Happy Birthday Cher

He had been planning this day for a long time. Finally it was here. Although everything was in place, he had no idea how it would actually go, and his stomach was turning over and over with the anxiety of the situation. It was high risk; it could be high reward. Then again it could turn into a nightmare. Part of him was happy that it would soon be known, one way or the other. The other part of him wished the day were forever in the future so he would never actually face the moment of truth. His pulse raced and he was constantly checking his watch, only to find that a mere two or three minutes had passed since his last check.

He finally stepped out of his car, closed the door behind him and pressed the remote to lock the doors behind him. The sound of his own footsteps seemed very loud to him as he walked across the parking structure toward the door marked 'Elevator'. He knew no one was looking at him, but he still made a conscious effort to look more composed than he felt. He considered it practice for later on, when he knew he would be struggling very hard to maintain that composure while meeting her in person for the first time.

They had met quite by accident on the internet a couple of years earlier. They were both happily married and neither was looking for anything more. Over time, their friendship grew and took on a different twist. They delighted in pushing the other person's envelope of comfort in terms of what things they were willing to talk about or questions they were willing to ask or answer. It was a game. The rules of the game were simple... no matter what the other person asked, the answer must be completely honest. Eventually, the game in some moments turned toward sex. Questions about the tastes of the other person, their fantasies, even actual experiences. On a few occasions, they would even write elaborate erotic stories for each other and send them via email.

When he asked her a few weeks ago what she wanted for her birthday, she kept to the rules of the game, and she answered him honestly.

As he rode down in the elevator, he wondered if she would show up or if she would get cold feet at the last minute and back out. He wondered if he should back out. Or maybe he should meet her just long enough to say that he was too nervous to go through with the rest of the day. That's nonsense, he decided. The day is laid out in a way that will give plenty of time to determine whether this will feel natural or not. If the latter, both of them would realize it and agree to end things at that point and part as friends.

He stepped up to the 'Will Call' window and paid for the tickets. He took the second ticket and slipped it inside an envelope he had brought with him. The envelope had another piece of paper already in it. After placing the ticket into it, he sealed it and handed it to the person behind the counter. "The person I am meeting will be here shortly. She will ask for this ticket using the name on the outside of the envelope here. Please just give her the envelope. Thanks!"

The woman behind the counter looked at the envelope marked "Cher" and nodded that she understood. "OK" she said. "Enjoy the afternoon."

He then walked to the entrance and handed his ticket to the man at the door and he walked down the hallway to the right and disappeared through the door.

About 10 minutes later, a woman in her late 30's walked up to the window and asked if there was an envelope left for Cher. The woman behind the counter said there surely was, and handed the envelope through the window. Cher's fingers were shaking just a bit as she tore open the envelope and took out the contents. She had been looking around the area to see if she could spot anyone who might be him. Someone watching the counter, someone looking out toward the road or the garage, but no one she saw could possibly be him. Her attention went back to the items in the envelope. There was an admission ticket and a small white piece of paper. The paper had a small hand drawn map and a few words of instruction. They said to merely go through the entrance turnstile and then walk down the hallway to the right and enter the first door on the left side. It said to look for the most dominant piece of art in the room, and then to sit on the bench across from it and he would find her.

She walked down the hallway and as she entered the gallery, she saw that it was a large room filled with Renaissance masterpieces. There were probably a dozen Monets, a large bronze ballerina statue by Degas, and numerous other paintings she found familiar. At one end of the hall, however, was a soaring painting by Renoir that commanded your focus immediately as you walked into the room. She stood admiring the pictures for a moment before walking slowly toward the large Renoir. She decided that before she would take the seat she was instructed to use, she would get a close look at the brush strokes and read the panel that described the work. She agreed with the card. - The focal point of the picture for both the subjects in the picture and for us as the viewers, was the girl. The man she was dancing with had her 'dipped' slightly over his left arm, and although his eyes were covered from our view by that straw hat, he was clearly entirely consumed with being in her presence at that moment.

She took a few steps backward and sat on the bench, still taking in the picture, when she heard a soft voice from behind her. "What do you think of it?"

She resisted the urge to snap her head around to see him immediately and instead kept looking straight at the picture and answered in a voice as quiet as his own. "I love it. I need more time with it to really take it all in, but I love it." With that, she turned her head slowly and smiled a smile that melted him on the spot.

She turned her head back to the painting and she heard him say, "Take your time. I will be right here."

As she sat there and just continued discovering the painting, he walked around the bench to take a seat alongside her. He reached out and slid his hand into hers and intertwined his fingers with hers. For a few moments, they just sat quietly and tried to settle into the moment and into the moments that were ahead of them.

As they strolled through that room, they each talked about what they liked and which pieces had no effect on them. They walked from there to several other galleries with items from many different periods and places in the world. They spent hours pointing to things of incredible beauty and accomplishment, and they started to see things through the eyes of each other. They touched and they laughed and they felt a bond of trust and friendship and admiration for each other the longer they were together.

After a couple of hours, he said, "Cher, I am going to guess I am not the only one who is getting a bit tired of standing and walking. What do you say we move on?

"Sounds like a GREAT idea. I wasn't sure how to tell you that I loved this, but I am getting a sore back and sore feet at this point"

They walked out and as they came to the elevator, he said to her, "Were you able to you park up on level 4?

"Yes" she answered.

"Good. Then I think what we'll do is have you follow me out of here and we can leave your car at the next stop if we continue on to other places, but it will get really expensive to leave it in here all day."

"Sounds good. Don't lose me then since I don't know where I'm going"

"Not a problem. I would not think of losing you. I think you're starting to figure that out."

She said nothing but smiled to herself because he was absolutely right.

The cars pulled out of the structure and turned right, heading east. She followed him for about a mile and he turned left onto the Parkway. A couple of miles further and he had his left turn signal on once again. They were turning into the parking lot of a Shopping mall / Hotel / Convention center complex. He pulled down a row that was only a short distance from the convention center entrance and then pulled into a parking space that had an empty one alongside it. She pulled into the other slot and they both stepped out of their cars.

He walked around his car and stepped close to her as she stood in the open doorway of her own car. "I was thinking it might be nice to have a glass of wine or something next at the hotel bar. It's very nice. What do you think?"

She readily agreed. It was a very logical next step. She certainly could use a drink and liked the thought of just sitting at a table across from him for a little while and talking in a normal tone of voice instead of the whispers in the museum... getting to know him a little better hopefully. It gave her a little longer before she had to face the inevitable moment of truth.

They walked into the building and followed the signs to the hotel bar. He had been right, it had a nice ambiance. They chose a table away from the bar itself so they could talk privately. The place was almost completely empty since it was only 2:30 in the afternoon. The bartender walked over to them and asked to take their order. When he walked back to the bar, they sat in the silence for a moment and just looked at each other. The moment stretched out as each searched the eyes of the other. Both wondered what they were doing here. Neither ever pictured allowing themselves to be in this situation. Each wondered how far the other would allow it to go. Each wondered how far they would allow it to go. Both found that so far everything seemed right about the decision to finally meet and neither was sure how to feel about that.

After what seemed a very long time, he cleared his throat and asked, "What was your favorite thing this afternoon at the Museum?"

She was slightly relieved that the tension was broken, but she was not sure she wanted to beat around the bush all afternoon either. She decided to turn the tables on him a little bit and push a button or two. "Well, I liked the Impressionist gallery really a lot. I was mesmerized by that first painting where you had me meet you. I also really liked a few of the American painters from the turn of the century. But my favorite thing of the afternoon was when you took my hand into yours. That was very sweet." With that, she allowed her arms to lie on the table top with her hands more than halfway across the table, palms down, showing a fresh coat of polish in bright red.

He had noticed the polish earlier, of course. He did not mention it, but he knew it was done for him. She did not normally wear any nail polish and this afternoon her hands looked very sensual. He took the cue from her and reached across when she was done speaking and took her hands once again into his from underneath. "I had not seen the polish before I took your hand back in the museum, Cher, but I certainly noticed shortly afterward that I was not the only one who had done some prior preparation for this day. I am touched by the gesture, but you didn't need to do that."

"You might find another surprising thing or two before the day is over... One never knows"

"You certainly know how to capture my attention. I will be sure to pay full attention!" He laughed softly.

The bartender came back to the table with their drinks. They lifted their glasses, touched them together, then looked into each other's eyes once again over the top of their drinks and said almost in unison: "To us. To today."

They both smiled and their gaze never wavered from the other as they took their first sip after the toast. He looked down and realized that he had never let go of her right hand. Everything just felt so right at that moment. So right and so natural. He mused to himself whether she might be wishing he had let go of the other hand so she could use her right hand. Typical man, he thought. Doing things that work for you and never considering if it is unnatural for the lady. Things like kissing a shorter woman... It must suck to have your neck craned upward like that but they never mention it. Or dancing. They must feel like it is backwards...plus they need to somehow anticipate where you are taking them and they need to get there without falling over... plus holding hands... the guy always puts his hand over the top and forces her to take that more submissive grasp from underneath. The few times he had his hand held the other way; it felt terribly awkward... Did ladies feel that way all the time? Was this another one of those times? Suddenly his train of thought was broken when she spoke.

'What are you looking at? Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all. I was just getting off on a tangent of thought." He let go of her right hand with his left and feigned using both hands to fix his collar for a moment. When he came back, he took both of her hands and then let go with the left so she could use hr right hand again. She didn't seem to care one way or the other he decided.

They sat and started talking about many things for a good half-hour or so and had finished their drinks. The bartender came around and asked if they wanted another. He looked across at her and said it was up to her. She said she didn't want another so he passed on it as well. The check was requested and the bartender went to tally it up. While he was away, Cher asked, "Was that OK, or did you want to stay for one more?"

He replied, "Well, if I decide I want anything else, I did bring a little picnic basket to the room and it has a few things in it."

"Sounds perfect" she said. You really did think of everything didn't you? "

"I hope so, but if I didn't we'll have to try and get along without it. Of course, there is a certain convenience to using a hotel that is attached to a shopping mall."

"Cher, seriously, there is something I have to say at this juncture. I really did select this place because if you are at all uncomfortable about spending the next few hours behind a closed door with me, I am perfectly OK with just hanging out with you... we can shop or do whatever you want to do... as long as we're together, I'm cool."

Her heart was pounding as she faced the question. She knew that if she stopped and thought about it any longer, she would talk herself out of it. She had already made this decision when she agreed to meet and she made it again when she bought the sexy garments she was wearing underneath her blouse and skirt today. She made it again when she painted her nails this morning and when she gave herself that little spritz of perfume earlier today. She had been teetering during the afternoon a little because she had expected something different; more direct. The fact that he had left her instructions piece by piece on where to meet him had left her very unsure of what would transpire, and where. He surprised her a bit by wanting to spend most of their time together just talking and getting to know her in a way very different than they way she THOUGHT he wanted to get to know her.

The events of the day were at once very wonderful and very scary. Wonderful because she was prepared to have this afternoon be all about the lust. She had made a deliberate decision to allow herself just this one afternoon of carnal lust outside her marriage and she was not going to have any expectation of anything outside of the purely sexual. Instead he had spent the time he could have been screwing her brains out, getting to know her brain and getting to know her heart a bit more. Scary because now that things went this way, she was starting to care more than she wanted to and she was not sure she wanted to proceed. The stakes had actually gone up by the way that the afternoon had gone thus far. All these things were going through her mind, but she answered quickly.

"Let's be alone."

"OK then. Follow me. The elevators are over this way." He led her down the hall a short way and around a corner. He pushed the 'Up' button and the doors to one of the elevators immediately opened. They stepped inside and turned to face the closing doors. The silence was deafening, but the thing that broke the tension was that when the doors closed, they were the highly polished chrome, which acts as a mirror. They found themselves looking back at themselves and the whole thing had an aura of irony to it that they could only laugh at. By the time the doors opened again on the 26th floor, they had enjoyed a hearty laugh at their own expense and he had put his arm around her and given her a reassuring hug. She nestled her head against his shoulder as he did this, and she could sense his own reassurance at her gesture.

They walked out of the elevator arm in arm and followed the signs to room 2601. It was all the way at the end of the corridor. He swiped the card in the lock mechanism and the light flashed green. The door opened and he motioned for her to lead the way in. She did so and as she came all the way into the room she was very pleased with what she found. The room was in the corner of the building so there were floor to ceiling windows on two sides of the room. The view was absolutely beautiful. The poster bed was gorgeous and was topped off with a very romantic canopy. On the bedside table was a large spray of fresh cut flowers and an ice bucket that had a bottle of champagne protruding out of it on a perfect tilt. A pair of crystal flutes was alongside. A portable 'boom box' had been placed at one end of the desk in the room and a few CD's were lying alongside it.

"I didn't know what kind of music you liked, so I brought a few different things," He said. "Why don't you do the honors while I pop the champagne?"

"Everything is absolutely lovely. I love it all. Can you get over this incredible view?" she said as she walked over to start looking through the music choices.

"I know. I had to get this room when I saw that view. I checked out several places. I wanted this to be as special as possible"

She found a CD of soft music that she selected. Most of the songs were love songs from the past 15 or 20 years and there were some she really liked so it seemed a perfect choice. She turned it on and then turned to find him walking toward her with a flute of golden bubbles in his hand. He reached the glass to her and she took it from him. He lifted his own and once again they clinked their glasses very lightly together and then locked arms to sip the champagne.

Naturally they both nearly spilled, as this is trickier than it looks, especially when one is nervous already. But once again the humor of the moment helped ease the tension a little bit. He smiled at her again and then walked over toward the window and pulled the sheers closed on one side of the room, then the other. The room was still filled with plenty of light, but they were no longer visible to anyone who might be looking toward their window.

He took her hand and led her to the side of the bed. As she stood there, he began to slowly unbutton her blouse. When he finished undoing the final button, he slowly lifted the blouse away from her shoulders and allowed it to slide down her arms. The camisole she was wearing underneath it was breathtaking. He could not take his eyes off of it and how magnificently she filled it out. He reached out and very lightly traced the back of his fingers along the straps and the lace edge, which ran across the top of the garment. His hands then traced their way down to the skirt. He unfastened the clasp and the zipper. He held the top of the skirt in both hands and rather than letting it drop, he slowly slid the skirt down her legs while holding onto the top. This meant his head was making its way down her body and as he reached the floor with the skirt, he was at eye level with a very sexy pair of panties covering an equally sexy pair of pantyhose with the French cut look to them.

Through all of this, he never spoke and neither did she. However, a low appreciative moan did escape from him and she knew that she had him really turned on at this stage already. They had made a pact beforehand not to speak during the sex. Also, they were not to kiss, and not to have actual intercourse. It was a sort of mixture of an experiment and a Bill Clinton type rationalization of not technically having made love afterwards.