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Message-ID: <59165asstr$1246104614@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Ann Douglas <ann_douglas@hotmail.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} AnnD "Another Time, Another Place" MF (1/1)
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Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 08:10:14 -0400
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Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories
Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d




   Another Time, Another Place

   by Ann Douglas

   (ann_douglas@hotmail.com)



   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
midsentence.

   "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 nondemanding 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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