As Russ stepped off the plane, he smiled to himself. Pulling his long brown coat tighter around him and yanking his hat down on his hairless head, he entered the terminal. He was there to keep a promise — one made to Kathleen, an Internet friend. He said if he was ever in her state, he’d meet her and they would hold a proper make-out session. No actual sex, but masturbation would be played by ear.
See, Kathleen was 25 and had never dated, except for what she called a "desperation fling." The farthest that relationship had gone was holding
hands. But Russ understood some of her shyness — teasing when she was younger, as well as bad things in her past she’d never really specified.
From the pictures she’d sent, he recognized her across the terminal. Waving, he trotted toward her, carrying his baggage.
The two had met on one of the online diary sites and their friendship had blossomed into regular instant messages, e-mails and the occasional
phone call. They had both admitted an attraction for the other, and danced along the line between friendship and something more.
He had been pleased to discover her sensual imagination. She didn’t talk about it a lot, but he knew many of her turnons, and she knew some of
his.
"Hey, sweetie!" Kathleen said with a smile, pulling him into a tight hug. "You're taller than I thought."
"And you're lovelier than I thought," he said with a grin.
She blushed.
"You're just saying that. But it's aweful nice of you," she said. "Can I help you with your bags?”
She slung one over her shoulder, pulling her curly blonde hair from under the strap.
"My car’s this way," she said.
They walked side by side, peeking at each other out of the corner of their eyes, both thinking about the promise and the boundaries set, but
not mentioning it.
"It takes a little bit to integrate the person you know online with them in real life, doesn’t it?" Russ said.
"A little," Kathleen said. "But I like it."
She chattered about the town as they drove to the movie store. He led the way into the movie store, and she watched him, appreciating his
strong shoulders and sparkling eyes. It wasn't so hard fitting the creative and philosophical mind with the body.
After spending half an hour in the store debating the merits of different movies, they nabbed an old Godzilla movie. They both had a good idea they wouldn't see much of it.
After supper, which Kathleen cooked, they decided to watch the movie.
The TV was upstairs in her bedroom, so they headed up.
"It's not so girly, is it?" Kathleen said with a smile as Russ chuckled at the Marvel posters she had framed on her wall.
"I like it," he said. "It fits you."
Jumping onto the bed, Russ nabbed a couple of pillows for him and stacked up a few for Kathleen. Pushing play on the tape, she climbed
onto the bed, looking shyly at Russ, and lay down so they were spooning.
He put one arm around her waist, resting it on her belly.
"Is that OK?" he asked.
"Fine," she said. She felt the heat rise on her face, glad he wasn't looking at her right then. It was foreign to her to feel another's warmth against her back. But it felt — nice, she decided. Safe. After a little bit, she snuggled tighter against him.
They lay like that for awhile, enjoying each other's laughter at the dubbing and the stilted movement of the monsters.
