The Devil's Bargain Ch. 07

- "You wouldn't have done that. What were your first dates like, Dan?" she asked.

I suppose it seemed like a safer topic. But then I found that I couldn't explain my lonely, penniless university days or my first few years on the job without explaining why I'd left home without any help from my parents.

Then I was pulling into the restaurant's parking lot, and realized that I'd been rambling.

- "Sorry." I said. "That was a little too far down Memory Lane."

- "No." she said. "Absolutely not. I didn't know any of this. Do my parents know this story?"

- "No."

We went inside. I was hoping that the change of location might also change the topic of conversation, but Lisa wasn't ready to let go of it.

- "Can you continue? From where you left off?"

- "I don't know. You really don't want -"

- "Of course I do. Isn't this what people do on a date - get to know each other?" She had me there. "You'd just met Cathy." she prompted.

Cathy was my first girlfriend. We met in the faculty of Engineering. She was being hit on so relentlessly by our classmates that she gravitated to me - one of the few guys who didn't see her as a trophy, or a notch on their bedpost.

- "Spending so much time together made us friends. I guess we didn't think of it as dating. I certainly didn't have any money to spend on her."

- "That's different." said Lisa.

- "Is it? How so?"

- "Having no money versus being unwilling to spend any. Not the same thing."

- "If you insist."

- "I do." Lisa was much more confident than I remembered. She was almost always polite and respectful around her parents. Or maybe I just thought of her as she was at Burton's Lake: a little frightened, and well out of her element.

We ordered drinks, and shared an appetizer, but Lisa wouldn't let me change the subject.

"Go on." she said. "You can't stop in the middle of a great story."

- "Not that great."

- "It is from where I'm sitting." she insisted. "What happened with Cathy?"

- "It was awful. We made the leap from friendship to intimacy, but with two inexperienced virgins, the result was a disaster - twice. I caused her so much pain and embarrassment that she couldn't bear to see me after that. I felt just as embarrassed."

- "That's ... so sad."

- "I suspect that it happens to quite a few people. Ignorance is not bliss."

- "No." said Lisa. "But the internet is not the best place to get your sex education, either."

I saw an opportunity to draw her into a discussion of the internet and social media, but she was too smart for that. "Nuh-uh. I want to hear what happened next. Was it Connie?"

- "No. I graduated, got a job, and moved. Then I met Jill. Ah ..."

- "Details ..." said Lisa.

How to explain Jill, my neighbour with the oral fixation? She was my saviour, in a sexual sense, until I discovered that I wasn't the only spice in her cabinet.

"Ouch."

- "No, it wasn't that bad." I said. "She'd never promised that we were exclusive. I never thought to ask. When I think of her now, it's mostly positive."

- "So she was your Mrs Robinson?"

Believe it or not, I'd heard the reference before, but I'd never seen the movie. All I knew was that it was a young man and an older woman ... and here I was, sitting with a young lady half my age.

I'd forgotten where I was, and who I was with. Why was I talking about my first sexual experiences with my neighbour's 22 year-old daughter?

The waitress arrived just in time with the appetizers, ready to take our main orders as well. Lisa chose a modestly priced fish dish.

- "You can have whatever you want." I reminded her.

- "That's what I'm doing."

Once again, I was struck by her self-assurance. I gave the waitress my choice, and then tried to steer for safer waters.

- "You seem so confident." I said. "Self-assured, I'd say."

- "I'll be graduating in a few months." said Lisa. "I've done very well, and I'm getting offers. As it stands, I can do a Masters, and it looks like it'll pay for itself."

- "That's wonderful!"

- "Thank you. But I didn't come here to talk about school. I want to hear the next chapter of your story. How many women were you with before Connie?"

- "You're not going to let it go, are you?"

- "No."

- "But a gentleman should be asking his date about herself. He should be asking questions, to get her talking about herself."

- "Sure. Then she figures he's wonderful, because he's so interested in her." Lisa smiled. "That only works if he actually listens to her answers. Most guys are just playing the game so they can get into her pants. And before you protest - I know that I'm perfectly safe with you. And I believe that you're genuinely interested in me. But you already know my whole life story."

- "I don't think that I do ..."

- "Well, regardless, I'd rather talk about your story, which is all news to me, and very interesting. So - other women before Connie?"

I sighed, and gave in. She was as relentless as the tide. "That's it. Just those two. I met Connie at an office mixer. I think I told her that she was pretty."

- "Smooth."

- "Not at all. But she saw something, I guess. She gave me her business card. I hesitated for two weeks before -"

- "Two weeks?"

- "Yeah - it took me that long to gather the courage. I finally called, and asked her out. She said that she was busy."

- "What?"

- "Yeah. But then she suggested that I ask her for a different time ..."

- "Oh- thank goodness."

- "Yeah ..."

Lisa must have sensed something in my expression, or in the tone of my voice. She very gently let me off the hook.

- "Thank you for telling me all of that, Dan."

- "I wasn't planning to, that's for sure. It's not something I normally talk about. How did you get all of that out of me?"

- "Luck? Good timing?"

- "Or maybe you're a lot more devious than you look." I joked.

Lisa's smile vanished. "I'm not devious at all, Dan."

- "No. 'Course not. I was just ... bad joke."

- "That's okay. The funny thing is, I hear the opposite from some of my friends. One says that I'm too intense, but I think she means too earnest. Another friend thinks that honesty is the same thing as gullibility."

- "Hardly."

- "That's what I say. I know I've made mistakes - you've seen some of them." I knew that she was thinking of Burton's Lake. "But openness is not necessarily foolishness."

- "Not if you learn from your mistakes." I said. "That's the best any of us can do. And I think it takes courage to be open. More than I've had, for most of my life."

- "Ah, but you have patience, tolerance and endurance."

- "What makes you think that?" I wondered.

- "I don't think it - I know it." Her smile returned. ""You tutored me in math, remember?"

- "I remember it better than you do, from the sound of it. You were a model student."

- "You gave up all those hours of your free time ..."

- "Which you've repaid a hundred times over - with interest."

- "Alright - you win." She held up her hands in mock surrender. "Somehow we always end up back here. Can you just accept that we like helping you out a little every now and then?"

- "Can you accept that it's not just a little, and that it's all the time?"

The waitress returned with our food. Sometimes waiters and waitresses arrive at precisely the wrong moment, just as you're about to say (or hear) something very important. But they can also rescue you from a tricky question or an awkward situation.

- "Saved by the fish!" said Lisa. "That looks good. But so does yours."

My prime rib did look good. "Would you like to try a little bit?"

- "Trade you a bit?" she said.

I had a very nice meal with Lisa. While we were eating, I realized just how differently this evening had gone, compared to what I'd been expecting. I'd been nervous, feeling the pressure of delivering a positive date experience for my neighbours' daughter, my dog-walking volunteer, and the girl next door.

My plan to get her talking about herself had been turned against me. Nothing had gone as I'd expected - and yet I hadn't worried about the way things were going since the appetizers had arrived.

We both passed on dessert, but opted for coffee.

- "In the interest of openness." I said, "I want to say that I've had a really good time tonight. I know that it was supposed to be the other way 'round, but ..."

- "I only asked you to take me out." she said. "It wasn't all about entertaining me. But I'm very glad that you enjoyed it. I did, too."

We left the restaurant just as the first light snowflakes began swirling. I drove us home. Just as I'd done earlier, I stopped in front of her house, and then went around to open her door. Lisa had already opened it, but she saw what I was doing, and sat back down.

I offered my hand, and she took it.

- "Thank you, Dan." she said. "That was very nice of you."

Lisa had her hand on the arm of my coat. She stood up on tip toe, and kissed me on the cheek. Then she stepped back, and smiled.

"Goodnight." she said. I watched her walk to her door, and waited until she went in. Then I returned to my side of the car.

I just happened to notice something slightly off. Fifty or sixty yards down the road, there was a car parked by the sidewalk - only it was facing towards me, in the opposite direction.

There was never a car parked in front of the Seemans' house. And why was it facing the wrong way? I took a closer look.

Perhaps it's because I work for a car company, but I can recognize different makes and models by their shape, and their outline. That car was a Nissan Sentra. Now, there are plenty of those cars around. But I haven't seen many that are all white.

Aarti drove a white Nissan Sentra.

My chest began to hurt. I had to remind myself to breathe. It took a major effort to pull my phone out of my coat. I barely noticed that there were two missed calls. I texted a single word, plus a question mark.

Aarti?

The response didn't take long.

I'm at home

She was a terrible liar. I texted again.

So you're not parked close to my house?

I closed my car door, and began walking towards the Nissan. The car started up, and I was momentarily blinded by the headlights - somehow she'd managed to turn on her high beams as well. Aarti then executed a miserably botched three-point turn. It became a sloppy five-point turn.

I stayed where I was, and let my lover flee the scene of the stake-out. Yes, I recognized her licence plate. Then I got into my car, drove 35 yards, and parked in my own driveway.

***

I agreed to see her on Tuesday evening.

She had called six times, and texted almost twenty times. I needed a few days to organize my thoughts, and to reconcile them with my emotions, which were quite violent. Geetha called me, and we had a short conversation.

- "You may want to be there for her Tuesday night. She'll probably need you." I said.

When Aarti opened her door, I could see that she'd already been crying. Even so, she was so beautiful and sexy that my resolve wavered. Did I really want to do this?

We sat down on her couch.

- "Why were you there, Aarti?" I asked.

- "I was ... afraid." she said. "Afraid that you would ..."

I didn't fill in any blanks for her. She faltered, and stopped.

- "What did you see?" I asked.

- "I saw!" she snapped. "She kissed you! How could you do to that me?"

- "She kissed me on the cheek, Aarti. To thank me. Did you see me kiss her? No. Did you see us embrace? No - because we didn't."

- "But ..."

- "I let you deal with all those of those men who hit on you, on our vacation. I didn't always like it, but I let you deal with them. Apparently, you don't trust me enough to reciprocate. That's our only issue, Aarti. You don't trust me."

- "I do!"

- "You don't. And none of your tarot readings, none of the horoscopes ever suggested that our relationship would fail because of a lack of trust."

- "But ... I love you."

Even with her face streaked with tears, she was still attractive. Aarti was physically spectacular, and she was equally amazing in bed. I could tolerate her kooky hobbies, but the complete absence of trust was too much. If I had been the suspicious, paranoid one, nobody would have been surprised. But how would Aarti have coped with it if I'd been following her around?

- "Maybe you do, in your own way. And I have strong feelings for you. But they can't survive in the absence of trust."

I invoked Tansa's broken heart clause, so that Aarti wouldn't feel too bad. I only wished that I had created a similar mechanism for myself.

***

I did have regrets. My anger faded, and I questioned my decision. After two weeks, I realized that I hadn't had sex for fifteen days. It was my longest cold streak since the bargain with Tansa.

But I hadn't given any thought to finding a successor (or successors) to Aarti. Just as she'd asked, I'd been completely faithful to her. Now I was alone, and not quite sure what to do with myself.

Join another gym or fitness club? Meet women online? I didn't have the faintest idea where to begin. I was also reluctant to rush my decision; in a little over eighteen months, I had used up three of my fourteen magical options. At this rate, I would celibate again in less than six years.

Then again, one of my first magical relationships was - technically - still going. I'd never actually ended anything with Holly. She'd moved far away, but it had been her idea to keep alive the idea that we might get together in future.

At the end of the month, I received an email from her, asking me how my trip had gone and letting me know what was going on with her work.

Maybe it was the odd coincidence that struck a chord with me - or perhaps I'd absorbed some of Aarti's superstitious spiritualism ... I immediately answered Holly. I told her about the trip, and about my breakup with Aarti, but I also floated the idea of a brief trip out to Calgary, to visit her.

Holly answered me the very next day.

That would be wonderful! I could show you the city, or if you're feeling adventurous, we could go skiing at Banff (Fernie might be close to closing for the season). There are some fine restaurants, or I could get hockey tickets, if you prefer. Let me know when you're thinking of. I'm looking forward to it already!

I didn't need to think about for long. I'd only been skiing twice in my life - in Ontario. The Rocky Mountains were way out of my league. I wasn't a big hockey fan, but Holly was.

End of April. Hockey would be great, if you can get playoff tickets. But don't worry about arranging entertainment - I'm really only coming out to see you.

I booked two days off work, a Friday and a Monday. I made arrangements to have more people drop in on Mom, and let her know that I would be away for a long weekend.

- "Again? You just got back from the last one! What's so important that you have to go all the way out there?" I guess in Mom's atlas, Calgary was on the dark side of the moon.

Then I had to line up my dog-walker.

- "I don't know." said her mother, Anna. "She's in the middle of her final exams."

- "Oh, darn." I'd completely forgotten the schedule of a university student. And this was her graduating year.

Lisa knocked on my door that evening, in jeans and a hoodie.

- "Hey, Dan. Mom said you wanted me to look after Freya for a weekend?"

- "I did. But I completely forgot about your final exams. I don't want to interfere with your studies."

We compared dates. Just as I'd feared, Lisa had an exam that Friday.

- "Not a problem, Dan. I've got this. You do the morning walk, and I can pop over to let Freya out just before noon. That will leave me plenty of time to make it to my exam, and then get back to feed her. Saturday is no problem."

Lisa and I had both agreed that Freya was getting older. She was still spry and energetic, but she didn't need agility competitions anymore.

- "But it's your last exam. Aren't you going to go out and celebrate?"

She shook her head. "I'm in 4th year. Been there, done that. You know I'm not much of a drinker. Sitting in a bar for eight hours isn't my thing. If I get the urge, I can always go out after Freya's evening walk."

- "Are you sure? I don't want you to mess up your exams."

- "I won't." she said. "Same pay as last time?"

- "Um ..."

- "A date. I'll let you ask the questions this time." she said, with a smile.

I had mixed feelings about that. Yes, I had enjoyed our last 'date', even though it led directly to the end of my relationship with Aarti. I wasn't sure yet if that was a blessing or a curse. Also - and more to the point - I didn't want to encourage Lisa.

Once again, I didn't have any other options. Connie and I had never put our dog in a kennel. Freya would have hated it, and so would we. Lisa was the perfect person for this responsibility. I trusted her. All it would cost me was dinner for two at a restaurant.

- "Alright." I said.

I think that Lisa noticed my lack of enthusiasm, but she didn't say anything about it. Instead, she wished me a good trip, and I wished her luck with her exams.

***

I'm sure that Calgary is a very nice city. I didn't see much of it, because there was a snowstorm that blanketed everything just after my plane landed. Yes, a snowstorm - in April.

That didn't stop Holly from picking me up at the airport. She wrapped me in a bear hug the moment she got to me.

- "You're crazy!" I said. "I could've caught a cab."

- "You're crazy!" she replied. "No way was I going to let you take a taxi."

Holly looked ... different. Her hair was a little longer. She was also wearing faded jeans and a Calgary Flames jersey.

- "You look great." I told her.

She looked down at her sweater. "It's, ah ... a little more casual out here. Most of the time." Then she looked up at me. "I'm so glad you're here, Dan."

- "Me too." We hugged again. This time it was a much slower, more sensual embrace.

Holly was a good driver. Despite the worsening conditions, she got us to her place safely.

- "I can't believe you're actually here." she said, several times. At one point, she reached out to touch me, as if to make sure that I was real. I took advantage of her proximity to hold her close.

- "I'm here. And happy to be with you."

Holly put her head on my shoulder.

- "I'm sorry that you broke up with your girlfriend. But ... not that sorry. Will you make love to me, Dan?"

- "Yes, Holly. I will." Why pretend otherwise? It was one of the reasons I'd come to see her.

She insisted that we start on her couch. We were both too eager. Clothes flew in every direction. After a perfunctory blowjob, I went down on Holly. She was too keyed up, though. This wasn't about building to an orgasm - it was all about the joining.

Our rhythm was off, and our movements were more erratic than erotic. Eventually, though, we found ourselves in synch, and she began gasping as the friction between our pubic bones started working for her. When I bent my head and took her nipple in mouth, she threw her head back and groaned. Only a few seconds later, she shuddered and came.

Holly switched us around so that I could finish in doggy style. Then she had me stretch out on my back, and lay down beside me (and half on top of me). Her head was on my shoulder, one arm and one breast rested on my chest, and one leg was thrown across my thighs. She pulled a coverlet off the back of the couch, and I helped her settle it over us.

You would have thought that that I'd be tired, after my flight, but it was Holly who immediately fell asleep. No doubt she was still working too hard for far too many hours. I lay there, idly stroking her hair, and had a mild epiphany.

I'd been under Aarti's spell for a long time. It was ironic, really, because she was actually under my spell (or Tansa's, if you prefer). But I'd come to see Aarti as the absolute summit of sex. I'd become convinced that making love with her was the ultimate, because she was just so damned hot.