February 19th 1998, one year later, dawned another hot sunny day. By nine o'clock the house was done, she had showered carefully after lightly shaving her pubic area with Tom's electric razor, and powdered herself lightly all over, followed by a light deodorant spray. Nails were neatly pruned and painted, brownish blonde hair brushed until it shone. Her feet were soft from several weeks of nightly oiling and the tan was as perfect as she could get it. Not a dark brown, but a light golden brown. Today, she selected a simple, loose fitting white strapless sundress, in the same style as her usual sunfrock but more flattering against her tan, stepped into it and tightened the drawstring into a bow. She found the gold cord-like belt and tied it around her waist. She could feel her nipples pressing into the cotton as her breasts flowed into the material. Then she found her very elegant sandals with the golden cord ties and slipped them on. Two squirts with the mouth freshener and her toilet was complete.
Mandy gathered up a heavy rug, the largest beach umbrella she could find, a hold all which contained insect repellent, two beach towels, hand lotion and tissues and placed them in the trailer that she had attached to the four wheeler the night before. Her excitement was intense and drove every action, feeling a youthful vigour coursing through her veins. She had hardly slept a wink the night before in anticipation of this day.
David had telephoned three weeks ago to say that his parents had gone on holiday as usual and that he was on his own. He proposed to visit the stream again about 10.00am on February the 19th. No question about whether she would come or not, no comment about their last meeting -- just a simple statement of fact. Apart from acknowledging who she was, she never said a word.
At first she was fairly neutral about the information, having got over all the peculiar feelings she had the first time she had sex again with Tom, and the intensity of the memory of that wonderful encounter a year earlier having gradually faded. She had quickly reconciled herself to the fact that since it had not been planned, it was just an accident of circumstance; the sooner put behind her the better. There was no question of falling in love or threatening her relationship with Tom and in fact, if it had done anything, it had reaffirmed her love for Tom and how important their relationship really was. Just the same, even though she had no intention of going to the stream that day she was quietly pleased that he remembered the day, just as she had. Bloody silly idea anyway, he's just a boy. In fact I'm old enough to be his mother and should have known better. I wonder what he told his friends? 'Got this sex starved married woman, you know. What a knockout in the long grass! No, I'm not telling you her name in case you try to get in on the act.' Actually, he's probably not like that at all, she mused. He was twenty-six, she had discovered by asking around discretely, and she was surprised by his unusual sensitivity and maturity for that age. Well, it was a nice idea to think about and secretly very pleased that he might want to see her again, as up till then, she had absolutely no idea how he felt about her or about what had happened.
As the intervening days passed, Mandy found that she was thinking increasingly of that moment of intense excitement that he had given her, of that lean body and how it had satisfied the sensual longings that had been plaguing her. Until the phone call, the tanning process had gone on without much incident, but she began to feel the butterflies again each time she slipped her sun-frock off, especially after the call. Nevertheless, she had determined that she would ignore the opportunity that he seemed to be suggesting. Her resolve was somewhat shaken two days earlier when she had taken a rug out into a paddock, so that she could lie down and more easily tan all four sides. As she lay on her front, a lump in the ground pressed firmly into her pelvic area and really began to generate some sexual tension that did not leave her. By the next day, she found that she had quite unconsciously begun to think what she would like to do if she went and realised that she would never be content unless she did. It was a wonderful experience last time and no harm had come from it. Chances of it happening again in the future were not great, as he would probably leave the district and marry some lucky young woman. Once she had accepted that she had really made the decision in her mind, she was open to the delicious sensation of anticipation and the excitement of plotting what she might do.
She hopped on the bike and drove purposefully to the end of the farm. By now, her excitement was so intense that she wondered if she might have an orgasm on the way. How would they meet? What would they do? Stand and stare at each other? Converse normally? Immediately engage in a mad frenzy? The scenarios were legion. Throw themselves into an embrace of kissing from which clothes were ripped off, or should she start where it all began, by arriving early and being in the pool as on the first occasion. This was probably the safest option. Of course, he may be just unsure enough of how he stood with her that he needed some sort of a signal. Surely just being there was enough?
She arrived at the gate a few minutes before ten and climbed over the fence and stood at the top of the bank. Her heart leaped -- he was already there, stark naked, standing in water up to his knees. There were no white patches this time! His lean evenly tanned body glistened as the water dripped off it and she could see his thigh muscles rippling as he moved to get a better purchase on the stones. Well, that ruined all her plans! He saw her arrive and waved and she waved back, then she turned and walked back to the fence to get the rug, umbrella and towels. She carried these back to the nearest flat area and he watched as she rammed the umbrella into the ground, opened it up and spread the rug.
As he suspected, David had been haunted by her image throughout the year. It hadn't driven him crazy because there had been at various times, two lovely young students who had distracted him wonderfully. He kept wondering if it was real or whether he had simply built up some fantasy. There was no way he was going to go out of his way to see her -- that would be fatal to his resolve not to interfere in her life. Discreet inquiries had suggested that she was actually in her early forties and that had really surprised him. Shocked him even. He would have been happier not knowing, because in his mind, she was ageless.
However, by the time he had been back on the farm for a few weeks in December, his mind began to focus once again on the image. He visited the stream twice, once in late December and again in mid January but the place seemed joyless and barren and evoked no new memories.
His restlessness grew progressively as his uncertainty about how she later felt, grew. She might have been furious with him by the time she got home and be ready to take an axe to him the next time he was in range. Assuming, of course, that she hadn't confessed to husband Tom who would be only too happy to do it for her. For some months earlier in the year, he had half expected Tom to turn up on his doorstep breathing fire and brimstone. He had no right to presume that she would even want to acknowledge that she had ever met him. Discretion was obviously the order of the day!
Then it struck him. He could make an approach that she could ignore if she wanted to. He wouldn't write, that was far too risky but he could chance a phone call about mid morning, confirm that he was talking to the right person, and simply say that he would go to the stream on the date of the anniversary. There would be no need for an answer or any awkward conversation. The day after his parents left for their holiday, he poured himself a large scotch and gave it five minutes to boost his courage, then grabbed the phone book, found the number and dialled it. He was trembling so much and his throat went so dry, that when she answered he could hardly speak. She did not sound a bit like his memory of her voice and he had to ask if it was Mandy. Assured that it was, he blurted out his message and hung up. The fat was in the fire now. Three anxious weeks to wait. Then he began to wonder what it was he was trying to do. He could scarcely claim that he loved her, as he did not know her at all. Did he really want to apologise to her for using her to satisfy his sexual needs? Get off the grass! From her perspective, he would hardly be regarded as the great lover. Slam, bam and thank you Ma'am and he had walked off without saying a word.
The more he thought about it, the worse it got and the more embarrassed he felt. The reality was he could not undo the phone call! The only consolation he could find was that it might satisfy her that he had contacted her and she could now ignore him. Even peep over the fence, just to make sure that he was there, so that she could slip away without dignifying the occasion with any sort of a visible response. Worse, she might throw stones at him. Still, he deserved whatever she did.
David was so impressed by his memory of her even tan that he had earlier decided he should match that if only for his own personal pride and satisfaction and he had spent every spare moment after his parents had left, getting a tan without burning. It seemed to take days before he saw any signs of change and he was tempted to give it a real burn up, but he was too frightened of skin cancer and a peeling skin.
Then came the day. Trepidation almost killed any sexual urges that had been building up and he pondered on how he might meet or greet her. After rejecting umpteen ridiculous opening scenarios, he decided that he would do what he said on the phone. He would visit the stream. In fact, he would go for a swim as if it was the most natural thing to do on a hot day. You do not wear a swimsuit in your own private stream, but he would not move from the point from which he started last time in case he needed to beat a dignified retreat.