Clarice

I had gone to sleep in front of the TV while waiting for her to come home from her night out with the girls. It was around 11 o'clock when I woke, I hauled myself upright and headed for the shower. It was close to midnight and I was propped up in bed reading a book that I'd promised myself I'd get around to, when I heard her key in the lock.

"Hi Honey, I'm home." She headed for the bathroom. I got out of bed and the shower hissed into life as I opened the door. She had just slipped her panties off and was ready to step into the shower when I walked in. "Do you mind, I'd like a little privacy."

"I bet you would." I bent to pick her panties from the floor. "Did you and the girls have fun tonight?"

"Of course, a night away from husbands works wonders."

"I bet. What is this, you panties are full of cum, are you sure that you were with the girls?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that I know that you weren't with the girls because Maxine rang looking for you."

"Bitch."

"And I'm sure that this is not the first time that a night with the girls didn't involve the girls." I slammed the bathroom door behind me and collected the bag that I had packed earlier, just after Maxine's call, and got my car out of the garage and drove away.

I had only gone a Kilometre or so when my phone rang, it was her, I ignored the call to let her know that I wasn't interested in talking to her and kept driving until I reached a hotel. This would have to do for now.

My life sucks big time and this hotel room isn't helping. I lay in bed looking at probably the most boring ceiling while trying, unsuccessfully to calm my thoughts long enough to get some sleep. I had just about succeeded when my phone rang. Fuck, I should have turned it off. I didn't answer it, I knew who it would be and I felt less like talking to her this morning than I did last night.

I dragged my sorry arse out of bed, showered and dressed for the day ahead. I hoped that my work would distract me from my problems.

"You look like shit." Not the usual greeting from my PA.

"That pretty much sums up how I feel right now."

"Tell Aunty Clarice all. Has the bitch kicked you out?"

"No, I walked out of my own accord. You can probably expect calls from her wanting to speak with me. I am not here and you don't know where I am, but that I did call to say that I was taking a couple of day's personal leave."

"So you're asking me to lie for you, is that it?"

"Yes, will that be a problem?"

"No, not at all. Now, before we get down to work, tell me all."

"She was supposed to be out with the girls last night but I knew that she wasn't, and when she got home she couldn't get into the shower quick enough. But she wasn't quick enough, her panties were on the floor and filled with cum and it was running down her legs."

"The bitch. So what did you do, belt her one in the kisser and kick her out?"

"No, I grabbed my pre-packed bag and left. I've booked into a hotel for the time being until I can get my head around this latest in a long series of developments."

"I suggest that you check out and come home with me, you can give my husband someone to talk to when I'm out with my friends."

"Husband? I didn't know you had a husband."

"I don't. You're slow on the uptake this morning, are you sure that you can cope with the day ahead?"

"What do we have on today?"

"Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow."

"I've come into work to take my mind off my problems. I need to stay busy."

"I'm sure that I can keep you busy, there are some jobs to do around my apartment that I've been meaning to get to but have been waiting for the right time that never seemed to happen. Today seems like it could be the right time."

"I hope that these are not too technical. I'm hardly the DIY guru."

"Don't worry about it, they're not too technical. Come on before you think of another reason not to come with me."

We stopped long enough for Clarice to tell the Receptionist that she and I heading for an appointment that would take up most of the day, and that we might not make it back until the morning. "Let her lie to the bitch." She said as we headed for the car park.

By the time we'd arrived at her apartment she had managed to get me to open up about my marital problems. "I've thought for some time now that she might have been having an affair, unfortunately for me it wasn't the first and I recognised the signs."

"Do you mean that she has done this before?"

"Yes, several times."

"Then James, why didn't you kick her out then?"

"They were short lived and she demonstrated her remorse and contrition in a positive way."

"So the sex was good for a while."

"I wouldn't say that it was good, at least not for me. She wasn't at all adventurous in the sex department, it was missionary or nothing."

"Note to self, forget missionary." She said loud enough for me to hear, she had this smile on her face that I was scared of. What was I letting myself in for?

"These affairs, did she end them or was it the bloke?"

"I got the impression that it was the bloke, if she had ended I can't see why she would have to have been so contrite."

Her apartment was pretty much what I had expected, roomy without being huge, the furnishings were comfortable rather than stylish. She walked me around her domain, pointing out the features like the bathroom and toilet, her bedroom with a queen-sized bed. "Draw up a pew." She pointed to a stool at the breakfast bar. "Coffee will be ready in a minute or two." She busied herself with an espresso machine and had flat whites ready in no time. She took a container from one of the overhead cupboards and put a few Anzac biscuits on a plate. (Anzac biscuits are made from rolled oats and golden syrup and a few other things, and are a popular favourite in Australia.)

"These are good." I held up what was left of a biscuit after I'd taken a bite.

"Mum's recipe." She said around a mouthful.

"Thank you Clarice's Mum." I took a sip of coffee. As I expected, it was to my liking, after all she made several cups for me each day.

She collected the mugs and plates and stacked them in the sink. "Now down to business, come with me." If you'd thought that I would be shown what needed to be done you'd be wrong. "Sit with me." She sat on the two seat lounge and patted the space beside her. "How long have I been working with you?"

"It would have to be at least ten years, why?"

"Would you believe that for all but the first week I've had the hots for you?"

"You're kidding me, right?"

"I kid you not. I've know for some time that your marriage has had its ups and downs, and I've known when things have not been good and I've wanted to step in and help you out, to take advantage of your situation, but just when the opportunity presented itself you seemed to get over it. That would be when she came back with her tail between her legs begging for forgiveness. So I've waited and waited and waited, until this morning. I'm about to do something that I've wanted to do for years." She literally launched herself at me and kissed me, hard.

When she eventually unlocked our lips I pushed her away, not that far away, "Whoa, don't you think we're moving too fast?"

"You might be but I'm certainly not. I have been in love with you for years and I can't see the point in piss farting around any longer. Whether we do this or not is entirely up to you. As I see it you have two choices, go along with me or break my heart. What is it to be?"

"But I'm still married. I can't do this to my wife."

"Why ever not? She doesn't seem to have had a problem with cheating, but this is hardly cheating because to all intents and purposes, your marriage is over, kaput, defunct, history." Her hand was on my thigh. "He doesn't seem to have a problem." She gave him a squeeze to emphasise her point.

"What the hell, let's do it. If truth be known I have feelings for you and have had them for ages but haven't wanted to do anything about it. Let me rephrase that, I've suppressed my feelings."

Now that I've had time to think about it there's been this thing between us that, if I admit it, could be construed as a relationship. When she first came into my life I got the impression that she had a great deal of self-confidence, much more than a relatively new employee coming to work for a junior executive would be expected to have. That suited me and my style of work, I wanted her to do more than the usual secretarial duties, I wanted her to offer suggestions and draw my attention to facts that would affect what we were doing. From early on, when giving advice or an opinion, especially personal, she would refer to herself as 'Aunty Clarice', at other times she was simply Clarice. I found that she had a similar sense of humour to mine and she could bring a smile to my face, even in the most trying moments. To put it succinctly, we got on fine.

"I don't know where you're at professionally," I said by way of introduction, "And I don't really care. What I do care about is where you are going. If you're prepared to spin your wheels and just do what is expected of you, I'll apply to have you replaced, but if you're prepared to work with me and develop our professional relationship and become part of a team, then welcome aboard. I will review our position in one month, the result is up to you." A month later we were a team.

I'll give Clarice this, when she sets her mind on something there's no stopping her. We were at it for at least an hour and missionary never made an appearance. I came twice before we called a halt to our love making. "Well, how did we do?" Clarice asked.

"Compared to what? It was nothing like I've ever had before. I never knew that women shuddered so much when they came, with her it was 'yes, yes, more, come on, oh god that was great' then she'd push me away."

"If that was the extent off her sexual repertoire, it's no wonder her affairs didn't last. Didn't you get bored with that shit?"

"Like I said, I had nothing to compare it with. Now I know better there's no way that I'm going back to that."

"I will make you one promise."

"What's that?"

"You will never be bored, ever, not even when I get pregnant and blow up like a balloon, we'll find a way around it."

"Christ, this is the first time for us and already you are talking about getting pregnant."

"Don't you want kids?"

"Eventually yes, but let us cement our relationship before we even think about it."

The cementing took up most of the day and I got to know more about this warm and funny person snuggled beside me. In the post coital breaks when we should have been having a cigarette (neither of us smoked) she told me of her life, her rise from mediocrity to her current status, (Clarice and mediocrity don't belong in the same sentence), her life with loving parents who demonstrated their love for each other all the time, and how she wanted to find that same love when her time eventually came. Then she told me how she suffered her unrequited love for me, living in hope that my marriage would fail so that she could get her hands on me. There were now no parts of my body that her hands have not explored.

Because the time-gap between our daylight lovemaking and our evening session was not lengthy, we ordered pizza and she produced a bottle of red wine. "Not too much of this, we can't have you developing brewer's droop."

"Fat chance of that ever happening."

"So I see," we were wearing not a lot and his Lordship was certainly upstanding. She screwed the cap back onto the bottle and grabbed both glasses. "To help regain our strength later," she said as we headed for our bed. I can't believe how great that sounds, 'our bed'.

When we finally called a halt I came to the realisation that, in the past how many hours, I had made love as many times as I had in the past month.

We had to cut our joint shower short when we realised that we were running late for work. I parked in the staff car park and we headed for the office. "James, there's a woman waiting for you, she says that she's your wife."

"Oh. Okay, thanks."

"I'll just slip down to the the little girl's room and make sure my makeup's okay."

I hadn't even got fully into my office before she was sobbing on my shoulder. "James, I'm so sorry. I know that I've hurt you badly and it won't happen again."

"I've heard that story before." I sounded like I was hurt badly by her actions. If the truth be known I couldn't have been more pleased and this gave me the strength not to capitulate as I had in the past.

"But I mean it this time. Look it was my boss that I was with last night, he invited me to dinner, he needed a shoulder to cry on, his marriage is going through a rough patch and it looks like divorce is the only outcome. Well, one thing led to another and we went to a hotel and I felt sorry for him. He pleaded with me to let him make love to him and because I felt sorry for him I did. It was just sex, I have no feelings for him, believe me."

"Would that I could, I don't believe that this is the first time that you and him, you know, have had sex."

"What do you mean?"

"I have had previous experience with situations like this and have gotten so that I can recognise the signs. In the past I have waited for these affairs to end so that I could pick up the pieces. It will not happen again, and that is my final word."

She was just about to launch into another bout of remorse when Clarice came into her office and stashed her bag in her desk drawer. She had several message slips in her hand. "James, you have a handful of messages that need to be addressed. Who's your friend?"

"Clarice, this is my wife Maureen, she was just leaving."

Maureen was about to contradict that but thought better of it. "We need to talk, what time will you be home tonight?"

"I've done talking and I will not be home tonight, I've checked into a hotel until I can find a suitable place."

"Please, I need to speak with you, be with you, will you please come home."

"No."

"Please, I know that I've not been faithful to you, but I still love you and want so much to make things right with you."

"I'll give it some thought, that's it I've thought about it, the answer is still no."

"That's not fair."

"How dare you speak to me about fair. Were you thinking of me while you were shagging your boss or whoever it was that you were shagging last night?"

"Oh you're impossible!" She stormed out.

"I don't think that I've heard the last of this." I said to Clarice.

"Neither do I," She handed me the blank message slips. "We'd better watch ourselves when we leave work this evening. I'll leave ten minutes early and head to the Coffee Bar up the road. Give me a call just before you leave and I'll be outside with a couple of take-away coffees ready to jump into your car."

Maureen was waiting in the car park and as I drove towards the exit she stepped in front of me, expecting me to stop. I slowed right down until my front bumper touched her legs and I let the car roll forward, forcing her to back away until she realised that I wasn't going to stop for her. She stepped aside and I drove out of the car park.

Good to her word, Clarice had a coffee in each hand and I had to lean over and open the door for her. She handed me mine, I put it in the cup holder, accompanied by a kiss before I pulled into the traffic. While I hoped that we had got underway before Maureen could follow us, I wasn't taking any chances. A zig followed by a zag then a U turn found us heading the right direction to Clarice's apartment and another night of pleasure.

As soon as we were inside she told me to get out of my clothes. "Now lay down on your stomach, I'm going to give you the best massage that you've ever had."

"That won't be hard, I've never had one."

"Oh you poor thing, now relax." She straddled me, pouring some scented oil over my shoulders she began to knead the stress knots out. This took at least fifteen minutes before moving down my body to my arse cheeks. This took some time, with the occasional foray between my legs before she worked on my legs. "Roll over, it's my turn to have fun" In a matter of minutes I had a raging erection that she concentrated on until I was just about ready to climb the wall, then she deflated him by some pretty amazing action with her pussy. "Time for dinner." She said, rolling off me.

Following an excellent dinner washed down with a couple of glasses of a magnificent red, we washed the dishes and tidied up the kitchen.

"Now it's my turn, get your gear off." Quick as a flash she was standing naked in front of me. I had to get her on her belly before I forgot my intentions and made love to her. It would require willpower, but I hoped that it she would think it worth waiting for.

I straddled her, as she had me, and began at her shoulders, working my way up to her neck and down her torso. This included side trips to her breasts that elicited a contented sigh from her and a hardening of her nipples. I arrived at her arse cheeks and spent a lot of time on those, making sure that she got the full benefit of my newly found massaging skills, before my hands slid between her legs. This was where the fun would begin, I teased he pussy unmercifully, sliding round it before a finger pushed inside up to the first knuckle before leaving to continue its journey to her clit and up to her arse hole. It didn't enter that particular orifice, just lightly caressed it. When I returned to her pussy she raised her hips in an invitation for me to penetrate it. I refused the invitation, I wanted her to plead with me to introduce my cock to her. He was ready for it but I wasn't yet, I had more, I was going to say work but this wasn't work as such, it was me getting her ready for something special.

I had two fingers inside her sopping pussy and began to increase speed. It didn't take long for her first orgasm and even less for her second. It was now time to introduce my cock into the equation. He slid into her and began to slide easily in and out, slowly increasing speed until we both reached our climaxes. "Christ, for someone with little experience you really know how to get me off." She said as she slowly lowered her hips to the bed."

"Lack of experience doesn't necessarily equate to lack of skill I'll have you know." I said as I withdrew to allow my come to ooze from her pussy.

"You've made that very clear. You do realise that I'm going to want more of this, don't you?"

"What have I let myself in for?"

We were hard at work the next morning when Clarice's phone rang and she came into my office. "You have been summoned." This was her way of telling me that Roger, the big boss, wanted to see me about something. I grabbed the files I'd been working on and headed for his office. "Sit down James," I sat," How are we going with the Smithson project?"

I handed him the file. "We're ready to go as soon as we get the approval."

He didn't look at the file. "James, what is going on between you and Clarice? I've noticed a change there."

"She's helping me through a rough time with my marriage. Maureen and I have separated."

"Why, what happened?" He had met Maureen at several work functions and she had given the impression that we were a happily married couple.

"She came home from a night out with the girls but it was obvious that she had been with a man. This wasn't the first time this had happened. She told me that it was a once off with her boss who's having problems with his wife."

"I find it hard to believe that she had it off with him."

"Oh, do you know him?"

"Yes, and mate he's a freckle puncher, he pushes shit uphill, he's as camp as a row of tents, he's as gay as the Sydney Mardi-gras."

"I get the picture. I can't say that this came as a surprise to me. I get the impression that she seeks out men to prove to herself that she's still attractive to them. In the past I've been there to pick up the pieces when these ended, but not this time. I think that her pride has taken a hit because this is the first time I haven't been there for her."