Note from the author:
With regard to my first posting (part 1 of this story), I'd like to extend a sincere thank you to those of you that gave positive reviews and/or constructive criticism in a respectful manner. I've been a Literotica reader for over 10 years now and often thought about posting stories, but with regard to free time, raising children and assisting elderly parents were of a higher priority. Now that the parents have 'moved on' and the kids are more self sufficient, here I am.
I hope you enjoy part 2, the conclusion of 'Big Loss, Big Gain'.
Present day
The gun wobbled in her trembling hand and through tear filled eyes she stared at her frighted target. A few moments later she spoke. "It's all your fault. All your fault. Everything could have turned out OK if it wasn't for you." The intended victim was quivering with fear, wondering if these were to be her last moments of life here on earth.
Three months prior
Jim's view
I must have checked my watch more than a dozen times in the last half hour. As far as I was concerned, time couldn't go by fast enough. As Debbie babbled on from the other side of the table I was thinking about strangling Jane at office tomorrow. I wouldn't, of course, as she was just another one of the well-intentioned trying to help, but holy crap! How could she possibly believe that this women would be a good match for me? Thankfully, the waiter was within earshot. "Excuse me. I'll have that next drink now and please...make it a double". Normally I wouldn't be hitting the hard stuff, but from the way this thing was heading I was going to need it. No doubt this was the worst date so far and more than half of them were pretty damn bad. Debbie was indeed beautiful, but that was about it. Her status of '39 years old' and 'never been married' should have been a big red flag. It was apparent that no one had ever explained to her what a conversation is. I was hardly afforded the opportunity to talk at all while she rambled on, totally clueless. The last monologue I had to tolerate was on the importance of living near a florist. It lasted 10 minutes. Dear Lord, if I had to endure much more of this I was going to slip into a coma.
When she excused herself to go to the ladies room I finally had an opportunity to escape. A quick call to Jerry was all I needed to arrange a 'bailout' call that he'd give me in 15 minutes or so. After the call I would be on my way to work(ha-ha) to handle an emergency. As expected, Jerry didn't let me down.
During my ride home I began to reflect on dating, post-divorce. Not all the dates were as bad as this last one, but none of them could be considered a rousing success either. Many of the women I met came with various amounts of 'baggage' and it soon became evident to me that there are a lot of bad men out there. For example, Brenda could not carry any subject of conversation without mentioning her ex-husband who had apparently left her without any explanation other than saying he needed to 'find himself'. And then there's Nancy, who explained that the burn mark on her arm was from one of her ex-husband's cigarettes. A lot of these women had dark clouds hanging over them from events and circumstances that were none of their own doing. Just raw deals from meeting the wrong man. I thought that a few of these women really needed professional help and I felt sorry for them, but I certainly wasn't in any position to become anyone's savior. I'm no hero, just a guy looking for a relationship.
The relationship criteria I had established was pretty straight-forward. I needed someone who sees the glass as 'half full' and then some. Someone to lift my spirits, not someone to commiserate with. Someone who has something interesting to say and isn't afraid to say it. Someone who could listen as well as talk.
I realized that the chances of finding someone as pretty as Laura was not very realistic, but I didn't need a trophy wife or girlfriend. I just needed a woman who had 'it', that undefined combination of looks and personality that would compel me to want to be with her.
The Narrator
Later that same night in Jim's bedroom, his radio quietly plays.
As I lie awake resting from the day
I can hear the clock passing time away
Oh, I couldn't sleep for on my mind
Was the image of the girl I hope to find
-
Lyrics from the song entitled "Image of a Girl"
Performed by The Safaris, 1960, Eldo Records
Jim is in bed, but he cannot sleep, not yet. He needs release. He turns the dimmer on his night side lamp down low, just enough so he can barely see. He slides open the top drawer on his night side table and pulls out a small bottle of lube. After pulling off his shorts, he drops a liberal amount on the backside of cock and then slowly starts to spread it around with his right hand. With this left hand massaging his balls, he wraps his right hand around his shaft and slowly begins stroking. With his eyes almost closed, he envisions a girl in front of him. It's no one that he knows and other than being abstractly attractive and naked, there are no discernible features to her other than two things. She has dark hair and big beautiful eyes. After a while he starts to stroke faster and in his mind she speaks to him.
"Touch yourself for me, Jim. I can't help touching my clit and slipping a finger in my pussy while I watch you. It feels so good. Don't stop, baby. Go faster. I want to see you cum. Oh fuck. Oh fuck, I'm going to cum first.....I'm going to cum....Oh baby....please cum for me."
As the imaginary girl writhed in orgasm, Jim came. His warm load landed in a few places on his stomach, but most of it coated his right hand. After a short rest, he cleans up, slipped his shorts back on and turned out the light. His final thoughts before sleep were typical of the times. He missed having a live body next to him, a body that had loving arms to hold him.
Miles away, Laura was involved in a similar activity to Jim at just about the same time. While only wearing a t-shirt, she laid on her back with her legs in the air, knees bent. Her left hand was under the t-shirt tweaking one of her nipples while her right hand was reaching around her buttock, moving a dildo in and out of her moist pussy. However, her scenario had one very major difference. The image she saw was crystal clear, forged by a distinct memory of a real event that had occurred literally thousands of times before. With eyes tightly shut, she saw Jim's face looking back at her and it was his swollen cock sliding in and out of her. From the look on his face it's obvious that he loved being inside her. She moved the dildo faster to match the images in her mind and because of the change in his breathing she could tell it was going to happen soon. In her mind, he spoke to her.
"Oh Laura. Your pussy feels so good. So good. Oh Laura. I can't hold back any longer. I'm going to cum. I'm going to cum."
That was it. The movement of the dildo coupled with the thought of Jim cumming inside her was enough to send Laura over the edge. A few minutes after her orgasm subsides, she slips the dildo out and pulled the covers up. Although her orgasm was satisfying, she knows it's no substitute for the real thing. She yearns for the moments that often occurred after sex with Jim. The warmth of his body against hers, the gentle kisses on her cheek and neck, and most of all, his soft whisper in her ear of 'I love you Laura'.
Jim's view
Two days later I decided to put an end to all the matchmaking. I know that all the people involved meant well, but the results were poor and my wallet was shrinking from all the expensive meals.
In the past, I never found love when I was actively looking for it. The dance clubs, the bars, etc. They never worked. Love always found me. Whether it be an auto accident to meet Laura, stuck in a elevator with Susan, or having Gina assigned as my lab partner. No, I decided that I was better off leaving it all to fate.
*****************************
Part of my growing depression was related to my finances. The $50,000 I had to surrender to Laura represented a substantial amount of my savings. Savings that I had counted on to pay Sarah's tuition bills. I knew I was going to have to borrow money against the equity in the house to keep her in school, so my goal of retiring at age 60 was rapidly going out the window. Cash flow was certainly better since I had decided to cancel the family membership at the club. Laura had been spending upwards of $300 a month in lunches at the club. That, combined with not having to pay the monthly fee was freeing up about $500 a month, but it still was not enough.
I had no idea that things would be dramatically changing in the near future.
A few days later my boss came to me, "Jim, I need you to stay a little late today so you can meet with Mr. Stanton." Oh, boy, this might not be good. A one-on-one meeting with the principal owner can either be very good thing or very bad thing. At 5:00 I headed down to Mr. Stanton's office.
Mr. Stanton started things off. "Hi, Jim. Thanks for stopping by."
"Of course, what can I help you with?".
"Well, I want to start off by telling you how grateful we are of all your years of service with us. We know that over the years you have turned down several rather lucrative offers to join one of our competitors. We also appreciate your continued efforts during this past year which I know has been difficult for you. However, the real reason I've asked you here today is to discuss with the possibly of having you take on some new responsibilities with the company. Now that Sarah is off to college, I'm hoping that you would now be more amenable to doing some sales and account management for us. As you may have heard, the presentation at DFG Corporation didn't go all that well. Suresh is a brilliant programmer, but he stumbled on a rather lame objection that should have been easily overcome. Since English isn't his native language, at times he is at a disadvantage. This account is potentially a 1.5 million dollar deal for us and that's just the subsidiary. If we can get the parent company, we're talking about 15 million. Since you know the business and the technology, we're confident that you can fix this whole situation. Of course, there is some travel involved, but with videoconferencing available now, we try to limit it. So, what do you think?"
"Sure, I'll do it."
"Perfect. By the way Jim, we will increasing your salary by $12,000."
