Beginning a Relationship

This is a prelude to 'Nursing a relationship'. That was my first story released here on Literotica, written to get something out there fast. Even though it was surprisingly well received (especially with the grammatical errors it contained) I felt that something was missing and this is an attempt to rectify (some of) that.

I have tried to keep the same style but I'm not sure that I have managed, after all my writing have (hopefully) evolved since then.

There is no descriptive sex so if that is what you want you might wish to look elsewhere.

There is a gay character in the story and the description of him is quite clichéd. That is on purpose for the ironic effect and not with any intention to hurt anyone. I hope it will be clear from Randy's behaviour that I don't judge anyone for any reason as long as no one is hurt.

Halin24

*****

The 'Recreation and Leisure' faculty on campus wasn't like anything Randy Goodman had dreamed about when he had decided to continue to a higher education. Being a generalist by nature he was not tempted to try economy or technology to build his future: you had to concentrate on one rather narrow field within those areas to be competitive and it didn't suit him.

Recreation and Leisure had the same tendencies for sure, so has every line of work in the modern society, but the development had not yet gone too far there. The faculty did not have the high status at the college that provided good facilities and updated equipment though, and that disappointed him.

Dance class for example, was held in a mouldy moist and rather chilly former basketball court (basketball had a new, very nice building) where the sound echoed around the concrete, making it difficult to concentrate on the music streaming out of disrupted speakers that seemed to be at risk to fall to the floor at any moment. Even the teacher, Mrs Barnes, seemed to have given up despite her apparent love for every form of dance.

So far they had covered most of the usual dances practised in Europe and America, from waltz via square dance to disco. Randy also loved dancing, all of it, although his repertoire had been limited before he got there. He preferred jitterbug but anything that involved moving around with a partner was more than okay, the newer varieties - dancing by yourself more or less - were less in his taste.

In dance classes, really in

all

his classes, he represented a minority, men. For every man there were three or four women, in dance the ratio was even one to five. It didn't hurt his popularity that he was one of only two guys that was good at it and knew what he was doing. In fact Mrs Barnes used him as an extra teacher, pairing him with one of the women that struggled.

At 22 Randy had enough experience to not look at women as objects, possible 'one-nighters'. Not that he said no if he had the chance to be with one, he was a man after all and temptation was hard to fight, but he was looking for more than a quickie. Since he discovered girls there had been half-a-dozen girlfriends but the last 18 months there had been only one: Madeleine.

It had ended two weeks prior when she had declared that it would not lead anywhere, she wasn't in love with him but would love to remain friends and nothing more. A hard blow, straight between his eyes or possibly between his legs. He loved her, of that he was certain, but it wasn't much he could do about it. Begging was not in his repertoire so he simply told her that he did love her no matter what but if that was how she wanted it to be, so be it. They shared no classes and he hadn't seen her since then, both to his delight and dismay.

He desperately wanted to see her, all the time, but knew it would hurt if he did, so maybe it was for the best after all.

When the music stopped in this particular dance class, Mrs Barnes gathered everyone around.

"Listen up! We have gone through all the usual recreational dances that is somewhat common today in this country. You should at least know how to teach the basics in all of them but since you

all

know at least that much there is no point in continuing the practice within this group. Therefore you will have to go elsewhere, and your assignment for the coming month is to visit dances, on or off campus, and teach people what you know! You all get 25 forms to fill out, one for every person you teach, and they have to sign it. No-one in this class will be counted as a subject and the form specifies what dance, where, when, who, previous experience and degree of pleasure among other things. To motivate you further there will be a penalty if you don't manage this in a month: a doubling of the amount needed to pass! I will also contact some of the persons for deeper questioning. Dismissed."

They all took their bunch of forms and left for the showers.

Randy foresaw no problems with the assignment, on the contrary. He had after all visited every dance he knew about on campus and although he wasn't exactly good looking in his own view he never had a problem finding women to dance with. True enough he had gone with Madeleine most of the times, but in this case it would be a plus to be alone, of that he was sure.

The first opportunity was no more than two days later, that Friday. He had already decided to go, a little worried that he might meet Madeleine but they

would

meet sooner or later, that was a fact. Not having a date felt strange but he had his assignment, so Friday evening he dressed up after a shower and close shave.

Celia Norton wasn't happy, and true to her habit she let it show:

"Fuck you Dan!" she screamed to her boyfriend "How the hell can you stand in front of me and say such a thing? We've been together six months,

six fucking months

, and going out on a date you tell me it isn't to be with me but to see an

old

girlfriend!?"

"Celia honey, don't exaggerate now. I

am

going with you, I'm only saying that I will spend some time with her too. We were together in High-school, she was my date to the prom: we are old

friends

!"

"Are you saying she means nothing to you? That you haven't fucked her? That you would never consider fucking her ever? Is that it? She just

happens

to come here, asking to meet you to chat about old times?"

Though her voice was calmer it was clear that it was only temporary if one of the answers should turn out to be the wrong one, and even if they were all right there were no guaranties.

"Of course she means something to me: we're old friends! When it comes to fucking, yes we have, several times. She was my first, and if I didn't have you and if she was here all the time I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. I love her... as a friend I mean."

"Dan, you have five minutes to gather what things you have here and

get the fuck out!

Do you understand what I'm saying here:

We are through!!

"

He tried to argue, to make her understand, repair the damage, but she stared him down. He gathered the few pieces of clothing he had in her room and walked to the door.

"Just remember that I

never

take back a girl that breaks up with me. Never! We are really through now, bitch."

He left and closed the door behind him but it was opened again before he had taken more than five steps. Smiling to himself he turned around, expecting to see a regretful Celia beg him to come back. It would be a new record, less than five minutes, but he knew he had everything women wanted: looks, charm, money, future. It would cost her dearly to get him back, a threesome with his brother perhaps?

Celia stood leaning against the doorpost, something held between two fingers, something small and shiny. She threw it in a slow arch to him, easy for him to catch.

"You forgot this Dan. I have no use for it and you can just change the name inside. Bye."

Celia smiled at him, returned inside and closed the door softly. Dan stood holding the thing she had thrown. A ring. Her ring,

their

ring. The ring with both their names in with a heart in between. He stared at the door a moment before he turned around and left. There was nothing to say any more.

Celia sat down on the couch to watch TV, sipping wine from a glass. The thought of Dan entered her mind, how his smile had vanished and turned into surprise, almost shock, when she threw the ring to him. She was well aware that she had ended it in rage but as soon as it was done and he was out the door she had become very calm again, remembering the ring on her finger.

Sometimes it scared her how fast her temper flared, only to calm just as quickly. Lucky thing she wasn't at least violent any more. She remembered that it had been different when she was a little girl. The boys in kindergarten had stayed away from her, not because she was a 'slimy girl' but because she beat them up if they irritated her, and they often did.

Her thoughts returned to Dan. Had she done the right thing? He was handsome, rich, athletic... adequate in bed, not a bad kisser. Too bad he was an arrogant ass-hole at times. Not often but too often: once was too often for her! Taking her out to dance and then saying he wouldn't be around much because an ex was in town... Yes, that was too arrogant, she had definitely done the right thing. A pity though that she had to be alone on the couch now when her room-mate wasn't around. It was always nice to have company even if it didn't end in bed.

Randy looked over the forms that was already signed: Beatrice, Petra (oh yes, the Swedish girl! Very nice but a bit too aware of it), Sandy, Andrea, Rosalita (the beautiful Mexican girl, a pity that her boyfriend had been the jealous type), Fredric (

that

had been different, gay and totally out of control, but oh so funny), Matilda...

Eight more cards to fill and that was after one week only. Piece of cake. He smiled as he read their comments. According to them he had 'talent, charm and it'. Fredric had added 'Sexy!' and laughed as he kissed and left. Maybe that was because it had been a Slow-fox, a very closely held Slow-fox.

Randy had clearly felt the erection pressing against him, but being very very straight he hadn't either reacted himself or been upset about it. Short of being raped nothing would happen and being a head taller and with thirty kilos of muscles more he wasn't intimidated by 'Freddie'.

He wondered what Madeleine had thought. She had been there, had asked for a dance later when they met, but when Fredric had approached him to be introduced to Slow-fox - and Randy had agreed - her eyes had flashed before she turned around and walked away. He hadn't seen her again after that.

Tonight's party was smaller, over at the architects faculty. Since his room-mate Frank was one of the organisers Randy had been invited as partner to one of the single women, a blind date for both of them in reality. It didn't matter, there would be dancing and free drinks for him, and Friday was the start of the weekend. He most definitely would appreciate it.

Celia was unsure what to wear for the evening. She had never - as far as she knew - seen the man that would be her escort. What if he showed up in jeans and t-shirt? Or a tux with polished shoes? It would be impolite to outclass what he wore but disrespectful not to equal his level. She decided to make a call to the faculty and ask Frank.

"Hi, Celia here." she said when he picked up "I have to ask you: what will my escort wear? I want to match him without going too far, and since I don't know him..."

"I don't know really, but I can tell you this much: since there will be dancing he won't wear a tux but something comfortable to move in, but on the other hand he is invited as your partner for the evening so he won't dress like a slob either. He has good taste in clothing but won't overdo it because he loves dancing and hates to be locked in by the clothes."

"But what should I wear?"

"Something comfortable and nice. Be prepared to be exhausted on the dance floor."

A moment of silence, then she said:

"He is straight, right?"

"Why? Are you going to fuck him right away, on the dance floor?"

"Fuck you Frank! I'm thinking about dress-codes!"

"Sorry. Yes, he is straight but I think that his ex girlfriend might think otherwise since a week or so."

He laughed heartily as he hung up. Celia wondered what that was all about but time was running and she had to get ready.

Randy rang the doorbell at the address Frank had given him and waited. He could hear the sound of running feet through the door but nothing happened. Then the door was opened and a plain looking but still cute girl stood in the doorway. She had on a long black dress and high heels. The shoulders were bare and the top of the dress revealed a cleavage that made him think about Grand Canyon for some reason. He wasn't impressed by that, it was simply too much, much too much.

'Well, I can live with it for one night' he thought.

"Hello, I'm Randy, Randy Goodman. I'm the guy Frank arranged for to escort you to tonight's party."

"No, I don't think so. Sorry!" the girls said.

What!? Had she turned him down without telling anyone?

"Uh... You're not going to the party with me?" he said.

"Nope, definitely not, I'm waiting for someone else to go to another party."

What the hell? He felt that the anger was on the rise. This woman was a bitch: she actually stood and smirked, almost laughed at him.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" she added when he was about to turn around and leave "Come inside and have a seat, Celia will be ready in five."

"You're not...?"

"No, I'm Beth, her room-mate. You will see the difference soon enough, believe me."

She showed him to the couch and asked him to sit down, offering a beer as she did so. He said 'no thank you', thinking that something stronger would have suited him better to quiet the last remains of the anger he had felt. Had she toyed with him on purpose or was it just a misunderstanding on his part? Didn't matter much now if he could just relax and calm down.

A door was opened behind him and he turned around. An angel stood there, a tall curvy angel dressed in red. Red pumps, red knee long wide skirt, red long-sleeved blouse. Nails and lips were also red, everything in the same nuance. The long hair in his own dark blonde colour flowed down over her shoulders in thick waves.

His throat was dry as parchment all of a sudden and as he stood again he knew he should have accepted the beer.

The guy sitting on the sofa, half turned towards her, wasn't the 'dream prince' every girl hope to meet. No, but he definitely had something to him. When he stood up it was with smooth grace. He filled out his white suit quite well and it was obvious that he was fit. No bulging muscles but there weren't much fat either. 'Be prepared to be exhausted on the dance floor' Frank had said. Yes, she could well believe that it was a possibility. His face reminded her of someone with that long curly hair down to the shoulders framing it. What was it: Zeppelin, Nazareth? No, that was stupid, he wasn't a rock-star in any way, but still that hair...

"Are you Celia?" he asked and the tone was a bit on edge.

"Yes,'I'm Celia. Celia Norton."

"Randy Goodman. Sorry about the question, but I thought Beth was you and she said no and I... Sorry again, I'm rambling. It's a pleasure to meet you, you look... beautiful."

Was he disappointed? She could swear he had been about to say something else than beautiful. Oh, fuck it, it was only for tonight. If he could actually dance that would be good enough, if not... if not it was still only for one night.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Absolutely! Sorry that I let you wait but I'm all ready now."

"I though that we could walk there since it is only a short way. I hope you don't mind?"

"Not at all. I love to walk and the trees in the park are so beautiful now with all the colours."

She took a short jacket, also red, from a hanger to put it on but he hurried to take it from her, holding it up. She slipped into it and smiled.

"Thank you!"

He had style and was polite. Maybe this would be a pleasant evening after all.

They talked a bit on the way over to the ball-room, short comments about the autumn's colours, a few questions about respective studies, place of birth and things like that.

When they arrived he helped her with the jacket, hanging it in the wardrobe. As they passed the table with drinks he asked what she preferred and poured two glasses of red wine, giving her one and taking the other himself.

The music was turned down low, only a soft whisper in the background. The room was rather crowded - they were obviously among the last to arrive - and with all students at the architecture faculty invited with a partner it wasn't surprising that there was hardly room to move.

Randy saw few faces that he recognised: Frank of course and a handful of women he had danced with once or twice. Then he was hugged from behind and turned around in surprise: Fredric stood there smiling from ear to ear.

"Randy, my darling! I'm so glad to see you here, and with Celia too! You are both absolute

darlings

! Nice dress Celia, looks great on you. And Randy, very nice suit! Looks very soft, fits beautifully, made for dancing, right? Maybe I can persuade you to have a Slow-fox with me later? I'm here with Thomas, also an absolute darling, but unfortunately he is a bit shy to dance with me among others, know what I mean?"

"Sure we can dance later if Celia doesn't mind, but I don't understand why this Thomas won't dance with you? After all, if I can do it why not him?"

"You know, I don't understand it either, after all girls do dance with girls all the time when us guys refuse, but he won't do it. You won't mind if I borrow Randy from time to time, do you Celia dear?"

"Of course not Fredric, maybe I can 'borrow' Thomas and dance with him, then we can switch if he agrees."

"I would love that! See you later then!"

When Fredric had walked away Celia stood watching Randy with a smile she couldn't hold back on her lips.

"So, you are one of Fredric's friends? I had no idea."

"Hardly a friend. We have danced exactly two times before and been together for maybe fifteen minutes in all."

"Fifteen minutes? And that included two dances? Oh my, you two are fast I must say. Was it good?"

Randy blushed when he understood what she was hinting at.

"No, no, it wasn't like that!" he hurried to assure her "I'm straight! We have an assignment to give dance lessons to 25 people, Fredric asked if I could show him Slow-fox and I though 'why not'. We filled in the form the rest of the time."

"Randy, I'm teasing! I don't care if you are gay, straight, bi or whatever: It's none of my business. Besides, I like Fredric. He has a good heart and is funny to have around. Kind and polite too. But tell me, Frank hinted that your ex girlfriend might think that you weren't all straight: was Fredric the cause of the break-up?"

"No, it ended before that but she saw us that evening when he asked me for a dance, then she disappeared without a word."

The music was turned up and a rock classic from the late 50's was mixed in to the previous tune.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"By all means, this is my style." Celia answered.

It was a fun night without unnecessary inhibitions. When a tango started to play -obviously a joke - Fredric made a beeline for Randy with pleading eyes. It was his favourite but he seldom got the chance to practice it. Celia backed away nodding to Fredric and Randy laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. Most couples opted to take a break so the two guys had the dance floor almost to themselves. In the middle of it Celia put roses between their lips, laughing like crazy, and as Randy looked around he noticed that they were surrounded by a crowd, everyone watching them.