Mentor

He looked at her and thought how nice she looked when she wasn't frowning. Barefooted, she was about 5'-4", and in the robe, as much as it hid, he suspected she was about 130 to 135 pounds. Her hair was still damp, looking much darker than her usual brownish-blonde hair.

"Mrs. Brady, you're very pretty without the makeup, but I'll go grab your purse for you if you'll give me the car keys. Oh, and there's a blow dryer under the sink in the bathroom, if you'd like to dry your hair. I'm heading downstairs so you won't be disturbed."

"Thank you, Mr. Humphries. I appreciate it," she said, handing him the keys.

"You're welcome, Mrs. Brady. You're very welcome."

***

"Your purse is hanging on the doorknob," he called through the bathroom door. He glanced around his bedroom, thankful that he'd made a practice of making his bed every day and not leaving too much of a mess. He picked up a couple of stray socks, threw them in the closet, and headed down to make the coffee.

Mrs. Brady came in minutes later. Her hair and makeup were fixed and she'd re-tied the robe, leaving more of the sleep shirt showing below. Her arms no longer covering her breasts, he noticed nice points and had to turn toward the sink as he calmed a sudden stirring he hadn't expected.

"How do you like your coffee, Mrs. Brady?"

"Cream, no sugar, please. And please, call me Lynn Marie," she said softly.

"I, ah, don't think your husband would appreciate that."

"Gerald died nearly four years ago, Mr. Humphries. He always carried too much weight, he was very pent up, and his blood pressure was way too high as a result; one day it caught up with him. Please, Lynn Marie?"

"I'm sorry, I really didn't know, Mrs., ah, Lynn Marie. Thank I'm Bill."

"What about Mrs. Humphries? I seem to remember a 'Mrs. WRG' in some of the talks way back when."

"She was hit crossing the street in the pedestrian walk, with the crosswalk light, a little over three years ago. The doctors operated and thought she'd be fine, but there was a weakened blood vessel in her brain that they couldn't see. It swelled suddenly—the vessel burst, they think—and she went into a lot of pain. All the doctors on duty were in surgery so they had to wait until one was available while she suffered before they could wheel her back into surgery. It was too late."

"I'm so sorry."

"Thank you. She died three years ago last Saturday."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Bill." The compassion on her face was evident, so he nodded to her in thanks and turned back to the counter to complete his work.

"Lynn Marie, I must admit that I really wasn't expecting you to be outside my house when I pulled up. What's going on?"

She looked down. "Ally and I had an even bigger fight after you left. She's grown, Bill, but I have a hard time seeing that at times, particularly when it comes to her body and her...ahem..."

"Sexuality?"

"Yeah, that's the word. She's been pushing me to move past Gerald for two years, so she said she didn't appreciate me barging in and driving you away. I think her words "were to keep her from having any, too."

"Lynn Marie, nothing happened between us. She wanted it, but I had to stop it before it went too far." He looked her in the eyes. "I swear, nothing happened between us."

"She told me that you gave her your address and that she was coming here to...to..."

"What?"

Lynn Marie was staring down at the table, her face flushed and her breathing shallow and rapid. She was obviously embarrassed and uncomfortable as she whispered, "She said she was coming here to suck you dry and...do...you over and over and over again until she screamed and until it was time to catch our plane tomorrow afternoon. She even told me to pack her bag and bring it to the airport if she wasn't back in time."

Bill couldn't help himself; he burst out laughing and Lynn Marie gave him a horrified look of disbelief.

"Lynn Marie, I'm so sorry. Nothing happened between us last night and nothing like that would have happened in the event she'd come here. I actually spoke with her this afternoon and she was perfectly calm and rational. I hate to say it, but I suspect she was mad at you and was just yanking your chain."

She was shaking her head furiously. "But she stormed out of the room, saying she was going to your house to do all those things. I didn't know what to do until I saw your card with your contact info on top of her laptop. I grabbed it and went after her, but I couldn't run in my shoes so I looked and looked around the hotel. When I couldn't find her, I beat her to the rental car somehow, so I took it and came here, hoping I could stop her and warn you."

She was obviously distraught so Bill suppressed his chuckle this time and patted her hand. "Think about it. If she had that much of a head start, don't you think she'd have made it to your rental car first and been long gone? Like I said, she was mad at you and played a trick on you."

She hung her head. "Shit. And I fell for it."

Bill was still barely restraining a smile as she realized she'd been had. She looked up at him and chuckled. "That sneaky, sneaky girl. She got me back good, didn't she?"

"I don't know, maybe she was trying to help me."

"What do you mean?"

"Hey, I'm the one with the beautiful woman dressed in a bathrobe sitting at my kitchen table."

She turned red and glanced away, covering her eyes and trying to hide her embarrassment, so Bill concentrated on the cups in front of him. When it was all ready, he set a cup in front of her and one across for himself.

"That look about right?"

"Yeah, that looks perfect. Thank you."

He sat down opposite her but, getting a good view of her chest across from him, he looked away, trying to avoid staring at her.

"Bill, are you okay?"

A little sigh slipped out inadvertently. "Seriously, I, ah, haven't sat across from a beautiful woman in a bathrobe in over three years, since Crystal died. It's a bit more difficult to avoid acting, ah, unseemly, than I remember."

She had a twisted little grin on her face as she looked at him. "Now that you've proven how gullible I am and I've proven how klutzy, how about if we consider this a casual meeting and relax. As long as we can both keep our hands to ourselves, I think we'll be okay, don't you?"

He nodded and looked back at her, but his eyes were immediately drawn, as if by a tractor-beam, to those projecting, cloth-covered nipples. The disappointment clear on his face, he looked up at her and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

She gave a little smile and a nod. "Don't be. The truth is, I've always had rather prominent nipples, so it's not your fault for noticing. I think that was one of the things that first attracted Gerald to me, though he never admitted it in all our years together. After that, Gerald always wanted me to wear thick, padded bras to help hide them from other men. That not only made me hot and uncomfortable, it made me look even more busty and probably drew more eyes than if I'd worn what I did before."

"That's not too surprising, I guess. I remember Ally saying that her dad was very strict."

"Yes, extremely. He was from a fundamentalist denomination and had, well, let's say 'rigid' beliefs. I loved him and lived the way he wanted because I loved and wanted to please him, not because it was the way I'd have chosen for myself."

"That's about what I suspected. Based on what she said, he seemed like he was—I don't want to be mean, but—stifling, to her. I think that's why she latched onto me as she did, because she needed a male figure who tried to treat her like a young woman rather than as a disciple with no other choice. To be frank, I'm surprised he allowed her to communicate with me, particularly when we got into discussions about teenage life, boys, and such."

"Umm, actually, he...he rarely knew about that. I monitored her communications and only let Gerald see the writing parts and the really mild stuff that passed between you; anything that dealt with touchier subjects, well, I tried to make sure he didn't see those. He caught her once and took away her computer privileges for a week or two, so we had to be more careful after that."

"I think I remember that. I was worried when she disappeared for a while, but then she was back with no explanation and I don't think I pried."

"I think she appreciated that, because she was scared he'd find out and cut her internet connection completely."

"Strict or vindictive? Sounds like both."

"Maybe. He didn't like us crossing him, so it didn't happen often, at least not until she started growing up. Before that, she was perfectly obedient most of the time."

"Funny how that works until one gets big enough to question what's really happening to and around them, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I think so." She sipped her coffee before reaching across and taking his hand, slipping her fingers into his and giving a gentle squeeze. "Bill, I must say, I really appreciate how you always stressed to Ally about talking to us about issues and how you didn't want her making up her mind solely based on what you were saying. That gave me a lot more trust in you over time."

"Thank you. My only goal, ever, was to help her." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze in reply, but neither let go then, and when she smiled at him for his comment, their hands remained in contact, however tenuously, on the table between them.

"So Ally's dad, ah, Gerald, gave her a hard time?"

"Mmm, very, I'd say. I gave her what freedom I could, but she needed more since Gerald had an oppressive streak a mile wide and miles deep that stifled her, as you said, her mind and her creativity. When she started talking about going to live at WRG's house, it shocked and horrified me in a way, but in another, I could see her wanting the freedom, the ability to get out from under Gerald's thumb since I'd done something similar by marrying so young to get away from my parents."

"But you said you loved him and you married him, early even. How did he treat you?"

She looked down, stirring her coffee purposelessly, watching the eddy to keep from looking at Bill as she gripped his fingers a bit more firmly. Bill patted her hand with his other hand and said, "I'm sorry, Lynn Marie. I shouldn't have been so nosy. You don't need to answer—"

"No, Bill. It's okay," she said, trying to convince herself as much as him. "Gerald treated me much the same as Ally, unfortunately, but I didn't realize it as much then because it was what I expected and accepted. We married just months out of high school—me, anyway, since he was several years older and well established in his profession—and I never got to go to college, to be on my own, to learn more about life or myself. No, I was a 'good wife,' loving him and letting him have his way on lots of things, only to learn later, after he was gone, that his interpretations were much stricter and a lot more cherry-picked than those of most denominations. I left that church after that, and was ostracized to a degree, but considering what I was leaving, I really didn't care."

"I'm sorry, Lynn Marie. That had to be tough on you."

"Small town girl desperately in love and wanting to get away from home makes it to the big city with her love? It was really exciting for a while until I came to understand the restrictions I was living under. Then, it was too late; Ally was born and I had to get by. I was a lot stricter with her than I should have been because of Gerald, but I did what I could to help her and give her as many opportunities as I could."

"What about now? You said he's been gone for several years. Are you seeing anyone?"

Her face fell as she pursed her lips and shook her head. "No. I have way too much baggage, too many memories, so I can't let myself get close to anyone. I can't trust men and I, ah, I don't know if I can trust myself."

"So you've been on your own since Gerald died? Do you think you've made any progress on the things you were talking about? Learning to be yourself?"

Her hand rotated in his until their fingers were interlaced, their palms almost touching. "I've tried. Don't tell Ally but I've even taken some college courses at night. The bank where I work pays for them and it gets me out of the apartment a few evenings a week. I'm thinking of trying to get an associate's degree and, just maybe, make something of myself. I've even been thinking of moving, to get a new start."

Bill squeezed her hand, pulling her palm up against his.

"Please, don't belittle yourself. You are something. You said you have a good job and you've kept it and grown in it over time. You've survived a relationship that many would term abusive and you've raised your daughter to be a fine young lady. You're a very pretty lady and you have a lot of living ahead of you."

"Thank you, Bill. You don't know me but it's very sweet for you to say that."

"No, I don't know you well, but I know some things about you and, despite these old, tired eyes, they still see well enough that I can recognize a beautiful woman when I see one." He smiled at her as his hand gave hers a little squeeze before his eyes glanced down for a second and then back up at her little smile.

She looked at him for a bit as if studying him before glancing down at her breasts for several seconds and then back up at him. His eyes had followed hers, admiring her shape for a moment before his embarrassment about leering returned.

"Bill, may I ask you a very personal question?"

"What?"

"Have you...been with...many women?"

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No. Not many. Crys and I started dating when I was a senior and she was a junior in high school. I went off to college and she joined me the next year. We were each other's firsts then and we thought it would be so easy, but she broke up with me when I was a junior, thinking we needed to 'see other people.' We both dated some that year and we each had a few lovers, but by the end of the year, we realized that the sex we'd had wasn't love. We still loved each other so we got back together late that year and were together from then on. Crys worked for several years before Kelly was born, but those...those were fun, loving years."

Lynn Marie was nodding, a hint of melancholy on her face, so instead of reversing the question to her, Bill paused, giving her time to lead the conversation where she wished.

She answered without being asked. "Gerald was my first...and my only. I suspect now that he wasn't a very good lover, though. I've watched some videos online over the past couple of years and seen some things I never dreamed of. He actually treated me well in bed and was very respectful, unlike a lot of the guys in those videos, but he wasn't all that good either. Missionary position, slam, bam, it's over, ma'am."

"Lynn Marie, most of those videos are made by professionals and most of them are fake to at least some extent. They're catering to guys who think women like it rough, like having spunk in their face, or like having a log shoved down their throat or up their rear, having their hair pulled and such. Some women may, but I suspect the percentage in those videos is somewhat out of kilter with everyday reality."

"Oh, I know. I was a bit sheltered, not stupid, you know," she said with a laugh. "Gerald just never tried to do the things they do in the videos, any of the things, to make a woman orgasm. Don't get me wrong, it felt good sometimes, but he never could get me quite to the point to get me off and once he was done...well, it was done, over. We worked the same hours so we were rarely apart except when at work, but I came to relish my privacy in those occasional times when he had to go to the store or whatever. I got to where I could, ah, rub out a good one really quick."

She was smiling at the thought, those precious little moments that had made life more liveable in what must have often been an often miserable situation.

Bill was smiling, too, at the thought of how her knees must have been drawn up with her feet tucked under her as she did it. Her hand must have drifted down at first, unsure, and then, perhaps, eventually becoming a blur as she feared her husband's return. His blood surged at the thought, his member throbbing and coming to life unexpectedly, and he looked back into her eyes staring into his.

"Bill, I'm sorry, but I'm getting really hot in this robe."

He rose up to help her, exposing the tightness in his pants before he realized it and could turn. With a little smile, she turned instead, allowing him to slip the robe from her shoulders. She tipped back a little then and he caught her but she leaned against his chest and pulled his arm around her. Her breathing was shallow as she looked back at him.

"Bill, I didn't know your name back then, you were just Ally's WRG, but I trusted you with my daughter," she said almost breathlessly. "It's been over four years since Gerald. Do...do you think...I can, ahem, trust myself to you for today? And you to me?"

His other arm encircling her was all the answer she needed for she turned a bit more to catch his lips over her shoulder. She turned her body then, to face him, her breasts pressed against him and her mons catching his semi-hard cock and giving it encouragement to do more as she rocked against it. Her hands ran over his back, catching handfuls of his shirt before pulling it out of his khakis, and then struggling to get it off of him, over his head.

Bill's hands were rubbing her back, pressing her against him again as soon as his shirt was free. He ran his left hand to the front and cupped the bottom of her breast, giving it a little squeeze before pushing it up to free her luscious nipple from his chest. He kissed it through her sleep t-shirt, kissing it again and again, before pulling it between his lips.

Lynn Marie moaned at the feeling, almost electric, shooting through her, as Bill took her hand and led her upstairs. He picked her up there, carrying her down the hall and into his bedroom. He set her on the bed, a little harder than intended, causing her to bounce on the bed and giggle as she pulled him down on top of her. He was laughing, too, then, as he kissed her, trying to get the big sleep T off of her while she was undoing his belt.

Moments later, they were on the bed facing each other, him in his boxer briefs and socks, and her wearing another pair of his underwear. She grinned as he stripped the socks from his feet but then he paused, looking at her.

"Lynn Marie, are you certain?"

"Never more, Bill. And you?"

After so much grief and uncertainty, this felt right; Crys would be happy for him. He nodded. "Very much so."

She hooked his boxer briefs and pushed them down as he raised himself, freeing his member, leading her to forget the underwear as she took him in both hands and started to pump.

"No fair," he said, "though I'm not complaining, mind you."

She laughed. "Let me know if I do anything wrong."

Bill gave a light moan. "I don't think you have to worry about that."

Her breasts were wonders in his hands, soft and pliable, yet firm enough to hold their shape as he held and caressed them, and were capped with large areolas with those long, hard nipples that had drawn his eyes. His tongue flicked a nipple, causing it to quiver. A second flick and a third was all he could do before, like the wise old owl in the commercial, he'd had enough and sucked it into his mouth, while flicking the tip with his tongue.

"Mmmmmmm!" moaned Lynn Marie, as her head rolled back. Bill moved her back and shifted around, pulling her other breast up and together where he kissed both for a moment before shifting over to the more neglected one.

He helped her onto her back and stripped her boxers, too. He got between her legs, which she pulled up, opening her knees wide, allowing his swollen head to rub across the little patch of close-cut hair above her sex. He rubbed across it a few more times before shifting his attention back to her breasts. He kissed and caressed them, eliciting happy moans from Lynn Marie, but then started to move down, lightly kissing along the way, her tummy and around her belly button, and then further still.