Love Comes To Me

A few moments later, they ran out of hot water. Apparently, the back washing took longer than they realized.

He dried off and changed rather quickly. Once again, Julie spent some time walking around the room finding her clothes before she started to get dressed. Mike stared in spite of himself.

The day that followed was less dramatic than the ones before. The two spent time with his nephews and Kathy. They went grocery shopping for the family. In the afternoon, Mike took a nap on his couch. He was joined very shortly by Julie. They ended up falling asleep for an hour, tightly spooned.

That evening, they were lucky enough to spend some time with Tom as well and they ended it by watching a John Wayne movie that Mike and Kathy could quote from heart, but which Julie had never seen before.

When they went to bed, Mike felt closer to Julie than ever. Then as they snuggled, and his body reacted to her warm skin, he accidentally jabbed her in the hip with his erection.

Mike froze. He didn't know what the response was going to be, but he was concerned that it could be a flashback or something. Instead she rolled over so that she was facing him.

"Michael, will you allow me to take care of that for you?"

"Julie, no... I don't..."

"Michael, I am ready to do whatever you want whenever you want, but I know you are afraid that I'm not ready. But please, let me at least do this for you. I want to make you happy."

She continued, "I know it sounds strange, but it makes me uncomfortable to know that I can do something for you and you won't let me. Please?"

There were too many conflicting emotions for Mike. In the end, he decided that he could do no better than take her at face value. He wasn't aware of her having lied to him yet. So he said yes.

She moved down until her head by his hips. He had just expected her to use her hands, but instead he could feel her mouth.

Mike had received a few blowjobs in his past, although they were rare from his domineering girlfriends, but they had always been messy, unpleasant affairs that made him think the girl was acting out of a sense of duty. Julie was different. She was gentle and patient. In the end, he came more quickly than he would have expected, and more pleasantly than he ever had before.

She finished him inside her mouth, then cleaned him off and crawled back to the top of the bed. As a very sated Mike felt her against him again, he pulled her up and gave her a long kiss, before relaxing back and starting to drift off. Prior to falling asleep, though, Mike could feel the slow, warm breath on his neck that meant she was already gone.

Chapter 10

The next morning was the first since he rescued Julie that Mike woke up alone. It surprised him to find that he missed her presence so much.

Mike spent a little time exploring his feelings, something he rarely did, trying to get a grasp on the situation. The best explanation that he was able to find was by relating it to an incident that happened a little while before.

Kathy and Tom had taken a short two day vacation and left the twins with a very trusted friend who they were sure would be able to take care of them. Mike arrived back into town the first night and entered the house to a symphony of wailing. The twins, needless to say, were upset and not overly interested in being consoled.

In the end, Mike spent that evening, most of the night, and a good portion of the next day holding Tyler, who was clinging on to Mike as the only one capable of comforting him. The experience had been rewarding, even though the day after Mike's back had been in so much pain that he could barely sit up. (He lacked the training that parents acquire over time.)

The feeling of being so needed by someone had been surprisingly pleasant. Thinking back to it, Mike concluded that it gave a sense of fulfillment, and that it was even a bit comforting to himself as well.

Mike wondered if it was a similar set of feelings that were causing his surprisingly strong reaction to Julie's absence.

Either way, it was time to get up. Mike showered and dressed, then wandered out into the house to find some breakfast.

He found Kathy and Julie in the kitchen. Julie was making something on the stove, and as he entered she gave him an enthusiastic smile.

"I made you some breakfast, Michael!"

He smiled back and took a seat; Mike was still a little groggy.

A few minutes later, Julie put the omelet onto his plate. She was still smiling happily and he was enjoying just being around her. Mike placed his hand on hers where it sat on the counter and told her what he had been thinking that morning.

"Thank you for breakfast. I missed you when I woke up this morning."

He bent his head to take a bite of the omelet. When Mike raised his head, still smiling, he saw that Julie was standing, disconsolate, with tears in her eyes. She seemed to be struggling to speak.

Just at that moment, although neither noticed, Kathy snuck out of the room to leave them alone. Older sisters, like mothers, frequently know best.

Mike could not fathom what had caused Julie's sudden change of mood.

"Julie, what's wrong? Did I..."

That was as far as he got. Julie interrupted him with a rush of words.

"I'm so sorry, Michael... I didn't mean to disappoint you... I wanted to... I thought..." She hung her head, unable to finish the thought.

She was upset as he had seen her since their third day together. Mike knew he was missing something.

"Julie, I'm not disappointed." That word had to be key, he thought. "So tell me what's wrong."

"I wanted to do something nice for you. It's so terrible that I made you unhappy! I'm so sorry, Michael."

He squeezed her hand gently. Even though he was in over his depth, Mike needed to find a way to put Julie at ease.

"Julie, what you did was incredibly sweet and I don't deserve it. Please don't regret it, although you don't need to feel any obligation towards me like that... I think it was a good thing that I woke up alone, because it let me learn that I missed having you with me."

He continued, "Now, will you give me that smile again?"

Julie gave him a smile, albeit a weaker one than before.

He gave her another squeeze. "I'm bad at relationships. You'll need to be patient with me as I learn. Can you try to tell me what you're feeling? That would help me."

"Alright, Michael."

He handed her the fork. "Now have some of the omelet that my beautiful chef made for me."

She took it willingly from him, and started to eat.

*****

After breakfast, while the couple sat on the couch, Mike considered what he needed to be doing. He had almost two weeks until he was due in Seattle. Cutting out a few days to get settled, because he assumed that Julie would be coming with him, he still had nearly a week free.

If Julie would have been willing to ask to do anything, he would have happily spent the week doing that. However, everytime he tried to broach that question with her, Julie would simply turn it back on him to ask him what he wanted to do. If he offered recommendations, she agreed to them immediately and without question.

Looking down at his gut, which really wasn't big, to be fair, Mike decided immediately on what they should do.

"Julie, would you like to go to the gym?"

He could see her hesitate. This time, Mike knew what she was thinking. Was it possible he could be getting the hang of this, he thought?

"I will be going as well."

She gave a smile. "Alright, Michael."

"OK, we need to get you some workout clothes, don't we?"

*****

When they arrived at the sports store, Mike was preparing to spend the time looking at racquetball gear while she picked out her clothes and shoes. It was also possible that Mike had not yet gotten the hang of it.

She stopped him with a question before he could escape.

"What should I buy, Michael?"

Being somewhat less than expert in women's workout clothes, Mike did not have an answer.

"What do you like to wear when you workout?"

"I don't know."

They walked over to the women's section and he saw a head-spinning variety of choices. He would need to narrow it down.

"Well, do you like to show skin and get some air, or do you like to cover up when you workout?"

"Which would you prefer?"

"I would prefer that you be comfortable. Would you like to show skin?"

She appeared to think about it for a moment.

"I think I would like to cover up, but if you would like me to show skin, I would be happy..."

He stopped her there.

"That's good, we'll find something more modest for you. It's strange, I thought you might be an exhibitionist."

Julie gave him a shy smile. "I like it when you look at me."

That made him think.

"Would it make you happy to buy something that shows skin for when we work out in private?"

Her smile had grown. "Definitely, Michael."

They ended up buying her a few outfits, one of which was very daring, and two pairs of shoes. It all took far longer than Mike had anticipated.

*****

At the gym, they spent most of the time on side by side treadmills. Of course, someone as lovely as Julie was not likely to be left alone at the gym. He noticed several guys eying her, although she seemed oblivious.

Eventually, one of the guys walked up to Julie to chat her up, while she was taking a break. Mike was concerned about how she would react to the man's attention and whether she would need him to come to her rescue.

Within a minute, the man left, looking a little defeated. Evidently, Julie had dismissed him summarily.

On the drive back from the gym, Mike asked her about the encounter.

"I told him that I was not interested, so he needed to leave me alone."

She continued, "Is that not what you wanted me to do?"

He did notice that she looked less nervous than she previously did while asking that type of question.

"No, I was happy you did."

There was a long pause while he wondered if he really wanted to ask the next question.

"Do you think you would like to find someone someday?" He asked.

"Find someone?"

"You know? Find someone other than me..."

"Why would I want someone other than you?" She looked genuinely confused, and a little upset. "Do you mean if you wanted to see me with someone else?"

"God, no! I wouldn't want that."

"Then you think that you will want someone other than me? Because if you wanted to be with someone else, I would happily..."

The epiphany struck Mike then, even if it was woefully late.

"Julie, you're never going to tell me no, are you?" He could see her smiling at him out of the corner of his eye. "If I said that I wanted to bring another woman into bed with us or that I wanted to watch you with some other man. You would do without complaint, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, Michael, if that's what you wanted. I want you to be happy."

"This is tough for me to handle, Julie. If I asked you to do some of those things, you would not enjoy them, would you?"

"Probably not."

"But you would do them anyways, without complaint?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I trust you."

"That's all?"

"Yes, Michael."

There was silence until they reached the house. Once they were in the suite, Mike sat on the bed, while Julie unself-consciously stripped off her sweaty clothes. Every time he saw her like this, it took his breath away.

"What if I said that I just wanted you to be happy? For you to do the things that you enjoy?"

Julie looked at him with a thoughtful frown on her face.

"That's difficult for me, Michael. I feel uncomfortable when you ask me to do that, but I would try."

"It's difficult?" That seemed impossible. He was still having difficulty wrapping his head around what he was learning.

"Why would it make you uncomfortable?"

"I don't know how to explain. I'm sorry, Michael."

"That's alright, we'll figure it out." He gave her a smile, which she happily returned.

"I'm going to go shower this sweat off." Mike headed towards the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he heard the familiar request.

"Michael, may I join you?"

He opened the shower curtain in response, and she stepped behind him.

As before, he washed Julie's back and hair before she did the same for him. The proximity to her, the friction of her body against his back as she tended to him, and the recent memory of watching her strip were more than enough to arouse him.

Julie noticed.

"Michael, will you let me take care of this for you?" She asked as she tentatively gave him a squeeze.

Mike looked at her. He was starting to become convinced that she truly wanted to do this for him. He nodded his head.

Julie moved around front and knelt as she took him in her mouth. He could see her eyes as she smiled up at him. A moment later, she began to happily hum while she was bobbing up and down.

It was a new sensation for Mike, one that made him doubt whether he would be able to stay standing. Very shortly, he came, shuddering violently.

Mike found himself sitting on the floor of the tub, the water was shut off, and just in front of him Julie was kneeling with a radiant smile on her face.

"I've never felt anything like that. That was..."

He continued, looking at her expression despite his shock. "You truly enjoyed that, didn't you?"

She nodded. "It felt so good to make you happy, Michael. I could see you smiling at me and I could feel your enjoyment in my mouth."

"Was it sexual pleasure for you, then?" Mike was curious.

She gave a thoughtful look in return.

"Not really. When I see that I am making you happy like that, I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach like butterflies. And then it starts to spread. It's the same feeling that I get when you smile and thank me for making you breakfast... just amplified."

"It seems like I should reciprocate. Would you like me to..."

She shook her head no. "I'm very happy right now, Michael. Let's go sit down and talk, if that's alright with you."

Chapter 11

They dried off, dressed, and went out into the house to talk while they waited for dinner. Mike was constantly replaying the last week's events in his head, trying to understand what was happening.

"That third day, when I didn't tell you what to order, you went hungry, didn't you?"

"Yes." She looked a little ashamed at that.

"Why?"

"I don't know. I think I was afraid that I wouldn't like the food."

"Because I didn't pick it for you?"

"Yes."

"But didn't I tell you to pick what you wanted?"

"Yes."

"But you don't like it when tell you to do what you want to, do you?" He thought that he might be beginning to understand.

She nodded.

He continued, "Because when I tell you that, you're afraid that you're not doing what I really want you to do? And then you don't get that feeling in your stomach?"

She smiled. "Yes, I think that's it."

"So even if I had told you that you should eat a food that you dislike, you would have enjoyed that more than picking something you liked out yourself?"

"I think so, Michael."

Mike was suddenly overwhelmed with the fear that had been slowly nibbling on him for days. She might desire nothing more than to please him, but he was wholly responsible for her.

"Can you tell me when you want something, or if I ask you to do something you don't like?"

"It's difficult."

Mike decided to try something. He opened his arms.

"Come here, Julie."

When he was able, he pulled her onto his lap and just held her. Mike sensed that she was happy although he was afraid to ask her for ruining it.

That was how they spent the wait for dinner.

*****

Dinner was a noisy affair, as only dinner with toddlers can be. In between dodging food thrown by Eric and picking up the spoon that Tyler insisted on dropping repeatedly, Mike attempted some new tactics.

He tried several ways of offering dishes to Julie, hoping that he could detect hints of what she liked and did not like. He found that extremely difficult to do. In the end, Mike simply took her plate, put healthy portions of his favorites on it and handed it back to her. She seemed to be happy with the result.

He decided that he would need to spend some time finding out her preferences, but he would need to do it separately from the act of offering her something.

*****

That night when they went to bed, Mike was focusing his attention to pulling the pieces together. He did not fall asleep for several hours.

For her part, Julie curled up against him and was asleep in minutes.

The next morning, he woke late. As his senses returned to him, Mike could feel Julie pressed against him. Once he was fully awake, she kissed him on the neck.

"Michael, is it alright if I go make you breakfast?"

Still unable to handle requests like that, he simply nodded.

Ten minutes later, a newly showered and shaved Mike wandered into the kitchen. Julie was finishing up an omelet, smiling happily. When she placed the plate down in front of him, Mike insisted on pulling her down into his lap so that she could eat it with him.

"This is a delicious omelet, and you smell delicious yourself, this morning." At that simple compliment, she beamed.

"Thank you for breakfast. Now I think that I need to get some work done today. I'm putting together some training materials that I hope I can use with my next client."

"Alright, Michael."

Julie turned to do the dishes, while Mike left.

*****

Mike headed back to the suite, which had a desk, and sat down to work. Half an hour later, Julie came in. She simply sat down and waited. Mike wasn't able to concentrate too long with her there.

"Julie, you look bored."

"I am alright, Michael."

"Is there anything you would like to do?"

"I don't know. Is there anything you would like me to do?"

It was probably going to go on like this until Mike found something for her to do. This was a long term problem he was going to address, he decided. For now, he just needed a short term solution.

Mike had no ideas. Finally, he looked down at the paper in his hands in desperation.

"Julie, would you like to read this? You can see if it makes sense."

"OK."

She took the papers and sat down on the couch to read. As Mike watched her read, it seemed unlikely that she would understand most of it but there she was, focusing on it with a big smile on her face. His only conclusion was that simply being included in his life made her happy.

After twenty minutes, Mike stopped what he was pretending to work on to talk to her.

"So, does it make sense to you?"

She scrunched her nose a little. Mike thought it was adorable.

"Only some of it."

She paused for a moment. "Is it alright if I ask you a question, Michael?"

"Of course."

"What's a kaizen?"

That had not occurred to him. The training document was full of Japanese terms.

"Good point." She smiled at him for the small compliment. "It's making small, continuous improvements to a process, unless you're talking about a kaizen event or kaizen blitz."

"So for example, if I went out and bought an electric griddle to cook the omelettes in, instead of a pan, that would be a type of kaizen?"

He had never thought of it that way. This was intriguing him.

"I guess, but that's not usually what we mean. A better example would be..."

He took a pause to think about it. "If you changed the spot that you kept the eggs in the fridge from the bottom shelf to the top shelf so that you didn't need to bend down every time to get them. That's the type of thing that I would think about as part of kaizen. It's an everyday focus on making small improvements."

She gave him another big smile. "That makes sense."

The rest of the day continued on like that. Julie and Mike discussed his training materials. He found himself learning new ways to present the ideas. He also was surprised by a couple of the insights that Julie made. It astonished him how sharp she was.