The next morning I woke up on the sofa to the rustling of dishes in the kitchen.
Mark had already showered and dressed and was finishing a cup of coffee. I heard the kitchen door open and I shouted "Hey, aren't you even going to say goodbye?" He said "Oh, I thought you were still asleep." He came back in and gave me the usual quick peck, and turned away and headed off to work. Apparently the fact that I had spent the night on the sofa didn't even faze him.
I decided that what I needed was some time outdoors, so I rallied myself to the bedroom, slipped on a pair of old blue jeans and a soft flannel shirt that were lying near the hamper, not even bothering with underwear. I slipped on a pair of duck boots and headed outside.
There was a shocking cool crispness in the air. Finally the weird balmy spell had broken overnight and it felt at least a little wintry, for North Carolina anyway. It was still not cold enough for a winter coat, but too cold for what I had on. I decided to just tough it out rather than retreat to the house to look for a fleece jacket.
Since I didn't keep any livestock or own a green house yet, there wasn't really anything for me to do, but it felt great to be outside. I just started wandering around our property. I ambled past the cold frames and thought about how I'd need to clean them out for spring planting in a couple of months. I wandered down the path by the barn that was kept worn down by my many summer trips to the garden. I walked past the compost bins and grabbed a pitchfork and turned over a clump of compost and watched the steam wisp out as the warmth of the active pile mingled with the crisp coolness of the air. The rich, earthy, smell of the compost somehow comforted me. It grounded me, and humbled me. It made me aware of the tiny role my life played on the grand stage of nature. I looked around and thought about all of the lives being lived out around me. There were birds flying from tree to tree and hopping around on the ground under my feeders. A deer was retreating at the edge of the woods, my presence having interrupted her breakfast in my pasture. I thought about the thousands of bugs, worms etc that must be with in a 10 feet circle around me. All of these little souls on their daily quest for survival, completely unaware of the knots in my stomach over the events of last couple of days. It helped put things in a different perspective. After all, sex was just part of the natural order of things.
It's these human concepts of fidelity, and monogamy; the bonds and ties we create for ourselves; these social mores that we accept as truths. They are the problem! They are all human creations that we could choose to live by, or reject. But when you think about it, it is not at all natural. We humans, like most of nature, seem to be programmed to seek multiple sexual partners. Yet we repress those urges to conform to a set of unnatural social values that we ourselves invented and for some reason continue to perpetuate.
I heard geese excitedly honking and I turned my attention to the pond on Kevin's property where a pair were cowering a kitten that had wandered a little too close to their territory. I glanced up over the pond and saw Kevin and his wife Sharon leaving their greenhouse. We made eye contact, and they waved and I waved back. I could see them say something to each other and they started walking over toward my place. I could see that they were coming to say hello so I walked over to meet them at the fence.
Kevin said "Lisa, you remember my wife Sharon right?
"Of course I do. Hi Sharon. I think I saw you two pulling up around ten o'clock last night, were you just getting in from the airport?"
Sharon said, "Oh no. We had gone out to dinner. I actually got in late the night before last around 11:30."
"Oh, ok for some reason I had it in my head that you were arriving yesterday." I said, only thinking afterwards that maybe I shouldn't let on that I spent enough time with Kevin to know her arrival schedule even that well.
I barely remembered what Sharon looked like. She had only been around for about week or two when we moved here, until she left for her teaching assignment. She was petite, around 5'4". She was thin but curvy with what looked like average sized breasts. She had crazy curly medium length hair that was auburn, almost red. She had green eyes with pale skin and cute little freckles. She had a bubbly personality and a constant devious twinkle in her eyes that just sucked you into her and made you want her to be your best friend. She was dressed like an LL Bean ad with a very "Maine" looking white sweater with a collar that perfectly framed her face, and a pair of Jeans.
"Wow you're chilly!" Sharon said staring directly at my chest. I was chilly and my nipples were standing out like pencils against my soft flannel shirt. I had been hoping that it wouldn't be noticeable in flannel but no such luck. Sharon was the kind of girl that said what was on her mind, without worrying what anyone else's hang-ups may be.
I looked down and shyly covered myself by folding my arms across my chest, and said "Yes I guess I am." as I smiled and looked back into her eyes with a look said that said "Geez did you have to point that out?"
Kevin said, "And here I thought it was me." Sharon slapped him playfully on the chest and smiled "YOU shouldn't have even noticed!"
Sharon, then said, "You don't have to hide em, cutie, we're both nipple fans, obviously."
She was just so damned cute, and she made what could have been a bit awkward, perfectly pleasant.
Kevin asked, "So what are you working on today Lisa?"
"Oh, I'm not working on anything today, just wandering around and thinking about what I want to do next year. I guess I'm avoiding housework when you get right down to it."
Sharon said "Awesome! You're taking me shopping. Kevin wants to start cabbage flats today...whatever that means."
"Well...," I said. "Yes, that sounds like fun actually. When do you want to go?"
"Sooner the better!"
"Ok, well, give me half an hour to get myself together and I'll pick you up at your place, then?"
"Sounds great."
