This chapter was kindly edited. Great job. Thank you Mike.
*****
It was already 6 pm when the hospital let Amanda Powell go home after the doctors examined her a final time whether everything was OK after she had her tubes tied. She paid in cash to leave no trail for what she had done. As her husband was sterile he didn't have to know. She called a cab to get home, as she was informed in advance that she couldn't drive a car for 24 hours after the general anesthetic.
Her mind was occupied with the talk she had with her husband last weekend. She had carefully explained what she thought was wrong with their marriage. Fortunately, her husband was a reasonable man and accepted some of her reproaches. He promised to be more attentive in the future. But how could he do that while working long hours and frequently going on business trips? He said nothing about her wish to reduce his work load. They had sex on Sunday but it felt for Amanda like mercy fucks. The second time he even had trouble getting hard again in her mouth.
A few minutes later the cab had to wait at a red light and she saw to her utter surprise Kate Burns and Todd Walgren hand-in-hand crossing the street in front of her. They couldn't see her because she sat in the backseat of the car. The impression they made clearly indicated they were very familiar with each other. As usual they were on the way to the restaurant and the cab had to use this street to drive Amanda home from the hospital. She arrived at home without another outrage.
As her husband was on his business trip it gave her all the time in the world to muse about what she saw in the street. Could it really be that Kate, a 51-year-old woman, was one of the lovers of her 18-year-old student? She knew Kate very well because she had been her mentor when she started teaching at Berkeley 11 years ago. They were friends and occasionally talked on the phone. Kate lived in a rural community 60 miles away from Berkeley. Amanda knew Kate had owned a condo at Berkeley but she had assumed she had sold it after she had quit her job at the university. Amanda became professor a few months after Kate left.
She remembered their last phone talk at the end of September when Kate had told her her sex life was still an empty book. Amanda was comprehensively informed about the accident of Henry Burns. Now she contemplated Kate's sex life was no longer an empty book. She had to know.
Curiosity killed the cat and Wednesday afternoon when she knew Todd had just started another class she called Kate on her cell. First they exchanged pleasantries mentioning they should meet more often before Amanda asked her whether she still owned this condo. Kate said yes, and that she was at Berkeley at the moment. Yes, she seemed to be together with Todd.
Amanda asked, "I would like to meet you at Starbucks, Oxford Street, in 30 minutes. That's approximately the time we both need to walk there. I've something important to ask you." Kate agreed because Amanda's voice sounded flustered. Did it have something to do with her job? Did she have trouble?
Kate wrote a memo for Todd in case she would be late and left for Starbucks. She arrived there as Amanda just crossed Oxford Street. It was some time ago they met in person so they had broad joyful smiles on their faces when they greeted each other with a long, warm hug. They went inside and had to wait only 15 minutes to get seated. Fortunately this Starbucks location was a very big place. The barista was friendly when they ordered their favorite coffees and some oatmeal cookies.
Amanda couldn't wait any longer and asked Kate straightaway, "Do you know that Todd Walgren is by far my best student?" Kate reacted with an eyebrow lift because she hadn't expected this question from her friend. However, she was comfortable with it. An immediate suspicion aroused in her mind.
Kate decided that Amanda know something and answered truthfully, "No Amanda. We talked in general about his studies but not about his teachers. How do you know? Did Todd have a slip of his tongue?"
"No Kate, Todd is no such man. He didn't talk or brag about his sex life. A string of female students had cornered him, and the only thing he had said to them was that he is in no need of further female companionship. I believe it's an unconfirmed but plausible rumor that he is together with more than one woman. I just hadn't expected you were one of them. I saw you yesterday crossing the street with him when I sat in a cab."
"Yes Amanda, Todd is my dear lover since the second of October. He lives intermittently with me at my condo, AND...we are very much in love with each other. Now tell me. What are your intentions with him? Don't hold anything back. I've known you for years, and I see in your eyes you're smitten with him."
"My God Kate. This makes Todd an even bigger catch in every woman's eye that he managed as an 18-year-old boy to sweep a 51-year old sophisticated woman off her feet. Yes, I'm interested in him, but you know I'm married. I'm not permitted by my husband to take lovers. My marriage isn't in a good shape at the moment. I had a talk with my husband last weekend and he promised to be a better spouse. He is on a business trip this week so I have to wait until next weekend. I can't say how badly I want to invite Todd to fuck my brains out. I assume you wouldn't mind."
"No Amanda, I wouldn't mind. I have to share him with other women, and I'm doing this more than willingly. You also know I confessed to you a long time ago I have a lesbian streak in my veins. I can't say more about the other women, but what I can say is you're on dangerous ground contemplating sex with Todd."
"Why Kate? Is he demanding perverted things in the bedroom which would degrade me?"
"No that's not the case, provided that you don't look at anal sex as a perversion. Let me express it this way. Todd is a divine, skilled lover with a sexual prowess you won't find again. You'll have with him orgasms you've never dreamt about. He can make tender love to you or he can fuck you to oblivion. He can be hard all day long to be at your service with his huge cock. He usually makes all the women he had sex with his sex slaves, his sluts in the bedroom to pleasure him to the utmost. And don't think you can preserve your anal cherry in case you still have any. He'll nonchalantly fuck your ass before you can blink."
"My God, Kate. You play havoc with my befuddled brain. How can I resist Todd any longer with what you've just told me? By the way, my ass is still virgin territory. But there is this obstacle that he wouldn't meddle in a marriage without reason, whatever that meant."
"That I can tell you. You need either your husband's permission or you have to assure Todd in no uncertain terms that your marriage doesn't matter any longer to you; that he didn't have to feel guilty he had destroyed a marriage in case your husband finds out about your betrayal and seeks a divorce.
"Amanda you're a sensational woman in the prime of your womanhood at the age of thirty-eight. You still have a body to die for, and you look at least ten years younger than you are. I know how many suitors you have at Berkeley who would like to have a relationship with you.
"Look, you don't have nor want children which could hinder you to divorce your workaholic husband. Then you can let Todd fuck your brains out for the next four years with the possibility of having other men around you, too. He wouldn't be always available. But I assure you even one encounter with him in a week would be the event of the century you would never again want to miss.
"The year Todd will leave Berkeley you'll be 42 and that's young enough to seek for another marriage. The opposite of these options would be to do nothing and regret it for the rest of your life. Nobody gives you a guarantee your marriage will survive. My condo is always available for you in case you didn't mind my involvement. You don't have to do sexual things with me, but in case you would consider it I would be happy."
Amanda sat there red-faced and tried to digest what Kate had just told her. "Wow, I don't know what to say. This was too much information to comprehend it all at once. I think I need some time to make my mind up. Anyway I'll wait how the next week of marriage will proceed. Thank you my friend for your support. Please don't tell Todd that we talked. It would complicate things for me as his teacher."
They returned to a casual talk and when they were finished at Starbucks they parted with another big hug. Amanda promised Kate she would keep her up to date how her decision would progress.
Back at the condo she told Todd after passionate kisses like they had not seen each other for weeks, that a friend had called and asked her to lend her an ear to talk about some things. As always Todd wasn't the nosy person and didn't dig deeper. After a glass of red wine and some casual talk interrupted by loving kisses they put the prepared lasagna into the oven, and Todd helped Kate to arrange the mixed salad.