Chapter 3 Blurred Lines

The days following the incident with Ted were a blur of shame and confusion for Karla. She couldn't focus on her work, couldn't meet anyone's eyes without feeling like her guilt was written all over her face. She took to eating her lunches in her car, just to avoid the possibility of running into Ted in the breakroom.

But Ted wasn't so easily deterred. He couldn't understand Karla's sudden coldness, the way she seemed to flee the room whenever he entered. Had he misread her signals that badly? He decided he needed to confront her, to apologize and try to salvage some semblance of a working relationship.

He caught up with her in the hallway outside the mailroom, his eyes pleading. "Karla, wait. Can we talk?"

Karla tensed, refusing to meet his gaze. "I don't think there's anything to talk about, Ted. What happened was a mistake. It can't happen again."

"I know, and I'm sorry if I crossed a line. I just...I don't want things to be awkward between us. We work together, we need to be able to coexist. Let me make it up to you. Let me buy you lunch, just as friends and colleagues. Nothing more, I swear."

Karla hesitated, torn between the desire to put the whole mess behind her and the fear of encouraging him further. "I don't know, Ted...I'll think about it, ok?

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Karla took her time driving home. She turned the key in the lock and opened the door, longing for the warm, familiar embrace of her lover, only to find...emptiness. Again. "Why not!" she pronounced out loud, defeatedly, to the vacant apartment. Matt was getting home later and later recently. "Well, no point in bothering with dinner, it will probably be cold by the time HE gets home anyway. I might as well do some laundry" she thought to herself.

She settled into the monotony of sorting their laundry. Of course, Matt hadn't bothered putting his clothes in the hamper, so naturally she had to gather his clothes from the floor first. In doing so, she was always sure to clear the pockets of any forgotten change or receipts, or those evil ballpoint pens that would stain an entire load of laundry blue given the chance.

The prize of today was a flash drive, forgotten in the front pocket of Matts jeans. Unable to contain her curiosity, she plugged it into her laptop fully expecting to be greeted by a mountain of gibberish data from some lab experiment or another. But instead, curiously, she found herself looking at pictures of herself. Explicit pictures that Matt had taken. What was hell was he doing with these?!? He said he would keep them in a locked folder on their computer! She shelved the thought for now, and hurried to down to the apartment complex laundry room to start the few loads she had gathered. The flash drive slipping from her mind with each dreary shift of clothing from washer to dryer, back to hamper. She made sure to fold the clothes neatly for Matt to carelessly rummage through tomorrow morning before he headed back off to school.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the laundry was done. Karla was settling back in for an evening of solitude when Matt rushed thought the door to their apartment.

"How was your day babe? I finally got my test rig up and running. It seems to be generating some good data. I just wish I could get it a little more automated now, I practically have to babysit the thing while its running to make sure it shuts off when the test is done. Oh, by the way, Professor Jones asked if I would be able to have a paper ready for that big conference out at Penn State next month that I told you about. I told him I might be able to, but I'd need to keep the rig running pretty much 24/7 for the next few weeks." Why was he talking so fast?

Karla's eyes fell, and a sigh of exasperation slipped out involuntarily. "So you'll be gone even more that you have been already?"

"Look, babe, I know I've been spending a lot of time in the lab recently, so if you'd rather I tell him I won't be able to get the data in time for the paper, then I will..." Matt reached out and tenderly touched her hand.

"No, it's ok, I understand. Besides, didn't you say that the more you publish the sooner you will be able to defend your thesis?"

"Yeah, from what I've gathered Prof. Smith generally requires at least four quality journal papers out of his students before he will approve a thesis."

"Matt, if it means that you will be able to finish faster so we can move back closer to home, just do whatever you need to do. I am really having a hard time making friends out here, and with you gone all the time...."

Karla turned away so Matt wouldn't see the tears welling up in her eyes.

Oblivious, Matt turned to the kitchen. "What's cookin', good lookin'?!?"

Karla cringed at the insensitivity of the comment. Did he not know how to read a room?

"I wasn't sure when you would be home, so we're just having some leftovers tonight."

"Oh...ok" Karla's ears burned at the note of disappointment in Matt's voice. Boy, was she was on roll today or what!

As they sat down together around the second-hand dinning room table in their spartanly finished apartment, Karla couldn't help the feeling of despair that washed over her. Was this it? Their marriage had started out like a fairy tale, with fireworks every night. Matt would come home and ravage her right in the living room floor, pounding into her hard enough to make the entire floor shake, rough enough that the sweet old lady downstairs called management to report them for having 'unauthorized exercise equipment' in their apartment.

It was during those early days that Matt always seemed to have his digital camera in hand while they were making love -- saying he wanted to document their sexual adventures for when they were older. But that excitement had fizzled fast as they settled into routines, until now when the peak of her social day was apparently eating leftovers while trying to decide what TV show to watch that evening.

"So, how was your day? Did anything exciting happen?

"Not really, just the usual stuff, Oh, actually, I was sort of asked out to lunch today."

"Oh really? By who?"

"You know that new guy I told you about? Ted?"

"Oh right, I remember you telling me that there was a new guy but I don't think I've met him yet. Didn't you say you thought he was annoying? Always in your way at work or something? Where did he want to take you for lunch?"

"Oh, he'd probably take me anywhere I wanted" Karla smirked to herself internally at the double entendre. "You wouldn't be mad if I went out for lunch with a guy you don't even know?"

"No, why would I be? It's just lunch, right? I go out to lunch with my lab mates all the time. You should go, have fun."

"I think he's interested in more than just lunch." Karla warned, looking Matt in the eye.

"Naw, I'm sure he's just being friendly. Besides, weren't you just saying how you wish you had more friends here?"

"I'm serious! I really think the guy wants more than just a meal!" Karla protested in vain.

"Well, I can't blame him for that. Babe, you're gorgeous! I'm sure he's not the only one that has his eye on you. Go ahead and let him look, if he wants to torture himself. I mean, he'll never be able to do anything more that just admire that smokin' hot bod of yours, right?"

"MATT!" Karla yelled out of exasperation, but deep-down Karla knew he was right. At barely 21 years old, Karla's long blond hair and stunning green eyes perfectly complimented her tight, athletic body, a body that she had earned through years of dedicated exercise and attention to her diet.

Matt had introduced her to his morning ritual early in their relationship, waking up before dawn for his daily pilgrimage to the school gym before the crowds of the university locale made it impossible to get in a good workout without tripping over people. Karla preferred the cardio equipment, while Matt was a hardcore weightlifter. His 5'8" frame packed an impressive 200lbs of lean muscle. She would often watch him working out from across the gym, drawing an audience of silent onlookers with each increasingly heavy set. There were female admirers, yes, and she struggled diligently to repress her feelings of jealousy when she would see them admiring her man. Interestingly, it was much more common to see the other men in the gym, approaching Matt between sets to pay their respects and ask his advice on how to work this body part or that. And Matt always had time to help out the newbies, for as much as he loved his engineering research, his true passion was the world of fitness.

In this regard Karla always felt like Matt had settled for her, as fit as she now was, in her mind, she was still just the slightly pudgy 'girl-next-door', that girl from high school that got picked on for having braces and acne. Matt never saw that part of her and would constantly shower her with compliments about her beauty, about how sexy she was. And somehow, it always came back to that with Matt. Sex, sex, sex. Yes, he loved her, she knew that, but if the sex was suddenly gone, would they really have anything in common?

"Hey, I took a few loads of laundry down the clubhouse before you got home. I found a flashdrive in your pocket. Why do you have those pictures on there? Did you show them to someone? You swore those would be just for us, you would lock them away forever!" Karla could feel her temperature rising, and just barely managed to regain control before she boiled over entirely with accusations.

Matt's face was shocked, visibly shaken at the realization of what had occurred. "I just love to look at you Karla, when I'm sitting at the lab, bored out of my mind watching numbers on the machines, thinking about you keeps me preoccupied" Matt stammered.

"Ok fine, but why do you only have pictures of me getting fucked, Matt? Is that the only way that you think of me? There are a million other pictures...." Suddenly it dawned on her.. "Wait, are you jerking off in your lab? Looking at pictures of me? Of us? Who else has seen them?"

Matt blushed a deep crimson, "Okay, okay, maybe sometimes I blow off a little steam. Would you rather I jerk off to some random porn? You are the only one I think about. I just love looking at you. In fact, thinking about you feeling pleasure is almost as satisfying as feeling pleasure for myself. How fucked up is that?"

Karla was in shock. She didn't know if she should be angry and disgusted? Or feel complimented and turned on. Somehow, she was a little bit of both. But she had to know one thing "So you've never shown those pictures to anyone else? Are you completely sure? Be honest!"

"No, I've never shown them to another soul!" Matt swore sincerely. "Do you want me to? Would that turn you on? You are so unbelievably sexy Karla, it almost feels selfish keeping you all to myself"

"MATT STOP! This conversation is over! Now, promise me you will delete those pictures!" Karla said with an air of finality.

Matt seemed relieved and grateful to put the topic to bed, as though he had dodged a bullet.

That night, lying in bed with Matt snoring away peacefully by her side, Karla's mind replayed those words over and over "It feels selfish keeping you all to myself!" Could he really mean that? Did he really want someone else to see her that way? Completely exposed and sexually available in front of god knows who? As the thought simmered in Karla's mind, the anger and revulsion slowly began to give way to a more pleasant, familiar sensation.

She was wet, really, really wet!

And then, there he was in her mind again, Ted. Smug, handsome, sexy Ted.

Karla's hand subconsciously drifted down between her thighs to caress her lips, falling into that familiar pattern of tiny circles around her now undeniably swollen clit. Over, around, side to side. She didn't even have to think about it anymore, her fingers danced as if possessed by some horny demon. Suddenly it was Ted in those pictures on the flash drive. It was Ted's hard, (presumably large) cock, spreading her lips wide. It was Ted's mouth on her nipple, gently twisting, nibbling, and suckling as though he actually expected to be rewarded with a spritz of her milk right from the tap. That's what Matt wanted, right? To watch someone else fuck her like a bitch in heat? And Karla was completely sure that Ted would be more than happy to fill that role.

She rolled over, face down in her pillow, biting furiously to contain the moans that were now struggling for release. Finally, with one last imagined thrust of Ted's cock into her clenching pussy while she envisioned Matt stoking himself on the side of the bed, all three of them erupted in simultaneous climax. Exhausted and satiated, Karla drifted off to sleep.