Sean's graduate school experience continues.
This story is set in the late aughts (2000s). All characters are at least 18. The characters in this story are flawed, just like you and me. Sometimes they make bad decisions as they struggle to live their lives. Sometimes they make life changing decisions. All characters and situations are complete fiction, a product of my fertile imagination. Any similarity to actual people and situations is purely a coincidence. All constructive criticism is welcome.
Thanks to "Sam" for her editing work. You're the best!
*****
Cast of Primary Characters
Astrid - A native Icelander who moved to the United States when she was five. She just turned 29. She is enrolled at the university working toward a Doctor of Writing degree. Her apartment was recently firebombed and she is staying with Sean temporarily, sharing his bed. She has been trying to get Sean to become romantically involved with her. Sean has resisted, citing her youth and naïveté. He has encouraging her to date other men. Astrid is a petite brunette who had sex with Sean several times over the past two weeks.
Elena aka "Elly" - A 30-year-old accountant. She was married to a Major League Baseball player and received a significant amount of his salary in the divorce settlement. Thus, she is financially independent. This shapely brunette is an accomplished singer and musician. She is the leader of the band Radio Renaissance and plays a variety of instruments including guitar and piano. She has expressed an interest in being Sean's unmarried partner. A bit prudish, she has had sex with Sean once.
Katie - A 29-year-old registered nurse. This buxom brunette is enrolled in the university's Doctor of Nursing program. She is an accomplished bassist and plays in Radio Renaissance. For Halloween she will be Boris Badenov to Sean's Natasha Fatale. She is very interested in Sean as a life partner. She has had sex with Sean twice.
Lindsey - A 30-year-old loan officer at a local bank. This beautiful redhead recently checked herself into a clinic for sex addiction. For much of the past ten years she has been a sex worker and a self-identified nymphomaniac while holding down important bank positions. She is a virtuoso pianist and plays keyboard in Radio Renaissance. For her last sex act before checking herself into the clinic, she had anal sex with Sean.
Lori - Blonde and statuesque, Lori is in her first year pursuing a Doctor of Sociology degree. She has been on several dates with Sean. They decided they didn't have a lot on common. Following their last date, Lori asked Sean to spank and dominate her. While they had sex, Sean wasn't thrilled, preferring vanilla sex.
Maria - This 27-year-old native Italian recently started working toward a doctorate in sociology. Last week, after a sumptuous dinner at her apartment, she had sex with Sean under the premise of doing research into human sexual response.
Pete - A 22-year-old biology major in his senior year at university. He is the drummer in Radio Renaissance. He has been having sex with Lindsey on a very regular basis before she checked into the sex addiction program.
Sean - Our main character and narrator. A 48-year-old retired Navy pilot. He is pursuing a doctorate in sociology. He has had sex with each of the women noted above at least once.
*****
I awoke before the clock radio went off. I could feel Astrid snuggled up to me. Rather than get out of bed, I thought I'd savor the moment.
As my mind began to drift, I remembered my date with Lori the night before. The woman was stunningly beautiful. I could look at her body all day long, but I didn't get the whole domination/submission thing. For some people, it is everything they want in sex and in a relationship. It just didn't work for me. I realized I wasn't into kinky stuff. She was quite happy with the way things went, but I left feeling shitty. Never in a million years did I think I would call a woman a slut and a cunt, but she wanted that; she begged for it. Same with the spanking. I just wasn't into hitting another person. I had to remember that I initially didn't think we were right for each other, that last experience confirmed it. We were incompatible, but that didn't mean I wouldn't nurture the friendship. She was a good ally to have in the doctoral program.
What day is today?
I had to think a bit.
Sunday. Visit Lindsey.
I realized that I had had sex with all four women I would be with today.
Elly was another one who was jaw-droppingly gorgeous. She was an amazing woman, but I wasn't sure we clicked. I loved her musicianship. I loved her as a friend. I just wasn't sure there was a long-term relationship there. She seemed to be focused on the money coming in from her ex. I mean, money's great and all, but there's a lot more to life. Accounting is important work, but how fulfilling is it? She did mention that she would be happy to follow me anywhere though. Follow me anywhere.
Hmm
.
That's important. Remember that old man.
And then there was Lindsey. For the time being, I needed to just support her. Let her get her shit together and then I could reevaluate her potential as a life partner. She was an amazing musician, but she seemed to be one-dimensional - sex. What would the real Lindsey be like once she wasn't continually pursuing an orgasm? She had said that she was lonely and that she wanted a family. I was pretty sure I didn't want to become a father again.
Katie was simply wonderful. She was beautiful, sweet, and caring. So much fun to be around. She knew where she wanted to go in life and was working to get there. In so many ways she was just like me. I could really see me having her as a partner. I could see us doing something like joining the Peace Corps together and solving problems somewhere. Not to mention that the sex was mind-blowing. She understood how to get the most out of the male anatomy. I didn't know what her long-range plans were though. That could be an issue.
On the other hand, Maria was a beautiful enigma. I wasn't sure how to take her 'research'. It made for some amazing sex, but was she serious? There was no way she could formally do that kind of research with all the institutional reviews that had to be done. I did appreciate her long-term goals. In that way she was also a lot like me. There was something about the exoticness of being Italian that was intriguing. I could see Maria as a life partner too, but once again, how did she feel about having kids.
And then there was Astrid. I looked down at her brown head nestled against me. She was beautiful and vivacious. I definitely loved her as a person, but was she life partner material? She was fun to be around, but she also seemed to be naïve and immature. She wanted to teach writing, but other than that, I wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life. It would be so easy to settle down with her, but I had done that once with my first marriage and it didn't work out.
No settling!
Let's get her an apartment and gain some separation. Then you can properly evaluate things.
Remember Sean, you're here to get your degree. Stay focused.
Just then the clock radio went off. 7 AM.
Astrid stirred, "I'm going to throw that radio in the dumpster."
"Another reason to get your own apartment."
"Yeah. Yeah." She raised herself up and kissed me, "Good morning."
"Good morning, beautiful. Do you want the shower first?"
"No. I need more sleep."
I climbed out of bed.
Astrid said, "Can you turn around for me? I love looking at your body."
I slowly turned around, "See. Another reason you need to go on more dates. I have an old body." I slapped the slight paunch at my waist. "You need to find someone in good shape."
"Sean don't put yourself down. You're in great shape."
"Yeah, for an old guy."
"No. For any guy."
I decided to ignore her and I headed to the bathroom. When I came out, she was sound asleep again. I looked down on her as I dressed. She lay on her side and her brown hair partially hid her face. One lovely breast was outside the covers. Astrid truly was beautiful.
I retrieved the newspaper and had my first cup of coffee. Then I remembered the lyric Astrid had written. I grabbed my Telecaster. Since it wasn't plugged in, it wouldn't wake her up. I began plucking out a chord progression. Then I tried a few different melodies. Nothing struck me. I remembered that in the past I had to live with a lyric for a while before the right melody came to me. Not that I was a good songwriter, but something like that took time.
Just then, Astrid appeared in the bedroom door in her naked glory. What a wonderful body she had. Her pert champagne-sized breasts reminded me of the Venus de Milo. Her areolae were about nickel-sized with conical, erect nipples. Her pubes naturally spread out like a small fan above her slit. They were trimmed and her vulva was clean shaven. I could just detect her clit peeking out at the top. She stretched and tossed her hair back.
I had to smile at such beauty, "Good morning."
"What are you doing?"
"Fooling around with your lyric. I like it. I don't have a melody, but I like the words."
She walked to the kitchen and returned with some coffee. I loved how comfortable she was walking around in the nude.
I asked, "Are you still going with us to see Lindsey?" She nodded. "Elly will be by to pick us up around eleven."
Astrid slumped down in the armchair across from me, her spread legs providing a nice view of her vulva, "Why do you call her Elly?"
"It's her nickname. She asked me to call her that."
Astrid thought for a moment and took a sip of coffee, "I was going to give you shit about Americans having nicknames, but then I remembered Icelanders have nicknames too."
"What's the nickname for Astrid?"
"My father called me Addi, but my mother never used it. Astrid is fine."
She stood up and stretched again.
I smiled, "I really like that outfit."
"I wore it just for you. Another reason to keep me as a roommate."
Astrid padded off to take a shower.
*****
The trip down to Springfield was fun. Elly cranked the music again and I learned that Astrid didn't sing very well. Katie and Elly never said a thing though. They really appreciated her coming with us to support Lindsey.
When we arrived at the facility, the receptionist rang Lindsey and she came running out to see us. Hugs, kisses, and tears were the result. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I could detect a subtle change in her.
Lindsey kept hugging each of us in turn, "Astrid, right?"
"Yes."
"Thank you so much for coming. You're all such good people. Good friends. Have you eaten lunch?"
Elly shook her head, "We were waiting to eat with you."
"Wonderful. The food here is really good. We can eat here or head out."
Katie thoughtfully asked, "What do you want to do?"
Lindsey looked hopeful, "Can we go out in town?"
"Sure."
We piled into Elly's Beamer. Lindsey said she shouldn't sit next to me because she'd be tempted to do something so Astrid sat between us. Elly drove us to a high-class restaurant for brunch.
We had decided on the drive down to the clinic to let the conversation go wherever Lindsey wanted it to go. Her first question was about the band and how we were adapting. Elly told her about Thursday's gig. She was as surprised as we were that Pete could sing.
We arrived at the restaurant and were quickly seated. Elly and I had agreed ahead of time that we would split the bill between the two of us. They had an all-you-can-eat buffet and all of us went for that.
Once we were seated, Lindsey opened the conversation, "So what else is going on?"
Katie shrugged, "Mostly struggling with schoolwork."
I took a sip of coffee, "One thing I didn't share with everyone is that Astrid wrote a pretty cool lyric."
Astrid stared daggers at me and kicked me in the shin, "Let's not bring that up."
"Damn it, Astrid! No, let's bring it up. It's really good. We just need to come up with a melody."
Lindsey turned to Astrid, "What's it about?"
Astrid blushed a deep red, "I suppose it is about unrequited love."
Lindsey's eyes lit up, "There's a piano at the clinic. Could someone send the lyric to me? I'd love to give it a try."
