Ivy

They were about to come to blows because one of the guys had used the others' special mop. The way that Ivy calmed them down and the things she said told me a lot about her.

"He knows it's your mop, Steve," she told one of the guys. "But all of the mops were bought to keep the store clean, so if you weren't using it, someone else may as well use it." Then she very affectionately elbowed him in his side, and said, "Right?"

The man had smiled and nodded right back at Ivy and I knew then and there that he had fucked her, and probably intended to again. The look on his face also told me that he expected to relatively soon.

I guess I'd been thinking of Ivy as my mop. But clearly it didn't matter how much I cherished her. In her mind any time we weren't together, anyone else could use her. That kind of put things in perspective for me.

I left the store before Ivy saw me and got back into the car with her kids. Jasmine Ivy's oldest daughter leaned into the front seat as usual to talk to me. "Tim, what did my mommy have to do to be your girlfriend?" she asked.

"Who told you that your mom was my girlfriend?" I asked her.

"Everybody," she said. "My grandma even said she hopes that mommy can stop being a hoe, so she doesn't lose you."

"Jazz do you know what any of that even means?" I asked, hoping that the little girl was shielded from the details of her mother's sex life.

She nodded her head seriously. "If mommy loses you, can I be your girlfriend? I'm not a hoe."

"I think I'm a little old for you Jazz," I said just as Ivy sat down in the car.

"Who's a little old for Jazz," asked Ivy smiling. "Does my girl have a boy in her sights already? And speaking of being in someone's sights. Marsha told me you were in the store honey. You should have come and waited for me." She reached out to kiss me and I pretended not to notice.

The picnic went great that day, except for the fact that I avoided spending any time alone with Ivy. What I'd seen in the store started me thinking about the true nature of our relationship. I guess it made me think about where I saw us going and how.

I truly loved Ivy, more than I'd ever loved any woman in my life at that time, but I suddenly realized that things would never, could never work for us. My plan until then had been to ask Ivy to marry me as soon as the semester was over. I'd even started seriously looking at and inquiring about engagement rings.

I guess in my mind since Ivy often told me that I was the only man she was dating, and also the only man other than their fathers that she allowed around her kids, that it meant something. Now I saw that though she hadn't lied to me, my own foolishness had put ideas in my head.

I thought that since she wasn't dating anyone else, that she wasn't fucking anyone else either, silly me.

When most of us go to the dentist, we know that it's probably going to be painful. We go anyway because we know that in the long run, short time pain is better for us than a more serious health problem. That's why I went to Ivy's store the next day while she wasn't working.

Marsha recognized me and came and told me that Ivy wasn't working. I told her that I was planning something for Ivy and needed some help from the two guys who worked in the back. Marsha told me to go on back and see Dave and Steve, but not to stay too long because they hardly ever did any work anyway.

Dave was sitting in the back on a stack of crates. I knew he was Dave by the nametag on his shirt. "Hey Dave," I said. He nodded at me. He knew I seemed familiar but he couldn't remember where he knew me from.

"I need to ask you a question, but I need you to keep it between you and me," I said. He nodded again. "How long have you been fucking Ivy?" At first he got nervous, but when he saw that I wasn't upset he just smiled.

"About 3 years," he said. "It started the first day I came to work here."

"Has it slowed down any in the past 2 months?" I asked. He thought about it for a while, as Steve joined us. "Actually, I think I'm getting more now," he said.

"More what?" asked Steve.

"I've been getting more pussy from Ivy these past few weeks," snapped Dave. "If it's any of your business. How about you? Do you think the truck drivers are getting more too?"

I just walked away as they started arguing. "You dumb ass," I heard Steve say. That was the guy she wants to marry, why would you tell him you were fucking her. Now we all might get cut off."

"Don't worry about it guys," I told them from the doorway. "I have no intention of getting anyone cut off."

I left the store with an empty hole in my chest where my heart used to be. I went and saw the Dean of my college and asked him if it was too late to change my mind about accepting the job teaching algebra at the state university. Originally I'd turned the job down even though it meant more money and more prestige because I didn't want to leave the area and Ivy.

He told me that as far as he knew they still didn't have anyone and he was pretty sure the job was mine if I wanted it. I told him that I did and he made a phone call.

After he got off the phone he told me that I could drive up to the state capital and meet with them the following evening. I reminded thin that I had class tomorrow evening as well. He told me he'd have someone cover my class. I thanked him and headed for my evening class.

When I got to class Ivy was standing in front of the door waiting for me. I opened the door and started putting problems on the board. She and the other students filed into the room and took their seats. Class went as usual, with Ivy sitting in the front row staring and smiling at me the whole time. When I walked around the room helping students work their problems, I sat down next to her.

"You really should try to work some of the problems, so you can pass next time," I said. "I hope your next instructor treats you better."

She looked at me with a funny look and stopped smiling. "Tim, in my whole life, no man has ever treated me better than you do. Remember that note you gave me last class?" she opened a heart shaped locket around her neck and pulled out the note. It was folded very small so it would fit inside the locket.

"This is the exact same way I feel about you," she said smiling again. "Do you know that I think about you all fucking day long? And my kids love you too, Tim. Even Jasmine does, and she doesn't like anything or anyone. That girl doesn't even talk to her own father, but she talks to you."

"I love her too," I said. I had to try really hard not to cry while class was going on.

Somehow though I managed to make it through the rest of the night. In the last hour of class I reviewed everything the class would need to know for the final exam the following week. They all cheered when I handed out a take-home practice test that would show them the types of problems they'd need to know how to solve for the final.

"So where are we going?" asked Ivy.

"Ivy I have to get up very early tomorrow. I have to drive up to the state capital for a meeting. I'm sorry it just came up," I said.

Her face exploded in a smile. "That's what you've been so down about?" she asked. "Look silly man, I told you that I love you. One day apart isn't going to hurt us. We're going to be together forever. Walk me to my truck." She started laughing again. "You really had me scared for a while. You had me thinking you were about to give me the speech all of my girlfriends get, when a guy doesn't want to fuck them anymore."

"Haven't you ever gotten that speech yourself," I asked.

She looked at me as if I'd just asked her the silliest question in the world. "I've never had a man not want to keep fucking me, for any reason," she said. "But you'll find out yourself soon enough." she was smiling at me like a shark smiles at a smaller fish.

I walked Ivy to her truck and as she got into it, I turned and walked towards my car.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked.

"Sorry, goodbye Ivy. I'll see you when I get back," I said. Then I got into my Mustang and drove away, leaving her puzzled.

The next day I was given a tour of the much larger state university by the head of the math department, Dr. Colleen Bennett. She was a beautiful woman. She was very tall and slim. She had nice boobs and seemed to want them to be seen. We had a pleasant conversation while we walked. She asked me about my career plans and liked my answers. She told me what the job paid and told me that they had several candidates they were considering.

She said that most of the other candidates either had no teaching experience, or too much teaching experience and not enough pure math education or experience, so if I wanted the job and could let her know within a reasonable amount of time, the job was mine.

"Is now soon enough?" I asked her.

"You're hired," she said. "When can you start?" I noticed that she was touching my arm even as she asked me this.

"I have one more week of classes to teach and then grades to submit. I'd also need to close up my house, and find a place to live in this area. So I'd say two weeks. Is that reasonable?"

"Do you have a wife or girlfriend that you'll be bringing with you or making arrangements with?" she asked.

"No, it's just me and Eartha," I said Sadly.

"Who's Eartha?" she asked.

"You'll meet her soon," I said smiling.

"Is she pretty?" she asked again.

"Beautiful," I said with a tone in my voice that implied love.

As we got to the parking lot Colleen's mood was more subdued. She wasn't talking nearly as much or touching me either.

"I was going to offer to help you get settled in, or close down your house," she said sullenly. "But I guess Eartha can do that."

"I don't think she does that kind of thing," I said smiling. "But why don't you ask her."

"What's her phone number?" she asked flatly.

"The same as mine," I said. "But why do you need a phone, she's right in front of you."

Colleen exploded in laughter. "Eartha is your car!" she said.

"What did you think she was?" I asked innocently. Colleen agreed to call me and come down on the weekend and bring brochures for apartments near the university and some that were on campus.

During my drive back home I was lost in thought. First I thought about the games I could play with Colleen. She was a very pretty woman. She was in fact far more beautiful in the conventional sense than Ivy would ever be. But if you put the two of them next to each other, most men would prefer Ivy. It was like comparing a Barbie doll to a real woman.

Even though visually the doll had all of its parts in the correct ratio for maximizing its sex appeal, it would always be only a plastic approximation of a real woman.

Colleen was tall and slim with nice breasts, but Ivy just exuded life and sex from every pore. Most men would run over Colleen to get a chance to kiss Ivy's ass.

I also thought about the other comparison. Ivy was simply not capable of being the kind of woman I needed, but Colleen might be. Eventually Ivy and I were going to have that talk. The one where I confronted her about fucking other guys, and she'd either lie to me and say she didn't or she'd stop for a while. But in either case, I didn't think I would ever be able to trust Ivy. I just didn't want to spend my life wondering when she was going to start fucking other guys.

The best thing for both of us would be a clean break.

I got home sooner than I expected. I decided that I needed to talk to Ivy face to face and seriously try to explain what I was feeling and what was going on. Maybe we could work something out. I drove over to Ivy's mother's house to asks her if she could watch the kids while I took Ivy out to a nice sit down dinner at a grown up restaurant.

I guess I thought that at least this way she'd know that I'd always been honest and up front with her and we could end things, the way we started, as friends.

As I drove onto the block, I didn't even slow down because I noticed that Jazz and Ivy's other two kids were already there. Maybe Ivy was working. I called her cell phone and it went straight to voicemail.

I decided to leave Ivy a note to call me when she got in.

As I pulled into Ivy's driveway I noticed that her truck was there. I stepped up onto her porch and started to ring the doorbell. As the bell rang I looked into the living room and saw Ivy. She was sucking some guy's dick like it was the last lollipop on earth and she had a sweet tooth. She looked towards the door as she heard the bell and our eyes locked.

For that second, the world moved in slow motion. I noticed exactly how special Ivy's body really was. Everything that seemed disproportionate when she had clothes on, wasn't. She was simply perfect. In fraction of a second, I was both more revolted and more aroused than I'd ever been at the same time.

In that same second Ivy saw me, and recognition flared at the same instant as regret and despair colored her face. Her eyes enlarged and her jaw dropped. She tried to form words but the only thing that came out was low moan.

None of that mattered though because I simply turned and headed back for my car. By the time Ivy got to the door I was already gone. She stood there naked on her front porch crying her eyes out.

Before I got to my house, my phone started ringing. I knew it was Ivy, so I just turned the phone off. I loved Ivy with all of my heart, and what had just happened should have shattered me, but it didn't. I turned on my car's stereo and heard David Lee Roth screaming "So this is love," into the night. Eddie's atomic blues guitar riffs and Michael Anthony's overpoweringly soulful bass line framing the emotions that were running through my mind.

I laughed into the darkness and sarcastically sang along with Dave. I know it makes no sense but I was happy as hell.

This was in fact, the best way for this scenario to play out. It was pure serendipity at work because any other way and I'd never have been able to leave Ivy.

I simply loved her too much. I know what you're thinking out there. How can he still be in love with a whore. Ivy was actually worse than a whore when you get right down to it. Whores at least get paid or get something out of it. Ivy just fucked anything that walked because she liked it. To be truthful I had realized a long time ago that the normal rules did not apply to Ivy. She was like some kind of pagan fertility goddess. Trying to judge her by the same scale we used for most women wouldn't be fitting.

At the same time, I was the kind of man who needed and demanded absolute fidelity from my partner or wife. We would never have lasted. At least this way I got to leave with my head held high. I wasn't leaving because she'd cheated on me. We weren't married or engaged. She was free to do whatever she wanted to and she had.

At the same time, she knew when she saw me in that window watching her, that things between us were over and it was her fault.

It was the best of a bad situation for both of us. I could move on to a more normal woman. I probably wouldn't care for her a tenth as much which would give me some kind of control in the relationship.

Ivy on the other hand could go back to fucking as many guys as she could schedule. She'd make up in quantity what she was losing in quality.

The next day I was getting the test papers readied for the finals in my classes, when my teaching assistant/ secretary came in to see me. "Tim you have a couple of visitors," she said.

"Tell Ivy that I'm busy and I'll see her in class," I said.

"If it had been her, I'd have told her that you weren't here and not even mentioned it to you," she said. "Like I've done both times she came to see you. It's a little girl, and an old lady."

I stepped into the hallway and saw Ivy's mother and Jasmine. Jazz ran over to me and hugged me.

"You're not coming to see us anymore are you?" demanded Jasmine. "I hate her, I knew she'd drive you away from us too."

"Jazz, what are you talking about?" I asked. "No one did anything wrong. I'm just taking a new job, and I'm going to live a bit farther away from you. So I won't see you as much, but I'll call your Grandma and give her my new phone number, and I promise that you can call me every day if you want. Okay?"

"Okay," she said. She'd stopped crying but was still upset.

"Jazz go wait for me in the car," said Ivy's mom.

"Thanks Tim," she said after Jazz left.

My stupid daughter told me what really happened. How are you holding up?" she asked.

"I'm fine," I said smiling.

"Tim, Sally Ericson from the jewelry store, is my best friend. I even know which rings you were narrowing down to figure out which one to buy for her. You don't have to act brave and cheerful for me," she said. "God that girl is stupid." Then she followed her granddaughter out.

I sent Ivy an e-mail that I hoped would settle things for us. In it I thanked her for her friendship and all of the good times we'd shared. I told her how I'd loved every moment I'd spent with her. I explained to her about my new job and moving to a different city, and how I wished her well. Lastly I told her that it wasn't necessary for her to come to class on Tuesday to take the final because even if she got a hundred percent on it she couldn't pass, her other test scores were too low.

On Saturday, Colleen drove down to my house to help me pack and close down my house. Her long Auburn hair was tied up into two pony tails. She had on the shortest shorts you could imagine and those long legs of hers were shown to their advantage. She had a pale blue blouse on with the first three buttons undone. I kept getting glimpses of cleavage. Several times during the day that fourth button came undone, and she'd smile and re-button it. It seemed to take her longer each time to do it.

While we were closing my shutters over the windows I thought I saw a truck pulling away from my driveway back onto the highway. I was sure it had been Ivy and she'd come to discuss the e-mail I'd sent her.

Colleen left me a couple of brochures with apartments she'd picked out for me to look at. I told her that During the middle of the upcoming week I'd drive up and look at them.

Monday's finals went well for my classes. My Tuesday daytime class did well also. I was looking forward to my Wednesday morning class because it was my last one. Then I had only to grade all of the papers with the help of my TA, post the grades and move on into my new life.

I guess I'd overlooked my Tuesday night class because the thing that had always made that class special for me was Ivy. Since she wouldn't be there it would only be another final. I truly thought about letting my TA give the test, but decided that it would be more professional to be there to say goodbye to my class.

I was totally unprepared when Ivy stepped into the classroom and sat down in her seat. She stared at me and her magic started to work. I looked at every girl in that classroom and though several of them were prettier than she was, none of them affected me like she did. Her eyes as red rimmed and swollen as they were, bored into my soul.

Even though she looked like she'd been crying nonstop for a week, my dick was as hard as it could be and still get blood through it.

After the test began she pointed to the hallway. I shook my head. She walked forward as if she wanted to ask me a question. In the tiniest little voice she said, "Either you let your assistant watch the class and come into the hallway with me, or I'll just start talking about our problems right here and right fucking now. Which would you rather have?"

"How about if you let me finish my class and I'll talk to you afterwards?" I asked.

"How do I know that after the test you won't just walk away and leave me sitting here?" she asked.