Author's note: The story of Laura's and Tommy's relationship thus far is covered in
"Laura's Fire", published in the romance section
"Being Free Together", published in Lesbian Sex category
"Love Thy Neighbor", published in Exhibitionist and Voyeurism category
This is an independent sequel but reading at least "Laura's Fire" first might be a good idea.
All comments and ratings are greatly appreciated.
-#-#-#-#-#-
They bought a small house at the outskirts of Chicago. Tommy set upon renovating it like he always did. Laura worked on her writing like she always did. This was the way of their nomadic existence, they moved around depending on where they found the next project to spark Tommy's interest. Chicago was a good place to be, because it was the location of Laura's publishing company, and she was able to meet her publisher and editor in person for the first time.
Her editor was called Mark. He was in his thirties and extremely interested in her writing. He was thrilled to meet Laura, and kept suggesting she should give out interviews and host autograph sessions in bookstores to elevate her public status. He was adamant her work should become better known to a wider audience.
"But Mark, it's porn, it's hardly going to be mainstream entertainment even if I participated in every talk show in existence," she argued.
"Well yes, but 'Lighter Times' could easily be cropped to a format suitable for book clubs," he said, referencing her latest book.
"He's right, you know," said Helen. She was her publishing agent, fifty six years of equal parts literary excellence and ruthless businessman. The three of them were having lunch at a downtown restaurant.
"Book clubs? Like something marketed to bored housewives?" Laura asked. She was amused now. "I don't know, I thought if you took the smut out there's not much point to my stories."
"I disagree," said Mark. "And maybe the raunchiest housewives would buy the real deal after familiarizing themselves with your prose."
"Yeah? Well work out a proposal, I'll think about it," Laura said. "It's not that I'm against the idea, I just didn't think there'd be potential there."
"Oh, we will," said Helen. "Here's to book clubs and bored housewives!"
They cheered with their wine glasses.
Laura discussed the idea with Tommy that evening. He was tired, it had been a tough day at the house, and he absentmindedly said it sounded good.
Laura sighed. They had been together for six years now and she thought their routine of having no routines was indeed turning into a routine. They'd buy a house and then there'd be these same stages in the renovations he did. She knew almost down to an hour when he would be tired, when he would have to wait for something or other, and when he would need her to help him with something. It wasn't boring per se, but it wasn't as adventurous and exciting and unpredictable as it had felt with the first few houses they had done.
Their relationship had stabilized as well. In the beginning it had been exhilarating to have someone to share her life with, and what was an essential part of it, her sex life. It had been terrifying as well, but mostly exhilarating.
She was interested in sex, but for the most part of her life it has been almost a theoretical endeavor. She had a birthmark covering part of her left cheek and her ear, and in the small town she was from it had ensured a lonely adolescence of being teased and shunned. In university she had dated some, but she could well say her sex life hadn't really started before she met Tommy.
Both of them harbored a love for erotic literature and it provided a great source of inspiration for things to try out. They had found out they didn't want to actually do a great many things that aroused them when reading about it, but there was a certain fulfillment in the process of trying. It was emotionally very satisfying to have someone who was interested in the same things, who was ready to work to fulfill your fantasies, who had the same open attitude towards most things and who you could trust with your desires.
Well, now the testing was largely done. They had gone over a vast array of kinks and inclinations, fantasies and sex toys, and had pruned it down to a set they were both satisfied with. Their lovemaking was still very satisfying, but lately things had started to show signs of winding down in that department as well. They loved each other, Laura had no doubt about that, and maybe it was just time to move on to something that wasn't quite as promiscuous and virile as before. She was forty one now and he was forty eight and she supposed this would have had to happen sooner or later anyway.
"You need help with the scaffolding?" she asked.
"Yeah, tomorrow, if you would," Tommy said. "Thanks."
Laura smiled and finished her soup. Tommy was a decent cook and once again dinner had been excellent.
—#—#—#—#—#—
Autumn turned to winter. Laura met with her publishing personnel regularly now that she was staying in the same city, and they lured her into hosting a few autograph sessions and even one meet and greet with readers. Tommy accompanied her to the first events and she was grateful for his support. She found out it wasn't as terrifying as she'd feared. Her readers seemed to be a pleasant crowd, hardly any of them were creeps and some even provided well thought of ideas and suggestions that actually inspired her.
She was working on her next book. It was well underway but still a long way from completion. She met with Mark regularly and they went through the script together. It was gratifying, he raised good points, and getting to work with him now instead of over a finished script was inspiring.
Mark started flirting with him, or maybe he had been for a while before it became so blatant she picked up on it. She wasn't accustomed to this kind of attention, but it did feel nice. She returned the flirting, or thought she did.
For some reason she didn't talk it over with Tommy. They weren't strictly monogamous, they'd had different setups in the past, some shared group experiences and some that hadn't included each other. They had always talked it over in detail, before and after. Now Laura didn't feel like sharing, and there wasn't anything to share, was there? Tommy was absent minded, he had some difficulties realizing his vision for one of the rooms, and they didn't talk much of anything before going to sleep in the evenings.
Once Mark came by the house and Laura introduced him to Tommy. She noticed for the first time that the two of them resembled each other, Mark could've been a younger version of Tommy. They were both tall and had dark hair and brown eyes. Tommy was muscular and the renovation work kept him lean and his hands rough and calloused, whereas Mark was softer and slimmer due to the bookwormish nature of his profession, but Laura thought they were otherwise eerily similar.
To her amazement Tommy didn't seem to like Mark.
"I think he's a bit sleazy," he admitted when Laura asked him about it. "But if you're fine with him then so be it. It's not like I'm required to work with him."
"Weird," Laura said. "I think he's kinda like you could've been when you were younger."
"Maybe that's why," he said and kissed her. "You've forgotten I was a sleazeball when I was younger."
She laughed. He had a criminal past, had even been in prison. Now all of that was far behind, even his parole had ended, and all that remained were tattoos on his arms.
—#—#—#—#—#—
They got invited to a New Year's party at the publishing company. They attended, and Laura thought Tommy looked weird but exceptionally good in his formal clothes.
All went well for about two hours. Laura had been hesitant to come, she was wary of crowds due to being teased so much in her childhood and youth, but as they mingled with other writers and publishing personnel she relaxed gradually. These were all sophisticated people and didn't show any reaction to her birthmark and even less did they mention it. They were interesting people and she had some interesting conversations.
Tommy didn't have such a great time. He had hurt his leg the previous week, and now all this standing and mingling in the crowd was getting to him. He asked if she would be alright staying by herself, and she reckoned she would be. She could always take a cab and follow him if it got to be too much.
"Here, I'll give you this for midnight," Tommy said and kissed her.
"Oh that's nice," she said. "You better give me another in case I lose that one."
Tommy laughed and kissed her again, even longer. And then he left.
Laura sighed and turned back to the crowd. She decided to go find another glass of champagne and someone to talk with, and try to have fun for once. They moved around all the time, they didn't have friends in the usual sense and usually didn't attend any parties, New Year's or otherwise. She supposed the publisher hosted these parties annually, but who knew where they'd be in a year.
She talked for a while with a poet whose books she had actually read. The poet wasn't familiar with her work, but Laura wasn't offended, she didn't think her work was mainstream enough to be widely acknowledged.
Closer to midnight she realized she had maybe exaggerated with the champagne, she was positively inebriated. It didn't feel so bad, she was giggly and had an easier time coming up with things to talk about with all these strangers. She was very nearly enjoying herself.
She hooked up with Mark just before midnight, when she was trying to find her umpteenth glass of champagne. He was as drunk as she was, and they were laughing together as they tried to make their way across to the terrace on the roof to see the fireworks. Mark held her by the arm to steady her, or maybe them both, and when they were out he looked around.
"Did Tom leave already?" he asked.
"Yeah, he hurt his leg last week and didn't want to stand so much," Laura said.
"I don't know how he thought it would be a good idea to leave you here alone," Mark said and looked at her. He was quite close, and now he wrapped his arms around her, presumably to warm her up.
She knew he had been flirting with her but she hadn't taken it seriously. He was much younger than her and besides they had a professional relationship. She hadn't had that many professional relationships with men before, but she had an inkling the situation was now rapidly progressing towards nonprofessional territory.
"What do you mean?" she asked a little nervously.
