The Smell of Her

Steven was running late. Gary, his boss, was a hard-ass, and would be on him all day if he was even a minute late. Steven wondered if Gary knew that Steven and his co-workers called him Dysentery Gary behind his back, the name coming from a song. The server handed him his cup of coffee and Steven rushed out of the coffee shop and out into an overcast Vancouver morning. Not thinking, he took a sip of the coffee while it was still too hot, burning his tongue.

"Shit!" he hissed.

He got into his car and left the coffee shop behind. He looked at his phone to check the time. Yes, he would definitely be late for work. Dysentery Gary was going to chew him out, which Steven was pretty sure was the man's favorite thing, the pure joy of stepping on something smaller than you and watching it squirm. He managed to get to work only six minutes late by running a couple of red lights. When he got inside, he looked around sheepishly for the wolf, Gary the Merciless.

"Where the hell have you been?" Frank asked.

"Alarm didn't go off."

"But you still stopped for coffee?" Frank said, nodding at the cup Steven held in his hand.

Steven didn't say anything to that; he just shrugged.

"Today's your lucky day, pal o' mine," Frank said. "Gary didn't come in today. He's got a summer cold or something."

Steven breathed a sigh of relief.

"I won't tell him your were late...if you give me a hundred bucks," Frank said.

"Are you...serious?"

"Nah, I'm just screwin' with you."

The workday went by smoothly, and on the way home, he decided to grab some food to go from the burger place not far from his home. The day was sliding into night as he came out of the place with his bag of chow. As he walked to his vehicle, he tried thinking about what he would watch when he got home. He liked watching a movie or show while eating, and hated when it took him so long to decide on something to see that the food got cold. He was so engrossed in his thoughts about what to watch--

(A Lord of the Rings movie? No, they were too long. Rocky? No, he'd seen it too many times. Maybe a Paul Thomas Anderson picture?)

--that he didn't notice the woman coming out of a shop until he'd bumped into her.

"Crap; I'm sorry," he said.

The woman had a hoodie on, and in the dim light, he couldn't quite see her face. She was tall, only an inch or so shorter than Steven, and she was slim. The woman pulled down her hood and Steven saw her clearly. He was struck dumb for a moment. She recognized him at the same time that he recognized her, and they just stared at each other without saying a word for a moment.

"Stevie, hey!" she finally said.

She was the only one he'd ever allowed to all him that. From anyone else's mouth, "Stevie" sounded juvenile, the name of a little boy. Coming from her, though, it had always sounded sweet.

"Mackenzie," he said. "I didn't know you were back in town."

"I came back to visit my folks."

"How are they?"

"Great. All parents are crazy, of course, but they're no crazier than most."

She reached up, brushing her hair behind one ear.

"Will you be here long?" Steven asked.

"Just a couple more days, then I gotta head out."

They stood for an awkward moment, neither seeming to know what else to say. They hadn't seen each other in nearly twenty years, since breaking up right after graduation after two years of dating. Their lives had gone in two radically different directions since then. Mackenzie had gone on to great success in theater, television, and film. Steven had gone on to work for Dysentery Gary.

"I guess I should get going," Steven said. "I don't want to keep you."

"Yeah, I have to get back to my parents'. My mom is probably making dinner as we speak; she'll be pissed if I'm not there by the time it's served."

Steven tentatively went in for a hug and she reciprocated. It was a short hug, and then Steven walked on.

"Hey," Mackenzie called after him.

He stopped and turned.

"Listen, Stevie...do you think we could do something tomorrow night? Grab something to eat, maybe?"

"Yeah; that'd be great."

"You can pick me up. Is seven o'clock good with you?"

"It's perfect. I'll see you then."

He turned to walk away but she stopped him again.

"Wait," she said, giggling lightly. "You don't even know where to go. My parents have moved since the last time you picked me up for a date. Here, let's put each other's numbers in our phones, and I'll text you the address later."

They exchanged phones and put in their numbers. Standing near her, he could smell her perfume, a fresh floral scent. They parted then. Steven didn't check his phone until he was in the car. He looked for her name, but it wasn't listed in the "M" section. A small smile spread across his lips as he scrolled back up until he found it. She'd entered her name not as "Mackenzie", but as "Kenzie". Just as she'd been the only one he allow to called him "Stevie", it was a name only he'd been allowed to call her.

Gary was at work the next day, none the wiser about Steven's tardiness the previous day. Steven did his best to look busy, but in truth he was distracted all day. He couldn't help thinking about his date (was it a date?) with Mackenzie. Though he'd been to a dance or two with a girl before her, she'd been his first real girlfriend. She had been dating Ben Hogan up until then. Ben was your typical jock, a star quarterback and one of the best wrestlers in the state. He was also an asshole who didn't even try hiding the fact that he was cheating on Kenzie with half the hot girls in town. Steven recalled an argument between them he overheard one day at Dairy Queen, where he'd stopped there to grab a bite to eat. He'd gone around to the side of the building and sat down on the ground, taking the food out of the DQ bag and eating it right there. He hadn't seen Kenzie and Ben inside, but they must've been in there, because halfway through his meal, they came outside; he couldn't see them from where he sat around the corner of the building, but he could hear them bickering with each other.

"Don't lie to me," she said. "Two different people told me what happened between you and Becca at that party."

"I don't care who told you anything," Ben said. "They're liars if they said they saw me with her."

They argued some more.

"Fuck you," Mackenzie finally said.

Steven could hear tears in her voice. He peeked around the corner of the building to see Kenzie stalking away from the DQ. Ben watched her go until she turned a corner, then he shook his head and crossed the street to Wild Bill's Music Store, disappearing inside. Steven was angry on Mackenzie's behalf. He'd had crush on her for years, though he'd never had the courage to make a move. He thought that, if she were his girl, he would never treat her like that prick Ben was treating her. He pictured himself walking across the street and going into Wild Bill's, confronting Ben and kicking his ass. But he knew it was just a fantasy; Ben could easily pick him up and fold him like a pretzel. So he finished his food and went home.

As fate would have it, Steven only had to wait another three months for the girl of his dreams to become the girl of his reality. After braking up with Ben, it was Steven who'd comforted Mackenzie, her friends having abandoned her in favor of Ben. After that, he and Kenzie became close, hanging out almost every day. He was afraid Ben might be jealous, but Ben didn't seem to care. Though he still had a massive crush on her, he was afraid to cross the line and ruin their friendship, so he kept how he felt about her a secret. It was she who finally acted to change the nature of their relationship. They were hanging out at the park after dark, seated together on the merry-go-round and talking everything and nothing at all, when Kenzie leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. From then on, they were officially a couple.

Even back then, Kenzie had a deep interest in acting. She was in a bunch of plays, with Steven in the audience. When the cast would come out at the end of the play to take a bow, when he clapped he was clapping especially for her. Sometimes, in the middle of a performance, she would find him in the audience and make the briefest eye contact. He thought she possessed amazing talent, and he wasn't alone in that belief. Strangely, he never gave much thought to something that should have been obvious to him: if she were to pursue that talent and the potential career it might lead her to, she would have to fly away someday. It wasn't until graduation neared, when she kept being vague whenever he asked about which universities she was applying to, that he saw the end coming, a break from that brief paradise they had found together. Sure enough, one day Kenzie told him they had to talk about something serious. He knew what was coming, but it still hurt when she said she was going to university in Quebec, on the other side of the country. She didn't think a long-distance relationship was going to work. She still cared about him, she said, but thought it would best for both of them if they each went their own way. He was angry and said cruel things, but soon apologized. She left for Quebec six weeks later, and the next time he saw her was on the TV.

Now, this date with her. Since parting ways, Stevie had been in a long-term engagement that ended when his fiance decided fucking her yoga instructor was a good idea. He'd intentionally avoided ever looking up information on Kenzie's private life on the internet; she could be married, dating, whatever, he had no idea. Before leaving work, he bit the bullet and Googled "Mackenzie Davis significant other" and found she was rumored to be in a long-term relationship that she'd said little about publicly. So maybe she meant for their date to be strictly platonic. He'd have to be careful not to show how much he still cared about her; he didn't want to make it weird for her.

After work, he showered quickly, debated what to wear for a half-hour (settling for something casual but not overly so), and picked her up at her parents' home, a large but not ostentatious house in an exclusive neighborhood. She was waiting for him outside the house when he pulled up; she jumped into the car and they headed for the place she'd picked out, a small diner where they had spent many a night while dating. None of the people who'd worked there then were still around, even the owner having changed in the almost two decades that had passed. The food was still the same, and they talked while they ate, catching up on each other's lives. He didn't ask about her job much, which she seemed to appreciate. Neither of them brought up her boyfriend. Steven was pleased to find that he still had the power to make her laugh.

After dinner, she asked if they could go back to his place. Still unsure what the exact nature of the date was, Steven took her home. He was a little embarrassed by the apartment, which screamed "male living alone" in its sparseness (he'd cleaned up before heading to pick her up at least, a part of him maybe hoping they'd end up back there). She asked for something to drink and all he had were a couple of beers. They drank these while watching some show on streaming (he'd never seen it before and didn't care for it, but she seemed to enjoy it). At some point, she leaned her head on his shoulder, her feet curled up underneath her on the couch. Her presence was warm, comforting, and she smelled so nice. He couldn't help himself, taking a whiff of her hair, smelling her herbal shampoo. She turned her head up, catching him in the act, but she smiled and gave him a light kiss on the lips.

"This is nice," she said.

He agreed. Steven hadn't realized how much he missed her until that kiss. He took a chance and went in for another kiss, and she accepted it; soon, their tongues were entangled and she had a hand on his crotch, rubbing him.

"We shouldn't," she said, but even as she was saying it, she gave his dick a squeeze through the fabric of his pants.

There was little talking after that. They kissed awhile longer, and then she had his pants open and she took him into her mouth. At first, she did all the work, but after a while, Steven pressed down on her head with one hand as he gently thrusted upward. When he let up for a moment to let her catch her breath, she made it clear she didn't want a break by going all the way down on his cock, spit dribbling down his balls.

"That's good," he said.

She got up and led him to the bedroom, both of them shedding their clothes along the way. On the bed, they lay beside one another, using their hands to make each other feel good, her hand stroking his rock-hard dick while his hand rubbed her pussy, his fingers dipping in and out of her wet pussy.

"Do you have a condom?" she asked, half out of breath.

"No; sorry. I could run to the store down the block if you want."

"No, it's okay; just don't come in me. Okay?"

He nodded, unable to speak as a shudder of pleasure ran through his body as she gently squeezed his balls. Steven spread her legs and looked at her moist cunt lips. Then he went down on her, flicking her clit with his tongue, sliding his tongue in and out of her pink hole. She tasted good. Kenzie gripped his hair tightly, moaning. Soon, she convulsed with an orgasm, her whole body bucking with pleasure.

"Fuck me," she whispered.

He did as the lady asked, sliding gently inside of her. The two of them worked together, both of them moving their hips and grinding together.

"You feel so fuckin' good," he told her.

She stuck her tongue into his mouth again and he welcomed it. Then he moved his head down so he could suck on her nipples, first one and then the other. She shivered as his tongue flicked her left nipple. He kissed it, and then pulled out and turned her over. Spreading her ass, he leaned in and licked her asshole.

"Stevie, you never did that before."

"I've learned a few things."

Then he slowly fucked her in the prone position, kissing the top of her back and the back of her neck as he slid in and out of her.

"Fuck me harder," she said.

He did as she asked.

"Harder!" she commanded.

Steven went even harder then, quickening his pace. When he needed a break, he pulled out, but again Kenzie showed she wasn't taking any breaks, turning around and licking a drop of pre-cum from the tip of his dick.

"Put it back in, please," she pleaded as she got herself into position for doggy.

How could he say no? He fucked her in doggy, then they moved to cowgirl, Kenzie riding him mercilessly as he tried thinking of unsexy things to keep from busting too soon. He nearly came when she climbed off, spit on his dick, then took the base in one hand while smacking the head gently with her other hand. She laughed and kissed the head of his cock, then played her tongue along the very top of it, at one point spreading the urethra and licking it. Nobody had ever down that to him before; it seemed she had learned some new things, as well. They moved on to missionary, her long legs wrapped around his body as he fucked her. She came a second time. When he couldn't hold it anymore, Steven pulled out quickly.

"I'm gonna come," he said.

"I want it on my face," Kenzie said.

She got off the bed and down to her knees quickly, just in time for him to come hard, sending thick ropes of jizz shooting onto her smiling face.

"Fuck, that's a lot," she marveled.

"I was a bit backed up, I guess."

When he was all tapped out, Mackenzie cleaned his dick off with her mouth, sending a shiver up his spine. She used her fingers to wipe the spunk off her face, licking her fingers clean. Then she took hold of his cock and rubbed it on her face like she was trying to rub his scent into her skin. She kissed his dick once more before hopping up and going into the bathroom to clean up. He followed her and they showered together. When they were both dressed again, they talked for a bit, but he could tell that the magic, or whatever it was, was over. Even as they spoke, he could see in her eyes that she was somewhere else. She had a long-term boyfriend after all; that was her real life. This night had just been a fantasy they'd agreed to co-habitate for a few hours. When she left, he saw a certain sadness in her eyes, but she left all the same after one last kiss, this one much more chaste than one would have believed after what they'd just done.

"Goodbye, Stevie."

Those were the last words she said to him, gently rubbing his check with one soft hand before catching her ride back to her parents' house after gently turning down his offer to take her himself. That night, Steven fell asleep to the smell of her on his sheets. A day after their tryst, he washed the sheets; after that, even the smell of her was gone.