Wanders Ch 05

Author's Note -

Since Kat and Neil have gone their separate ways, we will follow them separately for a while. This is an ongoing series. If you are new to the series, welcome. For those new travelers, reading the previous chapter will give an insight into the characters here. As always, everyone here is over 21, and all places exist only in my imagination, as this is a fictional character study. I hope that you'll enjoy the unwinding saga of Neil, Kat, and the folks they meet along the way.

I'd like to ask, please help me to improve on future stories. Leave a note about how you reacted to the story. Your comments help to shape how this tale unwinds. Also, if you have an interest as a proofreader or a beta reader, please reach out to me; I'd like to hear from you.

Act 2

Chapter 5 - Hitting the roads

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Kat -

Not rejecting avenues; instead, I needed to find roads where I felt good about myself. I knew I had to define myself in positive terms, saying this who I am. I want to be a teacher, an art teacher. A teacher who will show my students how they can shape their world with art. Grad school will give me more tools to do this, but my mission is the same.

On a more personal side, I craved to be with that special woman who I could support and who would support me. Neil was only the second man I had been with. And yes, he is a wonderful man. But I've recognized that isn't the way I'm wired; my desires are filled on the other team with my sisters.

When I decided to leave, the first person I reached out was my old roommate, Josie. Josie had introduced me to the joy to be found in a sapphic relationship. In school, we had shared our bed, and god, did we burn up the sheets as she took me along paths I never knew existed. While Josie was a great tour guide to this new world, I also knew she won't be the one to walk along into stardust. Josie showed me what it is to be spontaneous. That unique quality of spontaneity carried into her life and her drawings.

In school, Josie would and did flit about from one to another boyfriend. While I stayed put in our bed. Since I left town at school, she settled in one guy I knew of from before. All the time Josie danced about left me in wonder as she freely danced about. Josie's life was like her drawings, very approachable and fluid, filled with spontaneity.

It was no great surprise that Josie and Fred had gotten back together. In school, the two of them had an almost magnetic relationship. At times they were very close, and then suddenly, they would fly apart. Now they were together outside of the city, where they would be teaching in the fall. I parachuted onto their sofa as a safe place to be until school started for me in September. Being back with Josie and her old boyfriend, Fred, felt good. They both had such a positive outlook; they had learned how to work around the rocks and shoals that were ahead. Josie, as, usual was the instigator; it always amazed me how totally spontaneous she was. Damm, I so wish I had her style her sense of freedom.

For sure, I did fly out of the birdcage that I lived in Chicago to explore and find roads. But I always came back to the perch in my cage. While Josie, and now Fred too, would fly around freely. Landing here and there and chirp at each other. The sounds that rolled out of their bedroom were joyous as they both enjoyed each other. Damm right, I was jealous, as I never was that free. While sex with Neil was good, on the other hand, sex was almost choreographed. Yes, we figured out how to get part C into slot C very quickly, but I didn't feel our sex life was unplanned. Our sex was like our life, very planned out. Our lives lacked that sense of spontaneity, a feeling of joie de vivre.

One morning after the three of us had breakfast, Fred went off to do whatever, and Josie played with her cat again while I slipped into the shower. The shower for me was often my retreat, my safe place. While standing in the shower, lost in the water running over me, Josie slipped in with me. And softly whispered in my ear, "hi, girlfriend," as she pulled me into one of her amazing hugs. "Remember this?" Suddenly our tongues danced a very familiar old song as we began to explore each other again. Josie reached over and turned off the water, and pulled me out of the shower. Then, grabbing towels, we both hastily dried each other off. Josie started giggling as once again her eyes swept over my body, "damm, girl, those tits of yours still do look so fine. I can't wait to get you in bed and play with them. OH!!! And that cute little landing strip you have going on looks so sweet. Come on, let's go. Bed!!!"

Josie pulled me into the large bed in the bedroom she and Fred shared. Seeing her cute ass, I'd quite willingly follow her almost anywhere. We fell onto the bed, and at first, I lay there while I waited on Josie to make the first move towards me which I so desperately wanted. She sat up and lightly pushed the damp hair off my face, "little bitch, yes, you miss control freak, you'll have no choice. You are going to be fucked hard, and you'll love it. Know why? Cause you gave up control, and you didn't plan anything. It simply happens, like life does. It happens."

With that, Josie captured one of my breasts in her soft hand as she started nibbling and biting my ear lobe. The bitch damm well, knew that doing that would get me to surrender with no reservations. Damm her, I so loved how I was lost in the haze she created. Into this fog, I became aware of, of oh my god! Looking up, Fred is teasing my other breast. "Hi Kat, did you think I could let Josie have all the fun? We share everything, including who shares our bed." I shuttered at the realization; I had no voice in what might happen. All I could do was simply go with the flow and discover new worlds together with my friends. Josie decided that she was going to concentrate her attention on my breasts. While Fred moved in between my open legs to explore what pleasures could be found with my sopping wet pussy.

I became lost in the haze these two created for me. Somewhere along the line, Josie pulled my head towards her as she looked deep into my eyes. "Bitch, yes, you Kat, you are bitch, and Fred and I are going fuck the bitchy out of you." With that, Josie straddled my head and lowered her very wet pussy down onto my hungry lips to taste her honeypot again. Sweeping my tongue along her slit as I sought out that hidden little pleasure button of her clit while my hands grasped her ass. Reveling in all that my very vocal old friend was trying to say. I became aware that Fred was moving slowly into this fog as he moved my legs apart then up. Gradually he was moving into me, fucking my wet cunt; soon, I discovered sensations I had never known. Just let it be, let it happen, and surrender to the tide. I never knew I could have multiple climaxes. Discovering that was a fantastic experience. That was the start of my trusting myself and others around me. Maybe, I was a bitch after all and needed to open myself and trust.

After this, and being told that I was to share their bed from that moment on. An amazing thing began to develop; my drawings began to be less formal and structured. I had been rightfully criticized in the past for not being fluid or loose in my pictures. Since the change in where I slept, my sketches had become much more open and fluid. Coincidence, maybe. For sure, the sex was the best I'd ever enjoyed.

Aunt Flo and Uncle Herman knew of my decision to leave Neil. But they certainly didn't understand what was going on in my world and in my head. I was having a hard time coming to grips with the new me, so how could I explain what I was feeling to them?

Thankfully Sally became my anchor; she would call every few days if nothing more than to say hello at first. Gradually she led me into the details of my new life as a grad student. I came to see that I was going to accomplish the things that she had only dreamed of. As our relationship became more profound, it was more than just a mentor or guide. Somehow we became almost like mother and daughter. We both came from the same place. Sally's knowledge and life experiences allowed her to see the road ahead for me. I so greatly appreciated her gentle guiding hand as she pushed me along. As well as the occasional well-needed swift kicks in the ass too. One of Sally's well-placed ass kicks was when she told me that I would do the master's in education as well, if not the doctorate. All I could say was, yes, ma'am.

It turned out that Sally and Neil had a running conversation about what was going on with me. No, she didn't know all the details and changes in my life. Then again, she didn't need to know either. In some ways, the living arrangement, while nice, left me with a feeling of not exactly sure what. But, I didn't feel complete. I guess the word was uneasy. My two guardian angles, which is how I came to see Sally and Niel, put their heads together and came up with a plan to get me set up for school. They found a small furnished studio apartment just off campus that was perfect. So thankfully, I wouldn't have to live in the dorms, which had been my original plan. As if that wasn't enough, they also open an account for me at the art supply store I had been in that had everything I could dream of and lots more. And, they had gotten a car too. Damm, I set to run the tables.

When September came around, and I got started, I never felt more on my game than at that moment.

Neil -

Wednesday night, when I got back from New York and found Kat's note. I was in a fog. I did not understand why she left. We loved and supported each other, or so I thought.

Thursday morning, I called the office and talked with my partner to bring him up to speed on what had happened here and the trip to New York. Fred was very understanding and supportive. His only advice was to take the time you need to decide what's next. Next was a hard call; I spoke to Cathy and Carl, telling them that everything was off. Sandy called in the middle of all this; yes, she knew that Kat had left. The two of them had several conversations, and she was witness to Kat's unwinding. Yes, she was happy for Kat's going to school in the fall and the scholarship. Kat certainly was deserving of that. Sandy hoped that Kat would pursue dual degrees, both the MFA and a graduate degree in education at the same time. Her thinking was that if Kat didn't do both degrees now, she wouldn't do the education degree in the future. Sandy became more than a mentor for Kat to what could be in the future; Sandy became her guide. The driver for Sandy was to get Kat to utilize her full potential as she recognized early on that Kat could move into leadership positions in art education. Next, I called Raul and asked him to come by the condo in the morning to pick up the ring and disassemble it. Then Ru and I went on one of our famous ten-mile walks along the lakefront.

Our ramblings along the lakefront were great times to sort things out. To stop and look out into the future and make plans for what would be the next steps. And hell, Ru loved to get out and walk as much as I did. While we were out, we would have fantastic conversations talking about whatever was out on the horizon. When we got home, the world was a better place, and I had a vision of what was next.

After Ru and I walked back into the house, I fired up the coffee pot again, and Ru went off to his spot, a large cedar bed in the corner of the living room where he could keep a watch on the world around him. After the coffee ran, I settled back down in my old chair with a cup. The second I sat down, Ru has beside me, demanding my attention. Chuckling as Ru nudged my hand, something things never change, old boy. I reached out to Fred again and explained that I wanted to step back as I had initially planned to do for the immediate future. I would, as I had planned to continue with my key clients even though I wasn't in the office daily. Then I got the bus ready to ride out. My first objective was to go to Lubec, Maine. Lubec, where the sun was first seen each day in the US. Somehow, seeing that sunrise there was essential to me. The start of a new day and new life.

With that as an objective, Ru and I headed out together. I wanted to get to western Massachusetts and the Berkshire Mts. as quickly as possible and pass through the areas that Kat and I had visited. Western Massachusetts is still heavily forested and offers many small roads to go along, which we did. Eventually, we went up to Vermont and then slipped into New Hamshire. We spent those late summer days wandering along in no great rush, generally heading eastward towards the goal of Lubec.

I suppose Lubec's biggest claim to fame is it doesn't have a traffic light. At one time, the town was a fishing village, but now it was mostly a tourist destination that looked out toward the Bay of Fundy and the massive tidal flows. The two of us spent the night in the state park looking out towards the bay, at the lighthouse base that guarded the shore. All night the bell in the lighthouse tolled its warning to fishermen and others. The sunrise there was spectacular; it was everything I dreamed of.

Next, we turned the bus toward Baxter State Park, which is the home of Mt. Katahdin and the northern end of the Appalachian Trail (AT). The trail runs the length of the Appalachian mountains and ends some 2,200 miles later Springer Mt. GA. For sure, I was not about to consider hiking the AT from one end to the other. These old knees would not support the dream of being someone who hiked the whole trail and claimed the title of being through trekker. Through trekkers are a breed unto themselves, they can claim, rightfully, they own the AT.

I parked the camper in the parking lot there at the foot of the mountain late in the afternoon; Ru and I spent the night here. In the morning, we putzed around, not really doing anything. Noon found us on top of Katahdin. I kept telling Ru that we had summitted a mountain. The two of us were involved in a serious conversation when a woman walked up the trail and dropped her backpack, then screamed, "I did IT!!!" At this instant, Ru broke away from me and ran to the woman with his madly wagging his tail as he barked his congratulations. He sat down at her feet and offered his paw to shake. The gal leaned over and took his paw, and began petting his head. "Don't do that!" I called out, "that dog is a horrible flirt. He sees a nice lady, and he wants to be her new best friend."

"I just finished hiking the entire trail. Mister, let me tell you, your dog is a lot nicer than many of the folks that wanted to flirt with me out there."

"Now I can claim the title of 'through trekker!' Yeah ME! The next thing is getting back to Boston. I suppose I can camp out here for a day or two until someone can get here and pick me up."

"First of all, congratulations, hiking the AT was always a distant dream of mine. I know that walking up here to the top of Katahdin is about as close as I will ever get to becoming a through trekker. Anyway, I'm heading towards Boston, I have a camper, and you are more than welcome to ride along if you like."

"Tell you what; I'll take you up on your offer of a ride if you have a shower in that camper. Out on the trail, showers are few and far between. If you're lucky, you can find a stream to rinse off in now and then."

"Young lady, I can offer you a hot shower, in fact. And I can toss in a hot meal too, does that work for you?"

"Mister, you are a lifesaver, and your little puppy here is way too cute." With that, we headed down the mountain, with Ru gleefully leading the way. "My God, mister, that thing isn't a camper. It's bigger than a damm bus."

"Well? Yeah, it's outfitted for me to live in it by myself full time on the road for as long as I want to. The shower is to the back, just past the galley. Oh, by the way, if you open the pocket door next to the shower, you'll find a washer and dryer there."

"Well, alrighty then. I'll be back in a few. OH! I'm Amy Taylor."

"Hi, Amy, I'm Neil Terrell, and my wingman here is Rufus, but all his friends just call him Ru."

Fifteen minutes later, Amy reappeared, exclaiming, "OH MY GOD, that was the best shower ever. Wait, and you cook too?"

"Yes, actually cooking is a hobby of mine. I've taken classes at one or another school for the fun of it. I have a corned beef hash which is rather filling, which I guess you'd appreciate. How would you like your eggs? Overeasy work for you?" That question was greeted with a very appreciative nod and a smile.

Ru! Home! You know better than to dance under people's feet trying to steal a bite of whatever they have. Go on, you mooch! Home! With that, he headed toward the front of the bus and slipped onto his cedar bed there. All the while, he whined so pitifully.

"That's an amazing dog you have there."

"Well, for sure, he is a funny pup. I'm an attorney, kind of semi-retired now, but I still have three clients I work with regularly. In the course of my practice, I managed to upset a few apple carts. Some of these individuals didn't like having their apple carts dumped on the street, as they lost a large income stream. The word got back that these individuals might send a few of their friends to converse with me to get me to see the error of my ways. Well, Ru is a Malinois. He is very personable with those he sees as his family. By the way, Amy, he seems to have decided you're family. Still, he is very protective of his family too. He's my minder; for sure, he beats the hell out of having a bodyguard. In the distant past, I have had threats made against me, and for the most part, nothing ever came of them. I've had people want to talk with me that I really didn't want to talk with; Ru convinced them to leave. So Ru will be around for the foreseeable future."

"I can see that. I suspect Ru could make a very compelling argument for someone to leave. After Boston, where are you headed next?"

"Well, my plan is to wander about without any agenda or schedule. How big a rush are you in to get back to Boston? Seems to me you have a real reason to celebrate, finishing your walk in the woods, if you will."

"Neil, unfortunately for me, there will be no big parties in Boston to toast my accomplishment. I went on this walk in the woods after I torched a lot of bridges there."

"Amy, an old friend of mine told me about a place that is supposed to have the best lobster going on the Maine coast. It's in a fishing village. The restaurant is located next to the pier where the lobster boats go out. They claim that the lobster on your plate tonight slept in the ocean last night. Would you like to try it?"

"Neil, I was born and raised in Boston. Lobster runs in my blood. Fresh lobster? Hell yes! Let's go, now!"

"Done deal. But first, need to feed and water Betsy here. Otherwise, she'll get real cranky. And to be honest, I don't picture trying to push her down the road. So let's feed her first. Have you ever been to a large truck stop? It's a whole different world. Getting everything done, diesel, propane, filling the water tanks, emptying out waste tanks, and a flush takes a few hours. So my thought was to get dinner there and spend the night in the yard at the truck stop. Then in the morning, head out for the coast."

In the morning, after coffee and letting Ru go out and run around for a few, we began heading toward the coast. Going along US 1. We had been on the road for an hour or two and decided that we needed to find someplace for lunch. It looked like every town we passed through had at least one place that advertised lobster rolls, which sounded like a most excellent idea for lunch. Lobster for lunch and then again for dinner. Yes, this is precisely what is needed. In the late afternoon, we finally found the place my friend suggested. The setting was ideal. There was a patio covered in crushed clamshells. Scattered around the area were wooden picnic tables that looked out towards the pier where the lobster boats tied up. At the base of the dock was a shed that processed and packed lobsters for shipment. On the side of the packing shed was a lean-to where they steamed lobsters, clams and corn. To make things perfect, they had on tap icy cold beer. The beer mugs were so cold the outside frosted over; life is good. The only thing on the menu here was a shore dinner; your choice was one or two lobsters? Needless to say, we had to have two lobsters, each. After we finished our dinner, we both leaned back and smiled. Yeah, those lobsters were precisely what we needed, but now we wanted just a little something to finish dinner with. Something like, but of course, another lobster! And another cold beer too. When we finally finished that off and sat there groaning, Ru looked up from where he camped out as if to say. You two deserve to be in pain.