(Note: Charlotte is a character that appears first in Women Only Pool and Women Only Pool Ch. 2. That said, you don't need to read that to follow this story.)
If you had told Charlotte a year ago that she would date a man for ten months without having sex, she would have laughed in your face. Yet that was exactly what happened. Not by her wish, but by his. If it was up to her, they would have started doing it a long time ago. She had had a lot of sex before, especially in college, and she had nothing against banging a man on the same day they met. On the other hand, he was a virgin who was committed to saving himself for marriage.
Fortunately, they had just gotten married. The ceremony had just ended half an hour ago, and they were on their way to a cabin where they would spend their honeymoon. Unfortunately, the drive was taking forever. He was driving while listening to the radio, while she was listening to a book on tape through earphones in the passenger seat. She couldn't wait to rip off her new husband's clothes and fuck him into oblivion. God, it was going to feel so good. He had no idea what he was in for, and she was going to love showing him the wonders of sex. She felt a tingling between her legs as she had this thought for the umpteenth time. Wait, calm down. Focus on the book. But it was so hard to focus on that while her hot husband sat right next to her in the driver's seat. Instead, she reflected on how it had all began. She first met Zach at the library...
``What do you mean you don't have the Hunger Games?!" Charlotte asked the clerk. "It's not like it's a new release." She was not an avid reader, but she had heard enough good things about the Hunger Games that she thought it was worth the read.
"We're sold out. I mean rented out," the librarian said. "Sorry."
"Never mind, I'll just go to a bookstore."
The librarian winced. "I'll put you on the list, and I'll tell you as soon as one is available. What is your name and phone number?"
"Nah, I would rather have it now." She made to leave.
But as she turned around, a male voice called out behind her. "Hey, wait."
Charlotte turned to find a young man sitting up in his chair. He was holding up a book. It was Catching Fire, the second book of the Hunger Games series. Charlotte walked over to his table. "I have a copy," he said, pulling out the first Hunger Games book from his backpack. "Do you want to borrow it?"
"That's a library book," the clerk said. The book was in fact labelled library property. "You should return it."
"I was about to do that," the man said. "But it seems more efficient to give it to her, don't you think, Evelyn? She was about to check out a copy anyway."
"I suppose that's fine," Evelyn said. She turned to Charlotte. "The book is due in two weeks." She went off, presumably to go mark that down.
"Here," the young man said to Charlotte as he handed her the book.
Charlotte grabbed it. "Thanks." She gave him a once over again. He wasn't bad looking. In fact, he was quite handsome. "What's your name?"
"I'm Zach. How about yourself?"
"Charlotte," she replied. "Do you come to the library much?"
"I'm here all the time," he said. "Reading never gets old. What about you? I haven't seen you around here before."
"Yeah, I've never been. I just heard so many good things about the Hunger Games that I had to see what all of the fuss was about."
"It's a great series. That's why I'm reading it again."
``You're rereading it?!"
"I mean, you rewatch shows you really like, right?"
"Sure, but,... okay, I see your point. You mind if I read here?"
"By all means. And I can loan you book two when you finish." He gestured to the many open seats around him.
She sat down in one of the seats one table over. She opened the Hunger Games and started to read. But she also periodically watched Zach. She was hoping to catch his attention and flirt with him. More out of habit that anything else. That was how she interacted with a lot of men her age. But he was so absorbed in his book that he didn't even look over to check her out. Had he forgotten about her? Then Charlotte went back to her book and lost herself in the story.
Before she knew it, three hours had gone by. She was getting hungry. Zach was still completely absorbed his book. A book he had read already. There was something Charlotte found attractive about that. "Hey," she said.
"Oh, hey," he said. "What's up?"
"I'm hungry. Do you want to grab dinner?" she asked.
He gave her a once over. Finally, he was checking her out. "You mean like on a date?"
"Yeah," she said. "It's on me. I owe you. You got me the book."
He shrugged, which was not the gesture she was hoping for. But he agreed. "All right," he said.
Charlotte took Zach to a nearby diner she found on her phone. They started chatting about their jobs. Zach was a book critic. He wasn't exaggerating when he said he never got tired of reading. Reading books and publishing reviews on them was his job. Charlotte told him about her job as a software engineer. She liked it and was pretty good at it, but it wasn't a huge part of her identity, at least not as much as his job was to him. He spent a while recommending various books to her and trying to get her more into reading, but he wasn't too persistent about it. Still, she remembered a couple of books she would probably like to read in the future.
They agreed to go on another date.
They went out to dinner two more times at different types of restaurants. Zach asked her where she was in the Hunger Games and they discussed the various plot points. with her telling him what she liked, and him telling her about what made it so good from a critic's point of view. They seemed be connecting really well. He didn't give off any signs of being a jerk or having a girlfriend on the side. She had run into that before unfortunately.
The only problem was that he wasn't making a move on her physically. She touched him several times on his shoulder and arms, and he just smiled like it was nothing. Finally, she kissed him after their third date, although she had to initiate it. She wanted him to invite her in, but he just said good night and closed the door.
When she finished the Hunger Games, she came to the library in the middle of the afternoon, hoping he would be there. He was. He should really just rent a room at the library. He practically lived there already.
"I finished book one," she said.
"Great. How'd you like the ending?" Zach asked.
"The ending was intense."
"I know, right." He pulled out book two from his backpack and handed it to her.
She read the title of the book on the table that he was reading: A Discovery of Witches. "Is that a paranormal romance book?" she asked.
"So what if it is?" he replied.
"Isn't that stuff like um..."
"Beneath me as a literary critic," he filled in. That was exactly what she was thinking. "You're thinking of Twilight. This is like Twilight for sophisticated adults." He smiled.
"Oh." She laughed. She liked his sense of humor.
"I was thinking. You want to do dinner and a movie tonight. At my place?"
Finally, she thought. "I'd love to," she said.
Charlotte wore a tank top and jeans. She checked herself in the mirror to make sure she was showing enough the right amount of cleavage. Not too much that she gets arrested, but enough that her breasts attract a little extra attention. Then she drove over to his place. She brought her pajamas and toiletries too, but she left them in the car. At least make him think he has to work for it.
He opened the door when she knocked. She could smell food cooking on the oven. Was that salmon? She followed him into the kitchen, where salmon was being grilled on a pan. He opened the oven and looked inside.
"The potatoes are almost done," he said.
"I like a man that can cook," she said.
"This isn't 1875. I don't have servants to do it for me. I have to learn to cook so I don't starve."
She laughed. Then she sat down at the table awaiting her meal. In ten minutes, he served both of them a plate full of grilled salmon, roasted potatoes, and broccoli.
She took a bite of salmon and potatoes together. "Damn, you're a good cook."
He waved a hand. "It's nothing special. You just grill or roast them for the right amount of time.
"You'd be surprised how many people mess that up," she said.
He laughed at that. It was a joy to make Zach laugh.
When they finished dinner, he put in the movie. It was some Japanese cartoon she had never heard of. It didn't really matter what the movie was. She had been in plenty of spots like this before. He would act like he invited her here for the movie, but really he wanted to get in her pants. In that respect, it was mutual. Ten minutes in, they would forget about the movie and start making out. Then he would take her back to his room and have sex with her. As he sat down beside her on the couch, she prepared herself to focus on the movie for five or ten minutes until he was comfortable, and then she would distract him.
Except that was not what happened. Instead, the movie spirited her away. In fact, that was the title of the movie: Spirited Away. In two minutes, she had forgotten all about her plans to make a move on him and was completely invested in Chihiro's journey into the spirit world. In the end, the mature girl that emerged from the spirit world was practically unrecognizable to the spoiled brat who entered it.
He caught her slack-jawed staring at the credits. "Good movie, huh?" he said.
"Incredible," she said. "I've never seen anything like it."
"It's by Hayao Miyazaki," Zach said. "He's the only one who makes movies like these. I can show you some more of his movies sometime."
"I'd like that," she said. Then she leaned in for a kiss, and he obliged her.
Their lips pressed against each other, and she wrapped her hand his back. This was a better kiss than last time. Although he had more to learn. She would be happy to teach him all about kissing. And about female anatomy. They continued to make out. Right when she grabbed his hand to guide it to her breast, he broke away.
"I have to go the bathroom," he said. He got up and went to the bathroom.
Zach seemed like the type who had trouble reading intentions, so it was time to make her intentions clear. She got up and pulled off her tank top. Then she removed her socks. She unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them off too, leaving her in only a bra and panties. She had worn red for both as she heard that was the color of underwear men found most attractive. She thought about pulling off her panties, but she wanted to leave him a least a little suspense. The best gifts were wrapped after all.
