Alice


Alice and Bob danced the first dance, as was traditional. Of
course I was there, chronicling this latest phase in my best
friend's life. The two of them were good together, everyone
said so and I had to agree. The love-light just shone from
their eyes and their smiles were sickeningly sweet. How did
I know this? You ask. I was videotaping their wedding. I
didn't have to, they did have an official cameraman, but I
had a self-appointed task to complete my record of Bob's
life as a single man. The first song segued into the second
song and the rest of the wedding party sashayed onto the
dance floor and mums and dads partnered their opposite
number along with maiden aunts and roguish uncles. I decided
that I'd had enough and sat down, deflated.

"It's all right you know."

I turned round bewildered at the unexpected intrusion. The
words had come from Alice's grandmother.

"What is?" I said tersely.

"It's all right to admit that you love him."

"Who?" I was completely at a loss to understand what she was
driving at.

"Bob. It's all right if you're in love with him."

I laughed. She looked offended.

"I'm sorry. I'm being rude, it's just that you caught me
off-guard. Yes, you're right, I do love him." The old lady
looked smug and murmured something like 'I knew I was
right'; then I lowered the boom. "But like a brother. I'm
not in love with him." I reflected on the inadequacies of
the English language in this respect. The Greeks had it
right with their different sorts of love: Agape, Philos, and
Eros. Philos that was the one: love between friends. I
clarified myself to Alice's Grandmother. "I'm not gay you
know."

She looked unconvinced. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend
you."

"It's okay, I'm not offended, there's nothing wrong with
being gay. It's just that I'm not." I smiled to show just
how relaxed about it I was and wandered off to get a drink.

Another close call, I reflected as I downed the single malt
that Bob had made sure was behind the bar especially for me.
The peaty, peppery flavour of the Talisker burnt its way
down my throat and I held my glass out for another double.
Good old Bob, always looking out for me, I thought darkly. I
looked up to see the happy couple weaving their way towards
me. I pasted a welcoming smile on my face in a band-aid kind
of way and waited for them to arrive.

Alice and Bob descended on me like two slightly drunken
angels of love, dispensing bonhomie and goodwill to all and
sundry. Alice draped her arm around my shoulder and tried to
kiss me. I stiffened under her embrace and she desisted,
rebuffed once more.

"Wish us luck." Bob oblivious to the by-play, as always,
demanded his obligatory blessing from me.

"Good luck" I tried to smile and added, "both of you. I hope
you'll be very happy together."

Alice flinched at my artificial tone and dragged him off. I
stared after them and wondered again what the hell I was
going to do when they came back from their honeymoon. It was
then that I knew I was going to take the job offer from the
'States. That was the ticket, I thought to myself, several
thousand miles ought to be far enough away to cope with it
and maybe, just maybe, I would be able to forget.

The sounds of cheering drifted from the entrance of the
hotel and then cries of "Charles, where's Charles?" floated
into the ballroom. That was my cue. I fired up the camera
and made my way outside to video them leaving for a
fortnight's cruise in the Caribbean. So intent was I on
filming them that I missed the fact that the bouquet had
been thrown until I looked up and saw the flowers descending
on me. Sometimes things just happen. I nonchalantly put out
my hand and the bouquet just fell into place as if it were
magnetically attracted. I looked up and saw Alice glaring at
me. I shrugged an apology and handed the flowers to the girl
next to me who looked dejected at having received them
second-hand. Before anyone could say anything Bob grabbed
Alice and dragged the garter from her thigh, a process that
I didn't capture on video. Then he chucked it high in the
air and I watched as several drunken teenagers fought over
the bounty. With a final wave the car drove off into the
night with cans and boots banging and thumping merrily
behind it.

.oOo.

The 'phone rang as I entered my apartment. I searched
amongst the chaos of the imminent move and eventually found
it.

"Hey Charlie boy, wassup?" The raucous tones of Bob made me
wince.

"Hey Bob. I only just left you, wa'd'ya want?"

"Sorry, I forgot to ask you. Alice says the cameraman has
made a complete cock-up of the wedding video. I told her
that you'd been filming all the time and she asked if she
could borrow your tape. What do you say mate?"

"I suppose so." I stalled for time. "Look, the thing is,
with all the packing I don't even know if I still have the
tape."

"That's okay, it was just a thought. Tell Alice when she
gets there. She said she'd be calling round after work."

Christ! She was coming to the apartment! I had to get away
before she got here.

"Okay Bob, I'll see what I can do. No promises, mind you."

"Thanks mate. You're a pal."

"What are friends for?"

"Yeah, bye."

"Bye"

I chucked the 'phone on the settee and hurried back to the
front door. If I was quick enough, perhaps I could be out
when she called. I opened the door to see Alice with her
hand stretching towards the doorbell. She screamed in
surprise.

"Shit! Charlie, you scared the crap out of me." She stared
at me confused. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Open the door before I'd pressed the doorbell."

"Oh. Coincidence, I was just on my way out."

She forestalled me from trying to squeeze by her and pushed
me back into the apartment.

"This won't take long." She closed the door behind her and
leant against it, blocking my escape. I stood irresolute.
"I'm determined to have this out with you. Why do you
dislike me so much?"

"I don't dislike..."

"Yes you do. You won't spend a minute alone with me. My
Granny reckoned that you were in love with Bob. I even asked
him if you were gay and he laughed at the very idea. So,
just what is your problem with me?"

"I don't have a problem with you." I prevaricated. It was an
outright lie, but not the way that she thought.

"Yes you do. You've never liked me. I don't understand why,
I've always tried to let you and Bob have time together.
I've never come between you. Ever. I've never said, 'it's
Charlie or me, decision time.'"

Her words knifed through me, scarring my soul. I tried again
to deflect her ire. "I know, it isn't..."

"So why? I try and try and you keep knocking me back. If you
weren't Bob's best friend I'd have given up a long time
ago!"

"It's not like you think." It was futile. My words were lost
in the tornado of her frustration. She continued as if I'd
said nothing.

"I don't understand you at all. If you disliked me that
much, you could've stopped Bob from marrying me, he listens
to you, but you didn't. Everyone I talk to says you're a
great bloke, but I never see that side of you at all." She
subsided, bewildered, into silence.

"Leave it alone, please?" The plea in my voice disarmed her
somewhat.

"Well don't say I didn't try. Again. Anyway I came to ask if
I could borrow the video that you made?"

"I suppose so. If I have it here; it's probably been packed
away."

While I was talking Alice had made her way to the stack of
videotapes by the TV. I stared in anguish as she picked up
one in particular.

"I don't think so. Is this it? The one with 'Bob's Wedding'
written on the label?" She looked at me, resigned. "Couldn't
you even bring yourself to write my name?"

I shrugged. "I've probably taped over it by now."

"Unlikely, as you've removed the record tabs. So let's see
what we've got, shall we."

I stood paralysed as she pushed the tape into the player.
The sights and sounds of the wedding service filled the
room. The picture was surprisingly steady and the quality
was pretty good, though I say it myself. The wonders of
modern technology now make it almost impossible to make a
traditional wobbly home video. Alice was thrilled.

"This is wonderful Charlie. Do say I can borrow it." Her
delight at finding usable footage of her wedding had driven
all thoughts of my behaviour towards her out of her mind.
She turned to me. I stared aghast at the screen, which was
now filled with her smiling face, in loving close up. Alice
seemed surprised at my expression and turned to see what I
was staring at, and then she became quiet as each shot I'd
taken eventually ended with a close up of her. After minutes
of this, Alice turned back to me in bewilderment.

"Charlie?"

"Of course you can borrow it. I'm sure your video company
can make something suitable for public consumption out of
it." I struggled to maintain my composure and added, "best
not to let Bob see it though."

The homage to Alice continued to play on the screen and
Alice stared at me in dawning realisation as I stood with
tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Charlie. I had no idea. I thought you hated me." Her
expression had softened as she saw me anew in the light of
this revelation. It was this, more than anything else, which
almost broke me. Finally I forced a few words passed the
lump in my throat. Short, staccato bursts of speech were all
that I could manage.

"Hate you? How could I? It's a self-preservation thing,
really. Abject failure, though, as you can see. Still, I'll
be in America soon. No point in crying over spilt milk." I
stumbled blindly through the front door. "You'll see
yourself out, won't you?"

I wandered aimlessly for a few hours and eventually I made
my way back to the apartment. To my relief it was empty. All
that was left was the faint smell of her perfume and a
post-it note on the TV.

'Thanks for the tape. Alice.'

I lifted the note from the screen and kissed it gently
before letting it fall into the waste bin. Christ, it was
all such a mess. I looked about me, there wasn't anything I
needed here; the removers would stick it all in storage. I'd
just have to pay them the extra to do the packing that I had
planned to do.

I couldn't face another night here.

Time to cut myself adrift.

I'd had my leaving party today; there was nothing else I
needed to do. I switched off my mobile and dropped it into a
convenient box. I'd have to buy a new one in the 'States
anyway.

I spent my last couple of nights in the UK at a hotel near
Heathrow airport. I rang everyone who mattered and told them
what I'd done; making up some story about how I couldn't
face all the packing and told them not to worry, I'd be in
touch as soon as I was settled in America.

.oOo.

"Hey, Chuck, how ya doin'?"

I looked up to see Herb standing in the entrance to my
cubical. Herb was a nice guy, concerned for me. He'd made it
his mission to cheer up the 'English guy' and, to be fair,
he'd succeeded in no small measure. Herb was a lot of fun. I
smiled up at him.

"Hey, Herb. I'm okay. How 'bout you?"

Herb seemed unsure of himself. This was a surprise. Fridays
were his day for setting me up with another of his long
string of ex-girlfriends. He wasn't normally so reticent. I
decided to help him out.

"Come on Herb, spit it out. Which one of your harem am I
being fobbed off with this weekend?" I grinned widely to
show that I was making a joke. I had to be careful; early on
I'd got myself into trouble a few times when my ironic
comments had been taken at face value. I tried not to be
patronising about it. I liked America and Americans. It was
refreshing to have people take you at your word and not
assume that there was a hidden meaning in everything you
said.

"Oh it isn't that. Well it is, but not like you think." I
waited, patiently, for Herb to organise his thoughts. It was
a waste of time trying to hurry him along. Eventually he got
all his ducks lined up.

"A new girl has started at Marcie's agency." Marcie was his
current girlfriend; she worked in a medium-sized ad-agency.

"She's English too, like you." I bit my tongue and stifled a
flash of irritation. This seemingly universal, national
determination to follow very train of thought through to its
logical conclusion was occasionally maddening. Sometimes it
wasn't necessary to draw a map, sometimes just the signpost
at the start of the path was all that was required, guys!
Herb carried on.

"Marcie says she's kind of sad too - the girl I mean. We
thought that we'd make up a foursome and go out. See if we
can cheer you both up." His expression became serious. "You
don't talk about it, but my 'harem' tell me things." He
smiled self-deprecatingly, "well they tell Marcie anyhow and
she tells me. We know that there was someone back home that
hurt you. A lot. You have to let it go Chuck. We're your
friends, we all think you're a great guy and we hate to see
you unhappy."

I stared at Herb in amazement, "Yeah, well, ummm." I tried
again. "Thanks Herb, I'll try, OK?"

Herb's accustomed cheerful expression replaced the strangely
serious one that had settled in its place when he was making
his speech to me.

"Great. We'll pick you up at seven."

"Thanks. See you tonight."

Herb wandered off and I turned back to the code I was
writing. I gave up and wallowed in thoughts of Alice. I
realised with a shock that I'd not spoken to Bob in months.
I wasn't even sure if I knew his address. We'd both moved
several times, for one reason and another, and I was certain
that I'd managed to miss a change of address notification,
along with a whole load of other post too. My sister still
was hardly talking to me after I'd managed to miss her
engagement party. His mobile should still be working,
though, and I pulled out mine and dialled his number from
memory.

"The number you have dialled is no longer in use."

The recorded message played over and over. Shit. This was
the third time I'd dialled the number. The first time I'd
got this message, I'd assumed that I'd misdialled and the
second time, I'd found his entry in my 'phone's number list.
This next try, I'd checked the number in my organiser and
then double-checked each digit as I dialled it. Damn. He'd
changed his 'phone. Now I'd have to pester his parents for
the new one. I checked the clock, too late to ring them now.
Bob was okay with me ringing at odd hours, but Bob's parents
would assume that any call this late would be bad news, so I
resolved to ring them tomorrow, first thing, when it would
be a more reasonable hour for them.

"See ya later, alligator!" Herb parodied Arthur Hailey, or
whoever it was, as he left to go home. I waved vaguely in
acknowledgement and refused to be drawn into the next line.
I fiddled some more with the coding and saved it away. A
quick 'make' showed that I hadn't completely broken it with
my new stuff. A couple of warnings and several-hundred error
messages flashed by, but a forgotten declaration and a
couple of missing semicolons had caused them all. This was
soon rectified and a clean compile and link was the result.
I resolutely put off testing the changes. Next week was
early enough, especially as I was about a week ahead of
schedule anyway.

As I left the building, my thoughts turned to the 'sad
English girl' that Herb was foisting me onto. I hoped that I
wasn't going to make things worse for her. The dislocation
caused by moving to America had been strange; the place was
at once familiar and deeply odd. Several things still struck
me as slightly humorous. I mean, they liked to call
themselves the 'Land of the Free' but I'd never seen so many
signs forbidding things, and the drinking rules! I shook
myself crossly, telling myself to stop carping. Oh well, it
would be nice to see someone from home with whom I could
compare notes, maybe.

My apartment was big, much bigger than the one I could
afford in England. I slopped around getting ready. All too
soon, the entry phone sounded. "I'll be right down." There
was some garbled sound at the other end, which I assumed was
some sort of agreement and I dashed out of the door. Herb
was waiting for me by his car. I leant through the window
and gave Marcie a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey Marcie. You're looking great. When are you going to
dump Herb and go out with someone who will really appreciate
you?"

Herb smiled indulgently at this. "Stop yo messin' with ma
woman an' git in. Yo English sonofabitch!"

"Yessir!"

We laughed a little, all of us were happy to be going out
and happy with the weekend ahead of us.

"So where are we going?"

"Marcie knows this place that does killer ribs."

"As much as you can eat and the sauce is just out of this
world!"

"Great. When do I meet my 'blind date'?"

"At the restaurant. It's only a block away from where she
lives. I'm calling her now to let her know that we'll be
there in a few minutes." She stopped as someone picked up at
the other end.

"Hi it's me, Marcie."

"Yeah, 'bout ten minutes."

"See you there, then."

"Yeah, he is. Bye!"

I wondered about the other side of the conversation. I was
intrigued in spite of myself. I settled back in my seat, I'd
find out soon enough anyway.

.oOo.

Marcie saw her first. "There she is!"

I looked over to where she was pointing. Meanwhile she waved
the greeter away and we started towards the table where the
mysterious English girl was sitting. Her shoulders were bare
and her hair was up in a chignon. From the back she looked
absolutely gorgeous. I kept my eyes downcast I as I rounded
the table determined to wait until I was fully in front of
her before...

"Oh my God! Charlie?"

The achingly familiar tones lanced through my heart and I
ran from the room, unable to face her. There was a cab rank
nearby - the restaurant was popular enough to warrant one
and, surprisingly this early in the evening, there was a
single cab parked there. His window was open.

"Are you working?"

"Yeah, where you wanna go?"

I gave the address of a bar downtown and sat back in the
seat and tried to compose myself. Shit. What was she doing
here? And alone? Where was Bob? Now I really had to 'phone
his parents. For now it was time to get drunk, really drunk,
or I wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight.

The bar was quiet and the barkeep was surprised to see me.
She set me up with a malt whisky without me asking. No ice.
I smiled at this; I'd spent many an evening extolling to her
the virtues of single malts drunk without ice.

"Charlie, this is a surprise. We don't usually see you until
much later." Then she saw my expression. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I've just had a bit of a shock, that's all. Nothing
that a few shots of the old 'water of life' won't cure."

"Sure. Just don't overdo it will ya? I really, really hate
cleaning out the bathroom when folks are sick in it. Okay?"

"Okay, Belle. I hear you. Just enough to let me sleep."

I sat and sipped my whisky and tried to forget the vision of
her face before me. It was a waste of time. Eventually I
gave up and let myself remember how she'd looked. There was
shock, of course, but there was also something else, she'd
seemed almost happy to see me. And there was an indefinable
air of sadness about her too. I swallowed the rest of my
whisky and coughed as it caught the back of my throat.

I stayed for couple of hours, but the whisky wasn't helping
so I said goodbye to Belle and left. It wasn't far to my
apartment, nor was it too late and there were plenty of
people about so I decided to walk. As I neared my apartment
I began to feel the effects of the whisky, so I concentrated
resolutely on staying upright and getting into my apartment.

I waved at the doorman in acknowledgement of something that
he'd said in greeting. I was starting to feel very ill. All
that whisky on an empty stomach was stupid. I knew I was
going to be sick and I really hated that. I consoled myself
that it wouldn't be much and at least I would feel better in
the morning. Then I remembered a routine by Billy Connolly,
a Glaswegian stand-up, about 'diced carrots' and I started
to laugh. I was still laughing and reeling drunkenly as I
finally got my key in my apartment door and staggered into
my apartment.

"Hello, Charlie." She was here. Here in my apartment. Shit.
My gorge rose and I pushed passed her to the toilet.

"Sorry. Feeling..."

My words were interrupted as I cut out the middleman on half
a bottle of Lagavulin. It didn't last long; there was
nothing else in there. Waste of good Scotch though. While I
was there I took the chance to swallow some Tylenol and half
a pint of water, then I brushed my teeth and wiped my face.
At least, I reflected, I wouldn't have a hangover tomorrow.
Eventually I realised that I couldn't spend any more time in
the bathroom and now that she was here Alice was not going
anywhere until we'd spoken. I went out to meet her.

"I'm sorry for running out on you like that. What did you
say to Herb and Marcie?"

"I had to tell them most of it."

"Oh."

"Look, they're your friends, they care about you."

"I know." I thought about it for a minute. "Oh shit, were
they all right with you? They've assumed that I'm sad
because some girl really hurt me back home. It seemed easier
to let them think that than to try and explain it all.
They'd have assumed that you were that girl."

"Well it was a bit frosty for a while. They really do care
for you. A lot."

"I'd better ring them and apologise."

"They said not to worry. They know you're back. I 'phoned
them while you were struggling to put your key in the door."
She smiled at the memory. "I nearly opened it for you. But I
remembered how that felt so I didn't."

We just stood and I stared at her drinking her in. She
cleared her throat and spoke again.

"Aren't you going to offer me a seat?"

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry." I waved vaguely in the direction of the
seating area and she preceded me as we sat down. I made sure
that I sat opposite her. I wasn't going to miss a second of
seeing her. She blushed under my scrutiny.

"I used to hate the way that you stared at me. I thought you
were glaring at me." She smiled sadly. "If only I'd known."

"Yeah well." I asked the question that was uppermost in my
mind. "I have to be blunt Alice, where's Bob?"

She looked at me aghast. She was obviously shocked about
something. Though I couldn't for the life of me think what
it was.

"Don't you know?"

"Know what?"

"Bob's..." She stopped unable to get the words out and it
was her turn to cry. Impulsively, I moved across to the
settee on which she was sitting and drew her into my arms.
How often had I dreamed of this? And the reality was so much
better than the dream. Her sobs came with renewed force as
she felt me cuddle her and I waited, content to let the
storm pass. Eventually it did, but instead of moving away
she cuddled closer. Then she took a deep breath and tried
again.

"This is going to hurt you, so just relax and take it and
remember I'm here. There's no easy way to say this, so I'm
just going to come straight out and say it. Charlie, Bob's
dead. Some drunken slob drove through a red light and killed
both Bob and himself."

I felt sad. Sad for myself, I'd lost my best friend. Sad for
Alice, she'd lost her husband. She was far to young to be a
widow. It wasn't an overwhelming sadness though. The couple
of years out here had distanced me. Maybe later when I... A
thought struck me.

"When?"

"About nine months ago."

"Nine months! Didn't anyone try and contact me?"

"We tried to. But you'd moved. Your mobile number was in
Bob's 'phone but that was destroyed in the fire after the
crash. I didn't know your sister's number for the same
reason or your parents' either so we were stymied. We tried
for a couple of weeks but once the inquest was over and the
police were happy, we had to go ahead and have the funeral
without you."

"Oh Alice, I'm sorry." I breathed the words into her hair
and hugged her tighter.

She spoke again. "It still hurts, especially when I wake up
and he's not there. I miss that." She punched me lightly as
I smirked. "Not that! I miss the companionship." She paused.
"I never told Bob about how you felt. I wasn't completely
sure myself. Herb and Marcie tell me that you haven't had a
relationship as long as you've been here. Why is that
Charlie? I need to know."

"It would have seemed like I was being unfaithful. I haven't
really wanted anyone but you. No one else compares so I
don't bother. I love you. I loved you the minute that I saw
you. At first I thought it was just lust or infatuation, but
the more I got to know you the more I realised that I loved
you. I think about you when I go to sleep, when I wake up
and pretty much whenever I close my eyes I see your face.
Watching you get married to my best friend almost killed me,
I came close to hating him then." I sighed. Alice put her
hand to my face and I realised that I'd been crying again. I
carried on. "But it wasn't his fault, or yours. It just
was."

Alice was once more cuddled against my chest. I was content
to stay like this. I was in heaven and I didn't want to
move. I felt a certain amount of guilt about Bob, but my
treacherous heart was overwhelmed by the fact that Alice was
here with me, in my arms.

"I thought about you a lot after that day, you know, when I
came for the tape. I watched it several times and I compared
it to the egregious footage that the wedding video people
shot; and I realised that the difference was the love that
you felt. Did you know there is not one single shot in the
whole hour or so that you took where I look bad? The wedding
video even filmed Bob taking down the garter." She shuddered
at the memory of that. "I looked awful. Even Bob apologised
when he saw what they'd done."

"What did you do with the tape?"

"Well I didn't trust the wedding video people with it, so I
took both the tapes to an editor friend of mine. I swore her
to secrecy and then got her to make a half decent video
using the best of theirs and the worst of yours. Sally told
me that you loved me too."

"What do you mean?"

"She said, 'I don't know who shot the second video, but it's
obvious that they love you a very great deal.' I told her
that I knew that now, but that she'd have to swear never to
tell anyone. I didn't tell her who you were. I said you were
a friend of the family."

"Okay."

"Anyway I put the tape in a safe-deposit box. Bob was really
pleased with the final video. He said if you ever came back,
he'd help you start again as a wedding video maker. He
thought you'd make a fortune."

I chuckled a bit at that. "He may have been right as long as
the bride was always you. I don't think my heart would have
stood going through that more than once, though."

Alice pulled herself from my arms. I groaned in despair as
she left them.

"I don't know how I feel about you, Charlie. I spent months
convinced that you bore me a hatred so deep that you could
barely bring yourself to stay in the same room as me. And
then I discover that it's a love so great that you nearly
died of a broken heart when I married someone else."

I tried to demur.

"Herb was really worried about you when you first arrived.
He makes out that he's bluff and jovial and that it's Marcie
who is the perceptive one - and she is perceptive. But Herb
is almost as observant and they both felt that you were on
the edge when you came here. Do you know what he told me,
when we'd straightened everything out?"

I shrugged. How could I?

"He said, 'For the first month or so, every day I came in
and saw him in his cubicle, I gave thanks that he hadn't
killed himself the night before.'"

"I thought about it. A lot. But if I'd done it I'd never
have seen you again for certain."

"I'm glad you didn't."

"Can I kiss you?"

She nodded and I kissed her gently. There was electricity
there, and stars. I slipped the tip of my tongue against her
lips and she opened hers. Gently, oh so gently, I explored
her lips with my tongue and then her tongue tip played with
mine and the stars became supernovae. I groaned and the
sound seemed strange to me, but then I realised that she was
moaning too. An eternity passed, filled with just the feel
of her lips and the sensation of her tongue on mine.
Eventually I pulled back. I tingled all over. I looked at
Alice, she was flushed and her eyes sparkled.

"Please tell me that you felt that too?"

In answer I kissed her again. This time it was different,
but no less electrifying. Where before we were exploring
unknown territory, now we were claiming the land for our
own. She moaned into my mouth, or was it the other way
round? I couldn't tell. I pulled her to me and then leant
her against the back of the settee. I left one hand stroking
the nape of her neck and sent the other one on an
exploration of her body. Skimming it over her breasts, her
arm, her side, her thigh and the swell of her buttocks.
Everywhere I touched I felt electricity. I was on fire.

We pulled back and stared at one another. I spoke first.

"It's never felt like this before. If we're going to stop,
it has to be now. If I kiss you again, I just don't know if
I could stop."

Alice was silent and then she stood up. She slipped her arms
from her dress and let it fall to the floor. Apart from
thigh-high stockings and a pair of lacy panties she was
gloriously naked.

"If you don't take me to bed and make love to me, I may have
to kill you." She held her hand out to me. I took it and we
walked hand in hand to my bedroom. I started to undress but
she wouldn't let me, preferring to do it herself. While she
was doing that I managed to slip her panties off. When we
were both naked she stroked me all over, moaning
continuously, or maybe it was me? Once more I couldn't tell.
I pulled her to me and we sank entwined onto the bed. Her
nipples seemed to leave burning tracks as they grazed down
my body. I felt the heat and wetness of her mouth as she
sucked on my erection.

"Oh God Alice. I can't last long." Almost as soon as the
words had left my mouth I could feel my orgasm starting. She
could feel it too and she speeded up her action, her mouth
never once leaving me. I came so hard I felt like I was
turning inside out. I lay back exhausted. Alice licked her
lips and slithered back up my body.

"Mmmm! Someone needed that."

"That wasn't premature ejaculation. That was three years of
foreplay!"

She laughed, full throated and sexy. It was my turn. I
kissed my way to her breasts and sucked and nibbled each
nipple in turn. While my mouth dealt with one breast, I
gently rolled the nipple of the other with my hand. Once
both nipples were as erect as they could be, I moved myself
between her legs and once more I kissed, licked and nibbled
her breasts and nipples, but then I moved my focus between
her breasts and licked my way down her breast bone and over
her stomach. She giggled and groaned as I poked my tongue
into her sweet navel, revelling in the saltiness of the
perspiration that had gathered there. Soon it was time to
move on and I kissed my way over the hair covering her mons
and began to insinuate my tongue between another pair of
lips. I swirled my tongue around her opening, teasing the
sensitive inner lips and enjoying the taste of her feminine
oils. She tasted fresh and slightly spicy. I began to
concentrate on her clitoris, sucking gently and teasing it
with the tip of my tongue. With my head trapped between her
thighs, I could faintly hear the groans that I was
eliciting. I began to torment her in earnest. I slipped
first one and then two fingers into her pussy and felt
around for the slight change in texture that signified her
G-spot. I heard the sounds signifying my success as she
cried out in pleasure. Her pussy gripped my fingers
spasmodically as she became rigid. I tried to carry on with
what I was doing but she reached down and dragged me up to
face her.

"Fuck me now, Charlie! Oh God fuck me. I need you to fuck
me..." Her demands trailed off into incoherent moans as I
slipped into her. The heat and the tightness were exquisite.
Even with the blowjob, she had me on the edge from the first
thrust. Her head thrashed wildly on the pillow and her hips
jerked upwards to meet me on every down stroke. All the
while she chanted.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck..."

I felt myself getting close and bent forward to kiss her. I
thrust my tongue into her mouth in synchronisation with my
hips. Then I disengaged my mouth and whispered to her
between my panting breaths.

"Cum for me Alice. I want to see Alice cum. Is Alice going
to cum?"

"Oh yes. Oh yes. Oh God. Oh fuck..."

And then we came, crying out together and collapsing
together. I rolled so we were on our sides, but we remained
connected, facing each other. There was silence apart from
the sound of our breathing as it slowed to a more normal
rate. Alice opened her eyes and stared at me like I was some
sort of alien.

"What is it?"

"Are you sure you're not some kind of sex God or anything?
Jesus Christ al-fucking-mighty Charlie. If it gets any
better than that, I'm going to die."

It was my turn to laugh, which I did, long and hard and
loud. As I laughed I felt my spirits lift in a way I hadn't
felt for several years. Alice joined me and her convulsions
did interesting things to my penis, which was still
half-hard within her. She felt me grow hard again.

"Oh Charlie."

We stayed as we were and I thrust into her gently, just
wanting her to feel the movement and savour it. We stared
into each other eyes and I watched as they clouded with
arousal, as she did with mine. After a long while, we came
together, our gazes still locked on each other.

"I love you Alice."

"I love you too."

"Stay with me?"

"Always."

She fell asleep in my arms. I could feel myself drifting off
too. This night, the same as every night since I'd met her,
I fell asleep with her face before my eyes. Unlike every
other time, I knew that I wouldn't dream of her tonight. Who
needs dreams when the real thing would be waiting for me in
the morning, tomorrow and for the rest of my life?

-Fin-

Notes.
Given the date that I'm posting this ...
I'd like to thank my Editrice Alienor for the sterling work
she has done in editing this story.
I'd like to aplogise to Richard Curtis for stealing the first
part of the plot from a strand in Love Actually.
I'd like to thank my mother and my father for ...