The Secret

The Secret

The other day I found a book of proverbs on my bookshelf and one of the sections listed Beauty Proverbs and this prompted me to illustrate this story with some of these pearls of wisdom. If you find them intrusive I apologise in advance. Just read past them.

Have you ever noticed how most men are much more shallow than most women? I say "most," because there are always exceptions to the rule.

Even today when political correctness has sounded the death knell of beauty competitions there are many sports and pastimes where beautiful women are flaunted as part of the proceedings: professional darts, poker, or boxing to mention but a few.

And how many successful men do not have a beautiful wife or partner on their arm, however ugly that man might be. Whilst how many handsome men do you see in a relationship with a successful but plain overweight woman?

It would appear that the sexes have different values, and whilst most men are attracted to physical beauty, intelligent women often seek something more than physical attractiveness whether it be power, money, intelligence, personality, or quick wit.

A truly beautiful women does not need any of these things, although of course she may have them.

A beautiful face is admired even when its owner doesn't say anything. Danish Proverb

After I graduated with a first in Chemistry I chose to stay on at university to study for a PhD in colour chemistry and this was when I first met Mary. She was not beautiful.

She was tall, a little overweight, and she moved self-consciously and awkwardly. She appeared shy and unsure of herself. She had a sharp nose, angular features, and a mouth that was a little too big. Her best feature were her eyes which were soft and brown, although she had a habit of looking away if someone talked to her. She didn't make the best of things because she didn't dress well, choosing to wear shapeless unflattering garments which hid her figure, and neither did she use many cosmetics. She didn't know or care that

A woman gets thirty percent of her beauty from nature and seventy percent from makeup. Chinese Proverb

None of this bothered me of course. I had no interest in her as a potential mate. She was the cousin of my house mate Bruce. Bruce had been asked by Mary's parents to keep an eye on her after she had started at university on an undergraduate course a few weeks earlier, and she had visited our house on a couple of occasions to have supper. He was none too happy with this arrangement since he had a newly acquired girlfriend, and he was far more interested in bonking her than nursemaidIng Mary.

About a month into the first term on a Friday evening Bruce enquired what I was doing, and I told him that I had no plans. He told me that he had promised to look in on Mary but had arranged to see his girlfriend, and he wondered whether I could walk over to the hall of residence where she lived and make sure she was OK, and rather reluctantly I agreed. An hour later I knocked on the door of Mary's room and a voice said come in.

I went in and closed the door behind me. Mary was sitting on her work-desk chair facing the door whilst sitting on the bed was a beautiful blond woman.

She was around twenty years old with blue eyes and at first sight looked to have a good figure. It was readily apparent that she had large breasts which were outlined by her white sweater. She stood up as I entered, and before Mary had time to introduce her, said,

"Must go. Nice to meet you. See you in the morning then Mary."

And then she was gone. But not before I had time to appreciate her long legs and perfect bum filling her perfectly fitted jeans.

"That was my friend Denise. She lives down the corridor."

And she went on to explain that Denise was her best friend at university, and they were both studying geography. They went to lectures together and sat together in lectures, exchanging notes, and studying together. I remember thinking they were an oddly matched pair although I did not know Denise and so shouldn't have made this judgement.

What was certain was that I fancied Denise and wanted to get to know her better. To be precise I wanted to sleep with her. And I used Mary to get close to Denise.

I manufactured a chance meeting with them both in the student's union coffee bar and took to dropping in on Mary hoping she would be with Denise. Eventually I was able to take them both out for a drink. And shortly after that I asked Denise to come to the cinema with me and she said yes. At the time I had never heard of the saying,

Beautiful woman. Beautiful trouble. Jamaican Proverb

At first our relationship followed its own inevitable path. The first evening when we went to the cinema I was the perfect gentleman, and then on our second date when we went to the pub I kissed her goodnight and things progressed naturally from there. Within a month we were sleeping together.

During this time Mary had settled into university life and Bruce and I were confident she could be left alone without our continued supervision. Nonetheless, although I no longer visited Mary in her room I still saw her regularly since she remained firm friends with Denise.

During the Christmas break the halls of residence shut for three weeks and the students who lived there went home or moved to alternate accommodation. Denise's father was a major in The Army and had been posted to Hong Kong and she had decided to stay in the UK over Christmas.

Nothing was more natural than she come and stay at my house. My parents were in The States, and I was at a loose end. And for a while it was perfect. Denise was on holiday, and I could be flexible in my work pattern. We fucked our way all the way around the house and back. And then we started again. But this was not love making since I didn't love Denise and she didn't love me. Nonetheless she was good in bed, and on the sofa, or across the dining table.

She was also a slob. She didn't clear away her dishes, or washup, and she was extremely untidy, and she couldn't cook. She took for ever in the bathroom in the mornings "making herself look beautiful." I was relieved when she moved back to hall in the New Year.

For the New Year celebrations, we had been invited to stay at Mary's parents' home. Or should I say Denise had been invited and she had then asked if I could accompany her. Mary came from a small village in the Yorkshire Dales and her father was a farmer. She had two elder brothers one of whom worked on the farm and one of whom was a qualified veterinary surgeon.

Mary's mother and Mary were the perfect hostesses and worked hard to keep food and drink coming to the New Year's table. There were seven of us at the table and we all did our bit to fetch and carry. Except Denise. She sat at the table looking beautiful and flirted with the men.

Only one other noteworthy thing happened that weekend, although I didn't understand it's significance until much later. Mary's mum had been talking to Mary when Mary suddenly looked at Denise who was listening in, and Mary appeared to flush with what I thought was embarrassment. As Mary hurriedly picked up plates from the table and left the room her mum glanced at me briefly. Moments later I saw Denise smiling to herself. And then the normal buzz of conversation at the table returned.

Sometime after the New year my relationship with Denise slowly cooled.

She had never been a great timekeeper, but she gradually kept me waiting for her longer and longer when we arranged to meet. She would sometimes be half an hour late and there was always an excuse. I also started to notice that we were doing more of the things she liked to do than I did, and we started to grow slowly apart. But she was beautiful, sexy, and fucked like a bunny, so I was happy to continue to see her. Although why she continued evades me. Sometimes I imagined she knew my secret but then if she knew why not try harder.

And then in late spring things came to a head. We had arranged to meet in a local pub and as usual Denise was late. Only this time she was really late and after 40 minutes I called over the publican who knew us both. I told him that I was going to the Postgraduate Centre and asked him, if and when Denise came in, he could tell her where to find me.

Two hours later an angry Denise arrived to find me happily chatting to a girl at the bar and after a short and bitter row our time together was over.

I was surprised to find I was relieved to find myself free again. I had never enjoyed ending relationships and was happy that the inevitable had happened. However, I was left with one immediate problem. I had two tickets for the Hall Spring Ball but no partner, and I had two weeks to find one.

That evening I mentioned this to Bruce. I can still remember what he said next.

"Why don't you ask Mary?"

"She never goes anywhere. She'd love to come. I'm going with Jill. We'll make a foursome and I'll earn brownie points from my auntie."

"Go on."

The following evening, I went to see Mary and invited her to accompany me to The Ball.

"What about Denise," she asked.

"It's over," I said.

"You can be sure they'll be lining up to take her. So how about it?"

"I've got nothing to wear," she said

"You'll find something."

And so, it was agreed. Jill would take Mary shopping for a dress and shoes. On the early evening of The Ball Mary would dress at our house where Jill would help her with her make up, and then Bruce and Jill, and Mary and I, would get a taxi together to The Ball.

The big day arrived and around 5 pm Mary arrived with a large bag containing all the thing she would need for the evening ahead. She had been to the hairdresser earlier with Jill. Bruce and I had already shaved and showered and were relegated downstairs to dress in our DJs whilst Jill and Mary went upstairs to get ready.

Ninety minutes later Mary reappeared. Jill had transformed her. She stood five feet ten inches in her wedged red leather shoes and wore a long black evening dress with red floral embroidery which accentuated her full curvy figure. But It was what jill had done with cosmetics that was remarkable. Her angular features and mouth had been softened and her eyes accentuated, and her face was framed by her jet black hair which hung in ringlets at the sides.

She looked imposing, handsome, and suddenly very attractive.

Bruce was the first to react.

"Bloody hell! Is that really you Mary?"

And then I spoke,

"You look beautiful."

And she smiled shyly but I could see she was very pleased.

A beautiful thing is never perfect. Egyptian Proverb

I don't remember many of the fine details of that evening such as the menu or what wine we drank. I do remember the defining events of the night. They will stay with me forever.

Denise appeared and made a meal of flaunting her body in front of me whilst giving back handed compliments to Mary.

"You look great... So different."

Before bouncing off with her new partner and I suddenly uncharitably felt sorry for him.

If you want to take revenge on a man, send him a beautiful woman. Arabic Proverb

And Mary and I talked. This time I was genuinely interested in her and learnt things about her I hadn't known such as her love of books, classic films, and Liverpool football club. I learnt that she was charitable and kind and worked at a homeless centre serving free breakfasts once a week. She appeared simple and uncomplicated.

And I learnt that I liked her.

Later that evening we danced. She was reluctant to dance until the music slowed, and then as I held her loosely at first, I led her around the dance floor as she intermittently trod on one or other of my feet. I remember that she smelt of jasmine. Then she pressed against me, and I held her tighter as we danced with her head on my shoulder.

I looked down at her and she smiled and then she raised her lips to mine and we kissed.

At first it was a chaste kiss on the lips, but I parted my lips and as Mary did the same our tongues flickered and then danced. That first kiss was long and deep.

I held her for a moment and led her to the table where we sat side by side and I held her hands in mine. And Mary, typically too honest for her own good, said,

"I've never kissed a man before."

I leant over, looked into her eyes, and kissed her again.

After that evening I took Mary out nearly every night for the first few weeks or so, and each time we kissed at the door before saying goodnight. For the first time I was hesitant. It was apparent that she was a virgin, and I liked and respected her and did not want to hurt or use her.

I didn't recognise it at the time, but I was beginning to fall in love.

Around two weeks later I had booked a table at a local Italian restaurant and had arranged to pick her up at 7 o'clock. At half past five she turned up the house and informed me that Jill was helping her prepare for our evening out and sure enough just before seven she appeared well coiffured, made up, and wearing a yellow sweater and long white skirt. Her shyness with me had vanished. She oozed sex appeal.

The Italian restaurant was softly lit and the tables well-spaced and we were able to converse in privacy as we ate. We shared a bottle of wine between us. As we were drinking our post prandial coffees Mary lent across the table and held my hands together in hers.

Chris I'm ready. I'm on the pill. Jill took me to the GP. Please take me to bed.

And so, I did. When I got back to my room it was apparent that Jill and Bruce knew what was happening. Somebody had changed my bed and the sheets smelt of clean linen and the room had been tidied. The house was empty. I imagined that they had gone to a club to give us complete privacy.

We stood by the bed, and I undressed until I stood in front of her in just my underpants and Mary stripped to her bra and panties. She appeared a little self-conscious, so I led her to the bed, and we lay together, and we kissed and as we did I was aware of how hard I had become. I kissed her ears, her neck, and her eyes and as I did I reached behind her and unclipped her bra and freed her breasts which were firm round and pale. Her nipples were erect and as I cupped one breast and kissed the nipple on the other side she moaned gently. I reached down and placed my fingers below the hem of her panties and between her labia and could feel that she was already very moist. As I kissed her I found her clitoris and rubbed her gently with two fingers. She reached down and took my penis in her hand, and I showed her how to slide the foreskin backward and forwards.

Finally, I knelt and removed her panties and then divulged myself of my underpants. For the first time I saw her naked. She had a narrow waist, broad hips, and a large bum. Her skin was smooth and pale. She had shaved her perineum and her labia were swollen and pink.

And as I drank in my first view of her and she stared wide eyed and apprehensively at my erect penis I spoke,

"You are beautiful Mary."

What you love is always beautiful. French Proverb

I lay next to her and kissed her and gently fingered her clitoris. When she was ready she spread her legs wide, and I lay between her thighs and slowly and very gently entered her. There was no resistance, and I was easily able to penetrate until my full length was inside of her. I looked deep into her eyes and could see her need as I slowly moved in and out. And as I moved in her, her vagina held me tight and she moaned gently,

As I moved faster and harder Mary started to move, driving herself upwards as I moved into her, and pleading with me,

"Oh! That's so good!

"Oh! How I've waited."

"Give it to me! Give it to me!"

And then she clamped her thighs tight around me and they started to tremble, and her vagina tightened and relaxed and tightened again, and she moaned loudly,

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!

And this, and the look of ecstasy on her face drove me over the edge, and I came deep inside her.

We lay together; she with her head on my chest, and both of us wet with the sweat of our passion and our exertion.

"Oh. How can anything be so good? Can we do it again now please?"

And I had to explain that most men need a little time to recover before they can perform once more but in the meantime I could please her in other ways.

A short while later I lay between her thighs and gripped her bum cheeks as I licked her moist slit and bud. She moaned even more loudly than previously and soon was bucking and writhing under my ministrations until I felt her gluteal muscles and thighs tighten, and as I watched, her vaginal orifice opened and closed. As she climaxed she screamed,

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

That night I realised I had awoken a secret passion in her. She was one of those fortunate women who can have multiple orgasms. Additionally, she had no inhibitions and was adventurous, intelligent, and easy to teach. And she was generous, caring, and an unselfish lover.

After I had recovered I introduced her to the doggystyle position. This remains her favourite because of the depth to which my penis can reach, and I love it because I get to see her large round bum as I screw her.

In the morning I showed her how to give a blow job and what soixante neuf meant.

We got up late and went down to the kitchen and made coffee. As I gazed across the table she was glowing, and her shyness had gone. She had become a woman. And not just any woman but my woman.

And under Jill's tutelage she started to wear clothes that flattered her figure, and how to use makeup, and her confidence and self-esteem grew. But her slightly awkward gait remained, and I loved her for it.

This all happened in Mary's first year at University. We continued to date and in her final year she moved into my house after Bruce moved out and got a job in another city. She was clean, neat, and tidy, and she could cook. We shared the housework, our lives, and our bed.

Despite my relationship with Denise, they remained friends. Denise may have been a lot of things, but she was not Jealous, or maybe she thought Mary had nothing to be jealous over

Then on my 25th birthday several important things occurred.

The first event happened just after midnight when my trust fund matured, and ten million pounds was transferred to a numbered account in my name. And I became independently wealthy.

And that evening I proposed to Mary.

But not until I had told her my secret.

We had gone out to dinner in the same little Italian restaurant we had gone to the night Mary lost her virginity and as we ate our meal I told her something about myself that nobody at the university, other than my tutor, knew.

I had previously told Mary my father was a businessman but what I had left unsaid was that he was a rather successful one. He was the founder and 55 % shareholder of a well-known International paint and dye manufacturing company with a personal wealth of more than five hundred million pounds.

This was what I told her that evening. I explained that one day my sister and I would inherit this. My father had been determined that I should not just be gifted this inheritance, but that I should have to make something of myself first, and that my doctorate in colour chemistry would serve me well when I joined him and the board in running the company in due course. And now I planned to study for a master's in business studies at Harvard.

As Mary sat trying to assimilate all of this I explained.

I didn't want to people to like me for my money and most especially I've never wanted a relationship with a woman who knew I was rich. So, I saw no reason to tell people of my family's wealth. And most especially I don't want a wife who marries me for my money. I want a wife who wants me. I love you Mary. I want you to be my wife. I just want you to know what you are getting into because our lives will change irretrievably with marriage and the responsibility of money.