My Graduate School Romance Ch. 04

Sean's graduate school experience continues.

This story is set in the late aughts (2000s). All characters are at least 18. The characters in this story are flawed, just like you and me. Sometimes they make bad decisions as they struggle to live their lives. Sometimes they make life changing decisions. All characters and situations are complete fiction, a product of my fertile imagination. Any similarity to actual people and situations is purely a coincidence. All constructive criticism is welcome.

Thanks to "Sam" for her editing work. You're the best!

*****

Cast of Primary Characters

Astrid - A native Icelander who moved to the United States when she was five. She just turned 29. She is enrolled at the university working toward a Doctor of Writing degree. Her apartment was recently firebombed and she is staying with Sean temporarily, sharing his bed. She has been trying to get Sean to become romantically involved with her. Sean has resisted, citing her youth and naïveté. He has encouraging her to date other men. Astrid is a petite brunette who had sex with Sean several times over the past two weeks.

Elena aka "Elly" - A 30-year-old accountant. She was married to a Major League Baseball player and received a significant amount of his salary in the divorce settlement. Thus, she is financially independent. This shapely brunette is an accomplished singer and musician. She is the leader of the band Radio Renaissance and plays a variety of instruments including guitar and piano. She has expressed an interest in being Sean's unmarried partner. A bit prudish, she has had sex with Sean once.

Katie - A 29-year-old registered nurse. This buxom brunette is enrolled in the university's Doctor of Nursing program. She is an accomplished bassist and plays in Radio Renaissance. For Halloween she will be Boris Badenov to Sean's Natasha Fatale. She is very interested in Sean as a life partner. She has had sex with Sean twice.

Lindsey - A 30-year-old loan officer at a local bank. This beautiful redhead recently checked herself into a clinic for sex addiction. For much of the past ten years she has been a sex worker and a self-identified nymphomaniac while holding down important bank positions. She is a virtuoso pianist and plays keyboard in Radio Renaissance. For her last sex act before checking herself into the clinic, she had anal sex with Sean.

Lori - Blonde and statuesque, Lori is in her first year pursuing a Doctor of Sociology degree. She has been on several dates with Sean. They decided they didn't have a lot on common. Following their last date, Lori asked Sean to spank and dominate her. While they had sex, Sean wasn't thrilled, preferring vanilla sex.

Maria - This 27-year-old native Italian recently started working toward a doctorate in sociology. Last week, after a sumptuous dinner at her apartment, she had sex with Sean under the premise of doing research into human sexual response.

Pete - A 22-year-old biology major in his senior year at university. He is the drummer in Radio Renaissance. He has been having sex with Lindsey on a very regular basis before she checked into the sex addiction program.

Sean - Our main character and narrator. A 48-year-old retired Navy pilot. He is pursuing a doctorate in sociology. He has had sex with each of the women noted above at least once.

*****

I awoke before the clock radio went off. I could feel Astrid snuggled up to me. Rather than get out of bed, I thought I'd savor the moment.

As my mind began to drift, I remembered my date with Lori the night before. The woman was stunningly beautiful. I could look at her body all day long, but I didn't get the whole domination/submission thing. For some people, it is everything they want in sex and in a relationship. It just didn't work for me. I realized I wasn't into kinky stuff. She was quite happy with the way things went, but I left feeling shitty. Never in a million years did I think I would call a woman a slut and a cunt, but she wanted that; she begged for it. Same with the spanking. I just wasn't into hitting another person. I had to remember that I initially didn't think we were right for each other, that last experience confirmed it. We were incompatible, but that didn't mean I wouldn't nurture the friendship. She was a good ally to have in the doctoral program.

What day is today? I had to think a bit. Sunday. Visit Lindsey. I realized that I had had sex with all four women I would be with today.

Elly was another one who was jaw-droppingly gorgeous. She was an amazing woman, but I wasn't sure we clicked. I loved her musicianship. I loved her as a friend. I just wasn't sure there was a long-term relationship there. She seemed to be focused on the money coming in from her ex. I mean, money's great and all, but there's a lot more to life. Accounting is important work, but how fulfilling is it? She did mention that she would be happy to follow me anywhere though. Follow me anywhere. Hmm. That's important. Remember that old man.

And then there was Lindsey. For the time being, I needed to just support her. Let her get her shit together and then I could reevaluate her potential as a life partner. She was an amazing musician, but she seemed to be one-dimensional - sex. What would the real Lindsey be like once she wasn't continually pursuing an orgasm? She had said that she was lonely and that she wanted a family. I was pretty sure I didn't want to become a father again.

Katie was simply wonderful. She was beautiful, sweet, and caring. So much fun to be around. She knew where she wanted to go in life and was working to get there. In so many ways she was just like me. I could really see me having her as a partner. I could see us doing something like joining the Peace Corps together and solving problems somewhere. Not to mention that the sex was mind-blowing. She understood how to get the most out of the male anatomy. I didn't know what her long-range plans were though. That could be an issue.

On the other hand, Maria was a beautiful enigma. I wasn't sure how to take her 'research'. It made for some amazing sex, but was she serious? There was no way she could formally do that kind of research with all the institutional reviews that had to be done. I did appreciate her long-term goals. In that way she was also a lot like me. There was something about the exoticness of being Italian that was intriguing. I could see Maria as a life partner too, but once again, how did she feel about having kids.

And then there was Astrid. I looked down at her brown head nestled against me. She was beautiful and vivacious. I definitely loved her as a person, but was she life partner material? She was fun to be around, but she also seemed to be naïve and immature. She wanted to teach writing, but other than that, I wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life. It would be so easy to settle down with her, but I had done that once with my first marriage and it didn't work out. No settling! Let's get her an apartment and gain some separation. Then you can properly evaluate things.

Remember Sean, you're here to get your degree. Stay focused. Just then the clock radio went off. 7 AM.

Astrid stirred, "I'm going to throw that radio in the dumpster."

"Another reason to get your own apartment."

"Yeah. Yeah." She raised herself up and kissed me, "Good morning."

"Good morning, beautiful. Do you want the shower first?"

"No. I need more sleep."

I climbed out of bed.

Astrid said, "Can you turn around for me? I love looking at your body."

I slowly turned around, "See. Another reason you need to go on more dates. I have an old body." I slapped the slight paunch at my waist. "You need to find someone in good shape."

"Sean don't put yourself down. You're in great shape."

"Yeah, for an old guy."

"No. For any guy."

I decided to ignore her and I headed to the bathroom. When I came out, she was sound asleep again. I looked down on her as I dressed. She lay on her side and her brown hair partially hid her face. One lovely breast was outside the covers. Astrid truly was beautiful.

I retrieved the newspaper and had my first cup of coffee. Then I remembered the lyric Astrid had written. I grabbed my Telecaster. Since it wasn't plugged in, it wouldn't wake her up. I began plucking out a chord progression. Then I tried a few different melodies. Nothing struck me. I remembered that in the past I had to live with a lyric for a while before the right melody came to me. Not that I was a good songwriter, but something like that took time.

Just then, Astrid appeared in the bedroom door in her naked glory. What a wonderful body she had. Her pert champagne-sized breasts reminded me of the Venus de Milo. Her areolae were about nickel-sized with conical, erect nipples. Her pubes naturally spread out like a small fan above her slit. They were trimmed and her vulva was clean shaven. I could just detect her clit peeking out at the top. She stretched and tossed her hair back.

I had to smile at such beauty, "Good morning."

"What are you doing?"

"Fooling around with your lyric. I like it. I don't have a melody, but I like the words."

She walked to the kitchen and returned with some coffee. I loved how comfortable she was walking around in the nude.

I asked, "Are you still going with us to see Lindsey?" She nodded. "Elly will be by to pick us up around eleven."

Astrid slumped down in the armchair across from me, her spread legs providing a nice view of her vulva, "Why do you call her Elly?"

"It's her nickname. She asked me to call her that."

Astrid thought for a moment and took a sip of coffee, "I was going to give you shit about Americans having nicknames, but then I remembered Icelanders have nicknames too."

"What's the nickname for Astrid?"

"My father called me Addi, but my mother never used it. Astrid is fine."

She stood up and stretched again.

I smiled, "I really like that outfit."

"I wore it just for you. Another reason to keep me as a roommate."

Astrid padded off to take a shower.

*****

The trip down to Springfield was fun. Elly cranked the music again and I learned that Astrid didn't sing very well. Katie and Elly never said a thing though. They really appreciated her coming with us to support Lindsey.

When we arrived at the facility, the receptionist rang Lindsey and she came running out to see us. Hugs, kisses, and tears were the result. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I could detect a subtle change in her.

Lindsey kept hugging each of us in turn, "Astrid, right?"

"Yes."

"Thank you so much for coming. You're all such good people. Good friends. Have you eaten lunch?"

Elly shook her head, "We were waiting to eat with you."

"Wonderful. The food here is really good. We can eat here or head out."

Katie thoughtfully asked, "What do you want to do?"

Lindsey looked hopeful, "Can we go out in town?"

"Sure."

We piled into Elly's Beamer. Lindsey said she shouldn't sit next to me because she'd be tempted to do something so Astrid sat between us. Elly drove us to a high-class restaurant for brunch.

We had decided on the drive down to the clinic to let the conversation go wherever Lindsey wanted it to go. Her first question was about the band and how we were adapting. Elly told her about Thursday's gig. She was as surprised as we were that Pete could sing.

We arrived at the restaurant and were quickly seated. Elly and I had agreed ahead of time that we would split the bill between the two of us. They had an all-you-can-eat buffet and all of us went for that.

Once we were seated, Lindsey opened the conversation, "So what else is going on?"

Katie shrugged, "Mostly struggling with schoolwork."

I took a sip of coffee, "One thing I didn't share with everyone is that Astrid wrote a pretty cool lyric."

Astrid stared daggers at me and kicked me in the shin, "Let's not bring that up."

"Damn it, Astrid! No, let's bring it up. It's really good. We just need to come up with a melody."

Lindsey turned to Astrid, "What's it about?"

Astrid blushed a deep red, "I suppose it is about unrequited love."

Lindsey's eyes lit up, "There's a piano at the clinic. Could someone send the lyric to me? I'd love to give it a try."

I asked, "You have access to email?"

"Yeah. One of the few things we get. They block the rest of the internet. I guess they don't want us looking at porn."

"I'll send it to you when we get back."

Lindsey cleared her throat, "So, no one is asking about the treatment program."

Elly stopped eating, "We thought we'd let you get to that when you wanted to."

"Well, it's fucking hard as hell."

Katie piped in, "I knew it would be difficult. Dealing with any addiction is hard. What are you struggling with?"

"Self-control." Lindsey set down her fork, "I still want to fuck every man I see. Sean, you look so fucking good right now. They take away the temptation by having us in an all-woman wing, but damn it's hard. I should learn to eat pussy. Maybe if I eat pussy, someone will eat mine. I lie there at night and I try to resist, but so far, I've rubbed one out every night but one."

Katie touched her arm, "Lindsey, you can't expect change overnight. What you're dealing with takes time. I've heard that it takes 45 days to change any habit. That's over six weeks."

"Yeah. I know. They had us writing stuff down, but I don't think it helps. I like the idea of writing music. Astrid, if you've got anything else, please send it to me. What I come up with will probably suck, but it will occupy my mind."

Astrid looked surprised, "Really? You want to see my stuff?"

"Really. So, Pete didn't want to come down?"

Elly shook her head, "He said that Sunday was his day for doing schoolwork."

Lindsey looked disgusted, "Never stopped him before. He'd always come over and fuck my brains out on Sunday. I suppose I'm finding out who my real friends are. I guess to Pete I'm just some holes for fucking."

Katie interjected, "Let's not sell him short."

Lindsey looked doubtful, "Okay, but I'll put a buck on the table that he doesn't ever come to visit."

Astrid touched Lindsey's arm, "I'm sorry. That must suck."

Lindsey shrugged, "It's okay. I know I have four friends I can count on. Astrid, it is so cool that you came down here. You barely know me."

"I know that you helped me when I was being assaulted at Smitty's. I know you took care of my friend Sean when he needed stitches. I know Katie and Elly think the world of you. I want to support you and help you as much as I can."

I looked over at Lindsey and she was choked up. A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away, "Shit! I hate crying. I'm sorry." She turned to Astrid and took her hand, "I can't remember the last time someone said something that nice to me; that cared about me like that."

Elly cleared her throat and smiled.

Lindsey laughed, "Oh yeah! I can. Elly and Katie and Sean." Tears were rolling freely down her cheeks, but she was smiling, "I am so grateful. I'm so blessed to have the four of you. I'm doing this for me, but now I feel like I'm doing this for you too. I don't want to let any of us down."

*****

That evening as I was getting ready to head out the door for rehearsal, my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number and normally I don't answer unidentified calls, but I had a hunch that I should take it.

"This is Sean."

"Cowboy! Spock. How you doing old man?"

"Spock, as in VP-5 Spock?"

"One and the same!"

Cowboy was my aviation call sign. Brian and I served together as department heads in Patrol Squadron Five in Jacksonville. We flew big ugly P-3 Orions. He had jet black hair. Early in his career he wore it cut straight across his forehead just like Leonard Nimoy's character in Star Trek, thus he was given the call sign Spock.

"Brian, what's up?"

"Sandbag gave me your number. He said you're at the university. I'm coming to town."

"Great! When?"

"Probably get in late on Tuesday. My son is considering going there."

"No way! Is he old enough?"

"Senior in high school. Anyway, we have a bunch of recruiting things on Wednesday. Thought we could get together afterwards."

"I have a class on Wednesday night, six to nine."

"How about Thursday?"

"Thursday would be great. If you're around that evening, the band I'm in is playing at an off-campus tavern."

"How about lunch? Then I can go see your gig afterwards."

"Your son probably won't be able to get into the gig."

"That's fine. He can be with his mother. By the way, did you know Helen and I are divorced?"

"Sorry to hear that."

"It was probably for the best. Helen and Jim can have a mother-son day."

"Okay. Let's plan on doing lunch. I'll send you a text with details."

"Roger that. See you Thursday."

Well, that will be fun. I should see if anyone would like to go with us. Elly? Spock would like Elly. Astrid? Maybe. Katie? Katie would be good. Have to ask. I wonder if he's into kink. I could ask Lori.

Astrid asked, "Who was that?"

"An old shipmate. He's coming to town. Want to go to lunch on Thursday?"

"Sure. Just the three of us?"

"I was thinking of asking others. Maybe Katie and Elly. Maybe Lori."

"Cool! We can hear stories about Cowboy! That sounds like a lot of fun."

*****

That evening, I invited Elly and Katie to lunch with Spock. They both said they'd come. Elly said that most likely she could only get an hour and a half off for lunch. I told her I'd be okay with that. I decided five was enough so I didn't ask Lori.

As rehearsal began, Elly asked us what we were wearing for the Halloween gig. I suggested that we have a song for each of our costumes. For example, I thought Secret Agent Man would be perfect for Katie dressed as Boris Badenov. My bandmates thought that was a great idea and we came up with songs for me and Pete, but Elly was difficult.

I asked, "Elena, how were you going to dress as Emma Peel? She has so many looks."

"I saw a black Lycra catsuit that I thought would be sexy."

"Yes. A classic Emma Peel outfit."

Katie started playing the Peter Gunn theme. I played the lead. It seemed to work. When we ended, I had another idea and started in on the James Bond theme.

We had two solid ideas, Katie asked, "Elly, which one do you like?"

"I'm not sure most people would know about the first one."

Katie said, "I think Peter Gunn was a detective, wasn't he?"

Pete laughed, "I thought that was from The Blues Brothers movie."

I concurred, "Yeah, it is. But there was a TV show first. Plus, Emma Peel is more of a secret agent, so maybe the James Bond Theme works better."

Elly was nodding, "I like it."

With that settled, the next item was to get Pete to sing more. He had an excellent tenor voice. He argued that it would be difficult for him to sing anything but the chorus on most songs. Katie pointed out that that's what we usually did. Elly said she'd get a boom mike to make it easy for Pete.

Next, we focused on the acoustic set that we planned to start the gig with. This time we convinced Pete to sing lead on about a third of the pieces. We selected some Neil Young, James Taylor, and other tenor-based songs that really fit his voice well.

Things were jelling without Lindsey. We could make it another five weeks without her.

When rehearsal was over, Katie and I chatted out by our cars.

"So, who is this guy we're having lunch with?"

"Brian Danaher, we served together down in Jacksonville. Very nice guy."

"Why do you want Elly and me to go?"

"I invited Astrid as well. I thought it would be nice if the three of you got to meet someone from my past. Plus, five of us can hold up a conversation better than two."