One Wish

"You have but one wish! Make it now! Make it now!"

Keith woke as he often did after this same reoccurring dream or nightmare depending upon how you looked at it. He was always drenched in sweat, bewildered, sometimes frightened by the intensity of the dream. Always, he had heard the voice, telling him to make his wish. And always, the situation was different, his wish then having many meanings, many outcomes, never the same. All except for the voice calling out to him, "Make it now! Make it now!"

But he never was able to make whatever choice he was supposed to make, as moments after hearing the voice, Keith would always wake up from his nightmarish sleep, wondering briefly as he always did whether it be dream, or reality.

#

It had been the aromatic smell of fresh coffee, cinnamon pastries that had first caught Keith's attention to this small sidewalk café. Less than a block away from his office, Keith had been coming here every morning on his way to work ever since the place had opened.

Seating himself, Keith opened his morning edition of the U.S.A. Today, glanced up briefly as an attractive looking woman took a seat at the table across from him. He'd seen her once or twice before, though they'd never spoken he'd smiled at her, and had even been given a friendly nod "hello" the last time he'd seen her. As she took her seat, she too glanced about catching Keith's brief look, smiled and once again gave a nod of "hello" in recognition. To his surprise however, she included a vocal greeting to him as well.

"Good morning," she spoke in a melodic tone of voice that told him whoever she was, that she appeared to be in a particularly good mood.

"Morning, gonna be a nice day today," Keith replied glancing somewhat uneasily towards the morning sky. "Dumb shit!" he thought to himself.

It wasn't as though he wasn't an attractive looking man, reasonably so anyway. But every time Keith even spoke with a woman, he grew nervous, flustered, and often found himself wishing he'd never spoken a word at all. Glancing back towards her, he saw that she too had lifted her gaze towards the sky.

"Yes, appears it will be," she offered pleasantly.

"Hey Keith! You're usual?"

"Saved by the bell, so to speak," Keith thought to himself as the waiter came over to stand by his table. But before he could respond, Jack, the same waiter that he'd become familiar with during the course of time he'd been coming here turned to also acknowledge the presence of the woman sitting across from him.

"Be with you in just a second," he told her.

Keith saw her smile again, though her eyes remained focused on his. She merely nodded however, acknowledging his notice of her.

"Ah yeah, coffee, and one of those cinnamon Danish," Keith ordered.

Jack swiveled about on his heels to take her order. As he did, he drew her attention towards him so that Keith had a moment or so to look towards her without eye contact. He watched as she sat up straighter in her seat giving Jack her order. The movement immediately drawing Keith's attention to her chest. Though she wore a dark blue business jacket with a matching knee-length skirt, her white blouse was just sheer enough that the fancy lace of her bra etched intricate patterns around her full breasts. By the time Keith managed to tear his eyes away from her chest, Jack had already turned to take both their orders, and she was once again looking towards him, now catching his eyes as they slow-rolled back to her face. Keith felt the heat begin to redden his cheeks.

"Had she noticed?" he wondered shamefacedly.

Whether she had, or hadn't, she at least looked away from him giving him a moment of respite as she slipped her jacket off placing it around the back of the chair. In so doing however, she gave him an even better view of her magnificent chest as she turned off to one side. Not to be caught looking again however, Keith immediately redirected his eyes back to the neglected paper lying on the table.

"How long had it been now anyway?" Keith mused to himself. Nearly four months since he and Sharon had called it quits. And not much to reminisce about there. It had taken him nearly two months just to work up enough courage to even kiss her. Though in the end, that had been her doing more than his as they'd stood outside the door to her apartment after one of their frequent dinner dates. A month after that, he'd actually dared to place his hand on her sweatered breast while they were necking on the couch in her living room. Something she'd not only allowed, but encouraged as she soon after lifted her own sweater, undoing the front-end clasp of her bra so that he'd have direct access to her soft breasts. They'd never gone further than that. Not that she hadn't hinted she was interested. Point was, as attractive as she was, and as much fun as she'd been to be with, after a reasonably short time, Keith knew this wasn't the right girl for him. In fact, he wasn't sure he'd ever find the right girl again. That one was gone.

"Joanne," Keith thought to himself. "Always Joanne!"

Even now as he sat staring at his paper as though actually reading it, his mind drifted back to the first true love of his life. And perhaps, his only love if things continued on the way they had been. They had given one another their virginity on the night of their High School graduation. Though he'd been nervous then, perhaps even more so than she had been, unlike most of the stories they had both heard, that night had proven to be the most intimate, sensual night of his entire life. They had spent the entire night together. After the first couple of hours of nervous flirtation and teasing, things slowly progressed. But even then, it was nearing the morning hours before they had successfully made love with one another. By then, perhaps a combination of excitement, anticipation, and desire had made the moment easier for them both. Which it had been. Surprisingly so. But even more importantly, it had lasted seemingly forever after that too. There'd been no rush, no frantic hurried coupling ending up in a less than satisfactory first time encounter. No, they had remained together for a long time, intimately kissing, touching, and simply experiencing for the first time ever for either one of them, what it meant to truly become a part of one another.

It had been nearly six years since he'd seen her. But the image of her face was just as clear now as he'd remembered. The color of her hair, so much like his own, light brown with a reddish highlight accentuating her tan complexion. Her alluring hazel eyes, also like his own, though his more blue than green as hers had been.

"God Joanne, I so do miss you," he caught himself saying aloud, sheepishly glancing back up towards the woman sitting across from him, happy to find her studying some papers she'd withdrawn from her briefcase. For once, he was glad to be ignored by her. His thoughts too personal, still too painful to share with anyone, even unknowingly.

Keith's thoughts returned back to that day. He remembered kissing her good-bye at the airport as he boarded his flight preparing to head off to boot camp. Keith had been caught up in the draft. Vietnam was nearing the final stage of the years long war, and Keith was about to become a part of that. He'd wanted to marry her before going. But circumstance out of necessity kept that from happening. Joanne needed to focus on her education for one thing, and for another, by the time Keith got out of the service, he'd have a lot more to offer her than he did now. Perhaps then they could actually consider it. At least he'd get leave at some point, and be able to come home and see her. After all, she had promised to wait for him. "She loved him," she'd told him just days before his departure. "And she had wanted to spend the rest of her life with him."

Little had Keith realized then how short a time she actually had.

He had barely arrived in Vietnam, assigned to some God-forsaken outpost in the middle of nowhere when the mail finally caught up with him. Excited to receive his first letter from her in quite some time now, he was immediately alarmed to see a letter addressed to him from her mother instead.

Tearing open the letter, he'd learned immediately that Joanne had been involved in a horrible car accident. She'd been in a coma ever since the accident, which by the date of the letter Keith realized to be well over a week now, not including the three additional days it took for the letter to arrive. And worse, things weren't very hopeful. The extent of Joanne's injuries had been serious enough, but the prospect, even if she did recover of ever living a normal life again were less than good according to the doctor's opinion.

Keith had tried calling, but received no answer the one time he'd gotten permission to call. He'd immediately fired off an urgent telegram requesting an update on her condition, one to his own parents, and another one to Joanne's. Forty-eight hours later, he received the news from his mother. They had flown Joanne back home to where her parents lived in the mid-west. There she'd been hospitalized, where she'd remained in a comatose state until her death a short time after her arrival. Keith's mother had learned of it only after a phone-call indicating that Joanne had passed away.

Keith had only met Joanne's mother once when they'd come out for graduation. Joanne had been living with an older brother, as she'd never gotten along very well with her own parents either. Beth, Joanne's mother, had immediately taken a disliking to Keith, something that he had hoped to one day remedy given enough time. She'd been almost glad to hear that he'd been taken up by the draft, hoping perhaps that with their separation, Joanne would not only finish school, but go on to meet and eventually marry someone she was far more approving of.

Heartbroken, Keith had done everything he could think of to do in order to gain emergency leave and fly home for her funeral. His request however denied as he'd just barely arrived in country for one thing, and for another, there was no direct relationship between the two of them that allowed for him to qualify for emergency leave. Loving someone wasn't a necessary requirement according to the army.

And so it was that Keith mourned the loss of Joanne half way around the world, knowing he would never see her again. But his real pain came in the knowledge that he hadn't been there by her side when it had happened. Something he'd undoubtedly regret for the rest of his life.

Shortly after his discharge from the service, Keith had made several attempts to locate Joanne's family. By this time however, they had moved from the area, and Keith soon gave up hope of ever finding them. He'd taken a position in purchasing, and along with a great deal of hard work and effort, had propelled himself up the corporate ladder until a senior position had opened itself up to him. And though it had meant his relocating to a different state entirely, Keith actually welcomed the change. Change away from where he'd initially pinned his hopes and dreams of living the ideal life with Joanne for one thing. Something that he now knew was never going to happen. But for another, perhaps once he'd distanced himself from those memories and thoughts, he'd eventually meet someone else with whom he could renew those dreams with. So far, he hadn't had much luck. Aside from a few casual dates, he'd only gotten halfway serious with one other woman, and the only other woman he'd even been intimate with besides Joanne. He'd left that relationship shortly before meeting Sharon. Keith shook his head despondently. He'd broken it off with Diane simply because Sharon had looked a little like Joanne, immediately reminding him of her. A stupid reason perhaps, but one he'd rationalized within his own mind. Of course, Sharon was nothing like Joanne had been, aside from a few minor similarities. But he'd tossed away what had shown to be a promising relationship with another woman he'd actually grown to care about somewhat, simply for no other reason than that.

"Can I get you more coffee?" Jack asked.

Keith barely even remembered eating his Danish let alone anything else. Taking a look at his watch, he was stunned to see that so much time had already passed. As it was, he'd have to hurry now or he'd be late getting to his office.

"No. Thanks," Keith said standing up leaving enough change to cover his meal as well as a substantial tip. Only then did Keith realize the woman who'd been sitting across from him was no longer there either. She'd left, and he'd not even noticed it, so absorbed in his memories of a time so long ago now.

#

Keith arrived at his office a few minutes late. No big deal actually. After all, he was the manager of this particular division. But he'd always prided himself on setting a good example.

"Morning Keith!" Lucy exclaimed upon seeing him enter.

He winced. One more reminder. The last thing he needed this morning after taking yet another mindless trip down memory lane.

"Good morning Lucy," he responded, attempting to zip past her without really looking at her.

"Don't forget, the office product show starts this afternoon. You said I could attend one of the sessions, either this afternoon, or tomorrows," she reminded him.

He had forgotten. "Oh yeah, that's right. That's today?" he questioned unnecessarily. Now forced to look towards her as she expected an answer, he did.

"Plan on going tomorrow," he said simply without further justification. Truth was, it would give him an excuse to get out of the office and clear his mind somewhat.

Lucy frowned slightly, then smiled. At least she'd get a chance to go this time, Keith knew she was thinking.

Heading back towards his office, Keith tried shaking the guilt feelings away. Lucy was another Joanne reminder. Not that she actually looked like her, she didn't. But the day he'd interviewed Lucy along with a number of candidates, it had boiled down to just three. All equally qualified for the position of assistant buyer. What had been the tiebreaker, plain and simply, had been the color and style of Lucy's hair. She'd worn it nearly identical to the way Joanne had worn hers.

"Yes Ms. Wilson, you have the job. And not because of your skills, but because you remind me of someone," he chastised himself saying, closing the door as though in doing so he could lock out his thoughts.

Keith spent the rest of the morning going over several bids that had come in. By the time the lunch hour had arrived, he was itching to get out of the office. The fact that the office products show was in town for the next three days gave him something to look forward to besides the mundane bids he'd been reviewing all morning long.

As it was such a nice day, Keith decided to walk the mile to where the convention center was. Slinging his jacket over his shoulder, he walked briskly but not enough to work up a sweat. By the time he'd arrived at the center, he'd managed to clear his mind enough to focus, and actually find himself getting excited over a variety of new office products that would soon be available, if they weren't already.

Keith began strolling up and down the isles occasionally stopping to ask questions, take notes and review the products. He'd been considering the purchase of new copy machines, having stopped at several vendor booths doing just that. Looking down the isle for a specific vendor he was most interested in, he spotted Diane wandering in and out of the vendor booths the same as he'd been doing.

"Shit!" Keith spoke just under his breath. He'd met Diane through the purchasing association, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise to him that he might stumble into her at some point along the way. Especially at one of these kinds of conventions. Still, the odds of actually running into her again after all this time had seemed fairly remote. Yet, there she was just a short distance away. Luckily, she wasn't looking in his direction, but he'd noted she had been slowly moving his way.

Keith waited until she'd stopped facing off to one side before turning, ducking into another isle. In doing so however, he nearly ran over a woman who'd just stepped out from around the table.

"Oh God! I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed apologetically, his hand automatically coming up grasping one of her shoulders as he plowed into her.

"You should be!" she shot back, shaking off his hand. She threw him a look, turned and moved off in the opposite direction.

Keith stood staring at her. Once again, another woman that vaguely reminded him of Joanne. Her hair was shorter, a different color even. The nose, mouth, and even her chin different, but there was something about her eyes that reminded him of Joanne the most.

"Keith?"

Keith shut his eyes momentarily, winced, and turned around to face Diane. "Hi Diane, how are you?"

"I wondered if I'd run into you sometime at one of these things," she began. "I'm fine thank you, and you?"

Keith had to admit it. Diane looked good. Really good. And after all, she was the only other woman he'd ever been sexually intimate with. Not counting copping a feel on Sharon's breasts anyway. He felt his manhood shift slightly of its own accord, awakening with arousal he hadn't felt in weeks, months actually.

"Doing ok," he said nervously glancing down at his feet, her feet. Catching a look at her long tapered legs. He remembered having those around him, felt his sex stiffening even more. If he continued to remain as he was, he'd soon find himself in a very awkward, very uncomfortable situation.

"Listen, I probably should be heading back to work," glancing at his watch.

"Where you parked?"

"Oh, didn't drive, walked here. Its not that far."

"I know, drive by there every day. Why don't you let me drop you off?" she suggested. "My cars just down in the parking level, won't take a moment to get there, on my way back to work too. So I might as well," she stated, already taking his arm, leading him towards the elevators.

His nervousness had once again taken control over his excitement. As things slowly returned to normal, he found himself standing next to her in the elevator as Diane reached across him to push the button for the parking level her car was on. As she did, he caught a whiff of her perfume.

"Obsession," he thought, one of his favorites, always had been. Once again that lingering fragrance stirred a few memories, as well as something else. The emotional tug-of-war occurring inside his slacks was driving him crazy.

"Here we are!" Diane said as the elevator came to a stop, the doors opening. "I'm down this way," she charged out of the doors leading Keith behind her towards the far side of the parking area.

There was little he could do now but follow. Watching the sway of her hips beneath the pleated skirt she was wearing, remembering the soft firmness of her buttocks and how they had once felt within his hands. Moments later, Diane arrived at her car, a sleek black Mustang convertible. She stepped over by the driver's side before opening the door.

"Get in," she invited him, removing her sports coat, tossing it almost carelessly into the back seat before sliding behind the wheel herself.

"This is nice," Keith told her, thankful that he at least had something to actually comment on. Eyeing the beauty and style of the car's upholstery before turning his attention back towards Diane. He noticed after a moment more however, that she hadn't as yet started the car. Looking at her, she'd turned slightly in her seat facing towards him.

"So, you still seeing Sharon?" she asked point blank with a slight shake of her long blonde hair.

"Ah, no..." he left off saying. It was awkward enough hearing her name mentioned by the woman he'd dumped her for let alone offering up the reason why they had.