A New Life

We returned to Ashley's place late that night. She opened a bottle of pinot noir as I pulled out some leftovers from our previous meals. They were quite good after I warmed them. The day's events tired us and we headed to bed by 10:00. She put her new jewelry in a box but stored it separately from her other items. I wondered why but didn't ask.

I said, "Do you mind if we just cuddle again tonight? Our interlude this morning took a lot out of me. Are you still sore?"

"Actually, I feel pretty good tonight. The position we used this morning was a lot easier on me."

"So you like me coming into you from the rear?"

"Yes, it feels very good, especially when you massage my clit. I've always liked doggy but with you, I think I like standing up and bending over better. It must be due to your size or a slightly different angle of entry."

We decided to shower again before going to bed. Within a few minutes, we were nicely spooned together and I kissed the back of her neck while fondling her breast.

We both said, "I love you" before falling asleep.

*********************************

The next morning, we decided to eat out for breakfast and went to the OK Café. Their biscuits, eggs, grits and salt cured ham were delicious and we enjoyed the lighthearted bantering with the server. All the servers were women and wore cute uniforms like they did at drive-in restaurants in the 1950's. The only thing missing was the roller skates.

As I was paying our bill, Ashley asked, "Can we drive down now and check you out of the Westin?"

"Oh, I almost forgot about that. I did tell them I'd check out this morning. Sure, let's do it now. It won't take long."

Within minutes we arrived and walked to the room. It took only a few minutes to gather my remaining items and pack. When I walked out of the bathroom, I saw Ashley reclining on the bed with her slacks off and her panties around her ankles. She was reading my newspaper.

"Now what are you up to young lady?"

"Dear sir, my panties were stuck in my crack and I just had to get some relief. Would you mind coming here and checking me out from top to bottom? I'm afraid I may have missed my last service inspection and you know how things happen if you ignore the maintenance."

"I can't imagine a lady of your means ignoring such basic needs as a service inspection. Of course, let me grab my tool box and we shall begin."

I removed the emergency flashlight from the nightstand and retrieved a few Q-tips along with lotion, tissues and shampoo from the bathroom. She put aside her paper and smiled as I approached with the "tools."

"Now, madam, we need to make sure you have the proper inflation in your tires and that the treads are still sufficient for your safety." I picked up her right foot and inserted a Q-tip between her toes, which were perfectly pedicured. I moved it in and out but she jerked her foot back.

"That tickles."

"That's OK. I got a good reading. This tire is about a pound low on air." I grabbed her foot and quickly put her big toe in my mouth and blew hard. She began laughing and kicking her foot at me.

"Hold on, hold on. I need to check the tread." I grabbed her foot again and turned it up so I could see the bottom. I rubbed it lightly with my fingernails and she screamed and kicked again.

"I told you I'm ticklish."

"I know, but you don't want to be running down the street and have one of these suddenly blow out on you. It's very important to check the treads." She just shook her head and grinned.

"Well, I think we can move on to your suspension system now. Stretch out both of your legs and let me inspect them carefully." I did a very close inspection and ran my hands up and down her tanned legs over and over again. Her thigh muscles were well developed and very firm. I made a big fuss over a small mole she had near her crotch. Of course, it was just a normal beauty mark type of mole but she pretended to be shocked and promised to have it checked.

I asked her to turn over so I could check her rear suspension. Of course her legs were perfect but I made a big show of checking them carefully.

Then I moved to the great part-her ass.

As she lay on her stomach, I said, "Now madam, I can see that your trunk is fully loaded and that might cause a problem if your shock absorbers aren't properly adjusted."

"But dear sir, other maintenance men haven't bothered to check my shocks. How do you do that?"

"Well, it's a bit complicated. There's a small switch in your rear access panel that needs to be turned off and on. That resets the shocks. Now just lie still and I'll take care of it."

I put some shampoo on my right index finger and parted her cheeks with my left hand. Before she could react, I inserted my finger as far as it would go into her rectum and twisted it from side to side. She shrieked and jumped, of course, but it was too late. The job was done. She turned briefly on her side, looked at me and just shook her head again. She was not grinning this time.

"Now madam, you're leaking a bit of fluid. Let me attend to that." The shampoo was oozing out of her rectum and running down her crack. I quickly wiped it off with tissues.

"I think your suspension system is fine but should be checked regularly by a qualified technician like me."

"But of course. You do have reasonable rates, don't you?" She turned to lay on her back.

"Yes madam. My rates are always reasonable. Now I need to check your headlights. May I lift your hood and take a close look?"

She nodded so I lifted her blouse to reveal her bra. I reach under her back, unhooked it and then pushed the cups up to expose her nipples.

"Madam, I can see a problem already."

"And what might that be Mr. Technician?"

"Someone has installed the wrong size headlights for your chassis. You should have much smaller ones. Would you like me to adjust them for you?"

She was intrigued by that question and surprised me by saying, "Yes."

I thought quickly and suddenly had an idea.

"Madam, the problem with headlights these days is they have too much air. We need to remove some of that air and the headlight will return to the proper size within a few days. In order to remove the air, we need to drain them. Please get up on your hands and knees and let your headlights dangle freely."

Her magnificent breasts hung down. I slipped my head under each one and sucked her nipples for about 10 seconds each.

"Oh, dear sir, I'm so glad you know how to make such important adjustments. I don't think other technicians would even known where to begin."

"It's important that you come to a certified technician. Now I need to check your oil level and we'll be finished. I see from your oil access port that someone has removed your dipstick. Do you happen to have one with you?"

"No, I forgot and left it in the nightstand at home. Can we find something else that would work?"

"Well, it needs to be about eight inches long. Let's see if we can find something."

I made a show of looking around but the only thing I could find was my dipstick. She examined it from top to bottom and finally approved its use. Ashley stood on the floor next to the bed and bent over to lay her chest on the mattress. She spread her legs and reached back with her hands to spread her cheeks. I slowly inserted my dipstick into her oil reservoir, brought it out and rubbed it off with a tissue, then reinserted it to get a proper reading. Her oil was all the way to the top so I declared that her level was satisfactory and we could now wrap up the exam.

"But kind sir, other technicians insist on take multiple dipstick readings and averaging the results. Are you sure that only one reading is acceptable?"

"I see your point. Maybe I've been too hasty and a few rechecks would be in order."

I re-inserted my stick and took 20 or so rapid measurements until her engine was running well and her water temperature was up. Ashley's pressure relief valve finally blew and water shot out her overflow pipe and drenched the bed.

"Now madam, I think we're finished here. Can I prepare your invoice?"

"Just mail it to me."

We quickly dressed and I checked the room one more time to make sure I had packed everything.

I left the magnetic room key at the front desk, reclaimed the car from the valet and headed back to Ashley's.

While driving, I totally changed the subject. I asked about furniture.

"You know, we're going to need a lot of furniture for the house. Do you know of a good furniture store in Atlanta? It sometimes takes many weeks to have a piece made and delivered."

"I just assumed you had a bunch of furniture from your previous house and would be moving it."

"No, I wanted to make a clean break of my life and all the sadness I was going through. I decided to donate it to the Salvation Army. They were very happy to get it."

"I'll bet. They usually get people's junk."

"So basically, I'm starting over."

"Do you want really good furniture or something that looks good for a few years?"

"I want really good American-made furniture. You know I walked into a store called American Signature Furniture one time. I told the salesman to show me only pieces that were made in America. He didn't have any. Everything was made in Mexico, China or somewhere else in Asia."

"Let me make a few calls and see what I can find out. I know some good antique dealers so maybe that would be a place to start. What kind of budget do you have to furnish the house?"

"I have no idea what it'll take, but let's do it right. What about a million dollars to start?" Her mouth flew open and she just stared at me.

Finally, she collected her thoughts and said, "Jim, I'm in a world now that I don't understand. You have a million to spend on furniture?"

"I told you Ashley, that I sold a very profitable business and I have several million from that. Does it make a difference to our relationship?"

"Of course not, I'd marry you if you were penniless. But you just keep surprising me." She paused and was silent for a while. "Sometimes I think I want to know every little detail of your life and then I remember how much I like pleasant surprises. So let's just move ahead and I will eventually learn about you, one surprise at a time. But if there's something really bad about your history, I want you to tell me up front. I can deal with it. It will really, really hurt me and our relationship if there are bad surprises down the road."

"Ashley, let's just say that money isn't a problem for us. I've been lucky in business and the one I sold was very profitable. You'll have a very secure future that'll allow you to do anything you want to do. And I promise, you will never have a bad surprise from me."

"You mean that I may not have to work 16 hours a day in real estate if I don't want to?"

"Exactly what I mean. But I'm not going to plan your career. You need to do that and tell me what I can do to support you."

"God, I love you, Jim."

She again paused and was silent for a few minutes.

"Ever since I needed help, I've wanted to be involved in helping abused women in the shelters like I was in. I just never had enough money to leave real estate. Do you think I could do that after we're married?"

"Absolutely! I think you'd be very good at that."

"So after you tire of being my kept man, what do you want to do with your time?"

"Have you ever heard of Habitat for Humanity?"

"Of course, they're based here in Georgia and build houses for people in need. One of my friends volunteers for them. Every summer, he and some of his buddies take a week off and go somewhere to help build houses. One of them even met a young woman while working on a project and they're now married."

"Well, I've been reading about them and I think I'd like to volunteer also. I'm pretty good with a hammer and enjoy construction and painting. Of course, you may want to send a bodyguard with me."

"Why's that?"

"Once those lady volunteers see me, they'll volunteer for a lot more than building houses."

"There's that arrogance again."

"Just stating the facts, madam."

"Right."

We drove on in silence to her place. It was Sunday afternoon and baseball was on TV--Braves playing the Phillies. I loved baseball so I asked if she minded me watching the game.

"Watch anything you want."

I turned on the game and sat in my normal spot on the sofa. In about five minutes, I heard popcorn being made and shortly after that the aroma hit my nose. The smell of fresh popcorn is one of the best ever.

Ashley came in carrying a big bowl and a Diet Coke for me.

"That smells great. You going to share it with me?"

"Of course."

She sat down beside me, turned and leaned back into my arms, while stretching her legs to hold the bowl. It only took a few minutes before I slipped my hand under the bowl and rubbed her pussy through the pants. She adjusted her legs to give me more rubbing space and leaned her head back. We kissed a couple of times but we primarily just stared into each other's eye as I continued to massage her clit. She eyes were so alive with energy.

She spoke, "If anyone had told me a week ago that all this would happen, I'd have called a shrink for them. This week and everything we've done just doesn't happen. I was planning to go visit with my Mom and Dad this week and see if they could give me some financial help. I was just about broke and a lot of bills were coming. I really dreaded that trip because they think I'm so successful. The last eight weeks have been very slow for me and I only had one closing scheduled for a small house. My commission on that sale was only $2,000 but I owed nearly $2,000 for rent on the townhouse and car. I'd already pawned all my good jewelry so I had no idea what I was going to do to just get food. Real estate agents have to look successful or no one will trust them. Just keeping up appearances is very expensive."

"How were you able to get such a nice townhouse and all this first quality furniture?"

"It was a miracle, really. My boss at KW is married to a Coca Cola executive. They have tons of money. His wife was transferred to Europe and appointed a regional VP. She's responsible for all their operations there. It's clearly a stepping stone job as she was told it'd be for only two years.

'The company had a fully furnished house for them so they didn't need to move anything but their clothes. He pulled me aside one day and told me about the transfer and asked if I was willing to stay at their townhouse while they were gone and take care of everything. I only had to pay $1500 per month, which is only a third of what these go for. Of course, I jumped all over that offer and moved out of the rat trap apartment I had into this mansion."

"He sounds like a great guy."

"He is. He knew my background and he was the one who interviewed me while I was in the shelter. He gave me the job. And he never once made any sort of move on me. Until you came along, I thought he was the nicest, most genuine man I've ever met."

"So when are they due back?"

"The two years are up in about four months but I've not heard anything for sure. It could be anytime now or sometime next year. You know how corporate transfers work."

"That means you had some big decisions coming up."

"Tell me about it. I'm not a strictly religious person but I started praying about all of this several weeks ago. God was the only refuge I had and it gave me comfort to think that He was concerned about me. Then, out of nowhere, you show up. Now you know why I asked if you thought we were meant to be together."

I decided to stop rubbing her pussy. This discussion was getting serious. I wrapped both arms around her and pulled her onto my lap and held her like a baby. She laid her head on my shoulder and I saw that her eyes were red and flooded with tears.

"I don't ever discount the power of God, Ashley. For some reason, unknown to me, I decided to move to Marietta. It just sounded like a great place to live and I was looking for a new start in life. Was God behind that? I have no idea. I never heard the angels sing and I don't recall any specific dreams telling me to come here. I was just looking through a newspaper one day and saw an article about Marietta and Atlanta. That got me thinking about it and I came."

She responded, "Well, I think you're the answer to my prayers. I'm always going to believe that. There is no other way I can explain it. Would you be willing to go to church with me some Sundays? I think I need to begin going again."

"Absolutely. My parents took me to church when I was a kid. I stopped going when I went away to college and just never began again."

"Good, let's look at the options around here and begin going to different ones until we feel at home."

"Sounds like a plan."

We spent the rest of the afternoon just talking about life and the twists and turns it has for us and other people. I really liked her idea about working with women in shelters. That got me thinking about a job-training center that I could set up to help. With just a few million invested, it could make a big difference in the lives of many women and their children.

We didn't have sex that night but did enjoy our normal cuddling and talking.

**************************

The next morning, I called Brian after Ashley left for work. He answered on the second ring.

"Hi Jim. What's the matter?"

"Don't get excited, Brian. I need to bring you up to date and I need some help."

For the next twenty minutes, I reviewed the week (leaving out all the sex details, of course) and explained the situation Ashley was in. He was very interested and said he'd make a couple of calls to see what he could find out. He was pleased that I'd found a house and someone like Ashley.

About two hours later, Brian called back.

"Jim, are you sitting down?"

"I am now. Give me the details."

"Bobby Collins was caught in a drug sting operation about two months ago. He spilled his guts on some of the higher ups but he made a mistake of posting bail. He was shot execution style while he was out. So he's dead."

"Wonder why Ashley didn't know that?"

"Well, the story I got was that no one knew how to find her. She started using her maiden name when she moved to Atlanta but no one knew that. Now here's the most exciting part. The Feds did a deal with Bobby in return for him giving up the big guys. He was allowed to keep his house and all the money he had. He was going to jail for two years but that was really just a slap in the face. So Ashley, being the only heir, gets everything. She just has to go over to Brunswick and sign some papers."

"I can't believe that you guys couldn't find her or at least talk to her parents to see where she was."

"You're right, but the locals were in charge of finding her. What I think is that they didn't want to find her. They wanted to run out the clock and then get their favorite local judge to forfeit the money to the city. Happens all the time in these small towns."

"How much are we talking about?"

"Over five million." I was glad I was sitting down. "Congratulations Jim. You came out smelling like a rose on this one."

"Brian, I can't thank you enough."

"Just doing my job, buddy."

The rest of the day, I was a nervous wreck. I watched the clock and was just sure time had stopped. Finally, at 5:30, Ashley walked in.

We kissed and I said, "Ashley, we need to talk. I have some very good news for us."

Epilogue

We were married about three months later. It was a big wedding since she knew a lot of people. Linda was her matron of honor and David was my best man. Jane did all the flowers and Ray's on the River did our reception. Her parents were wonderful and I could see where Ashley got her beauty. Her mother was a real knockout. But the best part is they seemed to approve of me.