’s and, with the evening getting late, she finally abandoned hope of us getting together, instead returning home for the evening. I tried to piece together her timeline, but it offered no additional clue. Eventually, I gave up figuring if she had done it, she would have let on by now.

As the week progressed, my attitude changed from one of confusion and upset to that of acceptance. Had it been Aunt Ellen, I reasoned, it shouldn’t be enough to condemn her for. I didn’t expect it, for sure, but it was possible that she’d been overserved at her event or, possibly, was in a dream-like state herself had she’d done it. Best not to mention it, I figured.

Initially, I discounted Dina’s report of her walking in on me previously, as she would typically be more than cautious in that regard in our time together. Just to test my theory, I decided to sleep with my door slightly ajar for the next week. With the temperature being unseasonably warm, I found it easy to sleep with the window open and in undershorts. With nothing to note after the first night, I decided to leave my shorts off for the second. Despite waking up twice to use the bathroom, I found no evidence that she was aware of me either time.

Finally, on Thursday night, after arriving home from practice, I joined her in the kitchen for a snack before mentioning that I was exhausted and would be heading to bed early.

“Sounds great,” she replied, showing little interest, “have a good night.”

I showered and set my bed so that it would appear that I fell asleep while reading a book with the small lamp on the nightstand left on. With my towel aside, I acted asleep until I finally fell asleep sometime later. When I finally awoke early Friday morning, I was still in position undisturbed, but with the light off. I felt slightly guilty, thinking had it not been her, for having exposed myself.

On Friday, Dina and I accepted Diana’s offer to host us for dinner at her apartment. While not officially a couple, I let Dina accept for us and we headed down to her high-rise condo after work. Mark, her boyfriend, wasn’t there that night, having to attend to other matters, she explained. She greeted us in casual wear and led us to her balcony where we shared a bottle of wine. After a dinner of chicken vesuvio, we retired to her lounge where she served us after-dinner drinks.

Somehow, the discussion of movies came up and I mentioned the name of Harrison Ford.

“Ah, he’s awesome!” exclaimed Diana, “I’ve got him on my list for a ‘free pass.’”

Dina laughed, “Who’s on his?”

“I think it’s Cameron Diaz, but I can’t remember.”

“What’s a free pass list?” I asked.

The two laughed at me.

“A free pass list,” Dina began, “you each get to put a name out there where, if you get the chance to do him or her, your steady can’t get upset.”

“We each took three,” Diana continued, “one from movies, one from sports and one from work.”

Dina laughed. “So, we have Harrison Ford and who else?”

She looked up for a second, “um, Michael Jordan and … oh, Jay.”

“Jay?” Dina screamed.

I looked at her, realizing she’d just admitted who she thought was the best in the office.

“Well, it used to be Mike.”

“No!”

Diana smiled and nodded.

“Wait. How long ago?”

“Hmmm, before you started.”

“So then, before Laura?”

“A bit.”

Dina gave one of her fiendish grins.

“Okay, so who do you two have?” Diana asked. I realized she just treated us as a couple. But Dina was already at work, running through names all at once.

On the way home, we continued to joke about our suggestions, naming everyone we could, trying to provoke laughs. Finally, we arrived at her house and were able to sneak into the basement without anyone hearing us. That night, as I was heading home, she came running out to the car, covered only with a t-shirt.

“Your face!” she hurriedly spoke in a hushed whisper. “Thankfully, I caught you before you left!”

“What?”

She giggled. “Just wash your face before you get home, okay?” With that, she waved and quickly ran back into the house.

I looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed that she had left me covered with blood from our session together. When she mentioned that she was feeling uncomfortable, I ignored it and was able to give her three full orgasms before she kicked a coffee table on the last one, prompting someone awake upstairs. We sat quietly for a few minutes, but with our cover blown, I decided to call it a night.

I was able to wash up without being noticed when I arrived home and got myself to sleep. The next day, we’d planned to head down to a baseball game, but when it was time to leave, I got a call from her asking to cancel. Apparently the relief I provided could only last so long, and she was expecting some cramping for a day.

With my day now open, I took to task around the house: scraping down and repainting the gazebo then mowing and bagging the lawn. Afterwards, I headed out for my long run before coming home to shower.

I planning to head out with Jay for beers at a tavern, but then I remembered the week prior.

The thought of what occurred the week prior was still fresh in my head. Seven days later, I still was no closer to determining who was there that night. In the ensuing days, I noticed nothing out of the ordinary between Aunt Ellen. We still ate dinner together most nights and every other interaction with her was nothing out of the usual.

If anything, I began to sway my suspicions towards Dina, as it was closer to her temperament to pull a stunt. Even in this time, I still felt she had the better of me, as I still hadn’t approached her about it. But how could I? I knew if I did, she would most likely deny it. Or, even better, to have a grand laugh at my awkwardness over the matter.

Plus, my only test, with the leaving the light on, failed with nothing coming of it.

Most of the way through my second beer, I lost track of the ethical volley I was having in my head and drifted off.

With my mind filled with images of intimacy, it was no surprise that my dreams followed a similar course. Girls from grade school, teachers, and various friends-of-friends all popped into my head that night, each time sending me torturous messages of enticing me, then rebuffing me just as I reluctantly accepted their advances. Finally, in my dream, I was floating peacefully along in the waters along a sunny beach. As I rolled to my back, a pleasant sensation enveloped me for what seemed like minutes before the waves landed me ashore.

Some time later, I awoke, a sheet lightly covering me. I lifted it to find myself spent, still slightly moist. As it was nearing daybreak, I waited for the light before getting out of bed. It gave me a chance to replay in my mind the events: falling asleep, dreaming and, finally, waking refreshed and relaxed. The after-effects were unmistakable: it had happened again.

As I stepped into the hallway, I noticed a light powder on the light blue carpet. I realized it was the same as the talcum powder that I’d spilled on my floor near my dresser the day before. Tracing its path, I noticed it thin out near the stairs. I still couldn’t tell where it led.

I returned to my room and began my day: showering, shaving, dressing for church with Aunt Ellen. Heading down to breakfast, I intended to stay as neutral as possible. Part of my conscience was still wrestling with myself for possibly having laid a seduction for her.

“Good morning!” she looked pleasant and cheerful in her long robe. “Thought we’d go with pancakes today, how’s that sound?”

“Great, Aunt Ellen, thanks.”

“You go out last night?”

“No, I was supposed to, but one set of plans fell through, then the other. By that point, I was so tired I just fell asleep.”

“Poor you. Thanks so much for taking care of that roof. I could never sleep when I’d hear rainfall at night.”

“No problem. We’ll see how it holds before I go back up there in a week or so.”

“Sounds good,” she set a plate with two large pancakes and three sausages before me.

We spent the rest of breakfast talking about the town’s festival coming up and the musical acts scheduled. After that, we headed off to church together before heading back home.

By then, I’d convinced myself that it couldn’t possibly be her and that it was an elaborate hoax set up by Dina on me. Perhaps she wanted to test me by claiming to be under the weather before checking up on me. It was certainly possible for her to do so, as she knew how to get in without a key and to sneak along quietly. The only issue with that was that she was unusually non-possessive with me.

With a full day ahead of me, I decided to take the opportunity to head to the lake and rent a small sailboat at the marina.

“Sorry to bother you Aunt Ellen,” I said as I caught her reading a book on the patio, “I’m headed down to the lake. You haven’t seen my board shorts, have you?”

“Maybe, are they dark?” she replied, “I think you may have left a load in the dryer.”

“That’s it! Thanks, Aunt Ellen.”

“Have a good time.”

I headed down to the basement and opened the dryer to find a load I’d forgotten about. Just as I was about to leave, a thought of how she knew I’d left a load in, as it was after my run the day before. For whatever reason, I opened the washer to see a few items of hers inside. Picking out the long stockings, I looked at the feet. Talcum powder.

Needless to say, my mind was rushing that afternoon. On the way to the lake, I picked up a six-pack of Coors Light before arriving at the marina and renting one of the small, one-man boats they had for the residents. Within minutes, I was out of the docks and on the open lake, alone with my thoughts for the next three hours.

By the time I’d returned, I’d resolved to myself that: one, I was not going to mention anything of this to Dina; two, I wouldn’t judge Aunt Ellen on any of this, as I may have contributed to the matter; and finally, I would not interfere with her, as she may only be going through a phase as she may only have been looking for companionship and would almost certainly be scandalized if I’d confront her. Somehow, I’d convinced myself that, morally at least, it wasn’t wrong since it wasn’t any more wrong than what I’d been doing with Dina.

By now, Dina and I had established a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule between ourselves, taking any opportunity to find a venue as we could. The only real issue I’d hope to avoid is a conflict between the two.

Later that Sunday, I headed down to the Welshman pub to watch a match with two of my teammates. Both Ian and Nigel were British ex-pats who relocated nearby. Ian had married Kelsey, a cute girl who grew up in the area, and the two now had their second child on the way. Nigel was working for a financial firm on visa and had taken up playing with us to make a few friends along the way.

“There he is!” I heard one of them shout as soon as I stepped into the dark cave of a pub. The Welshman was outfitted in supporter’s flags, scarves and jerseys from a myriad of soccer, rugby and cricket teams from around the world.

“Sorry, I’m late.”

“No matter, your round.”

The two grinned expectantly, holding up their half-finished pints.

“Bass,” Ian announced.

I returned a moment later with three pints to our table.

“Cheers to ya,” Nigel toasted me.

“Thanks, Nigel.”

“Took ya so long? Sermon run long again?”

I shook my head. The two loved to kid me about my Sunday routine.

“No, no. I’d like the record to show that I did a six-mile training run before I took my pint. Unlike present company, I may add.”

“Fair enough,” Ian responded, “if you think running like a rabbit’ll help ya, I’m all for it.”

“How long’ve you been here?”

“What us? I’m married, so I’m out here as soon as they let me. Nigel here … well he was just telling me about his latest, weren’t you, Nige?”

Nigel grinned and shook his head.

“Come on, now,” Ian prompted him, “you ain’t keeping it from us. Between the three of us, you’re the only one getting any action.”

I looked at Ian with surprise. “What happened?”

“What, with me? The wife’s expectin’. Aw, what is it with you? Let you boys on a little nasty surprise waitin’ for you after you walk down that aisle: days of humpin’ your cares away are over.”

“What, seriously?”

Both myself and Nigel were listening intently now.

“Sad, but true. Any honest married man’ll tell you. It’ll be down to once a week by the first anniversary.”

“Seriously?” responded Nigel, “you mean, like everything?”

“Everything? Oh, you mean a bit o’ stress relief? That’s right out. Forget it. They say wedding cake cures the urge for that. Heh, remember your engagement night, that’s all I got to tell you there.”

“Oh, sheesh, that’s brutal,” I replied.

“Ain’t the worst of it,” he continued, “mine’s expecting. Been three weeks now. Might be a bit longer, depending on the delivery. I’m about as frustrated as imaginable now. Now, Nigel, back to your escapades …”

We broke up in laughter and let Nigel tell us about the wedding he’d been invited to where one of the bridesmaids broke up with her boyfriend, with him ditching her at the reception. Fortunately for him, he had a spare bed in his room.

“… pretty much didn’t get a wink of sleep with her there,” he laughed. “Finally got told to leave the room by the maid, barely made it home, and here I am.”

Ian and I burst up at his description of the events, with him revealing he ended by giving her a lift back to the apartment she shared with her boyfriend.

“Moral of the story is,” Ian laughed, “know when it’s rainy season.”

The both of us laughed at his misery.

That idea stuck with me over the next few days.

Wings

“See you’ve washed your face.”

I looked up from my spreadsheet to see Dina standing over me in my cubicle. She was wearing a brightly-colored, summer dress, holding a stack of files.

“Hey there, feeling better?” I stood and gave her a hug, which caught her by surprise.

“Whoa,” she whispered, eyes darting around.

“Sorry, I just missed you.”

She grinned. “Seems like it,” she set down her files. “So, how was your weekend?”

“Good. Was exhausted Saturday, so I didn’t go out. But yesterday, I caught up with a couple teammates at the Welshman.”

“Hmm. You ever going to take me to the Welshman, or am I just going to hear about it afterwards?”

“Of course.”

“Sounds good. I’m going to be busy until later.”

“Okay,” by now I’d returned to my chair and she picked up her files. Just to check, I ran my hand up her leg quickly until I felt the soft smooth skin of her butt.

“Kiss?” she whispered, her eyes checking over the tops of the cubicles.

Quickly, I lifted up the front and planted a hard kiss to the front of her loins as she lifted one knee. It was just enough to capture her scent on my face.

“Okay, bye,” she grinned before heading off.

“Awwwwwwfuuuuuuuuuuuck!”

I smiled as she rolled her hips off my face and collapsed onto the small space of her bed beside me. She held her legs open and cupped her crotch with one hand and hugged herself with her other arm.

“Good?”

“Yes,” she replied. “You do that and we might never have to fuck.”

“Dina.”

“Sorry. I mean, have intercourse. Should’ve been asking for this all along.”

I grinned, flattered by her compliment.

“Well, maybe someday we can have both.”

“Hope so. At least for the periods. Makes it go so much better. Besides, you’ve earned your wings.”

“Wings?”

“Yeah, you know, when you go down on a girl during her flow? It’s called ‘earning your wings’.”

I shook my head.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Sure.”

“I told Diana about us.”

“I figured she already knew.”

“No, about how good you are at eating pussy. I mean, cunni …”

“Cunnilingus.”

“Yeah. Well, she put you on her ‘free pass’ list.”

“What?”

“Just so you know. I wouldn’t mind, you know, if you wanted to.”

“What? No. I’m … we’re …”

“Well, if you want, we could do it before her.”

“Dina. I thought we’d save that for ….”

“Our wedding night? Hmm, that’s a long way off, don’t you think?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“Fine. Either way, you’re on her free pass list.”

“I can’t believe that.”

“What? A free pass list? I think we should have one.”

“Why?”

“Just so we know. Don’t be such a prude. Who would be on yours?”

“Mine? No one. I wouldn’t have one.”

“No one?”

“Just you.”

She rolled her eyes.

“You mean if Jennifer Aniston invited you back to her room, you wouldn’t go?”

“No.”

“Yeah right. I’d make you go. If you didn’t, I would.”

I laughed at her bluntness.

“Okay, then who would be on yours?” I asked.

“Hmmm. Celeb? Hmmm, Michael Spence, probably.”

“The swimmer? From the Olympics?”

“Yeah. But I hear he’s engaged or something. Still. I would.”

“Okay, sure.”

“Fine, then who’s yours?”

“I’m not going to say.”

“How about Maribel?”

“What? Maribel from the office?”

“Yeah, she’s hot.”

“I thought it had to be a celebrity.”

“Ha! So you’d consider her?”

“No.”

“I’d let you.”

“Dina!”

“Come on. You would. I know you would.”

“I think you’d like to.”

“Fine. I’ll let you put her on my list. Then I’ll find someone to put on yours.”

Just then, we heard a car pull up. Without word, I dressed and slipped out the back, heading home unnoticed.

The next day, I was assigned to work on a project with Jay and Maribel. One of our clients managed a portion of the funds for Calsters, the huge pension fund out of California. The fund had invested a portion of their funds in emerging markets and had recently been called for an audit. Our job was to untangle that portion that was part of their overall investments that belonged to the pension fund at the time specified under the audit. Suffice it to say, it would be a long and convoluted process.

The three of us clustered in my small cubicle to figure out how to manage the project.

“What I see, is for us having to go through, day-by-day, the fund using the assumption that their percentage ownership would align with that the pension fund would be considered owner of …”

Jay began his suggestion.

Before he even finished, Maribel interjected “Why don’t we just ask the fund for that information?”

I looked at Jay, before turning back to her. “Well, that’s what they want us to do.”

“Still, it’ll take too long for us to complete this by … when do they want it … next week?”

“Well, maybe. But we can’t go passing this work back to the client.”

“Why not?”

I took a breath. Having to explain to a co-worker why we should be doing the tasks asked of us would seem to be self-explanatory. But somehow Maribel had such an air about her that it seemed almost “smart” at how she approached the situation.

Perhaps the confidence came from her background: a daughter of a well-to-do businessman, she attended Georgetown, graduating with a degree in business before coming to work here. After working with her, some of us concluded that it must have been family connections that got her into such as school, as the work in her projects seemed to fall onto the other employees, usually of those coming from far less impressive pedigree.

“Well, just stick with us Maribel,” Jay began, “we can probably run this through the same program I programmed for a project a few months ago. If we can get the data to align properly, we might be out of this in a few days.”

She rolled her eyes at us.

“Okay, fine. We’ll try it your way. But I still think it would be better to just let the client know that we can’t do it now.”

Jay and I nodded.

She uncrossed her legs and stood, turned and left our small cubicle.

Jay waited a moment before speaking.

“She really is nasty, isn’t she?”

“Unbelievably so.”

“Only good thing about working with her is getting to stare at those tits.”

I laughed. He seemed to speak for the both of us as she always had a way of keeping us alert with her attire. This day it was a thin sweater vest leaving her arms exposed and a knee-length skirt.

“What’s the deal with her?” I asked under my breath.

“Who knows,” Jay spoke quietly, “she could not have gotten here on her smarts. You think she’s bonkin’ someone higher up?”

“Don’t know.”

“She better not be in line for that position.”

I remembered the opening in public pensions that we’d both put in for.

“You hear anything back from that?”

“No, nothing. You?”

“Nope. Nothing yet.”

“Been over a week.”

“Yeah. But I can never understand what’s up here.”

We parted, with Jay taking the file and heading back to his desk for the afternoon.

Tuesday night I returned home from practice to find the driveway full of cars. When I walked in, the living room was full of several women I faintly recognized.

“Oh, there you are,” came a voice from across the room, it was Aunt Ellen sitting amongst her friends leading the book club. By my guess, she belonged to at least three book clubs: one from church, one from the library and one affiliated with the town’s historical society.

“Ladies, this is my nephew boarding here.”

I smiled and waved at the group before politely excusing myself to clean up.

Taking a beer from the fridge, I headed upstairs to shower before opening my laptop checking to see if there were any updates from work before switching over to watch the Tigers game online. Around ten I noticed the murmuring conversation from downstairs slowly go quiet.

With it still warm, I still slept unclothed. Now, covered by just a sheet, I realized I’d left on the far lamp just as I heard the front door close. I shut the laptop and set it aside, leaning back into my pillow. Only a few minutes later, I heard a tap at the door. Staying motionless, I didn’t respond. Initially, I thought she might just shut off the light and leave. Hearing the lamp click off, I heard nothing for two minutes before I felt the sheet pull from me.

This would be the first time that I’d be fully conscious of her. At first, I could feel her breath before her light touch on me. I could actually feel myself growing quickly in anticipation, the warmth of her breath turning to the wetness of her mouth a moment later. It would take some control, but I was able to stay motionless for most of it. At one point, I think I even felt the warm skin of her breast on my leg just before I orgasmed. It would end with her pulling the sheet over me and planting a soft kiss on my forehead before leaving the room.

“Good news!”

I’d just sat down at my desk with my coffee and muffin, to look up to see Jay standing over me, face unshaven and shirt untucked.

“How long have you been here?”

“Since yesterday.”

“The hell? You stayed here overnight?”

“Yeah. I ran the program the first time and noticed a flaw in my program, so I tweaked it and ran it again. Kept running it and tweaking it until …. Hmmm about a half hour ago.”

“No sleep?”

“Ah, bits. Takes about 40 minutes to run it, so I just set my alarm. The coffee from that machine sucks by the way.”

“No joke. You want some of mine?”

“Sure.” He dumped his mug into my waste basket and I filled it for him.

“So now we’ve got it. I was able to isolate all the parts of the fund that our client owned on the dates that they owned it, including both buys and sells, with prices, levels everything. I sent a copy to you already. Log on and check it out.”

I waited for the computer to boot up and saw his email to me.

Opening the attachment, I scrolled through the pages of the spreadsheet.

“Amazing. You did all this last night?”

“Yeah. Well, mostly in the AM. First couple tries took too long, but I got rolling after Midnight.”

I was amazed. All of it looked accurate – and ready to be presented to the client.

“You want to call them?”

“Well, check through it first. I’m a bit wacky at this hour, just to be sure.”

“Will do. You going to take a nap?”

“I think I’ll head down to shower up in the fitness room. Be back in an hour or so?”

“Sound good, I’ll wait for you.”

Just over an hour later, I noticed Maribel arrive.

“Hey, did you hear?”

She looked at me dismissively. “Hear what?”

“Jay was able to figure it out. Check out your email, he sent you a copy.”

She shrugged her shoulders and set her Starbucks cup down. “Fine, I’ll look at it when I get to it.”

I smiled proudly and returned to my desk.

After not hearing from Jay for an hour, I went downstairs to the fitness room only to find him asleep on one of the chairs in the hallway.

“Hey, wake up!”

He blinked his eyes open. “Huh?”

“I checked it out. Looks good. You ready?”

“Hmm? Ready for what?”

“Call the client. We can get one of the managers on with us.”

“Hmm,” he leaned up and rubbed his face. “Yeah, yeah. Um, just give me a minute and I’ll be up there.”

I headed back up to my desk and set up the cubicle so that we could all get on the call. It was then I noticed an email flash up on my screen from Maribel.

“Good news guys! I called the client and told them we figured out a solution to their problem. They were really pleased with all our work. Katie from their group wants to have us out for a meeting. Let’s go over this after lunch. Best, Maribel”

I stared at the screen incredulously.

“We?!?”

I repeated myself aloud.

“We?!?” … “We?!?” …. “What the …”

“Ready to go?”

It was Jay appearing over my shoulder.

“You’re not going to like this, bud.” I turned my screen towards him to let him read the email.

“What the … ?”

“Don’t scream.”

“But she didn’t …. I mean ….”

“Yeah, I know. I know. She’s just trying to take credit.”

“Said it couldn’t be done. And, she didn’t …”

“Don’t say it,” I repeated to him in hushed tone. “Don’t say it.”

“She … “

“Hey. Stop. Listen, she’s doing this for a reason.”

“Yeah, to look like she actually does something around here. She didn’t do jack shit here. Where is she?”

“No. Don’t. We’re not going to confront her over it.”

“But she’s taking all the credit.”

“I know, I know.”

Over the next several minutes, I managed to calm him down. It was my hunch that she was propping herself up. And the only reason to do that was for promotion. And I realized there would be little to prevent others from thinking she did that work.

On Wednesday, Dina and I were having dinner at Barnacles Pizza. It was a quaint, little restaurant that clearly had seen better days. For us, it was private enough and located between our two homes.

“I wanted to ask you something,” I began. She looked up and smiled. “Were you any bit serious about that free pass?”

She grinned. “Hmmm, maybe. Why?”

“Just wondering.”

“Wait. Are you saying you want to fu… I mean, sleep with Diana?”

I grinned at her language. “No, no, not that.”

“Oh. Because … never mind. Then what is it? You have someone?”

“No. Slow down. I was just going to give you some space.”

“Like what?”

“You think you could … you know … Maribel?”

Her eyes lit up and she pinched herself into her seat. “Really?”

I shrugged. “If you wanted to.”

Her face stayed bright as her eyes looked up. “I don’t know. Maybe. I think.”

“You think she would.”

“I think. I have seen her check me out before.”

“What, seriously?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure, but I can have Laura check for me.”

“You don’t think she’s into guys?”

“Maybe. Who knows, maybe both. But … I do have a sense.”

I got home that night after a vigorous session with her at a nearby park somehow convinced I’d done the smart thing.

“I’m going to need some cash.”

My first thought was that I’d misappropriated funds in one of my spreadsheets.

“From where?” I asked, only to realize it was Dina talking to me.

“Cash. Maybe a hundred.”

“Whoa. Why?”

She grinned, and took my hand and slid it up her skirt while keeping watch over the cubicles. I quickly roamed my fingers around until I felt around to the front of her bush.

“That, for one.”

I looked at her puzzled. In our time together, I noticed that she would occasionally trim it.

“I don’t want to do it, but I’m going to need a full wax. Plus maybe some lingerie. I still might have something I wore to prom, but it’s a few years old.”

“Okay, a hundred. I guess I could justify that for you, if you think I’ll like it.”

“Not for you, silly. Diana is reserving the roof deck for a party for us. It’s got a little pool and hot tub. If we can get her there, we’ll do it.”

“Who there?”

“Maribel. Fuck. Sorry. Just thinking about it gets me wet. Feel.” She parted her legs slightly and I felt the moisture emanating from her folds. She leaned over and pulled a tissue from my desk before dabbing herself dry and pushing my hand away.

I reached into my wallet and handed her my credit card.

“Thanks. I think I’ll go at lunch today, if I can get in.”

“Will I be able to see it?”

“Not to the salon. Oh, you mean afterwards? Of course. Bye!”

I watched as she left my cubicle and floated back down the aisle to her work.

Later that afternoon, she confirmed the date on Friday had been set. When I asked if I could inspect the work, she winced and pulled up her skirt, revealing a perfectly bald front topped by a v-shaped wedge of hair atop.

“Wow. It is really smooth.”

“I know,” she winced as I ran my fingertips along the sides, “ouch, don’t touch it, it’s still really sore,” she cautioned me.

“If I kiss it, will it get better?”

She grinned. “Maybe. Maybe in a few days.” She dropped her hem and picked up her files.

The image was stuck with me for the rest of the day as I struggled to keep from getting an erection at my desk.

It would only get more difficult when she reported back to me later that Maribel had agreed to attend.

That night, my team scheduled a soccer scrimmage with another team comprised of mostly college players at the field in Brookview. Since it would be one of the rare times that we’d be playing near home, I invited Aunt Ellen to come out to watch.

We took an early lead when I fed a long sidelines pass down to Ian who crossed it to Nigel for a quick goal just a few minutes into the game. However, the next 40 minutes saw us slowly losing a battle for possession while struggling to maintain our one-goal lead. Apparently they made the proper halftime adjustments, because they came right back to us, somehow leaving me completely overloaded in the back before punching in a strike from the top of the box. With the match now tied, we repeatedly tried to make best use of our possessions, but none of our strikers were able to get off a clean shot. On our fourth corner kick of the night, I moved up, hoping to contain possession, but was surprised when their keeper punched it free directly to their center mid, who sent it long on us. The race between my teammate and their striker was nearly won by us, but by then, he was in our box when he was taken down. The resulting penalty was successful and after a handful of attempts, the referee blew the final whistle.

Afterwards, we headed out for a drink with the other team. Aunt Ellen was a good sport and shared a round with us before we made our way home. She seemed to be in an unusually good mood when we had dinner together that night and I half-expected her to visit me that night but she fell asleep early.

Early the next morning, however, she came into my room to shut off the alarm clock before pulling the drapes open.

“Wake up, sleepyhead, or you’ll be late for work!”

She dropped a towel on my bed before heading back out the door.

Still weary, I sat up and only then did I realize I’d slept atop the sheets naked. Perhaps she didn’t notice, I thought, before concluding that she must’ve. Or maybe, she just noticed too late and left as soon it was apparent. Either way, she didn’t seem too unnerved by it as she had a breakfast ready to go when I made a late dash out the door that day.

“Have a good day!” she sang as I headed off.

When I returned home that afternoon, I noticed from an estimate left on the counter, that she had an air-conditioning repairman out to the house.

“Aunt Ellen, did you want me to take a look at this?”

She seemed surprised by my offer. “You think you could? I had two specialists out and each gave me estimates over $500 to fix it.”

“Well, sure I could, but I’m not complaining.”

“I noticed it was getting a bit stuffy upstairs at night, didn’t want it to be too uncomfortable.”

I made my way out to the air conditioning unit on the side of the house and realized it was working fine, even feeling the cold line running back to the condenser working fine. Heading back inside, I noticed the return line pulling back in properly before heading upstairs. There, the return lines weren’t pulling much, so I headed into the attic. There, I noticed that there was a damper switch turned to the “off” position on the main return leading back down to the blower. Pulling it open, I immediately heard the rush of warm air returning down.

As I made my way out, I noticed one return line running particularly warm. I followed it back to its mooring and noticed it was loose from where it connected to the vent. Reaching over to return it, I realized it was the one atop the ceiling of the master bath. Looking in, I noticed the shower running below.

I suppose I should have ignored it and returned back downstairs, but for some reason I felt compelled to wait. Moments later, I watched as Aunt Ellen returned wearing a robe. By this point, it was too far along for me to move, lest I be heard creeping around above. I watched as she adjusted the shower and pulled off her robe. She quickly rinsed herself before turning and rinsing her back. It was obvious she was just taking a cooling shower following her day in the warm house. She shut off the water and stood before the mirror, drying her hair with a towel, while letting her body air dry. I found myself pleasantly surprised to see that she was fitter than I’d imagined, her breasts still firm and high. It was hard to notice, but it appeared she kept herself groomed. A second later, she exited the bath.

I headed back downstairs, and located the damper switch for the downstairs and shifted it to the “off” position for the season.

“How’s that feel?”

Aunt Ellen who had just returned downstairs, now wearing a light dress, reached up and felt the cool air circulating overhead.

“You’re kidding! It’s fixed already? Oh, thank you!”

I grinned back at her. “No, thank you. It’s the least I could do.”

That night, my head full of distraction with Dina out with the girls and Aunt Ellen at home, I decided to head over to the Lamplighter Inn for a beer to sort out. The place was actually the second creation of the original tavern which stood on the site, the first having suffered an untimely fire in the late ‘30s.

Sometime around the turn of the century, several members of the community supporting the Battle Creek Sanitarium either left or were expelled, depending on the version of events, and made their way across the lake to set up a community more in their liking. With the hard winters and lack of sustainable finances, the new community had a far more difficult struggle in expanding themselves.

What they did promise was all the benefits of the far larger and well known spa, but with considerably more lenient views on certain health principles. The two shared many views on vegetarianism and vigorous daily exercise and moderate use of tobacco and alcohol. Daily breathing exercises and nutritional enemas were also encouraged. But on moral views, perhaps the only view shared was on that of onanism, the belief that such urges not be restricted, but “channelled” in appropriate means, which were often guided by the directors.

Thus, over the years, former members of the original sanitarium found their way to the younger version. Despite their considerable marketing advantage, the western version struggled to maintain their existence. By the ‘30s, all that remained of the property was the lodge, staffed by the remaining members. Local residents would occasionally find their way to the lodge to relieve themselves of their “unhealthy stress” and enjoy a nutritious meal of milled corn 