Jury Duty

This is a continuation of my story Jury Duty. I had intended it to be a one-off but I got some requests to continue it, so let's see how I do! This is a story based on actual events and real people. All names have been changed to protect the innocent.

I called Nicole that night. I could hear the relief in her voice.

"Look," she said, "I've never done anything like that before. I don't know what came over me..."

"Nothing like that's ever happened to me before, either," I said.

"I just don't want you to think that I'm that type of girl," Nicole said.

"I know you're not," I replied. "It was special."

"Do you still want to go out with me Friday night?" Nicole asked hopefully.

"Of course," I said, and we made plans to meet at a restaurant near her place after work. Luckily where she lived was on my way home from my new job, so it was only going to take about half an hour to get there, depending on traffic.

I arrived at the restaurant, a little Italian place off of a country road, a little after 5:30. Nicole was already there waiting for me. I was dressed in my usual business casual outfit, with a dress shirt and slacks. Nicole was dressed like she came straight from work also, in a white blouse and a tight gray skirt that went down to her knees. It was much more provocative than the bulky sweaters and long flowing skirts I had seen her in up until then. It showed off the curves of her hourglass figure. I gave her a kiss on the cheek. We got a little table in a corner where we could have some privacy since our conversation would be drowned out in the already noisy restaurant.

"So..." Nicole said, "How was last night with your daughter?"

I had custody of my two year old on Thursday nights. "It was good," I said, "We played a little, watched her favorite Disney show, and we had burgers."

"How does that work?" Nicole asked.

I thought it was a vague question. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, you're living at home, with your parents," Nicole asked, "So you just bring her there?"

"Yeah," I said, "I think one of the reasons they didn't mind me moving home so much was that they got to see their granddaughter more. The other was the dog. They love the dog. She sleeps with them now."

Nicole laughed. "Aww... you mean she doesn't even sleep with her daddy anymore?"

"No," I said, "I try not to take it personally." I didn't like where the conversation was headed, about how even my dog had abandoned me, and so I decided to change the subject. "How was work?" I asked.

"Oh, they were glad to have me back," Nicole said, "I don't think the temp really knew what she was doing. I was super busy the last two days catching up on all the work. What about you?"

"It was okay," I said, "Still getting the hang of things." The jury duty summons took me away from what would have been my third day at my new job.

"Do you like the job so far?" Nicole asked.

"The truth?" I asked.

"Please," Nicole said.

"No," I said. Nicole laughed. "I took this job because they offered me almost $10K more a year. I left a job and a company that I was happy to be at and enjoyed what I was doing most of the time, but they refused to pay me. I had no choice but to leave when the first opportunity came along. They even had the balls to be angry at me for leaving. I all but begged them at my last review to pay me what I was worth because I was still married at the time and desperately trying to make ends meet financially, but the office manager shrugged her shoulders and cried poverty. So now I'm with this new company. It's almost an hour commute up and down the highway, and it's not really what I want to do..." I stopped venting and looked at Nicole. She was staring at me intently. "Well, at least you're making more money," she said helpfully.

"Well sure," I said, "But it turned out that making more money just means that I'm going to be paying more alimony and child support."

"Wow, you really can't catch a break," Nicole said.

"I couldn't until this week," I said, gazing into her big brown eyes.

"That's sweet," Nicole said. The waitress finally came over and we ordered our drinks. Nicole asked for a glass of red wine and I asked for water WITHOUT lemon. I was glad for the distraction, eager to turn the conversation away from me.

"What about you?" I asked, "Do you like your job?"

"Not really," Nicole said, and I laughed, "But it's much better than the retail and waitress jobs I had before I got my associates degree. My bosses are kind of... needy, though. Some days I practically have to tie their shoes for them. I make decent money, though."

"Well, that's good," I said. "So, do you still live at home?"

"No," Nicole said, "I actually just moved out a couple of months ago. I share an apartment with a friend of mine. I had been living at home and saving up money waiting for Gary, he was my ex, to ask me to move in with him, but obviously it never happened." Nicole paused. The waitress had arrived with our drinks. Nicole took a sip of wine as soon as the waitress put it down. "Have you ever been cheated on?" Nicole asked when the waitress walked away.

"Not that I'm aware of," I said. Nicole laughed. "I like the way you say things," she told me. "I ask you questions that deserve a simple yes or no answer, and you find a way to make them interesting."

"I enjoy your bluntness," I said, "You're not afraid to ask those types of questions."

"I enjoy yours too," Nicole replied, "You're not afraid to answer them."

We sat quietly for a few moments, just staring at each other. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. I was enjoying just being with Nicole. Women who can be intellectually stimulating are rare. The waitress came over to take our order. I asked for chicken parmesan. Nicole ordered a pasta dish.

"So," Nicole said after the waitress left, glancing around as though making sure nobody was listening, "What's your deepest, darkest secret?"

My eyes widened. That was a pretty blunt question. I was a pretty open person but I did have a few skeletons in my closet.

Nicole must have noticed my reaction because she added, "Tell me something that nobody else knows."

That narrowed it down to just one secret for me. I wasn't sure if it was something that you should really share with somebody you've only known a few days, though. Then again, this wasn't your typical new relationship. We had already slept together. I took a sip of water. I took a deep breath, and looked her right in the eyes. "I write..." I paused, trying to figure out the best way to say it, "Erotic fiction."

It was Nicole's turn to have her eyes bulge. I could see her struggling to process what I told her, and for a panicky few moments I wondered if I just ruined our fledgling relationship. Then she looked like she was about to laugh, but she didn't. "Wow, really?" She finally said. "How did that happen?"

Relieved that she didn't get up and walk out, I pressed on. "Well," I said, looking for the best way to begin, "I was single for most of my 20's. When most people were out hooking up or whatever I was home on my computer."

"You had to be your own best friend," Nicole cut in.

"Yeah," I said. "Pretty much. And I wasn't the type to just go out there and find like a fuck buddy or something."

"I understand," Nicole said, "I was my own best friend for the last few months. Go on."

My mind involuntarily flashed on an image of Nicole, naked and spread-eagled on the bed, her hand between her legs, fingering herself to orgasm. I pushed the visual out of my head. "Well anyway," I continued, "I was always a writer growing up. I wrote songs, poetry, short stories, even a couple of unfinished novels. Whatever ideas were trying to get out of me, I'd put them down on paper. I guess it was just natural that eventually my love of writing and my love of erotic fiction would... intersect."

"I understand," Nicole said, "So how did it come about? What do you write about?"

I was so relieved that she was curious instead of repulsed, I would've told her just about anything right then. "Actually I didn't start writing it until a couple of years ago. I was sitting up with my daughter at night, I'd get up with her and feed her and get her back to sleep..."

"Wait," Nicole cut in again, "You took care of your daughter at night?"

"Yeah," I said.

"But I thought you said your wife... your ex wife didn't work," Nicole said.

"No, she didn't," I said, "But I still got roped into doing the nighttime feedings when she was a baby. I was an insomniac," I added with a shrug, "She decided that I was better suited for it. Believe me nobody I've ever spoken to could understand our situation. So anyway you really have nothing else to do for all that time you're trying to rock an infant back to sleep except to sit there and think. For some reason I spent a lot of that time thinking about women I used to know. I guess you could call it missed opportunities. I started to think about what may have happened if things were different, if I'd zigged instead of zagged, would things have turned out differently. Eventually, after my daughter started sleeping through the night and I had a little more time to myself, I started writing about it. I wrote about women in college that were 'just friends,' co-workers that I had flirtations with, things like that. I started living out my what-if scenarios on paper."

"What if you had hooked up with someone else instead," Nicole said with a nod. "You really felt trapped in that life, huh?"

"I guess so," I said, "Not fatherhood. I came to enjoy fatherhood quickly enough, but my marriage was already trashed. I think I was lamenting the person I found myself with, and wondering what would have happened if things had been... you know... different."

"So it's all about past experiences?" Nicole asked, "You didn't write anything about your ex?"

"No," I said, "Nothing about her. I didn't write anything about any of my real relationships, believe it or not. Well, I probably borrowed heavily from my own sexual experience when I was writing the stories. Actually lately I was writing about the future, about meeting someone post-divorce and having a sexual relationship with her."

"That's optimistic," Nicole said. "Was it anything like the other day?"

"No, no," I said, smiling at the memory, "I don't think anybody could make up a story like that."

"Truth is stranger than fiction, right?" Nicole asked.

"Definitely," I said.

"Did she ever find out about it?" Nicole asked. "Your ex wife, I mean?"

"No," I said, "I don't think so. I used to keep them hidden in an innocent looking folder on my hard drive so I don't think she ever saw it. She certainly never said anything to me about it. She freaked out enough when I told her I looked at porn." I looked at Nicole, waiting for her to cut in, preferably with a reassuring comment that the thought of me looking at porn wouldn't bother her, but she was silent this time. "I guess it was a testament to how bad our marriage was. I'd be in the next room looking at porn instead of being with her. It's bad when you're so angry you'd rather go look at porn than sleep with your wife."

I had run out of things to say. I was looking at Nicole, who was looking back at me, her face inscrutable. I wasn't sure how she took that last part. I was worried that after all that, after everything I shared, that I had finally gone a step too far.

"Did you ever see the movie High Fidelity?" Nicole suddenly asked me.

"Yes, it's one of my favorite movies, actually," I said.

"There was a scene where John Cusack's character slept with the singer," Nicole said, "and the next morning they were talking about their failed relationships, and she said something like, 'It's okay to be fucked up and horny.' I think that applies to both of us right now."

"The whole mid-life crisis theme of that movie, John Cusack going back and talking to all of his exes, I think that's similar to what I did, in a way," I said.

"After Gary cheated on me I just wanted to go out and fuck the first guy I saw," Nicole said, "I didn't," she added, "I did what you did, I took care of myself," she smirked, "I don't know how much better I am now than I was then, but I'm glad we found each other. If nothing else, we can be fucked up and horny together." She raised her glass of wine and I reciprocated, raising my glass of water. We clinked glasses and drank. A few moments later the food arrived and we ate in silence.

I thought about the last thing she had said to me. It made her sound like she wanted a fuck buddy, and not a real relationship. Was I okay with that? I wasn't sure I was ready for a real relationship myself, but I doubted that I wanted to get into a relationship where I was just using Nicole for sex, or Nicole was just using me for sex. I didn't know if I could handle something like that. I felt myself already getting attached to Nicole, her intelligence and openness was refreshing, and I enjoyed her company. Was I over thinking the situation? Couldn't I just take it day by day with her and enjoy whatever we had?

"So, can I read them?" Nicole asked after we finished eating and the plates were taken away.

I was still brooding over my dark thoughts about what I thought Nicole wanted from me. Her question didn't even register at first. "What?" I asked.

"Your stories," Nicole said, "Can I read them?"

"Oh," I said, "Sure." I thought about some of the subject matter and added, "But you should know that they're not all just 'boy meets girl, boy sleeps with girl,' in some of the stories I indulge in an exploration of sexuality and they can get kind of... kinky."

"Kinky, huh?" Nicole asked. "How so?"

"Well, some of them explore certain... fetishes," I said.

"Like what?" Nicole asked. "Bondage?"

"Actually, yes," I said. "One of them," I added quickly. "I just don't want you to think that everything that you would read is indicative of what I would expect our sexual relationship to be like..." I trailed off. I wanted to say more but I wasn't sure how to say it.

"Wow, now I'm really curious," Nicole said, and she leaned forward and lowered her voice to nearly a whisper. "I told you I'm not a stranger to online pornography," Nicole said, "I think I can handle it."

I smiled at her uneasily. Nicole leaned back, and a moment later, I felt her bare foot against my shin. We locked eyes and she smiled at me. "So, do you want to come back to my place?" She asked.

I swallowed and shifted in my seat, my swelling cock suddenly becoming uncomfortable in my slacks. "Yes," I said.

We got the bill and fought over it. I am chivalrous and insisted that I pay the bill, at least for the first "real" date. Nicole countered that she knew how broke I was at the moment and that she could handle it.

"No, the first one is on me," I said, practically yanking the bill away from her, "You can get the next one."

"Fine," She said, folding her arms and pouting. I paid the bill and we walked outside into a hot and humid July evening. Nicole threw her arms around me and kissed me. "Thank you for dinner," she said.

"You're welcome," I said. We got into our cars and I followed her to her apartment. It was only about five minutes away, in a small cluster of two story brick apartment buildings off the main road. Nicole led me to one of the bottom floor dwellings. The moment we walked in I could hear the sounds of her neighbors upstairs clomping around their apartment, and I thought that I would absolutely hate it there.

I got a quick tour. There were two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen area. Nicole's bedroom was small but cluttered, with a bed, a couple of dressers, and a closet practically overflowing with clothes.

"Do you ever worry that somebody you wrote about is going to find out about your stories?" Nicole asked.

"No, not really," I replied.

"Why not?" Nicole asked.

"Could you imagine," I said, "You're at your computer reading erotic fiction and you stumble across a story that is quite obviously about you. Now you may be flattered, you may be angry, but if you're going to track me down to tell me about it, it's an admission that you're looking at porn."

We both cracked up laughing. "I didn't think about it that way," Nicole said.

"What would you do?" I asked.

"If it was some guy I never slept with fantasizing about me, I think I'd be flattered," Nicole said, "If it was my ex, I think I'd be pissed. If it was you, I'd definitely want to read it." We smiled at each other. "My roommate is out," Nicole said after a few moments, "She usually comes home late. Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"Sure," I said.

"Do you mind if I slip into something more comfortable?" Nicole asked, "I've been in my work clothes all day."

"I don't mind," I said.

"I just feel bad because you're still in yours," Nicole said.

I thought about it for a moment. "I'll be fine with it if you let me undress you," I said with a smile.

"Okay," Nicole said with no hesitation. "Just let me use the bathroom first. If you need to go you can use the other one."

"Okay," I said, and went to the bathroom by her roommate's room. I met Nicole coming out of her bathroom.

"So..." Nicole said, and I stopped whatever she was going to say next by kissing her. I took her by the hand and led her into her bedroom. I kissed her again, tenderly, my hands caressing her neck. I lowered my hands, slowly, until I reached the top button of her blouse. I began to unbutton her blouse while I kissed her. I felt her hands go to the buttons of my shirt and I stopped her.

"No," I said, "Just let me undress you." Nicole didn't say anything, she just exhaled. I finished unbuttoning her blouse and pulled it off of her, leaving her in a lacy white bra. I ran my hands along the exposed skin of her neck and shoulders, and up and down her arms. When I reached behind her to undo her bra, I leaned over and kissed her along her neck and shoulder. I undid her bra, and stepped back to pull it off of her. I watched as her breasts came free, full and firm. I leaned over again and kissed her collarbone, working my way down her clavicle and eventually down to the swell of her breasts. I took my hands from where I was caressing her back and took a breast in each hand, lightly caressing them and watching her nipples grow hard with my touch.

Nicole shifted her feet. She stayed silent except for the occasional ooh and ahh. I kneeled and kissed my way down her stomach to her belly button. My hands went to her waist and undid her skirt. I pulled it down around her hips and down her legs, revealing a pair of lacy white panties. She stepped out of her skirt, and I ran my hands up and down her legs, pausing to cup her buttocks behind her. I used my grip to pull her toward me, and I placed kisses on her waist and down her thighs. I kissed as far down as her knee and began to kiss my way up her inner thigh.

Nicole suddenly grabbed my head and pulled me to my feet. "This is amazing," she said, "You're making me weak in the knees. I'm going to fall over!" She stepped sideways and let herself fall backwards onto her twin bed. I watched her stretch out luxuriously on her bed and beckon toward me. I climbed onto the bed between her legs and resumed kissing my way up and down her thigh. I settled around her inner thigh but avoided the area that was still covered by her panties. Nicole gasped as I nibbled at the sensitive skin of her inner thigh.

I continued to kiss around her inner thigh, teasing her. Nicole gasped and moaned and shifted around. She grabbed my head and tried to steer me toward her pussy. I finally relented and gave her a kiss right on her lace covered pussy. Nicole sighed contentedly. I nuzzled my face up against her pussy, taking in her smell and causing her to squirm. I leaned back and pulled her panties off of her, leaving her completely naked.