Wednesday Evening
On another college campus a couple of hours away, a twenty-year-old female student was walking across the open grounds known as the Commons or the parade grounds when it started to rain. The student union building was on one side, the dining hall on another, the library on another, and the administration building on the other. The grounds were intended to be park-like with big shade trees and several little shelters with benches. It was to one of these little shelters that the girl sought refuge just as the precipitation became heavier, but not before she was drenched. In the late afternoon, the inclement weather also hastened darkness.
She had been on her way to the dining hall for dinner, so she sat on a bench to ride out the storm, alone in the shelter. Suddenly, someone came flying over the bench on another side. The male came to a stop in the middle of the shelter. Turning and seeing the stunned expression on the beautiful girl's face, he was quick to apologize.
"Sorry to frighten you. I was trying to get out of the rain."
"Well, I would hope that's not normally how you make an entrance."
He chuckled, recognizing her in the waning light. "Melanie, right."
"It's actually Melanie
Brooks,"
she said with a smirk, "not Melanie Right."
"And she does comedy," he remarked. "I didn't know the University offered a degree in that."
"Now who's
trying
to be funny, Burt."
"So, we know each other."
"I don't
know
you; I
recognize
you."
Burt nodded to acknowledge her correction. Even though it was darker, there was still enough light for him to see her white t-shirt-like top was so wet it became see-through revealing what looked like a sexy bra. "So, we were in a journalism class together last semester. Is that your major?"
"No. Meteorology."
That surprised him. "You want to be a weather girl on TV?"
"No, I don't."
"Really? You're very attractive. Would probably have good on-air appearance."
"Thanks, but I'd rather stay behind the scenes." Melanie shivered.
"Then why take a course in journalism? Is that part of the curriculum?"
"No. Report on the weather. More to it than just forecasting."
"I suppose so. The rain is slacking a bit. We can cut through the library and get to my apartment without getting wet, if you'd like to come dry off."
With a smirk, Melanie said, "You tell me I'm attractive and then you invite me to your
apartment?
You think I just fell from the sky with the rain?"
Burt held up his hands. "No, no, no. I have no ulterior motive. Strictly a friendly gesture."
She gave him a cockeyed look. "I guess it would be nice to dry off before going to dinner." Standing, she told him, "I know karate." She didn't really.
"You won't need it."
So, off to his apartment they went. Once in there, Burt directed her to the bathroom. He grabbed her a robe.
"You can hang your clothes on the shower rod if you like."
"Thanks." In the bathroom, Melanie removed her clothes and found her underwear to be wetter than she'd thought. She pondered whether to remove her bra and panties and picked up the robe as though to study it. Questioning her own wisdom, she took off her undergarments and donned the robe. After a deep breath, she exited the bathroom only to find the apartment empty. "What the . . ."
He invites me here and then he
disappears,
Melanie wondered. Now, what do I do? She went into the kitchen and found a Diet Pepsi in the refrigerator. She helped herself to it while deciding what to do.
However, the decision was made for her when the door opened, and Burt returned with a large grocery bag. "Hope you like meat loaf. That was the special tonight."
"You went to get us dinner?"
"That's where you were headed, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
"So was I."
Well, so far, Melanie had Burt pegged all wrong. He was turning out to be quite a nice guy. He brought her a plate with the meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. "Thank you. This will be just fine."
Handing her the plate, Burt noticed that the robe was, of course, tied at her waist, but up top it was open enough to show some alluring cleavage, and below it opened to show a nice pair of crossed legs. "That robe looks much better on you than it ever did on me."
"Thanks. And thank you for your hospitality. But I have to tell you, sitting here with nothing but your robe on is a bit awkward."
"That's
all
you have
on?
The
robe?
I'll never wash it again!" he joked with a grin.
"You're
trying
to be funny again," Melanie accused, lightheartedly.
"This is working out well," Burt said. "I wanted to ask you out when we had the journalism class together last semester, but I didn't really know you and didn't want to, you know, just come up and ask you out."
"And now?"
"Now. Here you are."
"So?"
"Well, I was wondering—"
"Seriously?
You're going to get shy on me
now?"
"I don't handle rejection well."
"Well, I came to your apartment."
"Yes, you did. So, would you go out with me?"
She let out a big sigh. "I thought you'd never ask." With a chuckle, she said, "Yes, I will."
Just then, there was a loud crash of thunder, followed by a bolt of lightning that lit up the room, followed by heavy rain.
"Aw, hell!" Melanie swore.
"Yeah, I think this rain is good for all night. I checked the weather while waiting for the food."
"How am I going to get home? My apartment is on the other side of the campus."
"You're welcome to stay here," Burt offered.
"You'd just love that, wouldn't you?"
"You can have the bed and lock the door to the bedroom. I'll sleep on the sofa."
"I couldn't do that. I guess I'll take the sofa."
As they ate, Burt asked, "Why meteorology?"
"Well, you know, everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it," she joked.
"What can
you
do about it?"
"Learn to predict it more accurately. And you.
Journalism.
You want to be the next Walter Cronkite?"
"Who?" Burt joked. "Seriously, that would be awesome. But I'm a long way from that. It's something to aspire to, but I'd settle for just being good at what I do at whatever level I do it."
"That's a very mature thing to say. I'm impressed." She really was. Even despite his corny jokes, they were endearing. She actually looked forward to a date with him.
"Want to watch TV?" he asked.
"Yes,"
she agreed eagerly. "The Weather Channel."
"Are you serious?"
"No," Melanie answered giggling. "Put whatever you like on."
So, he found an old episode of
Friends
. While it was on, he picked up the plates and tidied up. It wasn't really that late, but Melanie was tired, and the rain steadily falling lured her to fall asleep slumped on the sofa.
When she became quiet, Burt noticed that she had fallen asleep. He let her sleep while watching a couple more episodes. Finally, he got a blanket, maneuvered her to a supine position on the sofa, quick to cover her back up when the robe flapped open revealing her shaved pussy. He then draped the blanket over her, turned out the lights and went to bed.
Sometime later, a loud crash of thunder awoke Melanie. The following lightning strike lit up the room. A dim light from the kitchen provided enough illumination for her to see that she was lying on the sofa covered with a blanket. She lifted the blanket to see that the robe was intact, and nothing was exposed.
What a gentleman Burt had turned out to be. Another bolt of lightning again lit up the tiny living room. She could see the door to the bedroom from her position and that room did not seem to be affected by that atmospheric electricity. She could also hear Burt's steady breathing, indicating he was likely sleeping soundly.
The lightning and thunder continued to keep her awake. The little sleep she'd gotten so far had done little to ease her fatigue. She tried to ignore the storm and sleep through it. However, the inclement weather did not let up and slumber remained elusive. She got up and looked around as though there was something she could do to change conditions. But of course, mother nature did what she wanted.
Melanie peeked into the bedroom as more lightning and thunder appeared, and though the latter could still slightly be heard, the room did not light up like the living room did. Activating the flashlight on her phone, she quickly panned the room. The window had heavy curtains that kept the lightning out and also acted somewhat as soundproofing. Burt appeared to be sound asleep but was only using half the bed.
Melanie couldn't help but stretch out on the vacant side of the bed. But as soon as she laid down, Burt sat up.
"Melanie?"
"Yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
"I'm a light sleeper. What's wrong?"
"The lightning and thunder—"
"You're going to be a meteorologist and you're afraid of lightning and thunder?"
"I'm not
afraid
of it. It's just louder and brighter in the living room. Do you mind sharing—"
"You want to