By midday, Kathy had managed to have a shower and some breakfast. Her shower was interrupted with another orgasm as she masturbated to thoughts of Tim. She was still wrapped in a towel when the phone rang. She grabbed the phone on the first ring and said "Hello" quite breathlessly.
"It's nice to know that you're still alive."
"What? Who is this? Oh, hi Diane, I'm sorry I was expecting someone else."
"Someone named Tim, I'll bet. I'll be right over for the details, OK?"
"Oh, yes please, I'll be at the door in a flash."
Almost as soon as she hung up the phone, Kathy heard Diane's knock on her door. Since Diane lived just above Kathy, the stairs were the quickest way to get between their separate apartments. Kathy opened the door and Diane just stared at her.
"Well, are you coming in or are you just going to stand in the hallway?"
"My God, Kathleen O'Riley, you are positively radiant. That must have been some fuck last night."
"It was fucking marvelous and he is marvelous at fucking. You'll just have to wait your turn."
Just then the phone rang and Kathy leapt to answer it on the first ring.
"Hello. Oh, yes, darling, I slept quite well. In fact, I've only been up for a short while. Thank you for the lovely note, it really made my morning. How was your golf game? Oh really, that's wonderful. How about dinner here. I'll fix us a good old American dinner, OK? Yes, 6 would be just fine. Bye, love, see you soon."
"Love? Darling? My, my, things are moving along really quickly, it sounds like. So tell me what happened last night."
Kathy walked towards her bedroom and Diane followed her.
"It'll have to be the short version because I still have to get to the store."
"OK, OK, so tell me. TELL ME!"
Kathy began dressing and talking at the same time. Several times she paused as the feelings Tim had generated in her caused tiny aftershocks to rock her body.
"We went to Southbank for drinks and a bite to eat. By the time we got there, I had this feeling that we were really going to hit it off. We talked for hours... until they kicked us out at 2 am. Just before he opened the car door, he kissed me AND I HAD AN ORGASM RIGHT THERE!"
"Oh, Diane, it was unbelievable!"
"Then he asked if we should go here or to his place. I said I would be more comfortable here. When we got to the door we kissed again and I came again. I was trembling so hard I couldn't let go of him to unlock my door she he just held me until I calmed down. Then I said something silly like "I think you had better come in". I swear, Diane, once we were inside the door it took no time at all to get each other undressed and race to the bedroom."
"I haven't got time to tell you all the details but he was absolutely marvelous. I came at least four more times before I fell asleep and I know he came at least twice. My God, I'm sore all over this morning and I love it. We woke up again later and made love more slowly and then I crashed. I don't remember a thing until I woke up about an hour ago. He left about 4:30 this morning and left me a wonderful note."
Kathy was dressing and talking so quickly that Diane didn't get even a chance to comment. She was listening intently to the story Kathy was telling her and getting excited at the same time. When Kathy finally ran out of steam, Diane began her inquisition.
"Are you sure about all of this? You two hardly know each other."
"It only seems that way, Diane, but believe me this is right. I can tell you right now there is nothing he wouldn't do for me or that I wouldn't do for him. I can feel it in my bones. I just know you will love him as much as I do when you get to know him a little better. Do you want to go to the shops with me?"
"Sure. Maybe I'll get the long version while we shop. I don't suppose you've told him about our arrangement yet, have you?"
"No, I haven't. Do you mind if I wait a few weeks to see if this really is as good as I think it is before we drop that on him? He's really open minded about most things but this hits pretty close to home, you know."
"I guess not. On the condition that you really tell me every last sexy detail of what goes on between you two so I'll have some idea of what I'm getting myself into."
Tim was a few blocks from Kathy's apartment building when he heard the sirens. He identified the sound as a fire engine coming towards him and, a few seconds later saw the approaching ladder truck. The fire truck turned into the side street where Kathy lived and Tim immediately snapped his right foot to the floor. The little car squealed in protest as he charged through the corner. He tapped the brake to set up for the next corner, still hearing the fire siren.
As he swerved around the corner, he spotted the fire engine stopping outside Kathy's building and a knot of people on the front lawn. Tim slid to a halt at the curb about 100 yards behind the fire engine. He bolted from the car, running towards the group and searching for Kathy with his eyes. As he approached, he saw someone waving from the right side and realized it was Diane, so he changed direction to head for her. Thirty feet away, Kathy broke through the crowd and ran to him, arms upraised, tears streaming down her face. Tim stopped and caught her in his arms, asking if she was all right as she flung herself into his embrace.
"Yes, yes, I'm OK but your dinner is ruined."
It took a few seconds for the fact of her statement to sink in, so he hugged her tight and then started to laugh.
"I don't care about the dinner, love, it's you I'm concerned about. What happened?"
She kissed him and he could feel her calming down so he waited patiently for his answer.
"I'm not really sure. I was on the phone with Diane and suddenly there was all this smoke in the kitchen. I yelled to Diane that my kitchen was on fire and hung up. She called the firemen. The smoke was so thick that all I could do was grab my purse and get out. It couldn't have been three minutes later when the fire truck pulled up and then you arrived. I don't understand. I was just cooking dinner."
She cried then, burying her face in his chest, her body racked with sobs as he held her close.
"We'll find out soon enough. Did everyone else get out of the building?"
"Yes, I think so. Mine was the only apartment actually on fire."
She backed up a little and looked him directly in the eyes, terror welling up in her own eyes.
"Oh, Tim, what if my whole apartment is burned up? What will I do? Where will I go?"
"With me, love, with me. Come on, let's see what's really happening before you scare yourself some more."
Tim began to steer her towards the spot where Diane stood watching the commotion. As they approached, Diane breathed a huge, audible sigh of relief.
"Boy, am I glad to see you, Tim, I couldn't handle her anymore."
Tim hugged Diane with his free arm and kissed her lightly on the mouth.
"Thanks for saving her, Diane. Are you OK?"
"My pleasure. I'm fine, thanks for asking."
Diane remained comfortably in Tim's embrace with Kathy held securely in his other arm. The three of them stood linked together waiting, as the firemen worked inside the building. Ten minutes later, the firemen began to withdraw from the building, coiling their hoses. The fire chief came toward the group of onlookers and asked whose apartment was in the center of the problem. Kathy raised her arm and the man walked over to them.
"You're very lucky. The fire was contained in the kitchen although there is smoke and water damage in the other rooms."
"Apparently the stove overheated and melted the circuits. My men are closing off the electrical wiring now and we'll soon have power restored to the rest of the building. It'll be just a few more minutes before you can go back in but don't use any appliances until you've had an electrician repair the damage. I'll mail you a copy of my report for your insurance claim."
When Diane asked about the other apartments, the chief stated that he didn't think there was any outside damage, except for a little smoke damage, that is. Once the electrical circuits were checked, they could all go back inside as normal. Twenty minutes later, as darkness began to fall, Tim, Diane, and Kathy ventured into Kathy's apartment.
The kitchen was gone, scorched walls and ceilings, counter tops warped, table and chairs charred.
The living room had several inches of water and the smell of smoke was overwhelming, even tho the windows had been open for some time. Kathy looked around, then sagged into Tim's arms as tho it was too much to bear at the moment.
Tim left the girls standing in the doorway and sloshed thru the water into the living room for a closer look. He noted the few pieces of furniture were all legged and stood well above the water level, only the lower level of the bookcase seemed to really have any damage. He sloshed into the kitchen, then into the bedroom. The bed itself and the dressing table were above water level but the clothes on the floor of the closet were probably a write off. Everything was laden with the acrid smell of electrical smoke. All of the fabrics would have to be cleaned before they could determine whether they were salvageable or not.
He called to Kathy to join him in the bedroom.
"The things in your dresser are probably OK, love, but the rest of this will have to be washed or dry- cleaned to see if we can remove the smoke smell. Just collect a change of clothes for now, if you can, and we'll come back tomorrow for a better look."
"Timmy, I don't have contents insurance. It was too expensive. I guess that in hindsight it would have been cheap. How am I going to pay for all of this?"
"Kathy, leave the details to me. You just concentrate on finding something worth taking with you now."
"Are you sure?"
"Do you really think I'm going to let a little thing like a fire come between us?"
"No, I guess not. Thank you."
Kathy turned and spotted Diane grinning at them from the doorway and waved her to the dresser to help her find her clothes. After a few minutes, they managed to collect a small bag containing mostly underthings. When they reached the hall doorway, where Tim was talking to the building manager, Diane put her arm around Kathy and loudly offered to have Kathy stay with her.
"Thanks, Diane, but I need to get away from this smell. Tim has offered to let me stay at his place tonight and I have accepted."
Tim breathed a sigh of relief as he heard this conversation. Although he had been reassuring in his offers to help, he really hadn't directly invited her to stay with him. He was immensely pleased that she had announced the fact to Diane without consulting him.