This story follows on from my previous effort "Catching Up". You could probably read this one without having read the previous chapter, but people seemed to like it, so maybe check that one out first.
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Luke watched the Kent countryside slide past outside the train window, the fields a lush green in the bright spring sunshine. For one of only a handful of times so far in the year, the weather was perfectly reflecting Luke's feelings as the train raced away from London towards the coast. Towards Katie. He smiled as he pictured her face, pictured her excitement as she waited for him at the station. These early finishes on a Friday afternoon, leading up to a weekend alone with Katie, had become almost entirely what he had lived for through the working week. He squinted through the window up at the sun, basking in the warmth permeating through the glass.
Their relationship had progressed quicker and smoother than Luke could possibly have hoped for. Their twenty-year age difference aside, there was nothing that didn't make them perfect for each other. She brought out of him the enthusiasm for life that had been missing from the last few years, and he gave her... What? He frowned, momentarily perturbed by the sudden pinprick in his confidence. It was true, she apparently adored being with him, really -- really - enjoyed the sex; but beyond that, what exactly did he bring to her life? What could he offer this beautiful, intelligent, successful young woman?
Luke turned away from the window, somehow suddenly annoyed by the gorgeous scenery outside in all its youthful April glory. Seated across the aisle from him, a middle-aged couple, perhaps only a few years older than himself, sat holding hands while skimming through a seemingly endless stream of baby pictures on a phone. Their children? Or possibly even their grandchildren, he thought. Was that it? Was that what was missing from his relationship with Katie? Maybe not the children specifically -- the subject hadn't even come up, he suddenly thought with some surprise - but the stability, the permanence, of family life.
Was it time to move back from the city to the coast? His job at the Ministry paid well, although it was hardly fulfilling, and what else could he do? Could he go back to teaching? He stifled a chuckle. No, things had moved on too much since he had taught -- the modern classroom might as well be another planet as far as he was concerned. Besides, even if he did find a position, how would his new employers take it when they found out -- as they inevitably would -- that he was dating a former pupil? One that was the best part of two decades younger than him? Oof, he thought, let's not go there.
The train rattled through a short tunnel, and when it emerged out the other side, it was running along an embankment looking down on a pebble beach and the sparkling sea beyond it. Out of nowhere, Luke found himself thinking of his teenage years as a volunteer lifeguard. He pictured himself, tall, lean and tanned; not the most handsome of the young men that kept watch over the tourists during his school holidays, but not the least either. He shifted in his seat, suddenly more aware of the touch of middle-age spread that had crept up on him. Perhaps I could go for a swim sometime this weekend, he wondered. His thoughts shifted back to Katie, and with a smile to himself he questioned whether she would leave him with the energy for any such exercise outside the bedroom.
As Luke stepped down from the train, he scanned the platform for his lover. Katie always met him from the train on Friday night; she jokingly said that that was what any good little housewife would do. As ever, his heart skipped a beat when he saw her. She stood out from the crowd like no-one he had ever known; the long, dark hair swept down over the front of one shoulder, her dark eyes scanning the opening train doors for a sight of him, a slight flush of excitement clearly visible on her tanned skin. As she finally laid eyes on him, she let out a little squeal of joy. They raced into each other's arms, and he peppered her joyous face with kisses. The throng of tired commuters broke around them, an island paradise in a sea of grey.
'Oh, I'm so glad that you're home,' Katie whispered into his ear. 'I've missed you so much.'
"Home" he thought. That's new. An invitation?
'I missed you too,' he replied, holding her face in his hands and gazing down into her sparkling eyes. In the warm spring afternoon she was wearing a yellow sundress, barely long enough to reach halfway down her thigh. Luke could feel it hitch up as she threw her arms around his neck. He dropped his hands down her back, his fingertips brushing her smooth skin before alighting on the soft material covering her bum. He pulled her to him, pressed his lips to hers. She sighed into his mouth, her arms crossing behind his neck. Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw Katie lift one foot up behind her; an endearing caricature of a chaste movie kiss. Chaste? Like hell, he thought.
Two giggling schoolgirls brushed past them, half-muttering suggestions to get a room.
'Sounds like a plan,' Luke said, taking Katie's hand and gently pulling her along the platform towards the exit.
'No, no, no. Wait; I have something to tell you first,' Katie implored, an apologetic look spreading across her features.
Aw, no, he inwardly groaned. Was it that time already? Katie giggled, guessing Luke's thoughts from the sudden look of despair on his face.
'Don't panic -- it's not that,' she reassured him. 'We have a houseguest for the weekend. I'd forgotten I had invited her. You remember Sara, from my class at school?'
Luke didn't have to try to remember Sara. It seemed like there had been someone like Sara in every new year while he had been a teacher; that one young woman who had developed just that little bit faster than her contemporaries. That said, even among that select group, Sara stood out; the mane of curly blonde hair, the eyes cool and blue like a mountain stream. Luke had known her when she was just too young to realise the effect she was starting to have on the boys around her -- not to mention the full-grown men -- but Luke had little doubt that she would have grown up to be the kind of woman that leaves broken hearts scattered behind her like a trail of breadcrumbs.
'Babe?' Katie whispered.
'Hmm? Oh, yes - Sara -- I think I remember her.'
'Well, she certainly remembers you.'
'Not another one who's supposed to have had a crush on me?' Luke asked.
Katie laughed. 'And then some! Maybe you can ask her about it when we get home.'
Luke's heart sank. 'She's there already? I'd hoped we'd have a little time together -- just the two of us -- first.'
Katie couldn't fail to read Luke's mind. She reached up to stroke his cheek. 'I'll bet you did. Don't worry; I've got it all planned out.'
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Sara was everything Luke had expected her to grow up to be, at least in appearance. Those blonde curls, those clear blue eyes, that creamy skin -- they were all still there. And now her beautiful face was supplemented by the kind of body that made Luke scared to look at her in the presence of his girlfriend. As she greeted them at the front door of Katie's house, she was dressed in skin-tight blue jeans and a pale pink t-shirt that clung to every inch of her fabulous chest -- a chest that was now pressed hard against his body as she clung to him in an embrace that was far too enthusiastic for Luke's comfort.
