My sleep was deep, almost transcendental. Dreams flitted around my head like wind-blown dust; nonsense images that filled my imagination and departed as quickly as they had settled. A church clock chimed, cats barked and dogs quacked. A buzzer sounded; the end of the round? Not a buzzer, a ring. Ringing in my ears now. Louder. I seemed to be floating upwards through clouds of soft velvet. The ringing persists. A clock? A bell? No to regular - a telephone!
My eyes opened with a start; sleep falling away and realisation slowly creeping into my consciousness. The ringing of any telephone is shrill and persistent; almost challenging the listener not to answer it. How long had this one been ringing, I wondered? The insistent sound called to me - It had to be answered.
Stepping naked onto the cold floorboards of my confined, single bedroom, I padded my way blearily out into the hall. Since my divorce, the small room in this old house was all I could afford. My landlady, the gregarious Mrs. Martha Hipson, and her husband Harry were friendly enough - maybe over friendly - but living out of one room was beginning to depress me.
Martha and Harry's friendliness had been comforting - living alone didn't appeal to me much - but they were both very open. I was used to only seeing my wife naked or semi-dressed when we went to bed; she would even lock the bathroom door while taking a bath or shower. But this was not Martha's style at all - and Harry never seemed to bat an eyelid. Their bathroom didn't even have a lock - nor did any of the other rooms - and on several occasions I had barged into the bathroom to see Martha just getting out of the shower. She would laugh at my embarrassment and scold me for looking away, saying that she was proud of her body and that she had never tried to hide it.
Damn! Isn't that always the way? As soon as you get to a ringing telephone, the fucking thing stops! I stood there in the hall, shivering slightly, now acutely aware of my own nakedness and staring at the silent telephone stupidly.
"You look a bit cold, Barry."
I whirled around to see Martha standing in her bedroom doorway, a crooked smile adorning her face.
"Oh...er...sorry, Martha...the phone...I just....it stopped...."
Martha laughed. "Yeah, I just heard it. I was in the shower. Typical isn't it!"
She laughed again as she saw me covering my genitals with my hands. "Oh, Barry! I've seen a cock and a pair of balls before you know!"
Again, I felt stupid trying to cover myself up, so slowly, I let my arms fall down to my sides.
"My, my!" Martha continued as she looked at me, "You're quite a big guy aren't you!"
I didn't have to look down, but I did anyway. I knew that my cock was beginning to thicken and grow into an erection. My embarrassment returned; I could feel my brow heat and my face flush red.
"The early morning erection!" Martha laughed, "what would we girls do without it! Or maybe," she hesitated for a moment, "could it be me looking at you that's causing it?"
I looked at her as my erection continued to develop. I didn't know what to say. She was right, of course. Since my wife and I split, I hadn't had any intimate contact with a woman and Martha's openness had led me to fantasize about her on more than one occasion.
Imperceptibly, Martha moved towards me. I was rooted to the spot; couldn't move a muscle. Her hand seemed to simply appear on my shoulder as she turned me and led me back into my bedroom. No words were spoken as she dropped her robe and began to unclasp her bra in front of me.
"Well, what going on in here then?"
Harry's voice resounded from outside the open door to my room. It suddenly struck me that I was standing naked in front of his now topless wife. Words stuck in my throat as I tried to explain the unexplainable.
"Har...Harry....we were just...I mean I was....."
Harry laughed as his wife took over the conversation.
"Sit down Harry," she said calmly and with a smile, "Barry has a problem that I just have to take care of! You'll just have to wait, love!"
"That's fine, baby!" he replied quickly, happily taking a seat in the corner of the room, "I don't mind watching, you know that! You okay with that Barry?"
