An Old Friend Returns

I've known Karen off and on for over 25 years. When we first met she was a sweet and sexy twenty something, already in her second relationship. I never got much detail of the first but he seems to have been violent. Her husband Alan had rescued her from that but by the time we met the cracks were beginning to show. I met him several times but never took to him. Karen was really bright and intent on making a career for herself. Alan on the other hand was in a dead end job and hated to see her doing well. He seemed to take every chance he could to knock her back to the extent that he was undermining her confidence. He was about my age, so I don't know if he was on a power trip or felt challenged by her working with men younger than him who were clearly intent on going places.

For me it was lust at first sight, although it took me a bit longer to see past the sexy flirty public face to the intelligent if troubled woman she really was. I think she liked me, but she obviously saw me as a friend and confidante first, so I never pushed things. I was her boss anyway, so it wouldn't have been appropriate. It was hard sometimes as she shared quite intimate details of her past. On at least one occasion, as she described getting carpet burns on her ass during a vigorous love making session with a boy friend, I was very glad I was sitting behind my desk.

Over the years I watched her marriage fall apart. She had two daughters she adored and I think that was all that kept her going sometimes as Alan descended into alcoholism. She stood by him, tried to help, but the strain on her was huge, until eventually she had to give up on him. Urged on by her daughters she threw him out and raised the money to buy out his share of the house. Mentally she was much better after that, but she was now in deep financial trouble, although she struggled on. Once her oldest daughter started work, it got easier, although the business we worked for went through some difficult times and we were all earning less.

Eventually things settled down and with support and encouragement from the girls, she started dating again. She met me for lunch from time to time since she now ran her own department and we didn't see each other every day as we used to. I have to say I was quite jealous as she revelled in her new freedom. She put on a little weight, in all the right places, spent more time on her appearance and even began displaying a little cleavage at work. Despite her flirty behaviour she had up to now always dressed quite conservatively, even dowdily and had spent what spare money she had on the girls, not herself. Now she blossomed into a very sexy, confident woman.

Eventually I left the company, to set up on my own. I tried from time to time to offer her work, but she remained loyal to them and slowly we drifted apart. I would get the odd e-mail; I could follow her on Facebook, but that was all. The business did well. Although I wasn't bringing in the same money as before, I was free of the corporate suits and could choose or reject projects as I wanted. Unfortunately my wife June wasn't so accepting and my own marriage started going down the tube. I don't know if I oversold the benefits of self-employment or if she found she couldn't live without the perks of being an executive wife. Eventually we parted, reasonably amicably. We had no children to worry about, so once we reached agreement on a settlement, I was free.

Well, I was as free as any single man of 55 ever is, new on the singles market. To be honest I found myself lonely for the first time since I was a child. Until I went into business on my own, my work had provided my friends, but now as a consultant, with only a very limited admin staff, I had no one even to go for a beer with. My secretary Pat was very married -- and very pregnant -- and the cheerful teenage bimbo who did the basic admin work and fielded the calls was pretty but only interested in boys her own age. While I was happy to sneak the occasional leer at her tight-skirted backside, I certainly didn't see here as a potential date.

Then Pat announced that she was not going to come back after having her baby. He husband had just been promoted and they were moving to the US. I was sorry to see her go, but she agreed to set up the selection process for a replacement and give me a shortlist to choose from. When we interviewed we both agreed there was no contest. There was only one candidate and she was outstanding. As an added bonus, she was stunningly beautiful. Even Pat commented on her looks and afterwards made some dry comment about my reaction when Alice walked into the room.

So. Alice arrived and Pat's initial judgement was confirmed. She was a brilliant administrator, confident with clients and she very rapidly gained a good understanding of the core business, to the extent where I felt more than happy for her to handle basic pitches to potential clients. The bimbo left and Alice found me a nice married lady of about my age, who was serious and very capable, so releasing more of Alice's time to work with me.

It took me a while though, to realise that she saw me as more than just a boss. It wasn't that she hung over me with lots of cleavage, or flashed her long legs at me as she took notes of a meeting. It was subtler than that. I could see something had changed about the way she related to me, but I couldn't work out what

It came to a head one day as she was reporting on a meeting she had taken for me. She had become irreplaceable and I was so worried she was thinking of leaving to the extent that I was ready to offer her a stake in the business. As a preamble I asked her what was up. She didn't answer straight away, just looked at me across the desk.

"You know, Mum said you were naïve about women, but I didn't believe how naïve."

I was taken aback.

"Do I know your Mum?" I asked.

"Karen Scott" she said.

Now I was stunned and almost speechless. "You are Karen's daughter? But she's only..." I stopped as I realised the last time I had seen Karen's daughters they had only been about 5 and 2.

"You've grown," I said lamely.

It struck me. "Naïve? What do you mean?"

"All the time Mum worked for you, you never saw how she felt about you did you? Just as you don't see how I feel about you, how I have felt since the interview. Pat saw."

This was getting more and more surreal.

"Mum would have left Dad in an instant for you. Didn't you know that? She hoped that once she stopped working for you things might change but you never saw a thing. She even saw your marriage going on the rocks before you did."

"Now I've fallen in love with you too and it's hell. How can I tell my Mum I'm in love with the man she has loved for years?"

I still couldn't speak. I sat there opening my mouth but no sound came out. Alice was crying now, but I was rooted to my seat.

"Oh to hell with you," she cried out, "you aren't naïve, you are stupid and cruel". She jumped up and ran from the room, leaving me behind making my fish impressions.

Alice didn't come back that day, or the next. I was in agony. I had to try and cover her work but I also had to think of how to resolve matters between us. I wasn't sure if I was ready for a relationship with a woman half my age. In the end it was resolved for me as Karen stormed into the office. She was clearly angry.

Before she could say anything, I held up my hands to placate her.

"I didn't know"

She stopped. "You didn't know what?" she spat.

"Anything it seems," I said. "Please, calm down and let's talk."

From the bright sparky, near teenager I had first known, Karen had developed into a strong self-confident woman. She took control on that day certainly, telling me in no uncertain terms that I was stupid, naïve and uncaring, too wrapped up in myself to take any notice of others and causing them much unhappiness as a result.

I sat back stunned. It wasn't how I saw myself at all, at least not now. I knew that had been me in the past but not now and not even when Karen had worked as my assistant those 25 years ago. She didn't accept that however, telling me in crisp no-nonsense terms exactly how I had failed, whom I had hurt and how.

I was shocked at first by this tirade, but slowly, as the shock faded, I found myself looking at her and thinking how wonderful she looked. She had always had very dramatic features. I think she had a Somali Grandfather, a Portuguese Grandmother and lots of others in the mix. Her long dark shining hair, penetrating dark luminous eyes and flawless coffee coloured skin ensured she drew admiring attention whenever she entered a room. She hadn't made the most of her looks then, concentrating her money and effort on her girls. Now though she was an absolute wow. I tried to calculate her age. She must be, I thought, in her early 40s. She was dressed for work in a classic skirt and top combination. The skirt was a dark blue and fit snugly over her hips emphasising a slim waist. Her top was pale pink, with a low scoop neck exposing soft round breasts, heaving now with emotion as the tirade continued.

She stopped in mid-sentence as I looked at her. "Well?" she said.

I held up a hand. "That was quite an entrance," I smiled. She took a deep breath as if about to launch into me again, her breasts swelling with the effort, then thought better of it and instead sat down on the other side of the desk. "I still didn't know who Alice was. I didn't even know she existed. If I had known I would have asked her about you."

"Me?" she said.

"Yes. When I left, you seemed to cut me out of your life. I would have wanted to know how you were."

"You were never in my life, At least you never wanted to be as far as I could tell,"

"Karen, from the first day I saw you I wanted you. But you were married and so was I."

"Martha left you soon afterwards though," she said.

"I was still married. I still am, although Martha is pressing me to agree a divorce. I probably will since I cannot see us getting together again. We don't even argue anymore."

"What about when I kicked Alan out?" she asked.

"As far as I could see men were something to be avoided. You were friendly but very wary of me. I hugged you once when you were upset and you positively recoiled,"

"Sorry, I remember that, but it wasn't you, just your chicken curry at lunchtime."

I burst out laughing, despite myself. "Are you saying we never got together because I once had a chicken curry?"

She smiled. "It looks that way."

"What about now?" I asked.

"Freeman, there is no now, it is impossible. It would destroy Alice and I can't do that."

"Alice said you still loved me." I hadn't meant to say that.

"I do," she said simply. "But I'm not going to hurt Alice."

"So that's it. You burst in today, drop another bomb on me and then bugger off again?"

"That's about it," she nodded.

It was my turn to be angry now. She could have warned me who Alice was, she could have come to see me before Alice fell in love with me.

"Why didn't you warn me who she was?

"I couldn't. I didn't want to see you again; it would have been too painful. I didn't trust myself either."

"What would you have done if I had seen how Alice felt and reciprocated?"

"I would have been happy for her."

"You sure. You would have been happy to know I was bedding your daughter even though you wished it was you."

"No -- happy for her, but not happy for me."

I was still angry. "What about happy for me," I shouted.

"Are you saying you wouldn't have been happy screwing Alice," she screamed back.

"Happy screwing her of course, but happy with her? I don't know. I thought I was happy with June, but look what happened there."

"June prefers women to men. That's why she left."

"I know that." I did know it, just hadn't actually admitted it. I had seen her in action when she fancied a particular woman, but she had always brought me in on the action, which was a huge turn on, and never stopped making love to me either. In truth she just needed more sex than any one person could ever give her. She never set out to hurt me or anyone else, but it happened. I realised that perhaps I was not too unlike June in that regard.

"I didn't realise you knew," she said, "but it makes sense. She walked all over you and you walked all over everyone else."

"Don't hold back, will you."

She lent over the desk and took my hand between hers. "Alice loves you, but she is young and will get over it if you can't return her love. That happens to everyone. I'm not going to get in her way though. Even if you tell her you can't love her, she will think it was because I interfered." She paused. "We have no future together either. Too much has happened, we've drifted too far. All we ever had was a possibility and it is too late to make it a reality."

I looked directly at her. "Are you telling me now, that you wouldn't go to bed with me if I asked."

"You haven't asked," she said pointedly.

I took a deep breath. "Karen, will you come home with me now and come to bed with me."

She looked at me sadly. "No, I won't." She laughed at my crestfallen face. "But that doesn't mean we can't have a good shag here."

"What?" I spluttered.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. It's too late for that. But I would like to find out just once, what it might have been. I have heard the odd whisper that you are not too bad in bed..."

I spluttered again. "You mean here, now, in this office?"

"That's the idea."

Until now it had been all the bad things of our relationship on my mind and suddenly that was all gone and I remembered admiring her body in light summer dresses or bending to pick something out of the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet. I was suddenly hard.

I stood up and went over to the door and locked it. I didn't bother with the blind since we were on the third floor and not overlooked. I wanted to see her in full light if this was going to be the only time.

I turned to her. "This isn't a mercy fuck is it? You aren't feeling sorry for me?"

She laughed. "No, I don't feel sorry for you, this is for my benefit. I haven't had sex in six months and I feel very horny."

"Be gentle with me then," I said. She laughed and stepped out into the middle of the room, where she kicked off her shoes and unfastened the catch on her skirt, slowly sliding the zip down and then letting it slip into a loose puddle at her feet. She had on no stockings or tights, just a small pair of pale blue lacy panties. Pulling her top over her head revealed her magnificent breasts, cupped by the merest hint of blue lace. She turned her back on me, to let me see her releasing the fastenings before turning to face me again, still holding the bra against her. Slowly she slipped it away, exposing them to my view. I sighed with delight to see them unencumbered. Her nipples were large and standing out almost like marbles from the large dark areola. She slipped back into her heels than walked towards me, breasts shaking slightly with each step.

"Was it worth waiting for then?" she teased as she stood at the desk, one hand on her hip, the other by her side. I was too entranced to answer at first, but was simply content to sit, mouth open and admire her. Then pulling myself together, I managed to speak.

"Wow."

She laughed. "I'll assume that means yes. But what about you, don't I get to see what you've got?" I didn't answer, just leapt to my feet and kicked off my shoes and socks as I started tearing at my shirt.

"No, not like that," she said. She stepped seductively over to me and slowly started to unbutton my shirt, sliding one hand inside and dragging her nails across my stomach and making me moan with pleasure. She slid my shirt back over my shoulders, hands rubbing across my skin all the time. Pulling the shirt off, she threw it across the room. Dropping to her knees she slowly unfastened my belt and unfastened the top of my trousers before slowly sliding down the zip, then opening them up and pulling them down to let me step out of them, leaving me just in my underwear. Her eyes widened when she saw them. I don't like boxers and favour briefs as small as I can get to fit. These were very small, not much more than a waistband and pouch and made of silk. By now I was so hard my cock was aching and hardly contained. I felt as if I couldn't take her touch any more, that I was likely to blow everything if she touched me again.

She slid her hand across the smooth silk, then across my stomach, working her way to the back, sliding her hand inside the back taking each cheek in her hand, pressing the flesh, pulling me slightly towards her, and kissing my hard cock through the thin fabric before very slowly sliding the briefs down. I stepped out of them and kicked them away.

She stood up and stepped into my arms, wrapping her own arms tightly around my back. I held her tight, pressing her to me, her breast pressing into my chest, my cock against her soft stomach.

"I've dreamt of this moment," I said, "so many times, but never in this setting."

She laid her head against my chest. "Me too," she said softly, "me too."

"Let's imagine we are somewhere else then," I said. "Imagine we are outdoors on a warm summer day." I took her in my arms and laid her on the carpet, smoothing my hand across the soft, slight bulge of her stomach. "We are lying on soft downland, surrounded by wild flowers." She closed her eyes.

"I can see a clear blue sky," she said. "The grass is slightly damp on my back, but the earth is warm."

I slowly pulled down her panties, flinging them behind me. "You feel a warm breeze blowing softly across your naked body. The air is warm and you can hear the gentle buzzing of the bees as they forage in the wildflowers."

I was playing with her nipples, blowing on them, biting gently. I dragged a nail down the inside of her thigh and she sighed, legs parting to expose her moist soft pussy. She drew up one leg.

"I can feel the grass under my feet," she sighed. "I can hear the birds singing. There is a bird high above singing its heart out and others nearby warbling away."

I lifted the other leg to fully expose her softness. I bent to kiss it, sucking her moistness in. She moaned wordlessly. I lifted her legs over my shoulder, bringing her pussy up towards me. My erection was almost painful and I could hear the blood pounding in my ears. I pushed forward, sliding gently inside her, guiding the way by gently parting the labia, then pushing harder and deeper.

"As I press into you, you can feel the grass giving slightly under my weight. There is a small stone under your hip. It doesn't hurt, but you can feel it pressing into your skin."

By now I was falling into the same spell. The light seemed to have changed. I closed my eyes for a moment and pressed down, then up, bringing my shaft tight against her, slowly moving in and out. I could feel her against my entire length and then she clamped down on me, gripping me with her muscles, playing and teasing me on.

I thought I smelt a slight smell of flowers as I rotated my hips, ever deeper, then sliding slowly out. She moved her hips against mine then synchronised, as I moved away so did she until I was poised on the edge almost out before plunging deep again.

"The birds are singing their heart out now and as we crush the flowers beneath us they release their perfume. We inhale it as we breath harder."

"Yes," she said, "I can smell it. I can feel the grass under my back, I can smell the earth, I can feel that stone against my hip." She cried out, thrusting her hips against me, so that we slammed together. In and out we went, wilder and wilder, the smell of grass in the air, the sun warm on our skin, the birds singing, until that delicious moment when the world goes away and there is just you and your lover, wrapped in each other's arms, penetrating each other's being and the waves of energy pass between you, building and building, growing until you can feel nothing of yourself, you are become her and she becomes you and the two of you are one.