Ann: A Love Story Ch. 90

"I found it."

"Pity," I said as she slipped it on and tied the sash.

"What time is it now?" she asked as she walked into my arms.

"What is it with the time? Are you catching a train or something?"

"Not exactly. But there is a departure." My puzzled look made her smile. "Come on, you need to get going."

"First you want me to stay, and now you want me to leave? My, you're fickle."

"I don't want you to leave, but Ann won't let me keep you," she replied wistfully as she took my hand, leading me toward the door.

Opening it, she leaned against the door jam, her left foot bent at the knee with the sole of her stiletto against the wooden frame. Pulling her to me, she brought her lips to mine, beginning a soulful kiss.

"Mmm...you smell wonderful," I complimented.

"Thank you. It's vanilla," she giggled.

"I know. It's one of my favorite scents on a woman," I winked, thinking about how I'd said something to Jennie about that very thing the night before, which obviously wasn't lost on Heather.

"Still flirting are we?" she blushed.

"Of course, you're still beautiful, and you're still my friend. Why wouldn't I?"

"Just wondering if things changed after this morning, that's all?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because, what we did in the shower was a lot closer to making love than fucking."

"No, we fucked. You make love in a bath."

"I'm just telling you how it felt to me."

"It was nice, wasn't it?" I replied, kissing her neck.

"It was perfect."

She looked into my eyes, her chest rising as she took a deep breath. She was holding my hands, squeezing them tightly. I got the impression she didn't want to let go. I also had a feeling she wanted to say something.

"What is it, Heather?"

"Pardon?"

"On the tip of your tongue...I can tell you want to ask me something."

She flicked her tongue across my lips and then giggled. "Did you mean that?"

"Mean what? Is something wrong?"

"Heavens no. I had the time of my life last night. I was just wondering...why did you ask Jennie to join us last night? What if she would have said yes?"

"She was never going to say yes, Heather."

"How do you know that?"

"She said it herself. She's married."

"Uh...you're engaged."

"Yes, to a woman that loves and trusts me. I know our relationship is different; we're more sexually adventurous than most couples. But that doesn't mean Ann and I don't set boundaries and stick to them."

"Neil, you invited Jennie to join us. Ann wouldn't have approved of that, would she?"

"Not without us talking about it first, or unless it was part of what she set up to begin with."

"Then why -- "

"Because she trusts me, and she would have approved of what I did."

"I don't understand."

"Heather, I knew Jennie wasn't going to join us because she's a married woman; one that just happens to have a jealous streak running through her. She was so concerned about how her husband reacted to you I knew she wasn't going to do the same thing with me. I did her a huge favor last night."

"Oh, I get it. You were testing her."

"Well, not at first. I was actually ticked that she interrupted us. But once I opened the door and she kept staring at me...it just sort of came to me. Besides, I wanted to finish what we'd started and she was kind of getting in the way."

"It still surprised me that you invited her like you did."

"So...it's not like she didn't go back to her place and start fucking her husband. They were louder than we were," I laughed.

Heather was running her finger across my chest, making little circles around my nipples through my shirt, which had them getting hard in response to her touch. Pulling her away from the doorframe, I took her into my arms once again. She let out a squeal as I kissed her passionately, my hand slipping between the folds of her rope to cup her left breast.

"Feels like you want to start things up again yourself," she whispered, the back of her right hand brushing against my growing cock.

"I wish I had time," I said as I reached for the tie holding the robe closed.

"Neil, not..." She paused, the door to the Henderson's apartment opening across the hall from us. Mr. Henderson walked out into the hallway, his wife at the door to kiss him goodbye. "...yet," Heather said, finishing her sentence as she watched the two of them staring at us.

Jennie looked at me wide-eyed once again, her nostrils flaring like they had when she'd first seen my naked body in the same doorway I was standing in. Then she looked at Heather, a fire in her eyes. It wasn't jealousy. It was more...well, I wasn't sure what it was. But I had an idea.

Kissing Heather again, I pulled the tie, opening the front of her robe. The fact that she'd said 'yet' gave me an indication of what she had in mind all along. And if not, I wasn't going to stop anyway. She started teasing Jennie's husband; I figured I'd push the envelope a little more, just like I'd done the night before. Heather moaned into my mouth as my hands made their way to her neck, moving the silk fabric across her shoulders. She shivered, but she also let me have my desire, arching her back as she lowered her arms to let the robe fall gracefully to her feet.

Pressing my lips tenderly against hers, my hands found her breasts, holding them as I thumbed her stiffening nipples. When I pulled away, she sucked on my lower lip, stretching it out seductively. She exhaled as she opened her eyes, turning toward her neighbors, exposing herself to them.

Jennie surprised me when she winked at Heather, a wicked smile of her own as she bit her lower lip. "Robert," she murmured, tapping her husband on the shoulder.

"Yes dear," he politely replied as he tore his stare away from brunette beauty that lived across the hall from him, giving his full attention to his wife.

She opened her little robe, letting it fall off her shoulders just like Heather had, exposing her own naked body. I grinned and nodded my approval, drinking in the incredible womanly curves as she posed for her man, one foot slightly in front of the other, hands on her hips as she proudly jutted out her magnificent chest. Her pale pink nipples darkened in her excitement, the buds of her upturned breasts hardening before our collective eyes. The little tuft of wispy red pubic hair adorning her mound made my cock stir in my pants.

Jennie's emerald eyes captured his. She looked amazingly confident as her husband shook his head in disbelief. There were no nerves showing, or hints of embarrassment, although I was sure she was feeling some of both. But she was also feeling the rush of letting go. She stood there like she'd done that a thousand times, her head held high as she reveled in the moment.

"This is how I'm going to be dressed today, Robert. I'm going to be naked all day, thinking about what I'm going to do to you tonight when you come home. Think about that as you drive to work this morning."

"Jennie...are you serious?" he said excitedly.

"Deadly," she said as she moved into the hall to kiss him hard and deep. It was a long, wet, steamy kiss; one designed to leave a lasting impression. "Don't work to hard today, sweetie. You'll need to rest up for tonight. I'm going to be ready for you."

With that, she gave his cock a long, hard squeeze. Then she offered us a little wave and turned, walking into the sexily into her apartment, giggling along the way as she left the door wide open and her robe on the floor of the hallway. Her husband was so turned on what she had done he never bothered to look back at the other naked woman standing in the hallway. Instead, he grabbed the robe, his eyes lingering as his wife disappeared down the hall toward their bedroom. He fought the urge to run after her, checking his watch, knowing he needed to leave. Closing the door, he raced down the stairs, no doubt rushing off to work in hopes of finding a way to come home early.

"That was interesting," Heather said as she wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me one last kiss.

"Just another day in my life," I grinned, thinking that what just happened was all because of my amazing fiancée and how she spread sexual happiness to others all across the land, even when she wasn't there.

"Thanks for being so amazing, Neil. I love you and Ann."

"We love you too, Heather. I had a wonderful time. See you at my place tonight," I kidded.

"Okay. Have a great day at work."

~*~*~*~*~*~

It wasn't the greatest day at work, but at least it was over, and Thelma and I were heading out. Of course, that really wasn't a fair assessment. After the way my morning started and given the way my previous day had played out, it was pretty much a given that there was going to be a bit of a letdown of some kind.

I navigated my way though the workday with relative ease. It wasn't the greatest production day we'd had since we started doing live work in the plant. But it was a pretty good day with regard to training. My crew was still learning to do their individual jobs; more importantly, they were learning to work together as a team and that was where my focus was.

I didn't care about how well my people did their jobs individually as much as I worried about how they performed collectively. Production would come over time, but only if they went from a group of individuals with talent to a crew that could not only work together but also cared about each other. So that's what I concerned myself with. It wasn't about the numbers, at least not yet. It was all about building a team.

In truth, I'd hired all of the people working in my department and from a pure talent standpoint Conrad had the better machine operators. I was okay with that. In fact, I wanted it that way, because I wanted people that I felt could work well together. I wanted people that would cover each others' weaknesses with their own strengths because it would make them all successful in the long run.

My idea was that I could manage the egos of people that were less talented, because I could make them better as a whole. That plan was beginning to take hold. From day one, we'd been getting out asses kicked by Conrad's shift because they caught on to the machine aspects quicker. But over the last month, my crews had been steadily closing the gap. There were even several days that we'd beaten them, making the confidence soar on my shift.

There was even confidence soaring about my shift. Not only was my boss happy, so was his boss. As Thelma and I walked down the huge tiled hallway toward the front doors on our way to the parking lot, Andy Evans, the man in charge of the plant, stepped out from an adjacent door.

"Neil, Thelma, great job today," he exclaimed, his thick southern accent echoing down the hall.

"Thanks Andy," Thelma replied happily, and rightfully so. The crew she was in charge of for her part of our department had been doing fantastic from the start, her years of doing the job at a sister company paying off early. She'd been so far ahead of Fred's crew from the day one it was a joke, and there were no signs of letting up.

"I wasn't so good today," I answered frankly, knowing that for Andy, numbers were really the bottom line we'd all be judged on. He surprised me though.

"That's bullshit, Neil. You had an off day, that's all. Did you learn anything?"

"Actually, yes. I usually do," I nodded. Of course, the first thing that popped into my head was my newfound appreciation for the elegant beauty of natural redheaded women. Ones with perfect porcelain complexions complete with adorable freckles that compliment their auburn tresses.

"Yes, you do," he laughed as he slapped me on the back, snapping me out of my momentary daydream of the beautiful Jennie. "You just gave Conrad a breather today. You'll be back nipping at his heels when you get back from your honeymoon."

"I'm actually kind of hoping that we'll have a better day tomorrow. And the honeymoon's next year. We're moving into the house next week."

"Actually, I knew that. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"My honeymoon?" I laughed.

"No. I meant next week, and the rest of this week."

"What about the rest of the week?"

"I was talking to Jeff and Thelma and, well, things are going really well on your shift. Your people have really coming together, and Thelma's okay with it."

"Okay with what?" I asked, looking at Thelma with a wary eye.

"It's only a couple more days. If they're not ready now, they're not going to be ready by Monday," she smiled.

"W...what are you both talking about?"

Andy chuckled, his heavy laughter filling the hallway. "Neil, this is going to sound a little harsh, but remember I'm in charge, and I had to look at the big picture."

"Uh...okay?" I questioned.

"My biggest concern when I found out you were getting married was how the timing was going to impact the plant. I've never said anything about it, because Jeff and Carol assured me from the moment we decided to hire you that you were the right man for the job. And they were right."

"I...I'm not following."

"I was worried, because the wedding is happening just as we're starting production on a real scale. My fear was that you wouldn't have your crew ready for Thelma."

"For Thelma? What does that mean?"

Thelma put her hand on my arm, drawing my attention. "He means that I'm going to be in charge of running my crew and yours while you're gone."

"And that's a lot of responsibility Neil. I was concerned that your people might not be far enough along to have what amounts to minimal supervision. Thelma's going to be covering a bigger area. But I should have known that I was worried about nothing. Carol's been telling me that for weeks."

"Well, thanks, I think," I grinned sheepishly. "But what does that have to do with the rest of this week?"

"Thelma's been telling me that you have to get some things moved into the house tomorrow."

"Well, yeah. I get the keys on my way home from work today. I've got to move my all of my things from the hotel, because Thursday is my last day there. And...I'm having some furniture delivered that Ann and I bought when she came out. A new living room set. But what does any of that have to do with work?"

"Because, you also have a bachelor party Thursday night."

"How the hell do you know that?"

"Carol," he grinned, although I should have known.

"Seems like there are an awful lot of people telling you things about me," I replied nervously.

"Only people that care about you," Thelma smiled.

"She's right, Neil. You're family here, and we care about you. Which is why I'm so happy that your crew is doing so well...it makes my decision that much easier."

"What decision?"

"I'm giving you the next couple of days off. I want you to get things settled at you new home. Then I want you to head to Indiana for your party and have a good time. And then...you marry that beautiful little fiancée of yours I've been hearing so much about and bring her back here. I can't wait to meet her."

"Me too," Thelma whimpered, her hand going to her chest as she got a little emotional.

"I don't know what to say, Andy."

"Say goodbye," he cackled as he slapped me on the shoulder again. "Enjoy the moment. You've earned it."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Andy could have meant anything when he said I'd 'earned it.' On the surface, he was telling me that I'd earned a couple of extra days off. He wanted me to take some time so I could get things settled before I left. I'm sure part of that was he wanted it over with. The sooner I got everything taken care of, the sooner I'd be back to work. But there was no denying that he was happy with the job I'd been doing. And more important to me, I could tell he was proud of me.

Yet in my mind, I looked at his phrasing completely different, particularly when he told me he wanted me to enjoy the moment. I couldn't help thinking about living through the emotional pain of my divorce. It had been a long, difficult climb to get my life back. I was finally myself again and I couldn't help but think that in some way, I had earned the right to be happy.

Of course, the center of that happiness was Ann. She'd be thrilled that Andy was giving me a couple of extra days off, even though I still wouldn't be heading back until early Thursday. I did have a lot of things to do at the house, so going a day early really wasn't an option. Yet as I drove to Greg Martin's office to take possession of the keys, I was at least able to relax knowing I now had time to do them.

It also excited me that I could leave much earlier on my trip back to Indiana. Not because I'd be in better shape for the bachelor party, although that was an added bonus. It had more to do with being able to make the entire trip during daylight, unlike the marathon drive I'd had just days before when returning to West Virginia after Thanksgiving.

Driving back after work when it would already be dark was going to be daunting. Enduring nine hours on the road in hopes of attending any kind of a party, let alone the bachelor kind, was impractical at best. Leaving in the morning was going to be the answer to a lot potential problems. For any other person on any given day news like Andy's would have been the highlight, or at least in the top three. I smiled, knowing that person wasn't me.

It was great news. But I was on the way to get the keys to my new home. The one I'd share with Ann, my soon to be bride. That was going to be a pretty big highlight. But I couldn't get a couple of others out of my mind as a rounded a curve and stopped at a red light.

The first that came to mind was Jennie. I'd suddenly come to appreciate the beauty of redheads, the image of her naked body forever etched in my mind. I felt like I'd matured in a way when I looked at her in the hallway, seeing all of her glorious beauty.

It was as if I'd been staring for years at a picture of a bridge hanging on a wall. But now I was older and wiser, and I saw that it was really a painting, and it had been a Monet all along. Jennie was graceful and elegant, more like a work of art; a new appreciation of auburn haired women was born.

Another thing keeping Andy's gift, as it were, off the top of my little highlight list was Heather. She had become such a dear friend to me...and to Ann. She'd been so kind and helpful in the two months I'd been living at the hotel. Not to mention how amazing she was in the sexual game we'd been playing almost from the day I arrived. What she and I shared in her apartment was unexpected and explosive. It was also a gift...from Ann.

And that was the thing I took away from everything that had happened up to that point in my day; the magic behind it all. Ann.

It was all about Ann. It had always been about Ann. I spent the night with Heather because of Ann. I got to see Jennie because of Heather, and that was because of Ann. I had a new job, which was because of Ann. I was pulling into the parking lot of a realtor in West Virginia to pick up the keys to a house I would soon call home, and that too was because of Ann.

"God, I'm going to marry her!" I said excitedly, thinking how it was just four days away.

The exchange inside with Greg was rather quick. Ann and I had already signed the rental agreement that would let us take possession of the house until we could cash in her company stock to get the down payment to buy the place. I only had to initial a couple of places and sign one more document, stating that he had given me two sets of keys each to the front and back doors, along with the deadbolts.

With that, the house was ours. Well, almost. We obviously still had to get the mortgage done. But it felt it like it was ours as I slipped one of the set of keys onto my key ring.

~*~*~*~*~*~