A Whole New Life Ch. 02

Dave woke up early Thursday morning, the morning after his encounter with Karen. He lay in the morning light, imagining Karen last night. Reaching down and feeling his cock stiffen as his mind ran through their time together. He thought of her phone number in his brief case. He wanted to call her. But should he call her today? She had said a couple days, so maybe he should wait. But to be honest, he didn't want to wait, he wanted to taste that sweet pussy again and feel her lips wrapped around his cock. One thing he did know for sure, he was going to get out of this rut he'd been in since he and Joan had separated and it was going to start today.

He popped out of bed, slipped on his workout clothes and went down to the hotel's gym. He felt a renewed drive as he went through his workout. His wind wasn't where he wanted it to be after weeks of sleeping through his workout, but he pushed himself hard and felt a rush as the endorphins hit his brain and blood rushed through his muscles. He pushed himself harder than he had in quite a while and went back to his room bathed in sweat and breathing hard. "There was no feeling like that first workout after a long layoff." he thought to himself.

He walked back into his room and over to the window, pushing the curtains aside and watching the traffic on the street below as cool air from the air conditioner washed over him. He smiled to himself as his heart rate dropped back to normal and the sweat began to dry on his skin. Breathing deeply, he stripped off his soaked t-shirt as he strolled into the bathroom, flashing back to images of Karen sitting naked in the tub the night before. A smile crossed his face and he felt a happiness he hadn't felt in what seemed like forever.

He reached into the shower and turned the water on, letting it warm up as he shaved and stripped off his shoes, socks and shorts before stepping into the steaming shower. The hot water burned just a little as he slid under it and let it cascade over him, feeling his sweat glands open back up. Looking up into the water and closing his eyes, then turning around and standing in the steaming shower for a few minutes; he let his body and mind relax. He realized his hand had slid down and was slowly stroking his cock as he thought about last night and Karen. He picked up a bar of soap and used his hand to lather himself up well and rinse. Then he grabbed the shampoo and washed his hair, enjoying the feel of his fingers roughly massaging his scalp under the hot water.

He felt great as he quickly dressed, grabbed his briefcase and headed downstairs to grab some breakfast. As he approached the hotel's restaurant he decided that he would give that diner down the street he had been meaning to try a shot this morning; so he walked out and jumped into his car and drove down the street. As he drove he began to think about all the things he had not done over the last couple months, the funk he had been in and how much he hated that. At that moment he reminded himself that that was over; he was going to take advantage of this situation and live a little. He had been married since right out of college and had missed a lot of the wild times his friends had had before settling down.

After two blocks he turned into the parking lot of the diner and slipped his car into a spot right in front of the door. He stepped out of the car with a smile on his face and walked into the diner and felt the cool blast of air and breathed in that smell of fried food and coffee that he loved about places like this. He sat down on a red vinyl stool at the counter and grabbed a menu from the rack in front of him.

"Mornin hun. Coffee?" the waitress said as she walked over to him, a steaming pot of coffee in one hand and a thick ceramic mug in the other.

He nodded, smiling at her as he put the menu back into the rack. "Please; and two eggs, over easy with wheat toast, hash-browns and bacon."

The waitress poured the coffee, pulled out her order pad, made a couple notes and slid away. "I'll get that right up."

Dave pulled out his phone and unlocked it to catch up on his emails. Most nights he stayed on top of his email until he went to sleep, but last night he had gone to bed after Karen left without evening picking his phone up off the floor where Karen had tossed it. He chuckled as he read the ten texts Joan had sent last night, grinning as he imagined the furious look that must have been on her face as she sent each one and imagining her still stewing over the situation this morning as she sat at the kitchen bar where she sat every morning and drank her coffee. He read a few emails from work and sipped his coffee.

The waitress returned and refilled his coffee as she sat his breakfast down in front of him. "Can I get you anything else?"

"Looks great, thanks." he said, picking up his fork and digging into the sloppy mess of eggs and potatoes.

"OK, holler if you need anything." She set his check on the counter and walked away.

He ate quickly and used the toast to sop up the last bits of egg before he picked up the check, pulled out his wallet and tossed some cash onto the counter with the check. Standing, he smiled and waved to the waitress as he walked out and got into his car and headed for the office.

As usual, the day flew by and there was little time to think about anything but work. He was working with a great team of people and every day he felt more and more confident that this office was going to be a great addition to the company. At the end of the day he sat down for his daily update with the Branch Manager, a young single guy named Brad who the company had pulled from their management training program, the same program Dave had started in several years ago. They chatted about how things were going, updated a few project items and Dave got up to leave.

Pausing in the doorway, Dave thought about his earlier vow and figured this was a perfect time to start to change a few things. "You want to grab some dinner Brad?"

Brad was a little surprised. Dave had been great to work with, but for the last two months had never even hinted at having any interest in any outside the office contact. He knew he had recently separated from his wife, but that was about the extent of the personal information that had been shared. "Sure Dave, that sounds great." Brad said, looking up from his desk.

"Great, how about the steakhouse over on 3rd?" Dave asked.

"Food there is great, and the scenery is even better." Brad said, a wide grin on his face. "I'll meet you over there in about ten minutes."

Dave smiled and headed out, got in his car and drove over to the steakhouse. He walked in, sat down at a hi-top in the bar and ordered a beer. Looking around he saw what Brad had meant about the scenery, the place was crawling with groups of attractive women. It looked like there was quite a singles crowd that moved and acted like regulars with a lot of flirting going on. It reminded him a lot of a college bar, but with older customers. The music was loud, but not uncomfortably so, but the conversations created a fairly intense background noise.

As he waited for Brad, he focused on a couple groups of women and watched their interactions as others approached. It became quite apparent that this place was quite the after-work meat market. While he was watching a particularly attractive blonde being chatted up by an older man, Brad walked in and sat down.

"Quite the pickup joint huh." Brad said as he slid into the chair next to Dave.

Dave laughed and turned. "Yeah, it's something."

"That why you wanted to come here?" Brad asked. He still wasn't quite sure if there was any ulterior motive behind this dinner. He was wondering if maybe Dave was looking for some companionship and thought a wingman would help. So he smiled and left the question hanging there to gauge Dave's response.

Dave laughed. "No, I was told they had good steaks." It did cross his mind though that had he known about the place, he definitely would not have chosen to go elsewhere. Yesterday he might have, but not today.

The two ordered dinner and had a couple of beers while they talked casually about work and about their lives. Dave gave Brad a summary of his marriage and why it had ended without the sad sack attitude that seemed to go along with the story for the last couple months. He even hinted at last night's events, without going into detail, which drew a grin from Brad. Brad asked Dave a lot of questions about the company and his experiences and Dave was more than happy to extol the virtues of the company that had helped him achieve a lot of his success over the last ten years.

They were both laughing about an incident at a company meeting a couple months back when two women walked up to their table; a tall thin red-head and a busty brunette. The brunette smiled and asked, "Do you mind if we sit here? All the tables are taken."

Brad looked around the room and noticed a couple empty tables, but smiled and reached over to pull the empty chair next to him out from under the table. "Please do."

The brunette reached her hand out as she slid onto the chair. "I'm Becky and this is Tania."

Both women appeared to be in their mid twenties. Becky was average height with short black hair. She was a little pudgy and was wearing a black, low cut v-neck t-shirt and jeans. Tania was fairly tall and her slim build made her appear even taller. She had piercing blue eyes, pale skin, light freckles and long, curly red hair. She was a classic ginger. She had on a pair of low rise jeans and a grey silk looking top with spaghetti straps.

Tania smiled shyly and offered her hand to Dave, who shook it politely. "Nice to meet you, I'm Dave and this is Brad."

Dave ordered a round of drinks and the four of them sat and chatted. Becky and Tania were copywriters at an advertising firm in town. Becky was definitely the outgoing member of the pair and laughed and giggled her way through story after story about her life, including a rather embarrassing tale from summer camp that ended up with her clothes missing. Through all this, Tania sat fairly quietly; obviously not very comfortable in this situation. In an attempt to include Tania in the conversation, Dave turned to her and asked, "So Tania, how about you? Have you ever ended up naked in the woods at summer camp?"

She looked at him pensively for a second, then shrugged. "Well, not at summer camp."

All four of them broke out laughing and Dave took the opportunity to call the waitress over and order another round of drinks. They drank and talked for a few more minutes. Becky and Brad were flirting a lot and before too long she had slid over close to him and they were kissing playfully and giggling. Dave slid his hand over on top of Tania's, wondering how she would react. She smiled sweetly and interlaced her fingers with his.

Tania leaned over and whispered in Dave's ear, "Are you married?"

"Separated." Dave answered quickly, almost too quickly.

Tania giggled. "Since this morning?"

Dave looked at her with a confused look. "No, a couple months."

"Good." she whispered and moved over closer. "Can't tell you how many men in here have been separated from their wives since they left for work this morning."

The two couples chatted separately for a while. Dave and Tania discovered they both were Scuba Divers and talked about some of the places they had been diving. She had been to places all over the world with her family and he was more than a little jealous of the places she'd seen and been diving. Becky and Brad were now spending more time kissing than talking. Their hands had disappeared under the table and it was pretty obvious there was a little groping going on. Brad whispered something in Becky's ear and she smiled and bounced up out of her chair, pulling Brad with her.

"We're gonna run." she said to Dave, "Think you could give Tania a ride home?"

Dave looked at Tania and saw her smile and roll her eyes. "Sure, be happy to."

Brad grinned at Dave and started to pull out his wallet.

Dave put his hand up. "Don't worry about it Brad. Company's got this one."

Brad grinned and mouthed, "Thanks" as he and Becky headed out the door.

Once they had left, Tania turned to Dave and smiled. "I'm sorry about that. I can take a cab home."

He squeezed her hand. "It's fine. I'm glad to do it."

They chatted for a while longer, laughing and enjoying themselves. She was eight years younger than Dave, the daughter of a Marine; she had lived all over the world, which explained the amazing diving adventures. About five years ago she was about a month away from marrying a guy she had met in college, but had decided that she really didn't love him and broke it off. She hadn't dated anyone seriously since.

He looked down at his watch, more out of habit than anything else.

She frowned. "I'm sorry, did you want to go?"

He laughed, shifting in his chair. "Actually, I'd love to get out of here, but only if you'll come with me."

She smiled. "How about a walk? There's a real nice path along the river with a spectacular view of the sunset."

"That sounds wonderful." He pulled out his wallet and paid the check, then stood and stuck his elbow out. "You ready?"

She slipped her arm into his and leaned against him as they walked out the door. She led him down the street to a trail that ran along the river. Lots of people were out, biking, skating and jogging in the warm summer evening. The sun was starting to set and reflected off the river as they walked arm in arm chatting more.

They stopped and watched as the sun started to slip behind the trees on the far bank of the river. He slipped his arm around her waist and she leaned her head against his shoulder. He turned and softly kissed the top of her head and she moved in front of him, sliding her arms around his waist and looking up at him. "Are you and your wife really separated or are you just away on business?"

He smiled and laughed softly. "I have a copy of the divorce filing in my brief case if you want to read it."

"No, I'll pass." she said and lifted up slightly and kissed him.

They kissed softly as the sun set, then walked back to Dave's car as the lights along the trail came on and darkness began taking over. Dave opened the passenger door to his car and moved his briefcase to the back seat, then closed the door behind her as she slid into the seat. He walked around and climbed into the driver's seat, closed the door and started the engine. "Where to?"

She kissed him on the cheek and directed him to her apartment building. The building was a typical three story garden apartment building in a complex that had probably twenty buildings that looked just like it. They sat uncomfortably for a moment as she reached for the handle of the car door.

"Well, thanks for a nice evening and the ride home." she said softly.

He really wanted to spend some more time with her but wasn't sure exactly how to ask her so he blurted out, "Do you have a roommate?"

She giggled. "Becky. So I doubt she's home right now."

"Mind if I come up?" he asked.

She smiled and let out a relieved sigh. "I'd really like that." She had really been hoping he was going to stay for a while. It had been quite a while since she had been with a man who she was actually interested in. She'd hooked up with a few guys as a result of Becky's love of casual sex, but more often ended up taking a cab home from the bar. This was probably the first time any of the guys that had given her a ride home had actually asked her if she wanted him to come up. Most just assumed, including a couple she'd had to have some fairly direct conversations with about how many ways her father had taught her to rip a man's balls off who couldn't understand the word "no".

They got out of the car and he took her hand as they walked into the building and up two flights of stairs to the door of her apartment. Like so many apartment buildings, the smells of bug spray, different ethnic foods and mustiness competed in the hallway. She pulled a key out of her pocket and opened the door, reaching in to turn on the light as they walked in. He looked around, seeing a very typical apartment with a couch, chair and television in the main room, a kitchen to one side and a hallway going back to the bedrooms.

"Want a beer?" she asked, tossing her key into a bowl on a shelf beside the door.

"Sure, that sounds great." he said absently.

"Have a seat, I'll grab you one." She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

Dave wandered over and sat down at one end of the couch, moving a purple pillow out from behind him. He looked around the room and saw a lot of pictures of Tania and Becky, Tania and large groups of girls, and Tania and what must be her parents all around the apartment. The most prominent picture of all was of a red haired man in Marine Dress Blues with a square jaw and rows of medals and ribbons across his chest; obviously her father. Tania walked in with two beers and handed him one as she sat down on his lap and slipped her arm around his shoulder.

They started kissing and before long set the beers down on the side table without drinking a sip. He slid his hands around her waist and let one hand drop down to her hip as they kissed more passionately. She laid her hand on his chest and clawed gently at his shirt, then unbuttoned the top few buttons and slid her hand inside it, running her fingers through the thick black hair on his chest.

His hand slid up the front of her shirt and up her flat belly to her small breasts. Her nipple immediately began to stiffen as his fingers touched it and she let out a soft gasp. Her tongue slipped between his lips and she kissed him hungrily, her hand sliding out from under his shirt and around the back of his neck. His fingers teased her nipple playfully and he smiled inside as she responded with little moans and whimpers. He began to realized how different she was in private than she appeared in public. His thoughts drifted for a second to Becky, who was such an outgoing public person, wondering what was going on over at Brad's place.

That's when the strangest thought of all flashed through his mind. He saw an image of a slip of paper from the nightstand of his hotel suite. It was the slip of paper that Karen had written her phone number on as she left after an amazing couple hours of passion. He couldn't believe but he was feeling like he was cheating. Not cheating on Joan, but on Karen. The thought passed almost as quickly as it hit, but his reaction must have been obvious to Tania because she stopped kissing him and looked at him.

"You OK?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, "just had one of those strange mental image things."

"Wanna share?" She still wasn't entirely convinced that he wasn't married and just another married man taking advantage of business travel. At this point she really didn't care all that much, and would probably fuck him anyway, but hated the idea of being lied to.

He thought quickly and fibbed a little. "You're the first woman I've been with since my separation. So it's a little weird for me."

Giggling, she straddled him and started unbuttoning his shirt. "Then I better make this something else."

He laughed and lifted his arms as she slid his shirt off and buried her face in his neck, nibbling and teasing him. His hands slid down around her narrow hips and he thought about how similar she was built to Karen, from the waist down at least. His head leaned to the left a little as she kissed the nape of his neck and began sucking and nibbling on the skin over his collar bone. When he didn't stop her, she figured he must actually be separated because married men get real nervous about marks being left behind.

His hands slid up and started to lift her shirt off. This caused her to stop, pull back and look at him. "Can we go back to my room? Becky doesn't sleep over with her conquests and I'd really rather not have her walk in on us."