Slightly risque . . .
Annie remained in Derek’s car while he went into the motel office to register. It was extremely cold for late November, with temperatures hovering around 20 degrees, and it was murky dark at this hour of 6:30 PM. Although the car was warm inside, Annie was shivering and she kept looking anxiously for Derek to return with the key. It had come to this, finally. Months of subtle, then no-so-subtle flirting; more and more lunch hours spent together; that sweetly exciting kiss on her birthday last week were culminating this evening in the quickly made decision to come to this motel. Derek had called his wife to say he had to work late. Annie had called Robert to tell him she would be spending the evening with Caitlyn, home from graduate school for the Thanksgiving holiday. Then, to further protect herself, she had called Caitlyn and explained what she was going to do, hoping that Caitlyn was a good enough friend to cover for her if necessary.
“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Caitlyn had asked.
“I’m just afraid that if I don’t I will always regret it,” Annie had responded. “I’m attracted to Derek in a way I’ve never been with Robert.”
“OK. If I need to I’ll say you’re with me.”
Annie had hung up the phone, her hands shaking and her stomach doing flip-flops. She and Derek had left work separately and met at his car in the parking garage. He had headed to a motel, a little too close to his own neighborhood for Annie’s comfort. After all, he was going to need to take her back to her car later.
Now, as she waited, Annie took in details of the car’s interior, her eyes settling, ironically, on a small dashboard crucifix. “I can’t think that this is wrong,” she whispered. Derek opened the door then and slipped inside. “We’re around back,” he said, and put the car in gear. He looked at Annie, searching her face. She gave him a nervous smile.
Once in the room they sat on the queen-sized bed. Derek caressed her hair, then pulled her toward him and softly kissed her on the lips.
“I’m really nervous,” Annie murmured against his mouth.
“Here, let me massage your back.”
Annie slowly pulled her sweater over her head, leaving her bra in place and turned her back towards Derek. His hands began kneading the muscles in her shoulders and upper back, then he began stroking and pressing along her spine, unhooking the bra clasps as he went lower. She slid the straps off her arms and relaxed into him as his hands cupped her full breasts. He began kissing her neck. “Ah, lovely,” he said as he encountered her erect nipples. Annie moaned and went with the pleasure.
~
Derek’s final thrust was met by Annie’s repeated, “Oh, my god; Oh, my god; Oh, my GOD!” He held himself on his forearms above her, then rolled off. She shifted to her side, facing him, and reached over to touch his face. “That was something,” he said. “You’re something.” Annie pressed herself against him, not wanting to think of having to leave this room, and him, in just a short while. She wanted to pull the covers over both of them and sleep into the night.
“We need to get going, lover.” Derek swung his legs to the side, and began reaching for his clothes. “I need to be home by 8:00.” Annie reluctantly found her clothes in the various spots she had tossed them.
“I, umm, really loved being with you, she answered.
Derek kissed her lightly. “Let’s go,” he said.
Outside the temperature was even more frigid and the wind had picked up. “Feels more like January than Thanksgiving,” Derek stated as they walked to the car. Annie’s teeth were chattering and she had her head down. She didn’t see the border of bricks that ran along what passed for a garden in summer, and tripped. She fell into the mud left from recent rains, not yet frozen solid by the cold. Her light gray pants were torn at the knee and were stained by the mud.
“Damn,” she exclaimed as Derek helped her up. “You OK?” he asked.
Annie shook her head, fighting back tears. “Yeah,” she answered, “but the pants are ruined.”
“You probably can’t fix them,” Derek said.
“No, they’d never really be the same.”
On the ride back to her car, they were both quiet. Annie wondered what he was thinking, how he felt, but didn’t want to ask. At one point Derek took her hand and held it up, touching her wedding ring with his thumb. She glanced at him, but couldn’t read his expression. Derek stopped the car as they pulled up to the parking garage.
“Have a good Thanksgiving,” he said and leaned over to brush her lips quickly with his.
“You too.” Annie hesitated, then opened the car door and got out. Derek waved and put the car in motion. Annie watched him leave until the car was out of sight, the cold wind blowing her hair. She surveyed the damage to her clothes, regretting that these were her favorite pants and wondering how she was going to explain her dishevelment to Robert.
“I’ll never really be the same again, either,” Annie thought as the climbed the garage stairs to her car.