Scrubs

"Damn," I commented. "No sex for twenty years and no orgasm for longer than that. That makes you... let me see..."

"Fifty-nine." Gloria did the math for me.

"Shit, you're more than twice my age," I realized. "You're older than my mother."

"Don't go there," cautioned Gloria.

"Go where?" I asked.

"Sex with your mother," stated Gloria.

"Why? Are you saving her for yourself?" I asked.

"Stop that," exclaimed Gloria.

"Stop what?" I asked.

"I was trying to be funny and you turned it on me," Gloria explained.

"Sorry," I apologized. "Sometimes I can't help myself."

"Forgiven," laughed Gloria. "Getting back to what's important. Are you having second thoughts about what we just did?"

"Hell no," I replied with emphasis. "I've never had a better experience. Your age, or mine, is not a factor. What actually happened is."

"Glad to hear that," said Gloria. "I feel the same. Would you consider a second helping?"

"Consider it? I'd welcome it. Actually, I'd chase it," I stated.

Gloria laughed again. "Noted," she said. "But not tonight. I have an early shift in the morning and I'm already going to be exhausted as it is. Right now I have to pee."

Gloria got off the bed and went down the short hall to the bathroom. Interestingly, she left both the bedroom and bathroom doors open. I heard her pee and the toilet flush. She rinsed her hands and walked back into the bedroom.

I was sitting on the side of the bed when she walked in. She paused in front of me. "Like what you see?" she asked.

"I love what I see," I confirmed.

She struck a pose. "You know," she mused. "I'm not used to standing in front of anyone nude, especially a man, and, yet, I don't feel the least uncomfortable or embarrassed."

"You shouldn't be," I told her. "You're incredible."

She fondled her breasts. "Even with these oversized tits?" she asked.

"Whoa," I said. "They're not 'tits,' they're breasts and they're your breasts. Part of what makes you incredible."

"You didn't seem to spend much time with them earlier," Gloria complained.

"It didn't seem necessary at the time. We had other priorities," I explained.

"My ex thought they were the only priority," she stated.

"Forget him," I insisted. "I'm not your ex. I'm your present."

"So, you do like my breasts?"

I waved her closer to me. When she was touching me, I reached up and held her right breast in both hands. I ran my tongue around her nipple and kissed it gently. I did the same with her left breast. "Does that answer your question?" I asked.

"It does more than that," Gloria admitted looking at my obvious provocation. "I wish I didn't have to leave so soon."

I guess I looked forlorn or, at least, hopeful. "Do you think we could manage something quick?" she asked.

I stood in front of her and kissed her. She returned my kiss with a level of desire I couldn't ignore. Gloria turned and fell back on the bed, her legs spread. I entered her slowly. "Ike," she said. "We don't have the time. Just fuck me. Make it quick."

I heard her but it was difficult to comply after how we had spent the last hour. However, the way she moved under me, the way she flexed her vaginal muscles, the way she closed her eyes and focused her expression, all told me she meant what she said.

I moved purposely within her, fighting against her tightened vagina and the way it was flexing against my erection. Within three minutes, I was past the point of no return, the point that nothing could stop my orgasm. I came, pushing myself deeply inside her. I took a deep breath and withdrew.

Gloria opened her eyes. "That was perfect," she said.

"I don't understand," I said. "I thought I understood you. You were adamant that you'd never let a man, any man, fuck you."

"That was my gift for you," Gloria insisted. "Not me."

"Just for your information, that's not how I would ever treat you," I insisted.

"Please don't be upset," Gloria pleaded. "With you, sometimes I want to be treated respectfully and sometimes I want to be fucked as long as you're the man inside me. What just happened was the latter and you performed beyond expectations."

"But..." I managed to say.

"No buts. We didn't have time so a quick fuck was the answer. And yes, I enjoyed it. Finally, it was much better than a good night kiss, wasn't it?" she asked.

Gloria headed for the bathroom while I considered what she said. She turned and asked, "Are you coming?"

In the bathroom, she used a warm washcloth to clean herself. She tossed it to me for the same purpose and headed back to the bedroom. When I got back to the bedroom, Gloria was in her panties and she was hooking her bra in front of her. I sat on the bed to watch.

She turned her bra around, put her arms through the shoulder straps and struggled to get her breasts into the bra. She juggled her breasts in the bra until they were sufficiently comfortable and picked up her scrubs pants. She paused and looked at me.

"Get up and get dressed," she said.

I looked at her confused.

"You need to drive me back to the hospital to get my car," she reminded me.

I pulled next to her car in the hospital parking lot. Gloria leaned over and kissed me. She turned to get out of the car but changed her mind and kissed me again. Then she got out of my car. "You have no idea how wonderful and insightful tonight was," she said. "Give me a few days to process everything and I'll call you."

She blew me a kiss, closed the car door and headed for her car. I waited until she was safely on the way home before I drove home.

It was just after two in the morning when I collapsed on the bed to sleep. Five hours later, showered, shaved and lethargic, I was on my way back to the hospital for my eight am shift.

Over the next three weeks, the controversy over my informal survey, triggered by the anonymous note on the bulletin board in the woman's locker room, was largely forgotten. Over that time, fourteen nurses volunteered information about their unseen apparel choices to me. Four of them offered visual confirmation, two of which led to further involvement, beyond Junita and Gloria. I accepted the word of ten others. Three of the nurses went topless under their scrubs and all wore panties.

One additional nurse took umbrage at what she described as my blatant attempt to coerce nurses into compromising positions. Her vocabulary was colorful, replete with expletives and attributes not suitable for polite conversation. She even went so far as to accuse me of being racist and a Republican.

I managed to control my temperament during her diatribe. When she ran out of steam and stopped blubbering, I calmly responded.

"I'm none of the things you ascribe to me," I started.

When she took a deep breath as if to start again, I held up my hand to quiet her. Unbelievably it worked and I was able to continue.

"This entire episode started with a rhetorical question to which I didn't expect an answer. Without my approval or knowledge, someone anonymously posted that note in the women's locker room. I never, repeat never, had an intention, or thought of seducing, or even compromising any nurse. I apologize if you misunderstood my intent. I probably should have clarified the situation immediately but I didn't and I'm sorry now that I didn't."

She stood up suddenly. As she walked away she retorted, "I still hate you."

During those three weeks, I had three discussions with Junita. The first occurred about ten days after my evening with Gloria. Junita was lamenting that we hadn't managed to spend time together again. Cesar hadn't scheduled any business travel making it impossible for her to "take me to bed."

I commiserated with her and told her I was patient. The opportunity will eventually arise and I told her I'd be there when she needed me.

The second meeting was similar to the first. It was about a week later on a Wednesday and the situation hadn't changed. Junita confessed she was becoming desperate. She needed time with me. She offered to find some time and place we could meet even if it was short and intense. I reiterated my willingness to wait for a better opportunity. Afterall, Cesar couldn't avoid travel forever.

The last meeting with Junita was the morning the day after the second meeting. Junita was bouncing off the wall excited. Cesar was leaving on an extended business trip the following Sunday. He was heading for a dozen meetings in Asia and would be gone for ten days. Ten days! We could be together every day and every night for ten days. She was so excited that I feared she was about to tear off her scrubs and have sex with me on the cafeteria table. Her exuberance was infectious although I wondered if I could survive ten days with her. Cesar had an early Sunday morning flight and Junita informed me that she'd drive directly to my place after kissing him goodbye at the airport.

For those three weeks, I heard nothing from Gloria. Not a word, not a sound. Not even a text. I was beginning to wonder if I'd done or said something wrong the evening we were together. I replayed it in my mind almost every day and couldn't find a single problem. My conclusion was that Gloria had gone beyond her comfort zone with me and she was too embarrassed or guilty to tell me.

The afternoon that Junita celebrated our impending sexual exploitation, I got a short text from Gloria.

Gloria: Can we talk?

Me: im here

Gloria: Not there. Somewhere more

private.

Me: okay dinner

tonight

Gloria: Perfect. Where?

Me: olive garden

Gloria: Some place with white

tablecloths and dim lights

Me: Pricci

Gloria: Perfect.

Me: no scrubs. i can be

there by 630

Gloria: My treat. I'll make a

reservation.

Me: can i get my hopes up?

Gloria: Maybe more.

Me: seepage?

Gloria: You'll have to explain that

to me.

When I read back our conversation, I realized I'd mixed up conversations with Junita and Gloria. I immediately began to work on a believable explanation that avoided mention of Junita.

I rushed home after my shift at the hospital. I showered and dressed conservatively. Pricci had a dress code. Long sleeve buttoned down blue shirt, no tie. Pressed slacks, socks and loafers. I tweed sport coat and I was on the way.

I arrived about ten minutes late. Gloria was sitting on a bench at the entrance of the restaurant. I hugged her, feeling her breasts against my body again, and apologized for being late.

"No problem," she said. "The reservation is for seven."

While we waited our conversation was generic, avoiding any references to our last time together or what Gloria wanted to talk about. We were led to a table. The restaurant was packed. Every table occupied. The lighting wasn't as dim as I would have liked but there were white tablecloths and the background sounds of the patrons made discrete conversation possible.

We ordered drinks and while we waited for them to be delivered, Gloria began talking. "Ike," she said. "You have no idea how much seeing you again makes me feel. The last three weeks have been intense."

"For me as well," I said.

"I get it," Gloria admitted. "I'm sorry beyond words that I didn't reach out to you but I needed the time to understand what happened the last time we met and how it changed my life. It wasn't easy for me. Honestly, I didn't recognize the woman who spent the evening with you. It was so antithetical to the woman I knew and loved over the last dozen years."

"I've given it much thought myself," I shared. "Your silence worried me. I thought I said or did something to offend you. I also couldn't reconcile the woman who shared her history with me and the woman who shared her body with me."

"Exactly," said Gloria. "That's what bothered me too. It took me weeks to sort it out."

Before she could continue, our drinks arrived and we ordered entrees. As the waiter left, a tall, slim, formally dressed woman approached our table.

"Gloria, is that you?" she asked.

Gloria looked up at the woman. "Gloria?" she said. She stood up and hugged the woman. "I was hoping I'd see you tonight."

"You look incredible," the woman said.

"Thanks," Gloria said.

"Who's this gentleman?" asked the woman.

"This is Ike," Gloria introduced me. I stood up and shook the woman's hand. "Ike, meet Gloria," she added.

"Nice to meet you, Ike," the woman said. She continued with Gloria. "We have to get together soon to catch up."

"I'd like that a lot," said Gloria.

"I've got to run," said the woman. "Don't worry about anything tonight. I've got your back."

"Thanks," said Gloria as the woman left and we sat down.

"I'm confused," I said.

"I don't doubt that," Gloria said. "Gloria is an old friend. We went to school together. She owns this place."

"You both have the same name?" I asked.

"We do," agreed Gloria.

"It could get confusing," I observed.

"Even for us," laughed Gloria.

While we ate, Gloria related how she had spent the last three weeks to me. "Ike," she started. "Everything that happened the last time we were together had an enormous impact on me."

I started to say something.

Gloria held up a single finger. "Let me talk. I need to tell you so you understand me and where we are today.

"I've spent the last thirteen years, and probably longer, hating my prick of an ex-husband. I hated the way he treated me and I hated it took me so long to divorce him. I decided to live my life on my own terms. One prick of a man was enough for me.

"I can't fully explain why I connected with you. I know it was on a lark in response to the note on the bulletin board in the women's locker room but I can't explain why I acted the way I did with you and how we got to where we got to. I know now that I'm grateful we did.

"I was confused by everything that happened. It wasn't me. I told you I needed time to process it but I had no idea how complex it was or how long it would take. After a couple of days without answers, I connected with a therapist hoping for quick answers. It took three sessions. You know how most therapists work. They know the answer quickly but try to lead you to discovering it on your own believing that internal answers are more powerful than externally provided solutions.

"She led me through a maze of emotions and understandings. She confirmed that my hatred for the prick I had married was still strong and that I punished him before the divorce by withholding intimacy and sex. That led to me realizing that by swearing off men and sex, I was, in some way, still punishing him.

She asked a simple question: 'How is that working out for you?'

"It took a week. By the next session, I was clear that it wasn't working out well for me. We talked and she led me to the realization that my resolution was harming me more than him. In fact, he wasn't being harmed at all. Where I was celibate he was probably screwing every skirt that passed him by and avoiding sex was antithetical to who I was.

"Last Friday, we dissected the events of that Monday with you. Everything that happened was an unconscious expression of the person I was, not who I was pretending to be. Why it happened with you, I can't explain but it doesn't matter. It happened with you, I'm grateful and I want it to happen again, this time consciously. You deserve to have the authentic me and I deserve to have the experience without the undercurrent of guilt and anger."

Gloria stopped talking. I waited for more, unsure if she was finished. Finally, I said, "Thank you."

"That's all, thank you?" asked Gloria.

"I don't know what to say that could make it better. Thank you for sharing. That had to have been difficult for you, but from my perspective, it couldn't have been better. I remember you telling me your history but I was unaware of the deeper implications. That Monday was incredible for me, maybe one of the best evenings of my life and I'm thrilled to learn that it could be even better and so do you."

Gloria looked in my eyes for a moment. "I want to kiss you right now," she said.

"Here?" I asked.

She put her hand on the table and held up a single finger. I studied her face for a second, kissed my finger and touched it to her finger. She kissed her finger and her smile brightened the room. We skipped dessert. Gloria pushed back her chair, preparing to leave.

"We haven't settled the bill," I said.

"It's taken care of," she said.

"It's nice to have a Gloria in your life," I said.

"It is," she agreed. "I'm so glad you think so."

Outside, in the parking lot, we shared the kiss we postponed from inside. I walked her to her car. "You know how to get to my place?" I asked.

"I do," she replied, "but we're going to my place."

"Oh. Okay. I'll follow you."

"Ride with me," she insisted. "We'll come back for your car tomorrow."

She got behind the wheel and I moved into the passenger seat. "I have a shift early tomorrow morning," I shared before she started the car.

Gloria rummaged through her purse and tossed me her phone. "Fix it," she said.

I called Wendy, another intern who was always willing to change shifts with me. "Something's come up," I said. "Could you cover me tomorrow?"

"I bet it has," Wendy quipped. "I'll work a double but you have to cover me for the next two overnight shifts."

"Deal," I said and hung up.

"That was easy," commented Gloria. She put her phone back in her purse.

Before starting the car, Gloria shifted around in her seat, lifted her hips and pulled up her skirt until it was almost around her waist.

I guess I gasped slightly. "Exhibitionism or invitation," I wondered. Gloria laughed. "I haven't felt this uninhibited in almost four decades."

I couldn't see clearly but I thought she wasn't wearing underwear.

Gloria started the car. "Don't be a stranger," she said.

"Invitation," I concluded.

I leaned over the console and put my hand on her thigh. She wiggled around on the seat and opened her legs further to encourage me. "Gloria," I said. "I don't think this is a good idea. You have to drive."

"Just warm me up," she suggested. "And you can call me G."

"Just G?" I asked. "For Gloria?"

"No. I was G before I was Gloria," she explained. "G was for G-spot."

There was another story behind her statement. "Really?" I asked. "G-spot?"

"Yeah. Everyone in school knew I had one and most went looking for it," she expanded.

"Gloria," I said. "That was there and then. Can I just be part of your here and now and just call you Gloria?"

She thought for a moment. "You're right," she admitted. "I've been so thrilled, almost hysterical, to be free of my anger and self flogging, I've begun to relive who I was almost four decades ago. Thanks for pulling me back. I'm not that person anymore. I could have screwed up the rest of the night. You're Ike and I'm Gloria and we're going to make new memories together."

I listened to her talk. I thought that she was struggling to recover what she had missed over the last forty years. I also thought that she was serious about making new memories.

While I was thinking, Gloria reminded me. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't warm me up."

I moved my hand further up between her legs. She didn't need much warming up. She was doing okay by herself. I allowed two fingers to slide into her and my thumb rested on her clitoris. "Oh God," she moaned.

"Keep your eyes on the road, "I suggested, and removed my fingers from her vagina.

I held my fingers in front of me and put them into my mouth. "Damn, Ike. That's the hottest thing I've ever seen," she commented. "Do I get some next?" she asked.

I slid my fingers inside her again. She pushed her hips forward to insure maximum immersion. I removed my fingers and held them in front of her lips. She opened her mouth and my fingers disappeared into the mouth.