1 comments/ 14320 views/ 0 favorites The Break By: Fable If there is such a condition as early-life crisis, David Patton suffered from it. For the past year, since he had left college on the pretense of earning enough money to continue his education, his life had deteriorated. His idea to take a year off was not to his parents’ liking. They practically disowned him. He moved out of their house, another mistake. Now he wished that he had remained in school. He would be close to graduating and even if he had to take loans it would be better than the predicament he found himself in. Stuck in a dead end job, putting up with two sloppy room mates and not getting ahead financially were preying on his mind and making him depressed. After a year’s break he was not even close to being able to return to school. To compound the crisis, his love life, or what little life he had outside of work, had eroded. Somewhere between twilight sleep and REM sleep, David felt something wet in his left ear, jolting him back to reality. “Come on Bubba, wake up,” the male voice urged. David hated being called Bubba as much as he hated the Wet Willy in his ear. The giver of the Wet Willy was Phil, one of his roommates. Big Phil was 26 going on 18 and lived to party. “Wha...what time is it?” David said, using a corner of the sheet to dry his ear as he looked up through half opened eyes. “Who knows, who cares, get up, we got an extra chick out here, just for you.” With that, Phil turned around and left the room. Hearing laughter in the other room David shook his head silently. It wasn’t unusual for Phil and Jason, their other roommate, to bring girls home after a night in the bars but they had never brought a third girl before. Phil reached for his jeans and looked at the clock. It was after 1:00 a.m. It won’t hurt to just go out and say hi. Throwing on a T Shirt and looking for his shoes, he thought to himself, ‘She must be a dog.,’ David stopped by the bathroom first to splash some water on his face and make sure he was somewhat presentable. Besides, he had to pee. He could hear Jason talking to someone. “Hey, here he is, what’s your name, honey?” Jason was asking the girl. “Meet Davey, we said you wouldn’t be disappointed and we weren’t lying.” Their eyes met. He had seen her someplace, but where? He noticed the blonde highlights in her already flaxen colored hair and her brown eyes. His eyes scanned quickly over the rest of her. She was wearing loose fitting black pants and a whit shirt and sandals. Putting all of this together in his mind he still couldn’t place where he had seen her before? “Caroline,” she said, a timid look on her face. “I’m Caroline.” David tried to smile as did Caroline but it was just an attempt on both their parts. Phil introduced the other girls to David but he didn’t pay attention to their names. Jason had placed a CD in and pushed the play button. As the music started Phil came in with a tray full of glasses filled with brew. After gulping their drinks down the other couples begin to dance. David and Caroline stood nervously sipping their drinks and watching the dancers get closer and closer to one another. Caroline seemed preoccupied with the squalor, almost afraid to move. David had become accustomed to the living conditions but watching her survey the room made him see it through a stranger’s eyes. It must have been a shock to walk into a room with only one piece of furniture, what Phil referred to as the ‘curb-side’ sofa. The only wall decoration present was a dart board, surrounded by chips in the plaster caused by errant darts. The wooden floor was bare, except for various article of clothing and conspicuous stains, sticky liquids, mixed with white specks of plaster. The girl’s coats had been tossed in a pile near the front door. David noticed two Hustler magazines and a pair of Jockey shorts lying on the floor near where they were standing and did his best foot shuffle to push them under the sofa and out of site. Otherwise, there was not much he could do. “You work at the hardware store,” she broke the silence in an attempt to make small talk, veiling her uneasiness. David had heard what she said but he leaned toward her to answer, stalling. ‘How did she know? had Phil or Jason told her that they all worked for old man Jenkins, the cantankerous owner of the store?’ “That’s right,” looking towards his roomies and back to Caroline, “ we all work there,” he said, trying to smile. They stood silent for a time, watching the dancers. Both couples had drifted to the far side of the room near the hallway leading to the bedrooms. As a new song started, Phil and his partner danced down the hall. Jason and the red head were close behind. Hearing two doors close, David turned to Caroline and asked if she would like to dance. As they danced she seemed detached, as if she wasn’t hearing the music. Unlike the girls with Phil and Jason she kept her distance. He wondered what she was doing with the other two girls. ‘Probably like me, living with these two goons,’ he thought, ‘she probably knows them from work or worse, lives with them.’ “Can you turn the music off now?” Caroline asked nervously. Then, hearing the strange sounds coming from down the hall, “or turn the volume down, that would be okay also,” she added. “Sure,” he said. “Would you like another drink?” Declining the drink, she took a seat on the couch. David softened the music and took a seat next to her. “Are they your friends?” he asked, placing his arm above her head on the back of the sofa. She smiled, it was a relaxed grin, “We work together. I was thinking, how different you are from your room mates, it’s like me, I don’t know why I went out with them, we’re so totally opposite from each other.” David decided he liked her, animated yet serious but he had to admit it was her smile that had gotten to him. Her teeth were not perfectly straight but she wasn’t afraid to show them when she was amused. Slowly, he let his hand drop to her shoulder. Her smile disappeared and she tensed a bit but she didn’t reject him either. “I thought that was probably the case. They wanted to go out and insisted that you go along, am I right?” He subconsciously let his hand start making circular motions on her shoulder as they talked. There was the smile again. “That’s right. I’ll bet the same thing has happened to you,” Caroline confirmed. “All the time. Let me guess, did they promise that you would meet someone?” David asked as his face drew close to hers. Laughing again, she turned toward him to acknowledge that he had been right, there had been a promise. They kissed, softly. He drew her to him and she did not resist. However, a loud giggle followed by a sharp scream coming from one of the bedrooms caused her to break off the kiss. “It’s getting late, will you please take me home?” She asked shyly, with an almost plead in her voice. ‘She’s right,’ David thought to himself. It was late and he had to work the next day. . The hardware store was open 15 hours per day, seven days per week and there was no flexibility in the schedules. Even otherwise rebellious Phil and Jason never questioned the schedule, always showing up on time. The streets were quiet as they drove across town. They chatted about who they both knew. David was surprised to learn that Caroline had been two years ahead of him in high school but that was not where he had seen her before. Directing him into a subdivision and turning on several streets, she had him stop in front of a house on one of the side streets. It finally dawned on him, he remembered where he had seen her. It had been at this house. Still lost in his thought David felt a peck on his check and she was out of the car. “It was nice to meet you, thanks for bringing me home,” she said before closing the car door. He watched her race to the front door and let herself inside before he drove away. ‘That’s Helen’s house,’ he thought. Helen was the bookkeeper for the store. Though she had a small office on the second floor at the store it was seldom used; she usually worked at home. When they had closed the store together a few weeks before Mr. Jenkins had asked David to bring a satchel full of papers to Helen and when the door opened it was Caroline he saw, not Helen. He remembered he had been surprised when Caroline met him at the door that night. Wearing a robe and holding a sleeping child in her arms, Caroline took the pouch and closed the door without saying a word. Expecting to see Helen , he had been surprised to say the least. He had even hoped for an invitation to come inside. ‘That’s where I’ve seen her, wonder why she didn’t mention that meeting,’ he mussed. The meeting had been brief, perhaps she didn’t remember. But she had said, “you work at the hardware store.” ‘She must have remembered.’ David had become the receiver shortly after he went to work for Mr. Jenkins. His duties included unloading the trucks, signing for merchandise and verifying that vendor’s counts were correct. His normal work schedule was during the day when delivers were made but that Saturday night he had taken Jason’s shift as a favor. That had been the only time he had been to Helen’s house until he brought Caroline home. Helen was a knock out. Always wearing short skirts and silk blouses, the word would quickly spread when someone spotted her entering through the back entrance. Phil and Jason would race to a spot in the back room where they could watch her climb the stairs, hoping to get a glimpse of her slender legs and shapely ass, they were always mindful of where Mr. Jenkins was as he would not approve of their lewd behavior. The stairs were off limits to store employees when Helen was in her office, with one exception. “David, Helen wants to see you,” Mr. Jenkins would announce over the store intercom. Phil, Jason and the store clerks would mimic Mr. Jenkins, ‘Helen wants to see you,’ they would mouth as he climbed the stairs. “What does she want to see you for when she calls you up there?” Phil ask one night when they got together at the house. “She wants to suck his little prick,” Jason chimed in. “I watched her coming down the stairs today. It made me wish I was the one called to the office when I saw those tits jiggle. Hey Davey, her lipstick was smeared, what were you two doing up there?” David took the abuse good naturedly. The two older guys were assistant managers, ordering him around at work, it was the same at home. He knew that they resented the trust Mr. Jenkins had placed in him after such a short period on the job. They had rotating schedules, opening at 6 A M and closing at 9 P M, while David worked from 8 to 5. It was a constant source of irritation to them. They also envied his access to Helen. There was no simple way to answer Phil’s question. Helen was always business like, usually asking him to double check the quantity delivered on a high priced item. David declined to answer the question; thinking that Phil would just scoff and not believe him anyway. On this particular day, she had greeted him in her usual manner, She had questions on some invoices and wanted him to look them over and initial them if they were correct. She moved her hand across David’s so they purposely touched for a instant. The contact sent a spark up his arm making him look up as her dark eyes met his. His heart started pounding and his mind swirled. Noting that everything was correct in looking the invoices over he went ahead and initialed them. ‘What was she questioning?’ he thought as he handed them back to her. Helen smiled and said, “I want to thank you for bringing Caroline home the other night, she said you were very courteous.” Their eyes met again. David opened his mouth but nothing came out. She smiled again. “It was really nothing, honest” he managed to say. A voice jolted him back to reality when Phil asked, “What happened with that chick we fixed you up with?” He had seemingly forgotten about Helen. This was easy, “She wanted to go home so I took her,” David answered, cautiously. “You took her home? Is that it? Do you believe this guy, Jason? We’re too good to you, we bring your sorry ass a good looking chick and this is the thanks we get, you take her home?” For the rest of the night the two of them criticized David until they tired of the game and went to bed. Sitting alone in his room he thought about what the ‘boys’ had said. Maybe they were right. His ineptitude toward women was becoming a problem. He would try to become more aggressive. The next evening he came home from work and thought about, ruminated, even berated himself for being such a nerd, a drip, a bore and a geek when it came to women. Finally gathering his courage he made a telephone call. At first, he was uncertain which one had answered, Helen or Caroline. Taking a deep breath he took a chance. “Caroline?” “Yes,” the voice said, tentatively. “Hi, this is David, remember me? from the other night?” “Oh, sure, David, how are you? Thanks for bringing me home,” her voice was chipper. This was going better than he had expected. “Caroline, I was wondering if you would like to do something, how’s this weekend?” “Oh, David, thank you for thinking of me but I don’t go out much. My daughter is teething and she’s cross all the time, I just can’t.” She seemed apologetic, but firm. He tried to think of something to say, ‘how do you accept rejection gracefully? ‘Why be graceful?’ he thought.. ‘Just say goodbye! Just end it, hang up!’ he couldn’t. His mind was still racing when he heard Caroline on the other end. “David, hold on, I’ve got to check on my daughter. I think I hear her crying, I’m going to her room, hang on.” He heard a door close but there was no other sound, the child was not crying. “David,” she was whispering, “I had to come in here, I’m so glad you called.” Puzzled, David couldn’t believe his ears. Minutes before she was rejecting him. Now she was glad he had called. “It’s my sister, she has a thing for you, I didn’t want her to know it was you, she would kill me if she knew I was telling you this.” David’s was speechless, his heart had stopped beating and sweat had beaded on his forehead. Was this a dream. “Caroline,” he said weakly, “Caroline, are you sure?” “Dummy,” she said, too loudly, “of course I’m sure, she’s my sister.” “But, I mean, how do you know?” he asked then thought to himself. ‘This was too good to be true, it must be a dream, I need to pinch myself.’. “Remember that night you delivered the package of paperwork and I met you at the door? When she saw it was you she made me go to the door because she didn’t want you to see her in her robe, even though we were both dressed for bed but she made me go,” Caroline explained as if it answered everything. In shock, he said nothing, but listened as she continued, “I’m sorry I closed the door in your face that night. I was mad at her for making me answer the door, I love her but she’s so self disparaging sometimes.” David thanked her for the information. After they said their good-byes he sat staring at the wall, not believing his good fortune. David walked on air for the next week. ‘David, Helen needs you up stairs,’ he heard Mr. Jenkins’ voice on the speaker. Cutting a delivery driver short in mid sentence, he dashed up the stairs, taking two at a time. Helen was striking as usual, she smiled at him as he entered her office. Bolstered by what Caroline had told him, David smiled back, making a point to search her eyes for any sign of encouragement. Their meeting was brief. Her questions seemed pointless to him but he answered them, painstakingly and she thanked him for clarifying them. Slowly, he trudged back down the stairs, cursing as he talked to himself for not having been more assertive. ‘Helen, whatcha say we go out sometime?’ No good. ‘Helen, would you like to see a movie with me?’ That wouldn’t work either. ‘Helen, how about...’ he didn’t even bother to finish the sentence. He had ascended the stairs and walked into the office. Sitting down, staring at the paperwork on his desk, he thought, ‘I’m pitiful.’ The aroma of her perfume was still in his nostrils, sending him into a trance as he concentrated to memorize the smell. Jason cornered him in the kitchen that night. He seemed nervous, “Hey, kid,” he whispered, “how about covering my shift this Friday night?” Jason shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Just from 6 to 9, that’ll give you an hour to get something to eat, how about it, I really need this favor.” Hearing the sound of shuffling feet they both turned to see Phil at the door listening to them. “Because he’s doing my shift on Saturday night, aren’t you Davey, he can’t do both, the old man won’t let us leave early two nights in a row,” Phil countered. This was the first David had heard that Phil wanted him to work for him, there had been no such arrangement. Yet, this was what he had been hoping would happen. There was a chance that Mr. Jenkins would need him to deliver a satchel to Helen again. He considered the situation, both room mates watching him, waiting for his answer. “I’ll give you fifty bucks for three hours,” Jason offered. “That’s what I’m going to give him,” Phil boasted, “so your out, he’s mine, aren’t you Davey?” “Okay, okay, I’ll make it 60, that’s 20 per hour,” Jason sounded desperate. “I’ll match that,” Phil countered. David was beside himself. Which night should he choose? Which night would Mr. Jenkins ask him to take the satchel to Helen? Last time it had been on a Saturday but what if it wasn’t always the same day? Phil spoke up, “maybe he can do both, how would that be?, Davey, 120 bucks, how would that suit you?” “The old man would never go for that,” Jason interrupted. “He might if David asks him,” Phil said, “he likes you kid, how about it?” This was what David had been thinking. One of the nights was sure to pay off. It was all set, David agreed, making everyone happy, especially David. Mr. Jenkins rejected the idea completely. Sternly, “they’re making a habit of this, I’m not going to stand for it,” he said. David watched the old man’s eyebrows twitch, a well known sign that he was irritated. “They’ve both got plans, I guess it’s important to them,” David tried again. “Let them switch nights,” Mr. Jenkins countered dismissively. “I think they have plans for both nights, Mr. Jenkins,” David said, paying attention to the eyebrows. “Why are you speaking for them? Did they put you up to this? “They’re making it worth my time,” David said, immediately seeing that he had hit the right button. This was something Mr. Jenkins understood. In his mind, David was an enterprising young man. “You’ve sure got a way with that old codger,” Phil said that night, celebrating David’s success. Both he and Jason were overjoyed with the news that they would have both nights off. Much to David’s surprise, they coughed up the payments in advance. They didn’t know that he would have paid them for the chance to see Helen. He couldn’t wait for Friday night to arrive. The store was busy. Mr. Jenkins left at six, giving David last minute instructions about closing the store. Aisles were to be swept, cash was to be stashed in the safe and the security system was to be armed. “Call me at home if something comes up,” were his parting words. The crew was not used to David being in charge but things went reasonably smooth. At closing time David gave a big sigh. Other than making an extra sixty bucks, the evening had been a big zero. Things had not turned out as he had hoped. “Better luck tomorrow,’ he thought as he locked the safe for the evening. At six o’clock Phil introduced David to the crew which was different from the group that had worked the night before. They were mainly high school and college students who would rather be someplace else on Saturday night. Mr. Jenkins was not there. ‘Another zero,’ David thought. Surprisingly, not many customers needed hardware items on a Saturday night. Rain was keeping people at home. Things were so slow that David had to break up a makeshift shuffleboard game in one of the back aisles. The employees were restless and so was David. The Break At 8:45 he received a phone call from Mr. Jenkins who wanted a complete run down. David answered, “Yes sir,” to each question. They went over the closing procedures as if it was the first time for him to close the store. “David, I hate to impose on you but this rain makes me want to stay close to the fire tonight,” he paused as if he might reconsider. ‘Yes!’ thought David, holding his breath, ‘Yes!” “Would you mind taking some paper work to Helen, I think you know where she lives?” Mr. Jenkins said, cautiously. “Of course not,” David answered with more gusto than he intended, “I mean, I’ll be glad to.” “Hang up that phone and call me back from my office, I don’t want any of those clerks overhearing what I have to say.” Mr. Jenkins gave him the number to call then hung up. “Get busy with the sweeping and bring in the stuff from outside,” David said to a small cluster of clerks as he passed them, “we’re out of here in 10,” he added as he ran toward the stairs. Mr. Jenkins instructed David to pack the vendor invoices and packing receipts from Helen’s in baskets into a canvas bag. Next, he was told where to find the key to a locked cabinet in Mr. Jenkin’s office where he would find cash register receipts from the past few days and some correspondence that he wanted Helen to have. “One more thing,” Mr. Jenkins said. David consciously did not breathe, thinking, ‘what now?’. “Give Helen my regards, I don’t know why she needs these items on a Saturday night. That girl works too hard, she should be out someplace relaxing. For that matter, so should you David.” At 9:05 David was in his car, headed toward the bookkeeper’s house, full of self doubt. ‘What if she sends Caroline to the door?’ he thought. The windshield wipers were straining to keep the glass clear; it was almost impossible to see the road. The trip seemed to take forever. He pulled into the driveway and made a quick stop, behind Helen’s car. His mind raced. ‘Thank you God, she’s here. Get ahold of yourself,’ he said out loud, gripping the stirring wheel with both hands. He sat there for several minutes watching the rain bounce off the hood of his car, his mind had gone blank. Suddenly the porch light came on and the front door opened wide. There she was, beckoning to him. He grabbed the canvas bag and raced toward the door through the rain. “Come in out of the storm David,” Helen said, welcoming him into her home. Instead of the short tight skirt and the silk blouse he was accustomed to seeing her in she wore white slacks and a black top, both fitting loosely and comfortably against her body. Taking his coat, Helen leaned close enough for him to get a strong whiff of her fragrance. He immediately recognized her perfume. “Let’s see what you brought me,” she said, as she walked into the kitchen, then motioning for him to take a seat at the table. “My office is such a mess,” she explained, removing the contents of the bag and sorting small bundles of documents on the table. “Mr. Jenkins sends his regards,” David said, thinking, ‘why did I say that?’ She looked up from her work and smiled. “That’s nice,” she said, making larger bundles of paperwork. David couldn’t resist breaking the silence, “he also said that you work too hard.” “He’s always saying that, isn’t he a dear?” She was busy putting the documents back into the bag but she looked up to catch his smirk. “You don’t agree?” she ask. “He’s okay, I guess. There’s allot of talk, that’s all,” he stopped, thinking he had said too much. “He speaks highly of you, David. He’s always telling me how much responsibility you have.” she said, reaching out to pat his hand. “Don’t listen to the idle talk.” Her hand had come to rest on his. He could feel her pulse beat. Was she squeezing or was it just his pulse beating? Their eyes met. They heard the child cry. She smiled and patted his hand again. “Duty calls, I’m baby sitting tonight, want to see my niece?” He followed her to one of the bedrooms. ‘Where’s Caroline?’ he wondered. She had said that she didn’t go out. Helen held and pampered the child for several minutes, singing, humming and bouncing her. He silently gestured his admiration for the baby. Secretly, he was admiring Helen’s adept manner with the child as she went to sleep on Helen’s shoulder. She laid the baby down and turned to him. His breathing stopped when she placed one hand on his chest to quietly back him out of the room. She kept her hand there, backing him all the way back to the kitchen. “Let me drop this work in my office, I’ll be right back,” she said. Then pausing and looking back at him, “unless you have someplace else to be?” “No,” he assured her, “I don’t have plans or anything.” He breathed deeply, consuming her aroma, mixed with the lingering baby smell. He could almost feel her hand on his chest. He watched her move around the corner and heard her footsteps as she ran down the hall, coming back flushed as she peeked around the corner, looking happy to see him still there. “Would you like something to drink, coffee, coke, water?” she laughed, hesitating for a moment before ending her question.. He shook his head, “no thanks.” “Then let’s go into the living room and relax. Caroline’s not here and I could use some company.” She took a seat at one end of the sofa and he sat at the other end facing her. A lamp behind her dimly framed her face. He took notice of the neat appearance of the room, ‘had she been expecting him of was it always this way?’ The conversation began with happenings at the hardware store and how their roles intertwined but soon drifted to their personal lives. “No girlfriend?” she wanted to know. He answered with a shake of his head. She smiled, “I’m surprised, with your looks and personality I’ll bet the girls fight over you.” Embarrassed, he turned eight shades of red but couldn’t help laughing. “You’re joking,” he accused her. She was enjoying his embarrassment. He couldn’t help watching her laugh. Normally serious and business like, Helen was showing a fun side that was new to him. She poked fun at him and probed him about his life. He opened up and told her about leaving school and what a mistake it had been. He told her about moving out of his parent’s house and how he felt he had wasted a year of his life. Helen listened sympathetically. “But you like your work, don’t you?” Her lips were pursed, expectantly. “Sure,” he answered, “some parts of it are better than others.” “Which are those? The parts that you like best?” He was reluctant to answer, too embarrassed to say that he lived to hear, ‘David, Helen needs to see you upstairs.’ That was the best part of the job, the one that he liked best. He couldn’t tell her that, ‘how lame,’ he thought. “What about you? Do you have a steady boy friend? Guys must be falling over one another to be with you?” Where these questions came from he did not know, they were delivered partly in defense, to deflect her question about the job, partly because he wanted to know the answers. This did the trick. She was taken by surprise and didn’t press him for an answer about why he liked his job. She thought for a few seconds before answering. She started from the beginning. Their parents had died while she was in college and Caroline was still in high school. She used most of the money that had been left for education, hers and Caroline’s. Since college she had worked very hard to make a life for them. Caroline had left school to get married. When the marriage did not work she had moved in with Helen. Since college, there had not been time for a serious relationship. “End of story,” she said, looking closely at David for a reaction. He swallowed hard, not knowing what to say. He felt so inadequate. Here was a young woman who had persevered while he had made up excuses to take a break to have some fun. He had even failed at that, the past year had not been fun. And, to complicate matters, she was smiling at him. “Why are you smiling? You can’t know what I’m thinking,” he said. “I think I do,” she answered. “You’ve just heard what you perceive to be a sad story and your feeling sorry for me. That makes you sorry for yourself and you’re beating yourself up for it.” He looked at her, mouth open. “How did you know?” “How old are you?” she ask, evading his question. “Twenty-one,” he said, wondering what she was getting at. “That’s too young to feel sorry for yourself.” She moved to the middle cushion and took his hand in hers. “Perhaps you haven’t conquered anything yet but you haven’t failed either.” A warm feeling came over him, he drew her into his arms. They held each other for a full minute, rocking, breathing in unison. “You smell good,” he whispered. She laughed and held him closer. “I’m twenty-six,” she whispered, “and you smell good too.” He laughed and moved his face to kiss her. Her response was eager but the kiss was brief. Breaking off she looked at David then completed her statement, “it isn’t just the work, there hasn’t been a serious relationship because there hasn’t been anyone I wanted.” He opened her small hand and held it in front of them, palm to palm. They smiled at one another, feeling each other’s pulse. Her fingers were shorter than his but her pulse was strong, all the way to the tips of her fingers. Pulling her in to him again, David kissed her softly at first, then with passion. “When will you be twenty-seven?” he asked as he gently took her bottom lip between his lips and pulled ever so slightly. “Next February, my birthday was last week,” she said responding back to his advancement. David considered what she had said for a few seconds. “Mine’s December, that means I’ll be twenty-two before you’re twenty-seven, you’re only four years older.” Lost in the passion of a deep kiss, neither of them heard anything when the front door opened. Caroline smiled and watched them briefly before tiptoeing to her room. ~*~ “Why don’t you have Mr. Jenkins announce that you need to see me any more?” David ask her one evening. They were in the baby’s room. She turned from the changing table. “Because,” she said, ruffling his hair, “if you came up to the office I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off of you. Someone would see me ravaging you and tell everyone else that I was robbing the cradle, it’s better this way.” “Why don’t you want anyone to know that you’re robbing the cradle? Does it embarrass you?” They had been dating for two months and with the exception of Caroline knowing, had kept their relationship a secret. They had gone to restaurants, the movies and even a public park. So far, no one they knew had spotted them together. “The way I hang all over you in public? What do you think? Besides, you’re the one that says there’s only four years difference in our ages. They hid nothing from one another. They would talk for hours, discussing their childhoods, their friendships and consoling one another when something was not going well. She told him about each of her accounts, describing the principles, explaining their idiosyncrasies and special needs, wanting him to understand why she was busier at certain times and couldn’t devote as much time to him as he would like. He complained to her about the animals he shared the house with. She suggested that perhaps he would be happier to be living someplace else. He had to agree. The one subject that had not been discussed was sex. It was frustrating to David that he had been unable to talk to her about it. There was always a distraction, Caroline being there or Helen being busy with work or the baby needing attention. He was angry at himself for not taking advantage of the few opportunities when they had been alone together. It was Helen who broached the subject. They had spoken of his returning to school. She had been very supportive and encouraged him to find a way. He considered moving back home to save money. The move would also solve another problem, the curiosity of his room mates who had started to ask probing questions as to where he was spending so much time. “Want to meet my parents?” he ask one night. He was sitting at the kitchen table, watching her prepare a meal. His question was met with total rebuff. “You WIMP!” She threw a piece of bread that she had just sliced at him. “Do you think it will be easier if I’m there? No sir, buddy, you have to do this by yourself. Go and confess that you made a mistake. Tell them about me if you must but don’t expect me to sweet-talk them into taking you back.” She was standing at the kitchen counter, facing him, still holding the bread knife. She was wearing a loose T-shirt, shorts and sandals. “Besides,” she said, meekly looking at her feet, “don’t you think you should take me to bed before you take me to meet your parents?” She looked up as he approached, excitement flickered in her eyes as they sparkled and danced. She pointed the knife at his chest, stopping him momentarily. “Not unless you mean it,” she whispered, allowing him to direct her arm to the counter where the knife could be dropped as he took her into his arms. “Not unless you mean it,” she repeated, yielding to his lips. “I mean it,” he said, whisking her off her feet. Surprised at his sudden move, she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. A sense of contentment emerged, spreading between them a warm, safe and empathetic understanding. Nothing else mattered. “I mean it,” he whispered. They landed in the center of the bed and he took over. Passively, she let him slip the T-shirt over her head and kiss each of her shoulders. “You smell good,” he whispered as he unclasped the hooks that held the bra strap together. She closed her eyes and held his head when he took one nipple between his lips and tugged, gently, pulling it up, releasing it. She giggled. He gave the other nipple the same treatment and she giggle again. He rose to remove his shirt. She helped, then flung it to the side of the room and pushed him onto his back to give his nipples the same treatment. “You smell good too,” she whispered. She mashed her tits to his chest, making him shudder, not believing his good fortune to be in the bed of this beautiful woman. She was still on top when he lowered her shorts and fondled the cheeks of her ass. She moaned into his ear and held on as he rolled her over and took the top position. He kissed her on the lips and down her jaw line to her neck. Her hands explored his back and played with the bones in his spine as he took her tits in his mouth. Her breasts were smaller than he had imagined. He caressed them lovingly before moving to her midsection and down to her thighs. She had to close her legs and raise her butt to release the panties. She watched him swallow as he got the first site of her pussy, amused at the expression on his face as he admired the neatly trimmed bush. “You smell good,” he whispered as he took an exaggerated whiff before placing a kiss at the center of her love region, making her shiver and giggle at the same time. He surprised her with tongue action, setting her on fire, making her cum almost from the first lap. She held his head still for a full minute, trying to recover. She mumbled unintelligible nothings which he took as praise. Finding her clit and rewarded with more babble he unleashed his tongue until her legs went limp; she could no longer hold them open for him. When he moved up to kiss her she searched for the buttons on his pants. She rolled him over and lowered them down and off. Then she carefully lowered his boxers, exposing his swollen cock. “You smell good,” she said as she kissed the tip and ran her tongue down and underside of its length, making him shiver as if a chill had suddenly entered the room. She crushed her breasts against his chest again. “Let me lay here for a minute to get my strength back,” she said. Feeling her tits pressed to his chest was heaven, David was content to comply. He felt her lithe body move upon him, she pushed herself up and gazed down at him, her tits dangling, lightly grazing his chest. “Hummmm, what’s that? Mr. Patton, is that you knocking at my door? Hummmm,” she moaned. Rising, she found his cock and tapped it against her opening, saying “knock, knock.” She sunk down, taking the head, “easy does it,” she said, looking him in the eye and balancing herself with one hand on his chest, “easy does it,” taking another inch. She smiled down at him, “I can do this,” grunting, easing down another inch, “easy does it,” she said, raising up and lowering herself, again and again. Bottomed out, she smiled down at him, resting, “was that you knocking at my door?” He lay motionless, enjoying the feeling, overwhelmed at what had just taken place. Still tightly joined, they couldn’t help but smile at one another.. When Helen started to move again David stopped her. rolling her over he positioned himself over her. “That was me knocking but now I’m going to ring your bell.” Slowly, he took long strokes and watched as she became accustomed to his rhythm. It was passionate love making, showing the regard they had for one another. He watched her facial expressions, taking notice of what she liked. She gripped his length with muscle contractions and was gratified to watch his reaction. They both knew he couldn’t hold out for long. “Let it go,” she said. He plunged forward two more times and did just that. Drained, he fell upon her. “Ding ding, you rang my bell,” she sang out, laughing. “Really?” he said, surprised, yet ashamed that he had been so self absorbed that he hadn’t noticed. “I felt you cum inside me and that set me off,” she said, holding him tightly to her. Caroline, who had come home to discover a pot of boiling water on the stove and a slice of French bread precariously balanced at the edge of the kitchen table, had to race to her room when the door at the end of the hall opened. The loving couple didn’t notice her close her door as they went arm in arm to the bathroom, both naked. Mr. Jenkins didn’t like it, not one bit, why was he the last to know that his bookkeeper and his best worker were sleeping together. Technically, there was nothing written that said a company employee couldn’t have an affair with a member of a contracted service, so therefore it wasn’t against company policy. If it had been one of the other employees he would have found a way to get rid of them but David, no not David. After giving much thought to the situation, he decided that he was happy for them. Helen was such a practical, hard working girl. Good for both of them. Good for both of them. He decided to do nothing. Spring was a good time of year to be in love. Nevertheless, David, ‘how did you do it?,’ he asked himself. But spring was turning into summer and David had a decision to make, return to school or stay on break. He telephoned his parents and invited himself to Sunday dinner. “Aren’t you going to take me to meet your parents?” Helen wanted to know. “I thought you said you weren’t going to sweet-talk them for me?” “That was before you took me to bed,” she laughed, crawling into his lap and gently biting his ear. “But I still won’t do your sweet talking,” she added seriously. He dialed the number, “Mom, set another place at the table.” David’s parents, after a short discussion in another room, agreed to let him move back into his room. His father grumbled about having to clear out his belongings. He had taken up painting and was using the room for his hobby. But he, like his wife, was enthralled with Helen and didn’t want to cause a fuss in front of her. The meeting had gone well. Helen liked the fact that, although curious, David’s parents had not interrogated her. Nothing had been mentioned about how serious the young couple was although neither had tried to hide their feelings for one another. The Break “I’ve got an idea,” she said to him on their way back to her house. He dialed the number again, “Mom, tell dad he doesn’t have to move his stuff, I’ve just been given a better offer.” {Thank you Mrs. Patrick, weur}