Expectations

"I don't know why I let you talk me into this Raija." Galen was slumped on a park bench, worn out.

Raija had talked him into babysitting Rob and Mari's kids along with Ryan, and she'd had the bright idea of taking the three of them to the zoo.

"Come on, you know it's fun."

"No, really honey, it's not. They haven't stopped moving for more than a minute."

Galen's hands were sticky, covered in cotton candy the kids had insisted on having and then forgotten about, and there was a mustard stain on his shirt from the corn dog Ryan had decided he was done with after only one bite, and shoved at his father.

"I do think they might reconsider allowing kids to pet the animals after our group." Raija laughed thinking about Anna trying to hug every animal she came across.

**********

At dinner that night, Galen and Raija sat in comfortable silence. She was dissecting her entrée, removing any trace of skin or fat from the sautéed chicken and felt Galen's eyes on her.

"What?"

His lips curved into a smile and he smiled. "Nothing. I just like looking at you."

She blushed. "Well stop it."

Galen continued eating his meal and only stopped when Raija spoke.

"Galen, I was accepted into the post-Master's certificate program back in Boston."

Galen looked down at his plate. He'd known it was coming but still it stung. "How long." They'd spent every available moment together, along with Christmas and he wasn't ready to give up his time with her.

She reached for his hand and stroked it. "Just 5 months. Time will fly by."

"I know." His voice was gruff and he moved his hand when the waitress appeared at the table, refilling their water glasses.

"When do you leave?"

"In four weeks."

The next four weeks flew by. On the ride to the airport, Galen was withdrawn, barely speaking. He pulled into a short-term parking space and turned off the motor and stared out the window at the parking lot before beginning what sounded like a well-rehearsed speech. "I think we should see other people while you're away."

Raija looked at him closely. "Are you sure that's what you want to do Galen?"

"Yep." No, he didn't really want to but she was going to be gone for five months and he didn't want to stand in her way in case she found someone else.

"So you're telling me that you would be okay with me spending time with someone else?"

"Yes." His response was terse.

"You'd be okay with me kissing someone else?"

"Yes."

"You'd be okay with me fucking someone else?" Raija used the crude word deliberately.

Galen tensed his jaw and spit out his answer. "Yes."

"So for the next five months, you don't want to talk to me at all. Or see me. Or listen to me. Or make love to me?"

Galen sighed before turning to Raija. "You'll be back in five months. You know what they say. If you love someone set them free."

She smiled at Galen. "Did you just say that you love me Galen? How about you say that again."

Galen looked at Raija. "Of course I love you. Why else would I be spending so much time with you?"

"You tell me Galen."

Galen grasped Raija's chin in his hand and moved in so that he spoke against her lips. "I love you darlin'. I love your sense of humor, your passion, your intelligence, your grace, your ass, the way you like me to bite you."

"So are you sure you want to see other people?"

"Raija, I don't want you to find someone else, but I want to know that we're doing the right thing. I don't want another 9 years like the last. I guess I just need to be sure."

Raija looked at him and wondered what would have happened if she hadn't been going away. Would he have insisted on a separation?

Raija moved her head and closed the distance between their mouths. She kissed him chastely on the lips before breaking away. "I love you too Galen."

Galen stood in line with Raija at the security checkpoint. When she was almost to the front of the line, she turned to him to give him a kiss and whisper in his ear. "Galen, because I love you, you should know that my heart and everything else belongs to you."

She grinned at him and then a TSA agent beckoned her to walk through the x-ray machine.

****

Raija missed Galen more than she thought she would. She wasn't a jealous person, not sexually. It was his heart that she didn't want to lose. He could use these five months to get other women out of his system and come to his senses and Raija wouldn't hold it against him.

One weekend, Raija pulled out her digital camera and posed, sending the pictures to Galen through email. The pictures were sent at 11:45 p.m. and at midnight, her time, the phone rang.

"Darlin'." His voice was loaded with emotion and desire.

"Hi Galen."

"Who took those pictures for you?" He couldn't keep the anxiety and jealousy out of his voice, even as they warred with the desire.

"I took them honey. Remember, my heart and pussy belong to you."

Galen walked with the cordless phone to check and make sure Ryan was in bed. He was snoring lightly, cuddled up with his favorite stuffed toy, a snoopy doll. He turned off the nightlight, made his way through the house, cleaning as he moved and went back to his bedroom, pulling the door closed.

Raija could hear him as he moved through the house, nighttime noises. The clinking of a glass in the sink, the sound of the television flickering off.

"What are you doing Galen?"

"I'm taking off my clothes, getting into bed."

Galen spread the pictures he'd printed from his computer out on the bed in front of him before slipping under the covers. There she was, in all her glory.

In one photo she was wearing panties and a matching shelf bra that only covered the bottoms of her breasts, her nipples and the tops of her breasts on display.

In another photo she had her legs spread over the arms of an easy chair and the white and blue glass dido shoved inside her pussy while she tugged on her nipples.

In the last photo, she was on all fours, facing away from the camera, giving him a clear shot of the butt plug firmly lodged in her ass.

Galen groaned. "Damn."

"What's wrong baby." Although she had a good idea of what had caused the groan and the curse.

"I need you Raija."

"What would you do to me Galen?"

He moaned again at the invitation in her voice. How did she manage to make him forget everything but her. Her scent, her taste, her voice, her warmth. He vaguely wondered if this is what his friends meant when they said someone was pussy-whipped.

Galen was silent for a moment. He was busy thinking about replacing the plug with his cock. Sliding inside her and making his possession complete.

Raija heard the telltale signs of Galen's orgasm. His panting and then the long low moan. She could imagine the arc of thick cum spraying across his stomach and chest.

"Galen, you didn't tell me what you would do. What's your fantasy?"

"Darlin', you are my fantasy. It can't get any better than this."

Galen could hear the pout in her voice as she responded, her breath rushed. "But I need you to tell me a story."

He nearly came again, just at the pleading in her voice. He spent the next several minutes recounting their first night together, with enough detail to let her know that he'd never forgotten anything about that night.

She started making little sounds and Galen knew she was taking herself. "Put the phone where I can hear what you're doing darlin'."

The next sounds across the line had him hard again. The sound of wetness. He could hear her fingers as they slid in and out and he imagined they were his fingers. He knew that her hips would be bucking up off the bed and her legs trying to close to put pressure on her clit.

"Damn. If we're going to do this again I need to get a better photo printer darlin'."

Raija laughed at him. "Goodnight Galen."

The next day Galen received song lyrics in his email from Raija. Oleta Adams' "Just Had to Hear Your Voice."

"I know you thought it best

That we spend a little time apart

But one night with out you

Was too much for my heart

I know I promised not to call

Sorry but I didn't have a choice

I just had to hear your voice

I had to know that you're okay

I couldn't get to sleep this way..."

********

Mari kept Raija updated on Galen's dating scene. In five months he'd only had three dates.

From Galen's point of view, it was a wonder that anyone ever found someone to love.

The first woman, the niece of his elderly neighbor, was also a network analyst. Despite having that in common, she was too conservative for his taste. They'd gone to see a movie and when the kissing scene came on, she recoiled at the flash of tongue and lips. She commented that the male actor seemed too aggressive and violent with his kisses.

The second date was with a woman from his office. At the end of their date, she tossed her long hair over her shoulder and cast a pointed look at him, asking if he'd like to come in. Not only did he not want to come in, he was annoyed by the hair flinging. He imagined that his hands would not get trapped next to her scalp as he held her head while sliding into her body and he knew that his hand-in-fro disease was chronic.

The third date was the worst. Mari had set him up with someone from her PTA group. The woman spent the night recounting the sins of every man she'd ever known and then asked if he wanted to meet her kids. In an effort to get away quickly, he'd backed over her trashcan sitting at the curb.

********

Raija stepped off the plane in late May, a gentle breeze ruffling her skirt as she walked towards Galen in arrivals hall.

He couldn't stop staring, it had been five long months and he felt the need to drink in her beauty. She wore a white eyelet blouse that bared her shoulders and a knee length white skirt that flirted about her smooth, brown hose-less legs. Her toenails were painted a dainty pink and her feet were encased in sexy pink sandals.

He couldn't wait to get her home and wrap her in his arms. He never wanted to go this long without her by his side again and the ring box in his pocket would make sure of it.