Social Distancing

Social Distancing

A global pandemic changes everything, and everyone

Author's note: This story contains adulterous, interracial sex. If that subject matter offends you, kindly choose another story category. Please take a second to vote, and your comments and feedback are always welcome.

In late 2019, Sadie Mills had great expectations for the year 2020. The start of a new year and a new decade brought her hope for a better year, and better years to come, for her and her husband, Frank. Lately she found herself thinking back to 2015, when she was a 20-year-old bride, Frank was her 22-year-old groom, and she was madly in love. Now, five years into their marriage, the childless 20-something couple frequently caught themselves stumbling on an increasingly rocky road of matrimony.

Friends had warned Sadie, in gentle, diplomatic ways, that Frank might not "be a good fit" as far as being a husband goes. Those friends probably should have been less diplomatic. Maybe they should have come out and told Sadie that Frank was not as nice a guy as he seemed, and that he had never been faithful to anyone except himself. Sadie was so sweet and naïve that no one had the heart to tell her that, even after he proposed to her, Frank was fooling around.

Exactly why Frank would have wanted to get married in the first place, since he had no desire to settle down, was a question that Sadie's friends often posed to each other in hushed tones. The most likely and simplest explanation was that Sadie was irresistible. Beautiful inside and out, Frank saw her as the quintessential trophy wife, and he wanted to snag her before any other man got the chance. Even at the early age of 20, Sadie had already turned down a marriage proposal from her high school sweetheart before falling for Frank and agreeing to take his hand.

When Sadie broke her high school beau's heart, she tried to explain to him that she felt a need to experience life, and different kinds of guys, before settling down for a lifetime. Oddly enough, "white bread" Frank was just like Sadie's teen crush and she started dating him exclusively shortly after turning down that first marriage proposal.

Not long after their elaborate wedding, Sadie found out about Frank's indiscretions the hard way. Make that hard ways -- plural -- because the clues were many. Whispered phone calls. Blonde hairs appearing in the laundry hamper where only Sadie's brunette strands should have been. Plus, the oh-so-clichéd signs of a philanderer. Lipstick on his collar. A smell of perfume on his neck. Frequent late nights at work.

Sadie's mother was sympathetic but she made it clear that, in her opinion, a good wife sometimes needs to suck it up, in more ways than one. "Some men are born with a healthy appetite and a wandering eye," Mom said in a tone that betrayed personal experience. "Some of the greatest men in history were never able to keep it in their pants. Boys will be boys."

To rekindle their relationship, Sadie and Frank had talked about having a baby, but they did not put any real effort into it. If it happened, it happened, but a year after stopping her birth control, it had not happened yet. Sadie was not strongly spiritual, but she did believe in a higher power and she felt that becoming pregnant was obviously not in God's plan for her at that particular time.

Frank and Sadie were not regular news viewers or readers. They were intelligent enough, but like a lot of people their age, they just did not care much about national or world events. The news that interested them was on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter. As a result, they were unaware that a novel flu-like strain had cropped up on the other side of the world. It had no perceptible impact on their lives.

While millions like Frank and Sadie were oblivious, in late 2019 and early 2020, news reports began to focus on the burgeoning respiratory viral infection that was spreading rapidly from China. Scientists were calling it the "Corona virus", or "COVID-19", an abbreviation for the Corona virus disease originating in 2019.

One day in March of 2020, Sadie came home from the grocery store and told her husband that she could not buy any toilet paper. The store was completely sold out. That was when they became aware of the Corona virus. It was the first time that the disease touched their lives, but it would not be the last.

For the next few weeks life continued as normal for the young couple, and most other Americans. Sadie went to her job, working as an assistant manager at a buffet restaurant. Sadie was very popular with her coworkers, who used to joke about how she managed to maintain her gorgeous figure while surrounded by all the food that one could eat.

Frank was employed at a large electronics manufacturing plant. He did not have any good friends at work. The person he was friendliest with was someone who had the same job classification and frequently worked with him on special projects and assignments. That person, Willard "Wil" Gaines, was well-liked and respected, unlike Frank. Frank got along with Wil, although Frank considered Wil to be inferior, if for no other reason than the fact that Wil was black. While not outwardly racist, Frank definitely considered himself to be several rungs higher on the societal ladder than his Negro counterpart.

One day in late April, Frank began to not feel well. In fact, he felt slightly worse every day. He was coughing so frequently that Sadie had taken to sleeping in their second bedroom so that she could get some rest. It was not all that unusual for the young husband and wife to sleep apart, and much to Sadie's chagrin, Frank had recently shown less interest than ever in making love to her.

On a Wednesday morning, Sadie got up to begin her daily routine and was surprised to find that Frank had remained in bed. She went to the master bedroom and found him still wrapped up in the covers. Sadie asked him if he was okay.

"Do I look okay?" Frank snarled before erupting in a coughing fit. "I feel like shit. I hope I don't have the fucking China bug that they keep talking about. I need you to take my temperature. I think I have a fever."

Sadie ran to get the thermometer and tried to comfort Frank while he held the device under his tongue. It quickly revealed that Frank did indeed have a fever. Sadie told Frank to stay in bed and that she would call his doctor. They both met the physician at the hospital and Frank was immediately admitted. Suspected COVID-19 was the preliminary diagnosis.

While Sadie was busy giving insurance information to the hospital admissions clerk, Frank called his colleague, Wil, to tell him that he would not be at work for a while. Out of Sadie's earshot -- or so he thought -- Frank explained that he was sick and he told Wil that he probably caught the virus from "that stupid bitch in Personnel".

Speaking a tad too loudly, Frank confided to Wil, "I fuck her once in a while. She'll fuck anybody. She'd probably fuck you. Anyway, I nailed her good last month, then I found out that she called in sick with the flu, except it wasn't the flu. Now I'm sick as a fucking dog thanks to that dumb-ass slut!"

Sadie did not let on that she had overheard her husband's admission. Part of her wanted to just walk out of the hospital and let Frank fend for himself, but that was not her nature. Besides, the solemn vows that she had repeated on their wedding day still meant something to her. She had promised "to have and to hold, in sickness and in health". It was a promise that she felt obligated to keep.

The knowledge that Frank caught the virus from another woman added to her stress, but it was also strangely reassuring, in a way, because it meant that Frank did not acquire the disease from family or their circle of friends. Sadie decided not to mention anything to Frank, at least not until he recovered. At the moment her priority was to get her husband cured.

The day after Frank was admitted, Sadie went to the hospital to visit him and learned that she could not even see him. She called him on the phone, then stepped outside and stood on the sidewalk. The temperature was cool that day, but Sadie wanted her husband to see that she was there at the hospital, waiting for him to get well. Frank could not talk much without coughing, but he managed to tell Sadie that he'd asked his coworker Wil to grab his phone charger and a few other things from his desk at work. Frank told Sadie that Wil would be calling her to arrange to hand over the stuff. Sadie told Frank not to worry, and that she would wait to hear from Wil.

The next afternoon, Sadie got a call from an unknown number. The caller had a smooth deep voice with what seemed to be a Southern accent.

"Hi, Sadie? It's Willard Gaines. I work with Frank. How's he doin'? Is he feeling any better?"

"Oh, hi there," Sadie responded. "You go by Wil, right? Frank told me you'd be calling. He's holding his own, but he's not doing too good. This COVID thing is worse than either of us thought."

Wil asked Sadie for her address and said that he would drop Frank's stuff off at her front door. Just like the UPS man, he said.

"Now save my number," Wil said. "and if there's anything that you need, call me. And if it's okay, I'll text or call you now and then to see how Frank is doing."

Before she ended the call, Sadie told Wil to save her number, too. When she got home, a box with Frank's things was waiting on her doorstep.

Sadie got into the habit of going by the hospital every day after work to check on Frank's condition and to talk to him on the phone while waving toward his window from the sidewalk. There never seemed to be any good news and the daily visits made Sadie more depressed, but she felt a duty to visit her husband's hospital, rain or shine. Afterward she would go home to her lonely apartment. Sometimes she cried.

Sadie spoke to her mother on the phone almost every day, but those calls were anything but uplifting. Mom consistently echoed the COVID case count and mounting death toll reported by the media.

Sadie also got into the habit of calling Wil every day, to give him an update on Frank's condition. Sadie assumed that Frank's coworkers cared about his status, but the only one who was even marginally concerned was Wil.

Sadie found Wil easy to talk with and even easier to listen to. Sadie learned early on that he was born and raised in Georgia, which in her mind explained his deep drawl and mellow speech pattern. Wil generally spoke with flawless diction, reminiscent of Barack Obama. He dropped occasional hints of his African-American roots, yet despite daily chats on the phone, Sadie did not know that Wil was black. It just never came up.

New routine is no routine

Sadie appreciated her job more than ever because it kept her occupied during the day. It gave meaning and purpose to her dreary existence and gave her a reason to get out of bed in the morning. But five days after Frank entered the hospital, Sadie got word that she was being laid off from work because the buffet restaurant was closing. She was crushed. Except for a rare trip to the supermarket, wearing gloves and a mask, Sadie had nowhere to go and nothing to do. She sometimes reminded herself that her husband was suffering more than she was, but it was not much consolation. It seemed as if the only pleasant moments of her life were those spent on the phone, talking to Wil.

Dinner some time?

Two weeks into Frank's hospitalization, and Sadie's voluntary isolation, she and Wil were talking on the phone. Both felt good at that moment and their talk got a little loud and boisterous, both cackling and interrupting each other. They erupted in laughter and each had to catch their breath. After a moment of dead air, Wil was the first to speak again.

"You know, sometime, when things settle down a little bit, I'd like to go out to dinner."

Sadie sighed. "Oh, that sounds so nice. I can't wait until we can all go out to eat, and drink, and go to ball games and concerts. I'm sure that Frank will be itching to go, when that time comes."

Wil was quiet for a few seconds, then in what was almost a sultry tone, he stated, "Sadie, I wasn't thinking about Frank."

Sadie was flummoxed. "Um, um, okay Wil, well I need to go now. Bye bye."

As she ended the call, Sadie took a deep breath and a long slug of the wine she'd been sipping. Had Wil just suggested that they go on a date? Maybe he had just forgotten to include Frank. Or maybe he hadn't. Suddenly, inexplicably, Sadie was horny as hell. She leaned way back on the couch and pulled up her nightgown with one hand while bringing her other hand to that warm place between her legs. She found it moist and started to slowly massage her clit with her middle finger, then she picked up speed and rapidly rubbed herself until she began writhing and moaning with a huge orgasm, one of her biggest ever.

As she came down, Sadie felt guilty for her adulterous thoughts, but she could not help but wonder whether she might someday allow herself to go out with Wil. She brought her slickened fingers to her nose, whiffed her own essence, and pondered what all she might do, given the chance.

A first time

Two days later, after Sadie got home from the hospital, she took a shower, slipped on her old cotton night shirt, and made herself a dinner of yogurt and blueberries. As she was scraping the last spoonful from the plastic container, Sadie's phone rang.

For the first time that day, Sadie's spirits were lifted when her phone's caller ID displayed the name "Wil". Sadie felt a tad guilty about experiencing something akin to happiness in the dreary existence she shared with much of the world. It was as if she had no right have a few pleasant moments while people near and far were suffering and dying. Her own husband was in the hospital, fighting for his life. But Sadie allowed herself this indulgence -- a chance for some positive human interaction.

Sadie's chat was once again lighthearted, bordering on flirty. She told herself that it was just what she needed to cope with the funk she'd been in all day. Sadie talked to Wil for over an hour before she ended their casual discourse with "I'll let you go now." Two seconds after setting her phone down Sadie regretted being disconnected.

Sadie trudged to her kitchen and opened a bottle of wine. She was not a heavy drinker, and Frank drank only beer. As a result, they had amassed more than a dozen different vintages and varieties received as gifts. Sadie decided that since she had little to do, and nowhere to go, she would sample the wines, one bottle and one glass at a time, to decide which were her favorites.

With a glass of Merlot in hand, Sadie curled up on the couch, and began watching TV while browsing her iPad. Her left hand slid down to her lap and snaked its way under her nighty to contact her vagina. She was a little surprised to find that, just like the other night, after chatting with Wil her delicate folds were dewy with moisture. It was not like her to get wet without some stimulation, but the only thing she had done was to "shoot the bull" with Wil on the phone.

Her own touch felt incredibly good at that moment. Sadie did not masturbate very often, but for the second time that week, she found that she was desperately horny and she decided that she would leisurely finger herself to an orgasm right then and there.

Suddenly, Sadie was startled by a knock on the door. She had not had a visitor in weeks and certainly did not expect one that night.

Looking through the peephole, Sadie saw a black man standing on the other side of her door. Like everyone else, he was wearing a medical mask. Even if her husband Frank had been home, she would have been reluctant to open the door to this dark stranger. Being alone, she was downright scared and double checked that her deadbolt lock was set before even responding.

"Who is it?!" she asked through the door in the loudest, most powerful voice that she could muster.

"It's Wil," came the answer.

Sadie was shocked. Wil is a black man?! Her initial shock gave way to relief, followed instantly by pleasant surprise and urgent curiosity. Sadie asked herself, "Why did I not know that Wil is black, why would he be here, and what could he possibly want?" She trotted into her bathroom to pull her bathrobe on over her cotton nighty, and she covered her nose and mouth with a sterile mask.

In less than a minute, Sadie was back at the door. Wil could not see the wide smile on her face as she unlocked the door and opened it.

"Come in," Sadie said as she stepped back from the threshold, trying to position herself six feet from Wil. It struck her as strange that in only a few weeks she had been so thoroughly conditioned to "maintain social distancing" when in the company of another person.

Sadie could not stop herself from saying, "You're black."

In a dramatic and humorous gesture, Wil stretched both arms out in front of himself, turned his hands over twice, and said, "I guess I am!" He started laughing and Sadie did too.

"Why are you here?" Sadie queried, immediately realizing how unfriendly and almost rude she was sounding. "I mean, you're more than welcome to visit, (with a chuckle) but it's not something that people do much anymore, and we just gabbed on the phone for a long time."

"That's why I'm here," Wil said, connecting his eyes with Sadie's. "It sounded to me like you really need some company tonight. If I'm wrong, just tell me so and I'll go."

With his eyes fixed on Sadie's, it was easy for Wil to see them instantly well with tears. Sadie quickly turned her head and dabbed her face. Wil forgot the rules of COVID-19 prevention for a second, and wanting to give Sadie a reassuring hug, he took two steps toward her before he caught himself and abruptly halted.

"Are you okay?" Wil asked, separated from Sadie by roughly four feet. "Don't cry. I didn't mean to get you upset. I just got the impression, talking on the phone, that you needed something and you didn't know how to ask for it. I can go, now that I know that you're okay."

Sadie nodded a no, signaling Wil that she did not want him to go. She stood facing him, then slowly brought both hands up to grasp the elastic bands of her mask and pulled it away from her face. It felt daring and liberating.

"I'm okay with not wearing a mask, if you are," Sadie said. "Frank hasn't been here in two weeks, so I'm sure that his germs are gone. It's just me that you have to worry about, but I feel fine and I tested clear after Frank got sick. I must be immune or something."

Wil slowly peeled his mask off, revealing his bright white teeth. Broadening his smile, Wil said, "I'm not worried about you, and your face is so pretty, it's a crime to cover it up, even when it's a crime to leave it uncovered."

Sadie blushed. "Ahh, you're so sweet, but I know that I look a mess." Sadie self-consciously combed her tangled long hair with her fingers as she babbled on. "I haven't bothered with make-up for a while, not going anywhere, not seeing anybody, and I didn't expect to have company tonight."

"You look fine." Wil said. It was a bit awkward as Wil stood not far from the door where he had entered, about midway between the kitchen and the living room.

At that moment, Sadie was lost in her own little world. It had been so long since anyone had been in her place, and now someone was there. This someone was different from anyone who had come before. First, he was a man -- a tall man with a muscular build and a handsome face. And he was a black man -- dark from head to foot. Sadie had met plenty of black people in school, at work, and all over town, but she had never been the friend of a black man before. Wil was definitely a friend, maybe the most treasured friend she had during this Corona crisis.