*** Authors Note: Part 9 obviously picks up where Part 8 left off. While I make the suggestion to read from the beginning, a couple of refresher notes:
Characters previously introduced:
Phil - Main protagonist. Wealthy 40-something white male who reshaped his entire life following a workplace accident. Has had a lifelong tendency to act rather impulsively, sometimes with mixed results.
Stacy - Originally, Phil's physical therapist and friend
Karen - Originally, Stacy's roommate
Katie - Karen's daughter and Phil's assistant.
Paul - Phil's live-in personal assistant who disappeared mysteriously, most likely robbing Phil of all his possessions in the process. A minor character at most.
In Part 8, the gang moved into their new apartment. Changes may be in store for what has been a tight-knit group of 4. The finale to our mid-life-crisis tale.
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Karen was right, Stacy was dating someone.
We actually met him that night. She wasn't lying when she said it was one of her clients. She wasn't lying when she said that he needed an emergency massage session. The only lie, if it could even be called that, was that she never told us that she was dating someone. Though, it appeared that she may not have even necessarily known.
Jordan was about my age and worked locally in IT. He was referred to Stacy through a friend when he decided he wanted to get back into competitive triathlons. While Stacy did not particularly have any experience with that brand of multisport, she took her job to heart. First she got his cardio level up and then she learned about and worked on a plan for his specific endeavor.
As it turned out, they had already had sex, something that Jordan seemed shocked she revealed so casually to her three roommates in somewhat detailed fashion. Though, he was a good sport about it and really seemed like a good guy overall. Stacy seemed happy and I suppose that was all that was important. Jordan stayed for dinner and, as a group, we enjoyed a lot of laughs. After dinner, Stacy said that she was going to stay at his place that night and Katie decided she was going to meet up with her friends again.
As everyone left and we cleaned everything up, Karen looked at me with worried eyes.
"I'm still not going anywhere," was all I could tell her.
That night, we made love.
We weren't drunk. We weren't hot from the sun. There was nothing adventurous about it. We had a glass of wine, we snuggled up to watch TV in the living room, we ended up nude and snuggling in her bed, settling in for the night.
I woke up the following morning to the sound of the elevator ding and door opening. Instinctively, I got out of bed and found Stacy in the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards to grab the fixings for some coffee.
"Well, it's probably a good idea Jordan wasn't here for breakfast," she said with a smile, acknowledging my complete and total nudity. I hadn't even thought about it, I was so used to not being clothed in the apartment.
"Crap, yeah, I guess I will start having to cover up. Considering Jordan and the Sabrina incident."
"Like hell you will!"
Stacy's reaction surprised me and she caught the startled look on my face.
"Phil, there is nothing wrong with being naked in your own home. There is nothing wrong with being naked on a nude beach. Unless you specifically want to, don't you dare change anything about how you are living your life."
I let out a sleepy chuckle. "Karen just expressed her worry yesterday that things are going to change."
"Well of course they are going to change! Things always change, you can't resist that. But as far as this lifestyle is concerned, as long as you aren't hurting anyone else there is no reason that you have to change unless you want to."
Stacy handed me a cup of coffee.
"If this becomes serious I want you to know that I am going to miss you," I said. "I owe a lot to you both physically and mentally."
Stacy walked around the island and sat down next to me at a bar stool.
"I'm not going anywhere yet. But, I get it. I'll miss you, in more ways than one."
Stacy reached out and jiggled my dick with a warm, coffee-mug hand, on her face a wink and smile.
"Yeah, we had some fun, didn't we." It was more a statement than a question.
"Fun?! Yeah, I think you could describe it that way. Phil, I think that you and Karen think that I have this crazy sexual experience history but I really don't. Much of what I did with you or the both of you was for the first time. Apparently midlife crises come in different forms."
She laughed at herself at her final statement and we sat quietly for a second.
"So, what are your plans?"
"With Jordan? Nothing definitive. It hasn't been that long. I guess time will tell. But, with life experience comes the ability to just say something feels right, ya' know?"
"I do know. And I am happy for you. But I was actually referring to something a little more immediate. What are your plans for the day?"
"Don't have any, actually. He is spending time with his kids today and we both feel it is a little too early for me to meet them. Did you have something in mind?"
"Same as yesterday, actually. Head over to the beach."
She didn't even say anything before taking my coffee cup out of my hand and putting both of them in the dishwasher.
"All right, let's go," she said with a satisfied smile.
It didn't appear that Katie was home yet but we did leave Karen a note as to where we were and what our plan was for the day, hoping she would join us. As it was, the original plan was to head immediately to the beach and relax for a little while. We were going to do some running and stretching on the sand, something I had not done with Stacy in a long time, and later get lunch from the snack stand. Afterwards it was a little more beach and water and then going out for a nice dinner that night. Instead, we actually packed a ton of stuff. Too much, in fact. We had chairs and a radio and a cooler with drinks and balls and frisbees, the list went on and on.
Thankfully, pretty much everything we were packing, above and beyond our towels and a couple of snacks, was being pulled out of our storage area in the basement meaning we didn't wake Karen during the entire process and, 30 minutes later, we were on our way.
It was almost ridiculous setting everything up once we got there. I must have taken 5 trips to-and-from my car bringing everything over to our little section of the beach. Considering there were only two of us, possibly three eventually, our setup was overkill. But, we were together, we were naked, we were in the sun and loving life.
The only thing in the back of my mind was a question that I decided to keep to myself: For Stacy was this a continuation or a life that she planned on keeping or was it something of a last hurrah?
A familiar chorus echoed in my mind: only time would tell.
Time also told what would turn out with our day.
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