Angel with a Blue Dress

"That sounds great! I'll call you tomorrow morning before heading over." She hugged me again, and whispered in my ear. "I've really, really missed you Michael, a lot. And I'm so happy to have this second chance." She kissed me warmly and then waved good bye.

My steps through the terminal were almost bouncy, and I knew I was reading these signals correctly.

*******

My door buzzer went off early Saturday afternoon. I buzzed Claudia up and opened the door. The sense of déjà vu, and also of overwhelming affection, coursed through me. She glided in through the door.

I stared. Claudia was wearing the blue knit wrap dress, small gold earrings with blue stones, and just a bit of lip gloss. She looked positively delicious, and I said so.

Giggling, Claudia slipped straight into my arms. "Hello again, Michael," she said in a husky voice. I kissed her deeply. If anything she was a better kisser now -- or maybe we were just somehow better at kissing together -- even after so much time apart. Her soft scent, something like rose petals, stirred my pulse. "I remembered how much you liked this dress."

"When did I tell you that?"

She smiled. "You didn't ever need to tell me, silly."

She gave me another kiss and stepped back, taking both of my hands. "You've updated your look, Michael." She smiled at my chambray shirt and khakis. I was dressed primarily for weekend comfort, but Claudia, I recalled, had seen me mostly in jackets and ties at the office. I now had stylish glasses and was more serious about keeping my hair neatly cut.

Claudia and I had a great deal of catching up to do. She insisted on me opening a bottle of wine to celebrate. "Not the bottle I gave you on the plane, I'm sure you have something better than that. Please pick out a nice, elegant glassware pattern too." The woman forgot absolutely nothing it seemed.

I brought our wine glasses to the sofa. Claudia stared at the goblet. The etching showed a nude, small-breasted woman with her short hair framing her head, dancing with one knee raised. She was playing a flute as she danced. An etched medallion framed the nude figure.

"Michael! What is this one, it's positively racy!"

I smiled at her. "This is Morgantown's Sunrise Medallion pattern, which came out in 1931. Some collectors call it 'Dancing Girl.'" I paused and looked right into her eyes. "I just had to buy it, because the figure reminded me of someone I held very dear to me. The female form, particularly her female form, is never racy to me -- just very, very beautiful."

I thought that Claudia might cry, but she controlled herself. She just looked at me and spoke very softly. "You are a truly special person, Michael."

As we sipped our wine, we traded the unpleasant details of our pasts. Denny, it seemed, had indeed had flings with other women, starting well before Claudia's night with me. She was not especially surprised, but still deeply wounded, when she discovered the truth. She was doing his laundry after he returned from a trip, and she found a snap crotch bodysuit wadded up in his suitcase. "It had obviously been worn. I couldn't bring myself to tell you about it that night... I wanted that to be about us. But when I finally confronted him, I knew it was over."

She paused. "I'm not especially proud that I slept with you while I was technically still with him. But, I am eternally grateful that I did. Denny's affairs were mostly about readily available casual sex. But it diminished me to learn about them. Anyway, he's long gone." She looked right at me. "What you and I had, Michael, was a great deal more than that." She sipped her wine.

She paused again, then continued. "I really regretted all the chaos that took us apart so suddenly. I thought seriously about dating you, but then I worried that you would just be the rebound guy and it wouldn't last. I was really conflicted, Michael. I would drive you to work just to spend some time with you, and then even that slipped away. But when I saw you on the plane, I... I realized how much I still care about you."

Claudia was silent for a moment, then continued. "I'm kind of pleasantly surprised that you're still single. I would have thought that Bridgette or Leanna or someone would have tied you down."

"Leanna finally married Martin, they danced around with each other long enough I guess. I think that Bridgette is married now too, she left the office last year."

Claudia idly played with her earring. "Nearly all of the single women in the office back then liked you. You probably could have done some discreet bed-hopping, and no one would have thought anything of it."

"Except maybe Dale," I chuckled.

Claudia's laughter pealed. "Yes, Dale, the office town crier."

"Anyway, bed-hopping wasn't ever my style. It still isn't. I've not done very well in the dating marketplace." I cleared my throat. "I never tried to contact you after the layoffs, because I wasn't sure what your situation was, or even whether you would be receptive."

She smiled. "Everything was so unsettled then, to say the least. I don't even know myself how I might have reacted."

"But surely you've met a lot of guys during your travels."

Claudia sighed. "The glamor of being a flight attendant is seriously overrated. Unless you like having your ass pinched by leering drunks, or having a mindless weekend with a married pilot. Sure, I've dated here and there, but really, by now I've lost interest in wading through all of the assholes hoping to find a gem. I loved the travel, but not that part."

Then I recounted the unpleasant experience with my ex-fiancee. "She was Hispanic, with a sort of exotic beauty. I was completely taken in by her. I thought that she viewed me as an opportunity to escape a mundane existence. It turned out that nothing was further from the truth." I took a gulp of wine. "She fully intended from the start to subsume me completely into her family culture. She didn't tell me that, of course. But the worst of it was her dysfunctional, completely matriarchal family who all still lived together. Her mother was divorced. She was divorced. Her sister was divorced with a child. It wasn't an encouraging pattern."

I paused. Claudia was staring at me intently. "Her father was completely subservient to the woman who had so callously cast him aside, and only had an occasional, almost meaningless visit with his children. The entire female side of the family apparently viewed their men as disposable saps. It was only after we broke up that I fully realized that after giving her a kid or two, I would almost certainly have been tossed out on my ear like the others, with half of my retirement money gone, along with handing them maintenance every month. I still shudder just thinking about it. I realize now that it was just the availability of some mediocre sex that kept me around that long."

Claudia was silent for a few minutes as she absorbed my story. Finally she said, "I can't imagine sex with you ever being mediocre."

"Yes, well you're also not a woman who would claim to be in love with me, yet would repeatedly push my mouth away from her with the excuse that it had 'been a long day.'"

"Oh, my God." Claudia was clearly shocked. "I would never, ever push you away Michael, if you intended to pleasure me like that."

With the air finally cleared, we both relaxed a bit. Claudia leaned against me as we sipped our wine. This time I had my arm around her unprompted. She was the first to speak.

"Michael, there must be some mysterious cosmic reason that we were allowed to escape all of that baggage and find each other again. I'm grateful for that, even though I regret not seeing you for so long."

"I would love to believe that, Claudia. I truly would. I can't help but feel though that we have wasted some time."

She looked at me and spoke softly. "Please, please don't feel that way. There was no guarantee that we could have made things work in such trying circumstances. Frankly, I am much more hopeful now that we will make it work. I really want to try now."

I had to acknowledge that she was right. I softly clinked her glass, both hers and mine displaying the elegant, small-breasted dancer. "Here's to new beginnings."

I had fully expected that our time that afternoon would be devoted mostly to us catching up, and becoming more acquainted with our slightly more mature selves. I noted that Claudia moved with even more poise than before, carrying her full height with an easy grace. I was looking forward to a quiet dinner together. It seemed appropriate for us to relearn just how to be with each other. What I did not anticipate was how quickly our physical desires would take precedence.

Claudia was against me on the sofa now, her closeness teasing my senses. I placed our wine glasses on the coffee table. I just had to kiss her. Then again, more passionately. I found myself nuzzling her neck, drinking in her lovely scent as she whimpered. I ran my fingers along her lovely jawline, then moved my hand down over one small mound. She sighed as I found and caressed the protruding nipple through the fabric. I placed a tentative hand on her leg. She immediately urged it upward under the hem of her dress as I stroked her smooth skin. She sighed again as I reached her cleft, and parted her legs slightly; her heat down there was apparent. Her mouth sought mine repeatedly.

There was no question now where we were headed. I reached for the blue dress tie at her hip and undid it. "Claudia, I need you so very much..." I whispered. She had her hand in my hair now as I parted the fabric and looked once again at her expanse of smooth skin, with the flush of arousal apparent above her bra. Claudia reached for me and stroked my erection gently through my pants. She put her hand on my chest and looked at me with dewy eyes.

She whispered urgently, "Bedroom... now... please...."

I pulled her up. She shrugged out of the dress and we went down the hall, trading the softest of kisses, our hands melded to each other.

*******

We were naked on my bed. Sexual energy filled the room, though it was tempered with the patience that comes from knowing that we had time now -- all of the time we needed. I stared once again at her erect, proud buds, highly aroused for me. "You are still, completely, entirely, beautiful to me," I breathed.

I lowered my lips to her, as I had done long before. We were once again bathed in the special eroticism I remembered, something I had experienced with no other woman. She shivered at the touch of my lips on her breast. I licked around her, slowly, teasing myself as much as her. Her whimpers of delight filled my senses, along with her heavenly scent. She finally pushed my head gently away from her nipples and slowly guided me down along her body. "Michael?" She whispered. "Would you... please... "

No other words were necessary. She was neatly trimmed I saw now, as I moved between her legs and gently pushed open the exquisite petals of her womanly flower. My tongue found her opening, slick with her fluids, her muscled sheath rippling in response to my attentions. I began to lick slowly up along her labia, then I teased her little nub out from its hood with my tongue as she moaned.

She welcomed my attentions to her most private parts, as if I was bearing precious gifts. The feeling of her on my mouth and tongue, her all-consuming scent and taste, and most of all, her obvious delight, overwhelmed me. These were pleasures of the flesh, but also very much pleasures of shared, deeply erotic emotion.

Claudia was gasping now, clutching at my head as her hips moved under me. I found a rhythm with my tongue that obviously pleased her, and she began the pleasurable ascent to her sensate peak. Her moans, her secretions, and her movements surrounded me as I focused entirely on bringing her to climax. She gasped, her thighs rippling, then her back arched as she cried out, "Mike!! My God! Ohhhh!"

We lay together, our fingertips touching. "You are an amazing lover, Michael."

"I'll want to get that in writing, please."

She giggled. "I think there's something else here that we need to take care of first." She stroked my erection once more as she stared into my eyes. I caressed her thighs, her cheeks, and again, her elegant, petite, and to me, very, very, sexy breasts. We kissed softly, again and again.

Then I moved over her body as she guided me into her pussy. We had not performed this act for a long time, yet every move seemed entirely instinctive and, well, right. Right again, at long, long, last. I felt her lips part as I entered and filled her exquisitely warm, tight vagina as she moaned and clutched at my back. For a moment we just enjoyed the sensation of being coupled. Then, slowly, we began to move.

Claudia had her legs wrapped around my waist now, urging me on with little cries. The incomparable feeling of the physical act of love embraced us both. We moved as one, feeling every sensation together. We were both panting now, our need all-consuming, our bodies melded together in harmony. She reached her climax again and I felt her pussy muscles clamping down on me like a fleshy vise. "Michael... my darling... please... pleeease!"

I exploded deep in her, the sensation prompting us both to vocalize our ardent delight.

*******

It was early the next morning. I watched as a gray dawn gave way and sunlight tiptoed into the room. I felt a sense of peace, something I had not felt for a long time. Claudia stirred, then opened her eyes and looked at me. I echoed my words from our past. "Hello there, beautiful."

Claudia smiled at me. I stroked her back. She looked at me. "Michael, I think you've made me a believer in the healing power of intimacy."

I kissed her. "Last night did a great deal for my scars too."

"When I saw you on the plane, I was in an absolute emotional whirl. Feeling your hands on me again after so long... it's almost overpowering."

"In a good way, I hope." I kissed her eyelids.

She smiled again. "In a very, very good way."

Her expression then turned serious. "I... I need to tell you about something else."

"Of course."

"During the blowup with Denny, one of the things he told me... was that he just wanted to know that he could still get a woman with real boobs." She was close to tears now, and the pain in her voice was intense.

I gasped. "That must have been very hurtful. I'm shocked, and very sorry." I took her hand, twining her fingers in mine, and squeezed it. I felt tears in my own eyes. How anyone could hurt her like that...

She squeezed my hand more tightly. "But I remembered that night when we had our date, and when you first saw my breasts, how you called me 'exquisite.' I've replayed that moment in my head so many times. You were the first and only man to ever say something that nice about my body."

I pulled her close, feeling her tears on my shoulder as she finally broke down and sobbed. I held her, rocking her against me, stroking her hair. I sensed her need for catharsis and just tried to silently comfort her. Finally the tears ebbed away. She lay still for some time, and I only gradually felt her relaxing again.

I pulled up her chin and kissed her deeply. She looked at me. "That was really nice. Do you have another one for me?" I felt such relief at seeing her calm again.

I looked deep into those wondrous baby blue eyes. "I will always have another kiss for you." Her soft lips again met mine, and we nipped playfully at each other. Then we shared another long, heartfelt kiss.

She cuddled in my arms as we enjoyed each other's warmth. "Claudia? I have a thought. From now on, can we only look back at the good times?"

Claudia smiled. "That's an excellent goal. I can't promise though that I won't remember any more of the bad things. But all the good ones will count for far more."

"As long as we try," I said. I was stroking her hair.

"Michael? Is mint chocolate chip still your favorite flavor?"

I had to laugh. "Well, that was a good time worth remembering! I do still like mint chocolate chip, but I may have recently found a new favorite flavor." I winked at her and placed my hand gently on her mound.

She looked at me, giggling a bit, her eyes sparkling, but I just answered her with a passionate kiss as she moaned into my mouth.

She pulled away from me for a moment and looked at me, smiling. "I called you 'Mike' last night, didn't I?"

I grinned and nodded. "Well, in all fairness you just may have been deep in the throes of passion."

Claudia sighed happily. "I sure as fuck was. But do you hate me for calling you that?" Her eyes were teasing mine.

I laughed. "Claudia, I am never, ever, ever going to hate you. And you can call me whatever you want to when you're in that state. Ok?"

Claudia smiled. "Thank you, Michael. And you may please keep me in that state as often as possible."

I caressed her shapely booty as she lay against me.

She jerked up again. "Hey, don't you need a 'throes of passion' nickname for me?"

I considered the question, thinking out loud. "That's a tough one. 'Babe' is so generic, not really intimate. 'Claudie' is just fucking weird. Ummm... how about 'Chloe'?"

Claudia looked at me. "You mean like the perfume?"

I shook my head.

"Oh! 'Daphnis and Chloe,' the Ravel piece you like so much."

"Yeah. That." I smiled, amazed and gratified that she remembered.

Claudia's wide smile, that always made her look so beautiful, shone like the summer sun. "I'd like that, Michael. I'd like it very much if you called me 'Chloe' sometimes when we make love. That would make me feel even more special than I already do."

Claudia was running her finger down my chest. "How is it that you make me feel so wonderful? I mean all of it. You stroke my hair and it's like being wrapped in a blanket of comfort. You breathe on my ear lobe and I feel like a queen. You touch my nipples and I never want it to stop. And your tongue..." Her voice lowered. "You should probably leave that to the Smithsonian!"

I chuckled. "I'm sure there are sound physiological reasons for all of it. I think the best answer I can imagine is that with you, I'm fully compelled to express that modest little emotion that we call love."

Claudia smiled. "My friend Lisa called me Friday night. She's the attendant who waved at you in the airport."

"Right, I remember."

"She told me that you and I looked like two people who haven't yet realized just how much they are in love. I've been thinking about that ever since. Maybe... that's why we let each other go? Isn't that the saying, if you love something, let it go? And if it comes back, it's truly yours."

"Lisa must be right. This all feels so different now, Claudia, in a really special way. I felt it from the moment you came through the door. Maybe the bad times are all behind us, and now we can just love each other without obstacles." I stroked her hair again as she snuggled close to me.

"Then I'll say it for the first time, with many more to follow. I love you very much, Michael."

*******

Our reunion hit us both as a life-changing event. Claudia's feeling that we had always had a connection was constantly at the forefront of my consciousness.

We kept our separate apartments for a time, mainly to ensure that we could keep our possessions reasonably tidy and have our full wardrobes handy for work. We still spent as much time together as our schedules permitted. I might have felt anxious about Claudia being away so often, except she had made it very clear that I was the man in her life. Period. We talked by phone nearly every night she was away. If we needed any further indication of the rightness of our union, it was evident in the fact we both looked forward so much to hearing each other's voice, and that those talks never staled or drifted into empty words.