Thank you for your comments on the first chapter, which was quite a while ago. Sorry, but sometimes life interferes with plans.
My original intent was that it was going to be a stand-alone chapter with nothing afterward. But several comments were made that there were many directions that it could go. And I felt that if I stopped, then the introduction of Sam into the story was a waste of my time in writing it and your time in reading it.
So, I picked a direction. Hope you enjoy it. Like my other stories, it's long and slow but, descriptive.
There are references to Obstetrics Nursing, the Martial Arts Discipline, Karate, and PTSD in this and subsequent chapters.
I have personally experienced none. Everything here came from my research into the subjects. So, if I got something incorrect, or not quite accurate. Please just let it ride. This is for your, as well as, my enjoyment.
As always, everyone is over 18.
A brief recap of the first chapter, in case you don't want to reread it. However, reading the first chapter will set up the emotions, and understanding of the two main characters that will be playing out in this and subsequent chapters.
The main character, Bill, is a mechanical engineer employed by a defense contractor. He randomly meets up with an OB/GYN nurse, Sam, at a local Park District-sponsored karate class. They find an attraction, and have a casual first date, ending in a brief kiss.
The weekend after their date, Sam has plans for a family get-together, so Bill drives out to spend the weekend with his parents like he has many times before. His mom sends him into town to pick up some specialty herbal vitamins. It is there, that he comes face-to-face with his high school girlfriend, Michelle. Michelle broke his heart when she suddenly broke up with him, without telling him the reason. Alone, in the vitamin store, Michelle confesses that the reason she
had
to break up with him was that she had become pregnant, while he was away at school.
Bill and Michelle never did the deed, but they did mess around, as hormone-raged teenagers. He was terrified of her becoming pregnant and ruining their future, so he was still a virgin. Selfishly, Michelle convinces Bill that, while he couldn't be her first, they turn back the hands of time and spend an hour or so, giving themselves to each other.
As Bill leaves, he has mixed and conflicting emotions about their coupling.
.................................................
I got back into my weekly routine, although the Saturday afternoon with Michelle made it difficult to concentrate at work and
especially
in my alone time at night.
My mind drifted to what I said, as I left the store that afternoon. Did I love her, or was it just the cascade of emotions from our coupling coming out? Did giving her my virginity make her a lasting part of me, even though, she belonged to someone else? Like Michelle said, "You'll always remember your first time". And that my first time, was with my long-ago high school girlfriend, made it even more special and even more difficult, to just let go.
But I knew that I had to. I promised Michelle that I wouldn't do anything to upset her family, and I meant it. Being a small town, it would have been relatively easy to find her phone number and where she lived. I couldn't see myself as a 'home wrecker'; too many lives would be affected, and hurt. That's not who I am. Besides, we both knew that it was a one-time thing. I also knew, from her various comments, that the only thing that kept her in her marriage was her son, who she deeply loved.
As I lay in my bed, in the quiet of the night, I wondered what was going through her mind. Did she just leave everything in that room, when she locked the door on her way out that afternoon? Or was she as conflicted as I was? I would never know.
Lying there, the little voices in my brain at work. "Are you some kind of a moron? Why are you complicating the simple? Are you really that dense? Really that stupid?"
It was a rare moment of clarity when I realized the obvious, as a three-letter word came to me... Sam.
I knew that I would have a much less complicated life if I followed my instincts, and got on with my life. Leave Michelle behind. Yeah, what we shared that afternoon will stay with, and be part of me. But I wanted someone that I could grow with. Somebody, that if the stars aligned themselves right, I could be happy and content with. Somebody who I could love and, most importantly, somebody who would, unconditionally, love me back.
It seemed like a simple decision. A simple path. Sometimes, it pays to listen to those voices.
......................................
The first karate class after that weekend pretty much made me focus on something other than Michelle. It was a welcomed distraction. And then there was Sam, with her bright infectious smile, petite little body, cute little bare feet, her blonde hair pulled back in a casual ponytail, and bubbly personality, taking up a spot next to me on the mat. The spot that she had claimed as her very own. We each exchanged warm smiles, as we hadn't seen each other in a week.
Visiting our favorite bar after class, the group settled in and casually talked about nothing in particular. I found Sam, once again, sitting right next to me, as if marking her territory and claiming me. We were both wearing shorts, and at times our knees touched. I found it electrifying, as Sam never pulled away, whenever we made contact. It seemed like that innocent contact made her scoot over a bit. I saw some of the other women giving us knowing smiles, as they knew
exactly
what was going on between us. I have to admit, I liked it.
The rest of the group headed out again for some music and dancing. Sam and I stayed. It was the first time we had been able to talk since our last class. She had another early morning and a full day ahead of her, so she needed to make it an early evening.
Sam talked about her weekend at her family cabin. It was just her, her younger brother, her parents, and her one grandmother.
It sounded really nice. It was about three hours north, an easy drive on the interstate, and then about a thirty-minute drive to the lake. The more Sam described the cabin, the more I had the impression that this was
not
a rustic small log cabin in the woods.
It had been in her family for generations and shared by relatives on both sides. Over the years, many improvements and additions had been added. A six-bedroom two-story cabin on the shore of a medium-sized lake with about 150 feet of sandy shoreline that sat back from the sandy beach by about 100 feet.
Her dad had a ski boat, so she spent a lot of time water skiing during the heat of the day, when the fishermen were off the lake. Sam grinned as she said that she would swing side-to-side behind the boat, bouncing and jumping over the boat's wake on one ski. The fact that Sam sounded like a pretty accomplished skier didn't surprise me in the least. It wasn't that she was bragging, she was just being her relaxed and confident self. I loved it.
A vision of Sam in a bikini flashed through my fertile brain: long toned legs, flat tummy, her small breasts contained in her bikini top, and then there would be those firm buns of her butt against the tight material of her bikini. I don't know if she picked up on it or not, but I tried to maintain my concentration on what she was saying. I think I pulled it off. Still, that image stayed with me.
I told her that I had only skied once and that I lucked out and got up on the first try, but I was nowhere near being able to jump over the boat's wake. She just grinned, squeezed my arm, and said, "Maybe we can do something about that."
I asked if she fished... I mean the whole putting the worm on the hook, taking the slimy fish off the hook, scaling and gutting her catch. Sam looked at me with a puzzled look and matter-of-factly said, "Of course".
Somehow, I wasn't surprised.
The more I sat there with Sam, the more Michelle faded out of my mind.
I liked Sam. Our first date was fun. We seemed to be comfortable and relaxed around each other and it was growing. If I was going to make anything out of it, I needed to put the whole Michelle thing behind me, and move on, which I was eager and ready to do.
I went into my weekend at my parent's, away from the hustle and bustle, for some quiet time. Sam, had been raised in a small farming town, so, being away from the city for some quiet time of her own, was a familiar, comfortable, and relaxing thing for her too. She understood exactly, why I went out to visit my parents. I thought that if this goes where I was hoping it would go that, someday, in the not-too-distant distant future, I would take Sam out to spend a day there. And, yes, to meet my parents.
I wanted to see her again. Maybe, another casual date. She had already said that she was a Cubs fan.
"Sam, any plans for the weekend?"
Grinning at me again, "Nothing that I can't change. What do you have in mind?"
Again, it warmed my heart. If she had anything planned, that she would rearrange it, just for us to be together.
"Just thinking that, maybe, if I'm lucky, I can get us some Cubs tickets for Saturday. If not this Saturday, then maybe next Saturday, if you want to. We could take the train in again, and then take the ell up to the stadium. I've never done that, but it seems much simpler than the whole driving and parking around Wriggly Field. I'll talk to some of my coworkers about how to do that. If it doesn't work out for this Saturday, then maybe we can think of something else to do."
"That sounds like fun. I can't remember the last time that I was at a Cubs game. See if you can get the bleacher section. You know, with the 'bleacher bums'. I've heard that if you get there as soon as they open the gates that the food and beer are cheaper for a while. I've also heard that it's kind of like a big party out there, especially, later on in the afternoon, as the beer kicks in. Plus we can watch the Cubs do their warmups. I've never sat out there. I'm going to have to find a top to wear in all of the sun, plus get some sunscreen. Let me know what you find out."
As we got ready to leave, I got a nice warm full-body hug and a big smile.
..........................................
When Sam opened the door to her apartment that Saturday morning, my heart and my breathing stopped.
Up to now, I had only seen Sam in the karate Gi, shorts, and loose button-down blouses.
Today, Sam was dressed for a ball game. A pair of mid-thigh light-blue shorts hugged her firm bottom and rode nice and low on her hips. But what really caught my eye was the elastic tube top. It looked like an eight-inch-wide white Band-Aid had been stretched across her chest, molding to each of her firm half-apple-sized breasts that looked to be nice compact A's. Her abdomen was flat and smooth, showing the results of our classes. And then there was that cute little belly button.
I had never seen this much of her smooth skin, from her shoulders and upper chest to her bare midriff. Topping it all off, was the circular red, white, and blue Cubs logo resting between her beautiful little mounds. Her hair was pulled back into a casual ponytail.
"Wow, Sam. You look spectacular."
"You like?" as she broke into a broad beaming smile and did a three-sixty, "I decided that if I'm going to a Cubs game, I needed to look like the die-hard Cubs fan that I am."
