By the time that I, Brandon Miles, was 29 I had had a large number of failed relationships. I guess most of them were my fault since though I never analyzed it accurately at the time I seemed to be commitment averse. I'm not really sure why that is because I never said to myself "I'm not the type to marry," and my parents had been happily married for 35 years. Maybe I was that way because relationships really seemed complicated to me; I craved a simple one. Regardless of the reason for my inability at the time to determine why I was commitment averse, that's the situation that I found myself in.
While I lived near a big city, I also felt -- for whatever reason -- that my dating options were somewhat dwindling. My wide circle of friends had morphed from mostly single to mostly married, and many with kids. I considered the females of the married couples -- whether they were initially my friends or their husbands were -- off limits for moral and practical reasons, and I was rapidly running through my single acquaintances.
It sometimes was difficult being around my married female friends, especially the wives of husbands who initially were my friends. The wives seemed to take great delight in flirting with me. Some took it too far, and I do believe that if I had merely asked without hesitation some of them would have jumped in the sack with me. That made me nervous.
The flirty behavior seemed to be directly contrary to comportment of another type by some of my married female friends. They seemed to be upset that I, as the only single guy in our circle of friends, hadn't gotten married myself since -- as they not-too-subtly put it -- because they considered me a good catch. I guess they thought that because not only was I in good physical condition and at least somewhat good looking, but because even though I lived an understated life many of them knew that I was rich. I could never understand why many married women are unhappy unless male friends are also married.
While I never wanted to admit it to myself, looking in hindsight there was one straightforward reason that I was commitment averse; its simplicity was in stark contrast to the complicated relationships that unnerved me. I was enthralled, gobsmacked, bewitched, captivated, charmed -- whatever you want to call it -- by one of the married females who was a relatively recent addition to my circle of friends.
I'm not exactly sure how Eleanor Dawkins and her husband Josh first appeared in my group of friends -- I think that it was at a party hosted by my best friend Tim and his wife Sherry when I was 27 -- but they did. It was probably the third time that I met Eleanor before I became fully aware of the strange effect she had on me. It was strange not only because of my feelings, but also because she "wasn't my type."
Since I'm six feet four inches tall I had always dated tall women. I think that the shortest woman that I had ever gone out with since adulthood was five feet eight inches tall; Eleanor is five-five. I always dated extroverts; Eleanor is an ambivert. Most of my dates were brunettes with long hair; Eleanor is a strawberry blonde with medium length hair. I'm more a tit-man than anything else so most of my dates were with buxom women; Eleanor has average sized boobs. While I've always appreciated a nice ass, I've never been particularly hung up on that female feature; Eleanor has the best bubble butt I've ever seen, slightly "oversized" for her frame. At least there is one thing that Eleanor has in common with most of my dates -- she's intelligent.
What Eleanor had that no other woman I had ever met had was sultriness. "Sultry" seemed to exude from her pores. On a scale from "blah" to "Torrid" her sexuality was above "Torrid."
As earlier indicated, while all of the other wives in my circle of friends either playfully, or a few seriously, flirted with me, Eleanor never did. I would not call her "aloof" or "withdrawn," but she certainly wasn't "friendly" either. Perhaps the best word to describe her apparent attitude toward me was "casual."
While I was enamored with Eleanor, and what I knew about her I liked, I found her husband Josh to be haughty and unlikeable. I think that the only reason that Tim and Sherry introduced them to our group of friends is because Sherry was a long-time friend of Eleanor's and Tim had a remote business connection with Josh.
In any event, Eleanor was seriously fucking-up my life because I thought about her, on and off, at least about an hour a day. Fortunately I am good at multi-tasking, otherwise that could have caused loss of concentration, which in turn would have cost me scads of money in the business deals that I did weekly, either for myself or representing other people.
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At 29, after I had known Eleanor for about two years, I believed that I had been subtle in my appreciation of how sultry that she was. I did occasionally nonchalantly ask Sherry about her, but never expressed intense interest. I also believed that I had successfully avoided obviously ogling her, even during a pool party that Tim and Sherry hosted where I saw her in a bikini. Anticipating that possibility I had worn reflective sunglasses and loose swim trunks so my lust for what appeared to be her almost perfect female form was successfully hidden.
Apparently, however, my feelings toward her were not as inconspicuous as I thought that they were.
Out of the blue on a Friday afternoon while I was still at my office I got a call on my cellphone from Eleanor. She must have gotten my number from Sherry, because I never gave it to her.
"Hello, Brandon Miles here," I answered my phone in my normal manner since it could be business or personal.
"Brandon, this is Eleanor Dawkins; I hope that you remember me from Sherry's parties," was the melodious voice on the other end.
I swear that my dick started to salute. "Uh, sure Eleanor; how...uh...are you?" I inarticulately replied.
"I'm doing fine Brandon, thanks for asking. The reason for my call is that I was wondering if there was a convenient time I could talk to you about a charity that I'm involved with."
I give five figures each to half a dozen charities every year before Christmas, don't accept phone solicitations or mailings from others during the year, but also give to charities that my friends specifically solicit -- and I'm sure that Sherry told Eleanor that.