I.
Meeting her was a foregone conclusion. He had decided weeks ago that he would go through with it and get together with her for coffee. The prime question, one of many circling in his head on the drive to the coffee shop was: what would happen after? If he was at all honest with himself, the real question he desperately wanted answered: would they fuck?
II.
It had been well over 10 years since they had last seen each other—in person anyhow. If someone said it had actually been 15 years, he would honestly have to do the math in his head to tell them they were wrong. They were lovers when they were younger. And looking back it was plain to see why their relationship had not worked. They were both artists. She was an actress, he was a director. Egos were pitted against each other from the outset. Add in the fiery energy of youth, and the pot would near-continuously boil over. But one thing in particular made their time together unsustainably derisive: they were intellectual giants. A man would be hard-pressed to find two more intelligent artists in the city. Indeed, that same man may even be hard-pressed to find two more intelligent people in the city. When not occupied with rehearsals, performances, or fund raisers, these two found it quite enjoyable to spend their nights together attending public lectures on the Higgs boson or telling the other how wrong they were about their perception of Ayn Rand.
While that may sound conceited, it was the truth. They would intellectually spar with a regularity usually reserved for train schedules, most times ending only after he called her "pretentious", or with her slapping him squarely across the face. But here's the thing: they were kind and attractive people. They never made others feel stupid or inferior, they never lectured, and they looked fantastic. A beautiful couple one might say. People wanted to be near them because they were fun. They just didn't want to be near each other. Yet, each found the other magnetic. To this day he thinks she is the most intelligent lover he has ever had, and he to her. A superiorly attractive quality. Yes. Magnetic. Perhaps, the moth is right.
He arrived unintentionally early to the coffee shop. An hour early. He had debated the option of going across the street and wasting time in the strip mall that was loosely held together by the theme, "useless stores." In their last on-line chat, she told him she would be there working, so anytime he arrived would be fine. He did not want to appear overeager. The mall looked appealing.
She had given up acting long ago. She had a near-complete retool of her life. She attained a degree in political science, and was now a successful author of young adult fantasy fiction novels. Yes, published. And, yes, by an internationally recognized publisher. He learned all this through that most convenient of surveillance tools, Facebook. He kept only loose tabs on her through the years. Never approaching. Just watching. Her success intrigued him. One would be wrong if they were to classify his interest as jealousy. He was not a jealous person. What he felt was more of a strange type of pride. He was proud that she had turned her love of words into a career. He was proud to see someone he knew set out and attain their goals. He loved achievement. He reveled in it. Not only his, but others as well. And she had achieved.
She was to be at the coffee shop working. On a novel, he supposed. So, the question was: should he arrive early—which on any normal day he thought rude—and interrupt her work? Perhaps he could just park and watch her work from afar. Something to satisfy his voyeuristic side. Assess her 10 year plus aged looks. Or he could just be an adult and walk in an hour early with the full knowledge that he simply would enjoy an extra hour in her company...hoping she wouldn't mind.
He walked in. She wasn't there. He was, in fact, relieved. He could now take his seat, feel out the space, become comfortable in it. Relax. And breathe. He ordered a large coffee, something to calm his nerves. He took a seat on the patio. It was 55 degrees outside. Not well thought out, but he didn't move. Moving was not on his mind.
No sooner had he sat back in his chair, her car pulled into the lot. His stomach dropped. Her eyes met his though her window. Her stomach dropped. There would be no relaxing into the space for either of them. Foiled by an hour-early arrival. The protective gulf of ten plus years dried in that instant.
She got out of her car. She looked fantastic. Womanly. Much more so than he remembered. He stood. She looked him over from her bumper, smiled. He smiled back.
III.
One thing their relationship could do well was fuck. Extraordinarily well. The word 'prudish' would have been the ultimate insult. The dish of their fucking incorporated most flavors. Very little was off limits. If variety is the spice of life, their bedroom may as well have been an office at The British East India Company.
Countless positions ranging from simple missionary to the more gymnastic. Standing against walls, her legs wrapped around him, back against the wall, feeling his size and strength support her writhing body. Oral. Lots of oral, lots of places. In bathrooms at parties, in cars parked on busy city streets. Playful tastes of her pussy taken at clubs, listening to music, sneaking a finger inside her in the dark of the bar, sucking it clean off in his mouth. Anal. Cum facials. Phone sex when they couldn't be with each other. Vibrators and toys galore. Golden showers. Rimjobs. In the dark of night lying naked next to each other in bed they would whisper stories into the other's ear. Stories of what they would like to do, reviews of what they had done, confessionals of their darker fantasies. The only job the other would have would be to lay there, absorbing these spoken images, getting fucked by the hand and fingers of the story teller and cum. They even had a small exploratory foray into the virtues of group sex.
Strictly speaking, their relationship only lasted the better part of year. But their fucking lasted considerably longer. Their worlds would often collide at parties or bars as a result of their shared circle of friends. Inevitably (often fueled by alcohol and a general boredom with those surrounding them), they would mind-fuck one another with sexually charged dialogues thinly disguised as friendly, intelligent debates; and they would almost invariably end up leaving with one another to willingly and wantonly use each other. These episodes often occurred while the other was involved romantically. It was of no concern. They justified this all by lying and saying it was "just one more time." It was never just one more time; until of course when it was. And that moment occurred greater than 10 years ago.
IV.
There is that moment where a nervous person finally realizes that everything will be alright, that the situation will not eat them alive. She broke the invisible plain between them, touching his bare knee as she laughed at a particularly funny joke he made. And the moment occurred. Until that moment, they spoke with each other at such a pace as to make an auctioneer envious. Nerves. Until that moment, scarcely a phrase the other had spoken was actually comprehended, as it was impossible to be heard over the din of their inner monologues screaming, "Oh my god! Why am I here? Oh my god! Why am I here? Oh my god! Why do they look so good! Oh my god...ohmy god...ohmygod!"
And then, a moment of inner silence.
Her long fingers reached out and touched his knee. He could tell this took an immense amount of effort on her part; and he could equally tell she wanted to touch him since the moment she arrived. Her fingers were cold against his skin, but soft. Nerves. He did not want it to end. He did not want her to stop. His screaming brain fell to a hushed whisper.
"Please," it murmured, "...thank you." Then silence. Calmness. And hope.
Hope that the unseen wall between them would crumble and be rebuilt around them like a privacy fence. Hope that their conversation would turn from the nervous-commonplace-safe to the relaxed-intimate-personal. Hope that he would actually find the guts to lean in and just kiss her. But he couldn't, nor could she.
V.
Her hand removed. And just like that the world around them returned to the rapid paced, loud environ. But something inside them changed. Those inner monologues had both taken on a new voice.
"Look at her lips," his said.
"I remember those shoulders," hers recalled.
"I wonder what her tongue tastes like."
"I would love to feel his cock in my hands."
"Touch me again."
"Touch him again." And she did.
VI.
He "re-found" her on Facebook. As most are guilty of, the lure of knowing exactly what and who his exes were doing was too much. He found her page. Still public. She was celebrating the release of her latest novel. He had no idea that she set that sail into the wind. He was impressed. Quite.