It was about two hours later when Dr. Carol started stirring and opened her eyes. She awoke with a smile on her face as she stretched her arms toward the sky. She wiggled her fingers and her toes, awakening each part of her body one by one. She looked over at Kevin and she wondered what did I just do? That was absolutely crazy! She thought. Never would she have expected that she would have an encounter such as this, let alone with a man much younger than herself. As she watched him sleeping she once again thought; he's such a sweet man. We have become such good friends, and I enjoy his company; I wonder if what happened will change all of that, she worried. She could see a hint of light peeking in from under the door of the building and she figured the storm must have lifted. Seeing her awake, the dogs started to fuss indicating they were ready to get moving again. They came over to seek Carol's attention and to encourage her to get up.
Kevin's dogs nudged at his face and he awoke from the feeling of the cold noses against his skin. He looked at his dogs and said "hey boys." It was normal for him to awake to his dogs in his face, and it took him a minute before he remembered just where he was. He turned to Carol and smiled at the sight of her there next to him. So, that really happened and wasn't just a sweet dream, he thought to himself. It was also spectacular or at least for him it was. He hoped Carol felt the same.
Carol was the first to speak saying "I think the storm has passed and we can probably go home now." Kevin stood up and looked for his clothes, but they of course were still very wet. Carol wrapped herself up in the seat cover, looked at him and said:
"You know you're completely naked?"
"I am aware of that, but you need not be so modest after what we shared," he answered.
"I am going to stay covered up, thank you very much," she said. "And I suggest you do the same," she added.
"Calm yourself, I am looking for something to cover up with, and you don't have anything I haven't seen before," he remarked with a small chuckle.
Carol knew that it was silly for her to be embarrassed by his nakedness, or feel as though he shouldn't be allowed to see her more closely, but she was still processing all that happened. Kevin looked around the room more closely, and he came across another seat cover, and wrapped himself up. He found some garbage bags and handed one to Carol. "We can put our wet clothes in these," he commented. They packed up their clothes, and slipped on their shoes over their bare feet, and Kevin slowly opened the door a crack and peeked out. The sun was shining brightly and no one seemed to be around. "The coast is clear," he said as they left the building with the seat covers clenched around their bodies. They walked rather silently, and quickly, back to their cars being sure to stick to less known trails, and stay on the back sides of buildings. While there was never much action at the college on a Sunday afternoon, the security guards did have to make their rounds, and Dr. Carol knew she didn't need to get caught walking around half naked. Soon enough they were back at their cars and loading up the dogs. Kevin walked over to Carol and said:
"You seem very quiet, but I just want to say that while unexpected, today was very special."
"I think I need some time to process this all," she replied. "I don't yet know how I really feel," she added.
"That's understandable," he said "We'll talk soon," he said leaning in to give her a kiss.
He kissed her once softly and opened her car door for her, shutting it behind her. Then he got into his car and they drove off. During his drive home Kevin thought about how nice a hot shower was going to feel. He also thought about Carol and how she was feeling. He knew that they had shared a unique moment together that afternoon. He knew it was the kind of fond memory that stays with you for years to come. He knew that neither of them had planned for it to happen, but he also felt like there wasn't any reason to feel guilty. He supposed that it may have been the first time Carol had been with someone in a while. He had felt a sort of hunger from her when they had been together, as if she had been waking up. Kevin thought that maybe she was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by these emotions and needing time to adjust. He still found it hard to believe that a woman like Carol didn't have anyone in her life. She was beautiful, kind and friendly. He knew she had many friends, but over time he started to see that no one was any more than that. It was obvious to him that Carol had a need for that certain kind of satisfaction that you can't get from regular friends. He decided he would give her a couple of days, and then call her, if she hadn't already called him.
Upon reaching her home Carol turned on and heated up the water in her shower. Steam rose and filled the room, as she stepped in and under the hot water. It stung a little at first, as she knew it would, due to her cold skin. She moved around letting the water fall all over her as she started to become warm. As she showered, she tried to decide how she felt about what had happened, and the new direction this relationship seemed to be taking. She judged by what Kevin had said that he was perfectly ok with what they had done. She wanted to be ok, but she felt she didn't know where it was they would go from here. It had been awhile since she had, had a relationship and it was a little scary. She also knew that while they had fun together, her and Kevin were at different points in their lives, and probably had different life plans. As Carol washed herself, and soaped up her body and breasts, she started to remember just how it had felt being with him, and how she had thought those kinds of sensations had all but died. Now as the mere thought of it started to make her nipples harden, she knew that she was still a sexual woman, who had desires and needs. She decided that perhaps she owed it to herself to explore these desires and see what happened. She reasoned that the both of them probably had different kinds of needs, and this was perhaps why they had been drawn to each other, and why the friendship had flourished. Carol still felt somewhat conflicted on what was the right thing to do and she thought about it often over the next few days.
Kevin gave Carol those few days, to allow her to process it as she had said, and to call him. It was Tuesday evening when he called her in an effort to see if they could get together and talk. It rang several times and then she answered:
"This is Dr. Carol."
"Hi Carol, it's Kevin, how are you?"
"I am doing ok and you?"
"I'm fine thanks, but I feel we need to sit down and talk, can you come over for dinner tomorrow?"
"Sure, that sounds nice."
They set a time, and as he hung up the phone, Kevin started working on what it was he wanted to cook. He knew that Carol was a very healthy eater, and very rarely if at all ate meat. He decided on an Italian eggplant dish, with whole wheat angel hair pasta on the side, topped with homemade pesto sauce, and a salad. The next day he found himself very busy after work preparing for that night. Carol said she would be over after she finished teaching an exercise class and went home to freshen up. Kevin cleaned up his house the best he could. He kept his place neat as a general rule, but with two dogs, it did need touching up often. He also spent much time in the kitchen cooking up his meal with care. It had been awhile since he had cooked the homemade pesto and he wanted to be sure it came out as it should. He was mixing the sauce with the pasta and taking the eggplant out of the oven when there was a knock on the door. He opened the door and welcomed her inside, giving her a hug and quick kiss. Carol was wearing a light pink sweater, and a flowing skirt, and she looked quite nice. She had her dogs with her as she often did, and the boys and girls seemed happy to see each other.
