Lucky Man Pt. 02

'Where is that?'

'In the cathedral: you were there for a graduation ceremony.'

She's right; the administrators had pressured me into attending. They thought it showed them in a good light, having disabled members of staff.

'You were there?'

'No I bought a CD of the ceremony and Ross pulled that picture from it.'

Following that I found pictures from Mumford's website. As I flick through her album I see it holds details of everything I'd achieved in the last five years. The final page showed a picture of me with Jo Brinsley, the presenter of Technospot.

'Is she as pretty in real life, you know without all the make-up?'

'I would say prettier, she has a nice natural beauty, and she's good company.'

'You went out with her?'

'Yes we had dinner together after the recording. I found her very friendly and good fun. Not my type though.'

She jabbed her elbow into my arm.

'Yeah you wish. I happen to know that she's happily married to Euan Griffiths. I don't think you stand much chance against an international rugby player.'

'As I said before, for some women a wedding ring doesn't mean a lot.'

'Oh my god, you didn't?'

'No I didn't; I can't do that to someone else just because someone did it to me. I don't care if she does claim to have an open marriage.'

Her eyes tell me she's been hurt by what I said. I feel guilty; I'd not thought about it before I said it. With my arm around her shoulders I hugged her.

'What made you do all this?' I asked, looking down at the book.

'In a strange way it made me feel closer to you. It was like I was sharing some of those things with you.'

'If you were so desperate to be with me, what took you so long? '

'I tried at the wedding two years ago but you ran away. As soon as the speeches were over you couldn't get away quick enough.'

'I had a plane to catch.'

'I know that's what you said but I'm sure you could have arranged things for you son's wedding.'

'I did but my flight got cancelled and the only thing available was Saturday evening.'

'So you weren't trying to avoid me.'

'No! I'll be honest I wasn't looking forward to seeing you, but I wasn't trying to hide. I had an information exchange meeting at 9:00 am with our partner in Boston'

She gets off the bed and kisses my cheek while I sit looking at the book.

'I've got to go to the bathroom.'

She disappears into the en-suite bathroom. I'm completely taken aback by the amount of stuff she has in her album. How did she get all this stuff? Has she been stalking me? I call out a question to her but she doesn't answer. I realise that she probably can't hear me.

The bathroom door opens and I turn around. Her appearance takes me completely by surprise. With one hand on the door frame and the other on her hip she stands there, framed in the doorway. She's wearing a red teddy that is so sheer the dark circles of her areola and her prominent nipples are clearly visible. The dark triangle shows her neatly trimmed pubic hair. Little John immediately jumps to attention.

'Well how do I look?'

'Breathtaking.'

She started to walk towards me swinging her hips as she moved.

'Not in the same league as Dr Stockbridge.'

'I wouldn't know; I've never seen her in anything less than you saw tonight.'

Caroline stands in front of me as I sit on the bed. She's still a good looking woman. It is all I can do to stop myself grabbing her and kissing her. She drops down to her knees and takes my hands in hers.

'In case you hadn't realised this is an invitation. I'm completely yours if you want me. I know what I want, but what about you?'

She pulls my hands and holds them against her chest.

'It can be just for now, just for tonight, or for the rest of our lives. Everything you see here is yours to do what you will. I love you John and I want you to love me again. I let you down, and I let myself down, but I've paid. Every day of the last five years I've paid. Missing you in my bed, knowing that you'd shut me out of your life. At times it was only the boys, our two sons, that gave me the will to carry on. I've seen everything you've achieved, and it hurts not being able to share it with you. Please, even if it's only for tonight, be my husband again. Make love to me John.'

She stands and placing one knee on the bed she eases my jacket off of my shoulders, her breast stroking my cheek as she does so. Taking my head in her hands, she tips it up and gently kisses my lips. She unbuttons my shirt and starts to run her hands over my chest.

'Mmm this is new, I don't remember it being this firm before'

'You can't beat a wheelchair for giving you upper body strength.'

'But that ended three years ago. Have you been working out?'

'It helps to pass the time.'

She eases the shirt off of my shoulders and pulls it down. Standing in front of me she takes my hands in hers. I look at her shapely body. There is a dark patch forming between her legs. She pulls on my hands and I stand up. Releasing my belt and unclipping the waistband she allows my trousers to fall to the floor. She pulls herself in close to me. I can't remember the last time I felt this level of desire. Her hands are on my chest now and she is moving them down to the waistband of my boxers. With her thumbs in the waistband she runs her hands down over my hips. She bends her knees and drops to the floor. One at a time she lifts my feet out of my shoes and out of the clothes on the floor. She runs her hands back up my legs coming to rest on the cheeks of my arse. As she looks up at me, my erect penis strokes her cheek leaving a wet mark. Pulling her head back she looks at it,

'I've missed you almost as much as I've missed him,' she says nodding in the direction of my head.

This is a hell of a change from the times I remember. In those days she refused to look at my cock let alone touch it. If I didn't initiate sex it didn't happen. I take her arms, lift her from the floor, and gaze into her eyes.

'What's this all about Caroline? You said you'd like to make love, but this is a full scale seduction. What's going on?'

She kissed me.

'I wanted you to know how much I want and miss you John. I've been aching for you ever since I saw you get up on that stage this morning.

She pushes me back so that I sit back on the bed while she holds my head between her breasts. I see her slip the straps of her teddy off of her shoulders. It drops down revealing her magnificent orbs with prominent nipples. She kneels astride me on the bed and I take one of her nipples into my mouth while I gently massage the other breast. Her head goes back, and she starts moan. She's pulling my head harder onto her breast as I use my other hand to stroke down over her hips. She starts to thrust them forward as I stroke them. I bite gently on her nipple as I rub the other with my thumb. The hand stroking her hip is pulled away and pushed hard against her pussy. As she thrusts more against my hand I can hear her roar and I realise she is already having an orgasm. With the final throws she falls forward knocking me flat on the bed as she holds me in a tight embrace.

I stroke her back, pushing the teddy further down. Now I'm stroking her bum and she's writhing on top of me. She climbs off and sits beside me as she removes the teddy. I slide further onto the bed. She kisses me then climbs back on top of me feeding my cock into her love canal. I return to working on her back. I remember what that does to her and tonight is no different. She writhes and thrusts on top of me. She gets more active as I squeeze her ass cheeks and my finger probes her anus. She'd never let me do that before but in the last five years I've found out that plenty of women love it. I expect her to push my hand away but the push doesn't come. Instead, the grunts and groans increase and the movements get more forceful. I know that she has reached her climax when she forces her hips down onto me and hold them there while emitting a loud cry. I feel her relax so I start to push up into her until I find my release.

We lay on the bed. She is still on top of me, lying on my chest. This is what I have missed. Having her so close; joined to me. It feels so right. In our temporary exhaustion there is still so much to enjoy. She is stroking my face, kissing my cheek.

'Oh my love, my love, my only love. Thank you so much,' she whispers

I gently stroke her back, bringing her down from her orgasm. She becomes so relaxed that I check that she hasn't fallen asleep. She climbs off of me and for the first time I realise that we never even pulled back the covers. There is now a wet patch on the counterpane.

'I'm going to have a shower; care to join me?'

I get off of the bed and as I follow her into the bathroom, I pull the counterpane from the bed.

She opens the door and pulls me into the shower locking her lips on mine. We take it in turn washing each other. She rains kisses down on me as we clean each other's bodies. We start the drying and I'm entranced by the way her breasts move as I towel them dry. I can't resist kissing her nipples. We walk from the bathroom hand in hand and I lead her back to the bed before picking up my clothes. In a flash she's there beside me taking the clothes from my hands.

'Don't go John, stay with me tonight, please. If you still feel anything for me, stay with me tonight.'

I take her in my arms and hug her to me. She moulds her body to mine and we stand there holding each other before climbing into bed. I lay on my back and she snuggles under my arm and lays her head on my chest. She runs her finger over my chest and down over my stomach.

'I've waited for this for so long; it's hard to believe that you are really here. Pinch me John. I need to know I'm not dreaming'

I reach across and pinch her nipple.

'Oh! That's not really what I meant; I don't need any more encouragement. The fact is I've never felt as horny as I've felt this last year. I've had to buy myself a mini John but he doesn't come close to the real thing.'

She reaches across me and pulls herself in tighter to me. I know that this is what I've been missing. It's not the sex, which turned out to be less of a problem, even when I was in the wheelchair. It's this intimacy, this closeness, just for the sake of it. I feel so relaxed. She is kissing my chest and whispering something as I feel myself floating off to sleep.

I'm woken by an unusual sensation, one I've felt before but wasn't expecting this morning. Caroline's head is moving up and down on my morning glory. She's never done this for me before though I've often wanted it. She always thought it was dirty. I look to the side and I can see the rest of her body. Reaching out I caress her stomach, moving up towards her breasts. She moves closer, her legs part and I can see her vulva glistening with her juices. She swings her leg across me offering her lips to my tongue. I lick my way over her mound and into her crease as I run my hands over her lower back and bum. She starts to rise and fall as my tongue does its work and her head movements become more forceful. When I squeeze her cheeks rubbing my thumbs over her tight little back door, her movements become more intense. Now she is pushing hard against my chin while her mouth weaves its magic on my cock. My hips thrust up pushing my cock deeper into her mouth. She puts her hand around its base to control the thrusting as I move my tongue down to seek out her clitoris. My thumb slips into her anus as my tongue finds her clit. Her hips pound down on me and she emits nasal squeaks as her mouth engulfs my cock completely. My release comes and I drain my self into her as she grinds her pussy against my open mouth.

We lie together for a few minutes before she rolls off of me, then kisses her way up my body, finally planting a passionate kiss on my lips.

'There'll be plenty more where that came from.'

Now I see it for what it is. She thinks sex is the way to get me back. 'Sex is the way I lost him, sex is the way to get him back.' Did she ever really know me? Has she listened to me at all tonight?

'Caroline, last night and this morning, were fantastic, but that's not the end of everything. We still have a long way to go'

'But it's a start isn't it?'

She throws an arm and a leg around me and pulls herself in tight to me.

'Maybe Caroline, that's all I can say. Take the job and move if you want; I can't promise you anything.'

She pulls herself even closer. I glance at the clock on the nightstand. It's eight thirty/

'Good God is that the time? I've got to go.'

'Can't you stay a little longer? I'll treat you to breakfast before you leave.'

'No time for breakfast. I must get back to my hotel, get packed and be back at Savoy Place by ten o' clock.'

She holds on to my arm.

Stay with me John. We have so much to talk about. I need you John, more than I ever did. Please stay, they'll find someone else, you don't need to be there.'

'Caroline, people are depending on me. You must remember what that's like. I've never let anyone down before and I'm not starting now.'

She tries to hold on to me as I get out of bed and hurriedly dress before giving her a light kiss goodbye.

'John, we need to talk, promise me you'll call.'

'OK I'll call you but I really must leave now.'

Down in the street I hail a cab and get back to my hotel.

*****

With five minutes to spare I slot myself into my seat and heave a sigh of relief.

'You didn't make it for breakfast so I guess you had a good night,' said Lauren as I sat down.

'Well I thought it went well but now I'm having second thoughts. What about you and Daniel, how did you get on?'

'Well,' she said giving me a coy look. Then she giggled 'He was sweet, and a perfect gentleman. If you must know you were the main subject of conversation. I think you're his role model. He accords you the status you give to Michael Faraday.'

'Well he'll never find a statue of me out the front of the building,' I laughed.

'He told me a lot about you as a teacher. He says you were a great teacher. Do you know he spent three years working on a problem you set before he left college?

'Did he find the solution?'

'He said he did, he was laughing about it. He said something about a chip being programmable.'

'Oh so he did solve it.'

'He was angry with himself for not considering that possibility.'

'Daniel was one of the few. There were a group of them, all highly motivated, they all did well. I really don't want to talk about teaching. It was never my finest hour and I'm never going back.'

'No one expects you to go back; but you talk about it as if it was a period of failure. I thought you should know that your students didn't see it that way.

My silence conveys my desire to drop the subject and Lauren picks up on it immediately.

'Caroline seems nice; and quite attractive.'

'Really Lauren, I never thought you swung both ways. Sorry to disappoint you, but Caroline doesn't.'

She punches me in the arm.

'Men! Just because I say she's attractive; doesn't mean I want to go to bed with her. I can see why men would want her, that's all.'

'Yeah, well unfortunately one too many did, and she was too receptive.'

I've already said more than I intended. It's a relief when the keynote speaker for the day takes the mike and gets the proceedings under way. We watch another two presentations before I'm called to sit on the expert panel for the question and answer session. It's good to concentrate on their problems; it takes my mind off of the events of last night. We wind up and send the delegates away to enjoy the weekend. I step down from the stage to be greeted by Lauren.

'Well done boss, you sent them away with plenty to think about. Now I suppose it's time for us to go home.'

I just smiled at her.

'What? What's funny? What have you got planned.'

'Well I stood you up last night, so I arranged something to make up for it. We're going to Brown's for lunch.'

'You didn't stand me up. I had a nice time and Daniel was positively charming.'

'Yeah, but I wanted to say a personal thank you for coming down here to help me out. I let you down last night so I had the concierge book a table for lunch. Come on, no arguments.'

There isn't going to be an argument. If she wanted to brag about The Savoy, she would definitely want to have lunch at Brown's.

We are walking down The Strand when the questions start.

'So did you have a good night last night? How long is it since you last saw her?'

'I last saw her two years ago but we haven't spoken for five years.'

'Five years and you are still wearing your wedding ring? You know she wants you back don't you?'

'I ought to; enough people told me. My sons, my friends, they've all told me at some time or another. Now she's moving to Cambridge, the pressure will increase.'

'And that's what yesterday was all about? She came to tell you she's moving?'

'Partly yes. She wanted to know if I was all right with it.'

'She wanted a lot more than that; a girl knows these things. It was written all over her face last night.'

We turn the corner and I stop to point across the road to an ordinary looking building.

'Voila. Brown's Restaurant.'

'That is Brown's? The place where the hooray Henrys from the city spend their bonuses?'

'The very place.'

'Well the outside is a big disappointment.'

'In that case it's a good job we are not eating outside. Come on our reservation is for one o' clock and people will be waiting at the bar hoping we don't turn up.'

We cross the road and walk into the restaurant and in less than a minute we are shown to our table. Lauren looks at the menu and lets out a whistle. I look at her in surprise, but I know what provoked the response.

'I'd expected something more exotic, especially at these prices.'

'That's the lunch menu. The more exotic dishes, as you call them, are on the evening menu.'

'Are you sure about this John? I would be just as happy eating in the station restaurant.'

'Of course I'm sure. Nothing is too good for my right hand man.'

She smiles, cups her own breasts and lifts them a little.

'Ahem! Perhaps you didn't notice these.'

'You know what I mean. You're the glue that keeps the team together when I'm not around, the one I rely on to get things done. I want you to know how much I appreciate you. Oh, and yes I definitely noticed those.'

We are both laughing when the waiter comes to take our order. Lauren takes her time choosing and the waiter is getting impatient. I have no problem, I've been here before. The waiter leaves and Lauren pours her question into the pause that follows.

'So that was the mystery wife last night'

'Yes, Caroline and I are married, but there is no secret about that.'

'Are you kidding? Two years I've known you, and you haven't mentioned her once. The rumours at work say she's on an overseas placement. They say the reason you spend so much time in the states is because she is out there. I might have believed it myself if I hadn't met a young lady called Siobhan the last time I went out to Boston. She seemed to be intimately acquainted with you and she didn't wear a ring.'

'I could say it's nobody's business but mine.'

'You could, and if you do I will shut up and leave you alone. Ever since she turned up yesterday, you seem troubled. I think you need to talk to someone and I'm offering to be that person.'

She's right; I need to talk to someone. For five years I've refused to talk to anyone about it though several tried. Caroline told our sons her version of events; which, to be fair, wasn't that far from the truth. They told me how sorry she was, but I'd always refused to talk about it. At the time it hurt too much. Maybe now is the right time.