Lost & Found Pt. 01

Friday flew by and I spent the evening reading before crashing early. Saturday morning I was up early and put coffee on before putting a You tube video on the big screen and doing a 20 minute stretching program. A little he yoga to loosen stuff up before the hike. I didn't want to drag down Dom and her friends. I had a shower, and was fixing breakfast when I got a text.

{yup! really looking forward to it.}

{i have a pot of oatmeal on the stove and assembling smoothie. Feel free}

I had hardly put my phone down when there was a knock at the door. I answered it to find Dom leaning against my door frame sporting a big closed lip smile, and I noticed her dimples for the first time. Her hazel eyes were sparkling, edging closer to green. She was wearing black tights and a almost knee length burgundy cable knit sweater.

I took a second, to mentally push my jaw back up. "Wow. Okay, A) that was spooky fast and B) it should be illegal to look that good at 9am on a Saturday." I said, standing aside and motioning her in.

"Old ladies like me have to start working on our Saturday look on Thursday," she said with a wink. "But thanks for noticing. I was texting from outside in case I was going to have to wake you, but I see you got an early start. Can I help with anything? Smoothies?"

"Sure. Strawberries, peanut butter and almond milk are in the fridge, bananas and avocados are on the island and flax and chia seeds are in the cupboard right above the blender. There are more fruits and berries in the freezer if you want to freestyle."

"I'm on it boss!" She turned and raided the fridge, bending over to get the berries from the crisper drawer, hiking her sweater up and revealing cut off black denim shorts that were so short her you could see thigh gap while she was backlit by the refrigerator light. I was thankful I had changed into cargo pants. Pajamas would have belied any disinterest I was pretending. Her thighs and legs were stunning.

We made small talk while eating breakfast, Covid, the Election, the weather.

"So, are we picking up your friends, or are they meeting us there?" I asked, a little nervous about interacting with people and navigating their pandemic routines, while following my own.

Dom smiled while sucking on her smoothie straw. "It's just you and me Jason. Are you afraid to go into the woods alone with me? Your virtue is safe with me," she teased, seeing the panic on my face.

"No, I'm not scared I just thought you had said you were going to call some friends to go hiking. I didn't know it would be just the two of us."

Dom laughed. "And then I asked you, and you accepted, giving me a hiking partner, negating the need to call anyone. Besides, I wouldn't throw you to the wolves like that. All my friends are old and single like me, or divorced. Newly eligible bachelor like yourself - you might not have made it back down off the mountain. They would be finding bones and telling ghost stories about you for years." Her eyes were shining with glee.

It was my turn to laugh. "You are hardly old Dom. And, I wouldn't describe myself as an eligible bachelor. I'm still technically married. For a couple of more months"

"You can dress yourself, you have a job, and I presume, can still get it up so you tick all the boxes. Plus- you are damaged goods, so every woman's motherly, nurturing instincts shift the 'I'm the only one that can fix him' fantasy into high gear. You, my friend, are cougar catnip right now." Dom scrunched her face into a snarl and made little clawing motions with one hand. "And for your information - I'm 42, so yes I am an old lady!"

I wasn't quick enough to keep my jaw from dropping. "Well you had me fooled. I thought you were a couple of years older than me - if that. I had you pegged for early thirties. But back to your point, the last thing I need is for a woman to fix me."

Her eyes lit up. "Awwww. That's cute. We don't care what you need - it's a biological need in us. I have friend who claims she can smell divorced guys at the grocery store. Sort of like men being able to smell pregnant women, and it turning them on." She picked up my bowl and glass, stacking them and heading for the sink. "Another coffee?"

"Sure. Or do you want to fill travel mugs? I have a few above the fridge." I said.

"I'm kind of having fun, let's have them here. It's just us, so there is no hard schedule."

"Fun? At my expense? So tell me, if this is such an irresistible condition I'm in, how are you immune to it?" Let's see her wiggle out of that.

"Who said I'm immune? But, unlike any other red blooded single lady, I have the inside scoop, and know how you were fucked up. What you need more than anything else right now is a friend, a sounding board, a confessor, a partner in crime. You are going to fix yourself. And I'm coming along for the ride." She reached across the table and rubbed my arm, giving me a big smile. "But I also know both of your employees are dudes and you are working from home. And with the pandemic, I don't have a lot of competition. I not going to pee outside your door and mark my territory. But, I want to get to know you and help you to trust women again, even if it's just as friends."

I did well not cutting her off at any point. I took a minute to formulate a response. Here was this cute woman telling me, if I was reading between the lines properly, that she might be interested in me, albeit going slowly, less than three days after I almost started sobbing on her sweater in the alley. Finally, I nodded and said "Okay."

Dom waited five seconds, then ducked her head a bit and raised both eyebrows. "Okay what...?"

"Okay, everything you said makes sense and is agreeable to me. I do need a guide to get me out of my funk and put the past and any insecurities behind me. Natalie gave up on us, and I've been carrying the guilt about that. I wasn't being fair to myself. You're hired." I extended my hand and we shook on it.

"Yay! That's the first job interview I've ever done without having put a bra on!" That started both of us giggling." OK, now we have to get on the road, we should still be able to get up north by 11:30." Dom got up and rinsed the coffee cups while I got my bag and filled it with provisions - water, a cliff bar, raw veggies, hummus and some clementines. Dom had all the dishes rinsed and in the dishwasher.

"Thanks for doing the dishes. You've made yourself comfortable here pretty quick. You sure you didn't pee outside?" I mimed a sniffing gesture with my nose.

She laughed. "No silly, your condo is the same set up as mine - everything is in the same place. Although, my place is more cluttered and disorganized. Yours is a little more prison utility", she said glancing around.

"I was thinking about selling a lot of the living space furniture and starting over. Maybe paint and get some lamps. It is institutional with only the pot lighting in here at night. And the sofas with the low backs and no arms have to go. I want comfort. At your place the other night, I felt like I was 13 and hanging out in a friend's basement. I want a couch, not a sofa or a settee."

She chuffed. "Somebody's basement. Thanks for the compliment on my decor!" Dom said feigning being offended as we made our way to the door.

I locked up. "It was a compliment. Your apartment feels like the whole place is hugging you. It is the most personal condo I have ever seen. It reflects your personality very well. I mean unless your extra room is a dungeon or something. That would be weird." I said as we hit the stairs.

"Would it? There are a million things under the sun that can get someone off. I think we all have kinks. It's just that some people aren't adventurous enough to find them." Dom paused, then stopped, to unlock her car "My brother dated a girl for a couple of years who could only reach orgasm in taxi cabs. He could plow away all night at home and she would have mini tremors or whatever. Finger her in the back of a cab, she would have an orgasm that would last three or four minutes until she passed out." She popped my lock and I folded myself up to get into the small Kia. "What are your fetishes? What really turns you on?"

"I guess the only one I can think of is I used to be super attracted to nerdy girls. Glasses, pony tail, tomboyish."

Dom started the car and flipped her visor down to retrieve her glasses and put them on. Checking herself in the mirror before flipping it back up. "Used to be?"

"Yup. Now its nerdy women and the ponytail isn't as much of a factor." I smiled as Dom flushed and laughed.

"So what are your fetishes, Dom?" I asked, laughing, "Or is it Dom the domme?"

"I can assure you that I am not a dominatrix. Although I have witnessed a few in action. It is a lot harder to pull off than you think. As for my kinks, a girl has to have some secrets. If I just draw you a map that wouldn't be any fun. But, I will give you one freebie. This has only happened a couple of times, but both times, it got me so hot I had to find the closest place to masturbate. Once I made it home, the other I had to rub one out at work. Turns out I love walking around with my panties full of cum leaking into them." Dom was red and flushed. "From the look on your face I guess I should have found a more demure way of saying that or kept it to myself. I'm sorry."

"No. Don't be sorry. I'm not shocked by what you said. It took a lot of guts. I was just surprised because no one has ever told me anything that intimate. You know, in seven years Natalie never gave me any pointers or instructions during our love making. Sure sometimes she would tell me it was great afterwards, but she was not vocal during. She never once said 'I would like it if you..." I was staring out my window as Dom navigated traffic. I turned back to her. "Maybe if she had, things wouldn't have turned out like they did. What do you think turned you on so much about walking around with sloppy panties?"

"First, ew! Wrong descriptor dude! Secondly, I think that it was the hidden secret thing. I could be having a conversation at work and feel the sticky mess stuck to me, but could they tell? Did I smell like cum? Could these other librarians even comprehend my level of sluttiness? Anyway, it only lasted a month with that guy, he was a blank shooter so it was safe to not use condoms. That was five years ago, but it still makes me hot thinking about it." Dom checked her mirrors, and merged onto the highway.

"Did it make you hot telling me about it?" I asked her with a sly grin.

"Hell yeah. But, I gotta concentrate on the road. Topic change. Wiki exchange." Dom proceeded to tell me her life story. Her family unit, where she grew up, schooling, dating, the long-term relationship, work history. She timed it perfectly as we pulled into the entrance to the State Park just as she got to buying the condo three years ago, just before we met her.

"You get to weave your tale on the way back, so you can work on your bullit list on the hike. The parking is just up here a couple of hundred yards." We parked and grabbed our bags. The hike we were doing was only four and a half miles long, but would take us up 800ft with lots of switch backs, ending at an observation outcrop with a great view of the river valley on the other side.

Conversation was sparse on the way up and it took just under two hours. We had a quick lunch at the top, then started down, which went much faster than the hike up. True to her prediction, it was warm enough to ditch the sweater. As she pulled the big cable sweater up and over, and struggled getting her head through the collar. Which gave me time to check out her breasts. She was wearing an old school three quarter length AC DC t-shirt with white body and black sleeves. Or, it had been. By now it had been washed so many times the sleeves were grey and the body part was almost see through.

Her boobs appeared to be b-cup and suited her because anything too much bigger would have looked out of place on her small frame. There was a good amount of jiggle and the more she struggled with the sweater, the more the front of the shirt displayed twin tents of her nipples acclimatizing to the fresh air. It was pretty evident she wasn't wearing a bra.

I removed my thin hoodie and tied it around my waist, hoping the dangling cuffs would hide any bulge caused by my lecherous ogling. We resumed the descent, and found myself paying more attention to Dom's tight little ass than the scenery. The slightly raised heel to her hiking boots were doing wonders for her thighs and legs too. Forty-five minutes later we were back in the parking lot, retrieving water bottles from our packs and stowing our gear in the hatchback.

"Thank you for today", I said as we pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the park gates. "It felt really good to get out of my head for a while."

Dominique smiled. "Awww. That's what bubble buddies are for. Thank you for coming along. And see? You made it back down the hill with you virtue intact. It felt good to get some exercise outdoors. It's going to be Halloween in five weeks. After that it will be chilly by 4 PM." By the time we make it to the highway and headed back to Baltimore, we had settled into what I thought was a comfortable silence." Well... are you going to tell me your life story, or should I put the radio on?"

I apologized for forgetting then launched into my tale. Dom wasn't shy about stopping me and demanding more information about things when she felt it was warranted. It was a fuzzy feeling knowing someone was interested enough to want to know your story. I started to pick-up on a habit she had of asking the questions after me using a proper noun. I think her asking questions using a person's name or a geographical name was her memorizing trick. This woman just keeps getting more interesting.

She asked if we could stop at a mall twenty minutes from home to get some libations and groceries. I agreed and did a small order too, hitting the organic section that my local supermarket didn't have. At the liquor store I got some wine and a bottle of Grey Goose. I had been thinking of getting a thank you gift for Dom, and the vodka would play into it.

When we got to our building, I grabbed my bags and a few of Dominique's. I carried them into her apartment and set them down.

"Thanks again. I had a really good time. It was good to really get to know you." I said, smiling. "I didn't recognize how badly I needed to get out of town, even for a couple of hours."

"We all need it. The next outing is on you. You get to decide." She started to unpack the freezer items. "But besides that, would you like to come for dinner on Monday evening? Not a date. I just want to push myself to eat better, and it would be nice to have company preparing and eating a meal. Growing up, most of my favorite memories are from the kitchen. We didn't have a dining room, so the kitchen was the hub of the house. I miss that. And the pandemic really drove that home."

"Yeah. I would like to come. Truth time - fixing breakfast and sharing it with you was my favorite part of the day." I said, avoiding eye contact.

"Well, I don't know about that. The bulge in your pants after I pulled my sweater off up on the mountain caused me to think my boobs were your favorite part of your day" Dom said straight faced. I turned red and looked to the ceiling, embarrassed at being busted. She laughed. "Relax. That was for show. So was going through you crisper drawer. I just wanted to see if you are ready to live again. I'm pretty sure you are. He definitely is." she nodded towards my crotch. "I'm being honest about everything I've said today. Monday is just dinner. We are going to be friends. Then we'll see where it goes." She stepped into me and gave me a hug, then looked up at me "Now go get your groceries put away. I'll see you Monday."

"Okay, I'll see you then. Have a good night."

I grabbed my bags and headed upstairs. After putting away my things, I took a shower and resisted the urge to rub one out. But the urge for my mind to wander was stronger. Three days. Nine or ten hours. That was how much time I had spent in Dominique's presence, but it seemed impossible that I was this comfortable around a woman so quickly.

Thinking back to when we met, it was weeks before Natalie and I had trust in each other to talk this openly. And about subjects like kinks and sexual preferences? Forget about it. I was starting to realize that Natalie might have been so guarded that even I never really got to know the real her. Maybe no one ever had.

After getting out of the shower, I made a stir-fry and some rice noodles for dinner. I decided against drinking. I went online and did a bit of research for furniture, deciding I didn't even want to think about Ikea, or flat box options. I went the Marketplace route and scrolled for half an hour, saving anything that caught my eye, just to start to get an idea of my 'style'

I also went on Amazon and ordered a nice set of four hammered copper tumblers for Moscow Mules. Two of them as a thank you gift for Dom, and I would keep the other two. I also ordered a leather bound journal. I wanted to start keeping a daily tab on my self-work thoughts. This was going to be a big part of how fast I forgave myself, and Natalie, for our failed marriage.

Lastly, right before sleep I decided to send Natalie a text.

{Thinking about you tonight. I hope you are settling into the new job smoothly. I also hope that your Mom is continuing to mend well. Nothing but positive vibes.}

I went to bed and slept like a log. Gradually the weight I had been carrying for months was being released, and I was feeling rejuvenated. I checked my phone and Natalie had texted me back.

[Mom is coming along. More good days than bad. Her hair is coming back in. Thanks for asking. Job is going okay. Or job is good, I'm just okay. I've started seeing somebody, so hopefully I'll start getting back to my old self soon.]

Wow. That was a subtle way of telling me she is moving on. But, I can't dwell on it. And in the end, if I expect to eventually find someone to be happy with, why wouldn't I want the same for Natalie.

{Good. I hope he makes you happy. Sincerely. You deserve it.}

I got up and made breakfast. Did some laundry. About noon, I got a notification on my phone.

[I didn't even realize how that sounded. A therapist, Jason. I've started seeing a therapist. Sorry if that sent you for a ride in your head. I'm a long way away from that. What about you?]

I took a minute, then typed.

{I've have a bubble buddy. Nothing intimate or serious yet. Slow boat.}

I don't know why, but I didn't want to tell her it was Dominique.

[Slow is good. Take care J]

{You too Nat. If you need to talk, I'll always be there for you}

I felt good about the conversation. Even if it was text and not over the phone or in person, it was still the most straight forward talk I have had with my soon to be ex-wife in six months. I did still love her, and was learning how to do that without being in love with her. It sounds easy on paper.

Now my thoughts wandered to the librarian downstairs. I smiled. Then frowned. Don't fall in to the well just because you are a little thirsty. You just wrote it to Natalie ten minutes ago. Slow boat. New rule #1 - no getting drunk with Dom. New rule #2 - no more talking about Natalie and our marriage unless Dom initiates with a direct question. New rule #3 - always tell her what you are thinking. Honestly. And - trust that she is being honest with you.

I wished I had a snapshot of myself from Wednesday to compare to the guy who was sitting here now.

On Monday I got an early start on the day. I talked to my employees about what they thought about my idea of giving up the office and basing the company out of my condo. They both seemed to think it was a good idea. If I needed to have a meeting that couldn't be virtual, I could rent conference rooms at a host of hotels in the downtown area. My lease was up for renewal in January. That gave me about six weeks to make the decision and give them the written three months notice. I added that to my growing to do list.