She named the puppy Tickles.
“Why did you name her that?” I asked one day as she held her.
“Well, I didn’t know what to name her. Everybody tends to name them Blue, but I couldn’t do it. Since the last part of bluetick of tick is tick, I named her Tickles. Isn’t that a cute name, baby?”
She was rubbing her belly and cooing to her at the end.
“You’re going to make a great mother.”
It slipped out of my mouth before I thought.
She froze up. Sadness came over her face.
“I hope I will, if I ever get the chance.”
We were thirty two by then, and her window was closing fast. There was no future for us together. She knew it, I knew it, it was what it was.
She was a great lover, better than any I had ever been with. Our lovemaking was intense. But while we felt for each other, neither of us were making plans.
She stayed with me for eight months. I got her a job with my company. It didn’t pay nearly what she was used to making, but it gave her something to do. She quickly made friends, and started having an occasional girls night out.
She came home one night from a night out and practically raped me. She did the same thing the next morning. When we were done she sat up in bed and a tear trickled down her cheek.
“What’s wrong, babe?”
“I’m going to start sleeping on the couch for awhile Sammy. This was our last time together. I’ve met someone, a guy from the bar we girls go to. He’d been there a few times but never made advances. Carole knew him and dragged him over so we’d have someone to dance with.”
“I kissed him last night at the end of a dance. It was electric! It made me realize it was time to move on. My past aside, I can’t still sleep with you and think about pursuing someone else. Please say you understand.”
I looked at her magnificent body, in appreciation and sadness, before I pulled her to me.
“It’s time. We both knew it would happen eventually. I hope this guy is good for you. Just be careful.”
……………………
Two more cliches I don’t care for.
“They lived happily ever after.”
“Time heals all wounds.”
Three years had gone by, and I still missed Jenny. She had remarried, had two kids. I hope they make it.
Sarah married the guy from the bar. He seemed like a nice man. She told him about her past when they started getting serious. It melted her heart when he confessed he had only been with two women before her, and he looked forward to what she could teach him. She told me she planned on giving him lessons for the rest of their lives. She had their first son at thirty five, the second at thirty seven.
I lived every day with regret. I should have forgiven her. If I hadn’t shot her we would probably be still be together.
The memory of that made it hard to start a relationship with some one. I was afraid of my temper. It had only surfaced once since then, when I caught a man at the trials beating one of his dogs savagely. I had him down on the ground and was kicking him before they pulled me off.
“Now you know what it feels like, asshole!”
The man never beat a dog at one of the events again, but I could look in his cruel little eyes and knew he did it in private. I always thought that was one of the reasons he never won an event.
I dated, had sex once in a while, but could never get close.
…………………….
My favorite cliche of all time.
“Love conquers all”
I joined the local gym. I worked out, but went mostly for the yoga and the tai chi. It helped me focus and keep myself centered. I actually spent most of a year in therapy. It helped. I learned to control my temper and not be so judgmental. I won’t say it was easy. I still occasionally have to step back.
They say love comes to you when you least expect it. I know, another cliche.
She was new to yoga, and ended up in the wrong class. She was in the intermediate class, instead of the beginner. She was having trouble keeping up, got tangled, and ended up falling all over me.
It embarrassed her no end. I helped her up, and she fled the class. The next day she was standing in the lobby, looking uncertain. She saw me and blushed. I smiled at her.
“It gets easier, you know. Don’t give up.”
It broke the ice. We chatted before class, and she was waiting for me at the end.
She fumbled around before she came out with it.
“Would you like to go for coffee?”
The statement was delivered while she went through various shades of red.
It took three dates to get her to stop blushing, two more before I got a kiss. It was worth the wait.
She saw my face when we exchanged names. Jenny Cooper.
“What?”
“My ex was named Jenny.”
“Oh.”
By the seventh date I realized this may be the one.
She had a little boy, three years old. Her husband had gotten a better offer and left her. She had no idea where he was.
The child was her life, and our dates revolved around her ability to get babysitters. After the third time she had to cancel I showed up at her door.
“Get dressed. Get your son dressed. We’re going out to dinner. If we continue I’m going to have to meet him eventually.”
Emotions chased each other across her face until she smiled.
“Come in, I won’t be long. How should I dress?”
“We’re just going for a casual dinner. Jeans will be fine.”
So I sat in her living room, listening intently while her son tried to explain something about the game he was playing on his toy computer. We were fast friends by the time she came out.
Jeans, sneakers, simple sleeveless top. No makeup, hair pulled back into a ponytail. She looked great. Five foot four, just over a hundred pounds, small breasts, great ass. Red hair that shone in the sun like burnished copper. She was twenty seven.
She picked the restaurant. A small mom and pop diner, and everybody knew her name. Jason pushed fries around his plate while we talked. We ended up at the movies, watching a Pixar movie that Jason didn’t understand but enjoyed immensely. I had a great time.
He was out like a light when I took them home. She invited me in while she put him to bed. We sat on the couch talking for about ten minutes as our lips got closer and closer, until they finally connected. It wasn’t electric. It was more like falling into something wonderful, that surrounded you with warmth and love. Something you knew you didn’t want to stop.
We didn’t make love that night. We did get familiar with each others’ body.
Three dates later she surprised me by wanting to see my cabin. She was charmed with it. We sat on the porch for a few minutes, before she got up to use the bathroom. She came back out and told he to close my eyes and hold out my hand.
I did, and felt something warm and soft in my hands.
“You can open your eyes now.”
It was her panties, pale blue boyshorts.
I looked up in confusion.
“Wanna see if the bra matches?”
She giggled as she ran up the steps to the bedroom.