Sandy

If you're looking for a story with lots of sex -- this ain't it. This is about an exploration of relationships.

What sex there is, is in later chapters.

Sandy

Sometimes change comes into our life so quietly, subtlety, that it's only later we see the pattern.

That's what happened to me a few years ago.

Chapter one

I met her in a fish store. No, not the eatable kind; a tropical fish store. She was an employee. I think the only one, really. Her name was Sandy and just about the first thing you noticed was her eyes; they had a smoky gray color that seemed a mile deep. You always had the feeling when talking to her that she was paying complete attention to you. I noticed she gave the same attention to everyone she served, and yet knew when others needed help.

It was several visits before I looked beyond her eyes; a woman in her mid - twenties, maybe five foot six. Her hair a short cut, tousled brunette that lay close over her ears and framing her face. The face was round, but not full, with prominent cheek bones, a small nose and shapely lips. Her voice was soft yet clear, and she spoke in an almost shy manner.

I couldn't tell about her weight as she always wore very loose and very long sweaters over jeans, but her hands and wrists were small and delicate.

I'm Mark. Mark Hoffman. Married, forty two, five foot eight and one hundred eighty pounds. At the time my day job was Distribution Dispatcher for our local electric company. It's a high pressure job with little room for error. Consequently when I'm home I needed a hobby that took my mind away from work, so I grew and bred tropical fish.

The first time I met Sandy I was in the shop trying to sell some of my fish. I had an abundance of Australian Rainbows and was willing to make the shop owner a good price.

While we waited for the owner, Grace Samuelson, Sandy and I talked. She'd never seen these fish before, and was taken with their bright colors and flowing shapes, and after Grace bought what I had, I took time to teach both how to tell males from females; customers were happier if they had a mix.

Anyway, I was in and out of Grace's shop periodically, and every time I had pleasant conversations with Sandy. She seemed well versed in fish; you'd expect that, but she also seemed well up on current affairs, asking my opinion on events. Occasionally I'd hit the shop as she was taking a break, so I'd sit and talk with her. She had an interest in local politics; following city affairs closely, and an intense interest in global warming.

When we talked, her eyes seldom left my face, and I'd get engulfed in her eyes; sometimes even losing track of our subject. This had a tendency to shake me as I was happily married and not looking to cheat.

After my third visit to Grace's shop, I mentioned Sandy to my wife. Not because I felt guilty or anything, we talked often of others we had met and invited some to our home. Many became good friends.

"What do you know about her?"

"Only what I've told you. She seems very nice, but there's an underlying shyness that keeps a ... I don't want to call it a wall ... but a distance, between us. And yet she seems to want to be friends also."

"So, she's just your usual conflicted woman."

"I guess."

"Well, let's have her over when she's off; I'd like to meet this mystery woman."

Karen was my age and just naturally had almost the same figure as when I met her twenty years before; and that's in spite of two kids. Her blonde hair swept down and over her shoulders in natural waves. Wire framed glasses and green eyes gave her a bit of a hippy look, and her choice of flowing skirts and peasant blouses highlighted her figure. She seldom wore bras, letting her b-cup breasts stand proud.

*****

It took two weeks before everything fell together and we could have Sandy over on a Monday. The weather was nice and we had a barbecue on the patio. Sandy arrived just after eleven to be greeted by a warm hug from Karen. "Mark's been telling me about you. And I've been wanting to meet you. Would you like something to drink? Come sit with me, we can talk while we stick him with the cooking."

They sat off to the side talking quietly; the kids running around the yard chasing each other, whooping and hollering.

After we ate I took Sandy on a tour of my garage. Well, actually, it's where I kept the breeding fish. Cichlids down one side, Australians across the back, and several other species I was experimenting with, up the other side. In the house I kept a pair of Oscars in one tank and a couple of Black Arowanas in another.

We talked fish for a while; she'd never seen a breeding setup before and was fascinated by the care I took in getting conditions right. It was more than just professional interest; she really was interested in the process, and the need to maintain just the right light and water qualities for breeding.

I didn't tell her the culls went in the house.

*****

Karen and I sat on the patio that evening, discussing the day; "She seems very nice. I see what you mean about shyness. She is friendly, but always keeps part of herself back. And that sweater? She must really have an issue with her body image."

"But did you pick up what I meant about her focusing on whoever she's talking with?"

"Well ... yes and no."

"What?"

"We'd talk, and everything was fine, then you would do something .... And her eyes would follow you for a bit ... then she'd come back to me. But it took her a moment to pick back up on our convo."

"Hum, well I guess she's just more comfortable with me right now. Aside from that, what did you think of her? Invite her back again or just keep the friendship at the shop?"

"Noo, I like her. She has something about her that appeals to me. I hear loneliness in her. Not blatant, but it's there. And she's smart. Really smart. She's been to college; you can hear it in her choice of words, her phrasings. I want to know more about her." As an instructor in English Literature at our Junior College, she had an ear for such things.

*****

Sandy began coming over a few times a month, and by the time summer came around, she was quite comfortable around us coming over every week; whether I was there or not. We would chat about the day's news, or the weather, and then drift into something philosophical. Next thing we'd be playing word games or just laughing at something silly. Over time we learned she had been to college; Stanford, graduated in the upper third of her class with a degree in literature. She'd gone to work at an ad agency; writing copy, and realized she hated it. She'd tried several other lines of work, even the old standby -- Barista. She said she wasn't happy until she started with Mrs. Samuelson; lots of responsibility and lots of freedom and the variety of customers kept her interested. I suspect it also coincided with her interest in climate change and what was happening in the world.

The kids were used to her, greeting her by name and hanging with her on occasion. She talked with them as if they were her equals, and they responded pretty well for a twelve year old boy and a ten year old girl; in other words, everything was fun and funny. But when chatting with her, they often rose above their usual levels. Mark Jr. (we called him MJ) was normally more interested in sports than school work but was fascinated when she talked about the natural world. Our daughter, Katie, wanted to talk literature; she reads well above her grade level thanks to Karen's efforts.

Karen didn't have classes planned for the month of July, and wanted me to take as much time off as allowed (I could never plan off days in the winter) because she had use of a lake side cabin; courtesy of a fellow instructor. "Just think, nothing to do for a couple weeks, everybody running around in the sun, swimming whenever we feel like. Larry say's its very private so if we want to go naked, no one would know. Wouldn't you like to see me walking around with everything on display?"

"Hah! You just want to get me naked. I'm wise to you woman. But, ah, what do we do about the fish? I can put their breeding on hold; it's just a matter of slowing down their feeding. But who's going to keep the tanks clean, and feed them?"

"How about Sandy? She knows fish."

"Okay, we'll broach it the next time she comes over."

*****

Sitting on the patio watching the kids running around as the sun slowly set, we were quietly talking with Sandy and sipping drinks. "Look at them, if they had ten acres; it wouldn't be enough. How do you keep up with them Karen?"

"I don't," she said with a laugh, "I just lasso them as they come running by. But we're going to be up at the lake in July, and then they can run themselves ragged."

"Lake?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't tell you. I don't have classes in July, and Mark has arranged three weeks off after the Fourth. By the time we get back, I plan on a deep tan and no lines."

"Wow! That sounds so great. I wish I could get away, but I can't afford to go anywhere. "

I sat there, feeling like a heel that I wanted her watching the fish while we played. Glancing over at Karen, she had the same look on her face. I signaled Karen to come into the house with me. "I can't ask her to watch the fish while we're gone. I'd feel guilty the whole time up there."

"I know," she sighed, "... How do you feel about her coming up with us?"

"I thought you wanted us running naked?"

"I do. I'm having a thought ... can we talk about it tonight?"

Well, we asked Sandy to join us. The happy squeal and absolute joy on her face answered us. She had to talk to Mrs. Samuelson, but was sure she could get some time off, she just didn't know how much. "When are you going up? What do I need to bring? How long will you be there? I don't have a sleeping bag - will I need one?"

She had a dozen more questions, but truthfully, I blanked after the first few. Karen, however, was smiling and happily answering every one of them. As she left that night, she hugged Karen thanking her for the invitation. Then she turned to me and for the first time, pressed against me, and breathlessly said how much she looked forward to this. I was a bit surprised when my arm circled her waist; she was slim! That sweater went in quite a ways, and she felt toned under there.

*****

After she left, I sat stunned in my chair; that was the first time Sandy had given me more than a perfunctory hug. My mind felt scrambled; not only did I have Sandy coming to the lake, but I had to find a caretaker for the fish. Those thoughts and more jumped through my mind. I didn't even remember Karen's comment about us still running naked.

"Thoughts?"

"Oh, hi. What just happened there? One minute just us and the kids are going to the lake, and now Sandy is coming."

"Um, yes. I couldn't not invite her; not after the look on her face when she heard we were going to be gone for several weeks. Honey, I sometimes think we're her only friends. Well, anyway, I think having her with us will be fun."

The kids were happy when we told them Sandy was going to be at the lake, Katie especially; they had established a tight bond.

*****

The next couple weeks passed quickly with everyone making sure we had everything. I saw Sandy only once, and that was just in passing as I went to work. But she and Karen seemed to be talking every day, and every evening Karen was all smiles filling me in with progress reports. Just watching Karen, it was obvious this break was badly needed. When we talked about it I heard of the strains she had been under the previous school term; several instructors had quit and she had to take on more classes. I asked why she hadn't told me all that earlier. "You were snowed under with problems from work. Every time I thought to talk about my concerns, you had another crisis. Compared with what you were dealing with, my work load problems seemed trivial."

"Well, I have the rest of July off. If I don't see a power line in all that time, I'll be happy."

*******