The Story

Thanks to Linda, Selma, John, and Jen for reviewing this story.

All rights reserved.

Sept. 20
Dear Diary, in most ways today was normal. Work was o.k. and I goofed off when I got
home. I had a strange call from Jim, one of my fellow workers. He suggested that I check
out "The Story" by Cedrick the Conqueror on Literotica. He said that I might like it. I
went to the site and found that it was erotic short stories. I didn't bother to open up the
story. I don't know why he wanted me to read erotica. It isn't as if we are close or
anything. He's a bit of a geek but seems to be harmless. He's geeky enough so that I
doubt he has a steady girlfriend. But, I shouldn't talk. Two months ago I found my
boyfriend, of two years, living with a blond slut; and dumped him.

Sept. 21
Friday, at last! The work day went by rather quickly. I had an interesting problem to solve
in the lab. Jim asked me if I had read the story yet. I told him no, and that I wasn't sure I
wanted to. He just smiled and said "I think you will."

When I got home I realized that I needed to do the laundry as well as a stack of dishes
that have been "aging" in one side of the sink. Ugh. Why do I let things slide? Oh yeah, I
like to procrastinate.

Sept 22
With fall coming soon I had to do a lot of garden work today. Many bulbs had to be dug
out and carefully stored for the winter. I bought half a bushel of corn and got it bagged
and in the freezer. I also got a bushel of peaches and made spiced peach jam, peach jelly,
and peach preserves.

After all that work, I was ready for a long hot bath and bed.

Sept 23
Church was good today. It was the third Sunday of the Month and we had a coffee hour
after the service was over. Some of our church members can really cook. One of them
made raspberry tarts! Oh, were they good! When I got home I ate and did the crossword
puzzle in the Sunday paper. By mid afternoon I was a bit bored. I didn't feel like doing
much of anything so I got on the computer to surf the web. I don't know why, or how, but
I suddenly found myself on the Literotica site with "The Story" by Cedrick the
Conqueror sitting in front of me. I figured, what the hell, I'm already here, I've got
nothing better to do, I'll just read it so Jim won't keep bothering me at work. The story
was short, and; I don't know how to put it. Disturbing, exciting, too close to home, or
maybe a little bit of all of them. I decided to print it off and include it in with today's
ramblings.

The Story
Copyright 2008 by Cedrick the Destroyer

My name is James had a problem. It seemed insurmountable for the longest time. I was
secretly in love with a gorgeous, smart, and nice woman at work. My problem is that I
don't handle rejection very well. It took me two years to get over losing my first steady
girl friend. I swore I wouldn't fall into deep emotional attachment again. Then I met her.
For convenience I'll give her a fictitious name; let's call her Sharon. One of my hobbies
is writing erotica. One night the solution hit me. I'd write a story about how I'd treat my
secret love. The problem was that, as far as I knew, she didn't read any erotica. I decided
to write the story anyway. It goes like this.

It had been a long hard day at work. A rush job had come along. There had been a
reported failure in a satellite component that we had built. The panic was that we needed
to determine what had failed as well as how and why it failed. Sharon had problems
concentrating that day. As it turns out she had found out that her boyfriend was cheating
on her. She looked like she was devastated. I helped her as much as I could and then
suggested that I prepare dinner for us at my place. She wasn't interested. I changed tack,
I suggested that I bring over the stuff for the meal cook it, and clean up after it. It took
some persuading, but she finally agreed to let me come over. She finally admitted that she
needed to do shopping for food and just didn't feel up to it.

I arrived at her place at 5:00 p.m.. I brought my own cooking tools, plates, silver, and
crystal glasses. (I used the good stuff that I normally only use for big family affairs.)
Anyway, I suggested that she relax while I prepared the meal. I told her that it would take
two hours, but would be worth the wait. She agreed and I started to cook. Now, this may
sound strange, but I love cooking. I'm also a very good cook! Tonight's meal was to be
cheese stuffed baked potatoes, peas, tossed salad, and T-bone steaks. I had brought a
blue cheese vinaigrette for the salad and a nice light wine to go with it. Dessert, I
purchased. I love Napoleons but am not a very good pastry chef.

At about 7:15 I had set the table, gotten the food all plated and called to Sharon that it
was ready. You should have seen her face when she saw what was on the table.

"James, you shouldn't have. This is a much fancier meal than I would ever have by
myself. Why did you go to so much trouble."

"Because I really like you Sharon. To me, you are a very special person. I realize that
you don't think of me that way, but the meal starts to show you how I feel."

I'm sure My face turned deep red as I said that. I held out her chair for her and brought
the chilled wine to the table. There wasn't a lot of talking for the next twenty minutes or
so. I kept hearing "mmmmmmmmmmm"s and such from Sharon. As I said before, I am a
relatively good cook. As we finished the main meal I told her that dessert was one of my
favorites, but I hadn't made it. You should have seen her face light up when I brought the
dessert plates with the Napoleons on them, over to the table.

As we finished, I told her to go relax while I did the cleanup. She did exactly that, for
about ten minutes. While I was washing the dishes, including the dirty ones that she had
from earlier in the week I sensed that I was being watched. I turned around and saw
Sharon standing in the doorway. She had a puzzled look on her face.

"Tell me again: why did you go to all this trouble?"

"Actions speak much louder than words. I really, really like you and wanted to please
you."

"How long have you been thinking about doing this?"

This was now getting a bit uncomfortable. "For about two years or so."

"Why didn't you hint that you liked me?"

"I have been rejected, one too many times, in high school and in college. I form deep
feelings and it takes an incredible length of time for them to heal. My last rejection was
five years ago and I am now mostly over it. ...... Maybe I've already said too much. I
hope I haven't offended you."

Sharon just stood there for a minute or two. To me it seemed like hours.

Sharon had a lot to think about. She had known James for two years now and he had
never done anything to hurt anyone. In fact he had gone out of his way to be as helpful as
he could. As far as she knew, he didn't spread gossip or look for "one night stands", or
such. How did she feel about this situation. He was a good cook, and had gone out of his
way to make a wonderful meal for them. She had no current boyfriend. James wasn't
overly good looking, but he wasn't ugly either. She had seen, at work, that he was a
gentleman. In one case she knew of he had helped one of the production line workers who
had been hurt. Her blouse had been caught in a moving machine and it had been ripped
off. She was bruised and only had on a bra to prevent everyone from seeing her breasts.
James, who is on the safety team, immediately brought in a blanket. He held it up so that
he could only see her face. He wrapped the blanket around her and then treated the
wounds to her arms. He didn't have to do that. But it was obvious that he wanted to.
What did she feel? She didn't know, but she wanted to find out more about this strange
man.

"Can I help you with the dishes?"

James wasn't sure he had heard right.

"This dinner was for you, you don't have to help with the dishes."

"But, I want to."

With a big smile on his face, James handed her the drying towel. "I'd love your
company."

When the dishes were done Sharon invited James into her living room. She put on some
music. Her choice was Rachmaninoff's second piano concerto. James immediately smiled
and said: "I love this piece. The first music recording that I ever bought was in seventh
grade. This was the piece and it was played by Leonard Pinario. I've all but worn out
that recording. Did you know that Rachmaninoff had been through a bout of melancholia
and had some psychiatric/hypnotic help to regain his confidence to write music? This is
the first piece that he wrote after his treatment."

"No, I didn't know that. How did you pick that information up?"

"Well, music has been my refuge of choice when I am lonely. When I got to college I
decided to have two minors. Music was the second one."

"Do you play any instruments?"

"I play at the piano a bit. I just don't have any natural talent at it."

As they listened Sharon could see that James was essentially lost in the music. He didn't
listen to it as if it was background music; he Listened to the piece. Sharon liked that.
After the concerto was over, James got up and said: "I had better gather my cooking stuff
and head home. It's getting late and I'm sure that you have other things to do than to
just talk with me."

Sharon helped him bring his stuff out to his car and wished him a good night. He smiled
and said: "Maybe we can do this again some time, if you want."

Sharon found herself saying, "I'd like that."

****************************************************

Late the next week Sharon had an accident at work. She had been lifting an instrument
off one of the upper shelves and hadn't expected to be as heavy as it was. She kept from
dropping it, but badly wrenched her shoulders and back. At the end of the day she asked
James to drive her home.

When they got in Sharon, who was obviously in pain, said: "I need to ask a big favor. I
know I can trust you. I don't have any women friends that I can trust as much. I need to
have muscle lineament rubbed into my back and shoulders. This isn't a come-on, this is a
true need. Would you help me?"

"Yes, of course. Tell me exactly what you want done and how you want it done."

"I need to go into my room and lay face down across the bed. I'll obviously have to
remove my blouse and bra. When I am face down I want you to bring in the liniment that
is in my medicine cabinet over the sink and gently work the muscles for me."

James said, "o.k., but you will need to tell me where your bedroom is."

"It's the second door on the left after the bathroom."

James went into the bathroom and found the needed lineament. He also saw a heating
pad. He waited for Sharon to call him in.

James almost lost it when he walked into her room. She was on the bed, face down but
totally nude on top. He swallowed hard and moved over to the bed.

"To do this right I'm going to have to be on the bed as well. Is that all right with you?"

"Yes."

James took some of the lineament and warmed it in his hands . He then started on
Sharon's lower back. He kneaded the muscles and worked hard enough to help but not
hard enough to hurt. He slowly moved up her back until he reached her shoulders.

"I'm going to get off the bed and kneel on the floor in front of you so that I can reach
your shoulders and upper arms. Is that O.K.?"

"Yes, that sounds good. You know, you are very good at this. Have you had a lot of
practice?"

"Yeah, sort of, my sister was a marathon runner. After a long hard run she needed her
muscles worked over so she wouldn't cramp up. That, however, was a much more
thorough rubdown. It included the gluteus maximus and medius, as well as all the leg and
back muscles."

"How did you do that? To do that job right you would need her to be totally nude and
work on both her back and front?"

"Yup. I sure did. Remember, that was my sister. I love her too much to do anything
inappropriate with her."

Sharon was thinking deeply about what she had just heard. He had massaged his sister
all but completely and didn't take advantage of her. This was something new to Sharon.

As the shoulders were finished James asked "I brought in your portable phone and the
heating pad. Would you like heat on your lower back?"

"Yes, please. Just set it for low."

"You've got it. If you don't need anything else I'll wash my hands and head home. You
know my number. I can be here within ten minutes if you need me. Don't be afraid to
call, even if it is to cook you something to eat."

"Thank you James. You're a real friend."

And with that, James left to go home. Sharon suddenly realized that James could have
very easily felt the sides of her breasts while rubbing her back and just claimed it was a
slip of the hand. But he hadn't. He had acted as professionally as a good doctor or
nurse. This James had a depth of character that she had never before found, except in
her own father.

****************

It was three in the morning when James received the call.

"Hello"

"I need help, James. I thought the rubdown and heat had fixed things enough that I could
take a long hot soaking bath. Just in case I brought the phone in with me. I can't get out
of the tub. I don't know who else to call. Can you come and help me?"

"Yes, but are you sure you want me? After all, most people don't wear any clothes for a
bath."

"Please come and help."

"I'll be there in ten minutes. Oh, I forgot, I locked your front door. How will I get in?"

"Next to the front steps there are two small fake milk cans. The spare key is on a magnet
inside the left one."

"See you in ten."

James found the key and entered the house. He had thrown on a T-shirt and a pair of
shorts. He had slippers on his feet.

James approached the door and knocked, then said "I didn't want to startle you by just
walking in. Can you tell me where you keep your clean towels?"

"They're in a closet between here and my bedroom. Why do you ask?"

"You'll see. Is there still water in the tub?"

"Yes"

"Can you use your foot to drain the tub?"

"Yes, it's draining."

James found a large beach towel. "Let me know when the water is all out. And, is your
head toward the door or away from it?"

"Away from it, why?"

"You'll see."

"The tub is empty."

James opened the door so that he wouldn't be looking into the bathroom. He then held
the beach towel up in front of him so that he could only see the far wall of the bathroom.
As he entered he slowly lowered the towel until he could see Sharon's face. He then
moved forward and draped the towel around her so that from her knees to her neck she
was covered by the towel.

"Now, I can help you out one of several ways. I can have you put your arms around my
neck and hold you at your waist. I can simply pick you up like you would pick up a child.
Or, we can do it any other way if you have a preference. Which would you like?"

Sharon was almost in shock. She had steeled herself for having to have James look at her
nude body, but he had found a way to save her pride. This wasn't how things would
normally be."

"Do you think you can pick me up like a child?"

"No problem."

James squatted down next to the tub, put an arm under Sharon's knees and the other arm
behind her upper body. He then took a deep breath and while exhaling he stood up
carrying her with him. "Where to my lady?"

"Could you seat me on the john? I need to go very badly."

James opened the lid of the toilet with his foot and carefully placed her on the seat. He
immediately turned his back and walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind
him.

I a few moments he heard her voice again, "James, I have a problem. I can't twist myself
around to get the toilet paper and I can't bend enough to wipe myself. Can you help?"

"Are you sure? I can't do that without seeing you and touching you. Is that really what
you want?"

"Yes."

"Pull the towel up so that you are mostly covered and then I will come in."

"O.K."

James walked in, knelt on the floor next to the toilet seat and took some toilet paper in his
hand.

"I've had a bowel movement as well as taking a pee. I need wiping both places."

"O.K., here's how I think it will be done. I'll reach under you from the front to wipe your
butt until it's clean. Then I'll hand you some paper to wipe off the rest of you. Is that
o.k.?"

"It's more than o.k., you are incredibly thoughtful."

"I value you too much to take advantage of you."

That said, James cleaned her bottom and handed her some fresh paper to finish off.

He stood and headed into the hall. "I'm going to bring in a fresh towel so that we won't
get your bed wet."

James held up the towel while Sharon dropped the other towel over the edge of the tub.
He then wrapped her, lifted her up, and carried her to her bed.

"Do you need anything else?"

"Yes, a small glass of water and the bottle of muscle relaxants in the kitchen cabinet
where the cups are kept."

James went and got the medicine and helped her take the pills.

"Is there anything else you want or need?"

"Yes, but I'd be imposing on you."

"What is it."

"Will you stay here? The way this back feels I will need help doing a lot of things for the
next few days."

"No problem, I've got a lot of built up vacation time that the boss has been bugging me
to use. I'm at your command."

"You are a lifesaver, thank you."

"Don't mention it, it is truly my pleasure."

Five days later Sharon's back was approaching normal. In those five days she realized
that James was exactly the type of man that she wanted to live with, forever. She decided
to take a big risk.

"James"

"Yes, do you need something?"

"Yes I do, but I don't know if you will help me with it or not."

"What do you need?"

"I need you to be around me the rest of my life. Is that doable?"

James had tears running down his cheeks. He knelt down beside the bed and, for the very
first time, kissed her.

"Yes, I would love to be your husband. It would make me the happiest man on earth."

************************************

Sept 23 (continued)
I read the rest of the story and loved it. It included married scenes where James and
Sharon mutually pleased each other and grew closer and closer. It was at that time that I
realized that Jim, at work, had written a story indicating how much he loved me. I
decided to send him a quick e-mail. All I said was: "I loved the story!"

Sept 24
At work, Jim walked up to me and said: "How about I bring over the stuff for supper
tonight, cook it, and clean up after it." Before he could finish asking I had taken him in
my arms, and kissed him.

"Yes, I would love to have dinner with you. After looking at the profile for Cedric the
Conqueror I realized that it was you. I really do want to spend a lot more time with you.
Do you think you could do that?"

All he did was grin and say; "Yes."

The end, and the beginning.