Marie 12

I met Marie at a wine tasting. One of the local business clubs in my suburban town of about twenty thousand residents had organized a wine tasting as a means of raising funds to aid the local children's hospital. I assumed my invitation this evening was due to my reputation of supporting their events in the past. I assumed Marie's invitation was for similar reasons.

The Wednesday evening event was in the library of the local middle school. The organizers had arranged for four wine experts, each to speak on the properties of a specific wine. While each was speaking, volunteers would circulate among the attendees offering samples of the wine itself. Each speaker urged us to follow his instructions and evaluate each wine subjectively.

It was a mundane affair and after the second round of wine, I was looking for a distraction. I noticed an attractive woman alone at the edge of the crowd, perched on an all too small chair at one of the all too small circular elementary school library tables. I made my way in her direction and, once within speaking distance, asked if I might join her. She smiled and I took her nod as confirmation my company would be acceptable.

I sat in one of the too small chairs.

"Mike."

"Marie."

"Nice to meet you," and I put out my hand.

Marie gently shook my hand, "The same."

"Pretty boring."

"An accurate description."

"What say we slip out the side door and find someplace with palatable wine."

"Lead the way."

With that, I stood and offered my hand to assist Marie. We slowly circled around the crowd and, unnoticed, slipped out the side exterior door. I led Marie around the building to the front and to my-three-year old Ford F150. I noticed a questioning expression on her face as I opened the passenger door for her. Even so, she climbed up into the cab and settled herself as I closed the door. I drove to a nearby hotel with a quiet lounge, helped Marie from the truck and left the keys with the parking attendant.

Inside, and with the help of a ten-dollar tip, the host led us to an isolated corner table in a little used section of the lounge. When the waitress arrived, I ordered a Forman Cabernet Sauvignon and two glasses.

During the ride and while sitting at the table Marie and I had exchanged basic information about each other. I learned Marie was 43 years old, widowed and had no children. Marie learned that I was also 43 years old, and had never been married. We also shared why we had been at the wine tasting. Marie was there because a friend thought she could use a social evening out and I had been invited by one of the committee members organizing the event.

We shared the wine and ordered an overly large, decadent dessert, which we shared.

We spent over two hours in, to me, comfortable conversation.

As we were preparing to leave, I offered to drive her back to the library so she could retrieve her car. She declined, offering that she had ridden to the wine tasting with a friend whom she had texted earlier that she would find her own way home. I immediately offered to drive her home instead, which she accepted.

Once again, I held the door to my truck open while she climbed into the passenger seat. She gave instructions for the route to her home, anticipating the turns early enough that I had no problems remembering the way. She lived in a gated community with a substantial gate guarding the entrance. I stopped before the gate.

"Just pull closer. The gate will open automatically."

We sat uncomfortably in the darkened truck in front of her larger than any reasonable single person needed home. Neither of us seemed to want the evening to end.

"Marie."

"Yes."

"Do you like to eat?"

"Of course."

"Would you care to have dinner sometime?"

"Are you asking me for a date?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"Thursday? I have a recurring commitment on Thursday."

"How does your calendar look for Friday?"

"Friday's good. Where should we meet?"

"I'll pick you up since I know where you live. Seven pm work for you?"

"Yes, it's a date."

As Marie got out of the truck, I confirmed the arrangement. "I'll be here at seven pm Friday."

"See you then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I sat in the truck, in front of her home, until she was safely inside. She waved to me as she closed the door. I waved back but I doubt she saw me in the dark.

The ride home seemed to go quickly and road smoother than I remembered. I had met a nice woman, whom I liked, and who seemed to like me as well. The next forty hours until Friday night were going to seem like forty days.

Friday night was an unqualified success. At least it seemed so to me. I assume Marie felt the same since she accepted an invitation for another "date." I drove my Jaguar XJ up her curved drive; parked immediately in front of her door and rang the doorbell at precisely seven. Marie answered the door holding a light jacket and ready to go. I escorted her down the porch steps and toward the car.

"Nice car."

"Thanks."

"What happened to the truck?"

"I prefer this one. I only use the 150 when I'm not sure of where I'm going or the company I might meet."

"Can't be too careful can you?"

"Let's say I've had a few bad experiences discovering when the folks I've been with were more interested in something other than me."

We walked to the car and I opened the passenger door for her. Marie settled into one of the finest passenger seats the automobile industry has to offer. I gently closed the door; walked around the back of the car to the driver's side and slid into the seat. We drove to a nearby Italian restaurant owned by a long time friend of mine. After dinner, we drove to a quiet club in a nearby hotel with a live band and a dance floor where we had several drinks and a couple of dances.

Over the next six weeks we went to dinner ten times and one movie. We got along well, even exceptionally well. During those six weeks, we smiled often, laughed frequently and even cried a little. I learned her husband of twenty-one years had died suddenly two years ago and that they had postponed having children while working on careers until it was too late; her only regret. Her husband, Don, during their marriage, had founded three successful companies. He was the CEO and President of each and each had paid him a considerable sum each year. At the time of his death, Marie learned that each company had purchased a large key man life insurance policy in case of his death. Don had a similar policy payable to her and, since he had been the sole owner of the companies, Marie was now the sole owner, CEO and President of each company. Marie tried to step into Don's shoes but quickly learned she was ill equipped to run any one of the companies let alone all three.

With the help of the family and corporate attorney, Marie formed a single holding company with three divisions. She named the key managers of the divisions President of their respective companies and members of the holding company's board, along with herself as Chairman of the Board, the corporate attorney and two outside board members -- a local magistrate and the minister of her church.

Again, Marie felt uncomfortable in the business world. She sold the whole thing to a group of financiers and the three division Presidents. The deal had closed three months before we met and Marie had turned the entire proceeds over to a Morgan Stanley financial manager to invest and provide her with a monthly dividend larger than she needed.

I shared my similar story. After college, in my twenties, I was employed by a pure research organization for a large, international corporation. I was given a small laboratory and freedom to explore technology that was interesting and commercial. During my time there I developed and patented, three technologies of interest to me but deemed not usable by the corporate business. They sold all three patents to me for pocket change and a small percentage of whatever revenue they generated over the next ten years. Over the next six years, I commercialized two of the technologies using my parents' garage as a workshop and the room over it as my apartment. I licensed one of the technologies to a toy manufacturer and the other to a major automobile manufacturer. Both have open and automatically renewable royalty payments based on units sold and the income exceeded anyone's expectations, especially my parents.

The agreement with my original company expired seven years ago so all the royalty payments now come directly to me. Based on my reputation with the two technologies, I sold the third patent last year to another major manufacturer to develop along with a multiyear consultant contract to assist in commercializing the technology. Interestingly enough, my financial advisor is also with Morgan Stanley and I have all my living expenses sent to her for payment.

Marie understands my need for the Ford F150.

In the almost two months Marie and I have been together I've come to know her as a witty, smart, highly educated and funny person. She's also very conservative about her personal space. I've respected her reluctance limiting our physical interaction to some hand holding and friendly kisses. Her honor is important to her and, therefore, important to me.

After a brief phone conversation on a Friday afternoon, Marie and I decided to watch a movie at my place that evening. After a light supper, Marie and I settled in front of my den based home theater. Marie searched the "On Demand" sections and settled on Clint Eastwood's "Bridges of Madison County" with Meryl Streep. Not my first choice but I was determined to have a pleasant evening.

As the movie began, Marie curled up close on my right side. I put my arm around her and she laid her head on my shoulder. The slight coconut smell of her shampoo considerably increased my enjoyment of the movie. As the cinematic relationship between Robert and Francesca developed, Marie snuggled up a little closer, took my right hand and placed it on her breast. I managed to suppress my surprise, and delight, and kissed her on her forehead while sliding my right hand gently over her breast. I shifted my position slightly, and, using my left hand unbuttoned the top button on her blouse. I took her slight shift in position as approval and continued to slowly unbutton the rest of the buttons and pull the blouse from her waistband. I have no memory of what was happening on the screen as I slid my right hand down and under her blouse and then up the bare skin of her abdomen and under the bra covering her breast.

Without a sound, Marie kissed me gently on the lips. She stood and, taking my hand, led me off the sofa, up the stairs and into the master bedroom. She took me to the far side of the king sized bed and said, "Get into bed. I'll be right back."

Marie circled back around the bed, went into the bathroom and closed the door. I stripped off my clothes, climbed into bed and under the covers. A few minutes later, Marie exited the bathroom wearing a green terry robe she must have found in the closet on the other side of the bathroom. She walked along the foot, turned off the bedroom light and moved to the side of the bed opposite me as I turned on my right side to watch her. She turned down the covers on that side of the bed and, lifting the back of the robe, sat on the edge of the bed. She carefully unbelted the robe, slid it off her shoulders and, dropped it to the floor as she slid under the covers.

She turned on her left side and gently touched my left cheek. We kissed gently as she slowly stroked my arm and hip. I stroked her shoulder and carefully lifted her breast in my left hand. Marie moved her hand further down and gripped my penis gently but with confidence. My body quickly responded and rose to the challenge. As soon a Marie felt I had reached minimum capability she rolled on her back, drew me on top of her, raised and spread her knees. She guided me to her with her left hand and I slid easily into her. I moved my hips in and out in an ancient ritual without any additional assistance from Marie. After a few minutes, I managed a small emission and slowly rolled off her to my right. Marie rolled up on her left side, placed her head on my shoulder and her right hand on my chest. I lay there on my back with Marie curled beside me and wondered what had just happened. To say that it had been the least physical encounter I'd ever experienced would be an overstatement. I didn't think I'd even have to change the sheets.

Several minutes later Marie rolled to her right and sat with her back to me on the edge of the bed. She reached down, picked the terry robe off the floor and threw it over her shoulders. She slipped her arms into the robe and, as she stood up, the robe fell around her. With her back still to me, she wrapped the robe around her and tied the belt. When she began walking around the end of the bed, I rolled to my left side so I could see her as she walked. As she neared the edge of bed I said, "Marie." She stopped and turned toward me.

"Please turn on the light."

After a moment's hesitation, Marie walked back across the end of the bed, flipped the wall switch and the ceiling light went on. She walked back to her original position and faced me as before.

"Take off the robe, please."

Her eyes opened wide and I sensed a pronounced hesitation. A small smile formed on her lips and she slowly began to untie the belt. The robe slowly fell open. Marie shrugged her shoulders and the robe fell around her at her feet. I used by right hand to signal that she should turn around. She turned slowly to her right while trying to keep her eyes on me the entire time until she was again facing me.

"Magnificent!"

She smiled broadly, as I stood and beckoned her toward me. She walked into my arms and we shared a kiss unlike any we had had before. As we stood there, naked, in each other's arms, Marie leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "I really have to pee."

I released her; she turned and began walking toward the bathroom. As she passed the robe, she bent and picked it up.

"Marie."

She looked back over her left shoulder, smiled and dropped the robe again. As she walked the remaining distance to the bathroom, I noticed lightness in her walk I'd not seen before. If I had to describe it, I'd have called it a sashay. Marie went into the bathroom and closed the door.

I waited five seconds and knocked on the bathroom door.

"I'm on the toilet."

"That's OK," I responded. "I just want to start the shower," as I entered the bathroom.

I walked into the bathroom, went to the oversized walk-in shower and turned on the nearest shower to allow it to heat up. As I exited the shower, Marie was still sitting on the toilet. Her mouth was slightly agape and she seemed stunned. I went over to her, bent and kissed her gently. I returned to the shower and entered. I heard the toilet flush, waited two seconds and reached out taking Marie's right hand as she walked by. I drew her into the shower with me. She entered sporting a slight smile.

I turned her away from me and, using the hand shower, gently covered her body with warm water. Taking a soft cloth and some shower gel, I gently and slowly washed the back of her neck and shoulders. I rinsed the area with more warm water from the hand shower. I continued to wash her arms and lower back and repeated the rinse. Next, I washed and rinsed each cheek and then each leg individually while kneeling behind her. Throughout Marie stood silently and seemed to be relaxed.

I stood up behind her and turned her around, facing me. I added more shower gel to the cloth, washed her upper chest and followed with a warm rinse. I washed and rinsed her arms individually. Her breasts got the same treatment as I lifted each gently while I washed around and under each one.

I continued by washing and rinsing her abdomen and hips. Kneeling in front of her, I washed first her left leg and then her right rinsing each in turn. Then, adding a small amount of shower gel to the cloth, I washed and rinsed her pubic area and between her legs which she separated slightly to ease the task.

When I was done, I stood, handed Marie the cloth and shower gel and turned around. She got the message and began washing my neck and shoulders. She followed the same pattern I had established and finished holding my penis in her right hand while she rinsed it with warm water.

She stood without letting go and, as she slowly stroked my penis, it enthusiastically responded. Marie smiled broadly, as she continued to stroke me. I took her in my arms and kissed her with open mouth. She responded, pulling me tightly to her and trapping my fully erect penis between our bodies. As we engaged in a second passionate kiss, Marie used her right hand to push my penis down between her legs. As we hugged and kissed, I moved my hips rubbing my penis back and forth between her legs and against her labia. Marie moved in closer and stood on her toes trying to find a position that allowed us to join. I moved my hands to below her buttocks and lifted her slightly while bending my knees. Marie's left leg came off the shower floor and I slid into her.

Holding Marie in both arms we moved against the shower wall as her right leg came off the floor and joined the other leg around my waist. In this position, I energetically stroked into her increasing the pace as we continued. After several minutes, Marie's breathing shortened, her body stiffened and her eyes closed tightly. Her body started to pulse rhythmically as she held her breath. I slowed my pace as she began to breathe again. I set her down and turned her around. I began rubbing my erection up and down between her cheeks and then between her legs. She moved back slightly and bent over with her hands on the wall. I entered her again and began stroking quickly and forcefully. Marie tensed almost immediately. Her body began to quiver uncontrollably and gripped my erection so tightly I could hardly move. Her tension peaked and as soon as her grip on me lessened, I began to pulse and pour an immense quantity of sperm inside her.

We slowly recovered our balance as I rinsed us off using the hand held shower. When we were reasonably clean, I helped Marie out of the shower and dried her with a towel from the nearby rack. I dried myself as Marie moved slowly into the bedroom, holding herself on the doorframe as she went. By the time I entered the bedroom, Marie was already in the bed. I climbed in next to her. She curled up tightly against me, put her head on my shoulder, her hand on my stomach and quickly fell asleep, as did I only several minutes later.

When I awoke, the sun was shining and Marie was still asleep. She had turned over and was on the edge of the bed with her back to me. As tempting as it was, I had more pressing problems. I got out of the bed carefully so as not to wake Marie and went into the bathroom. When I returned Marie was still asleep, so I pulled on a pair of shorts and quietly left the bedroom.

In the kitchen, I put on a fresh pot of coffee and started to get breakfast organized. After last night I was sure Marie would wake up as hungry as I was. I did what I could, waited for the coffee to finish and poured myself a large mug. I sat at the table with my coffee until I heard Marie behind me, "Good morning, Mike."

I turned in my chair and saw Marie, leaning up against the kitchen doorjamb -- completely naked. That was not expected. I think I handled my surprise reasonably well as I rose and offered her a mug of coffee. She accepted my offer, walked into the kitchen, around the table and took a seat opposite mine. I gave her the mug and sat. She sipped the coffee and looked at me with a glowing smile.

"Before we do anything else, I need to tell you a story. I can't tell it well if I have any distractions. So, no interruptions, questions or unnecessary movement. Got it?"