The traffic wasn’t heavy on the Interstate; it was still on the early side for heavy weekend traffic, although he knew from experience that it would have been worse earlier that morning. I-94, on the other hand, was busy everywhere and all the time, and he’d have to be more careful about checking the mirror to make sure that Sharon stayed in contact with him. With her safely behind him, he relaxed a little bit, and again let his mind drift to his real concern.

The highway swept northward, mostly through farmland and woods, with the occasional lake in view from the highway. It’s nothing like Colorado, he thought as he steered the little car. I-25 north from Fort Collins was a pair of streaks through rolling, treeless plains, brown and barren, though on most days with a huge dome of brilliant blue sky overhead. Southward it was a little greener, a little more settled, although it soon ran into the cloud of smog from Denver that ruined the wonderful view of sky and mountains. He wondered how Sharon would like Colorado. From what he’d gotten from her in the few hours since they’d re-met for the first time in two decades, she’d spent little if any time in the far west; most of the places she’d lived had been somewhere in the east, not counting Europe and Asia. She was certainly a more experienced traveler than he was, and had seen sights all over the world that he probably would never see, unless she was to be with him.

When he stopped to think about it, that might not be such a bad idea. He wasn’t adverse to the idea of doing some traveling outside of his regular haunts and work trips; although he’d been in the Middle East, it had been under war conditions, and most of what he’d seen had been a lot of uninteresting desert. He’d been reluctant to travel by himself; having someone to share the trip with seemed like it would be a lot more interesting. Maybe if the living together idea didn’t work out he and Sharon could get together sometime for a couple weeks vacation somewhere. Where? No idea. He hadn’t thought about it at all, but he had little doubt that she could think of places.

That was an idea that had some potential, he thought. That would preserve his privacy and solitude most of the time, but would still have the benefits of having a friend. A friend with benefits, too; he’d never had a night like the previous one, ever, and it seemed like they might have an even better time today, what with not having to wait until late until they got started. They could be more relaxed, less rushed, and could get in some quality loving. In fact, he still had the option of taking off a few days starting tomorrow, and she wasn’t doing anything, so this might be the perfect chance to try something like that. Again, he had no idea of what that might be, but suspected that she would be able to come up with likely several suggestions on short notice if he mentioned it.

On thinking over what she’d said back there at the Chicago, he realized that she’d sounded a bit more open to the idea of coming out to Colorado than she’d been earlier, so it seemed likely that she’d been thinking about it as much as he had. She still obviously had some reservations, but it might be something they could work out when they finally got to talk it over. The Chicago hadn’t been the place to talk about it, especially not with their classmates at the same table, but it seemed that some progress had been made, even if he wasn’t sure what it was.

What if she said yes? What if he’d acquired a housemate, a bedmate? Hell, even remembering her reminding him of their twenty-year-old teasing promises the night before, a wife? Having a fling with her – or anyone else for that matter, not that he’d ever had one that didn’t involve a professional – was one thing, but to be together more or less permanently was something very different. Mental note, Bob: before tying the knot, prenuptial agreement, period. Not that he had all that much to protect, per se, but if there were something going on that he didn’t understand, it was just as well that he was protected. And, face facts: as much as he liked Sharon, the Sharon of twenty years before and what he’d come to understand the Sharon of the last twenty hours – no, less than that, more like sixteen hours – she was still an unknown quantity. A quantity with the known capacity to drive at least some people right straight up the wall. He didn’t think that would happen to him but there was no way of telling, not on the intense but very limited experience of her that he’d had since last evening.

She did run off at the mouth. In fact, she ran off at the mouth a lot, sometimes saying something at a low efficiency rate, sometimes succinct, sometimes just filling dead air with sound. She always had, as long as he had known her; with all the changes in their classmates, some things stayed the same and this appeared to be one of them. He knew that personality trait turned off a lot of people; he’d seen it happen among classmates, although most people had tolerated it last night. To a degree, he welcomed it; she had not lost whatever exuberant quality it was that made him feel good with her nearly constant patter. It had been refreshing to hear it last night and he realized now that he had missed it for many years.

Bob knew very well that he had a tendency to be depressive. It never got him down bad enough to where he was unable to function, but he’d spent many low hours in his life, and at times had turned to pills to bring things back onto an even keel. He hated using them but at least he realized that there were times they were needed. It was possible that loneliness was one of those things that drew him down occasionally; it was one thing to like to be alone but another to be lonely, not to have someone to share things in his life with. He’d never put a great deal of effort into finding someone to fill that hole in his life simply because most of the time it wasn’t an issue. There had been some times that he’d flown to Las Vegas and driven out to Pahrump or Antelope Valley to get a woman for the night, to spend much of the night just sitting back and shooting the bull, with sex a very secondary part of the experience. In talking with the girls, he was under the impression that he wasn’t the only guy to have been willing to pay for a night’s companionship mainly for the sake of the companionship. It may have been an expensive and desperate measure but there had been times it had filled a very serious need.

But then again, that raised the issue: a night of filling in a moderately desperate need was not the same thing as an ongoing, day-after-day thing. It was as bad to overdo things one way as it was the other. With that thought in mind, it was clear to him that any arrangement he might wind up making with Sharon would have to leave a sufficient personal space for both of them. They would need options for them to go their separate ways and be out of each other’s hair from time to time.

Those thoughts, and re-examining them from different angles kept him going all the way up to the I-94 interchange and well to the east of it, from time to time checking his mirror to make sure that Sharon was still in sight. From all of it, he’d been able to turn up a few issues of his own that at least needed to be mentioned to her, if not worked out in detail. This clearly was not going to be merely a case of “we like each other, let’s live together and work out the issues,” although if they decided to do it there would obviously be unforeseen problems to be worked out. It sure would be nice to be confident of the ability to overcome problems, he thought. On the other hand, time and again he’d seen people come to that decision and not be able to work things out in the long run, so if they failed they would hardly be the first.

In time it started to become frustrating to just sit there and re-examine to death the already examined. Right at the moment he wished she were in the car with him, if for no more reason than they could talk about things rather than try to think up more that they needed to talk about. By the time they passed Ann Arbor and got close to the airport he was thoroughly sick of being alone in the car, which was unusual for him since he enjoyed driving by himself and having time to think about things without serious interruption that a companion usually gave him.

In time they came over the hill overlooking the airport and out onto the long flat of the last couple miles before the turnoff. The highway was four lanes wide in each direction now, and even on Sunday the traffic was heavy. He got over into the right lane and saw that she’d also done so, then dropped out of the cruise control and made the turn off onto Merriman Road, which ran up to the airport. He glanced into the rear view mirror once again to make sure that she was still behind him, and drove the short distance to the rental car drop-off.

It was only the matter of a couple minutes to actually drop off the car, and hardly more to get his bag and a few loose things from the car into Sharon’s. As he’d been turning in the car, he noticed her scurrying around the car, making room for him and his luggage. He was very surprised to see her take a large and realistic looking, tan stuffed dog from the right front seat and put it in the back of the car – even fastening the seat belt around it. It was so strange he couldn’t help but wonder what it was all about.

“What’s with the toy dog?” he asked as he walked over to her car, carrying his things.

“Oh, you saw my doggie Ralph, did you?” she smiled. “Ralph rides with me most places I go. It’s sometimes hard for a woman to drive around by herself and feel safe, and he at least makes some people think that I’m not as easy a target as they might think. Besides, I like to have someone to talk to, and at least if I have Ralph with me I don’t have to think that I’m talking to myself. Ralph and I talked about a lot of things on the way over here, and yes, whether we wanted to go to Colorado was one of them.”

“So did you make up your mind?” he asked.

“Well, not all the way,” she said. “I’m certainly leaning toward it, but there are some things we need to talk about. Ralph and I spent most of the trip up here trying to make some sense out of them.”

“Ralph is a good listener, I take it?”

“Better than you are. He doesn’t interrupt my train of thought, for one thing,” she smiled at him. “Let’s not talk about it right now, either. The traffic out there is idiotic. I thought Buffalo drivers were stupid and arrogant, but this is not one bit better. Not one bit. I suppose it helps if you know where you’re going but it’s been years since I’ve flown out of Metro. Now, where is this motel we’re going to?”

“Easy as pie to get to,” he told her. “Get back out on the main drag, heading north. Go under the freeway, past the westbound on-ramp, and take the next right. It’s the second motel on the right.”

“And not too soon,” she sighed as she put the car into gear. “I’m tired and I have a first class headache. I want some more aspirin, and I want to lie down for a while whether I sleep or not. And that doesn’t mean have sex to kill time, either, I need some down time.”

“I can do that,” he said. “In fact, I feel pretty much the same way. Like it or not Sharon, last evening went late, the night was short, and we were under power early. Neither of us are as young as we used to be and it’s only going to get worse.”

“I suppose you’re right even though I don’t like it very much,” she sighed as she pulled back out into the heavy traffic.

Fortunately, it was a short drive to the motel. Bob went inside and came back out with a cart for their bags. It took a minute to load, and then Sharon parked the car, locked it, and came inside to join him while he filled out the registration paperwork and paid for the room. “Second floor on the courtyard,” he told her as she walked in the door. “That’s about as quiet as we’re going to get tonight.”

He dragged the cart with their luggage over to a nearby elevator, which was standing open for them. “Hey, I didn’t think to ask,” he said, “But did you bring a swimsuit with you? There’s a pool and hot tub here. I don’t know about the pool, but the hot tub would probably feel pretty good on those aches and pains. Maybe even better than a nap.”

“I didn’t think to,” she replied. “I don’t swim very well and thought I’d be fairly close on time, so I didn’t bother. Now you’ve got me wishing I had. Even the thought of a hot tub sounds good to me.”

“I suppose we could do something about it,” he said. “I think there’s some kind of a big box store not far from here, K-Mart or Wally World or something. We could ask at the desk.”

“Let’s at least get our luggage to the room first,” she suggested. “Then we can go down, drop off the cart, and ask before we get too casual and then have to get dressed up to go out again. As long as we’re going shopping, I think there’s some things I’d like to get. I’ll be honest, Bob. As much as I enjoyed last night, I wasn’t really looking forward to another night like last night without some quality lube. I’m sore enough that it’s something I just about have to have.”

That sounded promising to Bob – she was apparently looking forward to another bout about as much as he was, but with some of the same reservations. “I think some good muscular deep heating rub would be worth the effort, too,” he suggested. “I know I could stand some of it, whether it smells or not.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me, too,” she sighed as they got to their room. He used the key card, and miracle of miracles, unlocked the door on the first try – something that rarely happened for him. He opened the door and held it for her. She walked into the room, and he dragged the cart into the room behind her.

He hadn’t stayed in this particular room before but it was not unlike others at this motel. The view was the rooms on the far side of the courtyard, which was fine with him as it kept the noise from the jets down when they were going overhead. Since that was exactly what they were doing, anything that would deaden the sound would be welcome. “Not bad,” he said, unloading the bags from the cart onto the dresser.

“Better than last night,” she smirked. “And at least we can be reasonably sure there isn’t someone we know in the next room. Before we go shopping, I need to go potty again. That coffee from earlier is making its effects felt.”

“You first, since you mentioned it first,” he replied. “I’ve got the same issue.”

While she was in the bathroom, he opened his suitcase and pulled out the dirty laundry he’d stuffed in it a few hours before down in Bradford. There really wasn’t much left that was clean, and he made a mental note that as long as they were going shopping he was at least going to get a couple clean polo shirts, just so he’d have something different to wear. He was standing there thinking about whether to buy some clean underwear when he heard another enormous fart from the bathroom, despite the walls being thick and the door being closed. That had to have built up some pressure, he thought. No wonder she’d seemed just a little crabby compared to earlier. I sure hope she feels better now.

She came out a couple minutes later. “Your turn,” she said, and then added sheepishly, “I hope that wasn’t too loud.”

“Did everything come out all right?” he snickered.

“No,” she sighed. “Did you ever hear the phrase, ‘Here I sit, broken hearted, had to shit, only farted.”

“I didn’t know you used men’s rest rooms,” he laughed. “You don’t have Eve’s excuse.”

“It shows up on the walls in women’s stalls, too,” she giggled. “I think I’m going to have to add an enema to my shopping list, or else we’re definitely going to have to scratch butt fucking off our lists tonight.”

“Not a priority for me,” he shrugged. “Not that I’d turn it down, but I’d rather not have you cramping up from it.” He let out a snicker, and added. “A girl at the Redlite Ranch told me one time that the most agony she’d ever been in was one time when she was trying to keep from farting while some guy was going down on her.”

“That would cut into her tip, I’ll bet,” she laughed. “Bob, I’m just glad I didn’t gross you out with that.”

“Not in the slightest,” he said. “I’ll let you in on a secret. I’m a man, and therefore been known to fart a time or two myself.”

“Uhhh, yeah, I believe it,” she giggled. “Let’s go shopping, then come back so I can give nature a nudge. Then, I want to get in that hot tub.”

They headed back out into the hall, pushing the cart and locking the door behind them. The clerk at the counter gave them directions to a nearby store, and in a couple minutes they were out on the street again.

Fortunately the store was not far and not busy, so they could get a good parking spot close in. Right up near the front of the store was a rack of women’s swimsuits, marked down on an end of season clearance. “Wow, at these prices I ought to get two,” she said.

“Go ahead,” he smiled. “I’m buying.”

“Well, if you’re buying, then I’ll let you have a say in picking them out. Try to choose something that won’t get me arrested, will you?”

“Hey, in this store, I think we can manage that. But if you like me buying swimsuits for you I’ll have to get you one sometime where getting arrested is a risk.”

“Lecher.”

“So sue me. I’m a man, it goes with the territory.”

“I suppose,” she grinned, turning to the rack of swimsuits.

In the matter of a few minutes, but with much teasing, they’d selected two: one a string bikini with the bottom tie sides in orange, blue, and white print, the other about as tiny but with an elastic hip strap, in a bright red. “Which one do you like better?”

“Hard to say until you have it on, or off, as the case may be,” he laughed. “But I think either of them ought to look pretty good on you.”

“I think so too,” she said. “I don’t really need two, but at this price, why not? Besides, we may want to use the hot tub this afternoon and again this evening.”

“If it’s going to be evening wear, maybe you need one in black, too,” he teased.

“Just for that, and since you’re buying, I think I’ll throw in that black one I was looking at earlier,” she giggled.

“Do it,” he said. “The only price I’m asking is that I get to see you in them.”

“I think we can manage that,” she snickered again. “We better get out of here before you buy the whole rack.”

They continued their shopping trip, buying a cheap swimwear cover up along with the other items they’d mentioned earlier. He picked out a couple of solid color polo shirts that seemed like they could be halfway dressy but casual; they couldn’t be any worse than the second-day dress shirt he was still wearing from the morning.

It didn’t take them long to get back to the motel and up to the room. “OK, your choice, nap or hot tub,” he said once he set down the bags from their shopping trip.

“I still want a nap,” she said, a touch of exhaustion in her voice. “But I think I need the relaxation from the hot tub to be able to get some sleep.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” he agreed. “We can either stand here and talk about it, or we can just go ahead and do it.”

“Which of these obscenely tiny bikinis would you like me to wear?” she smiled.

“I don’t care,” he said. “Whichever one you get the tags off of first, I guess.”

“Well, there’s the red one, and you know how I am about red.” She dug in the bags, pulled out the small pieces of cloth and started removing several tags from the suit.

It would have been a great opportunity to be sensual but both of them agreed that they really weren’t in the mood just now. It was only the matter of a couple minutes for her to pull off her dress and underwear. “Actually,” she said. “As long as I’m stripped for action, I think I’ll head for the bathroom and give nature a nudge. It is getting to be an issue.”

“What can I say but ‘enjoy yourself?’”

“I don’t necessarily enjoy the act but do like how I feel after it’s over,” she said, picking up the bag with the enema and heading for the bathroom.

He heard the door close, and presently he heard what sounded like a moan, a scream, and another one of those enormous, noisy farts, followed by another moan. As far as he could tell, that sounded like a successful mission. While he was waiting for her to finish up, he managed to get out of the rest of his clothes and into a swimsuit he pulled from his bag.

He was sitting on the bed in the swimsuit contemplating a toenail trim when she emerged from the bathroom, nude as before. “Thank you for waiting, Bob,” she said. “I feel much better.”

“You’re telling me you’re not full of shit after all?”

“Not now,” she laughed. “Christ, I don’t know how I can let myself get constipated like that. I’ll go two or three days and really get to hurting and cranky. I know I’ve been a little cranky to you because of it. I’m sorry. Forgive me?”

“Of course,” he smiled at her. He hadn’t noticed her being particularly cranky, but if she said she had been, she had been. “If you wind up staying with me, maybe we’ll have to try to alleviate that a bit by working on some techniques for relaxation.”

“Relaxation?” she said, her tone reeking of suspicion, as she headed for where she’d been taking the tags off the red bikini earlier. “What sort of relaxation?”

“We’ll figure something out.”

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.