Sketches of You, Part III - (Allegro Molto)
A story about love, hope and a dog named Sebastian
This is the third part of a three-part story, so I would strongly recommend that you read PARTS 1 & 2 before tackling this one. At over 60k words, and with more of a focus on "Lit" than "Erotica," I realize that it won't be everyone's cup of tea. That being said, if you're still with me after reading the first two parts, I hope that you enjoy this concluding segment.
As I mentioned in the preface to the previous parts of this story, this is my first attempt at writing a longer piece like this, so any feedback your inclined to share is always appreciated.
CGN
Chapter 7
It felt good being back in Charleston.
On the drive from the airport, I reflected on how quickly my sense of home had shifted. Despite having grown up and having raised my family in Boise, it was Charleston that now felt like home to me. I couldn't wait to see Alison and Lexie, even though I had talked with them both almost every night while I was away. Alison was like an adopted daughter to me, and I couldn't have loved Lexie more if she were my own flesh and blood.
Jim and Justine, my friends who had taken Alison, Lexie and me in when we had first come to Charleston, continued to insist that we stay in their nanny suite, which was actually a spacious three-bedroom apartment that covered the entire ground floor of their house on Sullivan's Island, an exclusive enclave of Charleston on the Atlantic coast. I had offered several times to move out, either by myself to give Alison and Lexie more space and privacy, or to find a place of our own as a trio, but Jim and Justine would hear none of it.
Truth be told, if it was just Alison and me, I think they would have been fine with us leaving, but Justine had adopted Lexie as her surrogate granddaughter, and she did not want to give up their daily adventures on the beach. I was just as happy to stay with Jim and Justine, as over the past year, the five of us had really begun to feel like a found family.
My younger daughter, Molly, came to visit us as often as she could, given that she was in college in Seattle and the flight to Charleston took over five hours. Despite the distance, however, she had become very close with Alison, they texted all the time, and she video called with Lexie at least once a week to catch up on all of the hot pre-school gossip.
My older daughter Sandra was still more distant with me than I would have liked. When she started to reconnect with her biological father, Braedon Jameson, she pulled away from her mother, my ex-wife Kelly, and me. I still loved her, but she had always been reluctant to face difficult emotions and so had simply avoided the two of us since the divorce. I did get the occasional text or email update, but that was all. I really missed her but didn't know what I could do to bridge the gap between us.
As spring moved towards early summer, the restrictions on in-person meetings began to loosen. So much so, in fact, that on one of our weekend walks my pseudo-girlfriend, Hali, broached the idea of us going out on an actual date. She was a paediatric surgeon, who I had met early on in the pandemic, so most of our interactions to-date had been socially distanced.
"So, what do you think, Richard? Were you planning on asking a girl out, or are we just dog walking buddies?"
On reflection, I decided that I quite liked the idea of going out on a real date.
"I was planning on picking you up at 6 o'clock on Saturday and taking you to dinner, if that works for you."
"Ooh, a man who knows what he wants. I'm looking forward to it."
When we got back to the house, I sat down with Alison to ask for her advice on my upcoming date.
"It looks like I am going on my first date in ... well, I guess it's really my first date ever ... on Saturday, and I have no idea what to do. I am worried that I am going to mess it up."
"I am not exactly an expert on dating, myself," replied Alison with a laugh.
"I have been on precisely zero dates, and the boys aren't lining up around the block to be with a single mom who is just starting college. But let me do a little online research and see what the experts have to say."
It turns out that by "experts" Alison really meant Molly, as later that evening I got a call from Seattle, and she spent over an hour grilling me about Hali and the date. Over the next week, Alison and Molly conspired to get me ready. They helped me pick out some nice but casual clothes I could wear and scouted some restaurants that looked romantic. By the end of the week, I felt as ready as I would ever be to step into the world of dating.
In some ways, the date itself was anticlimactic. Going against the advice of the internet experts, I brought Hali some flowers. My ex-wife, Kelly, had always loved it when I brought her flowers, so I figured I would give it a shot with Hali. When I picked her up from her condo, Hali was wearing a light green cotton sundress with a floral print and her shoulder length blonde hair was pulled up in a gravity-defying style that was half-up and half-down. She thanked me for the flowers and complimented me on my suit (Alison and Molly approved). After putting the flowers in some water, she took my arm, and we made our way to the restaurant where I had made reservations.
Our conversation over dinner was light and relaxed, and we had a lovely time before going back to her place and fucking like crazed animals until the small hours of the morning. It wasn't how I had imagined our first date ending, but I can't say that I was disappointed.
I was pretty nervous when we got back to Hali's condominium. All of my previous sexual experiences were with one person, my ex-wife, and I thought that might be a showstopper. My worries were unfounded, however, since Hali knew exactly what she wanted, and was not at all shy about sharing that information with me in a direct and graphically informative way. I found the situation to be both hilarious and hot as hell.
The only problem was that Hali expected me to be equally graphic and clear about my needs and desires. She loved talking dirty and encouraged me to be as loud and vocal as I wanted. After a few minutes of frustrating silence on my part, however, she said that we needed to take a short break. She got up, put on a sheer robe and went to the kitchen to get us each a glass of wine.
I was sure that I had screwed everything up, and that my lack of experience was going to be an insurmountable issue for Hali. I began to get that familiar feeling that I was not good enough—that I was inadequate and unwanted. I started to gather my clothing from the floor and was putting on my socks and underwear by the time she came back in the room.
"Are we done already?" Hali asked, sounding both hurt and disappointed.
"I'm sorry ... I just don't have a lot of experience. I feel terrible for disappointing you ..."
Hali cut me off with a stern voice.
"Don't be ridiculous, Richard. You would only disappoint me if you left now. A lack of experience just means that you have fewer bad habits I need to break," she continued with a laugh.
"So, you really don't know what you like in bed? Because if you don't know then it's pretty hard for you to tell me what you want, what you love, what turns you on. Great sex comes from great communication, and life is too fucking short to not be having great sex."
