A Tale for the Middle Ages

Part 2: Joanne meets Shannon, Rob arrives home

Shannon is arriving in Toronto and Joanne is somewhere between apprehensive and curious about meeting her. Rob is expected home. He is unsure how he will relate to Shannon.

This is the second chapter in this story. I hope you enjoy it.

******

Early on through her life experiences, Joanne accepted that a flip philosophical nugget was actually one of the truths of the universe: the only sure things in life are death and taxes, everything else is random. Don't be too surprised at the weird twists and turns of life. One of those quirky twists was about to play out as she made her way through traffic to the airport. She had to smile to herself about the upcoming scenario. She was about to meet Shannon, Rob's young friend and lover from his sojourn in Vietnam. Was this simply absurd, or worse, weirdly twisted, or just mildly entertaining or some combination of the above?

Rob was compelled by the circumstances of his work to travel to a client's site in China. A junior engineer would not put out the fires erupting over the test facility under design for the Chinese auto manufacturer. Their Big Man was demanding the VP of Engineering, Rob to be exact, deliver the design revisions in person. Rob had to go and he had to break a promise. Shannon was arriving from Calgary and he had promised to meet her.

*****

Since last seeing her at the resort in Vietnam in May and up to the present, in early August, Rob had gone from mild indifference to the memory of Shannon to desperately wanting to see her again. Some days she was entirely out of his thoughts. At other times, in the middle of work or play, Shannon would enter his mind and everything else would be crowded out. It was the warmth of her unconstrained smile and the glow in her deep blue eyes, framed by the sun lightened honey brown hair flowing down below her shoulders that swept into his vision. But also her smoothly shaped and tanned legs, her softness and the texture of her beautifully shaped ass, the deliciousness of her nipples on her small but perfect breasts, the gentle curves of her slim hips and the firm but smooth skin of her stomach.

Rob tried to convince himself that Shannon had just been a treat, like an exotic special flavour of ice cream, to be enjoyed but when it was gone, it was over. He didn't like thinking of another human being in those terms but how else could he reconcile the interlude with her. At 22, and him at 49, it wasn't as though she could be his girlfriend.

And then there was Joanne, truly his girlfriend, or so he hoped. While Shannon really didn't hold much back in projecting what she wanted, Joanne was still an enigma, despite the time spent together, the lust they had shared in bed, the nights with her cuddled in his arms, the slow lazy weekend brunches. Despite this he was never sure what, if anything, she was holding back. And she had never really said the three words he wanted to hear. He was afraid to speak them first to her for fear of how she might react.

*****

Joanne in a way couldn't believe that she was spending four or so precious weekend hours traveling to the airport to pick up some girl she had never met. A girl who had supposedly seduced her lover, or at least that was Rob's story. Someone who would then be staying at his house. When Rob asked if Joanne could simply check in with Shannon once she found her own way down to Rob's home, Joanne found herself offering to actually meet Shannon upon arrival.

'If you are so far out side your relationship comfort zone why not push further out into left field and go meet the girl,' was Joanne's rationalization.

Still questioning her own judgment about the whole venture, Joanne scanned the people emerging from the domestic arrivals carousel area. Rob had shown her some pictures of Shannon on his phone and Shannon was also looking for Joanne, having received a text before departure in Calgary. Lots of families, business types, young people and then, Joanne locked on this diminutive girl with long blond hair tied back in a ponytail lugging a rolling case and a largish backpack. Joanne gasped, knowing this had to be Shannon and thought, 'Rob, she doesn't even look close to 22, how could you have?'

Shannon anxiously scanned the people waiting and then locked on Joanne's eyes herself. This had to be Rob's girlfriend. Even though Rob had shown her photos of Joanne taken on his sailboat and had described her as attractive, Shannon had no idea a forty plus lawyer could look this good. 'Wow,' she thought, 'She is so pretty!'

Feeling very awkward, Shannon walked over to Joanne lugging her bag and then cautiously asked, "Joanne?"

"Hi, and yes, and you must be Shannon?" Joanne replied with a big smile.

And then Shannon's next action took Joanne completely by surprise. Shannon threw her arms around her and and gave her a big hug.

"Thank you, thank you Joanne for coming out here and meeting me. I'm a small town girl and Toronto is intimidating. I've never really been here as an adult and what I saw while circling the city looked huge. I didn't know there were this many people in the country let alone one city. I would be terrified on my own."

Joanne, now feeling awkward herself, replied, 'Hey nice to meet you and really, Calgary isn't the cow town it used to be.' Joanne gave Shannon a gentle hug back.

Shannon did a quick check of Joanne, noting the tailored pants, white blouse and tailored jacket, very business like for a rush trip out to the airport. Shannon had correctly guessed that Joanne was concerned about her public image. She thought she noted several people doing double takes at Joanne. Shannon was well aware of the media frenzy that surrounded her current case. For Joanne's part, she studiously ignored any attention directed at her.

Shannon, on the other hand was dressed in faded blue jeans that were ripped and frayed in all the right places and had a Calgary Flames t-shirt on top. Anyone would have guessed that she and Joanne were mother and daughter meeting at the airport.

"Oops, sorry for being so, .. uh ... familiar ... its just that Rob said so much about you that I feel like I know you, and well ..." Shannon said blushing slightly.

This was news to Joanne. Rob had never mentioned discussing her with Shannon. In a way she was pleased that Rob had even thought about her in Shannon's company. However, the knowledge that she had been a topic for the lovers made this situation now seem just that more weird.

"Its fine. If this is all your stuff lets get out of this crazy place and make our way downtown. I think you'll find Rob's neighbourhood very friendly and lots of fun. Very cool, being so close to the University."

Shannon chattered away during the drive down about her med school applications, phone interviews and final decisions. This visit was to find accommodations in Toronto and get settled. She planned to stay a couple of weeks and then a final visit home before the term started. She described her going away party that her friends had thrown for her the night before at a dance club in Calgary. Some details were left out however.

*****

Shannon's on and off again boyfriend Josh had shown up at the club. He had just returned from an extended tree planting work session and hadn't seen her since the spring trip. Shannon's thoughts had drifted back to the end of the evening. All night he had not really left her alone. In her mind, even before the trip to the far east, Shannon had thought she and Josh were over. And then there was Rob.

On the dance floor Josh's hands had slid up and down her hips, brushing her upper thighs and lightly caressing her ass. At the table he grabbed her and sat her down in his lap. He had nuzzled his nose into her hair and had breathed into her ear, nuzzling her jaw and lips.

Shannon still had warm feelings for Josh. He had been her first true lover. The had shared their virginity with each other in their last year of high school. She was torn. In her belly and her core she was warming to his hands caressing her thighs and hips. As he slipped his hand under her black miniskirt she had held it there, not so much because of the friends all around - the low lighting of the club was a cover for all sorts of groping - but more so because she really hadn't wanted him to be that intimate. He moved his hands back to her upper hips and ran them up her sides grazing the edge of her breasts. He continued to nuzzle her neck while landing soft kisses on her cheek and the side of her mouth, just grazing her lips. He was being very sweet and very turned on.

Shannon thought that Josh was cute and basically good at heart. He was also a horny young guy and was enraptured by her. For Shannon, her world had changed in a subtle way that spring. She just felt that she had moved beyond Josh but to where, she was really not sure.

Rob had opened her up to a much wider world of relationships. Before him, she had never really looked at or considered any guy older than early twenties. She had been blown away by the love they had made in Vietnam She was smart enough to know that not every older man would be this experienced and incredible in bed, but she now sensed that the relationship horizons were wide and almost infinitely exciting. She found herself looking at men in their late twenties, in their thirties and even older. She had even caught herself staring at particularly athletic, well dressed confident looking men in the downtown office building where her father worked. Once, a particularly distinguished looking guy with graying hair had caught her staring. He simply smiled warmly back, obviously enjoying her serious blushing.

She also realized that the much older guy she really wanted wasn't available. And now that she had finally met Joanne she knew that she could never compete with beautiful, successful, uber smart and to top it off, very pleasant if early impressions were true.

The night at the club had not really ended well. Shannon had let Josh talk her into going back to his place, or rather, his parents home - they being off on a vacation - on the basis of three other couples being there with them. After a lot of bittersweet talk between the friends about the different directions and paths their lives were about to take, the party slowly broke up as couples drifted into other corners of the house, taking advantage of unused bedrooms and couches.

Shannon mostly wanted to go home, but was drunk enough to feel the effects of Josh rubbing her thighs and moving slowly to her core. She was enjoying it, but there were pangs of guilt over her inability to tell Josh that they were over.

Finally deciding that Josh really did care for her and was trying his best not to push too hard, she had slowly moved her hand to the zipper of his pants which were stretched out by his erection. Carefully unzipping him and then reaching in, she had grasped his erection. Hissing and moaning through clenched teeth, he had quickly opened his belt pulling down his pants and shorts to give her free access. Shannon had slid off the couch to kneel between his legs. His penis was really quite beautiful and it was the first one she had seen and held. She wasn't in love with Josh but there would always have a place for him in her memory. She lovingly stroked his penis and then began to kiss and lick the tip.

She liked giving blow jobs because she loved looking into the guy's eyes when she had her lips wrapped around their cocks. Shannon found excitement in her partner's wild lust, knowing that her tongue and lips and loving caresses were driving the passion. The more lust, the more fervent the licking, kissing and sucking of the guy's penis. But this time she didn't really want to see what was in Josh's eyes because she knew she couldn't return it. The blow job was an act of friendship and she enjoyed the fact he was going crazy. She forced herself to let him cum in her mouth and let him enjoy her sucking everything out of him while he slowly calmed down.

Josh had opened his eyes, pulled her up and had said, "Shannon baby, that was incredible, I so missed this when you were away. I want to taste you too."

"Josh I know you do ... but I can't get my mind off the early departure tomorrow, could you just take me home now. I will take a rain check on that offer." She smiled sweetly at him but really was trying to smooth over the hurt in his eyes. "Later please, I can't fully enjoy it now." This she knew was probably dishonest, however the potential future for her and Josh was as uncertain as anything else. Reluctantly Josh had taken her home after a couple cups of coffee in the kitchen.

******

As Joanne carefully edged the car up north of Bloor Street, Shannon liked what she saw out the window. Old but carefully maintained three story brick houses with funky landscaping in cedar and bushes lined the street and the sidewalks were covered in massive maples and oak trees. There were lots of baby carriages parked on porches and many people strolling in the heat of a late summer Toronto afternoon. Maybe Toronto could be livable after all, she thought, even though her beloved Rockies that she had enjoyed from the time she could barely walk were so far away.

As they were approaching a stop sign Shannon, who had been quiet for several minutes, turned to Joanne and blurted out, "Did Rob talk much about his time with me when we were in Vietnam?"

At that, Joanne stomped on the brake way to hard, pitching them both forward against their seat belts. The 300 pound gorilla in the car was growling. "Oops, sorry, you just, um, caught me off guard a bit. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, no worries, I've driven with lots of crazy boys in pickup trucks"

Joanne wasn't sure what to think of the analogy, then said, "Umm yes, Rob mention the nice time he had there in your company." Joanne then though to herself, ' How evasive is that??'

'Nice time!!,' Shannon gasped to herself. 'Serioulsly??'. To her it was crazy wild over the top sexy and totally lustful, but 'nice??.' After that first awkward, slow motion but eventually lustful evening of sex she couldn't get enough of him. Virtually every waking moment after that first night she visualized his beautiful penis buried into her or his magic tongue gliding around all her favourite places. This was between the actual real life sex. She jumped him every chance she got even though she knew he was working to some challenging deadlines. Rob had sent her on frequent errands to get wine, beer and food just so he could work between their lovemaking. Shannon had never been restrained around sex - when she wanted something she didn't hold back and she wanted Rob badly. She was enthralled by the fact that every time they fucked he would add something different to the amazing sexual experience they shared.

And he had described this as a 'Nice time?' But really how else would he have spoken to Joanne about them.

Maybe Rob never owned up about their relationship. 'Dishonest coward,' she thought, 'No, probably not.' They had talked a lot about Joanne and Shannon was truly sympathetic to the conflict their relationship presented to Rob. Shannon had told Rob to remember the age difference and that Joanne should never see her as real competition for him. Better to be truthful they both agreed. Shannon stressed that she had given Rob no choice. It was either a mean and hard rejection of her or succumb to her desires and Shannon had done everything to ensure it was the latter.

******

Two days later Shannon arrived back at Rob's home, dispirited from a discouraging day shopping for grad school accommodation. The apartments or flats were either student ghetto dumps or insanely expensive. Even with her parents helping out in a significant way she couldn't really get herself into that depth financially for one of the acceptable places.

She shook herself out of these mundane thoughts with the growing excitement that she would be seeing Rob again. He was returning from China in the afternoon. It had been many months since they parted ways in Vietnam. She half expected him to be there when she arrived but the house was empty. Walking into the kitchen she saw a note on the counter beside a vase with a single rose in it. 'How sweet,' she thought smiling.

The note read, 'Hey gorgeous, sorry I missed you. I decided to try to make my rugby game tonight. I'll hurry home after wards. Please help yourself to anything that looks edible in the kitchen. We can order something in if you are still hungry when I get home. Joanne might be able to join us later also.

Really looking forward to seeing you again,

Rob'

Shannon digested the note and then made a snap decision to go find the game. Rob had mentioned the Hart House playing field on the U of T campus as one of their game locations. She had seen the field on her tour of the campus. It was very old world English and spoke of University traditions going back centuries. Certainly it was one of the more beautiful places she had seen so far on the campus and in all of Toronto.

Deciding to splurge on a cab, she headed out the door and down to Bloor street to hail a taxi.

****

Rob got the ball on the first lateral pass after the other team's post goal kickoff. His team was trailing but the game was close. He first noticed that Shannon was at the game when he glanced over and saw her scooting down the field jumping up and down yelling, 'Go Rob Go'. He was usually oblivious to the typically small crowd of curious student passersby and the occasional wife or girlfriend who might come out to watch the rugby game. Most women, however, thought this game was the absolute epitome of stupid male machismo and avoided it at all costs.

When he glanced to the side lines and saw Shannon after all these months, hollering his name excitedly he got distracted for a second and then was promptly decked by an opposing player. She shrieked in fear when seeing how hard he had been hit, starting another round of yelling, asking if he was okay.

He held onto the ball and in the ensuing scrum, Tim, a thirty something teammate asked during all the grunting and scuffling for the ball, "Who is the cute babe yelling your name?"

The play raced away before an answer but Rob groaned a bit, suddenly realizing that Shannon's presence in any other aspect of his life was not something he had considered. He was the oldest guy on the team and the one who decided that each game was day by day whether to continue or not. And now he had this petite gorgeous young woman screaming his name as the play went on.

At their half time break he was the centre of attention. Shannon had caught everyone's eye on the other side of the field. She was dressed for Toronto in an August heatwave, loose fitting tangerine coloured mid thigh shorts, a loose fitting camisole over a sports bra, with all the straps showing. On her feet she was wearing a simple pair of sandals, which together with the shorts accentuated the smooth toned shapeliness of her beautiful legs. Her hair was untied from its customary pony tail and it was flying gloriously in the breeze. In all she was unmistakeable and stunning and at this distance she looked young enough to be a teenager. Rob groaned at the potential for embarrassment in front of his teammates. In answer to her wild wave from across the field he gave her a small wave back.

"Rob, Who. The Hell. Is that girl? Please tell me she's your niece or something," Tim demanded. The whole team leaned in close while sucking on oranges. They wanted to hear the answer.

"Yeah, right, my niece. So we are going to win this game right? We can beat these guys," Rob said wanting to change the subject.

"Hey not so fast partner," Ryan, another younger team mate jumped in, "We'll let you off the hook for now if you promise to bring her out to the pub after. Any niece of yours is a friend of ours."