I was waiting for her at the security area exit. She was dressed comfortably but stylishly in jeans, flats, and a silky-looking pink blouse. She looked good. Very good. I waved and her eyes found mine. We both smiled and met off to the side, out of the steady flow of Friday evening fliers.
"Hi, Denise.", I said, as I took her roller bag from her. "You look terrific."
She blushed and giggled a little. "Hi, Tom", she replied. "Have you been waiting long? My flight left late."
"I've been waiting a long time to meet you in person. An extra twenty minutes is nothing. Is this your only bag?" She nodded. "Then let's get out of here."
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I met the virtual Denise in the online world of Second Life. If you can imagine a sexually-charged masquerade ball with male avatars ranging from brutes to sissies to girls, and female avatars ranging from seductive ladies to bull dykes to men, you have some idea about the essence of Second Life. Denise was a seductive lady who appeared as if by magic one day when I transported into her salon.
Chat is the basis of Second Life, enhanced by avatars and animations that can be surprisingly elaborate and erotic. Denise and I hit it off right away. Beautiful women who will talk or have sex with you for pay or for free are a dime a dozen in Second Life, but it's quite rare to "click" with someone. It was amazingly fun to talk with her.
As the name suggests, Second Life comes second to one's real life. Between work and spouses, Denise and I had only limited time to be in-world together. Some days we might steal an hour together. Other days we might not chat at all. But somehow, it just worked for us. Over many months we talked, laughed, made love, and shared more and more of the details of our lives and experiences. We grew closer. A lot closer. Every morning, when the garage door closed as my wife left for work, I would log on just to wish Denise a good morning. It made me feel so good to do so.
I work from home, and made the time to write erotic short stories involving the two of us. She loved them, and our online love making became more and more intense. She had a lovely private home in Second Life. I used the animations there as the springboards for my stories, and I bought new animations so we could reenact the stories I made up from scratch. Denise had other lovers in Second Life, as did I. I often wished I could be a fly on the wall to watch someone have his way with her. But it somehow seemed like the ultimate invasion of privacy.
I found myself thinking almost exclusively of Denise when I made love to my wife. That extra excitement made me a more aggressive and intense lover, which did not seem to displease my wife. Of course some of that aggressiveness may have stemmed from my knowing how much Denise needed and wanted her lovers to take control....
It took us a long while to develop our trust and affection to the point where we finally exchanged real life names and contact info. We weren't young and naive anymore, and we both had families and careers to protect. Up to that point, she could never be sure that I wasn't a polite, well-spoken reincarnation of Jack the Ripper, and I could never be sure she wasn't some 300 pound guy living in his parents' basement. But it seemed so natural and right at that point, so we did it. The magic of Google convinced us that we both were who we said we were, and our in-world IM chats in Second Life became mixed with long emails. I emailed her daily even if all I had time for was a single line.
We were both completely open about the fact that whatever it was we had together was not the first priority in our lives. It was as clear as day from her words and tone that Denise loved her husband. As for me, my wife came first. We had the normal frictions of married life, but we had been together for many years, and would stay that way if it was up to me. And yet. And yet. Denise was such a delight to talk with, and she became an important part of my life.
One night I broached the question of using Skype to see one another. She was a bit reluctant at first, but I could tell the idea was tantalizing. The stars aligned one weekend afternoon some weeks later, with our respective spouses and kids away. I threw caution to the winds and called her via Skype without asking if it was OK. It seemed as if it took forever for her to answer, but answer she did. It was so nice when her face first came into view. I'm not sure what she thought of me, but I was quite sure what I thought of her. Long black hair. Deep, expressive eyes. A friendly smile. Beautiful. Simply beautiful.
Winter turned to spring. My wife made arrangements to visit her family in China for her dad's 80th birthday, which is a big milestone in Chinese culture. I had been there with her previously, and we knew that it was kind of a burden to drag me along to a family visit, so her travel plans did not include me. I was not upset.
With my wife's travel plans in place, Denise and I sensed that we would never have a better chance to meet. I wrote her a long email, asking her to come. We talked about it over the course of a week. We knew it was a major decision that would shatter the notion that we were just friends. I woke up one morning to find an email from her containing one word. "Yes."
With the decision made, the logistics were easy. Denise had a college roommate living in my area who she visited from time to time. Her old roomie was quite willing to cover for Denise. So Denise told her husband she'd be flying down for the weekend for a few nights of catching up and shopping with her friend. Technically, that was not a lie. I was her friend too.
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I took her hand in mine and squeezed it. She squeezed back. We negotiated the airport parking rabbit warren as we chatted merrily away. From the airport to my home is less than twenty minutes, and we were soon there. Denise scrunched down in her seat as we entered the neighborhood. The neighbors knew my wife was away, and there was no point in being indiscreet.
The garage door closed, and I handed her out of the car. I didn't let go of her hand as I grabbed her bag from the backseat and led her into the house.
"Welcome." I said as I put her bag down. "What can I get you? You can freshen up in here if you'd like." I gestured to the powder room.
Denise smiled. "You know what I'd like, Tom."
I smiled broadly. "I do indeed. Good thing I've been practicing."
She powdered her nose while I headed for the kitchen by way of the drinks cabinet. It was time to make a chocolate martini. I mixed enough for two. I was generous when it came to adding the vodka. She emerged looking beautiful, and trailing the scent of Chanel No.5. I stopped shaking her drink and looked at her.
"Oh, God! Do you have any idea how much I like that scent?"
"You told me you did, silly."
"I did? I must be getting old. I'm very very glad I did."
I poured her drink into a glass, and sprinkled it with shaved chocolate. I handed it to her with a flourish. "For you, my lady."
"Thank you, kind sir." she said. I grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge, and showed her around the house. I eventually led her out onto the enclosed deck. The sun was down, and the faint glow of red clouds in the western sky was all that was left of the day. We watched the light fade as we held hands and sipped our drinks silently. We looked towards the east. A star appeared. A nursery rhyme sprang to mind and I began to recite it.
"Star light, star bright. The first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight."
She looked at me and smiled. "What is your wish?"
