I Think We Both Need This

"There's nothing to do but I don't mind when I'm with you"

-Arcade Fire, Suburban War

*

Date: Thursday May 20th

Weather: Raining, 5 degrees

Time: 5:40am

Mateo

Before, Mateo started every day as much the same as he could. He would always wake up at 6 and slip out from under the sheets, leaving his wife Octavia to sleep. He would walk to the nearby gym or run through the park, and an hour later, he would be home to efficiently shower and shave and get dressed for work in the city. For the first few years of their ten year marriage, he used to wake Octavia by kissing her forehead, opening the curtains, and bringing her a cup of coffee. But for so many reasons, he had stopped. Instead, the sounds and smells of the experimental breakfasts he loved to cook would bring their children, Elodie, Santiago, and Ramona stumbling sleepily into the room, more or less ready for Octavia or Mateo to drive them to school on their way to town.

Of course, things had changed, but Mateo fought hard to keep some sort of routine in place, for his own sanity and because he'd read somewhere that this could be the thread that got them through a crisis. Now, Mateo found himself waking up earlier than before, even though he had nowhere to go. He would check in on each of his sleeping children: the twins, then Ramona. In place of his exercise outings, he would play loud music through his headphones and do crunches, jumping jacks, lunges...whatever he could think of for as long as he could push himself.

On this particular day, Mateo was awake but didn't want to open his eyes. He made a quiet trip to the bathroom, then slipped back into bed. His body felt cold and his mind unwilling to face the loneliness of the first few hours of the day. Starting the day off right so he could be the best father, husband, and journalist had been so important to him, but now he realized maybe what he needed most was some rest.

Mateo closed his eyes but couldn't quite relax enough to fall back asleep. He listened to the sounds of Octavia's breathing, and she rolled onto her stomach with a sigh. He thought about what to make for the three hungry kids that would be in the kitchen in a couple of hours, and wondered if he would remember enough science and math from his own childhood education to help them with their homeschooling today. He worried about his job.

A new sound brought him back to the present. His eyes snapped open. Was that...a moan?

His eyes adjusted to the dim light that was now creeping into the bedroom through the edges of the dark curtains. He sat up and saw the thin covers clinging to Octavia's curvy body, her hair filling the space between them in silky waves. Her sleepy body softly rocked with convulsions. Moans emanated from deep within her.

Mateo didn't dare to move enough to get a better view, but he wished he could see her face as she moaned. Thankfully, the full length mirror in the corner of the room was at an angle where he could just glimpse her face... closed eyes and open mouth.

He wondered what was turning her on so much in her sleep.

As if on cue, she mumbled, "Ohhhh... Mat..."

His cock was so hard it almost hurt. He wanted so badly to touch it while he watched her squirm, but curiosity over what she would do when she woke up won him over.

Mateo knew that when his wife's moans reached a higher and quicker pitch and pace, she was close. He was shocked that these sounds hadn't woken her up yet, but he was almost certain that an orgasm would. Matteo panicked and pretended to be asleep. In his mind's eye, tremors shook Ocatvia's body, her eyes opened, and confusion and embarrassment crossed her lovely face.

A few minutes later, Mateo peeked, and saw Octavia slip out of bed and tiptoe to the bathroom. In his mind, he played several scenarios, and each rivalled the last.

Perhaps Octavia would leave her sleep shirt in the bathroom, and climb on top of him, and rouse him with a kiss. No, she should leave the shirt on, and get back into bed just the way she had been. She would wake him and whisper slyly to him about her dream, then he would watch as she pulled the shirt between her legs and used it to rub herself...

Mateo heard the shower turn on. Octavia didn't usually shower in the mornings. Just a handful of steps away, his wife stood soaping up her body and rinsing her long hair under the water. He wondered if her hands would wander, inspired by the dream.

Early in their marriage, he wouldn't have hesitated to surprise her in the shower, or even wake her up for sex. But over time, they'd gotten out of sync with their desires. And quarantine was another story. He remembered Octavia's legitimate complaints about never having a moment to herself since everyone was home now. She recently shared with him how important it was to her to have some uninterrupted writing time every day, as well as the occasional un-rushed bath. It was fair. He had his morning exercise and cooking, so he made sure she got some evening self care and work.

We've retreated from each other, he thought to himself. This was true, only sexually. They still talked excitedly to each other about their work projects and were working as a team to shift effortlessly between being parenting, teaching, and writing each day. Lately, they listened to each other's fears in the middle of the night and often fell asleep clutching each other close. But all these new demands on time and space left them exhausted and tip toeing around each other. Courtesy kept them sane while they lived and worked, but it wasn't what he needed right now.

The water turned off and Mateo lay still. Octavia padded into the room, fully dressed with her wet hair down, and gently shook him. "Mat?"

Mateo opened his eyes and stretched. "Oh, what time is it? I overslept."

Octavia leaned down to kiss his mouth. Her wet hair was cold as it fell onto his chest. "It's only 8:15, sweetie. I think we need some groceries, want me to take the kids with me?"

Mateo looked up at her, and wondered how this woman's voice still seduced him when she was talking about household chores. He ran his fingers through his hair and gathered his thoughts. "Uh, yeah. Could you?" He placed a hand on her back. "I have a call with my team at 8:30, and I'll figure out what we can eat when you get back..."

"And then I'll get the kids started on their school work, and Jude will be here at noon to get their lunch...Text me if you need me to pick up anything." She squeezed his hand and gazed at him lovingly for a moment.

And just like that, Octavia was out of the room, then the door shut as she exited the house with the kids, leaving Mateo alone with his thoughts and desires in the grey morning light.

Date: Thursday May 20th

Weather: Overcast, 10 degrees

Time: 10:49am

Jude

If anyone asked one day, Jude would say she first noticed Veronique when she caught a glimpse of her dancing in the backyard. It would be romantic, but it wasn't strictly true.

Long before she saw her neighbor in the flesh, she had noticed new laundry hanging on the neighboring house's upstairs balcony.

Jude blushed when she made this realization of where her fantasies began. It wasn't quite what it sounded like.

At first it was just sheets and pillowcases in neutral tones. Then jeans and yoga pants and sweaters and socks. Finally, what looked more like small form-fitting exercise or dance clothes appeared. Jude caught herself gazing out the attic bedroom window on various occasions, curious about who was the owner of the clothing that was rippling in the wind, but blinds and curtains obscured this knowledge. Once, in the evening, Jude even thought she glimpsed lavender coloured lingerie, but it was an unseasonably warm night so the underwear was gone by the time Jude woke up.

Innocently (she told herself), Jude moved her easel nearer to the window by her desk, and after a day of painting, eating, and rewatching her favourite comedy tv show in the corner under the slanted ceiling, she was eventually rewarded with the identity of her muse unhooking her laundry.

The young woman was about Jude's age, and her body was taut and strong. Her hair was waist length and pitch black, and it swung behind her as she walked. She wore a pastel coloured matching sports bra and leggings set.

Jude was so captivated by this woman she had only seen in passing, that she considered painting her, but decided she wasnt that creepy. She moved her supplies to mitigate these distracting and disquieting thoughts, but she still couldn't get that woman out of her head.

When Jude woke up she was clutching a pillow to her chest and she could tell even before she opened her eyes that she had overslept for her babysitting job for her landlord downstairs. 10:50...That left nine minutes to get ready and one to run down the stairs.

Jude leaped out of bed and ruffled her hair until it resembled the carefree bob she intended. She rushed to use the bathroom, splash water on her face, and brush her teeth until they sparkled. She pulled on a long comfy dress and before running down two flights of steps to Mateo and Octavia's kitchen, she glimpsed the tempting woman stretching on her balcony. Jude sighed and pried herself away from the intriguing sight.

"Oh hey Mateo." She arrived in the kitchen and gave a small wave.

Mateo was sitting on the couch, and appeared to be on a video call. He looked up and smiled at her briefly, and gestured to the fruit on the counter. "Help yourself," he mouthed.

Mateo was sexy, Jude mused silently as she smiled back and picked up an apple. She considered his athletic body, smooth brown skin, and boyish smile. He was the kind of man she might be interested in, if she liked men. He was talking to his colleagues about a piece he was working on...something about the future of democracy, and Jude firmly decided his mind was his most attractive quality.

At that moment, Octavia and Ramona entered with several bags of groceries, followed by Elodie and Santiago pulling each other's hair and shouting. Mateo quickly muted his mic and grimaced apologetically at the screen.

For two hours that afternoon, while Mateo and Octavia sat in separate rooms taking one zoom call after another and finding time to write and research in between, Jude kept the children busy with takeout their mom had brought home, a walk around the neighborhood, and colouring books. At one point, she heard them having a quiet but heated dispute about the kids' behavior that morning, but they stopped and smiled when they saw her, and she pretended not to have heard.

Then it was nap time, and Jude's cue to leave.

Mateo was in the kitchen, filling a glass with water. "Jude. Thanks so much for doing this."

Jude smiled. "Of course...your kids are awesome. So...energetic."

Mateo laughed. "Yeah, you're so talented, getting them to nap." He pressed some bills into her hand and started to walk away. "Oh, have you met our new neighbor yet?"

"Who's that?" Jude asked innocently, but her heart was beating hard.

"Her name is Veronique. She was just starting the process of moving here from Belgium, and starting an MFA program or something but now she has to stay where she is. Right, that's why I wanted to connect you two, you're both into art, right?"

"Uh, yup." Jude twitched nervously.

"Octavia just dropped off some groceries and supplies for her this morning to help her settle in. Apparently she is doing cardio dance classes online and wanted to know if we know anyone who would be interested."

"Wow, yes," Jude replied a little too enthusiastically, then added," I mean, I do need motivation to stay active up there..."

"Cool. I'll forward you the email..." he started to walk away. "Say hi to you mom for us next time you call her, okay, Jude?"

Jude could barely contain her excitement. That evening in her room she refreshed her inbox until a note from Mateo popped up.

Sorry Jude- long day. Here's the info for Veronique's class.

Jude's eyes flicked to the clock on her laptop. The class started in ten minutes. For the second time that day, she was almost late. Without giving herself a chance to second guess her choices, she pulled off her dress and hooked a sturdy sports bra over her ample chest. Several combinations of outfits ended up scattered over the floor before she decided on bike shorts and a shirt was clean and looked decent.

She opened the link and thought, idiot. It didn't matter what she looked like, this was a livestream on youtube, not a call. Now she was late, and Veronique was leading the virtual class through a warm-up.

Jude got the impression that Veronique had done this before, then quickly became distracted, browsing playlists of fitness videos. Veronique Vu- 400 thousand subscribers? The chat was filled with people thanking her for her videos, calling her beautiful, saying "I love you, Veronique."

Jude decided to focus on following the workout and ignore the realization that she was not Veronique's only admirer.

Sweaty and exhausted, she watched for the remaining few minutes as Veronique's toned body flowed effortlessly. Jude drifted to the window and realized she could clearly see Veronique moving in the backyard, even with the giant willow tree that was between their houses.

"See you all next time," and the live video ended.

Jude opened the window and waved. "Hey! Veronique!" she called.

Veronique looked around, confused.

"Up here! I was just in your dance class. I, uh...Mateo and Octavia from downstairs told me about it."

Veronique hesitated then smiled and waved back. "Hey. What's your name? Tu parles Français?"

"Jude. Welcome to the neighborhood!" Jude realized how crazy she must look, sweaty and leaning out the window to shout over the fence. "And no, sorry! That was a great workout by the way, I feel like I'm more in shape already..." Jude rambled.

"Well, Jude, if you liked that one, I'll be doing these almost every day during quarantine. You should join!"

"I'll be there," Jude's mouth quickly agreed, even if her body was not likely to be as enthusiastic.

"Well, I'm going to shower. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow." Veronique waved and disappeared into the house.

Hours later, Jude was eating a midnight snack at her desk when she saw movement in the neighbouring window. The glass sliding door was open so Jude could see in clearly with no reflections. Veronique was lying on the bed reading in a shirt and light purple panties (that looked vaguely familiar), and a man with shoulder length blond hair walked in from the bathroom wearing only a towel. He looked like how Jude imagined a viking might look, except out of the furs and metal helmet. She felt disappointed when he stood in her view of Veronique, but then reconsidered when his towel dropped to the floor and revealed perhaps the best ass Jude had ever seen. It was muscular like the rest of him, yet plump and rounded.

Shame and desire burned in Jude. This was wrong. But...

The man knelt beside the bed, and Veronique arched her back to help him as he pulled off her panties. Then he was kissing her thighs and licking what Jude still couldn't see. But, Jude could see the evidence of his tongue's work: Veronique lolled about on the bed, her delicate features straining with pleasure. She pulled her shirt up and Jude's breath caught in her throat when she was the beautiful sight of those hard nipples like little jewels.

Jude's pussy throbbed, and her hand found its way to her mouth. She wished she could be the one to kiss Veronique's breasts. A sneaky thought crossed her mind. Maybe she wasn't doing anything wrong... Could it be possible that Veronique wanted her to see?

Suddenly, Veronique stood up, and she pulled the man over to the decadent lounge chair that was between the bed and the floor to ceiling windows. Jude watched, enraptured as Veronique mounted him and her slender, athletic body controlled their languid pace. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and it fell in a curtain over the side of her face.

Jude couldn't look away, but she reached into her drawer and clicked her vibrator on. She maneuvered her body until she was sitting on the humming piece of pink plastic. It sent waves of energy through her soaked underwear to her pussy then through her body. There was no turning back now. Jude's rocked her hips slowly, copying Veronique's motions, and relishing the pulsing sensation against her sensitive parts.

But, she didn't want to finish yet, and this scene was too overwhelming. It rivalled even her dirtiest fantasies, and was infinitely hotter than anything porn could offer. Veronique and her lover were some of the most objectively attractive people she'd ever seen, and Jude didn't like admitting this to herself, but their proximity (geographically and socially) turned her on even more. When Jude reached the edge, she reluctantly clicked the vibrator off for a breather. That's when she realized the window inches in front of her desk was still wide open from when she had called out to Veronique earlier. Fuck.

It was Jude's habit to moan out loud when she played alone, because fuck it. It made her feel sexy, there were no tenants on the floor directly beneath her, and anyway she always had music playing and loud air conditioning. But sound had easily carried the short distance to Veronique's small property this morning...they had barely had to raise their voices to be heard.

Jude jumped up to close the window, and paced her room, trying impossibly to calculate the probability that she'd been heard.

When Jude had the courage to revisit her desk, she was just in time to see Veronique leading the man by the hand to the floor to ceiling glass window. The man needed no more encouragement. He easily spun Veronique's lithe body until she was pressed up against the glass. Jude caught a glimpse of the viking man's mighty sword before he thrust it deep into Veronique.

Jude wanted to feel the same. She grabbed a silicone toy with a wide base this time and positioned it so it was upright on the chair, and slowly sank down on top. Her eyes rolled back into her head. It had been so long since she had felt these exquisite feelings. She bounced on the rubbery shaft until it was slick and she was moaning unabashedly once again. She could tell the crescendo she was building to was going to be powerful.

Jude remembered to open her eyes and peered across the yard once again and was shocked to her core. Could it be? Her attractive neighbor seemed to be looking RIGHT into her eyes. Surely she was imagining it.

Veronique looked beyond sexy with her petite body pressed against the glass and her straight hair half in her eyes. Her breathing intermittently fogged the glass for a few moments. Mr Viking was picking up the pace with both hands holding her breasts (he always has to ruin my view, thought Jude). Veronique's face was what interested Jude most in this moment. She was mouthing "Jude..." and her eyes locked with Jude's with shocking intensity.

Neither girl could look away. Jude copied the way Veronique was rubbing her clit, and the girls came silently, looking into each others' expressive eyes.

Date Friday May 21st

Weather: Storm, 11 degrees

Time: 8:19pm

Octavia

Octavia and Mateo had been arguing for what seemed like hours and it wasn't clear how it started, when it would end, or why it mattered anymore. Mateo had said something about how Octavia should have picked up healthier food for the kids earlier so they would behave better, and uncharacteristically, she had responded by snapping at him. She immediately regretted it, and he was right anyway, but the reason she'd given into their demands was because she got so overwhelmed in the moment. Maybe they should present a united front on issues like this. But he had been working. Whenever she was alone with them she couldn't be trusted to uphold the rules he created, and sometimes she thought he was too strict with the twins. And the pointless fight went on and on.