Blind Date Awakening

The alarm screeched out its wake-up call, its piercing tone destroying the early morning silence. It continued to wail until a hand reached out from under the covers of the king-sized bed and slammed down on top of it, activating the snooze feature and silencing it for 10 minutes. This allowed Charles to go back to his dream, one in which he was very familiar.

He and his wife Jessica were locked in a heated embrace, both naked, laying tightly next to each other on the bed, kissing as if it was their first time. Charles ran his left hand slowly down his beautiful wife's back, eliciting a deep moan as their tongues continued to dance with each other while they kissed. Gradually, his hand extended to the roundness of her ass, his fingers now kneading the flesh of her right globe, teasing as they approached the cleft her luscious ass crack provided. Jessica shifted her weight, allowing her to roll onto her back, spreading her legs, causing Charles to move his hand around to her thigh, where he continued his teasing. Between kisses, Jessica breathlessly called out in anticipation of Charles' hand reaching her pussy, which was clearly wet and ready to be pleasured. Charles obliged, first teasing around her outer lips, before plunging a finger deep within the steamy canal, causing Jessica to gasp in both surprise and pleasure.

Charles' growing cock began to cause him discomfort, trapped as it was next to Jessica's left leg as she lay on her back. He shifted and rolled up to his hands and knees, continuing to assault Jessica's steaming pussy with now two fingers, while moving his mouth down to her left breast, finding its nipple taut and erect, beckoning his mouth to taste it, nibble on it, all of which caused Jessica to moan even more. His cock now free, it hung obscenely below him, sliding over Jessica's thigh, leaving a trail of pre-cum in its wake.

He added another finger to his exploration of Jessica's pussy, reaching farther inside than before, and she bucked her hips to let him know that he had found her interior pleasure center. Knowing that she had started up the climb to her orgasm, Charles released her left nipple and moved his mouth over to her right, treating it in the same manner. He didn't ignore her left side, but instead brought his right hand up and rolled the still erect nipple between his thumb and finger, glancing in amazement as the pink bud stretched under his manipulation.

As he lavished both breasts, he kept up his fingers plunged deep into her pussy, finding more than enough moisture to continue rubbing on her G spot. At the same time, he brought the heel of his hand down and brushed it over her swollen clit. He knew, from the years of giving his wife pleasure, that she wouldn't be able to hold out long, and once again, she didn't disappoint. Jessica was twisting and lunging on the bed, panting as she muttered "O god, O god, O god..." over and over, until she stopped, held her breath, and finally let loose with a loud squeal, signaling that she had made it to the top of the hill. Her pussy began to spasm, clamping itself around Charles' fingers as it flooded her interior. Her body shuddered, and her breathing became rapid, and she cried out "YES, YES, YES!!" over and over, until Charles released her nipple and drew his now soaked fingers out of her throbbing pussy, allowing her to start her descent back down the orgasmic mountain. She closed her eyes and turned her head away, breathing deeply as the fingers of electricity her orgasm unleashed throughout her body began to subside.

Turning her head back to Charles, she slowly opened her eyes to find him smiling down at her, elated that he still knew the tricks to drive her insane. He bent down to kiss Jessica deeply, knowing that in spite of her orgasm, their play time had only just begun. Jessica's breathing returned to near normal, enough that as they broke their kiss and looked deeply into each other's eyes, she softly muttered, "Fuck me....fuck me right now!" Only happy to oblige, Charles moved completely between her outstretched legs and brought his cock up to the entrance of her still tingling pussy, slowly inserting it inside as he began to make love to the only woman he had ever slept with in his entire life.......

And then the alarm screeched again, the snooze cycle complete, awakening him from this erotic dream. He shut if off properly this time, stretched out his arms, and reached over to feel his wife in bed next to him......

Except that she wasn't there, and the cold, hard reality of her absence rushed back into his soul like an oppressive gray cloud, blocking the sunshine out of his life. The erotic dreams he would have of he and Jessica only served to remind him of what life was before – completely loving each other, pledging themselves to each other, and knowing what each other craved in their sexual desires. It was a perfect life – in fact, many people had told them just how jealous they were of what Charles and Jessica shared with each other.

Charles had grown up in a small town – not a small town of several thousand, but a REALLY small town in the Midwest of less than 1,000. His family was very close – it was his parents and a sister who was two years younger than he was. Everybody knew everybody else in this small town. Parents would look after other kids just as they looked after their own. His parents owned a combination hardware/furniture store. It was never easy, but at the same time, the town was so small that they didn't have to worry about one of the big national chain stores building any time soon.

On the first day of his freshman year in high school, Charles' life would change forever. In a high school of less than 100 students, it was a big deal when a new student joined their class. That first day, Charles saw Jessica for the first time, and fell in love immediately. Her family had moved into town just the week before school started. In a move that was unlike his usual quiet and shy demeanor, he went straight over to her and introduced himself, and the rest, as they say, was history.

Charles and Jessica's relationship began as friends, proceeded on to close friends, then moved to going "steady," and eventually blossomed into what could only be described as teen love. While their other friends would date people, then break up, then find someone new, Charles and Jessica stayed with each other, all the way through high school. In their senior yearbook, they were voted the couple most likely to still be a couple in 50 years. It was a lead pipe cinch – from that first day of their freshman year, Charles and Jessica would never look for anyone else again.

They graduated from high school together (Jessica was the valedictorian, and Charles was the salutatorian), then headed to the state university a couple of hours away from home. They had always promised each other that they would wait until they got married before they officially consummated their relationship. By the second year of college, they couldn't wait anymore, and Charles proposed to Jessica. They planned the wedding for the first weekend in June after their second year of college had concluded. It was the social event of the year in their small town – nearly everybody turned out to witness their vows and congratulate them on making official what everyone knew was always destined to happen.

Their first night as husband and wife was perfect. They had chosen a quaint little inn that featured separate, private cottages, located just a few hours south of their small town, as the place where they would finally give themselves completely to each other. Jessica came out of the bathroom of their cottage wearing a very sheer white gown, immediately catching Charles' attention. It perfectly displayed her small but firm breasts, her nipples upturned and pointing to the ceiling as they tried to poke their way through her gown. He could see that she hadn't bothered putting on panties, instead choosing to suggestively display her dark pubic patch beneath the gauzy material. Charles breathed in deeply, then smiled and moved to her, taking her in his arms and locking into their most sensual kiss yet. As they kissed, Jessica began unbuttoning his shirt, sliding it off of his shoulders, then reached for his belt, and finally finding and unbuttoning his pants. As he stepped out of his shoes and pants, he was left with only his underwear on, but they weren't hiding the fact that he was completely ready for what was about to happen. They had had many conversations about this night prior to their wedding day, so without any talking, they began to turn those conversations into reality.

That first night of consummation set the standard by which they would strive to reach in all other of their future times together. As hard as it had been to wait until their wedding night to make love, they always believed it had been worth the denial they had practiced before. They learned each other's likes and dislikes, discovered the places on each other's bodies that made their sexual adventures even stronger, and fell farther in love with each other each time they kissed and looked deeply into each other's eyes.

Charles and Jessica had moved back to their hometown following college – he using the business degree he acquired to begin working in his parents' store, with the assumed purpose of taking it over when his parents were ready to retire, and she finding an elementary teaching position in the school district. Soon they had two daughters, born two years apart, and their All-American family was taking shape. Life wasn't extravagant by any means, but what they didn't have in wealth, they had in love.

Charles enjoyed working in his parents' store, but he couldn't help but think something bigger was out there, waiting to be discovered. That turned out to be the infancy of cellular technology. As the big companies began to build cell empires in large cities, small towns like theirs were getting passed over. Charles saw an opportunity to bring cell service to his town, and proceeded to start his own little company. It was tough in the beginning – in fact, Jessica had quit teaching to be his full time bookkeeper and accounts receivable department, often working without pay as they struggled in the first couple of years. Eventually they learned from their mistakes and got a solid little cell company going. Charles and Jessica expanded to other small towns in the region that were also being passed over by the big companies, and pretty soon they had a large regional cellular network that began to attract the attention of the national cell phone carriers. Eventually they sold their little company for several million dollars, and Charles was offered a six-figure salary to work for them as a regional manager.

By the time they had sold their company, their girls had gone to college, found mates, gotten married, and moved to different parts of the country. Charles' new job with the national cell carrier required that they move out of their small town and into a city about four hours away. They had purchased a river walk condominium in a new development in a southern suburb, where they enjoyed city life with each other. Life continued to be perfect, and they continued to fall deeper and deeper in love with each other.

But perfection isn't guaranteed to last forever, and Charles and Jessica found this out in the most devastating manner possible. Jessica was diagnosed with an aggressive type of ovarian cancer. From the date of her original diagnosis, and despite the most advanced treatment possible, Jessica died two months later. Of course Charles was inconsolable. His best friend, his lover, his soulmate, had been taken from him far too early.

Charles began to undergo a withdrawal process. The days surrounding Jessica's funeral were hazy at best for him. Family and friends tried to console him, but found little success. He spent a week at each of his daughter's houses, but felt lost and out of place as they tried to deal with their own grief and put their own lives back in order. He took an extended leave of absence from work, but found that he needed the regularity of his job in order to try to keep going. Soon his life consisted of going to work, going home to an empty condo, struggling to fall asleep, and waking up to the morning alarm, rousing him from his usual dreams of he and Jessica together, giving themselves to each other sexually and spiritually.

That had been two years ago. Each successive day had grown darker without his beloved Jessica by his side. He had no interest in deviating from this reclusive routine into which he had fallen. He couldn't imagine trying to break out of his void, because he knew in his heart he would never be able to find anyone to replace the love he and Jessica had for each other. Therefore, he knew it was worthless to even try.

Charles swung his feet off the side of the bed and onto the cold floor. By now his daily routine had taken complete control over him – this morning would be no different. Shave...shower...suit and tie...out the door...same route to work...same parking space...same pass code to get into the building...straight to his office to begin his work. That particular day, the only interruption to his routine came when his assistant regional manager Stan knocked on his office door around 10:00. Of all the employees in his department, he was probably best friends with Stan. They were about the same age and had some common interests. It was Stan who took on most of the workload when Charles had missed time from work following Jessica's death.

Stan came into the office with a smile on his face – not exactly the way Charles was used to seeing him in come in. Stan shut the door behind him, pulled up a chair directly in front of Charles' desk, and sat down and looked him straight in the eye.

"Charles," began Stan, "how was your weekend?"

Charles flinched a little at this question. Stan knew exactly how his weekend was, just like every weekend for the past two years. To start his conversation in this way signaled to Charles that he had something else he wanted to discuss – something Charles was sure he didn't want to hear.

"It was fine," Charles replied. "Nothing happened to make it stand out."

Stan looked away from Charles as if he was searching for the right words to say to keep this conversation going without Charles throwing him out. Finally, he blurted out, "What are you doing this coming weekend?"

Again Charles flinched – he was exactly right, this conversation wasn't what Charles wanted to hear on Monday morning.

"No plans – probably just stay in the condo and see what games are on TV."

Stan hesitatingly pressed on. "What would you think about going out to dinner on Friday night?"

Here we go, thought Charles. Stan and his wife Lori were nice people. Charles and Jessica had spent some time with Lori and Stan while Jessica was still alive, but Charles hadn't seen her in the two years following Jessica's death. He remembered her to be bubbly, nearly always smiling, the regular "life-of-the-party" kind of woman. Charles had no reason not to like her, but he knew that her personality would be unbearable for him to deal with in his current state.

"I don't know, Stan...I'm not sure I would be very much of a good dinner guest. I wouldn't want to ruin you and Lori's time together."

Stan took a deep breath, and continued, knowing that Charles would more than likely shut him down before he finished. "It's not a dinner with Lori and I. It's a dinner with you and a friend of Lori's – kind of like a blind date. There would be no pressure for anything to come out of it, other than two people meeting and enjoying dinner together."

Charles groaned. He thought he was ready to handle Stan's questions, but he had no idea Stan was trying to set him up on a blind date. He turned in his chair to look out the window of his office, and said, "No, Stan – that's not going to happen. I'm not ready for something like that. Forget it!"

Stan stood up and walked over behind Charles' desk to address him directly. "Charles, listen. For two years now, you have had no life other than coming to work, and even when you are here, you don't talk to anybody unless it involves the company. I know you're hurting inside, and I respect that. But you have to keep on living, and right now, you're not doing a very good job of it!"

The words hit Charles like a sledgehammer. He knew Stan was right, but doing something about it was another thing.

"Stan, I can't – I miss Jessica so much that I don't think I could ever be with someone else. I'm afraid all I will do is compare whomever it is to Jessica, knowing that there is nobody on the face of the earth that can match up to what Jessica was to me."

"Charles, I'm not asking you to forget Jessica. And I'm certainly not asking you to make a new life commitment. It's just a little blind date, with a woman whom Lori says is quiet like you, and dealing with some life issues as well."

"I don't know—"

"Before you say no, think about this. Wouldn't Jessica want you to continue on with your life, and try to find at least a little happiness? If you had been the one who had gotten cancer, wouldn't you have wanted Jessica to try to find some happiness after you had died?"

Charles knew Stan was right. If Jessica was looking down on him from above, she would be pretty upset that he hadn't tried to have at least a little fun. She would be telling him to go out, meet new people, and have a little fun, live your life again. He had been so selfish in his own grief that he hadn't stopped to think of what Jessica would have wanted for him. He couldn't believe he was doing this, but he started to think about the possibility of going on this 'blind date' his friends were trying to create for him.

Still, there were plenty of reservations making themselves known in Charles' mind. He needed to know more, if that was possible with a blind date. He looked at Stan and asked, "What can you tell me about this 'friend' of Lori's? How does she know her? What kind of issues is she facing?"

"Her name is Karen, and Lori knows her from working out together at the same gym. I know she's about your age, and that life has dealt her a couple of setbacks recently, but other than that, I don't really know anything else. It sounds to me like she's lonely – just like my friend Charles," he said, looking at Charles and grinning.

Charles' mind was doing somersaults with all of the thoughts that were rolling around in his head. It had been a long time since he had been involved in any social activity. Yet his biggest fear still was that he would compare this Karen – and any other woman, for that matter – with his beloved Jessica, and he knew there was no way any other woman could hold up to that standard.

Stan drew closer to Charles and put his hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Charles – you're only 50, and you have a lot of life yet to live. You need to start living again! I'm not saying this one blind date will be the answer to your life, but it may be the one thing that will get you started out of your darkness and into the beautiful light of the world."

"And I'll make you a deal – if you promise to go on this one date on Friday night, and it doesn't work out, I promise never to set you up again. Just give it this one shot, Charles! If it doesn't work, we'll at least know that you tried."

Charles looked at Stan and shook his head. "All right, Stan, just this one date, even if just to shut you up about this! Set it up, and give me the details. Let's see how this plan of you and Lori's works out."

Stan grinned, and told Charles that it was already all set up, that the last piece of the puzzle was his agreeing to it. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Charles. It had all of the details of where and when the date would be, including his instructions of finding Karen in the restaurant once he got there.