Ecstacy

Jay slumped into the vacuum of his bed the minute he was through the door. His substantial, dimly-lit bedroom was in this moment gently buzzing with the latest trending music. No one heard the audibly drawn sigh that issued from him as he relived the day's events; what had his life come to? Repetitive technical work, ineffective leadership, emotionally unintelligent colleagues... this was not the life he had visualized at 28.

He reminisced back to the simpler days when he could afford dedicating hours at a time to things he actually loved: creating enchanting, transcendent music, entertaining local crowds at dingy comedy bars and learning new languages as he travelled through exotic cultures... all seemed distant pipe dreams now.

His phone chimed as it came to life; it was a calendar notification:

7:00 PM - Get baking utensils

Memory descended upon him and this time Jay cursed under his breath; his sisters had questioned his culinary skill which triggered his otherwise calm and dormant ego, leading him to make vehement promises involving the baking of a spectacular cake. But he was missing the necessary equipment (hence the reminder) and what with the back-to-back meetings, the looming deadlines and Joseph's tantrums, he had lost all awareness of dropping by the stores later that evening. But resolute minds prevailed, and with supreme exertion of will, Jay was able to hoist himself out of the warm coziness of his bed and into the dark depths of his cluttered wardrobe.

**********

"Excuse me, would you know where I can find the... the... the thingy which you put a cake on, and it makes it easier to dress the cake?"

A cold stare. Then: "Did you mean a cake stand?"

"Yes! A cake stand, that's what I need."

The store attendant ushered Jay into the back of the store. The mall wasn't busy for a Thursday evening; the Toronto Leafs were taking on the Montreal Habs in the next chapter of a decades-old rivalry. As someone who grew up with soccer, to Jay hockey was blasphemy. With soccer one uses strength, agility and technique to cleverly out-maneuver normal-sized human beings, and navigate a ball you can actually see across a 100 yard pitch, until you launch it finally, marvelously, gloriously into the back of the net. In hockey you do the same but with unusually long, phallic sticks, wearing ice skates, in ball-numbing cold, hitting a puck visible only after a goal has been scored. He would never get on board.

The attendant abandoned him at the threshold of the daunting aisle, and now Jay stood still and stared; rows upon rows of shelves teeming with images of a variety of cake stands. How does one even decide?! On a normal day he would remain calm and composed, but this had not been a normal day. He felt an overpowering need to express himself physically, so he threw up his hands in exasperation and blurted out: "Why couldn't there be just one cake stand?!"

From behind him came the answer: "If there were just one cake stand then how would you choose between one-tier and two-tier cakes?"

Jay spun around with a start. Her voice had warm notes, the kind you could tell belonged to a gentle, upbeat person without even needing to see them.

She continued: "Then there are glass stands, which look fancy, but if you need something sturdier you'd better go with a metal stand. There are stands that can roll around, iron-wrought ones... really depends on what you're trying to bake."

Jay was still taking her in; her thick, dark hair fell gently about her face, spiralling further and further downwards until they hugged her shoulders. Her face had a rounded fullness about it, with lips painted in glossy maroonish, and large, sparkling brown eyes that spoke of a laid-back enthusiasm. He noticed the eye-liner she wore both above and under her eyes; exactly how he liked it.

As if rehearsed, Jay donned his award-winning smile: "You seem to know a lot about cake stands".

"Yes! I love to bake." The excitement in her tone brought authenticity to her words.

"That's perfect actually, I'm looking for a cake stand and the attendant here seems to want to be left alone. I was wondering if you have a minute or two to help me decide?"

"Sure I'd love to. What're you looking for?"

"Erm, well, just one-tier would do. I don't think the look matters, I can put it on an oven dish to serve. I'm going to put the cake in a plastic bag —", she cringed visibly, "— anyways. So I think a metal one will do?"

"I think you need a lot more than just a cake stand. Let's see...".

She was cute. When she made her way deeper into the aisle, Jay took the opportunity to check her out surreptitiously. It wasn't his style to ogle at every girl, but in the midst of a culture that values skinny, anorexic figures, her fuller body caught his attention. She was sporting a medium length black dress that clung cautiously to her curves, even accentuated them. A brown leather jacket brought colour to her constitution; it gave her a sort of classy sophistication that was immensely attractive to him. By the time Jay noticed her shoes with their subtle heels, she had already begun moving down the aisle; as she moved, she whipped the hair out of her face and it flew behind her in her wake.

Maybe it was the longing for the thrill and adventure that he had been reminiscing about earlier, or perhaps it was the pent up energy from 14 months of celibacy, but suddenly Jay found himself in the middle of an ecstatic day-dream, parts of which involved throwing her against one of these cake-stand-littered walls. Her curves were perfect for scooping up into both hands, the kind he could bury himself deep inside of, and when he'd use some force it would send appetizing ripples up her body. All these thoughts were beginning to stir something in the lower echelons of his body. At one point she bent over to inspect the lower shelves, and Jay had to tear away for fear of embarrassing himself in public.

"Ah, here, I think this is what you're looking for." Blissfully unaware of the contents of his imagination, she handed him a box with a picture of a glass, one-tier box. "It has a rotating round table too, which is useful for dressing".

It had been a while since he'd asked anyone out. The spike in adrenaline that had resulted from these wild fantasies fuelled his motivation, and the elevated testosterone coursing through his veins brought him courage.

**********

"I love this boardwalk, it's one of the few places in Downtown Toronto where I can have complete solitude."

"Yeah I can see that.", Kay replied with understanding, "It's right by the airport too, which is cool."

Jay was perched on the edge of the boardwalk, feet dangling high above the murky waters of the lake below. Kay was sitting cross-legged beside him; it had been a few weeks since she had helped him with the cake stand. This time he had decided to take her near the lake for a picnic, opting for something low-key instead of the ambitious, high-energy night of salsa-dancing a week ago. Next to him was a straw-strewn picnic basket carrying nourishment in the form of chicken salad sandwiches and salted nuts. She had liked the idea, and he liked that she had liked the idea; low maintenance was attractive.

They'd been sitting there now for the better part of the last 2 hours, talking about life, family and dreams. Light from the sinking sun was fading to a close.

"So are you going to show me your baking collection or what?"

Kay pulled one last time from the joint he had proudly rolled earlier. The cloud of hazy smoke issuing from this weed-smoking bombshell was turning him on.

"Sure. Shall we Uber?"

**********

They were standing very close now; he could feel her body heat. "And what's that?"

"That's a spatula". Her arm touched his chest.

"Oh... how is it different from a wooden spoon?". He cleared some misplaced fringes from the side of her face.

"Well...". She looked up at him. "A spatula is flexible...", she was square with his body now, "... which helps with shaping the frosting...". Their eyes met and locked organically.

**********

Jay had slipped out of this world, he was now in a universe that comprised just him and her. Nothing else was important, no other thought mattered. Kay's arms wrapped around his head as he nibbled her ear, pecked at her cheeks and brushed his stubbled face across her neck. A faintly audible moan confirmed her approval, and her arms tightened around him to cheer him on.

He strategically made his way down; as he did, the warmth and bareness of his chest sliding across her body made her feel safe and comforted. Then his chest was on her stomach, and he could feel her breath quicken. Jay buried his face deep into her still clothed chest, something he'd been fantasizing about for weeks. But he didn't linger; turning her on fully was more important.

He now focused on both sides of her hip bone; in response, her body writhed first this way, then that. When he got to just above her clittoris, he paused and retreated. Her pelvis rose an inch higher as if reluctant to let his lips go. He concentrated instead on her feet, first massaging the soles with strong fingers calloused from years of playing guitar, then rising up and kissing her ankles. Higher, higher, higher he went, paying careful attention to each bite-sized portion of her legs, first the left, then the right, until no portion was left unkissed.

At last, he arrived at the junction of her widespread legs where now he hovered, just high enough so that even though he didn't touch her, his breath still did. This sent beads of warm energy spraying up her spine, giving rise to a hungry void in her belly itching to be filled. "You're such a tease!"

A sly snicker; then Jay relented and fully launched his horizontal lips onto her vertical ones, starting from the bottom all the way to the top in one long, wet lick that seemed to last forever. This triggered a flood of tingling sensations emanating from her nether regions, coursing up her spine and filling her breasts. What little was left of her connection to this world severed; she was beyond this universe as well.

A few more flat-tongued licks; then, with two large, open-palmed hands Jay reached above his head and held her breasts, one in each palm. First he took his time absorbing their outline, then something primal took over and he squeezed satisfyingly; they were too big to fit, and some parts bulged out seductively from the crevices left by his hands. The effect was immediate: the contrasting fullness against softness sent volumes of blood pumping into his groin. Jay had to bend his knees slightly so he wouldn't hurt his erect member as he lay on his belly, head still between her legs.

After her clittoris had swelled to a pea-sized spongy tissue, he lifted his tongue and let his lower lip brush further downwards. Initially her body complained about the retracted attention from her clittoris, but Jay understood this was necessary for her to climax. Later he would repeat this cycle of loving her clit, then ignoring it, as a way of building up an ocean of unresolved sexual tension.

Kay's pelvis was now moving in all sorts of directions. Her legs held his head in tight embrace, but this was not necessary: Jay knew this was the final stretch, and he would never tease a girl at this stage in her arousal. He let fresh batches of saliva trickle onto her, which mixed beautifully with the juices glistening there already; the thick concoction served as lubricant to the quick, short strides his tongue made near the top of her labia.

Jay knew she was close and it would be rude to stop now. He fashioned his tongue so it had a pointed edge, then focused his energies onto the minute, now highly stimulated clittoral region. Kay writhed further uncontrollably, her body contorting with rhapsodies in answer to his tongue's melody. One bent leg rose slowly above the other, climbing higher and higher, until at last, with one final, fateful swish, Kay's body was hit with waves of euphoria that sent her trembling turbulently. Her leg suspended in mid air now returned gradually as the ocean of unresolved tension found resolution.

Later Jay would take her lips into his own while his hips explored her slowly and rhythmically. When she positioned herself on all fours, he took her firmly, with a more assertive stance. Some time later she would feel a warm, messy goodness fill her once he had wonderfully exploded inside her. Both lovers would succumb to sleep, figures entangled in such tight embrace that, to the onlooker, it would be unclear where one ended and the other began.

**********