Juliette

An alarm woke her from her slumber. Her head pounded from drinking one too many beers and she had a crick in her neck from the awkward position she had slept in. And yet she could smell coffee and bacon.

“Morning!” Richard passed her a cup of steaming coffee which she gratefully accepted.

“You should have woken me,” she admonished playfully.

“And missed out on sleeping with you? I don’t think so.”

She thought back to the night before, how she had taken all her clothes off and practically lunged at him, and how he had behaved like a perfect gentleman. She felt her cheeks colour at his choice of words, but he literally meant sleeping together. She vaguely remembered waking up in the middle of the night and finding herself draped across him on the sofa, his chest rising and falling with each breath he took.

“What time is it? I have to get to work.”

He glanced down at his watch. “Seven thirty.”

She didn’t have to be there until nine. Even with the dreadful traffic, she could make it in an hour, giving her enough time for breakfast and to change back into her own clothes. She’d have to forgo the shower this morning.

He’d actually made an omelette for her with bacon mixed in along with tomatoes and peppers. It was the most delicious thing she’d ever tasted.

When it came time to leave, he took the elevator down to the car park with her.

She’d never felt so awkward giving someone a kiss goodbye. A peck on the cheek was not enough and yet anything more seemed wrong after the events of last night.

He helped her decide by kissing her on the lips, a kiss that lingered and yet was not filled with the intensity of the kisses they had already shared. When she drove away, she knew she wanted more.

She dug out her phone and called the one person, she knew would understand.

“Hi Juliette,”

Laura sounded busy. A child was crying in the background. Probably one of her adorable nieces or nephews that she looked after from time to time.

“Do you want me to call you back at a better time?”

“Don’t you dare. I’m married. I need to get my kicks vicariously through you. How did it go? Did you find out why he doesn’t want sex? Is it because of a weird reason?”

“I took off all my clothes and threw myself at him.”

She heard the sound of the phone being dropped onto a hard surface at the other end, followed by cries of ‘shit!’

Laura finally managed to pick up the phone again. “You did what? Are you serious?”

Juliette sighed. Maybe telling her best friend wasn’t such a good idea after all. It was too late now though.

“He wrapped a towel round me and told me to get dressed.”

“Urgh. That’s awful. I’m sorry. Mind you what did you expect? You knew he didn’t want sex. I thought you didn’t either.”

“I didn’t...”

“but now you do?” added Laura, finishing her sentence for her.

“It’s not what you think.” Juliette told her about the mix up with the dating agency and how Richard’s friend had matched them up as some kind of joke.”

“Are you telling me that he wants to sleep with you and you want to sleep with him?” asked Laura, correctly summing it up.

“I guess so.” It sounded so simple when it was put like that. If only it was that simple.

“Well hallelujah! Go get him. Have fun, bump uglies!”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“I’m going to tell you something now which is going to help you out. Jake was an asshole. I’ve never slept with the dude, but I slept with plenty like him in my days in college. I’m willing to bet, he just jumped right in there, not caring whether you were ready. Men like him only care about their own satisfaction. They don’t have a clue how to please woman. Am I right?”

Juliette thought back to all the messy attempts she’d had to have sex in college. Jake basically took all his clothes off and tried ramming his cock into her without so much as a please or thank you. “I guess so.”

“Well no wonder you couldn’t do it. You clammed up. It happens. If what you’ve told me about Richard is true, I’m willing to bet things will be a whole lot different.”

“You think?” a thrill of hope ran though her. Maybe she wasn’t to blame after all for all the failed attempts at sex, no matter what Jake had said. she’d not realised it until now, but a lot of her insecurities in life had stemmed from that man.

“Sure. Even if you can’t, what do you have to lose by trying?”

“But he covered me up with a towel last night. I took off all my clothes. I don’t know what to do to make him want me again.”

“Were you standing there all sexy or were you quaking in your boots?”

“I was pretty nervous.”

“Do me a favour. Go and watch Grease! Look, I gotta go, but call me back after your next date. I wanna find out about all the juicy details.”

Juliette hung up the phone, deep in thought. It was then that she realised that they hadn’t made arrangements for the next date.

Half an hour later, she pulled into the small library parking lot. Running her hands through her hair in lieu of a comb, she climbed the steps and unlocked the door. It was a tiny library with only her and an assistant Jean who would be in, in the afternoon. She shelved the few books that were still waiting to be organised and logged into her computer. She loved it here. It was her favourite place, surrounded by books. She loved the smell of them, the feel of them and the texture of the paper as she carefully flicked through. As the library was so small, she often had time to pick up a book and read it, and this is what she did now, picking up a half read book from the day before and opening it to where she had left off.

The morning passed slowly with only a handful of people coming to do research or take out books for some light reading. Juliette loved the place, but she knew if more people didn’t venture through the doors, eventually they’d have to close for good. The thought of it made her feel gloomy, so she sat for an hour pondering some events and activities to drive traffic to the library. She was just designing some posters for a childrens’ event she had come up with when Jean walked through the door.

“Afternoon Jean.”

“What’s going on with you? You look rosy cheeked. Got yourself a young man?”

Jean might be pushing eighty, but she knew everything. There was no point denying it. If Juliette tried, Jean would only purse her lips and give her the look the Juliette thought of as the death stare where she was sure she could read her mind.

“Might do!” Juliette grinned. Ok, it was the truth without giving too much away.

“I’ll put the kettle on. It’s a good job I brought the cupcakes for us to gossip over. I almost didn’t bother.”

Juliette laughed. Jean loved her gossip and as there was precious little with either of their real lives, she’d tell Juliette about all the young stars in Hollywood and who was doing what with whom. She had also had more cosmetic surgery than most of them and now her face was so tight, you could bounce coins off it.

Jean had just brought the cupcakes out when the little bell above the door rang again. Juliette looked up, expecting to see a student or a busy mom with kids and so was surprised to see a huge bunch of flowers walking her way.

“It looks like the gossip just walked in!” grinned Jean, dropping the cupcakes abruptly on the counter and spilling the coffee.

She ran to the man with the flowers and took the bunch from his hands. A surprised looking Richard appeared from behind the bunch.

“Thank you young man. I know last night was a dream, but it’s best not to bring flowers in here in case someone gossips.”

He began to colour at the cheeks before Juliette said “She means last night with her,” and laughed.

“Ohh so you did get up to some hanky panky then?”

Juliette had never seen Jean grin so hard. If she smiled any wider she was in danger of her jaw dropping off.

“Jean, this is Richard, Richard this is Jean.” She took the flowers from Jean and found vase to put them in, in the back room. She filled it with water and when she came back, she found Jean wide eyed as Richard was telling her a made up story about a marathon bondage session they’d enjoyed the previous night.

Juliette arched her brow. Never once had she seen Jean speechless.

“He’s teasing you Jean. We did no such thing!”

Jean looked disappointed.

“Actually, I’ve come to see if she’d like to come away with me for a few days to my cabin.”

“Of course she would!” Jean answered for her. “Can I come too? I was quite a swinger in the good old days.”

“I’m afraid it’s a cabin for two, but next time, I’ll be sure to think of you.” He winked.

“I can’t leave now.” Juliette laughed and shook her head.

“Yes you can,” replied Jean “Get along with you because if you don’t, I will. I’m still pretty flexible you know. Just because I’m a little over my prime doesn’t mean I can’t bend.”

“I can’t leave you alone. The Library!”

“You’ve not had a day off in all the time I’ve worked here. It’s about time you did. Just don’t you dare come back without any juicy gossip!”

“So,” said Richard. “Are you coming?”

“Yes she is! I’ll lock up tonight. Have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Jean practically ushered the pair of them out of the door.

“What exactly does that leave?” laughed Richard as he opened the door of his car for her.”

“Not a lot I imagine.”

“She’s quite a character!

“She sure is!” Juliette slipped into the seat of the car, unsure what to do next. This was such a surprise that she wasn’t sure how to react.

“I don’t have any clothes with me.”

“That’s ok. We can swing by your apartment and get some. If you change your mind, I can leave you there and you get a few days off. I hope you won’t though.”

“Isn’t this all a bit soon? I mean with our predicament and everything. Don’t you think staying in a cabin together is...” She couldn’t even finish the sentence.

“I didn’t tell Jean this, but the cabin has two bedrooms. I thought if I mentioned it, she might try and sneak away with us. There is no pressure. You have one room and I’ll take the other. We can just get to know each other. Have fun on the beach.”

“It sounds lovely. Where is it?”

“It’s a couple of hour’s drive up the coast, now are you in or out?”

She weighed up the options. Three days on her own in her apartment or three days with him. Yes, she was nervous but the thrill of excitement running through her trumped any nerves she had.

“I’m in. Let’s go.”

The journey up the coast after collecting some clothes was beautiful. The wind in her hair, the sun on her face and the most gorgeous man she had ever met by her side. What was not to like? They passed Tandy’s restaurant and carried on, driving for a couple of hours through Santa Barbara and up the 101 highway. When Richard pulled left into a driveway, Juliette thought he’d got the wrong address. In front of her was a beautiful white beach house with access to its own private beach.

“This is your cabin?” she asked incredulously.

“I built it myself. Well, I designed it and my team of builders built it, but yes, this is my cabin.” He took her hand as he led her to the front door.

Bougainvillea climbed the walls, full of beautiful pink blooms which gave off a delightful scent.

The door opened into an open plan living space with the whole wall on the ocean side made of glass. The view was stunning. A deck ran out along the front with a hot tub.

“This is amazing.”

“Thank you.”

He took her by surprise and kissed her. His tongue found hers and she kissed back, bitten by the same urgency, and yet there was a hesitancy with him. He pulled back way before she was ready for him to.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She smiled but she felt sad at how he felt the need to apologise for a wonderful kiss.

Was the whole three days going to be like this? A kiss followed by an apology? It was her fault and she knew it. She had to do something about it. Laura’s words came back to her. ‘Have you watched Grease?’ She meant that Juliette was Sandy to Richard’s Danny Zucco. Would she have to dress in skin tight black pants and take up smoking to get his attention?

“Come with me.”

He led her through one of the doors to a room at the ocean side. It had a huge bed and windows filling one wall. She could see the ocean and sky, blue against blue. It was beautiful.

“This is your room. The ensuite is through there and I’ll be next door.”

“This is wonderful. Thank you for inviting me.”

“Thank you for coming. Do you want to go for a swim?”

She gazed out towards the ocean. She’d always loved the sea. “Absolutely!”

When he left her to get changed into her bathing suit, she stripped naked and looked at herself in the full length mirror. Seeing herself naked was not something she was accustomed to, but she needed to feel more comfortable in her own skin. She was amazed at how beautiful she actually was. It was not something she’d really thought about before.

A sense of empowerment came over her as she ran her hand over her breast and her stomach lightly before lingering over the hair between her legs, below which were secrets that had never been explored. Since Jake, she’d never even masturbated. She lightly parted the hair to find her secret button and pressed on it lightly, rubbing it from side to side. A feeling she had never experienced before began to swell inside her. She bit her lip and the feeling grew.

Knock knock

“You ready?”

Richard called from the other side of the door. She dropped her hands immediately and could feel the heat flame her cheeks. Grabbing her swim suit, she hurriedly put it on.

“Just a minute.”

She walked out, trying to look as normal as possible, worried that he somehow knew what she had been doing. If only he knew what feelings he was awakening in her.

He took her hand and led her down to the beach. The sun was beginning to dip in the sky but the water was still warm.

She jumped in, pulling Richard with her.