Page

Notes [Initially released November 21, 2015, last revised October 22, 2016]:

- All characters are the product of the authors' imaginations and are over eighteen.

- This is a relatively short story/vignette, and we recommend reading the previous chapter.

Thanks to Skye4Life for editing this.

Inside the House of Representatives, the vote goes as expected; it is just another item to add to the pile of disappointments following my depressing defeat in the polls. The House adjourns for the remainder of the year and I head home thinking of Page and my crazy dream, if it had been a dream. That Ambien had been messing with me over the last few days, which was part of why I hadn't taken any last night but I find myself wondering if the effects have somehow lingered.

I have a hundred questions running through my head about the changes in her. Where does a teenage girl come up with half a million dollars? Is the money legit? Why has she left home? What kind of trouble might she be in? What did she mean about missing me? And of course why am I obsessing about her, not just her trouble, but her and what I dreamt we'd done, which starts me worrying I'm some kind of deviant.

It is only about a quarter-after-three, when I get back to my flat. There is music coming from the family room as I open the front door. Inside, I close the door, hang my topcoat on the coat tree and head back to my room to take off my coat and tie. Passing by the hall, I note that the music isn't loud, but it simply wasn't anything I normally listen to, so I notice. It has a kind of dance club sound and no words, just a lot of thumping base.

In my room, I hang the suit jacket and tie back in my closet. Expecting we'll be going back out, I change the rest of my clothes to something more casual, jeans and an oxford button down. Then I open the bedroom door and start looking for Page. She isn't in the family room where the sound system is, but stopping outside my office door I hear some type of conversation. I pick up cryptic words that I initially think are private, so I start to walk passed and down the hall. She looks up for a moment, smiles, briefly waves me in, picks up the remote, clicks mute and continues typing.

She's sitting in my office at the desk where the keyboard for my computer has been moved aside. She is typing furiously on her laptop while talking calmly to her computer. It's not really typing, more like pounding keys repetitively. With the music silenced, the sounds of keys clicking is even more noticeable. When I get around to see the screen, there are graphics of some type of video game and numbers scrolling passed. The sounds coming from her computer aren't loud, but I can hear clanging and other sounds of battle. There's some kind of monster with what appears to be about fifteen to twenty characters attacking it. I couldn't remember the last time I'd played a video game; they certainly hadn't looked like this when I had. Her words becoming clearer to me, I infer that she is directing people, telling them what to do.

"Keep the healers up, we've just about got this. Avoid the spikes - three - two - one - NOW."

The monster starts wobbling and then falls on the floor inside some type of dungeon or cave. All of the characters begin jumping up and down on top or through it in celebration. Some purple items appear on the screen and Page appears to divvy them out.

"Good work guys, we'll pick up here tomorrow. We're all locked to the instance now."

With that she closes the lid to her laptop and jumps up to hug me.

She's really squeezing me tight. Last night's dream floods my mind and I try to shake the images. Her embrace has me staring at her ear and I look at all the shiny studs and dangling sparkly gems. She smells like heaven, the smoky aroma gone now, I presume she showered after I left. Long moments are passing by and I don't really know how long we've been embracing. I'm not keeping her from going, she's definitely the one still holding me.

When she finally releases me, she says, "I'm so glad you're home."

"Yeah, me too. So what was that?"

"It's just a game I play sometimes. Sorry about the noise Ry, I was just letting off a little steam."

"No, no, that's no problem, I was just curious. It looked pretty intense; that relaxes you?"

"Hmm - yeah, I guess it is a little - I enjoy the challenge and I guess the relaxation comes after." Then she adds giggling, "- kind of like sex."

Blushing at her joke, I can't help looking at her where she's backed away. When she'd stayed with me last year, I'd had a girlfriend, Natalie, who stayed here off and on, so I hadn't paid much attention. Now, however, my eyes were drinking her in, almost lustily. Her comment about relaxing after sex has pushed my mind right back into that vivid dream.

"I don't have dinner ready like I said I would but it isn't really time yet," she says, as she observes where I'm looking.

I turn away feeling guilty, "Hey, it's fine, you don't have to make my meals to stay here." I head to the liquor cabinet. "Also, I'm home earlier than I expected and we're recessed for the rest of the year."

"So you're free?"

"For now, I am; I've got to go back for a few days in January and then I'm done."

"What do you want me to make for dinner?" she persists.

"Maybe we should look into getting you some clothes," I say as I mix myself a gin and tonic. Turning back to her, she's following me into the hall. "You know those aren't really travel clothes," I say pointing at her outfit.

"Yeah, I know, but we're not talking about that, right?"

"Okay, what about the money? I don't really feel safe with you having that on you here; shouldn't you put it in a bank?"

"I've already taken care of that."

"Oh, uh - okay. Well, what can you tell me?"

"Look, Ryan. We're going to be okay. I'm fine, now that I'm here."

I can't stop looking at her. Try as I might, I keep imagining that little star in my mouth again. A flicker of a smile crosses her lips.

"Am I driving you to drink?"

I'm in mid-gulp and sputter at her words. "No, cough - um no. I've been being a little down."

She shrugged and says, "Well, I didn't eat lunch and I actually am a tad hungry."

"Okay, clothes shopping and then dinner?"

"Sounds good; I'll get my shoes."

As she disappears down the hall, her short skirt bouncing and wiggling, I'm suddenly craving a cigarette again. I start to reach up to take the pack down when I stop myself, set my half-finished drink on the counter and go wait for her by the front door, where I put on my mid-length leather jacket.

Finally, she's back with her black boots and long black socks. The vision of her risqué outfit is making me hard and I'm glad my coat comes down far enough to obscure it.

"Okay, let's go get you something warmer than these," I say as I hold her long coat open for her to put on.

I open the door for her and we step into the cold. Looking upward, I note that the previously mackerel sky has changed to heavy black looking clouds that seem to be threatening snow. I pull the door closed and Page heads directly to my car that's parked in front on the street. I click the unlock, we climb in and I start the engine.

"Is a Kohl's okay? There's one right down here on Kingstowne."

"Anything will be fine, Ryan."

My girlfriend used to shop there, but her taste was definitely not similar to Page's current fashion sense. Ummm taste, I really want to taste. Shaking the image, I pull out and head toward the mall; it's only a couple minutes away. When we arrive at the mall parking lot, we get out and snow is starting to flurry on us.

"Ohhh, it's going to snow!" she exclaims excitedly.

"The weather is calling for a dusting, but these clouds look pretty ominous. Let's get you some clothes."

Inside we find the petite section, since Page is probably 100 pounds soaking wet. Even if they don't have what Page wants, they'll at least have something that meets her needs. I observe her looking at clothing that just isn't winter appropriate and I try to ignore it as she picks out several items to try on. She goes inside the changing room with three outfits and reappears moments later to model the first one.

"What do you think?"

Why's she asking me?

The blouse is very tight with a plunging neck. The pants are Capris that hug her so tightly, that I think I can see her clit ring poking through. "Um - yeah, it's nice," I say, as I stare.

She frowns and heads back to change into the next one. When she reemerges this time, my eyes nearly bug out as this one is even more revealing. The shirt shows more cleavage and a little of her midriff, although the bellybutton ring isn't visible. The pants are ultra-low rise jeans that show off her bare hip bones. I'm getting the impression that she's trying to get a rise out of me.

As she hands me the previous set, she does a little spin and asks, "Well?"

"Those are good," I say.

That gets a little smile. She returns in the next outfit which is a distressed jean skirt that also showed her bare hips but was a little longer than the skirt she'd worn. The blouse is less revealing, but very much her style. Pleats along the sides force her breasts outward and even without the cleavage, it gives her a very sexy appearance.

"All three outfits look pretty good, Page, but I think you need to get a couple pair of regular length jeans and flannel shirts."

"Okay, Dad," she says teasingly, as she heads back to the changing room.

When she comes back she hands me the other two sets and I try another approach, "Look, I don't have anything to do for the next month, so we can do all kinds of stuff. I simply don't want you to freeze if we decide to go skiing or something over Christmas."

"Ooo, I've always wanted to ski." She prances off to pick out several pairs of jeans and some warmer shirts, although not flannel. A couple of minutes later she's back and says, "Okay, let's go."

"Let me see what you've got," I say, not understanding her hasty behavior.

"These'll be good. Don't you need some - uh - you know - um - undergarments?"

"Oh, yeah... Here, take these."

She hands me the entire stack and I head over to the checkout station to wait. The clerk starts ringing up the items, removing hangers and security devices. When she comes back she's got a hand full of bras, a couple of packages of panties and a bunch of socks which she piles onto the counter. The clerk hands me the first huge bag full of stuff and begins ringing up the remainder. I can't help but notice a bra and panty set that is extremely sexy as he scans it. I look over to see Page blushing back at me.

"Will you be putting this on your card today?" He asks me, as he hands over the second big bag.

"Yeah, lets - "

"No!" she interrupts. "How much is it?"

"$435.87."

"Here you go," she says, handing him four hundreds and a fifty.

"Here's your change. Ten, one, two, three, four and thirteen cents. You have a great evening and be careful in the snow."

I hadn't even been paying attention to the weather, Page's modeling had kept me distracted. When we get to the door we see what is more than an inch accumulated in the parking lot. There are several black tire tracks through the snow, but there are very few cars left. We head out into the still falling snow, I click unlock and open for the trunk. I place her items inside and close it.

"I know I said 'dinner', but maybe we should go home and eat across the street at the diner?"

"That'll be fine," she says.

"I had no idea we were going to get this much snow."

"It's nice, we don't get any in California. This reminds me of when I was nine..." she says cheerily.

Heading back to the flat we encounter several traffic issues and a big accident on Franconia, that causes me to change my route. I feel lucky to get back to the flat before the snow makes things too bad. I climb out of the seat, pop the trunk and gather one bag and start to get the other, when suddenly, Page is there grabbing the one with the undergarments. I close the trunk and head to the door with her following me. Inside, I carry the bag back to her room with her right on my heels.

"Okay, I'll be waiting," I say as I slide past her and she heads inside her room to change.

I head right back to the kitchen and finish my drink while I wait. The flirty behavior in the store was really making me anxious and that last part, when she'd insisted on paying cash was odd. I knew she had that pile of money, but for some reason, I'd thought I was getting her the clothes. Natalie hadn't ever bought anything the entire time we'd dated.

"Is this okay?" Page asks from directly behind me.

I'm a bit startled as I turn to find Page has changed very quickly and now has on a nice black turtle neck and those low rise Capris, her hips enticing me to look.

"Yeah, you know it's casual, we've eaten at the diner before."

It was nothing special but having it close made it easy on me when I didn't want to fix myself a dinner. Looking Page over, I can now see she's forgone a bra and feel a surge of lust as I realize I can see the outline of the star through the tight fabric.

I know she sees but she's taking my hand and saying, "Come on, I'm really hungry now."

"You going to let me buy dinner?" I ask putting her coat back on her.

"Yeah, that won't raise any flags."

We're out the door and walking down the street together. The snow is nearly two inches deep now. She's got my hand and we're about to cross at the intersection; I'm deep in thought and start to step into the street.

Page pulls me back. "Hold up dude!"

A car whips past sloshing slush up that nearly gets us. I admonish myself for not paying attention to my surroundings. Page's change in behavior and appearance are really doing a number on me.

"Thanks," I say, still contemplating the 'raise any flags' comment.

What kind of flags?

I wonder.

We cross the street together and go into the diner. It's pretty informal and they know me, so we go to a booth, remove our coats and seat ourselves.

"I've actually missed coming here," she says from across the Formica covered table.

"Yeah, it is pretty homey."

I'm still in a fog as I stare at her nipples poking through the tight black turtle neck. The diner is warm, but still they are hard and the star is drawing my eyes like a magnet. I try to look away, but keep coming back to rest there.

Who is this beautiful woman and what is exciting her so?

The waitress comes to take our order. We both order tea and Page gets her usual, a vegetarian dish; at least that hasn't changed. I order the special today, which is beef tips in gravy with mashed potatoes and turnip greens.

"Where are you Ryan?"

I look up from her breasts embarrassed. "I - hmm. I don't know. It's weird. Maybe I'm having a reaction to the Ambien I was taking."

Or maybe I'm lusting for that star,

I think to myself. "Why did you come here, Page? I know you missed me and I missed you too. But there's something else -"

"You make me feel safe and loved."

I think about that in silence, 'safe and loved' is something real, I suppose as I drink my tea to the bottom of my glass. Only the sound of the straw sucking air brings me back. Page is grinning at me, I think she's enjoying the effect she's having on me.

"You're terrible," I tell her, chuckling at my own silliness. "You ask all these questions of me and I'm left to guess about you. You aren't the same Page that was here a year ago, you know?"

"That's fair. I am different - life has changed me some and I've made some changes in response."

I was about to ask what kind of changes when our food was delivered. The aroma of the food reminds me I haven't eaten anything today and I dig in to mine. I'm still thinking about what she's said, but how do I coax out some more details without pissing her off? Page is eating much like she had last night, devouring the meal hungrily and seems to almost rush.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just hungry."

"Even your eating habits have changed?"

"I got busy today and forgot to eat," she says defensively.

"Hey, I'm just worrying about you."

We finish in silence, pay the bill and leave. Back outside, the night has settled in, the snow has stopped for now and we walk back in darkness interrupted by the occasional streetlight. Inside the flat, the pack of cigarettes is calling me, pulling me to them, but I restrain my desire. Page is looking at me from where she's taken a seat at the bar in the kitchen. It's only about 8:00 PM, so I fix a Scotch, to calm my anxiety and desire.

"Ry, what's with all the drinking?" she asks, putting her hand on mine as I join her at the counter.

"Two drinks isn't that much," I start defensively.

Her look tells me that's not true. "I don't even remember you having a single drink last year."

"That's true, I don't normally drink much, but I haven't been sleeping well. There's a bunch of stuff going on right now. Natalie and I broke up this summer, I lost that election and I've been feeling 'old'."

"You're only twenty-seven!"

"I know! It's silly, I've just been in a mood. I was taking Ambien until last night, because I don't sleep. And when I do, I have some really fucked up dreams. Anyway, I don't want to take any pills but want to sleep."

As I finish, she's beside me rubbing my face with her little hands. "Sounds like I got here just in time," she says, as she raises up on her toes to kiss my cheek.

I'm flustered and feel a buzz in my pocket. Reaching down to pull out my phone I realize it isn't there and it's that 'phantom buzz' I often had when I walked around without it.

Page sees the odd expression on my face and asks, "What's wrong?"

"My phone seems to have gone missing," I say looking around.

"Where'd you have it last?"

"Hmm, I think I had it at the mall," I say, as I head to the front door to check my jacket pocket. "It's not here either." I go to the office and look around, it isn't there. Picking up the cordless, I dial my number. "It went right to voice mail."

"Hmm, that doesn't sound good. Let's see if we can get it turned off," she says, as she opens her laptop.

It turns on almost instantly and she's opened some kind of old clunky command line looking window, she's typing furiously and then just says, "Done."

"Done?"

"Yeah, it was pinging, but moving so I assume it was stolen. I sent it commands to: wipe the data, report it stolen and disable."

"You did what?"

"Remember I had you put that app on it last year?"

"Oh, yeah. Thanks, I forgot," I say, as I remember how she'd insisted on having my phone right after I renewed my contract. "So, I guess it's gone then?" I'd been considering canceling my contract in January anyway.

"Well, they often turn up in foreign markets, but yeah, you probably won't see it again." Then she asks, "Do you really need it; you're off right?"

"I guess you're right, maybe I'll just call tomorrow and cancel my contract. I just look at my e-mails and stuff. It had all my personal information and contacts though."

"Most of that is on your PC or in the cloud right?"

"Yeah, it's just weird," I say. "Wow, I'm feeling really tired all of a sudden. I think I'm going to get a shower and go to bed."

"Okay, good night, Ry. I think I might be right behind you."

In my room I strip off, head into the restroom and am closing the door to the hall just as Page is heading to her room.

"Nice," she quips. Her hand covers her mouth as if in shock as she gives me a quick look over.

"Sorry," I offer, as I continue closing the door.

Behind the door, my cock is suddenly much harder. I wasn't entirely flaccid when she saw me moments ago, but now I'm rock hard. The door to her room is already closed but exhaustion must be making me do things out of order; that hadn't happened once when she'd stayed here last year.