Roomers Revisited Ch. 04

'Being a woman isn't easy. I thank God every day for good genes. This house is lovely: can I have the ten cent tour?'

Fact is, I kinda like showing the place off. I mean, I done a pretty good job on it, and she oohed and aahed, made all the right noises, I never thought you had it in you, real pleasing. Course, I saved my apartment till last, and when I opened the door from the hallway and ushered her in, she stopped dead after two paces.

'This is really nice, Doug. You had help with it though, didn't you?' Well, shit.

'Hell no. I spent years plannin' how I wanted to live. Go look at the rest while I play in the kitchen.' She came through after a while, sat at the kitchen table, poured herself a glass of the wine I'd put out.

'Totally you. Books everywhere, not one square foot of closet space for anyone else, and a bidet in the bathroom.'

'Hell, Judy, there's times I need to wash my ass; there's times guests like that too. Nothing wrong with hygiene, courtesy neither.'

'That says it all. I'm impressed though. This place must have cost a fortune.'

'Told you I came into some money; thought if I was only gonna do it once, might as well do it right. Paillard of chicken, green salad, fruit: good for you?' She took a sip of wine and nodded, and I fixed and served, sat opposite her. She looked at her plate and half smiled.

'Presentation still important, huh?'

'Eat your dam' lunch, girl, and relax, why don't you?' She took a forkful of salad and chewed kinda absently.

'You never answered my calls, nor my letters after we...' Ah hah.

'Hell, Judy, you'd kinda made your mind up, and I never known the "we can still be friends" line work for real. Time's about the only cure, I guess.' Look of rueful confession. 'Kinda shameful, but there was a part of me wanted to hurt you.' Mature Doug. Regrets but no apology. 'Leave that aside, I guess. Is it OK to ask what happened with the doc?' She drained her glass and refilled it. Hmmm. Definitely drinking faster than she used to.

'One day I woke up and didn't feel anything. Nothing at all. Still don't know why. So I pretended for a while, and then told him, and we just finished it as tidily as we could. He wasn't as upset as I thought he'd be.' She sighed. 'It was a difficult time. Sometimes I wonder why it all happened.' Better not to explain.

'Why? Hell, Judy, shit happens, period. Lemme guess, you threw yourself into your work, felt kinda bad, told yourself it wouldn't last forever, just like the advice columns.' She managed a smile, took in some more wine.

'What else? About six months after that I visited here for Marcy's wedding, and I asked around. Someone told me you were working for that man who was killed in a car crash, and seeing his secretary.' Jesus, who told her that?

'Damn, Judy, when McCarthy was killed the job went too, and Kelly and I drifted apart, I guess. How come you were askin'?' She looked a mite embarrassed.

'I guess I had some foolish idea about apologizing, reaching closure, something like that. Then when I found out you'd moved on, I tried to forget about it.'

'No need to apologize, girl. I never thought you were wantin' to hurt me; fact is, you looked like you were hurtin' too. It's like you said last night: water under the goddam bridge. You want coffee?'

'And a proper drink, please.' Good Lord above.

'Booze in the cupboard behind you, mixers in the fridge. I'll have scotch over ice, easy on the scotch.' I started to clear the table, load the dishwasher, heard her clinking and pouring behind me. 'Didn't know you'd moved on to hard liquor, Judy.'

'If it's been a bad day or I'm seeing old friends. It's not like I need to go to meetings or anything.' Kinda defensive, I thought.

'No criticism intended.' She was on the couch when I took the tray through, body language a mite tense, expectant maybe. Time to prime the pump some.

'So gimme a day in the life of Judy Olsen.' Big exhalation, long drink. Looked like she was on rum and coke..

'Get up, go to the clinic, see a bunch of fuckwit dropouts, go home, fall asleep.' Sounded great.

'Still got that potty mouth. And weekends?'

'Try not to think about Monday.' When I hear stuff like that I know I made the right decisions.

'Shit, Judy, there's gotta be more to life. You're gonna crash and burn, you ain't careful.' I guess I must have spoken kinda harsh, and her eyes started to look a tad too bright. She took another drink and nodded, tried to smile brightly, failed by a country mile.

'I know, and your crack about hard liquor was too near the mark. I'm in a rut and I don't know how to climb out of it.' She looked at me blearily. 'You got any suggestions?' I reached out and took the glass from her, sniffed. Rum and coke my ass. Coke and rum was nearer the mark. Woman was half bagged. I'd wanted her loose, not fuckin' dismantled.

'First suggestion is a nap. You're runnin' on empty, and putting booze in your tank don't help.' I hauled her up, steered her through to the bedroom, laid her down, pulled the quilt over her. She stared up at me for a coupla seconds, unfocused, then her eyes slid shut. Now what? There's nearly always a better choice than a closet lush wanting comforting. I fixed myself a bong, stretched out on the couch. Thinking time..

When I woke up my mouth felt like someone had puked in it, so I put a pint of juice into myself, went to brush my teeth. Looked like she was still asleep, but I noticed her skirt and top were lying on the floor, cute little bra on top of them. Picked them up, went to fix more juice and coffee, Tylenol too.

She took a little rousing, but I persevered, propped her up. Noticed her tits were still defying gravity pretty good, but left it at that, just slipped an arm round her, began pouring juice down her throat. Trustworthy Doug. When her eyes opened I showed her two Tylenol, eased them between her lips, tipped more juice after them. She wasn't responding too much, so I laid her down, let her drift away again. Me, I put some Tom Waits on, picked up my book. Didn't think I'd have too long to wait.

Wrong again. I'd moved from Tom to Steely Dan, watched some trash on TV, wondered if she was dead, before she came out of the bedroom looking embarrassed, wrapped in my robe, a towel round her wet hair.

'Feelin' better, girl?' She nodded and sat in the arm chair. I heaved myself up, fixed fresh coffee, watched while she sipped, began to look a tad more alert.

'I got into the shower without thinking. I'm sorry. What happened to my clothes?'

'Hell, Judy, I came to look at you and they were all over the floor, so I folded them, gave you juice and Tylenol, let you sleep some more.' She shook her head.

'Thanks for handling it, I guess. Maybe I ought to go to those meetings after all.' She looked real miserable, voice wobbling, and I felt a flash of sympathy.

'Need to cut back some, I guess, but you ain't a drunk. Believe me, I seen plenty of those. You want anything else?'

'Maybe some warm milk?' You do one thing for a woman, you end up doing everything.

'Comin' right up, ma'am.' She sipped, looked better when she'd done. I just sat and watched her, thought she looked kinda cute. Stay with the play, Doug.

'Where you stayin', Judy? I'll give you a ride, soon as you're ready.' Her shoulders slumped a mite. Not much, but plain enough if you know someone. Well, OK.

'The Days' Inn, right next to campus. You've been so kind, Doug. I don't know how to thank you.' Shit, I know exactly what you can do.

'Uh, I got a spare room here, and last time I looked there weren't no strings attached to it. You can put a pair of sweats on, kick back a while more.'

'No strings at all?' Click. Gotcha. Perfectly reasonable question, but gotcha.

'Jeez, Judy, I never fuckin' took advantage of you in my life, and I ain't plannin' to start now. But we usedta mean a helluva lot to each other, an' I reckon I owe you for the good times.' Shook my head as if I was astonished. 'Hell, girl, your call. Do I fire up the truck or show you your room?' She looked a tad ashamed, no goddam reason to, except I'd pushed her to feel just that.

'I'm... I'm sorry, Doug. I didn't mean...' long pause, then a deep breath. 'I guess you've got a wash and dry setting for delicate fabrics, haven't you? Otherwise I'll have to go after all.' Bingo. And trying to make a little joke too.

'Attagirl. I'll make up the bed, you decide what we're gonna have to eat.' Got up and started doing stuff before she started thinking straight.

After that the evening worked out pretty good. Didn't like the sweats I put out for her, asked if she could borrow a T-shirt and shorts instead. None of the shorts suited, so could she just use a pair of my boxers? Fine by me. Said she didn't wanna eat, not really, so I called for pizza, and of course she decided she could manage one slice maybe. Put away nearly half of it in the end. Settled back onto the couch after, her a little closer than before, listened to her ramble on some. Boiled down to life was a bitch, she hadn't been laid in a while, and that had been kinda accidental, not the best five minutes of her life. Thanks for sharing, Judy.

'What about you, Doug? I've confessed, but you haven't said anything about your personal life.' Fish in a fuckin' barrel, but I was gonna let her do the work.

'No-one regular, Judy.' That was the truth for sure. 'I guess I'm not cut out for normal domestic. I gotta coupla good friends, and hell, this is a college town.' Rueful smile. 'Try not to hurt anyone, is my mission statement more or less.' Perfect.

'There are times I think I made a real big mistake.' Whoa there. Don't go that route.

'Damn, girl. If wishes were fishes we'd all be out there with nets. One thing I learned is you gotta adjust your expectations or they'll crap all over you. Staying realistic is as good as it gets, seems to me.' She nodded reluctantly and I finished my tea, looked at her questioningly. Her eyes dropped and she mumbled some.

'Maybe a nightcap?' Hmmph.

'Want a bong hit instead? Nightcaps might be a good place to start cuttin' back.' Concerned Doug. She flushed, dropped her eyes again.

'How do you know?'

'Shit, Judy, we ain't in college any more. You're a shrink, I read a lot, we both know about profiles. Don't be in denial, girl: that road takes you south fast. We both know that too. You wanna bong hit or no?' She sat for a second then smiled reluctantly.

'Wow. You're harder than you used to be. I needed someone to tell me that. Load the bong.' What the fuck did she mean by that? I shrugged mentally and fetched the fixings.

She only took one toke, but that was plenty. Hit her like a truck and she leaned back on the couch and sighed. Noticed her posture pulled the T-shirt against her breasts and she was sporting two ladylike little chubbys. Excellent. I fetched her clothes from the dryer, took hold of her hand and heaved gently. She came up bonelessly, and I caught her, walked her through. She collapsed on the bed, started giggling.

'I haven't been stoned since we were students. You better not tell my colleagues.'

'Never talked about you to anyone, Judy.' I stroked her cheek for a second. 'Get your ass into bed, girl. Sunday tomorrow, we'll do brunch, kick back, less you got plans.' She was still looking up at me.

'Maybe I'll have one by then. 'Night, Doug.' Weird reply, but hell, she was stoned. I blew her a kiss, closed the door behind me, went to finish the bong. Could have majored in psychology myself, I thought happily. She was gonna come onto me in self-defense, prove she still had a piece of my heart. There's a type of woman can't resist that temptation.

I slept heavier than usual, but at five-thirty I woke up wondering what was different. When the fog cleared I noticed. She was spooned against me, breathing deep and regular just like she used to. She'd kept the T-shirt on and I was touching panties not skin, so I just stirred, natural as possible, repositioned myself against her ass, my cock laying along the crease. Damn me if I didn't drift off back to sleep. There are times I wonder if I'm getting old.

Next time I woke was because I could smell coffee. I cranked one eye open and she was standing over me, cup in each hand, smiling and looking kinda mushy. I stayed groggy, climbed outa bed.

'Gotta piss.' Did that, sloshed some mouthwash round, and when I went back she was in bed sipping. I crawled back in too, picked up my cup.

'Kinda forward of you, Ms Olsen. You sleep OK?' She leaned against my shoulder.

'I woke up at three and felt terrible so I came and snuggled in with you, and I slept like a log after that.'

'Shit, Judy, wish I'd woken up. I can't remember nothing.' She wriggled a tad, something in her voice when she spoke again.

'You might have had a dream or two. When I woke up I thought I'd backed into a baseball bat.' I sipped coffee.

'Seems like I missed all the fun.' Trying for wistful, and she pushed against me, head against my neck so I couldn't see her face.

'Do you remember before we started dating? How you spent so long not hitting on me because you thought it would spoil everything?'

'Yup. Sure was hard, no pun intended. Why bring that up?'

'There's no need to do it again. I want to stay in bed all morning, and I hate being bored. No strings attached, just like your spare room, and I'm still on the pill, cross my heart.' She kicked the covers back, stripped off the T-shirt, lifted her butt and hauled the panties down, dragged me horizontal, pulling our bodies together. Only just had time to set my coffee down. Twenty-four hours delayed gratification is plenty.

Well, sweet nostalgia. She was feeling it too, seemed like: eyes closed, arms wrapped round me, breath warm against my neck. She peered up, just like she used to.

'You were the first person I stopped being shy with. I remember that so well.' She lifted one leg, shimmied round some, then rolled onto her back; took me with her and I ended up between her thighs, my cock thickening fast. Her half-forgotten aroma was tickling my nostrils as she pulled my head down and kissed me. That was familiar too: real weird how the body remembers stuff. I nipped her upper lip the way she liked, and she inhaled sharply, then reached down to my cock, tugged gently.

'I am one hundred ten percent ready, Doug Taylor, so you carry on. Please?' Hell, anything for a lady. Warm wetness closed round the head of my cock and her pelvis tilted upwards, forcing me deeper into her. She sighed and pushed up again and I slid right on through, didn't stop till I bottomed out. She made a little sound of contentment, settled down into the mattress, raising her legs, smacked my ass gently.

'Go for it, or you're gonna be looking at a disappointed woman.' More upfront than she used to be.

'Sure don't want that.' Tell the truth, I was kinda distracted at first, running on autopilot you might say. Hell, she'd been the one who invited herself round: probably could have drilled her in the first half hour, then got on with my weekend. Delayed gratification can be a godawful waste of time. On the other hand, I'd had fun working on it, and she'd come on to me, hot and ready, no way she could say I hustled her. Hard call, I guess. Right about then I realized she was squirming about and panting, muttering and grabbing at my ass real fierce. Never mind the philosophy, get back to work, was the message, so I sharpened the angle and moved up a gear; didn't exactly calm her down, but the noises sounded a tad less frantic as she found the rhythm she wanted.

Fact is, I wanted to keep it slow, make sure I held back. She was gonna demand the party trick after, and cream pies ain't my favorite breakfast, plus she didn't do blow jobs either, so I'd be needing to plug her again for the third course, and making that the big one seemed the right route. Artistic Doug. I found out a long time ago, you got a game plan, everything goes better.

Seemed to be working for her, so I let her handle it while I concentrated on watching. Plain to see she was focused but lost in old memories too, and I had a little bet with myself that there'd be tears afterwards. Meanwhile, back to the coalface. I plain love the feel of my cock stretching firm pussy, and I took a grip on myself, tried to make it memorable for her. When I lifted myself up, scraping the top of my shaft against her clit, she yelped once, then joined in, still not in top gear, but picking up enough pace that I knew she was gonna get there before me. Problem solved, and I pushed her along some, even managed to recall some of the stuff she liked best. The panting got louder and her pussy was beginning to flutter uncontrollably, so I flipped her over, finished her off from behind before she had a chance to ask. She buried her face in the pillow to muffle the noise, ass jumping about like a shrimp on a griddle as she came, didn't let up for a full minute, then slumped down, dragging me with her: real unpleasant feeling, seeing as I was still harder than a ten minute egg. Course that meant I was laying across her back and it only took about ten seconds for her to start wriggling. That was familiar too. I eased out of her, and she crawled round, burrowed into my arms, shoulders trembling, tears squeezing out through her closed eyes. Right on cue.

'Uh, you OK, Judy?' Her grip round my neck tightened and she pushed her damp face against my chest.

'Thinking what a fool I am. It'll pass.' So I should fuckin' hope. I stroked her hair some and she calmed down, scampered off to the bathroom to tidy up. When she came back she was smiling again.

'Just nostalgia and memories, Doug, so there's no need to look worried. You've no idea how much I needed that.' Well, good, I guess. She slithered back into my arms and rubbed her nose against mine. 'You held back there, didn't you?' Stroking my cock, watching me closely. 'Umm, I know it sounds stupid, but I...' Just as I thought. If a woman don't like dick in her mouth when she's twenty, she ain't never gonna like it.

'Hush now, girl. Told you Christ knows how many times, it ain't a trade-off. I'm plannin' to get me some of those food groups I remember, and then let you choose your main course. You OK with that?' Hell, the tears started again, and I was the kindest guy in the world, and no-one else had ever understood, real pointless shit, but pleasing, and when she calmed down again I hoisted her up. More vegetation than I remembered, and she smiled when she noticed me looking for the way in.

'Maybe you should trim me first.' Laughter in her voice now, and I gotta say there's nothing nicer than Sunday morning shower fun; between us we managed to get the undergrowth down to a neat little wedge of auburn fuzz, then I twisted her round on the bathroom floor and went digging for victory, tongue first. Party trick always works. When she was through flinging herself about, I hauled her back to the bedroom, plumbed her good and hard, managing to hold it till she came again, then collapsed, spurting a day and a half's worth of anticipation deep into her. This time she didn't fuckin' wriggle for a good three minutes. Virile Doug. Didn't stop her crying some more though, but I just rolled over, pulled her close, let her sniffle. I guess she got tired of waiting for me to comfort her, and sat up, wiped her eyes prettily, gave a big sigh.

'Gentle, then rough, and then gentle again. A dream come true. What's next?'

'Jeez, Judy, brunch of course. I don't eat something soon I'm gonna collapse and die. You still like waffles?' She stared at me, then cracked a smile.

'Practical, just romantic enough, hate it when anyone notices. Of course I still like waffles, dummy. They're why God gave us appetites.'

After the waffles the rest of the day flowed kinda naturally: no BJ's of course, but she had talented fingers and we had a pretty nice time. I gotta say though, when she finally said she really oughta go, her flight was in a couple of hours, I felt a touch of relief. Took her to the hotel, on to the airport, saw her off like a good friend should. It wasn't till I was on the way home that I realized I'd never asked her for an address or phone number. A mile later I realized that she hadn't offered them neither. I swear women will always be a mystery to me. Never seen her since, but six months later I got a card, no return address. "Cut out the booze, changed jobs, found a friend, feel great. Thanks for the therapy. You're special. Love, J ". Sure was pleased she stuck to the no strings bit. Lotta women would have tried to weasel through that one.