Tales from an Unknown Corner

CHAPTER – 20: Pillow Talk

The ringing of the telephone woke us. Since the telephone was on the nightstand on my side, I had to roll away from Sarah to grab it. Sarah was still groggy, so I decided to answer the phone.

“Hello,” I said.

“Mitch? Are you guys awake?” Kathy asked, her voice soft, but a bit breathless.

“Good morning, Kathy. Yeah, we were getting up.”

“It’s afternoon, Mitch. Can I... ugh... talk to Sarah?”

“Yep. Just a sec.”

Turning around I found Sarah resting on her back, rubbing her sleepy eyes. I gave her the phone. “It’s Kathy.”

“Morning, Kathy. What’s up?”

“Oh! I didn’t realize it. No, we won’t be late.”

I was listening to Sarah’s side of the conversation with half an ear, while I stretched and tried to get rid of the cobwebs of sleep. When I looked up, I found Sarah listening intently with a small smile on her lips.

“No, he survived, but I could hardly say the same for myself,” she replied with a smile.

Listening for a few seconds, she laughed. Then she said, “Oh, the usual. You know, the Sarah Special. He enjoyed the read, and I think he can do a second read.”

She listened for a few seconds intensely, her face coloring up. “You, bitch! I can hear it from here. I hope he turns it inside out.”

From the nature of the comments I understood Kathy was teasing Sarah, and remembering Kathy had sounded a bit breathless when she talked to me, it dawned on me that Mark was working on her while she was on the phone.

For fuck’s sake. These two don’t know when to stop.

I saw Sarah’s nipples hardening in arousal, as she listened to Kathy. Since they seemed to be working each other up, I decided to take the bull by the horns, and do something about it. Moving between Sarah’s legs, I gently spread them, and started to kiss the insides of her thighs, getting an appreciative moan.

“Nope. He’s getting ready for an oral exam,” Sarah said.

Damn girls! Well, you asked for it Sarah.

With that, I moved to her pussy, and started to lick her slit, teasing her labia, and working towards the inner lips. Dipping my tongue into her channel, I tasted her juices. Sarah was starting to pant and gasp, while trying to keep a conversation with Kathy. Her clit was starting to peek from the hood. Once again, I was amazed how easily she got aroused.

“Yeah... Mmmm... Yessss... aah... I... think so... I need to... aaghh...”

Sarah’s broken speech was cut off with a laugh and she was having difficulty to catch her breath, so I took a pause to let her collect herself.

“I don’t need to get out of the bed. I need to come. You should get out of the bed,” she retorted with a snicker.

“Yeah? I’m not a slut, you’re the slut. I’m a hot cunt,” she said, hotly, but it was obvious they were goading each other.

“Good! At least you’ll give your vibrators a break,” she came back.

Laughing again at Kathy’s remarks, she replied, “I don’t think so; he tenderized it nicely. I hope you can’t sit on your bum for a week. You deserve it.”

She listened for a while without a reply, but she was breathing hard. I wondered what was happening. It didn’t look like she was listening to something Kathy said. Then, Sarah said, “You’re a bitch, Kathy. I hope he rubs your little button raw.”

I realized Kathy had let Sarah listen to their activities. I decided I needed to do something before things got out of hand, so I returned to licking her slit, getting a long moan.

“No, he’s quite good, thank... aggh... you very... ohhh... much. If you’ll... aggh... excuse me... aghh... we have an or... aghh... al exam to attend to,” Sarah said, between pants and gasps.

“You too. Byeiieee...” she managed, before she gave a soft scream, when I hit her clit. She dropped the telephone on the bed, and gave herself to the feelings, as I stirred her pussy with my tongue. Before I could continue further, she grabbed me behind my ears, and stopped me, before pulling me for a kiss.

After the kiss, she said, “I want to make love one last time, Mitch. There’s a special soap in the medicine cabinet, in a green plastic bottle. We use it against infections and bacteria in the hospital, and it’s harmless to the skin. Can you wash up with that?”

I knew she could get something nasty, if I went in her pussy after being in her ass. I didn’t have anything visible on my cock from being in her ass, but I knew there was flora in there that could cause serious infection.

In the bathroom, I found the liquid soap she mentioned, and washed myself thoroughly, making sure I was clean. I didn’t want her to catch something. I returned to the bedroom to find her sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for me. Pulling me close, she started to lick and suck my cock, without even inspecting it to see if I had done a proper job. I was touched by her trust in me, so stopping her, I kneeled down and kissed her hard, while teasing her tits. She had always been a beautiful person, a lovely girl and she had turned into an even lovelier woman. I wondered why I felt so much lust for her, and love, but why my feelings for her were so different than what I felt for Dana. There were similarities between the two, but differences as well. They were both woman, all woman, passionate, and with an appetite, although Sarah seemed to have a more ravenous appetite than Dana. I wasn’t sure if that was because of her long-time fantasies or if she had always been like that. The way she kissed was different, too. Passionate, lusty, but it wasn’t like Dana’s soul kisses. I wondered at that particular difference. Cupping her chin gently, I broke the kiss. Then I tried to give her a soul kiss like I had learned from Dana. At first, she went with it, passionately, before she stopped responding, and broke the kiss.

Giving me an apprehensive but soft look, she said, “Thank you, Mitch. I love you and I appreciate it, but please don’t. I’m not ready for something like that. I’m going to miss you, and that would make it much more difficult.”

So she understood.

“You’re a lovely woman, Sarah. And a good friend. I just couldn’t help myself.”

“Such a romantic... You don’t need to do that to make me feel loved. We’re good friends, and I love you. I enjoyed what we did, and the way we did it. And that made me, makes me, happy. I told you before, I’m not looking for anything more. I’d like to keep it like that. If you can somehow manage, I’d like to see you in my bed again. I know it might not be possible. Thank you for what you’ve given me, Mitch.”

Kissing her, I said, “I should thank you, Sarah, for all you’ve shared. I don’t know what will happen, but I’ll try to keep in touch. And I know I’ll miss you... very much.”

“Let’s make love and pleasure each other again.”

With that, she reached for my cock, and I stood up. She worked her mouth on my cock. It took quite a bit of time for me to regain my erection, as I had come so strongly the last two times, but Sarah didn’t complain, even when I thought she would be getting tired. She seemed to enjoy what she was doing, perhaps because she thought she might not get a chance like that again, and was making the most of it. When I was hard and ready she moved up along the bed and positioned herself on her back, with her knees pulled up, legs spread wide. I moved in between her legs, and hooked my arms under her legs, pushing her knees further up, positioning her for a deep penetration, while supporting myself on my arms. She reached and guided me into her pussy, and I worked myself all the way into her, slowly, in a single stroke. Hunching her ass at me, she urged me to bend her in half, opening herself up more for my strokes, so I followed her lead. While I kept up a slow but steady pace, her hands were busy at her junction, playing with her pussy lips and teasing my balls, running her finger from the bottom of my balls up along the perineum. She was being careful not to stimulate me too much, trying to make it last.

I wasn’t sure how long we kept it up, but after a while it became difficult to keep our pace slow. Sarah was straining hard, and I could feel she was trying to hold back her orgasm, staying on the brink, teasing herself and me. I was surprised how she managed to hold on so long, after coming so fast before. I suspected she wanted a memorable last fuck. When I felt the cum boil in my balls, and my cock started to throb with urgency, Sarah realized I was almost there, so she whispered, “Give me a few hard strokes and when you’re almost there, stay deep inside me.”

I did as she suggested. I gave her a few experimental hard strokes, trying to keep myself from blowing my load. Sarah urged me to be more forceful, so I pulled out all the stops. I stroked in her very hard, and stayed in her, waiting for a few second, before following it with another brutal stroke, while pressing my pubic bone, trying to stimulate her clitoris. I didn’t want to blow my load before she came. As I repeated my actions, she yelped, and I felt her pussy tighten around my shaft. Two more such strokes, and I had to stop, because I was ready to blow. Sarah’s hands were busy teasing her pussy lips, and my shaft, and with a soft moan, she started to come, her pussy beginning its involuntary flutters. My balls, and her fingers were soaked with her juices. As she was coming, she started to tease my balls with her fingernails, scratching them gently, and my nuts tightened up with the stimulation, itching and boiling at the same time, getting ready to pump. I felt her finger trace a line from my balls up along the perineum.

The flutters of her pussy were demanding, trying to suck the cum, and the tip of my cock expanded with new blood. As I gave in to the demands of her pussy, I felt her slick finger move further up. Before I realized what she was up to, her finger penetrated my ass, and wiggled in. As she pressed a spot, I screamed, and felt my balls jump, releasing the built up pressure with a fury. Sarah worked her finger at my backside, forcing me to give everything I had left in my balls, making me grunt and scream with the pleasure. It was too intense, and my cum felt like molten metal, as it traveled along the length of my shaft and burst out. It felt like my whole cock was burning up. Later, I realized, Sarah had been working on my prostate, but at the time, it felt like her pussy was sucking my cock, eating it alive, while the finger in my ass was forcing me to pump acid from my balls all the way to the tip of my cock.

For almost half a minute I was flopping between her legs like a trapped fish, running out of breath, while her finger tortured me exquisitely and her pussy ate me. It felt like hours. When the feeling started to subside, Sarah eased her attentions, but still massaged me inside, trying to draw out my pleasure, and get the last bit of my seed. Gently she pulled her finger out, making me grunt, before she cupped my balls, rolling my nuts gently. When I opened my eyes, it took me several seconds to focus on her face. Her face was blurry, from the tears in my eyes, as I had been squeezing them hard in the grip of the almost painful pleasure. Gently she wiped my tears with her fingers, and I found her watching me with an amused smile. This last session had been almost like the time with Dana, when she had drained me with her pussy and sucked my breath out with her soul kiss.

As I got my senses back, her pussy was going through its last tremors, and Sarah kept watching me, her smile broken with soft gasps whenever my cock twitched weakly inside her channel, responding to her fingers working my balls. Finally, she stopped her ministrations and moved her hands to my neck, pulling me in for a kiss. After we surfaced to catch our breath, I mumbled, “I won’t be able to have any children,” making her laugh.

Kissing me softly, she said, “I told you I know a lot about male anatomy.”

I was still too out of breath to reply, and with a more serious tone, she asked, “Was it too intense?”

I nodded.

“I thought so. When you came, your come felt very hot, almost burning my insides. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

I shook my head.

“Put your weight on my legs, and rest.”

I couldn’t argue, my arms were shaking, so I slipped my hands under her shoulders, while I put my weight on her body and legs. It must have been uncomfortable for her, bent in half, but she wrapped her arms around my back and embraced me, both of us enjoying the feeling. A few minutes later, I released her legs and slid my hands under her again, embracing her and pressing my chest against her tits, my head resting beside her head. I kissed her on her neck, licking behind her ear, and then nipped her ear lobe. She had given me so much pleasure, I wanted to love her to pieces, even though I was exhausted from the ordeal. When I released her legs, she wrapped her legs around my waist, locking her feet on my lower back, and ran her hands on my back, wriggling her body beneath mine, rubbing her tits to my chest, and cooing softly.

Raising up, I locked my lips to hers. Even though she had told me not to, I gave her a soul kiss. I wanted to thank her for what she shared with me and wanted to let her know how I felt about her. This time she didn’t resist, and responded in kind. For a moment I felt guilty, because I didn’t feel about her the same way I did about Dana, and it wasn’t fair to her. But, I didn’t know any other way to let her know I loved her as a friend, as a lover. I just hoped, it wouldn’t come back to haunt me later. We finished our kiss and continued with a lot of tongue action, licking, sucking and nipping each other’s lips and tongue. I took a look at her, to see her reaction, and found her returning my gaze with a soft smile. Her eyes had the strange hue, but they were lethargic. She seemed to be completely satiated.

As I was searching her face, she said, “Thank you, Mitch. I loved the kiss. Somehow it felt right.” Then with a gentle smile she added, “But, let’s not make a habit of it, OK?”

I nodded. We both knew the spirit in which it was given and returned. We were enjoying the aftermath too much, and I felt so drained I didn’t want to move. “Are we going to be late?” I asked.

With a laugh, Sarah said, “A little bit, but if I know Kathy, she’ll be expecting that. She’ll be running late as well.”

“I gathered as much. Do you call each other like that regularly?” I asked.

“Sometimes. I do it to her more frequently, especially when Mark is visiting her.”

“Mark doesn’t mind?”

“Would any man mind, when he has a hot woman in his hands? Did you mind?” She retorted with a snort, making me laugh.

“Lately, I haven’t had a partner; one that I felt comfortable with. That’s why Kathy did what she did, now. If I hadn’t been so preoccupied and exhausted, I would have been the one calling her,” she added, her eyes filled with mirth.

While we were conversing, I was lost in her eyes, how her gray eyes changed color as the green-blue motes caught the light. From a distance the only thing I could notice was the slight hue change, but up close it was easy to see how they speckled. My mind was busy trying to sort my feelings, trying to find an answer to why I still felt like loving her to pieces. Was it lust? Was it hunger?

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

I wasn’t expecting her question, and replied, without thinking, “I want to love you to pieces.”

She gave a small laugh and replied, “But you already did. You want more?”

Yeah, I wanted more, even though I wasn’t physically able to do so. I just knew how I felt, but I didn’t know why. I was embarrassed to answer her question, because I didn’t want to make her feel like a piece of meat. She wasn’t that. She was more than that. Suddenly I felt like a 15 year old kid, lost, confused, looking for the correct way to answer her question.

“Mitch? Something the matter?” she asked, concerned.

“Nothing. It’s just... To tell the truth, yes. I want more. I don’t know why, but I feel like making love to you more and more. Even though I can’t get hard—”

“Good!” she cut me off. “I want you to want me like that. Nothing wrong with that.”

“You know you’re not just a woman to go to bed with. You’re more than that. I don’t understand why I want more of you, and I feel uncomfortable wanting you like that,” I replied.

“I understand, Mitch. Maybe you’re feeling guilty because you want me, but don’t want to get attached to me, and then there’s your girl friend. But as I said, nothing wrong with wanting me like that. I know I worked you hard, because I lusted for you. Of course, it’s another matter for your relationship, but don’t be concerned about me. Maybe your pent up lust is catching up with you, after all, like it did with me?” she quipped, making me smile.

Yep, she did have a point. Perhaps, my lust for her finally caught up with me, especially after what we had done, and how she worked me to a fever pitch the last few times. I wanted to repeat that experience. I realized I was thinking with my little head, even though it was dead to the world for all practical purposes.

“I don’t need to remind you, you’re welcome anytime. I would love a repeat. I enjoyed myself very much. You know that.”

I kissed her, exploring her mouth. “You’re a lovely woman, Sarah. Talented, warm, kind, generous, beautiful... simply lovely.”

“And you’re a caring, loving friend, Mitch. And a good lover.”

I replied by gathering her in my arms, giving her a hard squeeze, and she responded in kind pressing with her feet on my ass and tightening her arms around my back, and we shared a hard, passionate kiss, filled with lust, and... love. Yes, there was love, different from what I had with Dana, but nonetheless, it was there. Our perfect embrace was interrupted with a soft, disappointed gasp from Sarah, when my cock slipped out from her pussy without any ceremony.

“Damn,” she quipped.

“Double damn,” I agreed.

We broke into laughter at the incongruity of the situation. Gathering her in my arms, I sat on my heels, and let her sit on my thighs. I couldn’t keep my hands off her body. Holding her under her arms, I pushed her away from me, and started to work on her tits, licking around her areola. I sucked her puffy nipples one after the other, before moving up to her chest, then to her neck to finally end at her lips with a kiss.

With a smile, Sarah warned me. “If you keep that up, I’m going to want another round, but I’m afraid neither of us are in any condition to survive it.”

She must have been satiated, because her breathing was normal, and she wasn’t showing any signs of arousal. With her feet locked around my lower back, she pulled herself to my chest and we held each other, enjoying he feel of each other’s body. We stayed like that for a long time, reluctant to part. Perhaps, knowing we might not get another chance, we were trying to burn the moments into our memories. I knew I was memorizing her; how she felt, how she smelled, how she moved under me, how she kissed, how she touched, and I suspected she was doing the same.

With a resigned sigh, she released me from her embrace, and said, “If we dawdle more, we’ll be late, and Kathy will kill us.”

“You said she would need time.”

“Yeah, she would, but we still have to drive, and we might get caught up in traffic. You know your sister. I don’t want to give her more ammunition to tease us.”

“She wouldn’t dare.”

“Like last night, in the kitchen?” she reminded with a smile.

“Shit. She would, wouldn’t she? I should have put her on my knees a long time ago and taught her some respect.”

“Yeah, you should have,” she agreed. Then with a teasing smile, added, “As if that would have helped.”

We went to the bathroom and shared a shower, washing each other. I was careful when I was washing her backside, as it was tender. When I asked, she replied it would feel a bit sore later, but she didn’t mind it, because it had felt so good. Then she said, “It will remind me I was loved to pieces.”

She paid special attention when washing my cock, and then gave a couple of licks and sucks to see if there was any soap left. Even though we were running late, I pinned her to the shower wall, and ate her to a mild orgasm, wanting to taste her again, and to see her come. When we were finished, she was quiet, tired from all the orgasms, and a bit emotional. I was feeling emotional as well, already starting to miss her, not only the sex, which had been amazing, but her as a person, as a lover, as a woman. While drying each other with big towels, we found ourselves in an embrace, sharing another soul kiss, letting each other know how we felt. Yes, there was love, and a certain attachment, besides all the physical attraction and lust.

Finally, we dressed in a hurry and hit the traffic. Last night, Mark had taken Kathy to her place in his car, leaving my car at Sarah’s. Sarah suggested going in my car, instead of two cars. She mentioned the four of us might go out for dinner someplace tonight, and later drop her at her house. If we didn’t go out, Mark or I could bring her back to her place. I suggested, she might stay over at Kathy’s place for the night, and with a laugh, she replied, we might get thrown out by the neighbors. I was already thinking about how much I would miss her, and hadn’t thought about Mark and Kathy going at it. I suggested I would drop her off at her place. With a smile, she quipped she would read me a bedtime story. We both knew what the title of the story would be.

To evade most of the traffic, Sarah directed us to a rarely used road. Although it was a single lane road and empty, I was driving below the speed limits.

“Come on, Mitch, floor it! You drive like my grandma.”

I liked driving fast, but did that on the roads I knew that were empty and when I was driving alone. I didn’t like putting other people at risk, be it other drivers or a passenger in my car. After all, I was responsible for the safety of my passengers.

When I didn’t pay attention, she quipped, “If you aren’t going to drive, why do you buy a sporty thing like this? You should buy a Volvo or something.”

“Sarah, I’m not familiar with this road. It’s empty, but you never know. What’s more I’m not driving alone.”

“There’s a long straight stretch coming up. I want to see what this thing can do. Can we?”

That I could do, if I could see the distance as much as she said, and she seemed to want to have a thrill ride.

“We’ll see, Sarah. Depends on the road. Better straighten your seat and check your seat belt.”

“Goody!”

I took the curve towards the top of a small cliff, and as we cleared it, I saw a very long stretch of road that was empty. I floored the gas pedal, and shifted, while checking the side of the roads for any possible animals or other things that might cause a problem. By the time I was downhill a hundred yards or so, I was doing 90 km/hr, and was shifting to fourth. In a matter of seconds, we were speeding at 140 km/hr, and I shifted to fifth. Sarah was enjoying the ride, but I was tense, because there wasn’t much margin for error. When I hit 17o I decided enough was enough, and eased my foot off the pedal, letting the car slow down to a more comfortable 110 km/hr. As we neared the end of the stretch, I shifted down from fifth to third, the engine revs hitting the yellows, and the car decelerated down to 60 km/hr with a loud whine.

“Whoooeeeiii!” Sarah shouted, exhilarated with the short speed ride.

I suspected she did this quite frequently on this road, and I was concerned for her safety.

“Sarah, how frequently do you drive fast, here?”

“Every time I visit Kathy. Why?”

“How fast do you drive?”

“Not too fast. I regularly hit 140, 150, but once I did 210,” she replied with glee.

Jeeez! You nuts?

Sarah must have seen the look on my face, because she laughed and said, “I like a fast ride, Mitch.”

I still remembered how I had survived my big accident, caused by lack of concentration, and I wasn’t doing more than 90 at the time.

“Sarah, this is between the two of us, OK?”

Hearing my serious tone, she cooled off, and said, “Of course, Mitch.”

“Good, because nobody in the family knows this, and I’d like to keep it like that,” I said and told her about my accident. When I finished, she was pale.

“I’m not telling you this because it’s a war story, OK? I’m telling you because it happened and it happened fast. A split second lack of concentration and things went wrong. At 140 or 150, and I don’t want to think about 210, things go terribly wrong much faster, and with lethal effect. That day, I was lucky. That was a company car, and I didn’t even know its mechanical history. I know this car inside out, how it responds. I spend hours at the garage each time it’s being serviced, to make sure everything is OK. So, I know what it is capable of doing. On this road, at that empty stretch, yeah, sure; 140 or 150, you can do that, as long as you pay attention, but 210? I personally wouldn’t go over 100. And this is daylight and not winter, yet. I do hope you aren’t attempting something like this in winter or at night. Every time you take an unnecessary risk, you’re inviting disaster. This road might be empty, but it’s too narrow, not enough wiggle room. I just hit 170 and was nervous as hell. I’d rather find a two or three lane highway and hit 200 instead of doing 100 or more on this road. It’s not a question of driver’s skills; it’s a question of contingency, backup planning. You have more room on an empty stretch of two or three lane road than here. It gives you options, space, and response time to deal with an emergency. Do you get what I’m saying?”

She nodded, but I wasn’t sure if she really got it, even though she was a grown up 24 year old woman, and knew about death.

“Look, Sarah, didn’t you do a stretch at the ER?”

“In a few months, I’ll be in the ER. Why?”

“Do you visit Kathy in ER?”

“Sometimes.”

“Good. Next time, look for traffic accident victims, and their conditions. When it was happening, I was angry with myself for my stupidity. The realization that I wouldn’t get a chance to say goodbye or offer an apology for my stupidity made it even worse. It’s a stupid way to go. I can’t imagine how Kathy would react, seeing me on a slab, mangled beyond recognition, because I had been stupid. I love you. Kathy and many other people love you. Think of the people you might leave behind, if you don’t think about the consequences for yourself. Fun is fun, but as you reminded me about unprotected sex, you can take precautions and still have fun.”

With a solemn expression, she said softly, “I will, Mitch. I promise,” gripping my arm fiercely. I could see her mind was busy running over the scenario I had just given her. Perhaps the imagery I supplied using myself as an example, had been too much, but I didn’t want to take any chances. Coming right after all we had shared, I knew the impact would be stronger and stay with her. I felt like a heel to scare and shock her that way, but in the long run, I hoped it might benefit her whenever she wanted to do something reckless, without carefully planning it, or thinking about consequences. I had learned about consequences, a lot, since childhood. Slowing the car, I pulled over to the side. Unfastening my seatbelt, and hers, I gathered her in my arms. When I kissed her, I felt her trembling. I had been right. It had shocked her. Even though she had seen death as a doctor, contemplating the death of somebody close to her—a man she had had in her bed less than an hour ago—was something else.

“Sssshhh. Sarah, baby. It’s OK. I didn’t want to scare you, but I wanted to make you understand, really understand. I’m sorry, love. I’m sorry.”

She calmed down in a few minutes, and looked at me with a curious expression. “You’re being careful at that place, aren’t you?”

“Yes, of course, Sarah.”

“But working there is an unnecessary risk. Why don’t you leave?”

Shit! How the hell did you come up with that?

“It’s not the same thing, Sarah. We’re talking about being reckless and taking a calculated risk. One involves no thinking, no planning, and no thought of consequences. The other involves careful investigation of all possible sources of problems, their consequences and a plan to deal with them. When I work on the rig floor, there’s more risk of injury or death from the machinery and human error than from possible attacks on the rig. What I do for work is potentially dangerous. I have learned to be careful and take my time. The people I work with are professionals, and they take pride in what they do, and how they do it. All of us pay attention to safety. At the end of the day, I like what I do. Same as you. You like what you do.”

“It’s difficult for people who love you to see it that way. I know your parents and Kathy don’t see it that way.”

“I know, Sarah, but there’s little I can do about it. As I said, it’s what I do for a living, and I enjoy doing it. I know I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else, at least, at the moment. How would you feel if you wanted to work as a doctor, but weren’t allowed to?”

“Well, I could always try singing,” she quipped, but she was serious in her answer, implying I had other choices I could go for, and she was aware of the options.

Damn, Sarah. You too? Come on, love. Cut me some slack!

“That’s not fair, Sarah. Not everybody has other talents or skills that they can employ, or want to, choose to employ.”

Cupping my face, she kissed me, then said, “Sorry, Mitch. I was teasing.”

“No, you were not. You were being a good friend,” I countered, softly. “And I appreciate it. But, sometimes you have to let people make their own decisions, however much you love them.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right. But, I’ll be another one who will be worrying about you,” she replied.

“Please, Sarah. I don’t want to sound insensitive, uncaring, selfish or ungrateful for all the love and attention, but you don’t know how it is. The more people worry about me, the more difficult and complicated things get. I’m already up to my neck,” I said, gently, trying not to hurt her feelings.

“I understand, Mitch. It was my way of saying I love you. As I said, you’re right. When you love somebody, you want to protect them. I hope, one day, Kathy gets it too.”

“Thank you, Sarah. I love you too. Another reason for me to be very careful. I think... I think Kathy got it... almost,” I said. I thought Kathy was getting it, perhaps because of the changes in me, and the talk we had had.

Sarah’s eyes widened for a moment, and she asked, “Is she? Really?”

“I don’t know for sure, love, but that’s the impression I got.”

She plastered her lips to mine kissing me soundly, then said, “Oh, I do hope so, Mitch. She worries about you, too much.”

“I know, but I’m happy to see that she’s got a good man in her life, and her best friend around her, whenever she needs them.”

“Yeah, but your fan club is getting more members who love you,” she joked, trying to lighten the atmosphere, but as I thought about it, there was a truth to her words. Dana was a new addition to my life, and to a certain extent Sarah was becoming another one, as a friend—and perhaps as a lover.

“And I love all of them,” I replied, not able to come up with any other response that was appropriate. I loved them all, but in different ways.

Kissing her, I said, “Let’s get going, or Kathy will give us a hard time.”

Putting my seat belt on, I started the car. I speeded up a bit, not overly so in the empty stretches, doing something like 70 instead of the designated 50. As we reached a junction, she directed us through a maze of side roads, and eventually to a main road. There wasn’t much traffic, and whenever it looked like we would hit one of the trouble spots, Sarah redirected us to alternative routes. We managed to arrive a bit late, but considering everything, it wasn’t bad.

* * * * *