Just What They Needed Ch. 03

"Are these seats taken?" Lauren spoke brightly to some familiar faces.

Hannah Clark's whole family was seated in a row in the center-back of the bustling auditorium. Her sisters and her dad, Mitch, had all been swiping through stuff on their cell phones and her mom, Claire, was reading through the event's program. They all looked up almost simultaneously to see who had spoken.

Lauren couldn't help but make first and direct eye contact with Mitch; when he looked up his eyes were very startled, and his countenance remained stunned even after recognition set in and Mrs. Clark stood and stepped around her husband to give all the newcomers brief hugs and greetings. Mr. Clark stood, too. After his wife had given out hugs, it would have been rude if he had ignored the girls, so he stored his phone in his front pocket and gave the two girls closest to him - one of them being Lauren - awkward side hugs, and the third girl he just gave a little wave. The row was narrow, and it was tricky for his larger frame to maneuver between the seats. He murmured little hellos but otherwise let his wife do the talking.

Mitch had relaxed some. The corners of his mouth now turned up to resemble a smile, although he still looked almost sick, probably figuring out how to act natural even though he felt anything but calm. Lauren was cued into all of these changes in his demeanor even though nobody else was aware of the tension between them.

"Please, sit with us!" Mrs. Clark gestured obviously to the open seats directly to the right of her husband.

Hannah's sisters had already returned their attention to Instagram or whatever was so interesting on their phones. The rest of them sat. Lauren took the seat right next to Mr. Clark, as she knew the family best out of the three friends.

Lauren grasped the chair to adjust her posture in it, and as she did so, Mitch's hand that was at his side, between them, darted instinctively into his lap. He was jumpy and obviously reactive to her presence. He did not want to show any intimacy between them in front of his wife, but he was massively overcompensating beyond the realm of normal human interaction.

After a few moments of processing the surprise of Lauren's arrival and close proximity, Mitch rediscovered some perspective and relaxed his hand back to his side.

Mrs. Clark leaned over her husband to strike up a conversation with Lauren about Lauren's new apartment. Mr. Clark sat politely still as the two talked over him.

"Yeah, I've lived there about three weeks, now," Lauren informed Mrs. Clark. "It's good, but my landlord is a little spacey." Mrs. Clark nodded and rolled her eyes as she absorbed the conversation. Mrs. Clark loved gossip and she always played along animatedly with every juicy tidbit. "He's not incompetent, exactly. He keeps saying he will come over to fix the water in the shower, but it's been a few weeks and nothing..."

"Well what's wrong with the shower?" Mrs. Clark asked quickly and with too much fascination, like it was her own shower that she found out was busted.

"It only runs cold. It's like the hot water isn't hooked up properly or something." Lauren tried to match Mrs. Clark's energy. "We're a little sick of taking cold showers."

Mrs. Clark shuttered in empathy, accompanied by a little giggle. Mr. Clark stared at his hands and fiddled with his fingers.

"Well, you know, Mitch redid our entire upstairs bathroom. New faucets and all. I bet he could fix it if your landlord doesn't get back to you."

Mitch looked at his wife when she mentioned his name.

"Oh, no, it's no big deal to wait a little longer," Lauren protested, giving Mitch an easy out if he felt awkward or was too busy. He had turned toward her, now, and seemed to be slightly amused by her objection.

"It's actually probably an easy fix." Mitch said softly, as they were seated so close to one another. It was the first sentence he had heard him utter in over a year. "I don't mind at all." His kind smile was genuine this time, and even though it was small, it was still reflected in the little wrinkles near his eyes.

Lauren was triggered by his soft tone and kind, penetrating eyes. She felt a warmth spread through her chest. She felt both vulnerable and protected all of a sudden.

"I have a bit of free time on Sunday. Can you text me the address?" Mitch asked.

Lauren immediately got out her phone and opened a new text message. "What's your number?"

Mitch recited it to her. She took another moment to type out the address, and then Mitch pulled his phone out of his pocket again, just as the vibration alerted him that he had a new text. He viewed it for a moment, thanked her, and then she watched out of the corner of her eye as he added the sender as a new contact.

The air felt heavy in the auditorium. It was not too hot, but the atmosphere was full of pride and excitement. It was a big day for the young folks waiting to graduate, Hannah among them. She had worked harder than anyone Lauren knew to complete her degree; practically all of her "free" time was spent working multiple jobs. Lauren and Hannah had not spent as much time together as they used to, mostly because they both had conflicts, but they remained close out of habit.

It had only been a few minutes since Lauren and the other girls sat down, so people were still standing, finding seats, and gossiping and one-upping one another in conversation.

"Hey, what time is it? Do you think I have time to use the restroom before this thing starts?" Lauren engaged Mrs. Clark again with the question.

Mrs. Clark looked up from the program again, checked her phone for the time, and then looked around at everyone still standing. "You've got eight minutes, but there's no way it starts on time."

Lauren nodded in agreement and then got to her feet. She set her small handbag back on her chair and scooted past her friends who leaned their knees to the side to let her pass. In the aisle, she had to weave around people yapping who remained oblivious to the girl struggling to get through.

Mitch subtly craned his neck to see which way Lauren turned when she left the auditorium. He waited a beat and then said, "You know, I think I'll go too," and stood to leave the same way she did. His wife made a grunt of acknowledgement, hardly looking up from her phone, but he paid little attention anyway. He was concentrated on slipping past everyone quickly.

When he got out to the lobby, he took note of where the women's restroom was located and then planted himself close by, where he would not be able to miss Lauren when she came out. He stood, trying to lean against the wall but finding himself too nervous to be still and instead fidgeted by rocking back and forth on his feet. He was not sure what he intended to say to her. He almost chickened out and went back to his seat when she pushed out the door of the restroom.

She did not notice him right away. She was focused on returning to the auditorium before the commencement began. She hastened her pace on 3 inch high heels and wobbled a little from lack of practice. The cornflower blue dress she wore flowed out gracefully around her knees due to the acceleration of her pace. Mitch saw her pick up speed, and he used the momentum of rolling up to his toes to stride over and intercept her path. He grasped her wrist and spun her to the opposite wall of the lobby, like an eagle snatching a fish from the river.

It was Lauren's time to be startled, and she took a second to steady herself and gather her bearings before looking at the face of her captor, although she already knew who it was.

On this side of the lobby, there was no one else within a 10-foot radius of the couple, and everyone was engrossed in their own conversations, barely noticing them.

Mitch had placed her with her back against the wall. He was facing her with his right hand pressing on the wall just an inch from her left ear. His other hand still lingered on her wrist where he nabbed her from the crowd.

"What's going on?" Lauren finally asked, somewhat suspiciously. She was taken aback from her change of course. Mitch looked like he wanted to say something but could not come up with the words.

He looked, lost in thought, from his feet to her face, buying time to figure out what to say, but also absorbing her beauty. The wrap dress she wore was both modest and captivating. The color suited her personality and made her lightly tanned skin look radiant. The hem ended just below her knee, but what he could see of her calf was perfectly toned and made even more tantalizing by the natural flex gained by her nude-colored, t-strap heels. A thin sash brought the dress together at her small waist, further emphasizing her natural hourglass figure. And her breasts were covered but for the stunning valley that the deep V revealed to lucky onlookers, where one could just begin to see the swell of two flawless mounds. Her chest was perceptively heaving still from being literally swept off her feet a moment ago. Her long brown hair was curled in a natural fashion and pulled back from the sides into a barrette. When his gaze finally climbed to her eyes and she was looking directly back, waiting for him to explain his presence, he clenched his eyes shut as though he was afraid she would be able to read his thoughts if she looked too deeply.

Finally he said, "I haven't seen you since Hannah moved out. How've you been?" He dropped his right hand from the wall and put it in his pocket, realizing his body language might have come across rather more aggressive than he intended.

Lauren was amused by his casual conversation after such an unexpected outburst. She also recalled the last time they had seen each other, about six months after their affair, and five-and-a-half months after her dad died

Lauren had been part of a group of friends that helped Hannah in moving her stuff out of her parents' house and into her own, quiet studio apartment. Mitch had stopped by the new place after he got out of work into order to bring all the helpers some pizza and beer and to see the place his daughter would be living for the foreseeable future. He had stepped into the surprisingly spacious studio with his hands full of sustenance. Before he could announce his presence, though, he had noticed a young woman toward the back of the apartment, near a large window, bent over a box and unloading its contents when a young man he had never seen walked over and startled her by pinching her butt under the loose athletic shorts she was wearing. The girl squealed and swatted at the boy and giggled playfully, before realizing that they were being watched. Lauren had been caught mid-PDA by Mitch, and she blushed. Mitch had averted his eye contact before his leering drew the attention of the strange boy and announced to the apartment that pizza had arrived. As all of the helpers clambered over the food, Mitch backed away and excused himself to the bathroom to think over the mixed emotions he felt of jealousy, rage, and...heartbreak? He had washed his hands of the stupid, juvenile angst and returned to the room full of adults who were half his age. He busied himself with hanging photos, avoiding Lauren and the strange boy whom he hated, until he made up the excuse that he had a migraine and went home.

A year and a half later, here they were.

"Good." Lauren responded to Mitch's small-talk-type question.

"Thats good. Still got the boyfriend?" Mitch asked, nodding along, already knowing the answer because she'd slipped up and said "we" when she was talking about their shower.

"Yes..." Lauren said shyly, looking for his reaction.

"Good, good," Mitch nodded along some more, although it did not look like he was exceptionally pleased. "Are you happy? You look happy."

"I'm pretty happy," she said, trying to sound sincere, and for the most part she was.

She didn't really know what to say to him.

"I think about you a lot," he said, filling the silence. He realized that might have been too corny, so he added, "...in the shower sometimes."

She smiled because he had just made it awkward, but it somehow broke the tension.

"Does the water wash away the sin?" she asked.

"It washes away something."

She blushed at the suggestiveness.

"I miss you," he said in a low, honest tone, finally getting to his point. "You look beautiful."

She sighed, still smiling. She felt uncomfortable, flattered, and conflicted all at once. She could not help but feel attracted to him. Since she had last seen him, he had started trimming his hair shorter but grew a scruffy beard which made him look distinguished and chiseled, more like a gracefully aging movie star than a dad. He had slimmed down maybe 10 pounds but looked healthy and remained in good shape. She liked the way he rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt up to his elbows, and she could see the strong muscles of his forearms.

He was so effortlessly masculine, and she could not help but get turned on by his clear interest in her. He made her feel like a girl and a woman all at once. She felt like she could curl up into his protective arms but he would still always consider her his equal.

Lauren never got closure after their brief affair. They both had felt like it was a one-time thing, but since that day, Mitch had always been in the back of her mind, even after she started dating John.

"John..." she thought.

Noticing her discomfort, he told her, "If you feel weird about me coming over to fix your sink, I'll come up with some excuse to tell Claire."

"No, no, it's fine," Lauren said, snapping back to reality. "John will be there, and it would actually be really helpful...if you don't mind."

Mitch took a deep breath to disguise his disappointment that they would be chaperoned, but managed to breathe out, "Oh, good, okay," seemingly psyching himself up to meet the strange boy he hated.

Lauren noticed his response, trying to play it cool. "I'm sorry," she said, although she was not exactly sure for what she was sorry. "Maybe we should get back."

They walked back into the auditorium a few paces apart and took their seats next to each other. The tension between them was there throughout the ceremony, but it felt electric. When Hannah's name was called and she walked across the stage with her new diploma, their entire row stood and cheered. When Hannah got to the end, she held her diploma in the air and looked over at her cheering section. Lauren and Mitch glanced and smiled at one another in the adrenaline of the moment.

When the ceremony concluded, everyone rushed into the aisles so they could wait to get out to the lobby like the passengers of an airplane when it reaches the gate. Mitch was stuck between his wife at his heels and Lauren in front of him. He pressed forward, taking advantage of the occasion where he could be close to her without raising anyone's suspicion. He reached out toward her hip and felt the cotton of her dress brush against the back of his curled fingers. Lauren felt the gentle pressure on her body and looked down in time to see Mitch's hand retreating back to resting position. She looked up at his face over her shoulder. He mouthed the word, "sorry," like he could not help himself, followed by an exaggerated grimace, realizing he'd been caught. She responded with a knowing smile that shined in her eyes.

"So what time can you come over on Sunday?" Lauren asked when the space opened up in the lobby.

"Umm... I'm free anytime, honestly."

"How about 4?."

"Sounds great."

"Good. I'll make you a treat for helping us out."

"Assuming I will be able to help. Seriously, it's no bother"

"I want to, so just accept it," she said finally.

"Yes, Ma'am" He laughed, and he looked happy. For some, unexplained reason it gave her butterflies.

When Hannah joined the group several minutes later, they took a few configurations of group photos on various phones and parted ways.

Lauren arrived home horny. Unable to sit still, she changed into a tank top and shorts and started cleaning. She did not stop until John got home at 10 at night. They had been so busy lately, always missing each other even though they lived together now. They had not had sex since they christened the new apartment with a loving romp 3 weeks ago. She was so ravenous for a good fuck now, not to mention feeling a little bit guilty after her encounter with her best friend's dad, that she barely let her boyfriend close the front door before she pounced on him.

She led him as far as the living room couch and tossed him on it. Lauren straddled him there. She kissed him hard and he reciprocated. He smelled a little like grease from work. Usually she would let him shower before they got intimate, but she was too desperate to prove her love to wait.

She crisscrossed her arms, grabbed the hem of the tank top and whisked it off over her head. Suddenly she remembered when she did the same thing to excite Mitch two years ago. He was really in her head tonight. She tried to channel that arousal toward John. He looked lustfully back at her, admiring her gorgeous breasts enveloped in lacy, black lingerie on display just for him as she bounced over his denim-clad hard on. She leaned down to make out with him more, dragging out the foreplay to trigger more anticipation. He fondled her ass, which she usually liked, but tonight it did not feel like enough. It felt too slow.

Lauren stepped backward off of John's lap and pulled down her shorts. She made a little show of it and flung her panties and her bra at him, too, as John worked to take off his clothes. When he was completely naked, Lauren stared at him. He was tall and had a solid body mass, but his jaw and his muscles lacked definition, and she longed for a little more chest hair. He was stroking his cock on the couch, looking back at her. She pretended to be playfully critical of his naked body and successfully disguised her various disappointments by getting to her knees and crawling toward his waiting member.

When she got to the couch, she took his cock into her mouth and quickly wetted it with her tongue. He laid back and let her play with him for a few minutes, enjoying the sensations and her enthusiasm that, for all he knew, was all for him. He could have stayed like that all night but soon found her mounting his lap.

In no time at all, she had her dripping cunt poised to envelop her loving boyfriend's stiff rod. He steadied her by holding her thighs and she slid easily down to his hilt. Sometimes, after it had been a few weeks since their last session, she would have to slowly work it in, but she was so lustful this night, that she merged with him quickly.

John was startled by how wet she was but did not complain. In two or three thrusts he was moaning ecstatically. In two or three more, his breathing became erratic. She felt let down that he was about to come so fast when she so badly craved a release, but nonetheless climbed off her boyfriend, who was on the edge of orgasm, to finish him off in her mouth.

Obviously his release was plenty satisfying. He held her head still and gently humped her mouth until he ejaculated several ribbons of cum down her throat. When she felt the cum stop dribbling out of his penis and his hands dropped from her face, she swallowed dutifully and climbed back up onto the couch next to her spent boyfriend. When he finally opened his eyes she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Mmmm..." he moaned, "That was so good."

She just smiled lovingly at him.

"Sorry you didn't cum," he sighed.

"It's okay," she responded and gave him a half smile. It was not easy for her to reach orgasm during intercourse without special attention and time given to her clit. More than half the time she felt satisfied enough by good penetration even when no orgasm ensnared her. Once in a while she would masturbate herself while John was inside her in order to get off. He loved when she did this, but rarely did she find it was worth the effort, and often she was so much in her head, that it would take too long, and John would finish before she had success. Tonight, though, he left her wanting more. She was not disappointed in John's performance, which was totally on par. But she hadn't realized until after they had sex just how much she remained in want of someone else.