Another Time, Another Place
by Ann Douglas
Craig Ross sat quietly in the hard backed wooden chair, trying hard not
to stare at the older woman sitting behind the desk in front of him. It was his first
day at Eaglestone Communications and the last thing he wanted to do was get
off on the wrong foot by having the personnel director catch him staring at her
breasts. Not that they weren’t worth staring at, even if she was at least twice his
twenty-two years. Almost as bad, he thought, would be for her to catch his eyes
wandering the room or staring out the large window to his left, either action
might demonstrate a lack of interest in his new position.
Instead, while she continued to check the small stack of forms that
made up his newly created employee file, Craig kept his gaze on the small,
hand-made nameplate on the corner of her desk. The metal letters that spelled
out Estelle Jones had a few imperfections in them, leading him to believe that
an amateur had made it. It reminded him of some of the projects he’d made in
high school shop class. Every twenty seconds or so, he glanced upward to see
of the dark haired woman was done with her review, and then returned to his
study of her nameplate.
“Well,” Estelle said a long minute later as she finally laid down the last
sheet and closed the folder, “everything seems to be in order.”
Craig was relieved that he had been looking up at the same time that
she did.
“I just like to double check that all the forms are filled out right,” she said with a
smile. “Nothing worse than having the excitement of your first payday ruined
because some obscure box hadn’t been checked off and you didn’t get your
check on time because of it.”
Craig returned the smile, surprised that she would take such an interest in a new
employee. In fact, he was still surprised that he was here at all. Only a few
months out of college, he’d put in an application at Eaglestone as one of a half
dozen that day alone, never expecting to be called in for an initial interview,
much less a second one.
The first interview had left him with the impression that it had only been a pro
forma exercise, just to show that they were giving applicants a chance before
they hired whom they intended to from the start. The second interview had
been with Ms. Jones herself and her attitude had been totally the opposite.
Suspicious of the change, Craig had convinced himself halfway through it that
her friendly demeanor was designed to make him not feel as bad when he
walked out of the meeting disappointed. Therefore, he was quite astonished
when it instead ended with an offer of employment. It was all he could do to
remember to say thank you.
“Mr. Brown, in whose department you’re going to be working, is out today, so
there’s no need for you to report over there until tomorrow,” Estelle continued.
“So we can use what is left of the day to introduce you to your mentor and let
you learn a little about how things are done around here.”
“Mentor?” Craig repeated, not having heard the term in any of the prior
interviews.
“Oh, it’s just a little program we instituted here at Eaglestone a year or so back,”
Estelle explained, “geared specifically to new employees like yourself who are
just entering the workforce. Just someone to help you adjust to how a business
really operates as opposed to the theoreticall model you learned about in
school.”
Having interned for two other companies during school, Craig thought he
already had a good handle on that, but wasn’t about to contradict the personnel
director.
“It’s important for you to understand that they don’t report to anyone, or have
any input into the quarterly performance evaluations that all employees go
through during their first year,” she continued. “All they are there for is to
answer any questions you might have about how things operate, and perhaps
guide you over any of the bumps along the way.”
“Isn’t that the kind of thing that you would go to your department manager for?”
Craig asked, remembering one of his professors saying just that.
“Traditionally yes,” Estelle answered, “but we’ve found that sometimes a new
employee might be hesitant to go to their immediate superior with some things,
especially if they thought going to them might make them look bad or unable to
handle a task they were given. By assigning them a go to person, as it were, to
ask those not as silly as they thought questions, we avoid surprisingly many
problems. Whatever you might think of the idea at the moment, it does work out
quite well.”
Thinking about it for a few moments, Craig decided it might be a good idea after
all. His thoughts flashed back to just that kind of situation during his first
internship, when he felt more comfortable asking one of the other interns a
question about his project rather than risking appearing ignorant in front of his
boss. The problem was his fellow intern had known as little as he did and the
advice she had given him almost proved disastrous.
“In fact,” Estelle concluded as she glanced down at the desk clock in front of
her, “she should be here just about….”
Almost as if her words were a signal, the door to the personnel director’s office
opened and an equally smartly dressed woman entered. Following Estelle’s
lead as she turned her attention to the new arrival, Craig turned his head far
enough around to see her as she approached the desk.
Standing five foot six, just an inch shorter than Craig, the forty-four year old had
shoulder length brown hair, emerald green eyes and a pleasant smile. The
finely tailored business attire she wore did little to divert attention from the
decidedly female form beneath it, especially a bust that easily matched Estelle’s.
This time however, it wasn’t a set of impressive breasts that drew Craig’s
attention, but a face that was instantly familiar.
“Craig Ross, I’d like you to meet…” Estelle had started to say.
“Mrs. Parkes!” Craig exclaimed, cutting off the personnel director in mid-
sentence.
“Craig?” the new arrival queried, her tone reflecting equal surprise.
“I take it that the two of you already know each other,” Estelle said a heartbeat
later, having risen from her desk and already gone half way around it.
“Knew would probably be a better word,” Kay Parkes said, “but it must be four,
no make that five years since the last time we saw each other.”
Almost automatically, Craig found himself nodding in agreement.
“Craig here went to high school with my oldest son, George,” Kay went on to
explain Estelle’s unasked but certainly apparent curiosity about what connection
she would’ve had with a then teenage boy. “But that was so long ago that I
never made the connection when you mentioned his name to me.”
“Well, if it’s been five years, I can certainly understand that,” Estelle said. “But
as it is, a past relationship, however indirect, might compromise the spirit of the
mentor program. If you like, I’m sure I can find another volunteer easily
enough.”
“I don’t see it being a problem for me,” Kay said after a moment’s reflection,
“but the decision really should be left up to Craig I think. After all, he’s really the
one who needs to feel the most comfortable with it.”
Both women turned to look at the still seated young man, putting him in the
middle of his first professional decision. There were pros and cons to going
either way, he quickly thought, but while there was no guarantee that Mrs.
Parkes was still the same person he’d known back in high school, he was sure
there would be little problem getting along with her.
“I don’t see it as being a problem,” Craig finally replied.
“Excellent,” Estelle smiled, “then we’re done here.”
It was obvious to Craig that both women were pleased with his decision.
“Since I know you have other things that you need to get done,” Kay said, “why
don’t I take Mr. Ross here out to lunch and give him his first counseling
session?”
“It sounds like a good idea to me,” Estelle agreed. The comfortable way the
two of them interrelated caused Craig to think that, even in absence of any
evidence thereof, the two women were friends as well as co-workers. “But be
sure to point out to him that long lunch hours are hardly the norm around here
and there will be plenty of days when even a short one will be a much missed
luxury.”
As he rose from his chair and once again thanked Estelle, Craig was certain that
her latter comments, while containing an expected truth, had been added more
in jest than anything else. More proof of the relationship between the two of
them.
-=-=-
“I seem to remember that you had a preference for Chinese food,” Kay said
once they were in the corridor outside of the office, “does that still hold?”
“Most definitely,” the dark haired young man replied.
“Great, because there’s a truly excellent restaurant just around the corner and
since it’s only just noon, we should have no problem getting a booth where we
can both eat and catch up,” Kay said in turn. “Just give me a few minutes to get
my coat and let my assistant know where I’ll be.”
As he waited in the empty corridor near the elevators for Kay to return, Craig
wondered what her position was in the company that allowed her an assistant.
Obviously, she had some authority if she could just leave when she wanted to,
which only made it seem strange to him that she would be assigned as a mentor
to a new employee like him. Not that he was going to look the proverbial gift
horse in the mouth.
“Ready to go?” Kay said as she turned the corner, coat in hand.
While they rode the elevator down to the lobby, Craig asked Kay what it was she
did here at Eaglestone. Her answer left him even more impressed.
“I wish I knew that you’d applied for a job here,” Kay said as they exited out
onto the street. “I would’ve been happy to have written you a letter of
recommendation, or at least put in a good word for you. Still, it does seem to
have worked out fine so that’s all water under the bridge as they say.”
As she had expected, the restaurant had only a few patrons taking an early
lunch and they had no problem getting a booth in the back where it was quiet
enough to hold a conversation. She ordered for the both of them, then turned
her attention to her guest.
“The last I heard from George was that you had graduated last spring,” Kay said
as the waitress poured both of them a cup of tea. “He’s decided to stay out west
in California, as I’m sure he’s told you.”
Craig said that he had. The two friends had gone to college on opposite coasts
but had kept in touch via cell phone calls and emails. In fact, now that he
thought of it, it had been George who had suggested that Craig add Eaglestone
to his list of companies to apply to, but hadn’t mentioned that his mother worked
there.
By the time they’d finished with their soup, Craig had pretty much brought Kay
up to speed on his life since high school. There hadn’t really been that much to
tell. He’d led the life of a typical undergraduate at City University, still lived in his
parents’ house in Brooklyn, although he had moved into the basement
apartment and now paid rent, even if it was far below what the rooms would get
on the open market. Up until a week ago, he had also still been working in his
uncle’s lumberyard while looking for a position where he could put his degree to
use.
Over the main course, Kay told him how, after her husband Jim had passed
away, which he of course knew about, she had sold their house in the old
neighborhood and moved to Manhattan in order to devote more time to her
career. She had been with Eaglestone for four years now, having been
promoted twice in that time. It was a good company to work for, she told him,
then proceeded to spend the better part of the next hour explaining just how the
company ran.
Craig knew about office politics, of course, but never imagined just how large a
role they really played. Once again, he considered himself lucky to have Kay to
explain things and answer his questions. Someone who didn’t know him as well
might not have been so forthcoming.
“You‘re lucky to have drawn Chester Brown as a boss,” Kay said as she ate.
“He can be hard to work for at times, but he doesn’t demand any more from the
people under him than he does from himself. You’ll learn a lot from him.”
Craig asked another dozen questions, until finally Kay said that she thought
they’d covered enough for his first day. It was important that he form his own
impressions of things and not just base them on what she had told him. There
would be plenty of chances for her to confirm or correct his observations in the
future.
“Anyone special in your life?” Kay asked, changing the conversation away from
business. “I remember you were pretty close with Sandy Rice back in high
school.”
Like so many high school romances, Craig explained, his and Sally’s hadn’t
stood the test of time. There had been a few girls in college, but he never got
too serious with any of them, preferring to give his education as much of his
attention as possible.
“That’s not a bad attitude to carry on into your professional life,” Kay said, a
comment that he found quite surprising. “I’m not saying you should live the life
of a monk, but don’t get too involved either. At least not during your probation
period. Better to keep any relationship on the casual side.”
Craig wondered, but lacked the nerve to ask, if that was an attitude Kay carried
over into her own life. He remembered one night in college when he and a
couple of friends were a little into the sauce and their discussion about girls on
campus had somehow shifted to older women. As reluctant as any of them
might’ve been to admit it while sober, it turned out that just about every one of
them had some older woman in their past that they’d fantasized about. In some
cases it had been a teacher, others a friend of the family, and in a few cases,
even a relative. In Craig’s case, it had been Kay Parkes.
That revelation was something that he had never shared with anyone, least of
all his best friend. After all, he doubted even the closest friendships would
survive the admission that one of you were thinking of the other’s mother while
pleasuring himself. All of this was in the past, of course, and he was now an
adult, not the virginal teen who had harbored such fantasies.
“George has himself a girl and I think it’s pretty serious,” Kay said, snapping
Craig out of his memories. “Of course he hasn’t told me that, but I’m pretty sure
she’s the reason he’s staying in California. A mother knows.” she added with a
smile.
George had emailed Craig a photo of his girl, Connie Travis was her name, a
few months back. If leaving her behind was the price of coming back home,
Craig was sure he’d have stayed in California as well.
“Well, as much as I’ve enjoyed both the company and the conversation, I really
do have to get back to the office,” Kay finally said, after the waitress returned
with the check and she put in on her company credit card. “There’s no reason
for you to go back though, so why don’t you head home and get yourself
together for tomorrow.”
Craig definitely had no problem with that suggestion, thanking Kay again for all
her advice.
“Oh, one last thing,” Kay said just before they went their separate ways outside
the restaurant. “When it’s just you and me, its fine for you to call me Kay, in fact
I insist on it because you’re much too old not to be using my first name. In the
office, however, it might be better if you use Mrs. Parkes. It’s one of those office
politics things, familiarity equates standing, I hope you understand.”
“Of course,” Craig replied.
“And be sure to give my best to your parents,” she added before turning and
heading back to the office.
-=-=-
When Chester Brown strode into his office the next morning, a half hour before
the workday normally began, he found Craig sitting outside waiting for him. The
gesture helped get him off on the right foot with his new boss. The insights into
Chester’s character that Kay had shared proved invaluable, as he was able to
see through the bluster during his welcoming monologue and pick out what was
important. No time was wasted in giving him an assignment and as he exited
the office, Craig was sure it was a test of his ability to get it done.
Sure of what he needed to do, Craig decided not to check back in with Kay.
Only later would he realize that he was doing exactly what Estelle had said the
mentor program was designed to prevent, only in his case he was afraid of
looking bad in Kay’s eyes instead of Chester Brown’s. Thinking that might turn
out to be the case, at least initially, Kay took the initiative and called him that
afternoon to check up on him. She listened as he described his assignment and
how he planned to proceed. A surge of relief filled him when she said that not
only had he understood his task perfectly, he had picked a solution to it that not
only showed that understanding but a certain creativity in his methodology. An
assessment that Chester almost grudgingly agreed with when he turned it in two
days later.
Over the next few weeks, Craig came to fully understand what Estelle had
meant by missed lunches, but he hardly minded. He found the work both
interesting and challenging enough to give him a sense of satisfaction at the end
of the day. Busy as he soon was, it became impossible to check in with Kay
during the workday. That was a problem easily solved when Kay suggested
they meet at the end of each week for an after hours drink at a local bar. This
gave him a chance to voice any concerns about his progress and for Kay to
alleviate those concern.
Weeks turned into months quickly enough and before Craig knew it his first
quarterly review was upon him. It happened to be a Friday afternoon when he
was summoned to Chester’s office, making him late for his regularly scheduled
drink with Kay.
“So how did it go?” Kay asked when Craig finally arrived at the bar, knowing full
well why he was late.
“It went great,” Craig said with a broad grin, quite satisfied with himself, “but
then you probably knew that already.”
“Not at all,” Kay countered as she sipped her drink. “Remember what Estelle
told you the day you started, I have nothing to do with the review process.
Whatever we talk about has just been between you and me.”
“Oh, okay,” Craig replied, not sure if he believed it or not.
Either way, he took the drink she had previously ordered for him and quickly told
her about the review as well as the events of the past week. Twice Kay caught
him glancing at his watch, prompting her to ask after the second time if he was
late for something.
“I sort of have a date,” Craig said, feeling funny for saying it but not really
knowing why.
“Anyone I know?” Kay casually inquired.
“Julie Madison, she works in accounting,” Craig replied.
“Pretty girl,” Kay said, taking another sip of her drink as she visualized the
shapely twenty-year-old blonde. “This the first time the two of you are going
out?”
“Actually, we’ve been going out for about three weeks now,” Craig expanded.
“Sleep with her yet?” Kay asked quite unexpectedly.
“What?” he replied, certain he had heard her wrong.
“You heard me right,” Kay said, “and don’t think of me asking that question as
someone who used to have you sleep over at her house when you were sixteen.
If I’m supposed to help keep you on track, it’s a perfectly valid question. I’m
sure if one of the guys in the office asked you that question you’d have no
problem answering it.”
“No, I haven’t, but…” he started to reply.
“But you’d like to,” Kay completed his sentence.
Craig didn’t have to say anything to confirm that statement. He was a guy, what
other answer was there?
“And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that,” Kay smiled. “You’re a healthy
young man and she’s certainly a healthy young woman. In fact, if I were into
girls, or if I was a man, I’d certainly want to sleep with her too.”
Under no set of circumstances could Craig ever visualize Kay as a man. As for
the other suggestion, that wasn’t a place he even wanted to go. Not after one of
his college buddies had screened some old 80’s adult films at a stag party one
night, and he realized that the woman on the screen bore a striking resemblance
to his best friend’s mother. They even had the same first name and a similar
last name.
“I’m only mentioning it at all because I want you to remember what I said about
keeping any relationships casual right now,” Kay went on. “You’re doing great,
and now is not the time to get distracted.”
“I guess not,” Craig agreed.
“All I’m saying is, before the two of you take it any further,” she concluded, “you
should make sure she knows you aren’t looking for a serious commitment right
now. If she’s fine with that, all the better. If not, then it’s better that you’re
honest up front.”
“You’re right,” he further agreed.
“I know I’m right,” Kay said with a knowing smile. “Now finish your drink and go
off on your date. Have fun.”
Putting her own now empty glass on the bar, Kay turned and headed for the
door and the street outside.
-=-=-
If Craig had thought his first three months at Eaglestone had gone by quickly,
the second quarter seemed to go by twice as fast. Once again, he found
himself summoned to Chester Brown’s office for his review, the results of which
matched or exceeded the first. More importantly, to him at least, this time his
high rating had also come with a raise.
As he had promised Kay that night at the bar, Craig had been quite honest with
Julie about his not wanting to get into a serious relationship. To his delight, it
turned out that neither was she. Even better, she had no qualms about taking
what they did have to a more physical level, beginning with that very night. He
and Julie continued to sleep together for the next four weeks, and the sex was
so good that Craig wondered if perhaps Kay had been wrong about making the
relationship more permanent. In the end, however, it turned out not to matter
as, while Julie was indeed both quite uninhibited in bed as well as non-
demanding relationship wise, she also eventually grew tired of having the same
man in her bed and moved on. Still it had been a lot of fun while it lasted.
“Congratulations,” Kay said, raising her drink to him as they sat at the bar for
their weekly libation. “It’s well deserved,” she said of his raise.
“Thank you,” Craig replied, tipping his own glass to hers before taking a drink.
“So, what are your plans to celebrate your good fortune?” Kay asked.
“I guess this is it,” Craig said, looking down at his drink and wondering how the
glass has already gotten so empty.
“No, that’s not right,” Kay insisted. “You should call up a few of your friends and
go out.”
That sounded great in theory, Craig explained, but the truth was that he had
fallen out of contact with most of his college friends, as well as those he knew
from the old neighborhood. In addition, he had been spending so much time
working on all the projects Chester kept assigning him to, he hadn’t been able to
hang out with any of the guys in the office, much less find a replacement for
Julie.
“Definitely not right,” Kay repeated. “An occasion like this should be marked by
some sort of celebration.”
“I’m open to suggestions,” Craig said, realizing for the first time in weeks that he
had fallen into the old all work and no play scenario.
“Well, if you wouldn’t be too embarrassed being seen with an old lady, we could
go out for dinner and maybe take in a movie, or if you’re really feeling daring, I
know a club where they play some great old time rock n’ roll.”
“You mean like a date?” Craig asked, unsure of what she was suggesting.
“No, not a date,” Kay smiled, “although I’m somewhat flattered that you’d even
think such a thing. Just two friends spending time with each other. We are
friends, aren’t we?”
“Of course,” Craig smiled back, “and I think that’s a great idea.”
“Let’s be off then,” Kate replied, picking up the excess bills from the bar top,
leaving enough for a tip for the bartender.
Stepping out into the street, Kay was lucky enough to flag down a taxi that was
stopped at the light right outside. As Craig followed her into the back seat, she
gave the driver an address down in the East Village. The driver somewhat
grunted his acknowledgement and pulled out into traffic.
“I hope you don’t mind if we stop by my apartment for a few minutes first,” she
said to Craig. “Just long enough for me to freshen up and get a change of
clothes.”
“No, not at all,” Craig replied, glancing down at the casual shirt and slacks he
was wearing.
“Don’t worry, what you have on is fine,” Kay assured him. “I’m the one that
overdressed.”
Luck in the form of light traffic was with them and they pulled up in front of a six
story red brick apartment building on the corner of East 9th Street a short time
later. As Kay paid the driver, Craig looked up and down the street at the variety
of buildings.
“Nice block,” he said as she joined him on the sidewalk.
“I like it,” Kay replied, then added with a gesture that the entrance to the left was
hers. “No elevator, I’m afraid, and I’m on the fourth floor.”
“Not a problem,” Craig smiled.
The apartment was decorated in much the same style as he remembered the
Parkes’ house back in Brooklyn. In fact, some of the items he spotted in the
living room were familiar as being from there. On the far wall was a set of
shelves filled with a number of sports and academic awards. Craig knew that
most of them belonged to George; the rest had been won by Kay’s younger son,
Steven, who had enlisted in the Navy after high school.
“Do you live here alone?” Craig asked, thinking that in all of their talks he had
never heard Kay mention a man in her life.
“I have a roommate,” Kay said casually as she draped her suit jacket across a
chair, “but she’s away for the evening.”
“Oh,” Craig replied, finding it a little funny that someone Kay’s age would have a
roommate.
“It’s not as funny as you think,” she said as she noticed the look on his face.
“Both of us spend so much time at work that we’re hardly ever here at the same
time, and splitting the rent and utilities works out great. You wouldn’t believe
what they charge these days in a neighborhood like this.”
Actually, Craig would believe it. A month after he’d gotten the job at
Eaglestone, he’d entertained the idea of relocating to Manhattan. It only took
two days of apartment hunting to convince him that living in his parents’
basement wasn’t so bad after all. At least for the foreseeable future.
“Make yourself comfortable while I take a quick shower,” Kay said, “There’s six
hundred channels on the cable and cold soda, or beer if you like in the
refrigerator. I shouldn’t be more than fifteen or twenty minutes.”
“I’ll be fine,” Craig insisted as he sat down on the couch and picked up the
remote.
It didn’t take him long to realize that with six hundred channels, it would take
forever for him to find something that actually interested him. There was a TV
Guide on the coffee table and he picked it up to narrow it down. On the front
was an address label and the name wasn’t Kay’s. It said Estelle Jones.
“How about that,” Craig mused, thinking his now long ago assumption about the
two of them had been right on the money. They’d been not only friends, but
also roommates.
Even with the guide, it proved impossible to find anything that caught his interest
and Craig turned off the television. He’d heard the water from the shower
already turn off and figured that Kay would only be a little while longer. Looking
around the apartment, he spotted a familiar framed photograph on the bookcase
and got up to get a better look at it.
The picture that had caught his attention had been taken about five years back,
in the backyard of the Parkes’ house in Brooklyn. That had been the summer
that he and George had turned eighteen only a few weeks apart and Mr. Parkes
had thrown a barbecue to celebrate. It saddened Craig to think that George’s
Dad died only two years after the photo had been taken; he’d always been nice
to him.
“The two of you were so cute back then,” Kay said from behind Craig, having
reentered the room so quietly that he hadn’t heard her. “I almost envied all the
girls in your class.”
Craig smiled as he turned around, his eyes flashing wide when he realized that
Kay was wrapped in only a bath towel, one that looked just a bit too small to
contain the body beneath it.
“But you’re even cuter now I think,” she grinned as she leaned in and kissed
him on the cheek.
Craig actually blushed, not sure if it was the kiss that did it or her partial state of
undress. Kay’s response seemed to think she considered it the latter.
“You’ll have to forgive my appearance,” she offered as she glanced down at the
amount of cleavage the towel failed to cover. “I probably should’ve taken a robe
into the bathroom with me, but when you live practically alone you forget about
things like that. Normally I just would’ve walked out of the bathroom naked, if
you could imagine such a thing.” she laughed.
The image of such a thing was enough to leave Craig speechless.
“Just give me ten more minutes and we’re out of here,” Kay promised as she
dashed toward her bedroom.
“Wow!” Craig exhaled quietly as he watched her disappear behind the closing
door.
-=-=-
True to her prediction, Kay was out of her bedroom in just under nine minutes.
Wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a light green top, the top buttons of which
undone just enough to give a hint of what lay below, the forty-four year old was
even more impressive than in the business attire he had become accustomed to
seeing her in.
“Now that didn’t take too long, did it?”
Craig just shook his head no.
“I already called for a cab on my cell,” Kay said as she pulled a light suede
jacket from the closet and put it on. “It should be downstairs by the time we get
there.”
Five minutes after they exited the building the expected cab pulled up and as
they climbed into the back seat, Kay gave their destination to the driver. It was
only a ten-minute ride, but would’ve taken two or three times as long if they’d
taken the subway.
The club was situated under a dry cleaning store and if you didn’t see the small,
barely illuminated sign, you’d have to have already known it was there. From
the amount of people filling the tables once they were inside, Craig surmised
that quite a lot of people knew that it was.
“I think we might have to stand at the bar,” Craig said, failing to see a single
empty table.
“Nonsense, I’m sure we can find…” Kay started to say, then spotted some
familiar faces and instead called out to a middle-aged couple sitting a half dozen
tables away.
Her voice couldn’t quite carry over the music, but the man at the table evidently
saw her waving and returned it with a motion for them to join him and his
companion. With only a small space to maneuver between the tables that was
easier said than done, but they did so with a little effort.
“Kay my dear, how wonderful to see you again,” the older man said as he
pulled out a chair for her, “it’s been far too long since we’ve seen you in here.”
“Well, you know how busy work keeps me, Carl,” Kay said as she settled into
the offered seat.
Craig pulled out the remaining seat and sat down as well, earning a smile from
Carl’s companion, who was now directly across from him.
“Craig, I’d like you to meet Carl and Lana Castleton, they’re old friends of mine,”
Kay said in way of a quick introduction, and then after turning to the couple said,
“I’d like to introduce Craig Ross, who not only has the good fortune to work with
me at Eaglestone, but happens to be my son, George’s best friend.”
Hands were presented across the table and following a brief flurry of
exchanges, during which Carl inquired just how Kay’s son was doing, the
foursome sat back to enjoy the music. A waiter appeared to take drink orders
and Carl, after having heard that they were celebrating Craig’s raise, ordered a
bottle of champagne for the table.
The music was, as Kay had mentioned earlier, old time rock and roll. Craig had
developed a great appreciation for what Mrs. Parkes had always referred to as
the classics when he and George had been growing up. Enough so that when
someone mentioned Elvis, he knew they were talking Presley and not Costello.
A second bottle soon followed the first and both the conversation and music
seemed to get better with the passing hour. Craig was surprised how the age
difference among the four of them, the Castletons had to be at least ten years
older than Kay, seemed to fade away. He was having as much fun as he
might’ve had sitting in a club with his peers.
“Let’s dance,” Kay said.
“What?” Craig replied, a sudden rise in the music level drowning out her words.
“I want to dance,” she repeated, “and don’t dare tell me that you don’t know
how to dance to this kind of music because I know better.”
Grinning as he remembered summer afternoons when Kay Parkes had taught a
number of neighborhood kids how to dance, Craig worked his way out of his
chair and turned to pull out Kay’s, only to find she was already on her feet. She
took him by his hand and navigated a path among the tables until they reached
the dance floor.
It had been a while since he’d danced to the music of the sixties and seventies
but it quickly came back to him. Kay, on the other hand, seemed to fall right into
step as if she went dancing every night. Her body moved in time with the music,
demonstrating a carefree abandon that one normally didn’t associate with
someone of her position.
“Don’t you just love it,” Kay said, leaning close enough so that she could be
heard over the din.
They continued into a second song, and then the house band segued into a
slower, love song. Craig hesitated for a moment as the couples around him
drew closer to each other and embraced. Turning back to Kay, he saw her
reaching out her hand, not intending to relinquish her place on the dance floor.
As their bodies moved in time to the music, Craig was all too aware of the press
of Kay’s breasts against his chest and the warmth of her cheek against his face.
Somehow, he thought it would be different seeing whom she was, his teenage
fantasies not withstanding. The final proof that he was only seeing her as a
beautiful woman came when he realized the nearness of her body had
produced an involuntary reaction in his own, one that she couldn’t fail to notice.
A moment of panic followed, one that Kay quickly dispelled as she lifted her
head for just a moment and told him not to worry about it at all. They continued
through that dance and the equally slow love ballad that followed, until Kay
suggested they return to their table.
The next two hours were as enjoyable as the two before it and it was only with
reluctance that they decided to call it a night. Hugs and kisses were exchanged
as well as the promise that they must do it again soon. The night had turned
even warmer and Kay suggested they walk a little to help clear their heads.
-=-=-
The walk, and the conversation with it, proved so pleasant that they wound up
walking all the way back to Kay’s block. It was nearly two in the morning, but
neither of them felt tired at all.
“I hope you had a good time,” Kay said as they reached the door of her
apartment house and she fumbled in her bag for her keys.
“I had a great time,” Craig said with a broad smile. “In fact, I can’t remember
the last time I’ve had this much fun.”
“I’m glad,” she said with an equal smile as she undid the outer lock.
As the door opened, she paused and turned back to him.
“Would you like to come up for a cup of coffee before you head home?” Kay
asked.
“That might not be a bad idea,” Craig said, thinking that while the long walk
back might indeed have burned most of what he’d consumed at the club out of
his system, some strong coffee might help even more.
Once back in the apartment, Kay told Craig to make himself comfortable on the
couch and she’d have the coffee up in a minute. While he waited, he noticed
the light on the answering machine flashing and called out to Kay that she had a
message.
“Be a dear and hit play for me,” Kay said as she walked back into the room
carrying a tray with a coffee service on it.
“Kay, it’s me, Estelle,” the voice said after he’d hit play. “I’ve decided to stay out
here at Paul’s tomorrow as well, so I won’t be home until Monday. I’m going to
go directly to the office, so please do me a favor and bring in my blue suit so I
can change once I get there. You’ll find it hanging in the hall closet with the
other dry cleaning. Thanks love, see you soon.”
“I guess I should’ve mentioned that Estelle and I are roommates,” Kay said as
she poured the coffee.
“I already knew,” Craig replied, picking up the TV Guide with her name on the
label.
“I guess I also should say that she didn’t know I knew you when she offered you
the job,” Kay added as she joined him on the couch and poured two cups of
coffee and handed him one. “I did say a white lie when I claimed I didn’t
recognize your name when she asked me to mentor you, but everything that
you’ve accomplished these last six months has been your own doing, I want you
to know that.”
“I know,” Craig said as he slipped his coffee, “but I do appreciate all the helpful
advice you’ve given me over the last few months.”
“I was glad to help,” Kay said, sitting down next to him with her own cup in
hand.
They silently drank their coffee for a moment or two, then Kay remarked that it
was a pity that her mentorship was at an end.
“It is?” Craig asked.
“Yes, the program only runs for the first six months,” Kay replied, “one has to
stand on their own judgment eventually and you’ve more than proven that you
can.”
“I can still come to you for advice if I need it, can’t I?” Craig asked, a touch of
hesitation in his voice that suggested he was worried she might say no.
“Of course you can,” Kay smiled as she put down her cup on the table, “We’re
still friends, aren’t we?”
“Definitely,” Craig said, putting down his own drink as he leaned towards Kay,
his intent to give her a platonic thank you kiss.
At the last second, Kay turned enough that the kiss landed not on her cheek as
Craig intended but almost totally on her lips. The brief contact ended almost as
quickly as it began, the two of them staring at each other only a few inches
apart.
Then, almost hesitantly, Craig leaned forward and kissed Kay again, this time
intentionally on her mouth. It took a moment, but she began to respond to the
kiss. A second kiss followed, this time initiated by her as she brought her hands
to the side of his face and held him close, even as her mouth opened and she
pressed her tongue between his lips.
A third, fourth and fifth kiss followed, until there were too many to bother to
count. Hands began to wander back and forth, as each kiss became longer and
more intimate. Craig could feel a rush of warmth filling his body and it had
nothing to do with the coffee he’d drunk. It didn’t take long before his body
again began to react just at it had back at the club while they’d been dancing.
With her hand on his thigh, he knew Kay had to be aware of his erection. If she
hadn’t been, she certainly knew about it once she moved her hand a few inches
to the left and came down right on top of it.
Craig let out a loud rush of air as he felt her fingers close around his cock. Even
through the material of his pants, the press of her fingers was enough to send
him to a place he knew he shouldn’t even consider going.
“Craig?” Kay said softly as her fingers continued to glide against his covered
manhood.
“Yes,” he replied, the single word spoken breathlessly.
“Craig,” she repeated in that same tone, “would you like to spend the night
here … with me, I mean,” she added with a pause that seemed an eternity
before she clarified her statement beyond any misunderstanding.
“Oh God, yes!” Craig replied as he kissed her again, his mouth crushing against
hers.
-=-=-
Craig was a long way from being a virgin, going back to his senior year of high
school in fact. Yet, as they continued to trade kisses, he suddenly felt like he
was sixteen years old again. In that moment, his mind flashed back to the first
time he’d thought of Kay Parkes as a woman, and not just one of his friend’s
mother. Even after all these years, he could remember the exact day and hour
of that change.
It had been a hot August afternoon, during which he, George, and a few girls
they had invited over, were cooling off with a dip in the Parkes’ backyard pool.
Afterwards, they had been relaxing around the patio table, discussing the things
teenage boys and girls discuss when Mrs. Parkes had appeared with some
snacks and casually mentioned that if they were done with the pool she was
going to make use of it and also cool off a little.
George just as casually said they were finished swimming; his attention focused
more on Betty Arnold sitting to his right than his Mom. Craig remembered
turning away from Jenny Miller on his left to see that Mrs. Parkes was wearing a
blue terrycloth robe. He continued to watch her for the half a minute it took her
to walk over to the pool and, before diving in, drop the robe over a lawn chair.
The bathing suit the thirty-eight year old wife and mother wore that afternoon
had been a simple one piece, the kind one might expect of someone her age.
True, the front displayed a good amount of cleavage, but compared to the tiny
bikinis the girls at the table were wearing, or almost not wearing as the boys
liked to think of them, the single piece might as well have been a nun’s habit.
It wasn’t until a short time later, after Mrs. Parkes reemerged from the pool, that
Craig changed that opinion. Now totally soaked, the material of the suit clung to
the brunette’s body like a second skin, highlighting every curve and more
noticeably, the thick erect nipples in the center of her breasts. Up until that
moment, he had never noticed that any of the older women around him even
had nipples, much less ones as large as Kay Parkes’s.
It didn’t matter that both of the teenage girls at the table had exhibited similar
displays after their own time in the pool; on them it was a common and expected
sight. On the older woman, Craig couldn’t keep his eyes off them, especially not
after she stretched out on the edge of the patio to dry off and enjoy the
afternoon sun. The recliner she’d chosen to use was directly in Craig’s line of
sight. From that day on, Craig had never been able to look at his friend’s
mother and not remember what her nipples had looked like on that day.
As they continued to make out on the couch, their hands explored each other’s
bodies. It hadn’t really been a conscious thought, merely a reflex action to do
what came naturally. It was only when Craig realized that his open palm was
pressed against those very same breasts he had long admired that he reacted,
suddenly pulling back with enough force to startle Kay.
“Craig?” Kay said, not sure what had just happened. “Are you okay?”
At first, the young man didn’t response, still trying to sort it out himself.
“Craig, I asked if you were all right.” he finally heard Kay Parkes asking.
“I’m fine, just fine,” he smiled, “I guess I just felt funny for a moment.”
“Are you sure that you’re okay?” she repeated, holding his hands in hers as she
finally realizing what had happened. “Because we don’t have to do this if you
have the slightest hesitation or...”
“Oh no, I want to do this,” Craig quickly interrupted. “You have no idea how
much or how long I’ve wanted to do this.”
“All right then,” Kay smiled, holding his hands for a moment more before letting
go. “Nevertheless, I want to make sure you understand that you don’t have to
be ashamed of putting your hands anywhere you want on my body. I want you
to touch me, in all the ways that a man touches a woman. Because that’s what
you are now, a man.”
Craig smiled as he slowly nodded his head in acknowledgement.
As if to accent her words, Kay reached up and undid the remaining buttons on
her blouse, causing it to fall open and reveal the large bust beneath, held in
check only by a half-bra that had obviously been designed more to put its
contents on display than to conceal them. Then, again taking one of his hands
in hers, she guided it beneath her shirt, pressing it against the exposed part of
her skin.
“See, just like any of the other girls I’m sure you’ve touched,” Kay laughed
softly. “Nothing different about it at all, except that maybe time and gravity has
had a little longer to work on it than what you might have been used to.”
Feeling the warmth of her flesh in his hand, Craig took a deep breath. Back in
high school, he would’ve killed for an opportunity like this, never mind what
George might have done to him had he ever tried it. However, Kay had been
right when she said that he was no longer a teenager, and those few years
made all the difference in the world.
She was wrong, he decided, when she said it wasn’t any different than any of
the other girl’s breasts he had held. Aside from their size, which was another
thing Kay had him common with her porn star namesake, the rounded globe in
his hand was real, totally natural. Julie Madison’s breasts had been just as
large, but it hadn’t taken him long to discover that they had also been surgically
enhanced. Once he realized that, he’d lost most of his interest in them.
The awkward moment behind them, their lips met again in a kiss and Craig
began to massage the soft flesh in his hand. His thumb rubbed against the still
covered nipple, causing it to grow hard against it. At the same time, Kay’s hand
had returned to his upper leg, quickly moving upward until it rested once more
against his reawakening manhood.
With what almost seemed a practiced skill, Kay one handedly undid both his belt
buckle and the zipper to his pants, much like the way a guy might just as easily
worked the clasps of a woman’s bra. Never pausing in her kisses, she slipped
her hand down his pants and closed her fingers around his cock.
Craig let out a loud breath of air at her touch, one cut short by another kiss. Her
fingers gently glided down his length, cupping the even more sensitive flesh of
his balls before working their way back up again.
“Feel good?” she asked, pausing long enough to ask and wait for an answer to
her question.
Craig of course answered in the affirmative; after all, a guy would have to have
been a complete moron to say anything different. Kay closed her grip a little
tighter and began to gently pump his cock up and down. An action that sent tiny
jolts of excitement racing through his body. Kay smiled as she watched the
reaction on his face, giving it a few more tugs before withdrawing her hand
completely.
“Why don’t we give Mr. Happy here a little more room to breathe?” she
suggested, and she tugged on his pants, pulling them down just enough to do
just that. Craig had been wearing boxers so it was easy to pull them down at
the same time.
Craig looked down and in the moment before Kay again closed her hand around
it, saw that his cock had grown to its full length and now stood quite erect on its
own. He also realized that he was no longer embarrassed in the least.
Kay picked up where she left off, starting a conversation with him while she
played with his cock, acting as if it was the most normal thing in the world. That
the subject of the conversation was the matter in hand, so to speak, made it
anything but.
“You know,” she said, “back when George first began to bring you and his
other friends around, I sometimes used to wonder what some of you were like,
cockwise I mean. Where you big, small, or really big? Not that my late husband
was lacking in that department, but I was just curious. Aside from Jim’s, I’d only
seen two other cocks in my life up to then. I’d seen pictures of course, that’s
really not the same, is it?”
“I guess not,” Craig agreed, not sure what else to say as her fingers continued
to play with his cock, the pleasing sensations from which were spreading out
across his body.
“And I know that some of you were looking back at me,” she went on as she
again picked up the tempo, “and while I’m sure some might have considered it
wicked, I enjoyed having you look. You did like to look, didn’t you, Craig?”
“Yes,” he admitted, again feeling almost embarrassed as he did.
“I knew you did, but it’s nice to hear you say it,” Kay smiled as she quickened
her manipulation even more. “When I was young all the boys used to think I
had great tits,” she continued. “Do you think I still have great tits, Craig?”
“I think they’re beautiful,” he said, looking down at the barely restrained globes
only a short distance away.
“Then why don’t you undo my bra and get a better look at them?” Kay replied.
Craig reached out and quickly found the small clasp in the front that held the
twin half-hemispheres together. It quickly came undone and her bra fell open,
leaving her large mounds to fall into his hands. His first thought was how heavy
they were, then how soft and warm. All of those were quickly superseded
however by the now unrestricted sight of her oversized nipples, both of which
stood out firm and hard.
He gently squeezed both mounds and as he glanced back up at Kay, the smile
on her face reflected his own. Then, without further delay, he lowered his head
to between her breasts and after kissing each of them, closed his mouth around
the nipple to his left.
“Mmmm,” Kay moaned as she felt the wetness of his tongue swirl around her
sensitive tip, even as the softness of his lips massaged the flesh that
surrounded it.
Lost in what he was doing, Craig didn’t notice at first that the pace of Kay’s
ministrations had slackened. When he did he realized that obviously Kay didn’t
want him coming to a climax just yet, which he had just been on the verge of. If
he had, he knew from experience it would only have been a temporary
interruption in their play. Still, since he was more than happy to let her control
what was happening, he was more than content to concentrate his attentions on
the bounty at hand, or more precisely mouth.
And concentrate he did, working his mouth back and forth across first one
breast, then the other, using his hands to accent the work of his tongue and lips.
The spreading warmth across Kay’s chest was reflected in an increased
moisture between her legs, one that cried out for attention as well. A demand
that she put aside for the moment, knowing full well that it would be attended to
soon enough.
Releasing her hold on his cock, Kay held the sides of her breasts and pressed
them forward, trapping Craig’s face between them. He reveled in the soft
warmth of the flesh engulfing him, covering all that he could of it with a mix of
soft and hard kisses, coupled with the occasional lick. Turning his head in each
direction, he gave each nipple a final kiss, then reluctantly watched as Kay
withdrew the fruits of her bounty.
His disappointment proved to be too short lived to even register as no sooner
had he sat back up against the couch, Kay let her breasts fall free once more
as, leaning across his lap, she brought her own head down and grabbing the
base of his cock with a now free hand, directed it right into her open mouth.
“Goddamn!” Craig cried out as he felt his full length disappear down her throat,
the wetness of her mouth wrapping itself around his skin.
Craig was hardly a stranger to blow jobs, having received his first one when he
was fifteen and too many in the years since to have really kept count. Still, he
knew in the first few seconds that this was going to be one he would always
remember. The twenty-two year old had never thought of himself as
exceptionally endowed, but in the brief comparisons he’d been able to make
against other guys in locker rooms, he knew that he was at least in the upper
half of average. Still, it came as a surprise at how easily Kay had taken him in
his entirety. Even Donna Lewis, who had a well-deserved reputation as a first
class cocksucker back in high school hadn’t been able to do that. Also equally
unforgettable was the skill with which Kay was once again quickly bringing him
back to the edge of orgasm.
Sliding his cock in and out of her mouth, Kay ran her tongue across its wet flesh,
exciting it in ways Craig had never imagined. The fingers of her left hand played
with his balls, caressing them gently as the two of them back and forth rolled
across the palm of her hand. The location of her other hand came as an
unexpected shock as he felt the tips of her fingers slide between the cheeks of
his ass to massage the equally sensitive opening there. Normally, Craig
would’ve freaked if anyone had touched him there, even a woman. Yet, this
time, he just took it in stride, even when he felt a wet finger actually penetrate
him in that most forbidden of zones.
Kay could feel Craig’s body responding in reaction to her attentions, building
quickly to the point of no return. She paused her efforts, letting his cock slip
from her mouth just long enough for her to tell him that she wanted him to come
in her mouth. Then, before the words could fully sink in, she took him inside
once more.
“Oh my God!” Craig gasped as he felt his cock explode, the tangy taste of his
eruption flooding her mouth with such force that it was impossible for her to
contain it all, two small streams of white dripping out of the corners of her
mouth.
Craig felt the force of his orgasm right down to his toes and across the arc of his
back. For all her experience, Donna Lewis had just traded her gold medal for
the silver.
Craig had been so overwhelmed by the strength of his climax that it wasn’t until
it had finally begun to subside that he realized that Kay’s small intrusion into his
ass had expanded into a major one, the full length of her index finger buried
deep inside him. Whether that had added to the force of his orgasm was
something to be considered later. As it was, he was glad as he felt her withdraw
it gently.
At the same time, his cock was beginning to soften, now being totally spent.
Despite that, Kay continued to lick it eagerly, washing away any remnant of his
orgasm that she had missed. By the time she finally let it go, it was as clean as
the proverbial whistle.
Time stood still for a moment as the two of them just sat on the couch and
looked at each other. Craig’s gaze fixed on a small dab of white resting on her
chin, finding it so incredibly incongruous with the image he’d had of her all these
years. Still, that was an image that was now forever changed. Kay was no
longer just his best friend’s mother; she was a woman in whose mouth he had
just climaxed. Almost as if she could see the small imperfection through his
eyes, Kay wiped it clean with an outstretched finger, bringing it up to her lips to
wipe it clean.
“Not bad for an old lady, huh?” She laughed as again smiled.
“I’d give it a nine,” he smiled back.
“Not a ten?” Kay inquired.
Craig damned himself for that having giving that score, thinking that to have
judged it perfect would’ve seemed too self-serving.
“Well then I guess I’m going to have to go for the bonus points,” Kay replied, not
feeling slighted in the least.
The expression on Craig’s face testified that he was certainly all for that.
“I do think, however, that we’d be a lot more comfortable if we moved to the
bedroom,” Kay went on. “Don’t you think?”
Again the younger man had no argument with the suggestion and rose to follow
her to the suggested venue.
-=-=-
Like the outer room, Kay’s bedroom was a mix of the familiar and new, with an
emphasis on the former. So much so he could almost close his eyes and
imagine that he was back in their Brooklyn house. The only immediately visible
difference was that there was now a much smaller bed. The marriage bed, he
remembered from the times he and George had snuck in to borrow his Dad’s
magazine collection, had been a big four-posted colonial. In a way, Craig was
glad to see the much smaller captain’s bed, thinking it might’ve felt funny to be
doing it with Kay in the same bed that her husband had loved her in.
“Much like you remember it, isn’t it?” Kay remarked as she pulled down the
bedspread.
“I think so,” Craig answered, not wanting to make it sound like he’d been in it
too many times.
“Of course you won’t find a stack of dirty magazines in the bottom of the closet
anymore,” Kay quipped as she pulled down the sheet was well.
“You knew ?”
“Of course we knew,” she laughed. “The two of you weren’t smart enough to
put them back in the same order twice. Jim knew from the very first time that
you were borrowing them.”
“Why didn’t he put them somewhere else then?” Craig asked out of curiosity.
“Well, he and I figured that boys were going to be boys and it was only natural
that you wanted to look at books like that,” she explained. “Besides, Jim used
to say that his real worry was that he’d discover that George wasn’t interested in
looking at naked girls. There was a time that he seemed totally uninterested.”
“Oh, you never had to worry about that,” Craig said, recalling that George had
lost his virginity before he had, “George …” he started to say then remembered
who he was talking to.
“That’s something that I don’t think a mother really needs to know,” Kay
grinned. ‘Let’s just say that his worry was groundless and leave it at that.”
“Yeah, I think that’s the best thing to do.”
“Besides, I think we have a more interesting way to pass the rest of the night
besides discussing who my son may or may not have been sleeping with back
when he was a teenager, don’t you agree?” she said, gesturing to the now fully
turned down bed.
Craig watched as Kay pulled off her still opened blouse and laid both it and the
equally loose bra on a dressing chair. Then, with her back still to him, she
slipped off her shoes and socks and then undid the thin belt around her jeans.
The dark cloth slowly slid down her legs, revealing an ass covered, just barely,
by a pair of light green panties that were as insubstantial as the matching bra
had been. It only took a few moments more for it to join the pile on the chair.
“Well, this is all there is of me,” Kay said as she turned around and let him take
a good, long look.
“Wow!” Craig exhaled softly, thinking that he hadn’t been half as impressed the
first time he’d seen Julie Madison in the all together. But then again, he hadn’t
spent almost six years wondering what she might look like in that state.
Totally naked, Kay Parkes looked like exactly what she was, a forty-four year old
woman. No one was ever going to mistake her for a twenty-four year old, but as
he looked at her, Craig thought, who would want to? Most girls his own age
were almost interchangeable, one looking pretty much the same as another. In
fact, he would be hard pressed to describe the bodies of half the girls he’d slept
with. Just looking at Kay, he knew he would never have that problem. Her body
had character, with whatever faults that could be seen only adding to that. She
was a real woman; the others had just been girls.
Aside from her natural bounty, of which he’d already had first hand, as well as
mouth, experience, the first thing you noticed about Kay was the abundance of
hair that covered the mound between her legs. Almost without exception, all of
the girls he’d known had kept that area tightly trimmed, in two cases completely
bare. It might be a generational thing, he considered, but, even if he didn’t know
why, he found the difference quite exciting.
“Don’t you think you should get undressed too?” Kay asked after he had been
staring at her for almost a full minute.
“Oh yeah,” Craig said almost apologetically as he quickly undid the belt buckle
he had hastily closed out in the living room.
Shoes and socks followed, as well as shirt and underwear, all ending up in a
messy pile by the bed. Turning to face Kay, he gave her an equal chance to
look him over.
“Well, you certainly have grown up,” she smiled, “and I don’t just mean that
part of you between your legs.”
Back in college, Craig had begun to pay serious attention to what he ate and
how he treated his body. He would never be muscle bound, but he had become
quite satisfied with the reflection he saw in the mirror when he stepped out of the
shower every morning. The girls had been satisfied too, but it had never meant
so much to him as it did right now.
The closer of the two to the bed, Kay climbed onto the right side of it, with Craig
doing the same from the opposite direction. They shared a brief kiss, then Kay
moved herself to the top of the bed, propping herself up against the pillows that
rested against the headboard. Making herself comfortable, she opened her legs
and spread them as wide as she could. The invitation was unmistakable.
A glance down between his own legs confirmed how draining an experience
he’d just been through. Not a worry, he knew; the condition was only temporary
and would correct itself soon enough. There were other ways to get the job
done, he’d learned, some just as pleasant.
As he moved closer, up into the bed space between Kay’s legs, she reached
down and used her hands to part her legs even wider. Craig was now near
enough to appreciate the scent of her arousal and drew it in deeply. He could
also see that the dark, and some not so dark, hairs were quite moist, covered
with the nectars of her excitement. He again took a brief moment to appreciate
the difference between Kay and girls he had known, deciding that, on her at
least, the natural look was indeed best.
During his college days, and on a few beer nights afterwards, Craig
remembered some of his contemporaries expressing a dislike for this aspect of
sex. Oh, they did what was expected of them, they admitted, but as soon as
they could, they moved onto more desired activities. He, however, loved it,
thinking the sight and fragrance of a woman’s sex to be intoxicating indeed.
Without any further hesitation, he reached out and traced the outline of her
mound with his finger, then moved to the center and rubbed against it before
slowly sliding it between the folds. A soft gasp escaped Kay's lips as Craig
repeatedly slid his finger in and out. A finger that was soon joined by a second
and then a third.
It was only a few minutes more until Craig replaced his fingers with his tongue,
shifting his hands to the side to clear an open path. The change brought even
louder moans from Kay.
“Oh God, yes!” she exclaimed as she felt his wet tongue glide into the depths of
her valley.
Kay again shifted position, lifting her legs to give Craig even more room to
partake of her delights. In response he kissed to the left and right of his goal,
before bringing one hand back to expose the precious pearl hidden within.
A loud cry filled his ears as the tip of his tongue found that of her clit. Willing
hours of practice with the female student population had left Craig with a
reputation that while it might never rival Donna Lewis, certainly earned him
glowing referrals. Dropping her head back against one of the pillows, Kay
closed her eyes and lost herself in the warm sensations washing over her.
The wetness between her legs was growing stronger with each transit of her
young lovers tongue, especially since he’d again reinserted two of his fingers to
supplement the movements of his tongue. Quickly they moved with alternate
thrusts, causing both the waves of delight and their accompanying cries to
double, then double once more.
“Oh yes, Craig,” Kay called out as Craig equally returned the gift she had just
given him. “Fuck my pussy with your tongue!”
Twin streams of sweat ran down the valley of her breasts as that last
encouragement soon gave way to inarticulate but equally motivating moans
and cries. The rising passion quickly took control of her body, the flush of
excitement covering her like a blanket.
A blanket that did little to smother the eruption of fire between her legs as her
body exploded in orgasmic fury. A surge that, despite the flood of sweet
ambrosia that accompanied it, failed to dampen Craig’s enthusiasm as he
continued to work his own particular brand of magic.
The rapid currents that had gripped her had hardly faded before Kay shifted to
an upright position and, with a burst of energy, practically dragged Craig along.
She kissed him hard, tasting the fruits of her climax in his mouth and on his
cheeks as she alternated the focus of her attention. Wearing the result of his
efforts on the lower half of his face like a badge of honor, Craig returned those
kisses with such intensity that as their tongues mixed in her mouth, he also
tasted the last remnants of his own orgasm. Caught up in the moment, he
barely gave it a thought.
The fire that began deep within her took a long while to cool, but cool it finally
did and they finally untangled themselves. Kay looked deep into his eyes, even
as her hand gently stroked his still wet cheek.
“You did good, kid,” she smiled, her expression reminding Craig of the times
she congratulated him on passing some difficult test back in school. In his mind,
that was praise indeed.
-=-=-
Slipping out of the bed, Kay said she would be right back and exited the
bedroom. She returned a short minute later with a wet washcloth in her hand,
which she used to wipe off his face. In some ways, Craig thought that was the
most erotic thing she had done tonight.
“Kay, can I ask you a question?” Craig said as they lay next to each other on
the bed.
“I don’t know why not. I think it will still be at least a few minutes before your
friend here is ready to play again,” she grinned as she gently ran her fingers
across his semi-soft cock.
“It’s a little personal,” he added.
“I’m pretty sure I can handle personal at this point,” Kay replied, her eyes
opening wide as she surveyed first his, and then her own naked form.
“Did you plan all this?” he asked, after taking what seemed a very long pause.
“Not just tonight, but everything?” he added.
“Are you asking me if you got the job because I wanted to fuck you?” Kay said,
getting right to the point.
“I guess that’s what I’m asking, yes,” Craig said.
“If I simply said no, would that satisfy you?” Kay responded, asking her own
question.
Craig didn’t answer right away, leaving Kay to answer for him.
“No, I don’t think that would satisfy you,” she said, “I know it wouldn’t satisfy
me.”
The look on Craig’s face said that was the answer he would’ve given.
“So, since like I said we have a little time, I’ll give you the long answer,” Kay
said as she pulled herself up into a sitting position, to which Craig followed suite.
“Did I get you the job so that I could fuck you?” Kay repeated, not that the
question had been forgotten. “Well, aside from giving the short answer no, I
should lay out the whole story, so you can understand how what did happen,
happened.”
She paused for a few seconds, collecting her thoughts before starting again.
She took him back to the night she had first heard his name again after so many
years.
“It was quite rare for Estelle and I to be both home at the same time, but I
would’ve remembered that night despite that,” she began. “Estelle was in a
furious state over her discovery how Stephen Walsh, one of her junior
assistants, had been conducting job interviews the previous few months. If an
applicant had been male, they had gotten little more than what could charitably
be described as a bum’s rush. If, however, it was a woman putting in for a job,
especially if she had nice boobs or a cute ass well Stephen was quite willing to
spend an entire afternoon conducting the interview, sometimes even extending
it to include a lunch invitation.”
Thinking back, Craig had to admit Kay’s description pretty much described his
own initial interview with Mr. Walsh.
“What was making Estelle even madder was the fact that as much as she
wanted to, she couldn’t even immediately fire the asshole,” Kay went on. “If the
reason she was firing him came out, it would easily open the door to all kinds of
lawsuits against the company.”
Craig nodded his head silently, seeing how that could also be a problem.
“So the best she could do was review the applications he had discarded, all
three months’ worth, and see if there was anyone deserving of a second
interview. John’s notes were useless, of course, so she only had what the
applicants themselves had put down to go on.”
Craig could also see where the problems could be with that.
“With a pile of them sitting right here on the coffee table, I picked up a few to
read myself, more out of idle curiosity than anything else,” Kay said. “When I
saw the name Craig Ross, I honestly didn’t make the connection, at least not
until I read the file and discovered it was you. Yet even after that, I wasn’t totally
sure I should do anything about it.”
Familiar with most of her expressions, Craig could see the conflict she must
have felt again reflected on her face.
“On one hand, based on nothing else than what was written on your application,
I did indeed feel that you deserved a second interview, or a real first interview as
the case might have been,” Kay said. “But, since it was not in the redo pile,
Estelle evidently hadn’t seen it that way. I knew that if I mentioned my prior
relationship with you, or more accurately your relationship with George, she
might’ve given you a second chance based on that alone. But then again, the
circumstances weren’t exactly normal. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d
seen Estelle so angry, and any attempt by me to exert undue influence might
not be taken so kindly.”
It was obviously a predicament, Craig thought.
“Also, and to be honest I should mention this, it had been a good number of
years since I’d seen you, and although I knew George and you still kept in touch,
there was little for me to base an assessment of your current character on,” Kay
pointed out. “For all I knew, you could’ve well deserved the brush-off that Walsh
had given you.”
This too was true, Craig thought.
“In the end, I finally decided to take half the risk and suggested to Estelle that
you should get a second interview, but left out any suggestion that I was making
it out of anything more that just a sense of righting an obvious wrong.”
Craig silently nodded his head, thinking that despite the problems, it did work
out after all.
“The thing is, after getting you that second chance, that was where I probably
should’ve have left it,” Kay continued, picking up what Craig would later think of
as the second half of the story. “Since it was my suggestion that had led to you
getting hired, Estelle had offered to put you in my section to fill a position that
had just opened. Knowing that, if nothing else, would be a bad idea, I instead
offered the thought that you might fit better in another opening in Chester
Brown’s area. That way, I thought, you would succeed or fail on your own,
because even though Chester is a friend, he wouldn’t look too kindly on my
trying to influence his assessment of your work.”
Like so much else of what she had already said, this too made sense to Craig.
“Then Estelle threw me a curve ball and offered her own judgment that Chester
was a little too hard on newly graduated associates, and she’d only put him
there if I was willing to take on your mentorship to help you over the rough
spots. Normally, someone on my level didn’t serve as a mentor, but she
seemed to sense that I had already taken an interest in you. Not wanting to
have her think too much on why I might’ve taken an interest, I reluctantly
agreed.”
Craig had wondered why someone on Kay’s level had been a mentor. Now at
least he had an answer.
“The thing is, I should’ve said no,” Kay added. “Or at the very least kept it on a
totally business level and never developed a friendship with you, at least not one
that went beyond what it should have.”
“I’m a little confused,” Craig admitted.
“Okay, let me see if I can explain this without seeming too much like a fool,”
Kay continued after a long pause. “Back when you first started coming around
with George, I have to admit that I thought you were a quite attractive young
man. In and of itself, there was nothing wrong with that. I’ll also admit that I had
a few fantasies about you as well. In my defense, I know that other women my
age had similar thoughts, but neither they nor I ever saw those fantasies as
something ever becoming a reality.”
Craig considered pointing out that he had fantasies about her too, but then
remembered that she already said she’d knew that the boys looked at her.
“The problem was that after taking you under my wing, so to speak, with the
both of us now far beyond what was legally, if not socially prohibited, I found
some of those fantasies starting to come back,” Kay admitted. “I even felt a
touch of jealousy when you started seeing Julie Madison.”
There had been times, Craig knew but didn’t say, that he had been with Julie
and found himself thinking of Kay.
“And tonight?” he asked instead.
“I honestly don’t have an answer for tonight,” Kay said. “I certainly didn’t
envision the course it seems to have taken.”
“Do you regret it?” Craig asked.
There was a long moment before Kay answered.
“I guess that I should, but no, no, I don’t,” she said, the honestly of her answer
evident in her tone.
“I’m glad you said that,” Craig said, the broadest of smiles on his face, “because
it looks like Mr. Happy is ready to play again.”
-=-=-
If there had been any further hesitation in Kay’s thoughts, that simple
announcement immediately banished it to the furthest recesses of her mind.
Throwing caution to the wind, she again pulled Craig close and kissed him
deeply. If she didn’t stop to think about what she was doing, she reasoned in
those last few seconds before she tossed aside reason as well, it would be all
so much the better.
“Craig, I want you to fuck me,” she called out in the brief interval between
kisses. “I want you to bury that beautiful cock so deep inside me that I couldn’t
possibly beg for more, even though I probably will anyway.”
Reacting with that same sense of urgency, Craig pressed Kay down on the bed
and, after climbing on top of her, took hold of his cock and guided it to the
entrance of her still wet mound. Kay’s hand met him there and, slipping her own
fingers around it, rubbed it up and down the length of her pussy, covering it with
the slick nectar of her arousal before pressing her body forward just enough to
slide him past her outer barriers.
She let out a small gasp as he took over control and let the weight of his body
carry him fully inside of her. An equally soft sigh spilled from his lips as her felt
the warmth of her sex wrap around him, fulfilling the realization of his most
prized teenage dream. A dream that quickly faded in the wake of a very real
reality.
Gently at first, he pulled back halfway and then leaned forward again. An action
that he quickly repeated, each repetition gaining in intensity and frequency. Kay
added to his effort as, lifting her ass off the bed, she pushed her own body hard
against his, drawing him deeper inside as she did so. In a dozen heartbeats,
they had quickly developed a rhythm that sent matching waves of pleasure
radiating across both their bodies.
They drew even closer, arms and legs wrapped around the other until they were
almost one person. An observer might have been reminded about the old
description of a beast with two backs, but neither of them had time for such
observations. The rhythm they shared was near perfect, a union that grew with
each thrust of their sweaty forms, the warm droplets that covered them
transforming to tiny rivers running down their backs.
“Oh yes, baby,” Kay whispered into his ear as she held him tight. “You feel so
good inside of me. I want more.”
Wrapping her legs around him even tighter, she pulled him to her, meeting
every stroke of his body with an even more frenzied thrust of her own. It was
hard to catch her breath, but she didn’t care about that or the racing of her heart.
All that mattered was the hardness inside of her and the wondrous place it was
taking her.
Contrary to popular belief, Kay had hardly been celibate since the death of her
husband. In fact, it had been Jim himself who had told her before the end that
he would be deeply disappointed if she wore widow’s weeds the rest of her life.
She didn’t have to get remarried, he’d told her, but she should at least enjoy life
and what it had to offer.
She wasn’t sure that doing the nasty with one of the neighborhood kids he used
to take fishing and camping might have been what Jim had in mind, but part of
her was sure he would’ve understood. None of the men she’d shared her bed
with since the funeral, and they had literally begun making their availability
known right after the funeral, had awakened the kind of excitement in her that
Jim had. At least none of them before Craig.
The first tremors of a building climax had quickly appeared soon after Craig had
first entered her, and continued to increase with each passing minute. There
was no longer any thought or reason, just the nearly overwhelming sense of
pleasure that he had brought her. A sense that he could feel reflected in his
body as well.
Despite the unmistakable buildup on the way to it, the suddenness of her
orgasm still took Kay by surprise. It ripped through her with a force she had long
forgotten, buried by the years of familiarity with a long time partner. She heard a
scream of delight in her ears, only realizing later that it had been her own. Her
body thrashed wildly, held only in place by the strength of the young man
pressed tightly against her. She wanted it to go on forever, even thought the
last remnant of rationality told her that it would be fleeting at best. Yet, while it
had lasted, it had been the nearest thing to heaven she could have imagined.
-=-=-
“Thanks again for bringimg my clothes in with you,” Estelle said as she slid the
blue dress over the more conventional undergarments she had also just put on,
“I don’t think I could’ve taken another hour in that other outfit,” she added,
referring to what she had worn in early that morning before anyone else was in
the office.
“You’ve done the same for me at times,” Kay replied, thinking as she watched
her roommate change clothes that in her case it usually was after working all
night in her office.
“Zip me up, will you?” Estelle asked as she adjusted the dress.
As she did so, Kay glanced down at the garment that Estelle had changed out
of, now draped across one of the chairs in her office. For something that had
first been put on Friday night, it didn’t look too worse for wear. Then again,
there was the question of how much it actually had been worn in the last few
days.
“So how was your weekend?” Estelle said as she turned around and checked
her appearance in the full-length mirror that hung on the interior of her supply
closet door. “I hope you didn’t waste having the apartment to yourself all
weekend by catching up with work.”
“Well, I did go out and meet Carl and Lana for a while on Friday,” Kay replied as
she glanced out the window at the cloudy skies.
“And the rest of the weekend?” Estelle asked, mistakenly taking the look of guilt
that appeared on Kay’s face as an affirmation of the answer she expected.
“Thought so,” she added.
“It’s not what you think,” Kay said, not sure she wanted to really say what had
happened while Estelle had been gone, at least not yet.
“Tell me the truth, did you even leave the apartment at all Saturday or Sunday?”
Estelle asked.
“No,” Kay admitted, “but that was because I had some thinking to do about …
something.”
“Do you know what your problem is, Kay?” she asked.
“No, but I’m sure you’re about to tell me,” Kay said, half in jest.
“Your problem is that you spend too much time thinking about things and not
enough doing them,” Estelle said as she slipped into her shoes. “At least in
things that don’t pertain to work.”
“It’s not as bad as all that,” Kay insisted, watching as the now fully dressed
manager started to sort through a small list of emails on her monitor screen.
“Well, I’m just your friend, not your mother,” Estelle said as she paused to read
one that caught her interest.
“There are times I wonder about that,” Kay grinned, remembering all of the
unsolicited advice about her personal life that Estelle had given her.
Estelle looked up from the monitor, not really having heard what Kay had said.
“Well, it looks like you picked a winner in that Ross kid,” Estelle unexpectedly
said.
“Excuse me,” Kay replied, taken off guard by the comment.
“The Ross kid, the one I shanghaied you into mentoring last fall,” Estelle said as
she turned the monitor around so that Kay could see that the subject line of the
email she had been reading was indeed about Craig. “I can’t remember the last
time Chester ever wrote such a glowing quarterly evaluation about anyone,
much less some kid just out of school.”
“Well, Chester is usually a pretty good judge of people,” Kay remarked, unsure
of what else to say.
“In fact, this is so out of character that if I didn’t know for a fact that he was as
straight as a steel rod, I’d wonder if he didn’t have anything going with the kid,”
Estelle grinned as she transferred the memo to the appropriate folder. “Not that
I’d blame him if he was, that kid is nothing short of gorgeous.”
“What?” Kay said in surprise.
“Oh, come on, son’s best friend or not, you can’t tell me you’ve never taken a
good long look at him,” Estelle laughed. “If I didn’t have such a strong
relationship with Paul going, I’d be tempted to give him a tumble.”
“Estelle, you can’t be serious,” Kay said.
“Why not?” she answered.
“He’s half your age,” Kay replied, feeling a little hypocritical in saying it.
“I said I’d like to bed him, not marry him,” the older of the two clarified. “One of
these days we’re going to have to get really drunk together and I’ll tell you a little
story about … well, a story that you might find interesting.”
“But what would people say if they found out?” Kay asked, wondering at the
same time what story she was referring to.
“People can go fuck themselves,” Estelle retorted.
“You’re really serious,” Kay said.
“Damn right I am,” Estelle said, her tone giving little doubt that she was.
“Honey, life is much too short to worry about what other people think.”
Kay stood there speechless for a moment, surprised at this side of her friend.
“Why don’t we find time for lunch today and I’ll share all the dirty details of my
weekend with Paul?” Estelle suggested as Kay reached to unlock the door
she’d locked when she came in earlier.
“Not today, Estelle,” Kay said as she paused, her hand still on the door handle.
“I think I’m going to take a little walk down by the water during lunch. It seems
that maybe I still have some more thinking to do about something after all.”
“Suite yourself,” Estelle said as the door closed behind Kay. “But let me know if
you change your mind.”
Walking down the short hall, Kay saw that the previous empty rows of cubicles
had filled while she was in Estelle’s office. At the far end of the next to last row,
she could see Craig sitting at his desk, already at work.
They hadn’t spoken a word to each other since he’d left her apartment, agreeing
that they’d wait until she figured out what the next step was, if there was a next
step. Actually, they hadn’t spoken that much since Friday night, even though he
didn’t actually go home until late Saturday afternoon. The time in-between had
been spent on activities that required little in the way of deep conversation. The
memory of those non-verbal exchanges had been reinforced by numerous sore
spots on her body, a collection of little aches and pains that had been so
enjoyable in the making.
“Yes, I definitely have some thinking to do during lunch,” Kay said to herself,
even thought deep down, she already knew the answer.
END
(c) Ann Douglas 2009
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