Lovely Clare - Part 3

It was a Wednesday evening and I decided to swing by the bar for a drink after work. When I walked in, John was sitting at the bar. He looked up and waved at me. I walked over and took the seat next to him. The bartender looked at me and I mouthed “the usual” at him.

“So, how are things with Clare?” John asked.

“What do you mean?” I asked as the bartender started mixing my old fashioned.

“You know what I mean,” John said. “Clare is a ‘free-spirit’. She’s not looking to be tied down to one person. And you know she’s bisexual. So she’s bound to want to move on sooner or later.”

“Sounds like you know something that I don’t know, John. Spill it. What did she say?” I asked him, somewhat defensively.

“Well, she didn’t say anything, actually,” he admitted. “But she was over the other night, talking with Sally, and after she left, Sally said that something seemed off with her.”

I wondered what he meant by that. But I didn’t feel like digging into the subject. I just wanted a drink to unwind after work. And talking about my ‘maybe girlfriend’ wasn’t going to help me unwind. It was odd. When Clare and I were together privately, everything was great. We got along, had great conversations, relaxed watching movies, and the sex was unbelievable. But whenever we went out in public together and there were other people we knew around us, it just felt odd. Like the chemistry wasn’t quite right. I know that we had decided that we wouldn’t advertise our ‘thing’ while we were out in public. Especially because gossip and rumors spread fast in a college town. And honestly, we liked our privacy. We liked that we had our own sort of ‘secret’ from the world. It made things more exciting. It made things… dangerous.

“Well, who can tell, with Clare, you know?” I said nonchalantly. “She’s a mysterious woman. You never know what she might be thinking at any given time.”

John laughed at my comment and smiled. He took a long pull from his beer.

“You know, David, for an old guy, you really are cool.”

“Old? Fuck you. You aren’t that far behind me!” I said with a smile.

John chuckled, “I’m 8 years younger than you, chief. I just barely turned 30. You’re already 38. You might as well be looking for a grave plot. Especially if you continue to try to keep up with a woman half your age!”

“Half my age?” I mocked him. “Not only are you a pain in my ass, you can’t do math either. I would never be with a 19 year old.”

“Oh?” he asked with doubt in his voice. “Why not? It isn’t like it is illegal or anything.”

“Are you kidding me?” I chided him. “If she can’t get into the bar with me, I don’t want anything to do with her.”

“Good point,” John agreed. “Sounds like you just need to wait until you’re 42 and then date a 21-year old.”

“Well, if the opportunity presents itself…” I grinned.

We both had a laugh and turned to watch the open mic night start to set up.

“What are you doing tonight?” John asked me.

“You’re looking at it, why?”

“Well, Sally’s birthday is this Saturday and I want to throw her a big party. Not a surprise party, she doesn’t like those. But I want all of our friends to be there. I was thinking that if maybe you’re free, you could come help us make some plans.”

I thought about it and decided that I might as well. Plus, John always had some whiskey at his place and it was cheaper than drinking at the bar. Besides, I might get some insight on what Clare was telling Sally.

“Yeah, no problems,” I replied. We finished up our drinks and headed over to John’s place. When we got there, Sally was sitting at the table with a notepad. Looks like she was putting together a list of food and drink she wanted.

“Howdy, Sally,” I said as I walked in.

She stood and gave me a big hug. “How’s my favorite cradle robber these days?”

“Is everyone talking about my personal life?” I complained. “Don’t you all have your own personal lives to talk about?”

Sally laughed, “Yes, but mine is boring. I mean, just look at John!”

John gave a sheepish grin and shrugged.

“Also,” I continued. “Let’s be clear, you guys are 7 years apart. That’s not nothing.”

“It will be only 6 years on Saturday,” she quickly added.

John chimed in, “Besides, when Sally turns 30, I’ll only be 36. When Clare turns 30, you’ll be 46. What the fuck is wrong with you, you creepy old man?”

“John, you can fuck right off with that bullshit,” I said jokingly. “Everyone knows that I won’t make it past 40. I’m too much of a rebel.”

“Whatever, mister corporate job,” Sally said.

“It pays the bills,” I said.

John poured us all a drink and we settled down to making plans for Saturday. John would provide the booze but he wanted me to help mix the drinks since I was pretty good at it. I told them that I’d buy a bunch of finger-food stuff from Costco if they wanted. I knew how to cook, but there was no way I was playing catering service all night. I planned to get drunk! Over the next two hours, we got the food and drink lists done and figured out between John and me who would take care of what. Sally approved and we made a toast to good planning.

“So, who’s on the guest list anyway,” I asked.

Sally paused for a minute and gave John a look.

“Well,” she started. “Lots of people. People I work with, people I went to college with, you know, the usual.”

I felt like she wasn’t saying something. And I thought I knew what it was.

“There’s something you’re not saying,” I finally said. “There’s someone coming from Clare’s past and you don’t want to tell me.”

Sally looked at John. Finally, she looked at me and said, “Yeah, it’s Ellen.”

“Who’s Ellen?” I asked.

“Ellen is the woman that Clare dated through most of college,” Sally explained. “You knew she dated women, right?”

I nodded.

“Well, Ellen and Clare were quite the thing. Like, I thought they were a real thing. But, it seems that Ellen had some problems.”

“What problems?” I asked, concerned.

“Ellen had a pretty bad drug problem, David,” Sally said. “And you know how Clare feels about that. Clare really loved Ellen. But Ellen went down a path that Clare wouldn’t follow. And Clare broke up with her. But Clare can be a push over. And I guess that Ellen has been calling Clare lately. A lot. She says that she’s cleaned up and that she’s changed. I don’t know. I haven’t seen Ellen for over two years. But, Clare asked me if she could invite Ellen to the party Saturday. And based on your expression, I’m assuming that Clare hasn’t mentioned any of this to you.”

I smiled, trying to cover my disappointment.

“No, she hasn’t,” I said carefully. “But she doesn’t have to tell me these things. We have an understanding. There are rules, you know?”


“Yeah, there are always rules, David,” said Sally. “But rules can be broken when it involves matters of the heart. Clare really likes you. Like, a LOT. But, she’s afraid. She’s afraid of commitment because the last time she let someone in, she got hurt really bad.”

“And you’ve invited her to the party on Saturday…” I said. “Look. I’m an adult. Hell, I’m just now finally, actually divorced. The paperwork filed recently. I don’t know where I’m going or what I really want or need for my life in the long term. And yeah, Clare is important to me. She’s really, really cool. But, I don’t expect her to conform to my expectations. I’ll be fine. Ellen will be fine at the party and I’ll be fine. Clare and I try to keep things on the down low if we are in public spaces, so this will be no big deal.”

John laughed, “Give me a break, dude! You and Clare absolutely do NOT keep in on the ‘down low’ in public. You both are so busy giving each other googly eyes and she’s all with the ‘sir’ and you with the ‘miss’ and you think you’re hiding when you play grab ass under the table. It is quite obvious what you’re doing together.”

“John, have I told you to fuck off yet today?” I asked with mock seriousness. “If not, then consider yourself told. If I have, well then fuck off again.”

Sally smiled, “David, you’re a kind soul. You got heart. Clare does too. But you’ve seen a lot more life than she has. Be careful because I only see this as one of you having a broken heart in the end. And honestly, it will probably be you. Because you’re just that nice of a guy.”

I left their apartment a couple hours later. As I got into my car, I looked at my phone and saw that I had missed a call from Clare. She left a voicemail. As the phone connected to my bluetooth, I listened to her voice in my car.

“Good evening, sir. I figured you were going to the bar for a drink so I went down to meet you. But you weren’t there. I had a drink thinking I’d catch you when you arrived. I asked the bartender if he had seen you. He said you had left earlier with your friend. So, I thought I’d just meet you at home, but when I drove past your house, your car wasn’t there. I’m going by Zim’s for a martini. If you get this before I head home, maybe we can connect? I was going to talk to you about something.”

I clicked the ‘save’ button like I did for all of her voicemails. I thought for a minute and then stopped the car. Instead of calling, I sent her a text.

‘Hey, I just saw your voicemail. Sorry I didn’t answer. My phone wasn’t in my pocket and I was at Sally and John’s helping them plan for Saturday. I’m headed home now, are you still out? You’re welcome to come by.’

I paused for a minute, considering. Then I hit ‘send’. I pulled out of the parking lot and got back on the road towards my house feeling conflicted. I knew that Clare and I weren’t in a committed relationship. I know that we agreed that this was just a thing between us for while it lasted. But it still bothered me hearing that stuff about Ellen.

My phone rang, it was Clare.

“Hello?” I said, trying to be casual.

“Hey, you home yet?” her voice came across the car sound system.

“Almost, what about you? You still out?”

“Yeah, just taking a drive,” she said with some distance in her voice. “Is it cool if I come over?”

“It’s always cool when you come over,” I replied.

“Okay, fire up the hot tub, okay?”

“And I’ll open a bottle of wine,” I said. “We can talk over a nice glass of Merlot.”

“Talk about what?” she asked.

“Anything you want,” I replied.

“Okay, see you shortly.”

“Sounds good, bye.”

I ended the call feeling unsure. When I got home, I got some towels ready, opened a bottle of wine, got the glasses, and sat down in the living room. Clare knocked as she was opening the door and walked in.

“Knockie knockie!” she said, looking around for me.

“I’m in here,” I said from the couch. “Come on in, you know the routine!”

She hung her coat in the closet and walked into the living room where I was sitting.

“So…” she said.

“So,” I replied and smiled.

“You talked with Sally?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“And what?” I asked with a slight shrug.

“You okay with this?”

“With what?”

“With Saturday,” she said quietly. “With Ellen being there.”

I looked at her without saying anything.

“You aren’t, I can tell,” she said and went to stand up.

I put my hand on her knee, signaling her to wait.

“No,” I said clearly. “I’m fine. It is fine. I thought we had a particular thing. But I understand that it is something different than what I thought. And I’m okay with that. I’ve always known that at some point, things would change. Now it looks like it has. But I’m okay with that. I just need to know one thing.”

“What’s that?” she asked, her eyes starting to tear up.

“How has this changed?” I asked, looking right into her eyes. “Are we still a ‘thing’? Are we ‘done’? Somewhere in between? What am I supposed to do on Saturday at the party? Do I pretend we don’t have anything going on? Are you going home with Ellen that night?”

That last one got her.

“What?” she asked, surprised. “Go home with Ellen? No! Look, David. I really, really thought I loved Ellen. But she had… problems. I couldn’t deal with those problems. And it broke my heart. Mostly because I couldn’t deal with her problems. I felt that I was the one who had failed. I invited Ellen on Saturday and yes, I told her she could be my date. She says she’s been clean for 6 months and I want to support that. I don’t think that I’m getting back with her. That part of my life is over. But I need to support her because that’s what a friend would do. And that’s what she is. A friend.”

I smirked, “A friend you used to have sex with.”

“Shut up, you dork,” she chuckled.

“I’m just imagining you two having sex now,” I said. “So tell me, who was the top? Or did you play switch?”

“David, I’m serious, let it go,” Clare said, seeming to be genuinely hurt. “That was a difficult time of my life and I’m trying to be a better person now.”

I smiled at her and put my hands up. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I respect that. And I want you to help your friend. And if that means that I have to keep my hands off of you for one night, I suppose I can do that. But you owe me one.”

Clare smiled at that one. She looked at me directly in the eyes and held my gaze for a long moment.

“David,” she finally said. “You’re someone special. You fit into my life in a way that I hadn’t expected. There are a lot of things about you and me that aren’t figured out yet. And they may never be. We both know that we’re working against the odds here with all of what we do. And I am pretty certain that in the end, this will all come crashing down on us. I just don’t want either of us to be hurt by that when it happens.”

“Clare, thank you for saying all of that,” I said softly. “It… it makes me feel a lot better about… well, about all of this. We’ll just take it day by day and as long as we’re honest and open about what is going on, I think we’ll both make it through whatever comes along. Just do me one favor. The next time there’s an ‘Ellen’ situation, just tell me up front. I’m a big boy, I can take it.”

“Okay,” she said quietly. “I just don’t want to hurt you. And I don’t think I’m ready for this thing between us to end. Not yet. Because if I’m being honest, David, I think… well… I think–”

“Stop right there,” I interrupted. “Maybe you’re going to say what I think you’re going to say. Maybe you’re not. But if it is what I think it is, don’t say it. I understand what your meaning is. And know that I’m pretty sure I feel the same. But if that’s true, then we gotta get a whole lot more in order before we can deal with that extra layer. Is that okay?”

She teared up this time and her eye makeup was starting to run. But she bit her lip and nodded her head.

“You’re right, you know,” she finally said. “I think I’m still pretty spun out in my head. I mean if Ellen calling me can cause me to spiral like this, I need to be careful of what I might say. So, I’ll just say this. David, you’re special to me. You mean something to me. What we share is different from anything I’ve shared with anyone else. And it is new and exciting to me. I don’t know where this is going. But I am ready to follow it and see what happens.”

She smiled at me, “Is that okay?”

“Yes. That’s perfect,” I said gently. “And Clare, you are special to me as well. What we share is very wonderful. I look forward to each time we do… well, whatever it is that we do. I will be honest and open with you about how I feel about everything. Everything.”

“Thanks…” she said with a sniffle. “So…”

“So…”

“Can we drink this wine now?” she asked.

“Only if we get into the hot tub,” I told her.

“Sounds great,” she said. “But…”

“But what?” I asked.

“We still get to be naked in the hot tub, right?” she asked.

“Of course, clothing is not allowed in my hot tub,” I said. “There’s a sign and everything.”

“Those are the rules…”

“Yes, they are…” I smiled at her.

She regained her composure and stood up. She smirked at me and gave me a long hug.

As she stepped back, she put her finger on my chest and then slowly ran it down to my belt buckle.

“Sir?” she asked.

“Yes, miss?” I replied coyly.

“When we’re in the hot tub, can you do me a favor?”

“What do you want, Clare?”

“Will you touch me?” she asked with a shy shrug.

“Touch you where?”

She grabbed my hand and put it on her breasts. She grabbed my other hand and put it on her behind. She moved my hand from her breast to the top of her skirt and slowly slid it down, under the material.

I took over and slid my hand the rest of the way down, under her skirt and panties. She was already getting turned on.

I stepped back and nodded towards the hallway. She skipped off, taking her shirt off as she headed towards the bedroom.

“Will you touch my nipples?” she asked from down the hallway.

“Yes, of course.”

“How about my clit?”

“Always.”

“Will you put your finger in my ass?”

“If you’d like.”

“Will you fuck my pussy while you finger my ass and I suck on a dildo?”

“Is that what you want to do?”

I got to the bedroom and she was completely undressed.

“I want it all, that’s what I want to do! And I want it all while drinking your wine!”

I stopped in the doorway and leaned against one side, looking at her body.

“Clare, what have I told you about following the rules?”

A shocked expression shot across her face. She immediately looked down at her feet and put her hands together in front of her waist.

“I’m sorry, sir. In my excitement, I forgot.”

“That’s more like it, miss,” I reprimanded. “Now, go sit in the hot tub and make yourself horny by letting the jets vibrate your clit. Go.”

She let out a squeal of excitement and rushed out the door to the hot tub. I got undressed and gathered up the towels and wine. I went outside and Clare was already grinding her pussy against the water jets. I could tell by the way her eyes fluttered that she was already close to an orgasm.

It was going to be a fun evening…