Authors note: My second effort, thanks for the positive feedback on the first. This one is different, focusing on a fairly indulgent fantasy I've had since my mid-20's. Thanks again to the very talented
1moeannie for her editing assistance. As before, I welcome constructive feedback. Happy reading.
Getting Back In Touch
Mike was pleasantly surprised when Laura reached out to him. They had been in an intense relationship for 6 months, when she suddenly broke it off, telling him that she had found someone else. He told her he didn't care; that she could have this new person AND him, to no avail. It had been three months since then, and while he was dating, he hadn't found anyone like her yet. Her combination of beauty, wit and intelligence were a rare mix.
So when she messaged him out of the blue to ask him to meet for a drink, he enthusiastically agreed, asking what this was about. She asked him to be patient, all would be made clear soon enough. He prodded, teased, and cajoled, to no avail. He even tried calling, but she wouldn't answer. After the third try, he decided he would just have to wait.
The four days until their meeting dragged by. He found himself thinking of Laura to the point of obsession. In 6 months, they had gone from straightforward dating to exploring BDSM to shared fantasies about adding other partners to their playtime. Just before she'd left him, she'd even shared with him her thoughts about the possibility of sharing a long-term polyamorous life together. The steady escalation, followed by the abrupt end to the relationship, had pierced him more deeply than he'd wanted to admit.
He got to the bar 10 minutes early and got a seat in the back, a booth for privacy. There were only a few people there, a few couples and what looked to be regulars. A few minutes after he sat down, the door opened, and a gorgeous brunette walked in. Her dark eyes scanned the room, eventually settling on him. To Mike's surprise, she walked straight toward his booth and stood a few feet away, eyeing him expectantly. After a few uncomfortable moments, she looked him in the eyes and asked "Is your name Mike?"
Mike swallowed quickly and replied that he was.
"May I join you?" she asked. Before he could reply she said "Oh, and Laura isn't coming, it's just the two of us."
Mike stared at the woman as she sat down across the booth from him. She was wearing a stylish black dress, low cut just enough to hint at the swell of her breasts while still being professional. She wore an understated choker around her delicate neck, set off by subtle diamond earrings.
She sat quietly, taking his measure. Mike felt like he was being...judged, somehow. After almost a minute of uncomfortable staring, he couldn't take it anymore. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Well, Mike, what's going on is that I have a problem. A few problems, actually. And I'm hoping you can help me solve them." There was a pause as their server took their drink orders.
Mike took a deep breath to settle himself. "Okay," he said. "This is clearly about Laura; I know that much. Who are you, and how do you know her?"
The woman smiled. "Oh, Laura said you were a quick one. I'm Ana, and I'm the one Laura left you for."
Seeing the shocked look on his face, she continued. "I met her more than a year ago, at the bookstore. She helped me find something I was looking for and we got to talking. I started visiting the store more and more, finding new reasons to talk to her. In my defense, I didn't know you existed for the first few weeks. We talked mostly about books and movies, places we'd lived or visited, things like that. I got her to order me a few books of erotica and we started talking about what we liked to read in that genre. A few weeks in we went to lunch, I think she suspected that I was interested in more than just friendship by that point. She mentioned you, said she wanted to be upfront about things."
She paused while Mike took this news in and their drinks arrived. She then continued. "Now, I'm going to tell you something that I don't tell a lot of people, Mike. I'm rich. And not just a little bit. The kind of rich that a lot of people hate."
Shaking her head, she held up a preemptive hand and said, "Before you get angry, I donate to multiple charities, I give away a LOT of money. Most of it anonymously. But money...it makes things easier, Mike. Laura told me all about you, what she liked, the parts of you she even loved...but I just listened and when she was done, I asked her how she'd feel about never working again; and traveling the world instead. What could she say, Mike? What would YOU have said?"
Mike sat in silence. He was surprised that, rather than being angry, he found himself feeling nothing but happiness for Laura. She'd worked in the bookstore since college, scraping by, surrounded by the things she loved most, trying to write the book she knew was inside her. From what little he'd learned in their six months together; it hadn't been easy. But it seemed that she'd been happy. Before his mind could start racing, he took a calming breath and thought for a minute.
"Why are you here, then?" he asked. The look on Ana's face let him know he had asked the right question.
"Like I said, Mike. I have a few problems," She paused.
Mike could tell this wasn't easy for her.