After an afternoon and early evening of listening to Sharon's erotic stories and being aroused to act them out, we were hungry. The cabin was dark except for the candles she had lit while she was reading. It was also getting a little chilly. Through the window, I could see a full moon just above the trees. Remembering Sharon had hotplates to cook on, I asked, "So, what can you whip up for us on your hot plates?" I asked. "I don't know about you but I worked up an appetite."
"Well, it just so happens, I'm a great soup maker and have a pot of delicious black bean soup with grated cheddar cheese to sprinkle on it," she said, "I hope you like it spicy," she added.
"Sounds perfect," I said.
"How about making a fire in the wood stove," she asked. "It's going to be a chilly October night with that full moon." Sharon got up, wiggled into her tight jeans, grabbed the sweater she was wearing earlier and slipped that over her head. "I'll put the soup on and then I have to go feed my horse, Gypsy"
I got dressed, went to her woodbin on the porch to get some wood and started making a fire. Within fifteen minutes, I had a nice fire going and the smell of the soup filled the room. The stove had a glass front and the flames made a nice glow. By the time Sharon came back in from feeding Gypsy, it was feeling cozy in the cabin. I stood by the window looking up at the full moon wondering if I would leave in the morning or stay on for awhile.
Two days ago I was standing at the window in my cabin, watching the leaves fall, realizing my life was like those leaves falling to the earth to dry up and wither away, I was in a rut and impulsively made the decision to take off. Now here I was in the cabin of a beautiful, sexy, intelligent writer living our sexual fantasies, wondering if I should leave or stay and see where this relationship led.
"Soups on" Sharon said carrying two bowls to the table. She placed them on the table then got the grated cheese and two spoons. When we sat down, she touched my hand. "You seem deep in thought," she asked.
I took a sip of soup and said, "Hey, this is great soup. Perfect for a chilly night," I added.
"So, what are you thinking?" she asked.
I looked at her pretty face glowing in the candle light as she took a sip of her soup. I took a deep breath before I spoke, uncertain of what to say. "I told you how I just took off the other day not sure where I was going. I abandoned my work, my garden. This trip has opened me up to things I hadn't realized I was missing. I'm not sure I want to go home to responsibilities or just keep on going. I have a contract with my publisher to write two novels a year. I have deadlines. I'm on the school board for our town and some other commitments."
"You're tired of being responsible and conscientious, aren't you?" she said,
"Right, I want to feel alive and free. These last two days have been new and exciting. Meeting you, hearing your stories, acting out sexual fantasies is making me wonder how I can ever go back to how I've been living all these years. It seems so sterile."
"What do you want to do?" Sharon asked. "Are you going to keep traveling forever? Do you want to stay here and fuck everyday? Or go home?"
"Do you want me to stay here?" I asked. "You have your life and responsibilities?"
"Good question," she responded. "I don't know. We just met. We hardly know each other."
"That's right. The fact is we're both on journeys and our paths just happened to cross. I'm enjoying hearing your stories and getting to know you. Maybe if I stayed we could be good for each other. Maybe we would drive each other crazy. If I left, you'd be a great memory and I'd end up back at my cabin the richer for all that I experienced. Is there a good answer?"
Both of us were silent, finishing up our soup. I knew she was thinking about what I had said, wondering what it would be like if I stayed. What it would be like if I left. Finally, she said, "Sometimes I think the problem with us writers is we think too much. We're always working out a plot, analyzing everything, imagining this scenario or that. We're too detached, too serious."
"That's true," I said.
Sharon took my bowl and hers to the sink. While she walked away, I loved how her ass looked in her tight jeans and thought "Damn, she's sexy. Here we are having this philosophical intellectual discussion about life, but I'm physically aroused looking at her. "
When she came back to the table, she continued. "And the problem with being too serious, too much in our heads, is that we don't live in the present--the now!"
"It's a dilemma because the present becomes the future. What we do in the now can affect what happens."
"Yes, if we always think about the future, we miss the present. You're here with me now and we're sharing this soup, this candlelight, that wonderful full moon and each other." She paused, "You know that old song, "We just have tonight. Tomorrow may never come."
"For all we know...." I added the final words. I couldn't believe that Sharon referred to the same song that Anna did last night. "That's amazing that you should mention the words from that song. I was with someone yesterday who said those exact words." I wondered if I had made a mistake saying I was with some one who said those words.
I noticed Sharon look away, deep in thought. She was quiet, looking into the flame of the candle. She then looked at me, took a breath and asked, "Did you have a one night stand?"
"Yes, I guess I did." I said, wondering what was going through her mind.
"So you're on a roll." She said.
"I guess. But I wasn't looking for anything. It just happened. This is new for me."
"So, is this a one night stand?" Sharon asked.
"I'm not sure," I said. "You're the one who said we writers think too much. We should live in the present, the now, and I'm trying to do that."
"Do you want this to be a one night stand?" Sharon asked.
"Do you?" I asked.
"Are you asking do I want to have a relationship rather than be two strangers passing in the night?" She paused. "My answer isβI don't know. This is new for me, too. Since my daughter left, I've lived in this cabin for the last few years alone. I like it, but at the same time, I'm not sure I want to live the rest of my life like this. You know, alone. I just don't want to go out looking for Mr. Right. I just thought he would show up or we would meet by accident."
"I understand," I said. "So you're wondering if I'm Mr. Right."
"Yes. That's why when you said you had a one night stand. I got a pang of fear. I guess. I would like more time to see if we should hang out together for awhile and wonder what you're thinking."
"I'm wondering the same thing," I said. "I think it's important to try to live without expectations. That way, I'm never disappointed and many times I'm surprised and delighted by the unexpected. "
"That's a good philosophy," Sharon said. "But it's hard not to have expectations."
"It's important though. "I went on this journey and have had nothing but surprises because I had no plan, no expectations. I don't even know where I am or how far from home I am. I have no destination, but now I'm here with you and don't know whether I should stay or head out tomorrow."
"Let's stop thinking," Sharon said. "Let's just go hour by hour."
"That's a deal." I said. "Let's shake hands to that."
I got up and put another log in the stove. Sharon smiled at me when I cam back at the table. We both took a deep breath, looking at each other without speaking.
"I could go for another story, if you don't mind reading to me," I said.
"Really, I'm flattered you'd want to hear another story or do you just want to get turned on."
"Both," I laughed.
"I have a story that I think you'd like because it's about responsibility and wanting to be free. "It's called, "Good Girl, Bad Boy."
"Sounds interesting," I said. " Sharon picked up her folder on the table and thumbed through the pile of stories and pulled out the one she was going to read. She looked over at me and said, "Here goes." Before she read, she smiled. "I think you'll like this one."
Jessica Caldwell spent most of her time in the Biology Lab. She was twenty-two and finishing up her PhD work in Genetics. She was the youngest student to get a doctorate from the university. She graduated high school at sixteen, had a full scholarship at Smith. She finished in three years with honors and had a full scholarship for graduate school. She rarely dated and put all of her energy and time into her studies.
One night while she was working, a young man came into the lab with a bucket and mop. He gathered the trash from several trash basket andthen started mopping on the other side of the lab. He wore a tee-shirt with the sleeves cut off. Jessica looked up him, noticed his muscular arms, then went back to her microscope. Every few minutes, she looked up from her microscope and over at the man mopping. She looked at his ass in his tight jeans and was having difficulty concentrating on her work. Something about his body was attracting him to him. She noticed an earring dangling from one ear. He had long hair, down to his shoulders, but she couldn't keep her eyes away from his ass in his tight jeans and muscular arms. He looked up and smiled at her. She smiled at him nervously then went back to her microscope, wondering what it was about him that attracted her.
As he worked his way closer to where she was working, Jessica kept looking up at him and caught him looking at her. He smiled each time their glances met as if he sensed an attraction. Jessica prepared some new slides for the microscope, wrote down some notes and tried not to look at him, feeling nervous at the way he smiled at her. Quickly, she glanced at him then went back to the microscope.