Just What They Needed Ch. 03

As they cleaned themselves up and settled in to watch a movie, Lauren wondered if Mitch was thinking about her too.

Not even 5 miles away, Mitch was, indeed, thinking about her.

He laid awake in bed, staring at the ceiling, watching the headlights from an occasional passing car cast shadows onto it. His wife was asleep on the other end of the king bed. His daughters were also snoozing in their respective bedrooms with their doors closed.

Giving up on insomnia, Mitch swung his legs off the bed, grabbed his cell from the nightstand, and tiptoed downstairs to the first floor bathroom. He gathered a box of tissues and a bottle of lotion. It was a ritual that used to be quite common practice but one he had not performed since the last time he could not sleep because of Lauren, about 16 months ago. He continued on down to his shabby basement den, two flights of stairs away from his family. Should anyone wake up, he would hear them and have ample time to rescue his dignity.

He switched on a table lamp, set his supplies on the couch, and sat down with a creak of the springs. The couch was in the middle of the room. It faced away from the stairs and toward a wall where there was an old tube TV in the corner that nobody every watched. He was not sure if it was even hooked up to anything.

Mitch unlocked his cell phone and opened the text message that Lauren had sent with her address. It weirdly excited him to have an open form of communication with her even though he had no reason to text her. He also would not let himself raise his expectations about seeing her in a couple of days. Her boyfriend would be lurking around, and he still felt like the plans could easily fall through if her landlord responded to the issue before he could get there. A lot could happen between now and then.

Mitch then opened his photos instead. On the drive home from graduation, his wife, in the passenger's seat, had been reviewing all the photos that ended up on her and his phones, and she remarked at an exceptionally good one of Hannah and her three friends that happened to be captured on his cell. He had felt his stomach do a flip of excitement at this in the car. Now that he was alone, he scrolled through and found the photo again. Mitch felt a short sinking feeling of guilt seeing the picture and its context, but he continued onto his pressing business, zooming in on the young woman in cornflower blue. After a long look, he set his phone to the side, screen facing down.

He leaned his head toward the ceiling, annoyed with himself that he was about to do what he was about to do, but also feeling like he had no choice. He had been lying awake in bed for over an hour, and he would continue to be restless until he fixed the issue...or at least put a bandaid on it.

Mitch closed his eyes, his head still resting on the back of the old couch. He slowly began to stroke his thick cock through the boxers he wore as pajamas. He then allowed the fantasies that he had been trying to shove away since the afternoon float to the forefront of his mind.

He lifted his head. His lids were still shut, but in his mind's eye he saw the basement room basically as it was except the junky TV set was gone. Instead, there stood Lauren. In his fantasy, she had an angelic halo around her that blurred out the rest of the scene and made him feel happy. She was wearing the beautiful blue dress from the photo, but she was barefoot.

In the real basement, Mitch's cock was growing out of his boxers. He pulled it out of the flap and started at it lightly, without lotion at first.

In the glowing basement of his imagination, Lauren, still half a room's length away, in the corner, delicately unfastened the the sash of her dress with fascinating dexterity. She opened the dress and let it fall to her elbows, pausing to reveal her body to him and only him, before straightening out her arms and letting the garment flutter to her feet.

The girl before him in his steamy daydream looked sensual in a pair of navy blue lacy panties and no bra. She hooked her panties with her thumbs and bent forward to slide them down her thighs. When they reached her knees she let them drop to the floor and she kicked them to the side. Her hair was pinned back from the sides, just like it had been in real life. It draped down her back, so that the front of her body was revealed to him in its entirety.

As fantasy Lauren crossed the room toward him, real life Mitch prepped his member for anticipated climax. He slid his boxers down to his knees in the hopes of keeping them dry. He lubed up his right hand with the coconut scented body lotion and began to stroke with purpose.

Lauren straddled him, her flawless pussy glancing against his aching cock. She brushed away some of her hair that had fallen in his face, offering her smooth, vulnerable neck to his predatory will and bowed her head enough to whisper in his ear, "I want you to touch me."

Mitch's erection grew to its fullest extent imagining Lauren's beautiful body glowing in the lamplight and still seemingly radiating its own light, too. He strived to remember the soft dimples around her collarbone, the exact shade of her areolas, the definition of her bottom couple of ribs, and her toned tummy with the sweetest belly button. In his vision, he wrapped his heavy arm around the small of her back and squeezed. She arched her back, offering Mitch her breasts and neck, which he feasted on.

Mitch stroked faster.

Lauren sat back up and lifted herself on to Mitch's hard cock. He pictured her rising and falling on his erection, imagining her lost in ecstasy while he enjoyed the image thoroughly. She moaned and began to sweat. Her skin gorgeously reflected the tungsten light. Mitch reached up and grasped her behind the neck, near her hairline while the other hand, on her hip, encouraged her down onto his lap, hard.

He was getting close.

Lauren's breathing was heavy, just like his was in real life. She was close to orgasm. She called out his name...

Mitch grabbed a tissue and blew his load into the paper, pretending he blew it straight into her wet pussy. He sat for a minute, reluctantly waking up from his daydream.

As he cleaned up his little mess and washed his hands in the utility sick, a fictitious image of Lauren with an adorable pregnant belly flickered in his head. A primal part of him made his spent cock throb, and he was too embarrassed to explore the thought further. He ate a handful of chips, brushed his teeth, climbed in next to his wife, turned to face the wall, and finally fell asleep.

—-

Saturday was average and uneventful but for the bouts of nerves that would now and then surge through Lauren in anticipation of the next day. She kept checking her phone to see if Mitch had texted her to change their plans. John was gone for most of the day, but they had a late dinner together and settled down to watch Indiana Jones on Netflix. It was a movie they had already both seen, and they spent a good chunk of time on their phones.

As they laid on the couch, feet to feet, Lauren felt nervous and excited again. She still had not made herself cum. Several times during the day she had considered taking care of it, but the devil on her shoulder told her to hold off until Mitch came to fix the water.

Being close to him at graduation had turned her on more than she remembered was possible. She thought that being in the same room as him again might inspire some amazing masturbatory fodder. She became aroused, half thinking about their previous affair, and half excited about his anticipated presence in her home. Would he have the guts to flirt with her with her boyfriend present?

"I forgot to tell you that Hannah's dad is going to stop over tomorrow to fix our shower. He offered. I'm going to make him cookies or something," she told John over the sound of the TV.

"Nice," he said.

The next morning Lauren fixed some coffee. She poured half into a travel mug, and filled her trusty alma mater mug for herself. She sat down at the little table and scrolled instagram and sipped her black coffee. When she heard the shower stop she got up and threw some bread in the toaster. It popped, and she was in the middle of spreading peanut butter on it when boyfriend emerged from the bathroom fully dressed except for his shoes. He scurried over to where Lauren was making his breakfast and kissed her cheek. "Thank you. You're the freaking best." She smiled and handed over the toast on a napkin. He took a huge bite and set the handful back down on the counter. "Great sex the other night. Want to again tonight?"

"Yes, def. Before or after dinner?"

"Well I don't get home 'til 10. I'm covering for Sal, remember? You'll be on your own for dinner."

"Shoot! I totally forgot." Her stomach filled with butterflies. She actually had forgotten that the other veteran cook at the restaurant was taking a short vacation and John was working extra hours to cover some of his shifts. She felt both panicked and excited about it. Mitch was planning on coming over at 4. She had felt secure that John would be home to break the tension, but now her entire body was filling with unwelcome excitement.

"It's okay. Do you want me to bring you food from the restaurant?"

"Nah, we've got some stuff I should eat up. Thanks, though, Babe." She looked into his eyes and immediately felt guilty about her impure fantasies. She felt unresolved and anxious. Lauren gave John a quick kiss on his lips. He tasted like peanuts.

All day, like the previous one, she flitted around the apartment in a flurry of nerves. She made some chocolate chip cookies. When they cooled, she organized them into a stylish tin and set them aside. She still had four hours until Mitch would arrive. She made herself a light lunch and tried to get some grading done but had a hard time focusing.

Lauren was not sure if she could handle Mitch in her house without backup. She was pretty sure they both wanted what they should not have. She considered canceling. She drafted a text: "Hey, it's Lauren. John has to work today, can we reschedule?"

She looked at it for a minute and then held down the backspace key. It was stupid. She should not need a chaperone to deal with her friend's dad fixing their shower.

Her phone vibrated, alerting her to a new text. She thought it might be Mitch, but it was Hannah asking if she had time to get coffee after school the next day. She responded with a "Yes, please!"

The plans with her friend gave Lauren a little bit of confidence - she would prioritize their friendship. She resolved to focus on Mitch's identity as only Hannah's dad, the friendly, good-humored man she'd known most of her life. Obviously he cared about Hannah, too, and would not want to jeopardize their relationship for a fling. They could control themselves because it was the right thing to do.

When 3:30 came around, Lauren changed into a loose-fitting, comfy baseball tee and her favorite pair of jeans. She threw her hair up in a messy bun, but then spent 5 minutes in the mirror trying to make it look the perfect level of messy. She went back to the dining room table and spread out her grading materials to make it look like she was busy and not just waiting for him to arrive.

At 3:53 her phone buzzed again. This time it was Mitch. The text read: "I'm here a little early. Mind if I come in?"

She peeked out the front window of their duplex and saw him sitting in his car on the street a few yards away. He was looking at his phone.

She texted back, "Of course, come in!" and went to wait by the door.

In 30 seconds he knocked, and she opened the door for him to come in. "Hey! Thanks again for doing this!"

"Oh, it's my pleasure, seriously," he replied. "Where's this pesky shower?"

So far so good, she thought, she was keeping everybody on task.

"It's right back here," she said, letting him follow her to the bathroom. She pointed him toward the small standing shower.

"Is there hot water coming out of all of the other faucets?" he asked.

"Yeah, everything else works fine," she informed.

"Then it's most likely the valve that's directly connected to the shower," he said confidently, "let me look in the access panel."

He walked around to the back of the shower and quickly located a little door near the floor that Lauren had hardly paid any attention to before. He opened it up, found the pipe he was looking for, and turned a valve on it just 90 degrees.

"Go ahead and try the water," he told her.

"That's it?" she said, surprised.

"We'll see. Try it."

Lauren walked back to the shower and turned the hot water knob all the way on. Water was blasting out and very soon started to get hot. "What?!" she yelled.

She turned the knob back off. He was now standing a couple of feet away, hands on his hips, with an amused look on his face.

She stood up and told him, "I wish I'd known 3 weeks ago it was that easy! I could have saved myself so many unpleasant mornings."

He laughed. "It's okay. Plumbing issues always sound so intimidating if you don't know what you're looking for. I'm glad I could help, though."

"Yeah, thank you so much! That was so fast, I feel like I should come up with a few more fix-it jobs for you to do," she mused.

"Feel free to call me up the next time your landlord goes AWOL," he shrugged.

There was a heavy pause. Neither person knew exactly what to say next.

"Sorry to make you come all this way for that," Lauren said, reiterating the brevity of the task. She panicked slightly. Not wanting him to feel used, she blurted out, "Do you want to stay for a cup of tea?"

"That sounds great, but it's really no big deal," he responded.

"Oh, no, please. I made you some cookies too." She walked past him and he followed her into the kitchen, which was adjacent to the bathroom. She busied herself filling the tea kettle, not paying much attention that he was still standing in the doorway, watching her. When she put the kettle on the heat, she reached over and grabbed the tin of cookies to hand to Mitch.

He received them gratefully. He automatically opened the tin and assured her that chocolate chip was his favorite. He took one one out, bit off an edge, and offered her the tin so she could choose one.

She took the one on top. She was not feeling very hungry, but it was polite to accept his offer, so she chewed.

"So good," he said with his mouth full, putting the lid back on the tin. "So moist." His mouth was full, so he spat out the last couple of letters. It sounded like "moith." They both laughed a little.

"You can sit if you want," she said, pointing to the table with her papers spread all over it. "Sorry about the mess. What kind of tea do you want?"

"Whatever is your favorite I want to try," he said as he walked to the table. He sat down on the side with less clutter.

Lauren was a little shaky, so she concentrated extra hard on getting a couple of mugs out of the high cupboard without dropping them. She put a peach herbal tea bag in each cup, and by then the kettle was starting to whistle. She took it off the heat and poured water to fill each mug. Then she grabbed a small plate and headed over to where Mitch was seated. He was smiling pleasantly, waiting for her. She liked that he was not trying to help her, even though her hands were full. He made her feel capable.

She quickly piled up some of the papers to make more room for them.

"Just two cups?" he asked.

She gave him a look of mild bewilderment at his question.

"Where's your boyfriend?" he asked, blowing on his tea.

She was so concentrated on getting the shower fixed that she forgot to mention that they were alone. "He had to cover for someone at work, so he'll be gone for a bit."

"Mmm..." Mitch made a noise of acknowledgment and could not help but smirk, which he tried to hide behind his tea.

Lauren caught him and said sarcastically, "Well, don't look so disappointed!" She was laughing, though.

"Sorry!" He was smiling outright now. "It's just...I hate that guy."

"You've never even met him!" Lauren pointed out.

"Yeah, well..." Mitch looked slightly ashamed, but still amused, "I know there's no way he's good enough for you."

Lauren blushed and dunked her tea bag a couple of times before placing it on the clean plate. It was such a fatherly thing to say that it took her by surprise.

"He's a good guy," she finally said, standing up for him.

There was another silent pause.

"Are you guys going to get married?" Mitch asked. Lauren looked at him to see what his expression was, but Mitch had asked the question into his tea. She had not answered yet, so Mitch finally lifted his eyes to hers and smiled. It was not a genuine smile. He was only trying to force the conversation to be light again.

"I don't know," Lauren said honestly. She wanted, desperately, to change the subject, but couldn't think of anything else.

"It seems like the logical next step. What are your reservations?"

Where were these questions coming from? She was trying to remain polite but becoming increasingly distressed. She was not sure if her stress was coming from the personal nature of his interrogation or that he seemed to have hit the nail on the head. She was not sure if John was the right guy for her but had not even begun to explore those thoughts with her therapist yet, let alone an estranged lover.

"Can we talk about something else?" she managed to say somewhat kindly despite her temper rising.

"Sorry," he said softly. Lauren could not help but notice that Mitch looked mildly pleased that he had hit a nerve. Had she gushed on about how much she loved her live-in boyfriend, he would not have been able to take it. "Do you and Hannah still hang out a lot?"

"A pretty good amount. We are going to grab coffee tomorrow."

"That's so good. You two used to be so close," he said in a hopeful tone.

Lauren wondered if Mitch had noticed the two drifting apart. They still confided in one another and regarded each other as best friends but did not spend as much time together as they had in the past.

"It was hard, after my dad died, to get my life back in a normal routine," she told him. If she was being honest, it was also hard to be around Hannah back then since it was the same time Lauren and Mitch had had their affair. It had felt awkward, like Hannah might sense something. Lauren had used the excuse of her father's passing to avoid Hannah for a couple of months, and since then, they had been more cautious around each other.

"I hope I didn't have anything to do with you guys losing touch," he said, melancholy.

"No, not at all," she lied. "We are both so busy."

He pretended he believed her and gave her a half smile.

"This tea is really good," he said, taking another sip.

Another silent pause followed. Mitch had asked Lauren about her personal life, so she decided it was okay to reciprocate.

"How are things with you and Claire? It must be weird...you two will be empty nesters soon." Lauren was referring to Hannah's twin sisters who were moving into the college dorms in the fall.

"Yeah, it's going to be quiet." He drew out the last word. It made quiet sound like a bad thing.

Lauren nodded along like his statement was not dripping with underlying fear of being alone with his wife.

"Maybe you'll find a hobby," she suggested, lightheartedly.

"I've actually started golfing." This explained his recent physique. "Maybe I'll start drinking, too."

Lauren snapped her gaze to his face to see if he was being serious. She looked at him with her brow furrowed. "Joking," he said defensively, but she was not sure she believed him.

"Not. Funny," she said, dotting her words to try to make it playful so he would not read her concern. "If you're bored, I'll just come up with more chores for you to do."