The Gap in the Curtains Ch. 04

"Well if he's not your boyfriend I don't really care who he is," he interrupted, and then turned to me. "She won't be leaving for a while, so either come back later, or grab a beer or wait outside or something."

"I've got a better plan," I said. "First you're going to take your hand off her arm, then we're both going to leave and you can find some other girl to sleaze on." I looked at his hand on her arm, silently praying that he would do the right thing and let her go.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, punk?" he said menacingly, releasing Anne and squaring up to me. I tried not to laugh. I don't think I had ever been called 'punk' before.

I stared him square in the eye trying not to let my eyes waiver. I wasn't sure if I could take him in a fight, although he was slightly smaller than me and a few years younger, so I suspected I probably could. But even if I could take him one on one, I didn't know how many friends he had at this party. I had my back to the room so I couldn't see if anyone else had noticed what was going on, but I didn't want to look over my shoulder and show that I was worried. I just kept looking him square in the eye, hoping he wouldn't take this any further.

"Fucking twat-faced arrogant prick," he said, aggressively, but his eyes dropped and I knew at that point he was going to back down.

He stormed off giving me a face-saving shoulder bump on the way past, which I ignored. Anne exhaled deeply and threw her arms around my neck.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said, hugging me close. I tentatively put my hand reassuringly on her back.

"Come on, let's get you home," I said.

Anne talked non-stop for the whole drive home. She seemed full of nervous energy and recounted the events of the last hour over and over again. From what I gathered, after she had phoned Liz, this guy had cornered her and tried to 'put the moves on'. When Anne initially turned him down, he tried to ply her with alcohol. When she refused that as well he dragged her over to the couch and started touching her and she couldn't get away. Every time she looped the story, she exaggerated the details a little bit more, making her danger sound greater and my rescue of her sound more and more heroic.

I had no idea what the real story was, but by the time we got home, she was talking like she was on the verge of being raped, and I had boldly jumped into the fray, knocked out the rapist and valiantly fought off five of his friends as we tried to escape the party. I was completely sober and my memory of the part I witnessed was nothing like the story that Anne was now recounting, but I'll admit that part of me was quite enjoying the hero pedestal that Anne was putting me on. If she wanted to tell her version to Liz and Vicky and maybe even her parents then... well, I wasn't going to argue too much. It might make getting woken up at 1am and having to drive across town worthwhile.

Eventually I pulled up in the drive and we both got out of the car. Anne scampered over and took hold of my hand as I unlocked the front door.

"Do you fancy hanging out for a while? We could grab a couple of beers or something," said Anne. There was almost a look of pleading in her eyes.

"That sounds... fun, but it's really late. I need to get back to bed and so do you probably," I replied, hoping I wasn't sounding too much like her dad.

"It's just that..." Anne started a sentence and then tailed off.

"What is it?"

"I just don't want to be on my own at the moment that's all. I'm still really freaked out about what happened at the party."

"But Liz will be-"

"Asleep I would think," finished Anne. "Just come and sit and talk with me for a while. Forget the beer, we could just have a mug of chocolate or something, that always makes me tired."

"Okay, I guess we could," I reluctantly agreed. Framed like that, it wasn't a proposition that I could really refuse. "I'll go and put the kettle on."

"Great," said Anne, looking relieved. "Can you bring it to my room; I'm just going to get changed." She scurried off down the corridor.

"Your room? I think the back room would be a better..." I started to call after her, but I heard her door close and Anne was gone.

I went to the kitchen and made two mugs of hot chocolate, reflecting on the situation. My plan had been to stay away from Anne as much as possible and avoid any situations that might lead to undue temptation. I was pretty sure that going to her room at two in the morning when she was probably a little bit drunk and was still thinking of me as her knight in shining armor didn't really mesh with that plan. I would just have to make sure the conversation didn't drift into risqué territory, finish my chocolate and then leave as quickly as was politely possible.

I knocked on Anne's door and she let me in. She hadn't got far with her plan of getting changed, all she had managed to do so far was remove her boots and she was in the process of taking off her jewelry.

"Hi," she said, smiling at me Anne had a beautiful natural smile, it was just a shame she didn't use it more often. "Come in, take a seat."

I looked around to find the only two chairs in the room covered in Anne's clothes. I was still holding two mugs of chocolate so I wasn't really in a position to move anything.

"Um..." I said.

"Oh yes sorry, my stuff is everywhere," said Anne, apologetically. "Just sit on the bed for now, you can put the mugs down on the table.

I did as I was told. Anne came over and took a sip of chocolate and sat down on the bed next to me. I tried to think of a nice neutral topic to talk about.

"So, how did you end up at this party?" I offered.

"Oh it was a stupid idea, I should never have gone. I was round a friend's house and it was kind of boring and I was going to come home, but then her sister asked if I wanted to come to a party with her and her friends and I thought why not. But I didn't know that her sister's boyfriend would be there and so she went off with him and I was left with some guy and girl I didn't really know." Anne took another sip of chocolate. "And most of the other people at the party seemed like real freaks, so that's when I called Liz and then-"

"Ah yes, I know the story from there," I said, not really wanting to give Anne another chance to exaggerate the rest of the story further.

"I was really stupid," said Anne, uncharacteristically self-disparaging, "It was so lucky you were there to rescue me."

"Well, we all do that kind of thing when we're young. I've been to a few shady parties in my time."

We drank our drinks in silence for a few moments, then Anne suddenly stood up.

"Is it okay if I get changed? I want to get into my bedclothes," she said.

"Um... sure, I guess," I said, slightly nervously. I turned around on the bed so I was facing the other way and I heard Anne laugh.

"You don't have to look away. I don't mind, you've seen me naked loads of times," she said, a little bit louder than I would have liked.

"Yes, but that was... different," I said. "I'd rather look away if it's all the same to you."

"Fine, suit yourself."

I twisted around on the bed to face the window. I noticed the gap in the curtains was still there; even now Anne hadn't bothered to get it fixed. I wondered how different things would have been if the gap wasn't there, or if I had never decided to peek through that night. My life would certainly be a lot simpler. Maybe Anne would still hate me. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be standing six feet behind me right now in a state of undress.

"Okay, I'm ready."

I turned around, preparing myself to see Anne looking extremely sexy in a nightie or pajamas. But I wasn't prepared to see her completely naked. I stared at her and she just smiled. There was nothing there I hadn't seen before, of course, but Anne had a body that you could never get bored with.

"Shit, I'm sorry I... you said you were dressed!"

"I didn't say I was dressed, I said I was ready. The question is are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" I asked, instantly regretting the question.

Anne said nothing, but just walked over towards the bed, where I was sitting. She put her hands on my shoulders and knelt on the bed, straddling my lap.

"I think it's time we got to know each other a bit better," she said, softly.

I was frozen in place with Anne on top of me, her naked breasts right in front of my face and her naked pussy in my lap. I put my hand on her hip, feeling her soft, smooth skin. I had seen Anne naked plenty of times, but never touched her before. Her nipple was just a few inches in front of my mouth. It would be the easiest thing in the world to just take it in my mouth and suck. I could feel her pussy pressing against my cock through my pants and it started to harden in response. Anne was giving herself to me on a plate and if I took what was on offer there would be no going back. I knew I had to refuse, but it was the hardest thing in the world.

"Don't fight it," she whispered in my ear. "We both want this."

Anne took hold of the back of my head and gently leaned forward, pushing her nipple into my mouth. Involuntarily my mouth closed around it and gently suckled. Anne let out a little gasp and started to rock her pelvis back and forth on my cock.

"That's it, make me yours," said Anne softly.

It was exactly the wrong thing to say. I knew Anne could never be mine. Even if I broke up with Liz, it's not like I could just start dating her sister, that would be impossible. Hearing those words made me think of Liz lying in bed, just meters away in our own room. I had to draw the line here; this was my last chance to do the right thing. I snapped my head back away from Anne's breast.

"No, this is wrong!" I said, pushing Anne off my lap. "I can't... we can't. Liz is your sister."

"Forget about Liz, please, just for tonight," said Anne, trying to climb back on my lap. "Just one night and I promise..."

"No!" I said, pushing her away more forcefully this time. "This can't happen."

Anne just stood there in front of me with a hurt expression and then suddenly she burst into tears. I just sat there, not knowing what to do or say. I had never been very good at dealing with crying women. I didn't even know if they were genuine tears or some kind of emotional powerplay. I moved along the bed and motioned Anne to come and sit down next to me. I offered her a hankie from my pocket to wipe her eyes.

"It's nothing personal," I said. "I really like you, but I can't do this, it's just not right."

"What is it that Liz has that I don't?" said Anne, through her tears.

"It's not about what you haven't got," I said, at that moment not really having a good answer to that question. "But she's your sister!"

"I know she's my sister!" said Anne angrily. "Every morning I wake up and see my sister having everything that I don't. It's not that I want to hurt her, but I am a woman too, don't I deserve happiness just as much as she does?"

"But why me? Why don't you just... get a boyfriend?"

"Oh yes, because it's just that damn easy," said Anne, sarcastically, giving me a scornful look through her tears.

"I know this is a small town, but I there must be some nice guys here," I countered. "It's not like you're unattractive, in fact you're one of the prettiest girls I've ever met. Guys must be queuing up to take you out."

"It's just not as simple as that!" exclaimed Anne, ignoring the compliment and suddenly raising her voice. "I don't really have a good history with guys."

I suddenly found myself staring into the abyss of Anne's private life. Not even Liz knew much about Anne's previous boyfriends, all she knew is that she dated a guy at school for a couple of years. And now, for some reason she was opening up to me. Maybe this was my one chance to find out what went on inside Anne's head. What things in her past defined who she was as a person? But I wasn't going to do it while she was sitting here naked. I retrieved the dressing gown from the hook behind the door and wrapped it around Anne's shoulders, covering her naked body as best I could.

"Liz told me you had a boyfriend at school," I offered, encouraging her to open up further.

"Oh did she? Do you spend a lot of time discussing my private life then?"

"No, of course not, but I wanted to find out more about you and the rest of the family. You'll be my sister-in-law one day."

"Okay, I'll tell you about Kevin if you really want to know. We were dating for about two years. I lost my virginity to him and we even got engaged, although we never told anybody. I loved him so much; I would have done anything for him. Then during our senior year my friend Amy got pregnant. She wouldn't tell anybody who the father was, but then one day we had a stupid fight and she blurted out that it was Kevin's. It turned out that they had been sleeping together for over a year behind my back."

"That's terrible," I said. It was a lame response, but it was all I could think of to say.

"You think?" said Anne, sarcastically. "Well let me tell you about college then."

"What happened at college? You were only there for a year right?"

"Right. After a couple of months when I met this guy, Mike. He was a junior, incredible looking and the coolest guy on campus. He was in a band and even played on the baseball team. He asked me out and I fell madly in love with him. We dated for about four months and it was the best time of my life. I got invited to all the best parties and everything. All the other girls were so jealous."

"Did he cheat on you too?"

"No... Well yes, technically... maybe. We were in the process of breaking up by then anyway, that wasn't such a big deal. But what he did after that was really bad."

"What did he do?"

"Well Mike was the first guy that I ever told about..."

"What?"

"You know, about my thing; my fantasy of being watched."

"Oh right. And, what, did he tell people?"

"No, worse! He kind of liked it; he said that he enjoyed watching me get myself off so for the first time I was actually able to live out my fantasy. Then during Christmas vacation I made a video of myself jilling off, and on Christmas Day I emailed it to him. Maybe it was dumb, but I was madly in love with him and he was so popular. I wanted to keep myself in his thoughts; I didn't want him finding another girl over Christmas while I wasn't around."

"And what happened?" I asked, starting to sense where this was going.

"Well we came back to college and everything was fine for a while. But then we had a stupid fight and he ended up dumping me for another girl. I was torn apart, I thought my life couldn't get any worse, but then it did. A few weeks after we split up, people all over campus, even people I didn't know, started pointing at me and laughing and whispering behind my back. It turned out he had put my video up on a website and practically the whole college had seen it!"

"Oh my God, I can't imagine what that must have been like." Anne started sobbing again. I put my arm around her shoulder in what I hoped was a comforting way.

"It was terrible," she went on, choking back the tears. "Everybody I knew had watched the video. Everywhere I went, every lecture, every party, even just going to get food and stuff I got catcalls and crude comments. I couldn't take it anymore and at the end of the year I quit. I told my parents I had failed my exams. The video is still out there on the internet if you know where to look."

Anne started crying on my shoulder. I just let her cry, hoping she would get it out of her system. I guessed she had never told anybody this before and so in a way was reliving it for the first time.

"I know this must be really hard," I attempted. "But if there are random guys out there watching a video of you on the internet then so what? They don't know you and you don't know them. The odds of anyone ever recognizing you are probably thousands to one." I wasn't sure if this was true, in fact I suspected it wasn't, but I felt Anne needed reassurance, not sound mathematics at this point.

"I don't even care much about that part," said Anne. "If there is a stranger out there jerking off to my video, then good for them I guess, they're welcome to. But I just can't trust men any more. The only two I have ever loved both betrayed me. I've never been able to trust a guy properly since."

"So... why do you trust me?"

I instantly regretted the question as it could have been interpreted as a threat. Anne didn't reply for a moment, she took her head off my shoulder and wiped away her tears with my handkerchief.

"I don't know," she said, eventually. "I guess because you never told Liz about me and the cucumber. And you haven't told anybody about my fetish. Maybe it's just because Liz trusts you and I know she is better at judging people than me. I can't explain it, I just feel safe with you."

I said nothing, but smiled as I recalled Anne with the cucumber. She stole it from the fridge and I watched her through the gap in the curtains fucking herself with it. That was the day Anne had caught me looking and everything had snowballed from there. I became acutely aware that Anne was still naked next to me, save for the dressing gown wrapped around her shoulders. Looking down I could still see her pussy and I remembered how it looked with the cucumber pistoning in and out of it.

Anne caught me looking and smiled. Without saying a word, she picked up my hand and placed it between her legs, opening them to give me access to her pussy. I instantly felt the warmth of her lady parts and a large part of me wanted to spread her lips and just bury my fingers in her womanhood. But with all my remaining willpower I pulled my hand away.

"No, I can't, I'm... I'm sorry." I said, quickly standing up and rushing out of the room before I could change my mind. As I closed her door behind me I could just about hear Anne call after me.

"Why are you fighting this Craig? You know it's what you want!"

_______

I spent a while longer mulling over Anne's list. Even recalling arguably the most intimate times we had spent together hadn't really given me any ideas. In a fit of frustration, I ripped the page out of the notepad, screwed it up and threw it forcefully into the garbage can. This wasn't going to get me anywhere. Comparing Liz and Anne was a silly exercise. It was obvious that Liz was everything I could hope to get in a girl, while Anne had few qualities I would want in a long-term girlfriend, I didn't need a list to tell me that. And the whole question was moot anyway. What was I going to do, break off my engagement with Liz and tell her I was going to start seeing her sister, oh and by the way could I still stay in your family home as I have nowhere else to go?

Then the reality struck me that I had been making the wrong comparison. The real decision I faced was not between the sisters themselves, but what they each represented. Liz represented stability, a future, a wedding, a mortgage, kids, college funds, a nice family home where I would take Craig junior to soccer practice while Liz baked brownies. Anne represented a more uncertain reality. Where I would live in a bachelor pad and go clubbing and get drunk and sleep with random women then spend all my money on an iPad or a sports car or on one really wild weekend in Vegas. The terrible thing was I didn't know which reality I wanted. Both were appealing and scary in equal measure. Everything had moved so quickly and until now I thought I wanted to get married and settle down, but did I really? That night, after bringing Anne home from the party, I had turned down sex with one of the most beautiful girls I had ever known, but because I felt I had to not because I wanted to.

But that wasn't the night that made me have serious doubts. That happened just the day before, when Liz and I had our biggest fight to date.