I’d see her at the Corner Coffee about once a week. I go there everyday for lunch. It’s conveniently close to my office, but she’s such a random element of brightness that walks in only sometimes during my afternoon hour. I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t say that the only reason I did go there every day was because I knew I could count on her to show up at least part of the time.

Max was with me today, being a good work colleague he sometimes shares his lunch hour with me rather than his new wife. He’d go on about her sometimes, which is fine and I’m happy for them both, but it simply serves to remind me just how single I really am.

Today was my lucky day though. She showed up almost right after I did, and ordered a mint chocolate coffee and a muffin. Her name’s Karen. I discerned that from her orders being called by the barista, but I knew very little else about her. She’s as tall as I am, almost exactly, which is striking for a woman to be six foot two. Her blonde hair only fell to above her shoulders, the strands framing her face with the rest pulled back to a tight bun. Her eyes were the brightest blue that only emphasized her lazy smile and casual manner. She was athletic, to be certain, and one could tell by her defined legs. Not too muscular, but smooth and toned. The rest of her gorgeous figure was never on display. She wore more conservative clothing, perhaps a sign of a businesswoman or executive. The modest clothes couldn’t do much to hide her sizable chest though. She was amazingly well-endowed and went to some lengths to hide that fact. Maybe she wanted to be recognized for her merits up the corporate chain rather than her assets?

“Thad, just go ask her out,” Max said, breaking my whole appreciation process. “You’ve not heard a damn word I said, and you just keep staring. If she notices you she’d think you’re a creeper.”

My mouth agape, I came back with a witty retort. “Nuh-uh.”

“Whatever. I seen you staring at her before, and it’s always a challenge to keep your attention when she’s here.”

“Sorry, sorry, what were you saying?” I asked. She was wearing a lovely cardigan sweater today, a deeper reddish hue, with black pants that hugged her hips to a tantalizing degree. The sweater would help keep some of this New York winter’s cold away, but not that much. She didn’t even wear any kind of jacket! She must truly defy generalities of females and not mind the cold.

Max pointed toward his laptop. “Well, the invert elevations don’t seem to match the reference points we set up the other day. I’m thinking it has to do with the building that superhero group moved into. They’ve probably got some kind of equipment throwing the readings off.”

“Is it something we can send an assistant to re-do or do we have to recalculate the whole mess?” I was half paying attention to the surveying jargon coming from Max’s direction, my head still tilted the other way.

“I’m not sure if the entire set is wrong or not, I just noticed it and haven’t checked the rest of the sites yet…” Max trailed off, focusing on his computer.

Karen got up, and started walking to the door, stopping to fix her coffee before she left. I had turned around in my seat almost completely to watch her go, my heart sinking at the prospect of her leaving.

“Seriously man, just go,” Max told me.

“What? No, I couldn’t, she’s gotta have a boyfriend or something,” I muttered.

“You don’t know that. Here, make you a deal,” Max said as he leaned in, a grin on his face. “You go ask her out right now. If you do, I’ll cover the recalculation on this grid, and I’ll cover for you the rest of the day. Half day.”

“All I have to do is ask? That’s it?”

“Just go get it out of your system,” Max told me, his tone serious. “Trust me, it’ll be better for both of us.”

“I don’t know…” I said as she strode out of the shop, making her usual left turn toward next week.

“Half. Day. Dude! Thad, it’d be an early weekend!”

I faltered, I was nervous, but Max was right. Who was I to not try? And if he’s gonna cover for me it’s all the better. But… “What do I say? I’m not the pick-up line kinda guy.”

“Just tell her you think she’s beautiful, we both know that much is true. Hurry up man, she’s getting away!”

“Okay. Okay. Okay,” I stammered. I quickly strode toward the door, made the left outside, and saw her blonde head bob down the Manhattan avenue. I chased after her, making easy time since she wasn’t in any hurry it seemed. The street was packed with people. Dodging other pedestrians was harder on a busy sidewalk, but people can tell a man in a hurry.

I didn’t call out to her until I was almost alongside her. “Miss? Excuse me, miss?” She turned my way and looked in my eyes as I got lost in hers. She smiled at me.

“Yes?” She smiled at me. It was like my knees turned to liquid, my heart rose out of my chest, and my tongue caught in my throat all at once, but I kept it together. Right.

“You forgot this,” I said holding up the paper coffee cup sleeve I’d grabbed on my way out after I noticed she didn’t take one.

“Wow, how thoughtful,” she said with a mark of disbelief, but the smile remained.

“Please, allow me,” I offered, since her other hand was holding her purse and take out bag with her muffin.

“Well thank you, kind stranger, I don’t know what I’d have done without you,” she joked as she handed me her cup.

“Well, it’s a tough job keeping the citizens safe from evil coffee cups, but someone has to do it,” I said as I handed her cup back, now well protected. “I’m Thad, by the way.”

“Karen,” she responded. “Nice to meet you Thad.”

“I, uh, just wanted to tell you that I think you’re gorgeous, Karen,” I said, the nervousness returned to my voice ever so slightly. I felt like a child, like I should be looking down, hands behind my back, twisting my foot in the sandbox, yet I couldn’t keep my eyes from hers.

Her smile vanished, her mouth opened, and her eyes rolled skyward before they closed. My heart sank a little, but I pressed on just the same. Some good had to come of this, right?

“…and I’d like to take you out sometime,” I finished. I waited and read her ever-changing expression. Her eyes came back to mine for a moment before they dropped, and she smiled smugly.

“Sure, Thad. That sounds nice,” she said, taking on an air of apathy. “I like Chinese. Meet me at Xiauyu’s on Atlantic in Brooklyn tomorrow night at seven. But for now I gotta fly.” She dashed me a smile, a real one and not a simple pleasantry, and walked away. “See you tomorrow!”

I must have looked dumbstruck, with some silly grin on my face, but I didn’t care. I jumped and pumped my fist in the air. I did it! The most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on is meeting me Saturday night for a date! I almost ran back to Corner Coffee, but I was too enthralled with the notion of tomorrow night.

I opened the door to the shop and looked Max dead in the eye. “I’m taking the rest of today off, sucker! Ha ha!”

———

I made sure I was early, and even checked to see if I could make reservations, something set off to the side so as to be as intimate as possible. I checked my wool overcoat at the door, and went to the bathroom for a pre-game solo pep talk. I checked my hair in the mirror, adjusted my tie, cuffs, and waistline. I even applied a bit more cologne so it was still noticeable. Jittery nerves don’t even begin to describe what I was feeling.

The restaurant was definitely a step up from simple American dining. Perfectly dimly lit in reddish hues, it had Chinese artwork, statues, and arrangements all over its somewhat small interior. The prices on the menu I checked out online beforehand suggested it was nicer than your average restaurant, and it did indeed impress. Even the bathroom was clean, scented, and had a small waterfall decoration built into the wall. Perhaps it was more of an aid than a decoration.

When I came out of the bathroom, there she was, looking around, waiting for me. She was radiant. Since it was winter she had another sweater on, this one a light blue, cut at the neck to the exposed right shoulder. She was still doing well to cover up her bosom, which in many ways made it even more sexy. She wore a plain white skirt that had frills at the bottom, showing her lovely calves, and blue flats. I suppose she didn’t want to appear any taller than she already was. She wore her hair well styled, combed straight down but with a flip upward at the bottom. The whole look was kind of fifties-housewife, with the exception of the somewhat suggestive cut in her sweater. It truly worked on her. Then again, I think she could pull off just about anything.

Eight o’clock on the nose. Certainly can’t fault her for punctuality.

“Karen?” I asked as I approached her. She turned to me and smiled. “I’m really glad you came.”

“You think I’d stand you up?” she said, looking confused.

“Well, I’d really hoped not, since you were incredibly specific about the where and when…”

“If I really wanted to blow you off, I could have just given you a fake phone number, that’s my usual M.O.,” she said as she glanced around looking at the art.

“I’m, uh, flattered?”

She looked back to me, a bit embarrassed. “Sorry, it’s just that it happens and there’s a lot of creeps out there,” she said. “But you seemed nice!” She shrugged with an apologetic smile.

“I suppose that’s points for me, I guess.”

She grinned. “Yeah, it is.”

I turned to the host as he approached and let him know we had a reservation, and for a specific table at that. He was most agreeable and sat us immediately. I let the lady lead, for on every count I wanted to be seen as a gentleman. And I loved her curves under that skirt.

“You’ve been here before?” she asked.

“No, but I checked it out online and just asked if we could get more private seats – I hope that’s okay with you?” I asked with concern.

“Yeah, yes, it’s very okay with me,” she said almost to herself as she looked over the menu, lips upturned. “Bonus points, even.”

I smiled back. The cuisine was fine, the company the finest. We talked for the couple hours we were there. She told me about her company (her company!) Starr Enterprises and how it was doing scientific research to help the environment, but they’re just getting started. She’s got hiring to do, and working with certain people is a nightmare, and the interviews she’s had, and how she’s just not as organized as she ought to be…it was actually very interesting. Not only is she gorgeous and pleasant, but motivated and confident enough to tackle a whole company on her own! She told me about her new apartment here in Brooklyn, and how she picked this place because it was close to where she lived. She talked about her cat, who was up until recently nameless, but is now called Stinky. It was the mangiest ugliest excuse for a cat, but she loved it anyway. I told her about my work as a surveyor, my place in Queens, my office in Manhattan, and my friends and co-workers. We discussed current events, like the effect superheroes are having on global trends of terrorism, why they’re needed in today’s society, and if their price of power is too high. She jokes about them like she knows them, and perhaps she does, considering her influence as a CEO.

Dinner came to an exquisite close with red bean ice cream. “May I give you a ride back to your place?” I asked.

She faltered a bit, a smidgen of worry on her face as her eyes darted away. “Uh, I think I’m just gonna walk, it’s not very far.”

“Isn’t Park Slope like, more than twenty blocks from here?” I asked.

“Yeah, but I like the walk,” she looked down, “especially after a meal, you know, metabolism and such.”

“Well,” I started, “at least let me accompany you home?”

She smiled as she exhaled, and looked back up to me. “As long as you don’t mind the walk.”

For her? Not even the slightest.

We continued our conversation as we walked, our talk moving to focus on our common interests in music and movies. She’s into a lot of jazz and electronica, whereas I’m more into classic rock and alternative. She likes horror films, I like comedies. In the end though there were several things which we both enjoyed, and we talked about them more. Occasionally I’d have to reboot my brain so as to stop staring at her and remember to continue with the conversation.

We arrived at her place, and I walked her up the steps to her front door. It was similar to the other old brownstones in the area, with trees lining the sidewalk that bordered the row homes with the stylized railings and landings.

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” she said as she pushed her hair back and looked for her keys. She looked up at me with a soft smile.

“Thank you for saying yes,” I said. I had myself all worked up for this moment. I thought things had gone exceptionally well, and I was going to at least try. It was almost compulsion at this point. I leaned in to give her a kiss, but she shied away.

“Oh, boy,” she said, exasperated. “Listen, Thad, I like you and all but we only just had dinner and I’m not sure I’m ready for…that…and all that that entails and you do seem really nice-“

“No, I’m sorry, it’s okay, really, it’s quite alright…”

“-but I don’t think I’m ready for all this right now, oh god I’m sorry…” her hands went to her face.

“Really, it’s okay,” I assured her. “I just really like you, is all. I figured you did too, and maybe you are but just not yet, either way it’s…”

Her hands came away and she had a determined look about her. She kissed me right then, mid-sentence, while I was pretty much unaware. It wasn’t really sexy or passionate per se, but it did grab my attention and after the initial shock, proceeded to melt me. But it was almost over before it began, like some kind of elongated peck on the lips, but I swear, when it was over I felt something electric, and I think she might have as well.

That is until she pulled away, that same determined look on her face, but a degree softer, and said, “There, ya happy now?” and walked in her building without any further ado.

I stood on her porch looking up at her building, just stunned at what happened. “Well, no, not quite,” I said to myself as I realized I never even got her phone number.

———

I came back to my usual routine in vain hopes of seeing her again at the Corner Coffee, but she never showed. I even tried going by her building a few times. I would knock and ring, I even checked with her neighbors to see if they knew anything, but to no avail. I left a note with my phone number asking her to call me in the side of her mailbox, and then just waited.

I couldn’t figure out what happened. I thought everything that night went amazingly well! We talked, we laughed, we even walked together real slow back to her place. I made my move too soon, but was that enough to have her never hear from me ever again? Depressed, I found myself in that same old rut a few days afterward, but now things were worse because I’d blew my chance with my dream girl. Max tried to lift my spirits and get me to go out to the bar with him, but apparently I’d just sulk.

Apparently New York had been struck by some kind of crazy alien attack that had the news abuzz all over town. They called themselves the Zydians and according to the interviews that some of the heroes gave they were a race of humanoid aliens who were trying to reclaim their home. I didn’t care. Earth had been “overrun by the stink of humanity” one was quoted as saying to one of the heroes. It was pretty self-contained I suppose, no civilians were harmed. The property damage was pretty extensive, though none of it came close to my place in Queens. Even with it being the talk of the town, I pretty much stayed away from the chatter, lost in my own murk.

Work had kept me busy enough, and I dove right in and made myself that much busier. We were contracted to do survey work on some downtown Manhattan buildings, doing some reset work for the damage that was caused. I’d set up my equipment on an abandoned roof, taking height measurements for precision work for differential leveling, doing stuff that GPS isn’t accurate enough to accomplish.

Looking out over the city gives you some perspective. It was a clear, sunny, and cold day. The winds were stronger on the rooftops, gusting at times, and it reminded me of how things can flow so briefly by in life. I suppose I should have considered myself lucky for even getting the chance to have a date with such a bombshell, much less an interesting, funny, and charming one. Hell, when you laid the facts out, she did kiss me, and that’s a definite plus. For an average Joe like me it’s not half bad.

I looked down at the people and cars below, going about their day, and I wondered what Karen what doing. Not the usual thoughts of why she won’t call me, or is ever at home, but just what she was actually doing. Is she at work? Getting her company above water has to be some monumental task. I could have looked the building up where she works and tried to visit her there, but I knew to take the hint. She didn’t want to be found. Got it.

Right then the rooftop door slammed open with a gust of wind, which was odd considering it was shut. The super had given me the key to get back down. I looked back toward the opened door, only twenty feet away.

Time froze as we looked at each other, both completely speechless. She held a purse, and was pulling something out of it, then slowly pushed it back in as an afterthought, our gaze still locked. She was in a clean black blazer, red scarf, and white top, complimented by red and black plaid boots that stopped mid-calf to her blue jeans. It looked as if the scarf was ready to come off. I dropped my level, it’s clanking noise jarring us from out of stupor.

“Thad?” she asked slowly.

“Hi,” I said with a smile, my incredible social prowess coming to bear with such a witty and intelligent means of greeting. I might have tripped standing up, I can’t be sure.

“What’re you doing up here?” she walked toward me.

“Uh, working,” I fired back in retort, full of rambunctious gusto. Onset dizziness is a common affliction, no? “Wait, what are you doing up here?”

She looked around, as if to find a clue, her previous interrogative nature disarmed. “I, uh, I went the wrong way. This is the roof.”

“Yeah, yeah it is,” I acutely confirmed.

“Crap, I’m late, and apparently I went the wrong way,” she stated to the air, hand on her hip.

“Karen?” I said, her eyes full of concern turning my way. “Can I ask you something?”

She looked as if she was steeling herself for some kind of onslaught the way she shifted backward on her one foot. “Yeah?”

“What happened? Why didn’t you even call me?” I asked as I stepped toward her.

“I’ve been really busy,” she said, casting her eyes downward. “Damn that sounds so horrible, but please believe me, it’s true.”

“Okay…” I was feeling more distraught by the second.

“Besides, on your note you didn’t leave your area code. I tried it with a couple different ones but never got you.”

My heart stopped. Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could I have been so dumb! I’ve had my cell phone ever since I moved here, so naturally the area code was different. I’ve done that a thousand times, and apparently one thousand and one is the time I’ll learn, considering the stakes of what I might have lost.

“Omigod, I’m so dumb, I’m so sorry. All I wanted was to hear from you again, and I thought you didn’t want to see me!”

She shifted again, still obviously uncomfortable. “What I said that night is still kinda true, I’m not sure if I’m okay to date. I mean, when I say I’ve been busy, I mean it. It always seems like there’s never time.”

“I understand, really I do,” I said, which was kind of a lie. I had no idea what it was like to be so busy you couldn’t fit some kind of social schedule in, especially if it was her I was considering. “But…if you tried to call, then it seems you were wanting to make time, right?”

“Yeah,” she said with a smile.

“So what’s stopping us now? We’re both here. Kinda seems almost like fate, almost?”

“Yeah,” she repeated. She obviously possessed the same level of discerning verbal fortitude as I had a moment ago.

“How’s about we go to the movies, say we meet at the theater around eight, and see what’s showing? The one by your place on Court Street?”

“When?” she asked.

“Why not tonight?”

“I, uh, really?”

“Sure, I know I can make my schedule free, especially for you,” I said with a smile, getting closer still.

“Okay, I think that’d be okay,” she said a bit hesitantly, her eyes looking upward, calculating something. “But I really have to go right now!” She turned to go and then stopped, turning back.

“Hey,” she started, “I’m really glad I ran into you.” I smiled. “Guess I’ll see you tonight, okay?” she said with a heart stopping grin as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” I said.

Work was a haze after she quickly took off, I wouldn’t be able to say exactly what work got done, really, my mind was too occupied by the bizarre nature of meeting her on the roof, much less getting the chance to see her again that night. She looked amazing, as usual.

I got done with plenty of time to get back home, shower, and get back to Brooklyn with time to spare. It was about quarter of when I walked into the theater and she’d beat me to the punch. She was staring at the Now Playing list, checking showtimes. Her blond hair simply fell, though it was obvious she had worked to get it look so natural. It paid off. Today was a blue sweater with some cute animal on the front, green scarf and form fitted khaki pants that had my eyes drifting down, then up, then down…

“Well, hello to you too!” she said as my eyes snapped back to their proper target.

“You look…fantastic,” I managed to put out there.

“Thanks,” she said, blushing a bit. “Not too bad yourself.”

I beamed, and asked her what seemed good. A couple things were showing, but we settled on Super Rage Fury, an action/horror/comedy/romance/musical. Aren’t those genre mash-ups just great? The movie was fantastic, it really had something for everyone. During the film she got really excited at the action and gory parts, giggling to herself. It was adorable. As the romantic portion came around, she had leaned into me, even resting her head on my arm a little. I wasn’t daring enough to go for the classic “stretch move” to put my arm around her, she seemed to fidget too much for it to ever be practical.

After the movie let out I suggested we walk a few blocks to get some ice cream at Blue Marble. We sat inside where it was a bit warmer. While we were there she started a bit of small talk, changing our topic from the movie and the stars in it.

“So what did you make of that whole alien thing a little while back?” she asked nonchalantly.

“Crazy, huh?” I said. “Honestly I didn’t keep up with it much.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I barely knew what was happening at the time.”

“How? It was all over the place!” she said, amazed.

“Eh, I was kinda in a rut, I suppose,” I conceded.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Well,” I said, steeling myself, “I had met this amazing girl. I mean, she was fantastic, the complete package – smart, funny, beautiful, you know? We went out, had a great time, but somewhere at the end I’m pretty sure I messed up real bad, and I didn’t even know how to get back in touch with her.” I finally looked back up at her.

She sat quietly for a moment, contemplating what to say, her eyes elsewhere. “If it went so great, you probably didn’t mess up at all, she probably just wasn’t ready for something like that yet.”

I chose my words carefully and said, “Well, if I happened to run into her again and she agreed to go out with me again, do you think that means she’d be ready for something…like that?”

“Maybe,” she responded, fidgeting again.

“Maybe’s fine by me,” I said. “Any chance I can spend more time with her, the better.”

She looked back up at me. “You’re too much,” she said as she finally cracked a wry grin.

“I really like you, Karen, you know that right? Like really like you.”

“I know,” she said, holding her head up with her hands, elbows on the table. “I like you too. Like, like like.”

I laughed with her as she giggled. “Well my dear, may I, like, walk you home?”

We made the journey mostly in silence, eventually I casually reached for her hand which she took, fingers intertwining. Her hand was warm, even without gloves in winter. I thought back to the bipolar nature of our very short relationship. When we were actually together, it felt very natural, but when we had to depart it was oh so very awkward. As we came up to her brownstone steps I felt the nerves come back, hoping this wouldn’t be affirming my theory.

We arrived at her building’s front door, and a thought occurred to me.

“Can I call you?” I asked.

She laughed. “You can. Better yet, give me your area code, and I can just text you so you have it.”

So I did, and she sent me something then and there. I felt some kind of odd accomplishment, or perhaps it was simply relief, I’m not sure.

She put her phone away, and fished for her keys. I waited for her to find them, and focus her attention back my way. “Well, Ms. Starr, I had an absolutely fan-“

She did it again! Interrupted as I was with her lips pressed to mine, I couldn’t even think. Barely a moment went by when she stopped and pulled her face back just a fraction of an inch and laughed lightly to herself.

“Your lips are cold,” she said.

“Yours are delicious,” I told her as I kissed her back. She had put her arms around my neck as I pulled her close in by the waist. My hands roamed her back, exploring and massaging, hers would run through my hair. It was nothing remotely risqué, but very sensual all the same. It certainly got my lower half’s attention, though part of me hoped she wouldn’t notice.

She broke it off seemingly out of breath, her hands still caressing my neck and shoulders. I didn’t want her to go, I held her tight.

“I have to go upstairs now,” she said.

“Okay,” I said.

“Really.”

“Okay.” I kept her embraced, but made no force to keep her anymore. She backed away and looked into my eyes.

“Call me,” she told me as she opened the door and made to step inside. She stopped as the door swung open, and kissed me lightly once more, tender and gentle. “Ya happy now?”

I just smiled my biggest smile and watched her go.

———

I know there’s some three day rule, but I was pretty sure it only applied to calling a girl who you’ve not gone out with already. Even so, I don’t think I’ve been able to contain myself. I called her the next day. We talked for a while, but she was busy with work apparently. I asked her when she’d be free and she didn’t know.

So I waited again. We’d have small texting conversations here and there about random things, and I’d ask when she’d be free. It went on like this for a while. The next few weeks flew by as my ever growing need to see Karen grew, but she only sated my appetite once a week if I was lucky. Though every time I called she sounded delighted to hear from me, but things were always “just too busy” or “I’ve gotta fly.” When we did get that chance, we talked more about her desires for her new company, or her staff, or her cat, or her friend Atlee. Never about her past though. When I’ve asked I just get vague references as if she’s playing out memories in her mind that she won’t share, and then she changes the subject. Honestly I didn’t mind, I was getting to spend time with this goddess and that was fine enough for me. Every evening was punctuated by a kiss, each seemingly better than the last, but she’d never take it any further than that. I never brought it up, but she’d even apologized once on the phone about it. I told her it was perfectly fine, I’m in no hurry. She kinda laughed it off, but I could tell she was still uncomfortable with the whole ordeal.

I told Max virtually everything, and he was extremely happy for me. Perhaps jealous? I wasn’t certain, and didn’t care. I think he was getting a little sick of seeing me beam after nights Karen and I had gone out. He thought it was weird I was so happy and hadn’t even spent the night with her, but again, I didn’t care. I’m a patient fellow.

He had even gone so far as to invite me on a double date with him and his wife, but I politely declined. I was a bit greedy when it came to my time with her and wanted a more stable relationship to form so we could feel comfortable bringing our personal lives directly to each other. I knew she was holding back part of herself, and I wanted to be privy to that firsthand.

———

“You like…coffee?” she asked after our most recent outing, some fine dining at the Russian Tea Room.

It was late, since we could only get a later time for our reservation, so we opted for a walk in the park before getting to dinner, and since you don’t rush excellence, dinner and the ride back to her place took us toward the top of the clock.

We were on her porch and never even got to our awkward pause, our look, our kiss. She just walked in expecting me to follow her. I was a little stricken, but I followed quite quickly. “You know I do,” I responded.

She was a few floors up with only stairs as the means up, she took them swiftly, and I’ll admit I was a bit short of breath at the top. She wasn’t even phased.

We walked into her place. It was pretty spacious, with a large living room that connected to an open kitchen. Cardboard boxes filled with her possessions were still around, mostly tossed into a corner. She walked to the kitchen and set her purse on the island as she began to make some coffee and I took a seat on her comfortable blue couch. Not much hung from the walls, or adorned the entertainment center, or hung around the kitchen. It was austere. Most of her personal effects must still be packed up.

“Still moving in?” I asked.

“Heh, yeah I suppose,” she said. “Listen, I’m gonna go freshen up a bit while the coffee’s brewing, feel free to make yourself at home.

“Sure,” I said.

“But no snooping,” she said with a smile as she walked down the hallway.

I looked around, no magazines or books on the coffee table. All I could find was the remote, so I turned the TV on for a bit. The news was on, they were covering the cleanup process of parts of downtown Manhattan. They were interviewing the different heroes about what had happened.

“Ugh, change it,” I heard from the bathroom as she cracked the door open. “Put on something fun.”

I complied, and put it on one of the music channels. Something a bit relaxed and wordless. Romantic perhaps? I certainly hoped. With the coffee done brewing I made her and myself a cup, and brought them to the couch.

She came out right after, and sat with me. She smelled wonderful, like strawberries and vanilla. It was a lovely combination with the aroma of coffee.

“And just how I like it, too,” she said as she took a sip and set the cup down.

“I took notice whenever you ordered when we went out,” I said.

She smiled at me. “You’re just so…ugh, great,” she said, staring into my eyes. “You know, there’s something we forgot to do on the steps downstairs…” she said as she leaned into me on the couch and pressed her lips to mine. They were hot and moist from the coffee, which made it all the more inviting. I pulled her toward me to the edge of the couch, so she was partially laying on top of me. Her large breasts pressed into my chest, cushioning her slightly up. My hands roamed her back, up through her newly brushed hair. The bulge in my pants could hardly be unnoticeable after long, what with the way she writhed on top of me, our lips never apart.

Suddenly she broke it off, and sat back. She looked as if she had done something wrong.

“I’m not easy-” she started.

“I know.”

“-and I take this kinda thing very seriously, I don’t share-“

“Okay.”

“-and I’ve not been trying to be a tease or anything, I just…”

“Really, Karen, it’s okay,” I said. “I’ve never been in any kind of rush with you.”

She looked confused as she brushed her hair behind an ear. “Well why not?”

“Huh?” I asked, confused all my own.

“It’s been a while now we’ve been seeing each other, and you’ve never made any kind of move!” she said.

“I made my move,” I explained, “that first date. It seemed to have catastrophic effect so I didn’t want to take any chances. I figured when you’re ready you’d, you know, let me know.” I gestured in general to us being in her apartment.

“Yeah,” she conceded, “but I’ve just never met a guy who wouldn’t press the issue by now.”

“Not me,” I shrugged.

“Damn it,” she said as she smiled and grabbed a pillow. “Why not? Am I just not pretty enough to make a move on?” She laughed pensively, and looked at me out of the corner of her eye.

“No, you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever met! It’s because you’re unlike any girl I’ve ever met before. You know what’s important to you, and someday I hope that’s me…because not only are you strong, independent, and beautiful, but I’ve seen you soft, vulnerable, and reluctant.” Karen frowned at me, and turned her face away, almost ashamedly.

“You are important to me!” she told me.

“I know, but I wanna be someone you can depend on, someone you can open up to, and I think you’ve let me in there a few times.” I shifted closer to her, cupped her cheek, and turned her bright blue eyes to meet mine. “And each time was so fantastic, I just couldn’t…”

I leaned in, and placed my lips ever so gently on her mouth. She matched the slow movement of my kiss, placed her hand on the nape of my neck, and broke it off with a shuddering sigh, our foreheads touching, eyes closed.

“I can’t figure you out,” she said in a half sob, suppressing a smile.

“What?”

“I don’t know,” was all she could muster.

“You think this is all just play,” I realized. “Like I’m some kind of player, saying all the right things.” It made sense to me, I suppose. Guys with the determination to get with someone as drop dead gorgeous as her certainly existed, and I’m sure she’s seen her fair share of men who considered her nothing more than a conquest, especially if she was being her normal evasive self.

She moved away from me, and turned her head, an angry tone entered her voice. “Isn’t it? Isn’t it always? How am I supposed to tell?” She looked down. “I can do a lot of things, but I can’t read minds.”

I tried to scoot closer to her. “I know, and that’s always the hard part,” I said. “Trust is what it comes down to, I guess.”

She sat back, and ran her hands through her tousled blonde hair. I couldn’t help but admire her curves yet again, the way her stomach flattened when she leaned back, her shapely legs confined in tight jeans, and her chest reaching out as her arms went behind her head.

“Don’t you think after two months any other guy who just wanted to get in your pants would have taken the hint?” I asked. She pulled her hands over her face.

I looked away, almost ashamed myself. How could I convince her I wasn’t just some jerk who puts the notch in his belt? I figured there really was only one answer to that.

“Listen, it’s okay that you’re not ready for the next step,” I said softly. She took her hands from her eyes, and wiped away tears. “Like I said, I’m in no rush. Take your time, and I’ll call you tomorrow. I’d really like to see you again soon.”

I stood and went to her, and she rose up to meet me. I still was unaccustomed to a girl as tall as me, but it gave me a chance to look in those sky blue eyes, which were now fraught with tears and redness.

I gently wiped away a tear, and she smiled and gave a small sob at the same time. “I can’t believe I’m like this,” she said. “All day long, brimming with confidence and can-do, and now I get crushed by kind words.”

“Rendering beautiful tall blondes speechless must be some kind of superpower for me,” I joked. Her expression changed to something quizzical, then amused.

“I got a confession to make,” she said. “I don’t go out on dates, like, ever.”

“So why-“

“So,” she stopped me, “I made a deal with Atlee that I had to go out at least once on a date, in a week’s time.”

“And this was when I first asked you out?”

“Yeah, it’s why I never gave you my number or anything. I did it just to do it, you know? Just to appease her.”

“Wait, why?” I asked. “Was it a bet or something?”

“No, she just threatened me with constant nagging if I didn’t go out with someone. It was nearing the end of my week, and I’d already told everyone else ‘no.'”

“Everyone else?”

“Well, I don’t really get asked out that much,” she admitted. “I guess guys are intimidated or something. But there was two other guys that asked me out and they both seemed like creeps. Then you came along, and you were funny, and nice, and cute.”

“Well, I’m honored that you picked me, I suppose,” I said, practically beaming at the compliments.

“I’m really glad you finally asked,” she said. “You weren’t exactly subtle at catching glances at the coffee shop.”

“What? You saw that?”

“Every time I went there for lunch, you were there too,” she said. “I told you I thought you were cute, so yeah, why wouldn’t I notice you?”

“Uh, because I always thought you were way out of my league,” I answered honestly.

She looked surprised. “So why’d you chase after me that day and ask me out? Why then?”

“Confession to make?” I prefaced. “Max made me a deal, said I could take a half day if I finally asked you out. He’d noticed me noticing you and I guess I couldn’t keep focused on the work he wanted to go over, so he said ‘What ya got ta lose?'” I said in my best Max imitation.

“So we both came into this thinking it’d not go…as planned?” she asked generally.

“Well I had my hopes, and really didn’t want them crushed,” I explained. “I don’t know what I’d have done if you’d brushed me off.”

She stepped back as if she realized something, her hand covering her mouth. “I never meant to even act like I was brushing you off, especially back on that first date,” she said, looking upset again. “You know that.”

“I know, you’ve told me, many times.”

“And I’m not trying to brush you off here, I’m just apparently really guarded about this kind of thing and…I’m sorry.” She looked away again, her arms folded across herself.

“I know that too,” I said. “Everything’s okay with me to take it at your pace. As long as I still get to see you, I’m happy. Very happy.” She looked at me with anticipation, as if waiting for me to keep talking.

“So why don’t we just try this again some other night?” I said. “As much time as it takes, I’ll prove to you that I’m not some typical guy.” She still stood there holding herself, looking down now. I pulled up her chin and gave her a quick peck on the lips, then took a step back. “There, ya happy now?” I asked with a smile, and walked across her apartment to let myself out.

As I turned to say one last goodbye, she surprised me by being right beside me as I never heard her follow. My eyes lit up first from the sudden jolt, then from reading her determined expression.

“Don’t go yet,” she said as she pushed the door closed. She leaned into me, kissing me hard. I responded in kind, pulling her waist toward me as I wrapped my arms around her. Her hands ran through my hair, and then encircled my shoulders. “In fact,” she breathed, “just don’t go.”

I smiled at her, and dove back into our kiss with that fiery passion she showed me only a moment ago. Her tongue flicked over my lips, to which I energetically responded in kind, and we were dancing a slow but deliberate caress between our intertwined parts. I started trailing kisses down her neck and to her ear as my hands found her ass wrapped in those impossible jeans. She reached to untuck my shirt and started sliding it up and over my head with ease. I went to do the same for her, reaching for her sweater’s bottom, but she grabbed my wrists with some measure of force and just smiled at me and then said “Not yet.”

She kept one of my wrists and tugged me along to her bedroom, and it was the first I’d seen it. Like the rest of the place, it was somewhat spartan with only its king sized bed, dresser, and boxes piled up in a corner. I wasn’t here to admire the furniture, however. She pulled me to the bed and simply pointed as she went to the stereo on her dresser. Like a tamed pup I hopped in bed, shirtless with anticipation. I leaned back with my arms behind my head, resting on the pillows that kept me half propped up.

“I’ve seen you catch glances, and try to not stare,” she started, “so I just wanted you to be able to enjoy yourself for a little bit first.”

She had put a new CD in the stereo, picked a track and walked to the foot of the bed to start her show. Something slow and dirty started on that stereo, a hard beat with a pulsing steady rhythm, wordless and perfect for this. She started by caressing herself over her clothes, her hands roaming from her backside to her ribs and finally cupping and spreading out over her massive bosom. Her head was turned to the side, her eyes closed, she was feeling the music as her hips swayed back a forth.

She moved to her jeans, and unbuttoned each button in time with the rhythm of the song, briefly exposing some white lace panties to me before turning around and moving her ass back and forth in perfect time. She rolled the jeans down and started to bend over, giving me the front row view of her amazing behind, round and muscular all at the same time. As the jeans came off I could see the beautiful toned contours of her legs as they moved gently out of each leg of the accursed pants. I felt my own jeans tighten, and cursed them too, but decided not to interrupt this wonderful sight.

She turned around and, kicking the jeans away gently, looked up to see my face and smiled at me. Any trace of her unease was lost as she apparently found some relief in my stunned expression. She never lost the beat as her lace trimmed boy shorts hugged her hips while she swayed. She looked at me deeper and she bit her lip. All at once her sweater was on the floor, her hair the tiniest bit mussed, and my eyes widened further at her matching white lace bra which were covering the largest breasts I’d ever seen. Her chest was heaving up and down from her anticipatory breaths.

I think my mouth was already open as she darted up the bed to probe my mouth with her tongue. Her breasts pressed into my chest as she straddled my leg, her thigh pushing against my hardness. My hands ran all over her shoulders, back, and finally grabbing that wonderful ass by sliding my hands underneath her panties and help her grind on my leg. She moaned into my mouth, and it was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard. My pants tightened to a painful degree.

I moved my kisses to her neck and fumbled my hands back upward to the clasp of her bra. She pushes down on my shoulders to sit up, and smiles at me as she does it herself. “Just faster this way,” she tells me as she undoes her underwear and throws it aside, carelessly. I myself find every care in taking in her nonchalance. Loosed before me are the most perfect breasts in the world. They are massive, to be certain, but somehow sit perfectly proportional and firm on her tall well-toned frame, seemingly never needing the support once offered them. Her buds stood erect atop perfect rosy pink areolas.

I met her eyes, and she smiled again, almost embarrassed. “Well, there’s the show,” she said.

I sat up, never averting my gaze, and kissed her fully. Not with desire, need, or lust, but with care. Our arms enveloped each other as I picked her up to turn her on her back so I had full access on top of her. Our kiss broke with our eyes open and locked to each other, her expression uncertain, yet longing. I dove southward, running my hands along her sides barely tracing along the edges of her breasts, until I reached her well defined stomach. I traced my hands and lips over it gently, slowly working my way down to the top of her panties and then moving to her inner thighs. Her panties were soaked and the scent was intoxicating. I ran my finger along the edges of her panties, tracing along her outer lips.

She breathed heavy with lust and frustration, and I took the hint. No sense in continual teasing, not now at least. I leaned back and removed her lacy lingerie, and continued my exploration. Her pussy was clean shaven, and intensely wet. I licked her wetness, from the bottom of her slit to the top, pausing to probe into her canal and lap up more of her juice, before I reached my prize. I kissed her clit with a gentle suck into my mouth, my tongue frenching her nub fluidly. She sharply breathed inward, clamping my head between her legs and holding my head by the hair with both her hands. I reached my middle finger into her vagina, pumping slowly but forcefully, putting pressure inside her canal while my hand repeatedly rocked her whole body back and forth.

“Yes, yes, YES!” She said over and over as I kept up my steady formula for her pleasure. “Don’t stop, don’t…ever….” she almost continued as I flipped my wrist and curled that middle finger forward to stimulate her G-spot. She screamed out, the pressure on my head increasing from all sides as her body shivered and quaked with wave after wave of orgasm, juices flowing over my hand.

Her breathing eventually slowed, and I moved myself to lay beside her, my moistened hand still gently petting and caressing her spot. Her eyes were closed, one arm on her forehead, the other resting on her breast. She turned her head to look at me and smiled as she sighed, “That was…amazing. Thank you.”

Moments of relaxation passed as her bosom heaved up and down with heavy breaths as she came down from her high. Eventually she turned to me and looked me up and down. She reached for my crotch and her eyes widened at my still-clothed lower half. “Unfair. This will not do,” she said as she very quickly had my jeans unbuttoned, unzipped, and off, with shoes and socks to boot. All that was left was my boxer briefs, to which she said, “If I’m naked then you are too.” I had them off the next instant, my constraint relieved. Almost.

She knelt beside me and grabbed my member lightly, casually stroking it with one hand as she moved to lay next to me so she could kiss me tenderly. This was her time to graze her lips down my body. She started with my neck, then moved to my shoulder and down my arm, and then moved her head to rest on my chest, so she could look down at her handiwork.

She sat up, still stroking my cock, and looked at me and said, “If there’s anything…special you like, you just let me know.”

“I think right now everything’s just fine,” I smiled at her in return. “You just do as you please, because I’m sure I’ll like whatever it is you have planned.”

“I hope so, I really do,” she said as she leaned down toward my pelvis. She began by licking my shaft from root to tip from every angle, moistening it in its entirety, her hands free now. Then she took just the head in her mouth, and gently licked the pre-cum off the end. She tilted her head slightly, looked up at me, and smiled right before she went back down on me taking my entire length on the first go. I could feel the tightness of her throat wrap around me as she dove back down and up over and over so incredibly quickly, her head bobbing up and down with vigor and ease. The pressure and pleasure were so intense that my head lolled back and I moaned. I don’t know how long it lasted but if she kept it up any longer I was sure to release. As if she knew, she took one last long slow drag off my dick and moved a hand back to it to gently caress it once again.

“Do you not like tits?” She asked in an almost purely conversational way.

I was stunned, to say the least. For one, that she had stopped the most amazing blowjob I’d ever had so suddenly, and secondly for a question so ridiculous. “What?” I asked, my face twisted with confusion.

“Well you’ve barely touched them, and they are kinda hard to not notice,” she said with a sigh of uncertainty.

“I think they’re magnificent,” I exclaimed. “I think they’re possibly the most perfect breasts in all of history.”

“So, why…”

“Give me a sec to think straight,” I said as I sat up, my eyes level with hers. “They’re beautiful, just like the rest of you, but I didn’t want to obsess over them because I’m sure that’s what you’re used to.” She averted her eyes, looking up. I knew I hit a nugget of truth there, so I brought my hand to her cheek, pulling her eyes back to meet mine. “I probably shouldn’t have ignored them, but I just wanted you to know that I think you’re more than just your amazing boobs. You’re amazing, period. All of you, every part.” I moved my hand through her hair around to the back of her head and pulled her close to kiss her lightly.

She responded with passion, her lips ravaging mine. She pulled my hand to place it on her breast, her soft flesh goosebumped and warming under my touch. I cupped it as best I could, my hand gently kneading the side and bottom.

I laid her on her back, our lips connected the whole time, and straddled her waist. I sat up, and moved my hands to each breast, pushing them together. She smiled and closed her eyes, her hands caressing my back and legs. I leaned in and took her right nipple in my mouth, sucking gently, and playing over the tip with my tongue. Her back arched, pressing her chest harder into my mouth, and she moaned. I moved myself off her waist, so I could reach a hand back down to her sex as I moved my mouth over to her left nipple. I stroked her lower lips with my fingers and easily slid two into her wetness and moved my thumb to massage her clit. She moved in toward me, cradling next to me, her hand guiding my head over her breasts. She squirmed and shuddered next to me as I suckled on her breasts and caressed her wetness.

“I want you inside me,” she whispered in my ear.

My heart leapt as I pulled back to look at her. My beautiful Karen had looked up at me with want, biting her lip again. I smiled back, and turned my head to look for my pants and protection.

“Now,” she said. I looked to the side again and almost stammered, but she sat up and kissed me. “It’s okay, it’s safe. Please trust me.”

She laid back down and I wasted no time hovering over her and guiding my cock to her entrance. She was so dripping wet that when I pushed in it slid to the hilt right away. Karen gasped and pressed herself even harder into me. We stayed that way for a moment as she tightened over and over again on my cock, pulling my body in close with her arms and holding me to her. I used my hips to grind into her as I nuzzled her neck. Her pulsing muscles squeezed her hot juice all around my shaft, and I practically came right there.

“You feel fantastic,” she breathed as she started gyrating her pelvis the tiniest bit, stroking my cock. I took the hint and began pumping slowly but forcefully, as I had done with my finger a short while ago. Her arms pushed her breasts together as she ran her hands over my chest and back, and it made her tits press together up toward me as they bounced up and down with each raw thrust of mine. I seized the opportunity and leaned in to suck on her nipple as I used my thumb and forefinger to caress and pinch the other. As I kept the rhythm going I timed every third stroke with a small nibble with my teeth, which elicited a loud moan from deep within her.

I felt the beginnings of release but I didn’t want this to be over just yet, so I slid in fully and ground my pelvic bone into her clit as I looked up to see her looking down at me with ecstasy, mouth open and eyelids half closed. I kissed her hard, and she wrapped her arms around my head and shoulders hard, pulling me to her tightly in a vice-like grip, our tongues almost fighting for each other’s mouths.

She pulled apart for a moment as I continued to grind away. “Are you close?” She asked in an almost desperate tone, worry on her brow.

“I was, I’ll be good in a sec,” I told her.

“I want you to, whenever you feel it, it’s okay,” she said sympathetically. “You already took care of me, it’s okay. I want to make you feel as good as you make me feel.” She sat up with us still embraced in every way and tipped us over so I was on my back, her straddling me. The sight of her tousled blond hair framing her face of concentration, her breasts thrusting forward and back as she continued to grind herself on me, was simply breathtaking. Then she started moving up and down my shaft while still kneeling, yet getting full strokes nonetheless, and I breathed again, sharply inward, the feeling incredible. She was so wet and tight and hot all at once wrapped around me. I grabbed her hips to try and slow her down, because this would be over too soon if she continued like this.

She knew what I was trying to do, but was overpowering me and she knew that too. She said with a smirk, “Come for me, baby,” as she increased the pace slightly, moaning and grabbing her chest.

I used every ounce of focus I possessed to not come right there, so I closed my eyes and matched her downward thrusts with upward thrusts of my own. She almost squeaked in pleasure. Keeping concentration on that was tough enough, but I tried to make sure she would come with me by reaching down to her clit with my thumb and casually rubbing a circular pattern over it.

She cried out, shuddering, and fell forward toward me bracing herself up with her hands. She had discontinued her movement, which left me thrusting up into her, massaging her clit, and now with her gigantic breasts in my face, kissing and licking every inch of those as well. Her moans escalated as I continued our rhythm, her eyes wide shut.

My noble intentions were cut short though, as I couldn’t continue all this without that feeling of release demanding satisfaction. I powered into her several more times, moaning loudly as I started to shoot load after load into her, my manhood pulsing over and over into her hot sex. She felt this release and began to thrust back as I came, a slow high pitched noise coming from her. I could feel her tighten down over and again, milking my cock for all its worth as her own fluids wept liberally over my abdomen. I kept rubbing her clit to keep her orgasm going, and she continued to squeeze my cock inside her as I touched her, until she collapsed on my chest in a pure exhaustion borne of pleasure as we remained joined and she began to kiss me, slowly, passionately.

She broke off the kiss with a light laugh, “I didn’t think I could go again after what you did the first time.”

“Well I saw you enjoying yourself so much, I didn’t want to stop,” I laughed with her.

She moved to lay next to me, arms still enveloping me, and snuggled close. “I’m still enjoying myself,” she murmured. “So don’t.”

I kissed her forehead as she closed her eyes, and slowly stroked her hair as she drifted to sleep, and I dozed away shortly after.

———

When I woke, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, the trees were dancing, the…endorphins still very much in place. At least, it felt like it. In fact, the sun had yet to rise, and neither had Karen. It was well past seven o’clock, and I knew I had to get to work in very short order.

She was still wrapped up in my arms, spooning. The smell of her hair was enough to make me stay in bed all day, my hands on her naked skin giving life to my already half hard member. It seems as soon as I stirred she woke up slowly, and turned to meet my eyes.

“And a very good morning to you,” she said as she turned over, my length rubbing and poking her as she moved. She kissed me tenderly.

“Indeed it is,” I sighed. “But I have to get up for work-” She slid her arms around me and pulled me into her embrace, her leg wrapped around my hips, her mouth tasting my neck. “-eventually.” I was desirably helpless.
I let my hands explore down her back, and reached around to tease her slit. I found it already dripping wet. “Wow,” I muttered as I gently rubbed into her pussy.

“I think I was dreaming about how much I enjoyed last night when I woke up, and here you were lying next to me already…ready,” she said as she rolled on top of me, the whole of her torso resting on me, her large breasts pressing against my chest, her lips then finding mine, our tongues lazily exploring each other.

She began to move her hips in a thrusting motion, rubbing her wet pussy lips up and down the length of my upturned dick as it lay against my abs. She moaned softly into my mouth as we kissed. I could feel her nipples hardening against my chest, and moved my hands to squeeze and hold her ass.

“I love it when you touch me,” she breathed. “You make me feel so good.”

I wanted to show her better than good, I thought to myself. I cupped her bottom with my hand and helped her motion to slide along my cock, and moved my other hand to the back of her head, running my fingers up and through her hair.

“You make my everything feel amazing,” I said as I looked into her eyes. At once I pulled up her butt with my hand and shifted my hips down, and thrust back up to her, sheathing my cock completely in her instantly and holding it there.

“Ohhhhhhh ahhhhh!” she cried out, her expression surprised and then twisted in pleasure. She continued rocking her hips, pumping my cock inside her. I could feel her wetness drizzling down my shaft more and more with each movement, the warmth of our intimate embrace making me grow hot under the sheets. She held me tightly as I joined her motion, my hips meeting her motion, intensifying our sensation. It was slow, deliberate, and deep. Every push inside her was greeted with an intense tightness that pulled on my cock giving me a shudder of bliss.

She sat up slightly, and sped her movement up. Her eyes were closed, but she found the back of my head and pulled it to her freed breasts. I grabbed both her mounds and pushed them together as I moved back and forth between each nipple, licking, sucking, nibbling, pulling.

My endurance went away all at once as she sped up even more, now bouncing up and down on my cock, the juices sopping between and below us making noise as we met each time. I looked up to see her head thrown back, and I could tell she was close, but I simply couldn’t last.

“I’m gonna, I’m gonna…” was all I could get out before I felt the spasming release begin to course through me. I felt her twitch on top of me as I pumped a few more times, harder than ever.

“Don’t stop!” she cried out, continuing to bounce up and down as I shot again and again in her. I did my best to keep thrusting as she moved on top of me, her brow furrowed in ecstasy. She then pushed so very hard down into me and fell onto me as we began with her arms wrapped around me. She whimpered a light hum as her pussy contracted around my cock time and again. Her wetness surged over my groin, adding heat to our sex, and she sighed into my ear, her body relaxing on top of me completely.

We laid there just so for quite some time, and eventually the cold crept to our naked bodies so I pulled the sheets up over us. She shifted her head further nuzzling my neck and hugged me tighter. I hugged her back. It was just so comfortable lying there with her that I didn’t care about any responsibilities anymore, all I wanted was to be with her and never let her from my sight.

“I know you gotta go,” she muttered into the pillow by my ear.

“Well, I really could just call off…”

“No!” she stopped me. “I won’t have you jeopardizing your job on my account, and I’m sure you’re late as it is.” And with that, she was out of the bed and into the bathroom. “But I call first dibs on the bathroom!” she said leaning just her head out into the bedroom with a smile, her hair all a blonde mess that still managed to look great.

“Fine, fine, I’ll leave you alone if that’s what you want!” I called to her jokingly.

“Shush you,” she called back. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder, you know.”

“For some reason I want to find whoever said that and hit them repeatedly.” She chuckled as the shower turned on.

I made to get the morning in order. I started a pot of coffee, made toast, and grabbed some fruit from the fridge, and made my way to the television and turned on the news. The local investigative reporter was interviewing the superheroes about the damage caused by the alien attack, and was questioning some of the Justice Society members. Apparently some of the alien powers were causing continual damage than needed to be temporarily quarantined. Mr. Terrific was giving details on the recovery effort as the coffee was finishing up.

Karen came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her, another towel drying her hair. I took my eyes from the television to see her stunned expression as she watched the blonde woman in the revealing white outfit wave to the camera and fly off, red cape billowing behind her. She stared at the TV in horror, then moved lightning fast to the remote on the coffee table to turn it off.

“It’s not…I mean, I’m not…” she stammered, “it looks, she looks…” She could barely form real words as she got increasingly more embarrassed.

“Karen, it’s okay,” I said. “I already knew.”

“What?” Her expression changed quite quickly from embarrassed to infuriated.

“I’ve known you were Power Girl since that day on the roof,” I explained with some hesitancy. “I sorta put it all together. Besides, you don’t really hide yourself all that well, what with no mask or anything.”

“You knew and you never said anything?” Her fists clenched.

“No! I didn’t think it was what you wanted!”

“I don’t want you lying to me, that’s for damn sure!”

“Well I could say the same!” I yelled back, instantly regretting it.

She sighed as she put her head in her hands, and sat on the couch. “No one else recognizes me on the street. I always figured the outfit was distraction enough.”

“Well it sure has its allure, I can say that much,” I said with a smirk, hoping to erase my previous tone.

“Whatever,” she said dismissively. “I still can’t believe you didn’t even ask.”

I remained quiet for a time, thinking of what to say.

“That life is all very exciting and glamorous I suppose, but it isn’t my life, and I wouldn’t want you to feel the need to make me a part of that,” I said, making sure I looked her in those beautiful blue eyes. “I met Karen Starr, I asked out Karen Starr, I went on dates with Karen Starr. You weren’t Power Girl any of those times. Just because I pieced things together that day on the roof doesn’t change anything. I still just wanted to be with Karen. With you. You’re the one I fell in love with,” I said, the last word trailing as I’d realized what I admitted and looked up. Her expression became startled to say the very least.

“L-l-l-love?” she stumbled, looking embarrassed, and sat down.

I was stunned at her reaction, but continued nonetheless. “Yeah. I think I was in love with you before I ever even talked to you, maybe. I saw you in that coffee shop one day well before I ever talked to you. I went there every day after, just hoping to see you again, and since you came in about once a week, I kept going.”
“That’s just ridiculous, you didn’t even know me!” she said, her eyes beginning to water.

I knelt in front of her, and wiped away a tear with my thumb. “Does it even matter? Ever since I got to know you it’s been better than I could have imagined! Here you are, all knockout gorgeous and I come to find there’s this amazing woman who is driven and compassionate and funny and just, just…so fantastic that I run out of words to describe how fantastic she is!”

“Here I go again,” she sobbed and tried to smile at me, wiping away her own tears and taking a sharp breath in, composing herself. “I can’t just turn off Power Girl though, she’s who I am too. I have responsibilities!” She looked at me, then away, growing distant. “I never dated anyone because it doesn’t seem fair to them, for one because they’d constantly be in danger if it became common knowledge, and two because there never seems to be enough time!”

I shook my head. “I’d never ask for you to not be Power Girl. I know that’s who you are, too. Hell, I’ve watched you on the news more than once saving the day. I’d never want you to stop that unless that’s what you wanted.” She couldn’t bring herself to look at me anymore, glancing sideways. “And I don’t need to be known as Power Girl’s boyfriend, but I would like to be Karen’s. And time? It’s been four months, we’ve been going out every week for four months. You made time. Do you honestly think you can’t keep that up?”

She put her face in her hands. I pressed on. “Was keeping it to once a week a way to try to make me distant? Make me give up?”

“It’d be so much easier!” she cried. “I don’t know if I can juggle my whole life and then add you into the craziness! What if I don’t come back one day? What if I’m abducted and taken to a different dimension for a day but, like, here time moves faster and it’s like, twenty years! What if some super villain finds out my identity and come and blasts my house and you’re here and I can’t protect you…”

“Hey, hey,” I interjected. “You could go on what if’s all day long, but it won’t change how we feel. I know you’re worth the risk,” I added with a serious tone. I then turned it lighthearted. “Besides, you’re Power Girl, you’ll always come back, and you’ll always protect me,” I smiled.

“No,” she said with tears flowing from determined sky blue eyes as she looked to me. “This was a mistake.”

“What? No!” I said, shocked. My heart was racing faster by the second.

“You’ve been nothing but great, but this isn’t something I can have happen,” she explained. “It’s not fair to either of us. You have no idea what I go through every day and the risks I have to take.”

“But…”

“No, Thad,” she said, a force coming to her voice, but the tears still falling. “Really, no. I thought I could have a play at some kind of a normal double life, but it just won’t ever happen. It’s not fair to us. It’s just not fair.”

“Karen, don’t do this-“

“I think it’d be best for you to go now,” she said.

“Karen please-“

“You can go or I can make you go, you know that!” she yelled at me, pointing her finger to the door.

I got up, tears now in my eyes as well, and slowly walked away. I turned at the door and looked back at her. She didn’t look angry, she just looked sad as she cried on the couch. “Please just go,” she said through quiet sobs.

———

Comparing how I felt after this to what I felt after our first date and subsequent blow off would be a terribly hard thing to do. On one hand, I could recall my depression of having the faintest glimpse of something I wanted to desperately to slip through my grasp. On the other, I couldn’t compare the time we’d spent, the days together, the friendship, the affection, the companionship, the trust-

Trust. I know why I held back in telling her I thought I knew, or even asking her flat out if she indeed was Power Girl. I feared that exactly what happened would have happened. I feared she might realize that if I become aware of her alter ego she’d have to drop her last barrier. It was a mighty big barrier. She was one of the most powerful beings on Earth, this or the next. I didn’t know then how that might have affected our relationship mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or physically. I tried to think and consider what it meant, but I suppose I took on the same glamour she did, and I pretended that we were just two normal people getting to know one another better. So in many ways, I violated her trust simply based on good intentions. Had I never revealed that I knew, we might never have had that come between us, but I also knew that it’d never stay secret forever.

Perhaps that was her intent, to try and have some kind of adult relationship without all the strings. In fact, it made perfect sense for her to shrug off the burdens of the safety of the world and have some time to herself as a regular woman. I was glad that I was a part of that I suppose, and hoped she’d remember that we had some good times. Some very good times.

When I wasn’t thinking about Karen, I was having dreamless sleep. Nights went by too quickly, because when morning came I was consumed by thoughts of her. I tried to concoct ways to bump into her again, knowing for certain she’d not come back to the coffee shop, or the theater, or any of the places we went out. They were fruitless efforts, but they needed to be made nonetheless.

Work kept me busy again, but certainly not happy. I told Max that she and I simply broke up, he needn’t know the precious detail that split us apart. He was still a caring friend and he tried to get me to be more active but I wasn’t having any of it. I came to work, did my job, and went home, staring at the television or internet. I’d get curious and worried checking the news for information about her, or the JSA, or JLA, or even any superhero related news just to find out what she’d been up to. I felt terrible doing it, because I figured she’d wanted me to lose her number, to forget we happened, to evacuate any remembrance of her. As if I could just erase my brain.

Sure enough, there she was in the thick of it all on the news. She never spoke or did interviews, and barely even smiled it seemed. I kept watching and searching for scraps of news so that I wouldn’t forget. Maybe that’s the wrong sentiment. My constant search for news of her just fulfilled a sick need. Other people burn mementos of their exes to rid them of their memories, but I kept feeding my thoughts more of this visual drug. I needed to see her. I needed to tell her how sorry I was, and how I would do anything to make things right. That would require something drastic. So I decided to go find trouble.

———

The day had started out like any other, at my boring job doing boring things and mulling over my inevitable solitude. Then the day changed, and I noticed the biggest opportunity right in front of me. I had watched from a rooftop as people were being snatched and brought below the earth’s surface. Zydians were abducting innocents. So, instead of staying on my perfectly good roof top, I went down to the street level and got myself abducted.

In hindsight, this wasn’t the best idea. They weren’t the most hospitable hosts, what with their awful stench and generally surly and warlike attitudes. I was grabbed, placed into some kind of stone fabricated restraints, and taken to an underground cavern deep below the surface. The Zydians must be expert burrowers to create this kind of holding space. My view of it is limited, as I’m hauled off into a detention chamber that knocks me out cold.

The next thing I know, the ground is rumbling all around, and I’m thrown from my prison. A quick glance around me shows Mr. Terrific at some kind of panel, and other people being freed just like I am. He leads us to some kind of plane that resembles more of a spaceship. People are terrified, running with their hands covering their heads as debris from the caverns is falling around us. Suddenly there’s an echoing crash of rock as two figures burst through the cavern wall.

There she is. I’m stuck, unmoving, as the crowd of newly freed innocents rush by me to get on Mr. Terrific’s ship. But I look on to the battle above, Power Girl locked in combat with a very large Zydian warrior. They’re exchanging hit for hit, the Zydian trying to use its larger size to win an advantage, but it doesn’t account for her ability to fly. She retreats quickly and zips behind him to kick him in the head, which disorients him.

I’m quickly aware that I’m to board this T-ship, but my entire plan would be for naught if I was just saved like any other ordinary citizen. So as the last of the former prisoners were boarding, I snuck away to watch the rest of Karen’s fight with this super-Zydian. It was hurling rocks at her which she dodged easily. She was ensuring the fight wasn’t being taken toward the rescue ship, so I ducked away even further to get closer to her and this fight’s grand finale.

When she knew the ship was clear of the cavern, she smirked at the Zydian and said “It’s just you and me now, skunky, so now I can really cut loose.” Good gracious, I think she is even hotter when she’s determined.

Power Girl flew in and speared the Zydian into one of the stalactites that hung low from the ceiling. The rumbling grew more noticeable in the cavern, which I’m sure she couldn’t tell since she was flying. She followed it up with her heat vision and seared back up into a wall. That’s when I made my move.

“YEAH!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “Kick his ass, PG!” She turned to me immediately.

“Thad?” She was utterly confused. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I pointed toward the Zydian warrior with an anticipatory expression and said, “You might want to deal with him first.”

She gave me a scathing look and turned her head as her opponent was leaping at her, ready to strike with arms overhead. Karen took a big breath, and exhaled violently, shooting the Zydian warrior away into the ceiling, icicles coating his entire front side. He fell to the ground, ice shattering, and unmoving.

After checking to ensure it wasn’t getting back up, she landed right in front of me. “Are you okay? You look okay. You okay?” She looked me over and saw my wide smile. “Seriously, what the hell!”

“I got captured, they brought me down here, and now I’m just really glad to see you!” I must have not let the smile creep off my face, she was still eyeing me suspiciously.

“Something about this just isn’t…” she trailed off as the ground thundered around us.

“This place is going to crumble any second now!” I exclaimed as she instinctively scooped me up and we started to dart off through the air. The sensation was exhilarating, the speed was unbelieveable! We were zig zagging our way through cavern after cavern, an endless network the Zydians had constructed down here, with rubble falling all around us.

“Hang on tight,” she said as we were suddenly going straight upward. Her eyes looked extremely intense as she used her heat vision to cut a hole for us to fly through to the surface, with blue skies overhead.

We exited in what must have been Brooklyn, from this particular view of Manhattan. We found a small rooftop to set down on. She immediately walked away and put a finger to her ear.

“Is everyone out?” She asked. “Everything was coming down as I escaped, with one final bystander. Yes. Yes. I’ll be along, but I need to run an errand first.” She turned and glared at me.

“Hi Karen,” was all I could muster, smile unabashedly present.

She winced at the use of her name. “Don’t…don’t “hi” me,” she walked back over to me. “At least not while the cape is on.”

“All I’ve wanted to do is talk to you. It’s been weeks since I’ve seen you and I feel like there’s still more to say.”

“What do you want from me, Thad?” she asked pointedly. “This is exactly why I broke things off! My heart froze when I saw you down there. What if I wasn’t there to save you?”

I spoke over her as she finished. “I did it on purpose!” I yelled. She stopped abruptly, wide eyed.

“What? What do you mean you did it?”

“I saw the aliens snatching people, so I went and got snatched.”

Karen still had her mouth agape, unable to speak.

“I knew there was one super team in town which would assuredly save New York from this threat, and you’re a part of that team,” I said.

“That has got to be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!” She turned away, livid. “Do you know how dumb that is? It’s….SO dumb!

“If that’s what it took to get here,” I called back, “I was willing to risk it! You pushed me away so quickly, with barely any discussion!”

“YES!” She shouted back. “I didn’t want you hurt!”

“I’m not hurt! I was rescued! By you!”

She took a moment, and looked back at me, clearly angry. “Goodbye, Thad.”

“Stop!” I shouted as I ran to her, and embraced her in a fashion to restrain her.

She chuckled. “Are you really trying to hold me back from leaving?” She asked.

“…yes?” I replied as I began to chuckle myself. I was just happy to have changed the mood.

She turned around to face me, my arms still about her waist. “Do you need a lift back home?”

“I’m not letting you go until we talk about this some more.”

“You’re testing my patience, Thad,” she said matter-of-factly.

“I know, but I care about you too much, I care about us too much to let this just slip away.” Her eyes softened, and she let out a sigh as she rested her forehead against mine.

“Listen, we can talk, but at least let me change. It doesn’t feel right talking about stuff like this with this get-up on. I’ll fly you home and I’ll be back tonight. I need to check in and then grab some normal clothes.”

“That sounds wonderful,” I said, smiling.

———

I was home all of twenty minutes when I heard a knocking on my sliding glass door. I barely had time to make it out of the shower with nothing but a shirt and boxers on as Karen stood on my balcony, a sweater with its hood drawn up concealing her beautiful blonde bob.

“That was quick,” I said.

“Yeah, it’s a thing,” she replied.

As she came in, all I wanted to do was to have some kind of superpower that enabled me to show her how much I care about her, how much I want to make this work. She stood there gazing around my apartment, almost expectantly.

“I’m glad you came,” I said hesitantly. I was unsure of how to express myself, especially with little to no time to prepare. “Why don’t we sit?”

“No, I’m okay,” she said. “Listen, Thad. I’ll start. I know things fell off really badly last time, but that’s only because I didn’t want to drag out anything that would end up just as badly or worse. I really do care about you, but I can’t deal with someone I care about being in danger, particularly because of who I am and what I do.”

“I understand that Karen,” I said as I stepped closer to her, “but don’t you already have people in your life that you care about?”

“Yes,” she sighed, “but most of them are supers anyhow and can take care of themselves.”

“Ouch.”

“Well c’mon, it’s not like just anyone is going toe to toe with a Zydian Apex Warrior.”

“And all of these friends and family are just as strong and durable as you?” I asked.

“No family,” she said, with downcast eyes, “just friends. And no, very few people are like me.”

“Yet you let them in, and you care about them, and they care about you.”

“It’s different,” she said, looking back up at me.

“How?”

She exhaled with a moan, and lazily plopped onto the couch. “It’s different because it’s you.”

I eased into the couch, right next to her. “What does that mean?”

She just sat for a moment, not meeting my gaze, and spoke with her eyes closed. “You’ve seen more of Karen than probably anyone has. It’s like you’re seeing a fake version of me. I wear the costume so much that I often forget who Karen even is. I run a company, but I have many employees who do the real work. Lately all my time has been spent doing cape stuff. Sometimes I think I forget what it’s like to be normal, then I think, “what exactly is my normal, anyway?” Do you realize you’re the first regular guy I’ve ever dated? I don’t even know how I’m supposed to act around you when I’m out of costume. I feel like I’m faking it all the time.”

I was stunned. I thought I had her thought process pinned down. “I’ve never felt like you came off as fake, whatsoever.”

“Trust me, I was really trying.”

“Trying to do what, exactly?”

She lolled her head backward, covering her face with her hands. “I don’t know, be normal!”

“I don’t want this to come off as psychobabble, but I think however you choose to express yourself is your “normal.””

“Great,” she sighed. “But every time I’m around you I feel so close, but I’m all torn up about needing to protect you and how I’ve got some terrible enemies and how if they ever learned about you there’d be no way I could keep you safe all the time…”

“Whoa there, sugar,” I interrupted, “don’t get so far ahead of yourself. I threw myself at those bad guys today. And most of your friends who are supers throw themselves at danger all the time. Not me. I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you, and if that means we need to have a relationship in a clandestine manner, then I’m okay with that. And I’ll certainly go looking for no more trouble.”

She looked at me lazily, almost curled up completely on the cushion toward me. “Besides,” I continued, “all those feelings you’re having are just reinforcing how much you care about me. And I think that has to count most of all.”

Her gaze shifted to the floor. Then she reclined directly on me, with her head in my lap. She stayed there awhile before saying, “I’m sorry I was so mean to you the other day,” she said.

I physically relaxed, and started stroking her hair. “It’s okay, it was kind of a tense moment. I’m just glad you’re here now.”

She turned over to look up at me and smiled. “I am too.”

“Would you like to have a non-tense moment for a while?”

She literally floated upward to kiss me. It was as intense as it was surprising, and had passion behind it.

“I can do non-tense.”

“That wasn’t what I meant, but yes,” I proclaimed. “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.”

While she floated there (which was surreal) I began to take off her sweater in one quick motion.

“Don’t laugh,” she told me, as I revealed her still wearing her Power Girl outfit atop her sweater and sweatpants.

“Oh dear,” was my chosen vocabulary of verbosity. She righted herself to standing after dismissing the bottoms, now standing in only her costume. “So what’s it going to be, Karen or Power Girl?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe both? Either way you have all of me,” she said as she leaned in to kiss me deeply, straddling me on the couch.

I pulled her in close, feeling more connected to her now than ever before. We stayed in that moment for quite some time, running our hands over each other, my lips finding her neck, her legs wrapping under mine. “Take me to the bed, handsome,” she said breathily. Even though she we still atop my lap, she began to feel lighter by the moment, until she was virtually weightless. I smiled at her as I stood, still embracing her and easily taking her the few steps to the bedroom, where I simply let go and she floated to the bed, rolling over to face down.

“This thing needs to come off, I can’t rush off to fight evil smelling like sex,” she said grinning at me. “There’s a zipper on my back, if you’d be so kind.”

I knelt on the bed, over top of her, and unzipped the outfit down her back. I gently massaged her back, running my fingers up into her hair. She quietly moaned in pleasure. I snaked my hands under her outfit and around her to try and remove the sleeves, but not before fondling her breasts. She leaned upward to free her chest and arms from the costume, and I pulled it down past her stomach, legs, and suddenly she was naked, save the blue boots I removed gingerly right afterward.

She lay there relaxed, eyes closed. I took a moment just to take in her beauty, her strong yet perfectly womanly frame stretched out on my bed. Her eyes opened. “Not fair,” she said with a smile as she sat up.

“How attached are you to these clothes you’re wearing right now?”

“I wish they were unattached,” I said with as straight a face as I could make. In an instant my shirt was torn from my body, and my boxers cut free of my legs. She stood in front of me holding up my ex-underwear as it smoked from the singes of her heat vision. She casually tossed them aside as she picked me up and tossed me on the bed.

She pounced on me, pure and simple, ravaging me with kisses starting at my neck and rapidly working her way down. She wasted no time getting my dick wet as she began to suck and lick every inch of it. I reeled my head back in pleasure, but little did I know that was simply an appetizer. She stopped for a moment and smiled at me, then she leaned forward. Karen put my rod between her ample bosom and stroked it slowly at first, and steadily increasing speed. The feeling was incredible, and I was worried I would would come early.

“Babe, slow down. My turn,” I said as I sat up and slid down the bed, and motioned her to come to me. She took the hint instantly, and knelt astride my face. I leaned in, my hands caressing her thighs and butt, and I traced my tongue along her slit, closing in on her button, lavishly licking it in slow, circular strokes. She quivered above me, and leaned back supporting herself with outstretched arms. She was so moist, and the juices kept flowing the more time I spent on her clit. Her breathing was becoming sharp.

“No….fair…” she gasped while she quickly flipped over turning this into a sixty-nine. My cock was swallowed whole, and stroked furiously. I didn’t let up either and kept attacking her nub with my tongue. It was almost a competition to see who could hold out longer. I tried to throw her off by gently thrusting, but instead of matching my rhythm she took the whole thing down her throat and simply kept it there. It felt like she was swallowing over and over with my cock being tugged down there. It was wonderful. I moaned into her box, which caused her to moan, a chain reaction that built me up so far I hadn’t even the time to tell her I was coming.

She quaked atop me, her spasming orgasm clinching my head. That didn’t mean I missed her her amazingly sexy shrieks of delight, muffled by my member down her throat. The reaction I got from her sent me over the edge, as I burst powerfully straight inside her. She never let up the swallowing motion, and took every last bit of it. She unsheathed me from her mouth and took a deep breath. I was already panting.

“That’s…a neat trick,” I said between breaths.

“A wonderful side effect of being able to hold my breath for a long time,” she said as she smiled at me. “I bet there’s a bunch of things we could experiment with.”

My mind reeled at the possibilities, my penis reacted with haste as well. No squandered opportunities here. “What kind of things?”

She glanced down to see me rising again, her smile grew wider. “Good, I didn’t want to be done just yet,” she said as she sat on top of me, and deftly guided me into her amazingly hot pussy. She began to ride me, strengthening my resolve as I hardened even further inside her. She contracted her muscles in rhythm with me pumping upward. “This…is….good…too…” she gasped as she bounced.

As much as I loved what were were doing, my curiosity was piqued too far. I slowed my pace. “What did you have in mind, really?”

She stopped and looked at me, smiling. “Okay,” she said, “stand up and get behind me.” She stood as well, and with her butt toward me she bent over. “Slide it in.”

So I happily obliged in this standing doggy position, and began to ram away. Then she changed things, and leaned back into me. She was floating, her arms and legs reaching behind her to embrace me. With nothing in the way I reached around and teased her clit with my one hand, and massaged her breasts with the other. She made this so easy, in a somewhat weightless state I could just grind away at her from behind with almost no effort to hold her up.

She moaned furiously as I pulled on her nipples and stroked her clit. Suddenly she leaned forward, and without ever disjoining us, twirled around so she was face up, lying on thin air, her legs draped over my shoulders. I loved this view. Her breasts bounced as I began to drill her hard. I could feel her clenching so amazingly tight around my dick, and the beginnings of release spoke to me. Again I remembered I didn’t need to suspend her, so with a free hand I found her button and grooved on it with fervor. She grabbed at my arms and pulled me even more ferociously into her as she came, squirting over my cock and abs a little as well. This intensity caused my own release that went so amazingly deep into her.

I nearly collapsed after that orgasm, but she held me tight and guided us safely back to the bed. She rolled off of me, exasperated, but still snuggled in close to spoon me.

“I liked that experiment,” I said through my breath.

She laughed, herself a bit spent. “Me too.” She rolled into me further. “Would it be okay if I just spent the night here? Fighting really tuckers out a girl. And so do…other things,” she said amusedly.

I just stroked her hair, and pulled her close. “Of course.” I smiled the biggest smile she couldn’t see. But she knew.

———

We were awoken by her earpiece she had left on the nightstand. She had it back in her ear without even rolling over; this must have been quite a practiced motion. “Yeah?” she asked. “Mmhm. Mmhm. Yup.” With that she took it back out, finally opened her eyes, and grinned at me. I kissed her. “I’ve gotta go.”

“I get it,” I said.

She stretched in bed, our limbs still intertwined. “Now comes the hard part, where I need to leave at any and all odd hours. Be thankful it’s almost a reasonable hour,” she said. I glanced at the clock. It was quarter till six.

With that she got up and had her costume on in almost no time at all. “Remember, no coming to find me like this, okay? Be a good boy and stay,” she said with a smile.

“Yes, yes, just remember to come back ASAP.”

“You got it.” She blew me a kiss and was out the way she came in.

I figured I was up now, it wouldn’t hurt to see what was on the news. I should check for any signs of trouble. I wouldn’t want to be a hapless innocent bystander again.

---