A Week in Miami

"Time heals," she said. "Sometimes a cliché is true, despite being a cliché."

I told her about my wife and our life together, and as I told the story it sounded more exciting than the reality, but I felt that was best. The story masked my true feelings, of which I made no mention - how, since Angie had gone my heart felt frozen in my chest, that emotion had become an artificial construct I erected for the rest of the world, but which failed to touch me. And the feelings puzzled me, because though Angie and I had loved each other at the start, that love had slowly had turned into something less passionate, less fulfilling.

It felt good to talk, to skirt around my old life and feelings. I had no illusions about Niki, none at all. She was simply and wonderfully way out of my league, and that removed all the pressure of even trying to flirt with her. I had not felt so relaxed in a woman's company in a long, long time, and it felt good.

After dinner Niki insisted on paying. I argued and lost.

"Thomas, I am rich," she said. "I have no idea how much money I have. I always have enough. I simply must pay for tonight, and for the rest of our nights together."

Jerry was not impressed that I was letting the lady pay, but screw him, I thought. The meal had been adequate, but in that smart hotel kind of way where everything tastes good, but nothing tastes fantastic.

We returned to the bar and Niki drank vodka and I good Scottish malt. The bar had an excellent range, and I decided on Laphroig, from Islay, a small island off the west coast of Scotland.

"What are you doing tomorrow, Niki?" I asked. "Where are you working?"

"In Miami," she said. "It is fashion week in Miami. You did not know this?"

I laughed and shook my head. "Must have slipped my mind. And then? Where next week?"

She laughed. "I don't know."

I must have looked puzzled, because she went on: "I hardly ever know where I will be from week to week. And to tell you the truth, I don't really need or want to know. I will be wearing someone else's clothes, that is all I need to know. At the end of this week I will be told where I am going. On Saturday morning I will have a delivery containing airline tickets and an itinerary."

"And you don't mind?"

"It is my life," she shrugged. "It is all I know."

Suddenly I felt sorry for her. "Don't you get lonely?"

"Of course. All the time. But the career of a model is not so very long. Ten years from now, maybe less, they will not call me up anymore, and then I will have money and can do whatever I want."

"That's enough? A future somewhere off in the distance? And I don't believe that in ten years you will no longer be beautiful."

"You're sweet," Niki said, "But it is enough for me. I do not mind. It is my life, and it has compensations. I see many, many different places. I meet many new people, and a few of them are nice people, like you."

I think I may have blushed; pushing fifty and I could still blush.

Niki drained her glass and stood up. She was very tall, and when I stood she was at least three inches taller than me, which I guess made her almost six-two. I looked down and was relieved to see that her heels probably accounted for two inches of that. I was not completely sure why I found that so comforting, that she was in reality only an inch taller than I.

"Tomorrow night, at eight?" Niki said.

"It's a date," I replied.

She laughed, and then ducked and kissed me softly on the cheek. "Thank you Thomas, for a wonderful evening."

I watched her walk out through the room. All the other men watched her as well. Tall, elegant, slim and stunning. After she had gone I mentally shook myself and sat back on the bar stool.

"Another malt?" the barman asked.

"Thanks Mike, I think I need one."

I felt a warmth spread outwards through my chest that was nothing to do with the whisky, and believed it might be my heart beginning to thaw.

TUESDAY

My day with the client went well. They wanted me to analyze their network infrastructure and software needs and recommend whether any improvements could be made. As with most of my jobs, I would charge them $20,000 for the week, ask them to spend another $100,000 on upgrades and replacements, write them a report on improvements that could be made and save them $250,000 a year. It was why I was always busy. In year one my clients would be up over a hundred grand. By year two they were saving a quarter million or more. I never advertised, never needed to.

Over lunch I had asked if anyone knew of a good seafood restaurant close to our hotel, preferably on the ocean. There were several suggestions, and then one of the older techs said that Marty's was the place to go. It didn't look smart, and there were no waiters in dark jackets, but it served the best seafood in Miami. I jotted down the address, googled it and saw it was less than a mile down the beach from the hotel. Perfect.

I got back to my room just before seven, undressed and hung up my work suit with the two others in the wardrobe and showered. I usually only shaved in the morning, but this time I stood naked in front of the mirror and ran a blade over my face.

I rinsed the shaving foam away and dried myself, stood looking in the mirror at my body. It was not a terribly exciting sight. I turned and posed side on, tried the other side but it was no better. I turned right around and peered over my shoulder. My ass looked okay, I thought.

I had not put too much weight on over the years, but neither had I ever done much in the way of real exercise other than swim most mornings. I supposed many men my age would be grateful to have a body like mine - just not me. Not that I was likely to do much about it now anyway. I turned back and looked down. At least my dick was OK, I thought. It always had been. Even un-erect it hung five inches down between my thighs. It had been almost three decades since I had done what all men do and measured it. I think I had been twenty the last time, and it had topped out at just under eight inches. I had no reason to think it had grown since then, and reason to believe it had probably gotten shorter.

As attributes went, it was probably the one most men would have envied. I laughed at myself and gave my cock and balls a little lift with the palm of my hand. "Come on, big boy," I muttered, and walked through to dress.

I had picked out clean briefs, socks and a blue linen shirt when the telephone on the desk trilled. I picked it up and said, "Hello?"

"Thomas? That is you?"

"Hello Niki," I said. She is calling me to make some excuse, I thought.

"It is you. Good. I was not sure I had the right room number. I saw your key last night and thought I had remembered it. Will you come and escort me down to dinner?"

"I would love to," I said.

"I am in room 901."

"Ten minutes," I said.

"I'll be waiting."

I put the phone down and stared into space. I looked down, aware of a feeling inside my briefs I was not as familiar with as I had once been. My cock had started to fill, and was forming a noticeable bulge in the black cotton.

I smiled sadly to myself. "Pull yourself together, Tom Harper. That is not going to be required."

Laughing, I dressed and then, before going out, splashed a dab of cologne on my neck and wrists. Stupid old man, I thought.

Niki's room was on the ninth and top floor. The elevator opened to a long corridor. There were only five rooms shown on the plaque on the wall. 902,903 pointed left. 904,905 pointed right. Above the corridor in front of me was just the number 901.

I made my way down towards the door at the end and knocked.

There was no sound, so I knocked again.

I was about to try for a third time when the door opened and Niki stood there in all her stunning beauty. She ducked at me and kissed my cheek. "Thomas, come in, I'm almost ready. It is a girl's right to be late, yes?"

"Of course," I said, and followed her in as she turned away and revealed a sight that took the breath from my lungs. She wore a knee length dress, no doubt by a famous designer, but had left the zip down. The silk material - it looked like silk, and I had no reason to believe it could be anything but silk - hung open over her back, the long muscular length displayed where the material ran down in a long V to stop just where the curve of her buttocks began to swell. The center of her back, along her spine, formed a deep valley from shoulder to waist. Her skin was completely flawless, pale and smooth. No bra strap broke the smooth expanse displayed.

"Do me up, Thomas," she said, glancing back over her shoulder, "I can never reach." She laughed. "I am spoiled, no? I usually have people to dress and undress me."

I almost retorted by saying "If there's ever a vacancy" but stopped myself just before the words emerged.

I took a step to close the gap between us and gripped the zipper in trembling fingers. I drew it up along her spine, taking great care to keep my hand away from her skin. As the material closed on her shoulders the back of my hand brushed her neck and she shook her head, dancing long blonde hair over my wrist.

"Thank you," she said.

I would have said thank you back, but didn't trust myself to speak. Luckily I didn't need to. Niki was in a good mood and moved elegantly across the enormous room.

"Would you like a whisky before we go downstairs?"

"Thanks, just a small one."

She poured dark peaty liquid into a large square cut glass. I noticed she had obtained a whole bottle of Laphroig from somewhere. She handed me the glass and picked up her own containing something clear and sparkling which she raised in a toast.

"Kippis," I said.

Niki laughed and returned the toast.

Her room sat at the very top of the hotel, with large picture windows leading onto a balcony. They stood open, letting the sound and scent of the ocean into the room. There was no sign of a bed, so I assumed it was a suite and the bedroom would be through one of the three doors that led from the main area.

Niki made no move to sit, but went to the windows and stepped out onto the balcony. The breeze caught her hair and danced it back around from her shoulders, tugged at the hem of her dress and wrapped it against her legs. She turned and smiled at me, motioned me out, and my heart almost burst in my chest.

You're a safe pair of hands, Thomas Harper, I told myself, that's all. Pull yourself together.

I stepped onto the balcony to stand beside her and she put her arm through mine and leaned her head against mine - should have been my shoulder, but she was too tall for that.

"Smell the ocean, Thomas," she said. "There's nothing else like it."

"Do you get to see it often, Niki?"

She shook her head, moving it against the top of mine. "I go where my work sends me. Usually it is nowhere near the ocean. So when I get the chance I make the most of it.

"I hope you don't mind, " I said, " but I've booked us a table at a beach front restaurant. The place comes recommended, and I thought it would be good not to eat in the hotel." I realized I was nervous, as though we were on a first date, and told myself not to be so stupid.

Niki laughed, "I am yours to command, Thomas."

Despite knowing full well she meant something different, my stomach gave all kinds of little flips. "Good. Shall we go then?"

We left the windows open and descended to the ground floor. A doorman waved a cab towards us and we were driven south along the beach to a small building built half on the sand. It looked un-prepossessing, with plain brick walls and a Spanish tile roof, but inside the lights were dim, the atmosphere warm and fragrant and we were led to a table on the ocean side, sitting out below a long porch, sand crunching under our shoes.

Niki ordered the food and I ordered the wine. We ate and drank and talked about everything and very little.

Niki told me that, unbelievably, she had always been considered an ugly duckling in school, too tall, too gangly, her mouth too wide, her cheekbones too prominent. As sometimes happens, that awkwardness had evolved into a stunning beauty. As she spoke I gazed at her, happy just to be in the company of this beautiful woman who was easy to be with as well as wonderful to look at.

I was aware that people glanced our way, the men in admiration, the women in envy or hatred or wistfulness. Inwardly I was amused to wonder what they might be thinking of this middle-aged, plain looking man accompanied by such a vision of loveliness. Sugar daddy, maybe.

Niki once again insisted on paying the bill, and I was mature enough not to fight her. That was a game played by younger men - at my age I had no false sense of pride, and it gave her pleasure to do this thing, and it was my pleasure to allow her.

We left the restaurant in full dark and Niki kicked off her shoes and looped them through her fingers. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out onto the sand. "Walk with me, Thomas. Let's get our feet wet."

I laughed and stopped, taking longer to untie my shoes. I removed my socks and tucked them into the shoes, rolled up my trousers to the knee. I looked completely and utterly ridiculous, and Niki burst out laughing and bent over.

I straightened my back and walked past her to the waterline and after a moment she pulled herself together and ran to catch me up, once more hooking her arm through mine.

We walked for almost a mile along the sand, all the way back to our hotel. My trousers unrolled more than once and by the time we walked up off the sand to the lights of town they were damp and clinging to my legs.

It was obvious how good the hotel was by the way none of the staff even looked at us as we walked through the lobby, Niki in bare feet and wet legs, me in soaking trousers. In the elevator I punched in floor nine and also my own floor.

"You are coming up, Thomas?"

I looked down at myself. "I think I'd better get changed," I said. "And I've got an early start tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow night?"

"Are you sure?" Niki said, and I thought she looked sad, but refused to read anything into that.

"I would love to, but we have all week yet. At my age I need my sleep."

She smiled. "You are young, Thomas." She tapped her fingers against her chest. "In here, where it matters, you are young." She reached across and put her hand against my chest, her palm flat. I could feel my heart beating against her palm. "And you are not old in your body either. You have all your hair. You're face is not lined... " she cocked her head and looked at me, "Except around your eyes, and that looks good."

The elevator pinged and the doors opened on my floor. I held the button to keep the doors open. I waited, and finally Niki withdrew her hand and let it drop to her side.

"Goodnight Niki, sleep well."

"Goodnight Thomas. Until tomorrow." She bent slightly and kissed me on the cheek, then smiled and put her hands on my cheeks, turned my face and kissed me again on the lips. "Thank you for tonight. I had a wonderful time."

I released the button and stepped out, turned and watched her as the doors closed and the elevator ascended. I could feel a lightness in my chest, and a heaviness in my shorts, and shook my head. Foolish, foolish man.

WEDNESDAY

I surprised myself by sleeping well and woke before the alarm. I rolled out of bed naked and as I did whenever the opportunity was available I pulled on swimming trunks, wrapped a hotel robe around myself and took the elevator down to the basement and the hotel pool.

It was not yet seven and the water was empty and still; at this time of day it almost always was. I dropped the robe on a chair and dived in, pulling easily to begin with until I had loosened up, then digging into a strong crawl for ten lengths.

I finished up with another slow ten lengths and then rested my arms on the edge of the pool and caught my breath.

I heard the outer door from the lobby open, and then the inner door pushed wide and Niki stepped through. She was pulling her own robe over her shoulders and stopped when she saw me, startled, then recognizing who it was she grinned.

"Thomas, I didn't know you came swimming?"

"Whenever I can," I said. "Too many hotel meals is not a good idea at my age, not unless I do something to burn the calories off."

"You always pretend you are old, Thomas, and you are not." Niki pulled her robe all the way off and dropped it on the chair next to mine. She walked across to the pool edge and stood over me looking at the water.

I took the opportunity to study her - it was a pleasant lesson. I had never seen anything quite so perfect in my life. Her skin could have been marble it was so smooth, pale and flawless. Her long legs stretched endlessly to her hips. Her swimsuit was one piece, pale blue and cut high at the sides, high also at the neck so that her full breasts were flattened by the tight material. My eyes strayed to the junction of her thighs, to the way her muscles hollowed as they neared that point, to the way the material stretched tight across her pubic mound, cupping the area between her legs, revealing a trace of plump labia and a shadowed line running between them.

Niki pulled me from my trance by diving directly over my head and into the water with hardly a splash.

She pulled with long powerful strokes, performed a perfect rolling turn and came back to stop beside me.

"Are you going to race me, Thomas?"

I laughed. "That would be no race, Niki, you'd demolish me. Beside, I'll be late for work."

"See you tonight?" she said.

"Of course." I pulled myself from the pool and dried myself on my robe, standing for a moment to watch as Niki swam another two lengths. As she came back to me she stretched her arms out and drifted, looking up at me. I became aware I had grown semi-erect watching her, and fearing this would show I pulled the robe over myself and tied it around my waist. I waved and left the pool, heard Niki roll back into the water and the splash of her arms as she moved away.

Back in my room I turned on the shower and stepped under the hot spray, washing the smell of the pool off me, hoping it might also wash away the emotions I was feeling about my beautiful friend. She had chosen me as a refuge from aggressive men, and here I was having those same thoughts about her. As I soaped myself my cock grew hard under my hand, hard and long and thick.

I slid my soapy hand around it and began to rub myself. I had avoided doing this all week. As a single man I was no stranger to self relief, and brought myself to a climax at least a couple of times a week. This week I had abstained, feeling somehow that it would have been disloyal to Niki. I had waited too long.

My excitement was suddenly immense. I closed my eyes and pictured Niki just before she had dived into the pool. Her long, sculpted body standing above me, the shadow between her legs, the hint of her labia and slit, the smooth skin rising over her hips revealed by the high cut of her suit. I imagined her naked, the alabaster skin unblemished, her breasts firm and round, nipples erect; I imagined her sex, light blonde hair neatly trimmed, her labia parted and a glimpse inside of pinkness.

I came hugely, my hips jerking, my knees going weak. I gasped and continued to rub myself hard, letting the warm seed explode from my cock and fall to the shower floor. I moaned and leaned one arm against the wall to hold myself up.

Slowly my arousal faded, I slowed my hand, smearing my slick palm along the length of my cock as it became softer.

I finished washing and stepped out, dried in one of the giant hotel towels. I felt guilt creeping into my mind now, and was uneasy and disturbed. There had been no way I could have stopped myself from jacking off then, and I felt slight regret, sorry more that I had not managed to think of someone other than Niki. I really liked her, and I was a man and would have been mad not to find her attractive, but I had hoped I was more mature than that and could have not thought of her simply as an object for sex.