Life in a Small New Hampshire Town

Life in a Small New Hampshire Town, Pt. 5.

The beat goes on. Lots of drama in this one.

This is a continuation of my 'Small Town' saga. This can be read as a stand-alone story, but reading the earlier chapters will give you a fuller understanding of the characters and their motivations.

If you are looking for graphic a slam, bam, thank you ma'am story, this is probably not for you. If you are willing to let the story build, you'll be rewarded with romance, sex, drama, and, what I hope is an engaging storyline, with compelling characters. Everything portrayed in this story is a product of my imagination.

My gratitude and thanks to both my anonymous friend and Pepere for their editing skills and perceptive suggestions. Any and all errors are mine and mine alone.

Monday, Sept. 24, 2018

Chris

Derrick met us at his house, told us that he was selling it, and that we were going to clean and paint it this week. He offered the four of us employees any of the furnishings that we wanted. Although I was living at Shiloh's and didn't need anything, I knew that Tom's place was somewhat sparsely furnished, as he had just moved there. I picked out a nice-looking leather recliner, a floor lamp, a bookcase, and a Kitchenaid mixer. I wasn't sure how he would react, but figured that I'd find out. I called him to see if I could stop by that evening. We agreed on 6:00.

***

I went up and knocked on the door since Tom's car was there when I arrived. He asked, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this evening?" after he hugged me and let me in.

I now realized the awkward position that I had put myself in. We had only had two dates in our budding relationship. Arriving with furniture was rather presumptuous of me. It had somehow seemed like a good idea this morning; not so much now. I might as well just be honest with him. I nervously started,

"Derrick told us this morning that he was selling his house and offered his employees any of the furnishing that we wanted, as he and Olivia, sorry, your mom, were going to live at her place now that they were married. I hope that it wasn't too inappropriate of me, but I picked up a couple of things, that I thought you could use, as it's pretty clear that your former place was a much smaller apartment. They're in my truck outside. I can store them at Shiloh's if I'm out of line here."

Tom looked at me with a bewildered look on his face for a few seconds, which quickly turned into a smile. He started down the stairs ahead of me, so he didn't see the relief on my face.

He said, "Let's go see what you've got," followed by "Let's get it all upstairs." After he looked in the truck.

I guess that I didn't screw up too much. We carried everything up to his apartment. Tom seemed pleased with the recliner, as he set it in the living room and plopped himself into it when we were done carrying things up.

"I appreciate your bringing these here. I know that I'm going to enjoy this chair. I'm curious about the mixer. It's sort of the odd one out."

I blushed a little. "My mom and Shiloh both have one and consider a good mixer essential to own. Derrick said that there already was one at your mom's place. Again, you don't have to keep it."

"No, it's great, actually. I've been trying to build up the minimal key tools a cook should have. A good stand mixer was on my wish list, but was an extravagance that I wasn't yet ready to splurge on. This kitchen is large enough to store it, so thanks. Are you interested in dinner, nothing fancy, just a stir fry?"

"Sure. Need any help prepping it?"

I said, "Thanks for the meal" after we ate. "I probably should get going. Would you like to get together next weekend?"

"Yes. Let's talk later in the week when we have a better idea of what the weather is going to be and make plans accordingly."

Wednesday, Sept. 26

Tom

"Hi, Chris. The weather looks decent for the weekend. Are you still doing the Farmers' Market?.... You'll get home by 1:00. Why don't you come over after that. Are you up for a little hike to see one of the local sights?... No, it's an easy one, maybe 20 minutes in.... No, that would spoil the surprise..... Just wear jeans or whatever is comfortable, but bring a change of clothes since we'll be going out for dinner afterwards.... You can shower here. Bring clothes for tomorrow if you'd like to stay over. See you when you get here. Bye."

Saturday, Sept. 29

Chris

Shiloh and I finished the Farmers' Market, returned home, and unloaded the van. I picked up my overnight bag and headed to Tom's. He said, "Glad to see you, Chris. Let me grab your bag," after letting me in.

He did, taking it into the bedroom.

"I thought that we could have dinner in Greensboro after our little hike. Since we already ate at A Taste of Thai, the other two I like are the Café Amalfi and Cocina Mexicano. Do either sound appealing?"

"Both, but Shiloh and Erik are going to Café Amalfi tonight, so let's do the Mexican place."

"It's 2:00 now. We should be back here by 4:00 to 4:30. Allowing time for showers and a half hour to drive there, what time would you like me to make a reservation?"

"Let's say 6:30, to give us a little time cushion."

Tom made the reservation and we headed for the trailhead. There were no other cars there. It was unmarked unlike most trails in New Hampshire, and looked more like a path than a trail. It followed a small river most of the way. We arrived at the base of a small cascade after 20 minutes.

"What a beautiful spot. Besides that you obviously grew up here, how did you know about this place?"

"It's well known to most locals. Notice the pool at the bottom of the cascade? The water rushing down has scooped out a nice swimming hole over eons. It's a great place to come to cool off in the summer, and it does have one unique feature."

"Don't leave me guessing. What?"

"There are unwritten rules to this place. Mondays and Wednesdays are reserved for girls to go skinning dipping. Tuesdays and Thursdays are for boys. Fridays are co-ed for young people. Saturdays are clothed family days and Sundays are adult male and female mixed company skinny dipping. The final rule is that no cameras or phones are allowed."

"And this actually works?

"Absolutely. There's infrequently someone who tries to break the rules, but they are inevitably caught. It's usually some young horny teenaged boy trying to spy on the girls. His parents, preferably his mom, will get a visit from a group of fathers or older brothers. If there is a camera involved, it often ends up in the water. That usually ends it, but he then gets a visit from a couple of the Sheriff's Deputies if it doesn't. That's only necessary once every few years and has lasting effects. Although it hasn't happened since I've known about this place, rumors or urban legends have it that an adult male who gets caught spying on the girls will be visited by a contingent of pissed off adult males who will have a 'chat' with him and then leave him a mile or so out of town, naked, with 'I am a pervert' painted on him, front and back."

"I'm amazed. I don't remember anything like this where I grew up. I assume that you've been here to 'swim'?"

"It's considered a rite of passage here in Appleton, so yes."

"And...?"

"And this discussion is ended."

I couldn't help but smirk at how Tom evaded answering that last one.

"Maybe we should visit here one Sunday next summer, Tom."

His turn to smirk.

"Who owns this place anyway?"

"Believe it or not, it was willed to the town of Appleton by the former owners, with a legal stipulation that 'it be continued to be used as it historically had been' in perpetuity. That was back in the 1940s."

"The town selectboard and Sheriff agree to this?"

"They all grew up here and presumably partook of the activities. The rules are pretty clear. Appleton is still a small town. It's pretty much self-regulated, another unique benefit of life in a small town"

We headed back to Tom's, took showers, dressed, and drove to Greensboro. Cocina Mexicano was nearly full. We started with beer, tortilla chips, and guacamole while we waited for our entrees. I decided on chicken fajitas and Tom had fish tacos. We ordered their Cocina salad to share.

"I found that waterfall and its unique history fascinating. Does it have a name?"

"Myer's Falls. However, it's often referred to just as 'Myer's' or 'The Falls'."

"We'll have to check it out next summer."

Our entrees arrived, so our chat diminished as we ate.

"Tom said, "I've always liked this place. The food and service is consistently good and I like the up-scale feel of the décor and white tablecloths and napkins," as we were relaxing with our after-dinner coffee.

"Thanks for suggesting it. I'm full. Tomorrow's supposed to be clear and in the high sixties. Are you interested in a hike somewhere?"

"How about Henry's Knob? It's just under 3000 feet, and has a restored fire tower with panoramic views."

"What's the trail like?"

"I call it moderate."

"I'll have to go home to pick up my hiking boots."

We decided to stroll around town a little after dinner was finished. I saw Shiloh and Erik exiting on to the sidewalk, holding hands, while we were walking across the street from Café Amalfi. Shiloh had a big smile on her face while animatedly talking with Erik. It's good to see her happy.

We set off for home, I'm already thinking of Tom's place as home. I readily agreed when he asked if we should stop to pick up a bottle of wine.

"Make sure that you select one with a cork. I want to see the remarkable cork removing skills that you couldn't impress me with last week."

Tom laughed as he looked at the label of a Sonoma Valley Zinfandel. "How's this?

"Well, the label's pretty."

He laughed again as neither of us had much experience with wine. I paid for the wine since Tom had insisted on paying for dinner. I settled into the left corner of the couch after arriving home and using the bathroom, while Tom made a great show of slicing the foil seal off, twisting the corkscrew in, and carefully removing the cork.

"Ta da! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we professionals remove a cork from a wine bottle."

He gave me the cork to smell and poured a splash of wine for me to taste and approve. Two can play this game.

"Hmmm. I detect a hint of flamboyancy, highlighted by a bit of showmanship, and with undercurrents of grandiosity."

"Well said, Mademoiselle."

He poured us each a glass and sat down beside me on the couch.

"You don't want to use your new recliner?"

"I've actually used it every evening this week, but why would I set over there when you're over here? I still have the Netflix movie,

Ocean's Eight

, that we didn't watch last week."

"Sure."

Tom started the movie, snuggled up close to me, clinked his wineglass to mine with a 'Cheers' as we settled in to watch it. He wrapped his arm over my neck and pulled me in closer, lightly massaging my neck and shoulder. I put my hand on his left thigh, mirroring his massaging action. I detected a bit of squirming on his part about halfway through the movie, and realized that his erection was bulging his jeans right next to my hand. I had to assume that it was a reaction to me since

Ocean's Eight

isn't exactly a rom-com. That certainly was an ego booster. I reached over and started stroking him.

"I am going to come in my pants if you keep that up. I'd much rather save that for a little later."

I gave him one final squeeze and said, "Okay, but I get to play with it later."

I would have unzipped him, grabbed his penis, and led him to bed if it was up to me, but we had all night and it was a good movie. I did leave my hand on his thigh. He moved his hand from my shoulder and started caressing my thigh. I could feel myself getting wet, along with my nipples hardening. The movie reached its climax and, I was hoping to soon reach mine by then.

Tom shut the TV off, put the DVD in its envelope, re-corked the wine bottle, and we moved into the bedroom. I used the bathroom first. Tom had turned down the bed and lit some candles in my absence. I undressed and slipped under the covers. He snuggled up against me after undressing.

Tom

Just sitting next to Chris during the movie had gotten me excited. She didn't help matters once she started stroking my hardon. She did stop when I asked, but I didn't help matters by moving my hand and kneading her leg. I realized that I needed to lose my erection in order to use the bathroom as the movie approached its end. I moved my hand back to her shoulder and concentrated on the final scenes in front of me. It worked enough so that I wasn't too obviously hard when I stood up. Enough stimulation had ended while Chris was in the bathroom and I got the bed ready, so I was successfully able to empty my bladder.

My erection returned in full force as soon as I got under the covers and embraced her. She obviously felt it against her and reached down to stroke me again, gently spreading the pre-come seeping out over and around my glans.

"You know that you created a sex fiend last weekend. Having sex for the first time at age 22 was exhilarating and eye opening. I want more. I've been thinking about it all week, reliving what we did, wondering about what else that we can do."

Chris had explained that not having sex was the result of a lack of opportunity, not any moral or religious belief. I tried to be careful last Saturday, as I knew that it was her first time. She was immediately raring to go again after we made love the first time. We did, and twice more on Sunday morning.

"I really enjoyed it when you gave me oral, more than enjoyed it. I want to return the favor."

"I did that because I like doing it and to bring pleasure to my partner. It's a good form of foreplay to ensure that a woman is ready to make love without having to resort to artificial lubricants, but I don't do it as a quid pro quo. You'll find that many women don't like to give blowjobs at all, while others feel forced to do it by their partners. There's also the fact that semen has a reputation for either having a bad taste, texture, or both."

"You're not going to talk me out of it, Tom. I really want to try."

Chris moved down between my legs with that, and tentatively started lick the pre-come off my head.

"Let's compromise a little. I'll warn you when I'm close, and there may not be much warning. Finish me with your hand, not in your mouth this time. You can decide what to do then if there's another time."

Releasing me for a second, she said, "Okay. Do you have any preferences?" then returned to swirling her tongue around my glans.

"Avoid using your teeth. My most sensitive parts are in the first couple of inches, so there's no need to take me deep into your mouth. Holding my shaft in one hand will both keep me from thrusting too far in your mouth, and also add some extra stimulation. you can also gently caress, massage, or squeeze my balls with your other hand. The emphasis is on gently."

She looked up, made eye contact, and mumbled something without taking me out of her mouth, then closed her lips around my penis and started applying some serious suction and head bobbing. I wasn't going to last long with all that stimulation, and soon experienced that feeling in my balls, signaling that the inevitable was about to happen.

"Very soon. Off now," I said as I pushed her shoulders down.

Chris removed her mouth, spit on my shaft and rapidly gave me a hand job while massaging my balls. I was ejaculating spurt after spurt of come all over my chest and belly seconds later.

Chris

"That was amazing. I like it."

I used my finger to pick up a little of his semen, moved it to my nose, smelled it, then licked my finger clean. Not as good tasting as his pre-come, but not as awful as some of the descriptions that I had read online.

Tom

"That was really fantastic, Chris."

I reached over and grabbed some tissues to clean myself, then went into the bathroom to complete the job. Chris was under the covers when I returned.

"Make love to me, Tom. I'm ready."

I did. It was slow, passionate, and ultimately satisfying as we both peaked at the same time.

September 30 thru December 7

Chris

It was a busy time. We got Derrick's house ready for sale, which was quickly consummated. The garage and the new equipment building at Olivia's were completed. Derrick, Olivia, Shiloh, and Erik purchased the restaurant building from Phil and Sherry. The Appleton zoning board approved the permit to convert the empty space adjacent to the restaurant to the music venue that Erik proposed. Erik practically moved in with Shiloh and I did move in with Tom.

December 8 thru December 31

Chris

Derrick was not significantly changing the restaurant, just making a few updates. The most noticeable was to expand the kitchen into the empty space next door so that it could also serve the night club side, then he temporarily moved tables into the club side while we cleaned, repaired what needed it, and painted the restaurant side. This allowed the business to operate during renovations, albeit not quite as efficiently. The other major change was to install a drive-up window for carry out. Phil and Sherry stayed on until the new kitchen was up and running, and everyone felt that Olivia and Derrick were experienced and comfortable enough to run the place without them. They then left town to retire somewhere warmer.

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Chris

We had moved back into the restaurant space. I went and had a coffee with Olivia on my morning break.

"I assume that you are going to need another server with Sherry gone. Have you found one yet?"

"No. Why, are you interested?"

"No, but I have a good friend from home, my age, who has worked in restaurants since starting high school. I know that she has expressed interest in leaving the town we grew up in."

"Give her a call by all means."

Friday, January 4

Chris

"I spoke with Amy last night, Olivia. Her days off are Monday and Tuesday. She could come up Monday."

"Mondays are usually slow, so that works for me."

"You'll like her. She has several years of experience, is friendly, and works well with both staff and customers."

Friday evening.

"I have a favor to ask, Tom."

"Ask away."

"My friend, Amy, is coming up from downstate to apply for a server job at the restaurant on Monday. I was wondering if she could sleep on the couch rather than driving all the way home that night. It will also give me a chance to catch up with her."

"Of course. Let's plan a meal."

"I thought that we could go out for dinner. My treat."

"Let's stay here. It will be quieter, probably be more relaxing, and we can share some wine without having to drive home afterwards."

I got up and gave him a big hug.

"Thanks, Tom."

Monday, January 7

Olivia

A very tall young lady approached me in the lull between the breakfast and lunch rushes, read my nametag, and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Amy Powell. I believe that you are expecting me."

Amy was impressive to look at physically. She was about six feet tall, definitely an athlete who still worked out, was African-American, and my first impression was that she led with her smile and exuded friendliness.

"I'm Olivia. Glad you meet you. Would you care for some coffee?"