Looking After Sarah

"Thanks Sal, that's what I needed." She smiled back at me and walked over and hugged me. "Come on, let's go in for round two, we've got some presents to give out.

Our second visit was neither as long, nor as fiery as our first. Mike had calmed himself down and when he reappeared, he had a fresh set of clothes on and his hair was wet. Maybe Uncle Tony or dad had laid one on him... I could only hope. I handed out some presents to my cousins and a few bottles of cheap wine I had picked up for the four couples. We said our goodbyes and were out of the house by nine pm. I drove Sally and I back to my digs and couldn't wait to get in through the door.

"Slow down Robbie, what's all the rush about?"

"You'll see!" I grabbed Sally's hand and encouraged her over the doorstep into the house, where I kicked off my shoes and hugged Sally. "Can I get you a drink? I haven't had anything all day, so I've got some catching up to do."

"Um... sure, would you get me a Coke please?" I looked distastefully at Sally, when she requested a non-alcoholic drink.

"Come on baby, it's Christmas. Everyone should have a drink." I smiled, knowingly.

"I've had enough to drink, but don't let me stop you, Robbie." She pushed me in the direction of the kitchen and I duly obliged. I came back to find the gas fire turned up nice and warm, a movie starting on the TV and Sally curled up on the couch, gently patting the cushion next to her. I passed her a glass of Coke and sat down next to her with my beer, slipping my arm around her.

We snuggled on the couch, watching the film and we drank our drinks. I tried to liven it up a bit, but Sally had always been very conservative when it came to sex, much to my dismay. I wasn't going to force her to have sex against her will, more try to convince her that was what she really wanted. As we watched the movie, I moved my hand up from where it had been resting on her hip and gradually reached her breast. As my hand came to rest, Sally coughed, expecting me to remove it. I just bit my tongue and ignored it. She looked down at my hand laid gently on her breast and then looked at me.

"Robbie, we've talked about this. You know I'm not that type of girl." She sat up, removing my hand and turned to face me "Don't do this, we've had a great Christmas so far..."

"Come on, Sal..." I protested. "I'm just resting my hand there, it's not like I'm trying to force myself upon you. I'm not that type of guy."

"You just need more cold showers." She leaned into me and kissed me lovingly – this was the only kind of contact that she allowed me, so I made the most of it.

"Then I suppose a cuddle in bed is out of the question then?" She giggled as I stood up and stretched.

"You go on up, I'll be there in a minute or two." I seized my chance and went upstairs into my bedroom, which had become ours over the past few months. Sal may not have wanted sex, but she certainly gave me confidence that all of my friends were jealous. The occasional morning seeing her strut around the bedroom in her underwear was all I needed to reinforce that belief. I opened the wardrobe and took out a gift wrapped box, which I had got her for Christmas. The tag on it read 'To my darling Sally'. I heard the door open and turned around, concealing the box behind me.

Sally walked up to me and wrapped her arms around me and whispered in my ear "Happy Christmas, Robert" when she kissed me, I accidentally dropped the box, which bounced off the floor, breaking the captivating moment. "What's this?" She asked, as I turned around and hastily picked it up

"Just a little something I got you for Christmas. A token of my affection." I passed the box to Sally and she sat at the foot of the bed, opening it delicately. She lifted the lid to reveal a gold silk bra, thong, suspender belt and stockings.

"Robbie... why?" A tear rolled down her cheek and she looked at me, but her smile had faded.

"A beautiful lady such as you should wear beautiful clothes. Do you like them?"

"What does it matter, you only want me to wear them so I can take them off. All you ever thing about is sex!" She started to sob and I walked over to her

"It's not like that, Sally. I honestly thought you'd look beautiful in them and seeing you wear them every now and then would make me proud to be your boyfriend." I opened my arms to try and hug her, but she rounded on me. She slapped me, but I kept on coming, so she resorted to the best defence tactic in the female arsenal. She kneed me in the groin and turned to leave.

"Sal, please..." I coughed breathlessly, my whole world just an eternity of pain. Sally shouted something and I heard the door slam and her car drive off. When I regained my breath, I stood up, removed the box and its wrapper from the bed and dumped them on the dresser. I slumped on the bed and cried myself to sleep.

* * *

I didn't do much at all the next day, I moped around the house, feeling sorry for myself. Anything I did reminded me of Sally and the nine months that we had been together. I tried calling her cell phone, but kept getting her answer phone message. I left her a message, asking her to call me, because we needed to talk. Two more days passed and I knew my loneliness would come to an end, when my friends started to come back from their own Christmas gatherings in time for the New Year. It was December 28^th and I was relaxing in front of the TV after a massive session on the weights in the basement, when I heard the doorbell ring. I answered the door, wondering if, against all hope, it could be Sally. It was Sarah, much to my surprise. She had her back to me and I was shocked to see that she had the beginnings of a black eye and that she was crying.

"Sarah! What happened?" I was stunned to see her like that, but she walked in over the threshold and burst into tears. Naturally, I accepted her with open arms and she buried her face in my shoulder. Eventually, she calmed down and I lead her into the lounge, where she sat on the couch and I got her a drink and an ice pack.

"I had a disagreement with Mike. He didn't like the fact that he had to clear up after everyone went home from Christmas and Boxing Day... I told him that at least my family care about me and he slapped me with the back of his hand." I put my arm reassuringly around her shoulders and tried my best to comfort her. He stormed off and I didn't know where else to go. I can't stay there in case he comes back." She started to sob again. I hugged her and then reached to the coffee table, where there was a box of tissues. She took one and blew her nose.

"Everything's going to be alright, Sarah. You stay here tonight and we'll sort something out tomorrow, ok?" She nodded and smiled at me "I'll go and grab a few things for me and I'll sleep on the sofa tonight, you can have my bed."

"What about Sally? Where is she sleeping?" My face turned down at that point and I smiled sadly.

"She will be sleeping at her parent's house and bunking with some of her friends when the new semester starts. We fell out." Sarah looked dumbstruck at the bombshell news.

"I'm so sorry for you, Robbie. You seemed such a nice couple, too."

"Don't worry, I'll be alright. I'll be back in a min." I went upstairs and grabbed myself a blanket. I was already in my sleeping gear, an old T-shirt and a pair of shorts which hadn't fallen apart. I showed Sarah up to the room and she seemed quite impressed.

"You never did give me the tour of this place. Your room looks great."

"I'll make a deal with you then. I'll show you the whole house tomorrow, because right now, I'm fit to drop." Sarah nodded and we said our goodnights.

I woke up next morning at about half past 11, when Jason, one of my roommates came back in from his vacation and found me sprawled over the couch.

"What's up with you, man? Couldn't find your way into bed?

"Nah, got a bit of family trouble, so Sarah's come to stay for last night... What time is it?" Jason looked at his watch

"It's half 11, come on, you lazy bum. Me, Jon and Rich are going to training, if you wanna join us." I smiled at my hockey playing roommate

"No thanks, I'll get up, but I hit the weights pretty hard yesterday." Just then, Jon and Rich, the other two parts of our foursome, came down the stairs carrying their kit bags.

"Morning, sleeping beauty. I see prince charming has woken you up!" Rich was always ready for a snappy comment and I looked around for something to throw at him.

"I'll see you icy ballerinas later on then." I stretched and hauled myself out of bed, as they left. I decided I needed a shower, but realised that my towel and my fresh clothes were all in my bedroom. I slapped my forehead and slowly made my way upstairs.

I opened the door to my room and knocked quietly. I glanced over my bed, where Sarah lay, covered by the duvet. Slowly, I tiptoed across the room to my wardrobe. I picked up a fresh towel and a clean pair of shorts. I turned and crept slowly from the room, but I was dismayed to hear Sarah's voice

"You'll have to try harder than that." I turned and Sarah smiled at me, as if I were a common thief in my own bedroom.

"Didn't mean to wake you, I just thought I could catch a quick shower and then make you some breakfast." Sarah smiled coyly at me

"What have I done to earn breakfast in bed, Robbie?"

"I never said anything about in bed, but somebody's got to be nice to you, haven't they?" I winked at Sarah and she smiled at me.

"Well, if you're going to be so nice to me, you'll let me use the shower first." I sagged my shoulders and held out the towel for her.

"It's a bit temperamental, so I'll have to show you how to work it." Sarah pulled the duvet off herself and started to get up. I was treated to a sight of her wearing a red bra and panties set. This accentuated the curves of her bust and showed off the natural radiance of her bump.

"I need to pee, which one's the bathroom? She said, looking a little anxious"

"Straight across the landing. Let me know when you're ready and I'll show you the shower workings." Sarah rushed off to relieve herself and I tried to pick myself some clothes for the day, without dwelling too much on the images of my Aunt Sarah in my head. I showed her how the shower worked and went back to finding myself some clothes.

"Robbie!" Sarah called from the bathroom "Could you be a darling and get me some clean underwear from my bag?"

"Where is your bag?" I asked, not having seen one the night before.

"Oh shit, I left it in the car."

"I'll go and get it, don't worry." I grabbed my jeans and sneakers and ran out to her car, liberating her bag and returning to the warmth of the house. As I walked up the stairs, I noticed that the bag was absolutely freezing cold. "Do you want me to leave the bag in the bathroom for you, Sarah?"

"No, just pick me out a matching bar and panties and leave them in the bathroom, I'll deal with the bag in a bit." I unzipped the bag and found three sets of clothes and five different pairs of underwear. I pulled a black bra and thong from the bag and thought about how cold they felt. I couldn't put this material straight on the radiator, it would melt. I decided to grab another fresh towel and placed that over the radiator, before laying Sarah's underwear on top of it. At least she wouldn't get a chill from it now. I dumped the bag on my bed and went downstairs for a glass of orange juice.

Sarah finished her shower and vacated the bathroom, which I then took up residence in. For the first time since Christmas, I made an effort to look smart. I shaved, styled my hair and even put on some of the aftershave which Sarah and Mike had bought me as a present. I felt great, which made a change to me wallowing in my self pity as I had been for the past couple of days.

Sarah was sat at the breakfast bar when I came down. She looked impressed with the effort I had made. "You know, not many 19 year olds could scrub up that well." I smiled and walked over to the fridge.

"What do you fancy for breakfast? I've got cereal, milk and orange juice."

"What, no pancakes?" Sarah asked pleadingly "I could just murder a pile of them with butter and maple syrup."

"Well, I could go down to the store, I suppose... Then we could both have pancakes."

"I'll tell you what, let's just start with a glass of orange juice, since we both need to get some emotional stuff off out chests. It doesn't pay to let it stew, and since we're both in a similar position, we can both lend each other some support."

"I don't really want to talk about it..." I started

"Robbie, just drop all this macho bullshit. I can understand it when you're around your friends, but this is me. You've told me about some of the most intimate parts of your life and I've told you some of mine."

"Ok, you win." I poured out two glasses of orange juice and we started talking about how our relationships had met hard times.

"One of the best things she ever did was she would walk around the bedroom in only her underwear. Not being able to do anything else with her meant that was a great thrill. I bought her some sexy underwear for Christmas and she took it the wrong way." I eventually got to the point of my problem – exactly what Sarah had been angling toward.

"Did you buy it the wrong size? Or is she that repulsed by the idea of sex at all?"

"The size matched some of her other clothes. I checked the labels to get it right. She just seemed to really hate the idea of anyone lusting over her – even me." Sarah seemed to relax a little at this point.

"What sort of underwear did you buy for her?" I stood up and turned to leave the kitchen.

"I'll show you, since she didn't want it." I went upstairs and returned with the box and placed it on the breakfast bar in front of Sarah, who examined the garments, critically.

"Must have cost you a pretty penny. I thought you students were all dirt poor."

"You forget that I hardly drink, so all that beer money gets spent on more... deserving gifts." Sarah smiled and replaced the lid on the box, reverently.

"I hope you kept the receipt, that way you needn't feel so hard on yourself." I shrugged.

"I'm keeping my hopes up that she comes back. She might just need some time to get this out of her system."

"You sound like you need some gastronomic therapy. Run upstairs and fetch my keys. We'll go and have pancakes then." I looked a little confused, because she hadn't talked about her split with Mike

"But, you didn't say what was wrong with you and Mike..." Sarah smiled, knowingly.

"I told you that last night, besides, there's plenty of time for me to answer any questions you may have over the day. Go get those keys, I'll let you drive."

I took the stairs three at a time, replaced the box under the bed this time and came down with Sarah's car keys. She let me drive, so long as I took it easy, since the bump was starting to get in the way of her feet reaching the pedals. I backed the car out of the drive and turned left – the way to the centre of town and the nearest shops

"Wrong way, mister chauffeur."

"But that's the way to Wal-Mart. We need some pancakes, don't we?"

"I've got two pieces of news for you, Robbie. 1) I've got some at my house and 2) Bump wants pancakes now, so we go where we can eat quicker." I smiled and turned the car around, driving off to Sarah's house. As we pulled into the drive, she seemed to get a little apprehensive. "I don't want to go in, in case he's in there."

"I'll be two seconds." I hopped out of the car and opened the trunk, where there was a tire iron. I came back to the car and Sarah looked mortified. "It's just for self defence... and your defence." She smiled and got out of the car. Sarah followed me into the house and we searched from top to bottom. The only evidence of Mike being at the house was a note in the kitchen addressed to Sarah.

Dear Sarah,

I love you and what I did is wrong. I cannot forgive myself for being such an animal in front of you. I can only hope that you can forgive me, but I cannot allow myself to be a part of our family, while I have such issues. I am seeking professional help and will deposit money into our bank account to pay for the baby.

I hope to see you again soon

Love to baby

Mike x

Sarah read this and broke down in tears. I held her close and let her cry and get it all out of her system. I thought about myself and Sally, how our little fight over sex was completely foolish.

"It's ok, I'm here for you." I tried to reassure her, because right now, she needed someone who was going to support her.

"I'm glad you're here, Robbie. It means a lot to me." I let her cry into my shoulder for what must have been a good ten minutes and slowly she calmed herself down. When she had calmed down enough to support herself, I let her go and moved over to the fridge, looking for the elusive pancake mix. I found the mix and began to try my hand at making home made pancakes. Sarah, noticing this stood up and gently, but firmly, pushed me away from the hotplate and she started to cook pancakes. We ate, made some small talk and washed up. I started to enjoy myself and so did Sarah.

One thing lead to another, we started cleaning the kitchen, then gradually the rest of the house got a complete clean up. I did all the heavy lifting and Sarah did what she could, giving me the occasional order. We got to about five in the evening and Sarah looked over at me

"I don't like making a mess of your nice clothes, Robbie." I just looked down at my jeans, which were getting pretty dirty from all of the work. I just shrugged and pulled off my jumper, as I was getting quite hot. My tight black T-shirt was perfect for winter training, as it kept me warm and it was close to my skin, so I could show off my muscles to any girls braving the cold.

"You've put on some more weight since the summer, haven't you?" I smiled at Sarah, as she checked out my torso wrapped up in black cotton

"Well, my three housemates are hockey players, so they train me through the off season and I train them through the summer. Works out alright for me, because theirs is mostly legs. I need some upper body though, to hit the ball further... the problem is, training makes me aggressive."

"Yes, I had noticed... That's why when Sally went outside with you, I dragged mike upstairs and sat him under a cold shower."

"I did wonder why he'd got changed." Sarah smiled evilly for a moment and then looked thoughtful.

"Robbie, would you do me a really big favour... Would you sleep here tonight, I don't want to be on my own in case he comes back."

"Geez, I'm feeling like 'The Bodyguard' now. If you so much as utter a single sound from that Whitney Houston track, I'm not going to." Sarah laughed and came over to me, throwing her arms around me and planting a kiss on my cheek.

"Thanks, Robbie. I'll make it up to you somehow." We went upstairs and prepared the spare bedroom for myself. We both decided to hit the sack at about midnight, after a hard day's work. I took a shower and jumped into the bed, completely naked, as I hadn't got any other clothes for me to use, I could always put the others on and go home to fetch some tomorrow. I turned off the light and was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

A few hours later, I felt a hand shake me awake. I opened my eyes and saw Sarah standing over me, wearing her dressing gown, shaking like a leaf.

"Robbie, I can't sleep in there without thinking of him," she was breathing quickly and she appeared to be sweating "Can I sleep in your bed?"

"Like when we were kids at Grandma and Grandpa's log cabin in the woods? Ok, I guess so." Sarah quickly undid her dressing gown and dropped it on the floor, she slid into bed next to me, switching the light off. I rolled onto my left side, my back to Sarah and tried to get back to sleep.