Ann: A Love Story Ch. 45

Alfred had been standing to the side, listening to the three of us. It was part of his quiet, humble nature. But just the mention of Sarah, even for a moment, had him smiling. "You taught Sarah more than you think, Billie. I've said many times that she and Ann are really sisters. And you know as well as I do that she had her fun before she got sick."

Billie nodded, and looked at Ann, then she hugged her again. "Thank you so much for coming into our lives, sweetheart. Whatever I did for you, I want you to know you did so much more for me."

"I love you, Em," Ann said, tearing up. Reaching over, she pulled Alfred into the hug, and said, "I love you too, Pops."

"We love you, Anna," they said in perfect unison...just as you'd expect an amazing couple that had been married for years would do.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The streets of the town Ann lived in were quiet. More quiet than I expected. I was used to my little town folding up the sidewalks and turning off the lights earlier than the rest of America. But I was genuinely surprised that I got the same feeling in California. Sure, it was well past midnight. Actually, it was almost one in the morning. But it still seemed strange. I figured California stayed open all night as a rule. Yet, other than passing two police cruisers, which seemed to go with Ann's assessment of how safe the town was, I hadn't seen another car on out on the roads we traveled.

I was driving slowly, making sure I didn't do anything to attract the attention of one of the officers out protecting and serving. And I had to admit, I felt safer knowing they were out patrolling. They were just doing their job, and doing it dutifully. I just didn't want them doing it to me.

I was driving, because Ann was in no shape to. She wasn't drunk. I don't think that she had more than two beers, just like me. She was just emotionally spent. She'd said goodbye to what turned out to be close to a hundred people, all of them gathering on a weeknight just for her. Sure, they had also come to meet me, wanting to get to know the guy that was taking Ann away from them. But there was no doubt the real reason was to wish Ann good luck, and to say goodbye.

And those good-byes were long, and emotional. Being a friend to Ann was something that was obviously precious to her. She gave a bit of herself to everyone, and having that many people come up as they left and tearfully tell you how much you're going to be missed had to take a toll. Ann persevered, keeping a smile on her face, and that special, magical laugh of hers at the ready...making others light up when they realized how happy she was. Ann was letting each one of them know as they left the restaurant that she had made the right decision, and that we were going to have a strong, loving, lasting marriage.

Not to mention a sexually charged one. Almost every woman that left the room held up the parting gift they'd received earlier...the 'Antonio' model dildo that Ann had personally endorsed at The Leather Door. Not only did the people at the shower get them...Missy had a basket of them, and was handing them out to those who couldn't make the first party, just like she had with Gloria.

Still, it was a little odd whenever one of the women that had been at the shower would stare at my crotch when they said goodbye to me, usually with a wistful smile on there faces. I held my composure and told those that I caught staring that I hoped they enjoyed the show. Some of them blushed, while others smiled and nodded. One even licked her lips. I suppose I could have been self conscious about it, but I actually got to the point where I was disappointed if the DIDN'T look. It helped pass the time, since it was taking so long for people to tell Ann goodbye.

I was amazed at how patient Ann's friends were. After all, it was a Monday night. Most of them had to work the next morning. And yet, there were times some people in line waited ten minutes to say goodbye to her. But they stayed, and said goodbye...never making a comment, or acting like it was an inconvenience.

I don't know when we'd started, but it did surprise me when I turned and realized that the person that had just said goodbye to Ann was the last one in the line. The room was empty, just Ann and me left, along with Gloria, who was waiting to clean up the room. Ann hugged her tightly, and they exchanged a teary moment filled with hushed words.

Just as sudden, Ann took my hand. "It's time to leave," she said smiling at me. I waved to Gloria, and we were out the door, walking into the cool, dark night. Ann handed me the keys and I knew what she wanted. I opened her door, helping her inside.

We drove in silence for at least five minutes. After all the trips I had made through town during the day, I knew where I was going, even in the dark. So it wasn't like Ann had to guide me to get us home. I was reading her body language as she vacantly stared through the windshield, and decided it was best to keep quiet. I didn't think Ann wanted to talk. After all the talking she'd done over the last few hours, I was thinking it was quite possible that for the first time in her life, she might be all talked out.

I saw Ann's eyes blink a couple of times, and she appeared to rouse from the trance-like state she'd been in since I'd pulled out of the parking lot. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she exhaled as she opened them.

"That was harder than I thought it was going to be," she said quietly.

I nodded and said, "I know it was, babe."

Ann turned and grinned at me. "You can do better than that, baby."

"I'm sorry? Better than what?"

"I tell you it was hard, and all you can say is 'I know'. You can do better than that. You're not even trying," she said with a smile.

I was a little confused. Her words didn't match the expression on her face. My eyes told me she wasn't pissed, and yet my ears heard a different story. One of them was wrong, and I wasn't going to go down the worse path only to crash and burn, so I took the safer of the two and followed my ears. "I'm sorry, Ann. I'm just trying to be supportive. I know this..."

Ann grinned. It was a sexy, almost naughty grin, and it made me stop in mid sentence. "Neil, I love you. And I know you're supporting me...which makes me love you even more. But I'm really at peace with this. Tonight was sad in some ways, and I'm going to really miss my friends...more than I probably care to admit right now. But I know in my heart that we're doing the right thing. And the biggest reason that I know that is that I'm in the car with you.

"What does that mean?" I asked, still confused.

"As sad I was when we left, its five minutes later, I'm alone with you...and I couldn't be happier. Or hornier. Now...what does that tell you?"

"That I...can do better?" I asked, bewildered by my own question.

"That's right!" she said.

"And what exactly am I right about?"

"Everything. You always are. And in this case, it all comes back to how I'm feeling. So, how am I feeling?"

"You couldn't be happier," I said, still grasping at straws.

"Exactly. Why?"

"Because you're horny."

"Uh huh...and why is that?"

I smiled, thinking I had an idea of where she was heading. "Because you're in the car with me, and you're in love with me."

"Right again. So, knowing all of that, let me try this one more time, and see if you can do better. We've just left the restaurant. I've sat staring out the window, thinking about everything that I've just been through the last three hours. Particularly the last hour, saying goodbye to all my friends. I've come to grips with that, and I see you sitting next to me, knowing you care about me so much that you don't want to say anything until I do, because you don't want to hurt my feelings. But I've moved on. I'm okay. And now we're here. So I say again, THAT was harder than I thought it was going to be.

I smiled knowing Ann needed me to help her move past that 'hard' moment. She needed me to help her heal past that moment. No matter how much she said she had come to grips with it, it really couldn't have been that easy. Hell, it was hard for ME. If Ann was looking for me to help her heal, then I also knew how she needed me to do it. She needed me to be me.

"What do you expect when you kiss me after eating a hot pussy? Of course I was hard," I said, flirting with her.

Ann's smile lit up the inside of the car like a 100 watt bulb was in the ceiling light. She quickly unbuckled and leaned over, giving me a quick kiss. Sitting back in her seat, she was practically bobbing up and down. "God I love you, Neil!"

"I love you too, baby."

"I can't wait to get you home," Ann said, leaning against me.