Thanks to Linda, Selma, John, and Jen for reviewing this story.
All rights reserved.
Sept. 20
Dear Diary, in most ways today was normal. Work was o.k. and I goofed off when I got
home. I had a strange call from Jim, one of my fellow workers. He suggested that I check
out "The Story" by Cedrick the Conqueror on Literotica. He said that I might like it. I
went to the site and found that it was erotic short stories. I didn't bother to open up the
story. I don't know why he wanted me to read erotica. It isn't as if we are close or
anything. He's a bit of a geek but seems to be harmless. He's geeky enough so that I
doubt he has a steady girlfriend. But, I shouldn't talk. Two months ago I found my
boyfriend, of two years, living with a blond slut; and dumped him.
Sept. 21
Friday, at last! The work day went by rather quickly. I had an interesting problem to solve
in the lab. Jim asked me if I had read the story yet. I told him no, and that I wasn't sure I
wanted to. He just smiled and said "I think you will."
When I got home I realized that I needed to do the laundry as well as a stack of dishes
that have been "aging" in one side of the sink. Ugh. Why do I let things slide? Oh yeah, I
like to procrastinate.
Sept 22
With fall coming soon I had to do a lot of garden work today. Many bulbs had to be dug
out and carefully stored for the winter. I bought half a bushel of corn and got it bagged
and in the freezer. I also got a bushel of peaches and made spiced peach jam, peach jelly,
and peach preserves.
After all that work, I was ready for a long hot bath and bed.
Sept 23
Church was good today. It was the third Sunday of the Month and we had a coffee hour
after the service was over. Some of our church members can really cook. One of them
made raspberry tarts! Oh, were they good! When I got home I ate and did the crossword
puzzle in the Sunday paper. By mid afternoon I was a bit bored. I didn't feel like doing
much of anything so I got on the computer to surf the web. I don't know why, or how, but
I suddenly found myself on the Literotica site with "The Story" by Cedrick the
Conqueror sitting in front of me. I figured, what the hell, I'm already here, I've got
nothing better to do, I'll just read it so Jim won't keep bothering me at work. The story
was short, and; I don't know how to put it. Disturbing, exciting, too close to home, or
maybe a little bit of all of them. I decided to print it off and include it in with today's
ramblings.
The Story
Copyright 2008 by Cedrick the Destroyer
My name is James had a problem. It seemed insurmountable for the longest time. I was
secretly in love with a gorgeous, smart, and nice woman at work. My problem is that I
don't handle rejection very well. It took me two years to get over losing my first steady
girl friend. I swore I wouldn't fall into deep emotional attachment again. Then I met her.
For convenience I'll give her a fictitious name; let's call her Sharon. One of my hobbies
is writing erotica. One night the solution hit me. I'd write a story about how I'd treat my
secret love. The problem was that, as far as I knew, she didn't read any erotica. I decided
to write the story anyway. It goes like this.
It had been a long hard day at work. A rush job had come along. There had been a
reported failure in a satellite component that we had built. The panic was that we needed
to determine what had failed as well as how and why it failed. Sharon had problems
concentrating that day. As it turns out she had found out that her boyfriend was cheating
on her. She looked like she was devastated. I helped her as much as I could and then
suggested that I prepare dinner for us at my place. She wasn't interested. I changed tack,
I suggested that I bring over the stuff for the meal cook it, and clean up after it. It took
some persuading, but she finally agreed to let me come over. She finally admitted that she
needed to do shopping for food and just didn't feel up to it.
I arrived at her place at 5:00 p.m.. I brought my own cooking tools, plates, silver, and
crystal glasses. (I used the good stuff that I normally only use for big family affairs.)
Anyway, I suggested that she relax while I prepared the meal. I told her that it would take
two hours, but would be worth the wait. She agreed and I started to cook. Now, this may
sound strange, but I love cooking. I'm also a very good cook! Tonight's meal was to be
cheese stuffed baked potatoes, peas, tossed salad, and T-bone steaks. I had brought a
blue cheese vinaigrette for the salad and a nice light wine to go with it. Dessert, I
purchased. I love Napoleons but am not a very good pastry chef.
At about 7:15 I had set the table, gotten the food all plated and called to Sharon that it
was ready. You should have seen her face when she saw what was on the table.
"James, you shouldn't have. This is a much fancier meal than I would ever have by
myself. Why did you go to so much trouble."
"Because I really like you Sharon. To me, you are a very special person. I realize that
you don't think of me that way, but the meal starts to show you how I feel."
I'm sure My face turned deep red as I said that. I held out her chair for her and brought
the chilled wine to the table. There wasn't a lot of talking for the next twenty minutes or
so. I kept hearing "mmmmmmmmmmm"s and such from Sharon. As I said before, I am a
relatively good cook. As we finished the main meal I told her that dessert was one of my
favorites, but I hadn't made it. You should have seen her face light up when I brought the
dessert plates with the Napoleons on them, over to the table.
As we finished, I told her to go relax while I did the cleanup. She did exactly that, for
about ten minutes. While I was washing the dishes, including the dirty ones that she had
from earlier in the week I sensed that I was being watched. I turned around and saw
Sharon standing in the doorway. She had a puzzled look on her face.
"Tell me again: why did you go to all this trouble?"
"Actions speak much louder than words. I really, really like you and wanted to please
you."
"How long have you been thinking about doing this?"
This was now getting a bit uncomfortable. "For about two years or so."
"Why didn't you hint that you liked me?"
"I have been rejected, one too many times, in high school and in college. I form deep
feelings and it takes an incredible length of time for them to heal. My last rejection was
five years ago and I am now mostly over it. ...... Maybe I've already said too much. I
hope I haven't offended you."
Sharon just stood there for a minute or two. To me it seemed like hours.
Sharon had a lot to think about. She had known James for two years now and he had
never done anything to hurt anyone. In fact he had gone out of his way to be as helpful as
he could. As far as she knew, he didn't spread gossip or look for "one night stands", or
such. How did she feel about this situation. He was a good cook, and had gone out of his
way to make a wonderful meal for them. She had no current boyfriend. James wasn't
overly good looking, but he wasn't ugly either. She had seen, at work, that he was a
gentleman. In one case she knew of he had helped one of the production line workers who
had been hurt. Her blouse had been caught in a moving machine and it had been ripped
off. She was bruised and only had on a bra to prevent everyone from seeing her breasts.
James, who is on the safety team, immediately brought in a blanket. He held it up so that
he could only see her face. He wrapped the blanket around her and then treated the
wounds to her arms. He didn't have to do that. But it was obvious that he wanted to.
What did she feel? She didn't know, but she wanted to find out more about this strange
man.
"Can I help you with the dishes?"
James wasn't sure he had heard right.
"This dinner was for you, you don't have to help with the dishes."
"But, I want to."
With a big smile on his face, James handed her the drying towel. "I'd love your
company."
When the dishes were done Sharon invited James into her living room. She put on some
music. Her choice was Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto. James immediately smiled
and said: "I love this piece. The first music recording that I ever bought was in seventh
grade. This was the piece and it was played by Leonard Pinario. I've all but worn out
that recording. Did you know that Rachmaninoff had been through a bout of melancholia
and had some psychiatric/hypnotic help to regain his confidence to write music? This is
the first piece that he wrote after his treatment."
"No, I didn't know that. How did you pick that information up?"
"Well, music has been my refuge of choice when I am lonely. When I got to college I
decided to have two minors. Music was the second one."
"Do you play any instruments?"
"I play at the piano a bit. I just don't have any natural talent at it."
As they listened Sharon could see that James was essentially lost in the music. He didn't
listen to it as if it was background music; he Listened to the piece. Sharon liked that.
After the concerto was over, James got up and said: "I had better gather my cooking stuff
and head home. It's getting late and I'm sure that you have other things to do than to
just talk with me."
Sharon helped him bring his stuff out to his car and wished him a good night. He smiled
and said: "Maybe we can do this again some time, if you want."
Sharon found herself saying, "I'd like that."
****************************************************
Late the next week Sharon had an accident at work. She had been lifting an instrument
off one of the upper shelves and hadn't expected to be as heavy as it was. She kept from
dropping it, but badly wrenched her shoulders and back. At the end of the day she asked
James to drive her home.
When they got in Sharon, who was obviously in pain, said: "I need to ask a big favor. I
know I can trust you. I don't have any women friends that I can trust as much. I need to
have muscle lineament rubbed into my back and shoulders. This isn't a come-on, this is a
true need. Would you help me?"
"Yes, of course. Tell me exactly what you want done and how you want it done."
"I need to go into my room and lay face down across the bed. I'll obviously have to
remove my blouse and bra. When I am face down I want you to bring in the liniment that
is in my medicine cabinet over the sink and gently work the muscles for me."