Waking Up With a Monster

"What did I spend the year before that doing?" she asked.

"Divorcing that dickhead you married," I said.

"I spent the year that I was twenty three planning and executing a wedding for a marriage that lasted for about two hours. I had spent the previous two years being courted by a man that I thought I could build my life around. I just wanted to be a wife and a mother. That's why I went to college so late," she said.

"So there are two things that we need to talk about for now. The first is that the two of us can't go out dancing or clubbing or any of that stuff. During your divorce it isn't a good idea for us to be seen together outside of work. Katherine's lawyer could use that against us. The second thing is that I'm not that young. I'm thirty five, not twenty five and I wasn't much of a club type when I was twenty five. Can we just stop off and get a movie and something to eat and go home?"

"Then why don't you go out and do something that you'd like to do," I said.

"Mark, you still don't get it," she said. "I'm going to say this very slowly for you. Spending time with you IS what I want to do."

"Well we can just get a movie from Infinity On Demand," I said. "And I really want some more of that roast."

She just smiled and rolled her eyes. She let out a sigh and shook her head but I could tell that she was happy, because the serious expression was gone from her face. She also had that happy little bounce back. Rachel was clearly different from the other women I knew. Very few women preferred a night at home over a chance to go out.

"Can we go now?" she asked, pulling me back from my thoughts. "What were you thinking about, Honey? I know divorces are rough but you've got me until you don't need me anymore."

I just stared at her and shook my head. "What now?" she asked.

"I actually wasn't thinking about the divorce," I said. "It's weird but I don't think about it nearly as much as I probably should. I guess that I gave Katherine every opportunity to save our marriage. I didn't get angry and scream at her. I didn't hit her or demand to know who the men were. And when I met Dean, I liked him. He felt worse about it than I did. And he was the one who broke things off with her when he found out.

I was angrier at Katherine than I was at any of the men. She was the one who took a vow to be faithful to me. With the exception of the neighbor down the street none of the men knew she was married or knew me. Most of them were just single guys looking for some fun. And my ex-neighbor...he was always an asshole. And he's so old that I could hurt him by breathing on him. Besides he's got his own problems, because when I confronted him, his wife, who takes care of him, walked out on him.

The person I feel the worst about though is Dean. Katherine really did a number on him. I think that he loved her as much as I did. He's married again, but I'm not sure he really loves his new wife. After Katherine, I'm not sure he'll ever be able to fully give anyone his heart again."

"Trust me, I understand that better than anyone," said Rachel. "But in time it gets better. You just have to be careful in picking the next one."

"You sound like you might have your eye on someone," I said. "Anytime you need me to make myself scarce, just tell me not to come home or if I'm already there just tell me to get lost and I'll go out for a drive until you call me and tell me to come home."

"Actually I've had my eye on someone for a long time," she said. There was a twinkle in her eye that I had never seen before.

"Why didn't you say something?" I asked. "I can move back into the hotel. Having me stay with you might screw it up."

"Well first, you don" worry about that, Mark. You and my Grandfather are the two most important men in my life. So you take priority. Besides, he's kind of stupid. I'm not even sure he knows that I'm interested in him."

"So maybe you should tell him. Why waste time? Maybe he's shy or going through a bad situation. Do you want to wake up twenty years from now and wish you had made a move? Don't take this the wrong way, Rachel, but you're thirty five. If you want to have kids your window is closing," I said.

She elbowed me in the ribs and linked her arm through mine. "I'm well aware of the status of my window," she said, as we walked towards the exit.

"Mark do you really feel that way about my crappy apartment?" she asked.

"What way?" I asked.

"You called it, "HOME."

"Sorry," I said. "You've shown me so much hospitality that it just felt that way. Actually I feel more at home at your place than I do the house. When I'm there, I feel like I'm waiting for the next pile of shit that Katherine is going to throw at me."

She didn't say anything and had stopped walking. I turned and looked back at her. She looked as if she was about to cry, but she had that giant smile on her face again.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Mark, until lately, I always hated my crappy little place. But lately, it has felt like home to me too," she said.

"Yeah, it takes a while for a place to feel that way," I said.

"Soooo stupid," she said under her breath. "Just clueless."

An hour later we were staring at each other over dinner. I was eating leftover roast and Rachel was eating a salad. Her foot touched mine under the small table and she smiled. There were times when we didn't even have to speak. We had worked together for so long that we knew each other well enough to communicate wordlessly about some things. There had been many occasions when a patient came into the room for an exam and after seeing the x-rays, we knew that a patient had a very bad fracture or injury, but we couldn't tell them that. Only their doctor can give then that kind of info. But either one of us could come into a room where the other was doing an exam and just by looking at facial expressions, know how bad an injury was.

So as we ate I could tell that another day of lifting over-weight patients had taken its toll on Rachel. She probably wouldn't stay up no matter what we watched.

"How about Galactica?" I asked.

"How about anything else?" she smiled.

"How about I give you a massage while we watch Galactica?" I said.

"I love that show," she lied. "I'll go shower and get ready for my massage." Her voice was thick and her face was no longer as tired as it had seemed earlier.

"Should I wait until you're done with your shower to start the show?" I asked excitedly.

"No, Honey, you go right ahead and start it without me," she smirked. I started the show and got lost in the battle between the few remaining humans in the universe and the robotic Cylons who tracked them through space.

I was so enraptured by the brilliance of the acting and the script that I almost didn't notice when Rachel came back. She lay down on the sofa wearing another of those large T-shirts. As usual a freshly scrubbed goddess awed me.

I stared down at the body lying on the sofa and got nervous. I had lived with a woman for more than twenty years and given her lots of massages over the years. But this body, this woman was a completely different thing.

Katherine is built like your average woman. Rachel on the other hand was something else. Her waist was tiny enough that I could get both of my hands all the way around it and my fingers would almost touch. On the other hand just above and just below that tiny waist were the softest of structures that I couldn't come close to corralling.

Her ass rose like a mountain from the plain of her lightly contoured back. She looked over one shoulder at me and smiled. I had never in my life seen anything as sexy as the look she gave me. I was so nervous that I dropped the lotion I was going to use for the massage.

"Wow, we're using lotion?" she asked. I nodded dumbly. She lifted the T-shirt over her head and lay back down. I caught a glimpse of incredible breasts during the movement. I retreated to the kitchen and squeezed a healthy amount of the lotion into a small bowl. I warmed it in the microwave for a few seconds and had my equilibrium back by the time I got back to the living room.

"What did I miss?" I asked nervously.

"They talked about how scared of the robots they are. And they said "Frack" a lot," she said. "What were you doing in the...whoooooaaaahhhh!" I had sat down next to her and began gently touching her back.

"Oh my God Mark. You warmed up the lotion. It smells really good. It feels like heaven. And you know just where to...Ohh! Yes!" If anyone had been listening from outside, they would have gotten a completely different idea of what we were doing.

I rubbed and caressed every inch of her back and shoulders. My actions drew all sorts of moans from Rachel. When I got to her lower back, I noticed that Rachel was clenching her buttocks and she couldn't seem to keep her legs from rubbing together.

I hovered at the junction between her lower back and that amazing ass. "Keep going Mark," she whined. "Please!"

"But that's..." I began.

"Mark it isn't like you haven't felt on my ass before," she said. "And this time there's a reason for it." As I massaged her firm tight globes, I was the one who had the reaction. I finished her ass and moved down her legs with her moans following me the entire way. I finished up by doing her feet. Finally, I placed one little kiss on each foot, each calf, each ass cheek and all the way up her back.

"I feel tingly all over," she said slowly. She sat up exposing the two most perfect breasts I had ever seen. "Oops, sorry," she said. She threw her T-shirt back on and snuggled into the sofa.

"I feel like jelly all over," she giggled. In a few moments she was out like a light. I gently picked her up and carried her into her bedroom. I gently kissed her on the cheek before covering her and heading back to the sofa.

Okay maybe Galactica wasn't as exciting the second time around. I didn't make it through the first episode before I was asleep myself. At least I could stretch out, having the couch to myself for the first time since I'd been there.

But early the next morning I realized that I wasn't alone. I was covered by a thick blanket and Rachel was once again pressed against me for dear life.

I tapped her on her shoulder. Her eyes popped open and as usual she smiled.

"What's wrong, couldn't you reach my ass?" she asked.

"Why aren't you in your bed?" I asked.

"I guess I fell asleep watching your dumb robot show," she smiled. "Seriously Mark, robots that look like people?"

"Rachel, I carried you to bed myself," I said.

"Are you sure you didn't dream it?" she asked. "Anyway, we have to get ready for our road trip."

We drove the three hours up to Lila's school on Sunday and spent a nice afternoon with her. Rachel and my daughter had always gotten along well. Rachel seemed like an older sister to her. They spent much of the afternoon with Lila instructing Rachel on my likes and dislikes. Although we had no agreement regarding her, somehow no one mentioned Katherine.

We stayed later than we should have and it was dark and getting late by the time we got back home. As we entered the apartment, I headed for the couch and bid goodnight to Rachel. She yawned and stopped. "Mark, come on," she said.

"Come on what?" I asked.

"Can we argue tomorrow?" she asked. "Just come on."

I followed her into her room and she just looked at me as she began taking her clothes off. After she got her shoes and jeans off she took off her blouse and stood there in front of me in just her bra and panties. She dropped the bra to the floor and pulled on one of her endless supply of long T-shirts.

She turned to catch me staring at her open mouthed. "What?" she asked. "You've already seen them. It's no big deal. Let's go to sleep we have to work tomorrow."

I dropped my pants and shirt and crawled into bed in my boxers. Rachel rolled over next to me and snuggled against me as if she'd been doing it all of her life. One arm snaked itself around me and she was out. I remembered then that Katherine and I had never slept apart during our marriage, except for when she was out of town, and I now knew that she wasn't sleeping alone then. But even though we were in the same bed, Katherine had never had the need for contact that Rachel seemed to have. It also seemed strange to me to be comparing the two of them.

It seemed like I had barely closed my eyes when they snapped back open to the sound of someone calling my name.

"Mark!" she called sharply.

"Yeah Rache," I answered.

"Why are your hands on my ass again?" she asked. I moved them like they were on fire. We quickly got up and got ready for work. We stopped for coffee and donuts on our way in. Every time we saw each other on the hall, I caught Rachel smiling at me.

One of the techs that sometimes worked with us, Merl, stopped to talk to me. "That sure is a waste," he said.

"What's a waste?" I asked.

"You know, Rachel," he said. "It's a damned shame that a woman that pretty is only interested in other women."

I started laughing my ass off and he looked at me as if I was crazy. "Merl, have you ever seen Rachel with a woman? Have you ever heard anything about her and another woman? Don't believe everything you hear."

A few moments later my cell phone rang. I had to go out into the hall to take the call because the walls of my x-ray room are lined with lead and it blocked the signal. The call was from my lawyer. He wanted to know if I could attend a meeting with Katherine and her lawyer that evening.

I told him I could. I was eager to get the whole thing over with. I relayed the information to Rachel who agreed with me that it would be good to find out what Katherine wanted to let me go.

At lunchtime, I apologized to Rachel. "Rache, I'm sorry about last night. I guess we probably shouldn't be sleeping in the same bed. I didn't plan it either time. It must be some reaction to..."

"I did it," she interrupted.

"Huh?" I asked.

"I did it," she said more firmly. "While you were asleep I took your hands and put them on my ass. You know all of those nights when we ended up in bed together unintentionally?" I nodded.

"That was me too. They were all intentional. I'm not sure I want to go back to sleeping alone, so sue me," she said. Then she started eating her lunch. I couldn't think of anything to say.

The meeting with Katherine and her lawyer was a waste of time. My lawyer made a very reasonable offer. We offered to split everything fifty/fifty. Kath's lawyer came back with a totally ridiculous settlement. He wanted for Katherine to get the house, with me continuing to make the mortgage payments and give her half of my pension when I stopped working and alimony of half my salary for the next ten years.

My lawyer told her she was out of her fucking mind. I told him to agree to it. And he looked at me as if I was the crazy one.

I whispered in his ear that I just wanted it over with. "Besides," I told him. "No judge is going to give her all of that. Especially if we change the reason we're filing to infidelity."

Rachel and her lawyer balked at me changing the reason for my suit. "Mark you can't hate me that much," she said. "I won't be able to get a job anywhere.

Then they requested counseling, which I refused. We left there agreeing to have another meeting a few days later to work through more of the details. Katherine invited me to dinner after the meeting and I had to decline. As usual she didn't take that very well. She put on a performance that was worthy of an Oscar. She screamed, she cried, she whined, she did everything except to pee on the floor. But in the end she failed. And when she saw me walk by her as if I hadn't noticed, she ran over to me and asked, "Well, how about tomorrow night then?"

I just shook my head and kept walking. I had other things to worry about.

When I got to the apartment, Rachel let me in as soon as I knocked. She had her serious face and another long T-shirt on.

"I guess you want the last of the roast for dinner, huh?" she asked. I nodded eagerly.

"Mark can I have another massage after dinner?" she asked.

"Sure," I said. "Rachel...Why?" She knew exactly what I was asking about before I even finished asking.

"Because you're clueless," she spat.

"So you figured you'd show me how clueless I was by playing some kind of joke on me?" I asked.

"Mark, there's no joking going on," she said. I looked in her eyes as she spoke and again, unlike Katherine, I knew that she was speaking straight from the heart with no deception and nothing held back.

"I never thought I would ever be able to tell you this. But it was you who said yesterday that I should just go for it. So, you should know that I've been in love with you for almost ten years. From the first time, I met you, back when I was having trouble with anatomy in x-ray school and my grandfather introduced us. At first it was one of those stupid little crushes. I guess it was different though because I'd already been married and had my heart broken. But I knew you were different. Honestly I never thought I'd be able to tell you. I mean I loved you, but I liked Katherine too. So I never thought that..." She stopped talking when she noticed my reaction.

"Mark don't freak out. You don't have to do anything or say anything. If you don't feel the same way, I can accept it. I know this is out of the blue for you and you really need time to process it. So why don't we give it a few days to settle in and we'll talk about it then, okay? So until we talk again, let's just pretend I didn't say anything."

Then she just turned and did that girl thing where she thinks that because she's done talking, the conversation was over. I went and took a shower and came back and joined her for dinner.

After dinner she got to pick a show. It was a new show that I thought would be stupid but was actually really good. It was called Black Sails. It was about Pirates. Not once during the first episode did any person say, "arrrrgh."

As we watched the show, I massaged Rachel and turned her into jelly. Whether my little Rachel realized it or not, her reactions spoke of almost sexual arousal. I could even detect a hint of a very womanly odor coming from her.

"Oh, Mark," she gushed. "If you could bottle that feeling..."

She got shakily to her feet. "Good Night, Mark. We're off tomorrow and I'm going to sleep this massage off. No tricks tonight, okay?" She got up and headed for her room.

I followed her. As she pulled the covers back, she noticed me behind her and smiled.

"Mark, do you need something?" she asked.

"I've gotten used to sleeping with you," I said. "...I kind of...like it." I swear, her smile lit up the dark room as she got into bed and made room for me. She wrapped her arms around me and snuggled her face into my chest. I felt her shiver as I closed my eyes.

"Rache, are you okay?" I asked.

"You don't know how long I've dreamed of this. Even for the past week when I tricked you, that was good, Mark. But you coming to bed with me, willingly...is just...better!"

She sniffled and kept talking. "I feel so warm and so safe and so...loved," she said. "It just feels right."

"It really does," I said.

"Do you mean that?" she asked.

"Frrrrruuuuuuungghhhh," I snorted, pretending to be asleep."

Over the next few weeks, things moved along slowly but surely with Rachel. My divorce on the other hand seemed to be permanently stalled. My lawyer was sure that was the intention. Every offer they made, we accepted knowing that no judge would agree to a settlement that was nearly that lopsided. All I really wanted was my freedom.

On the other hand everything that Katherine did seemed to be geared towards getting us back together. I decided to give in and surprise her by stopping by the house for a heart to heart talk.