Chapter 74: I Know Nothing About That!

November, 1984, Chicago, Illinois

Friday was a lazy day around the house. Sofia booked her flight home and wasn't very happy with what she had to do.

"We have finals on the 21st, so I have to stay until then. The only reasonable time to leave is Friday night at 5:00pm. That gets me to Heathrow early the next morning, and then I take a flight to Landvetter. Mom wants me home Saturday night for a dinner at her parents' house. I'm going to be a complete zombie!"

"Is your Friday exam early or late?"

"Early. What's your schedule? It has to be odd with working two days."

"Three exams — one on Monday, one on Wednesday, one on Friday. The Friday one is in the morning like yours."

"Could I have Thursday night to say goodbye?" she asked with a smile.

"I think we can manage that!" I agreed. "We're having our Party on Saturday evening. Most of us will drive or fly home on Sunday. Some of our friends will be gone, I'm sure, but others will be here. Charlie already said she'll be here, and so did Jorge. The schedule this year sucks because we don't have a full week off before Christmas. When do you come back?"

"Mom wanted me to stay until the 13th, but I said I felt that was crazy. I need a few days to readjust to the time change. I'm flying in on the 10th."

"Tatyana will be gone, but Joyce will be here on the 11th. She'll sleep in a guest room."

"How is she?"

"No change so far. I talked to her a week ago or so. She'll have another checkup in December. Hopefully things will be OK then and she can get on with her life."

"Did you really promise to father a child with her if she had to have a hysterectomy?"

"I did. It's similar to the situation with Elyse. But at this point, it looks as if it's not going to be necessary."

"You could have kids by five different women! Do you know how crazy that is?"

"It's just the way my life has gone. I don't see anything wrong with it. The kids will be loved and cared for. It's not like I'm shirking my responsibility."

"How did I get myself into this?" she sighed.

"Hormones!" I replied with a silly grin. "You were a horny fifteen-year-old and couldn't wait to drag me to your bed! And then you couldn't stay away!"

"Jerk!" she laughed. "That was a rhetorical question!"

"Be sure you write the flight numbers and times on the chalkboard for me."

"I will. What's the plan for the rest of the day?" she asked.

"I don't have one, really. I was going to try to finish my book, but if there's something you want to do, just say so."

"Let's go ice skating! I checked and the rink on West Madison has open skating all day today."

I agreed, and we got our things together. I'd bought skates when I'd come home from Sweden and though I hadn't skated in years, they were on the shelf in my closet. I got them, and we invited everyone else to come along, but it turned out that nobody else knew how to skate.

Jorge looked up, "No thanks! Last year I got dragged to go skating with some of the guys at the dorms, and I ended up doing a beautiful split when this little kid flashed by and I couldn't stop! I ended up with my jacket tied around my waist like a skirt the rest of the evening!"

Between chuckles from all of us, I made sure that there were keys available in case anyone else was going out, and then Sofia and I headed downtown.

I was fairly rusty from not skating since I'd been in Sweden for Katt's wedding, but once again, it came back fairly quickly. Sofia and I skated hand-in-hand and drank hot chocolate during our breaks. We ate lunch after skating and then did some Christmas shopping and finally headed back to the house in Hyde Park around 4:30pm.

After dinner, Sofia and I used the sauna, though we skipped the whirlpool. Afterwards, we went up to my room to shower. As I often did, I pulled her to me, her back to my front, and gently rubbed her clit until she came. I teased her, as I usually did, by lodging my shaft between her butt cheeks and pulling her back tight against me. She'd taken to wiggling her butt a bit, but it had never gone past that.

I decided to give her a second orgasm, and this time I pulled her hair away and sucked gently on her earlobe. Sofia groaned almost immediately, having a small orgasm. It happened so quickly that I gave her a third. She was panting hard when the last orgasm passed and turned to hug me tight, pressing her breasts against me.

"Can I do something for you?" she whispered.

I cupped her butt cheek, and then gently slid my finger across her hole.

She laughed, "You! You're turning into a dirty old man!"

"Turning into?" I laughed. "And what's this 'old man' stuff?"

"Isn't that the same in English?"

"It is. I suspect every language has that idiom!"

"So, IS there something I can do for you?"

"Turn around!" I grinned.

"Oh no, you don't!" she giggled, lowering herself to her knees and slowly taking me into her mouth.

Sofia gave me a slow, sensual blowjob and then rose back to her feet and kissed me.

"Was that a good substitute?" she grinned.

"It was great! And don't worry about it, I was just teasing about that before. You shouldn't do anything you don't like or don't feel comfortable doing."

"You've really done that with girls? More than once?"

"Yes. But forget it. Come on, let's go to bed!"

We made love and fell asleep in each other's arms. When I awoke early on Saturday morning, I opened my eyes and saw the clock was still shy of my normal 5:00am wake up time. Sofia's head was nestled against my chest as she was sleeping cuddled against my side, her breasts softly pressing against me. That was enough for my dick to start stirring. I carefully rolled her on to her back and slid down. She responded to my touch on the inside of her knees and spread her legs apart. I kissed her labia gently, she moaned, then opened her eyes. I looked up, and she smiled.

I started slowly, and her body, barely roused from sleep, began moving to match my slow strokes. She moaned, and I felt her pussy contracting around my dick. She was close herself, so I sped up slightly. Finally, she bucked against me, groaning in her own orgasm, just as I began spurting into her.

"Good morning sleepyhead!"

She smiled and sighed, "I could get used to being wakened like this!"

"I was tempted to literally wake you up by pushing into you, but I needed consent."

"You can wake me any way you like!" she grinned.

"Any way?" I leered.

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" she said in English and laughed. She switched back to Swedish, "You are so bad!"

"I am! And you love it!" I grinned.

I got out of bed and she followed me so that we could shower, and then we went down to breakfast. Penny was still in Florida at her dad's house, so she wasn't going to be here for our programming time, so I spent the time reading the paper and drinking tea. I went to my karate lesson and when I came back, I saw Bethany's car. She'd left Milford fairly early to make it by 11:15am. I gave her a quick hug and went up to shower and dress.

After lunch, Bethany settled into my study with my journal and Leila took the time to show me how to make proper Turkish coffee. The trick was, she said, to make sure there was enough foam on the top, which gave it a unique flavor. We talked about milk and sugar, though I wouldn't usually use those because I preferred my coffee straight. It was crystal clear from her voice and body language that she wanted another chance, but I was sure that wouldn't pass muster with Sofia.

I let the flirting pass by, much to Leila's disappointment, because Sofia and I hadn't discussed the ground rules, and she'd interposed herself between Alejandra, Leila, and me a few times the previous days. Leila and I finished our coffee, and I went to check on Bethany. She was madly scribbling away in her notebook and looked up when I came in, bringing her some tea.

"How far are you?" I asked.

"I'm skimming some, so I'm at the point when you and Jennifer are fixing your relationship. Really, I'm looking for interactions between you and your sister, and you and your mom. I do want to read the other stuff, but I want to get more of what I need for my paper."

"Did you talk to Stephanie?" I asked.

"For about four hours on Wednesday afternoon. She is most definitely not a victim in any way, shape, or form. I knew that from before, but to hear her talk about it, nobody will ever become that close to you. It was a bit gross to talk to her about my brother, but he seems to have treated her fairly well and, um, satisfied her. But he couldn't deal with her starting up with you again."

"Do you blame him?" I asked.

"No. I don't. Except for Melanie and Jennifer, I guess everyone had difficulty with it in one way or another."

"Very true. And honestly, for both our sakes, I'm glad that it's over. She and I will always be very close, but our sexual relationship was interfering with everything else in our lives. It had to end so that we could move on."

"Yes, it did. I'm curious, though. The way you wrote it, it seems like that was the best sex you have ever had and nothing comes close. Is that a problem?"

"Remember, that was the seventeen- and eighteen-year-old me writing that. I've learned why that was the case, and while what Stephanie and I had was special and unique, I now know how to achieve that kind of sexual intimacy with anyone."

"Oh? What's the secret?" she asked.

"True intimacy isn't about sex. That's the most important thing that Anala taught me. If you have that, and add sex to it, well, then it's out of this world. You know that, I'm sure."

"You versus Gene, even allowing for his serious lack of experience compared to you."

"Yes. What was it that made our first time so good?"

"We knew each other pretty well. The same was true for you and Jennifer, as well as you and Becky. And Kara, of course."

"Exactly. The girls that are core are ones I really, really got to know well before having sex. The one exception is Sofia, but we didn't do it for months and months after the first couple of times, so you could apply that to my relationship with her as well. Tatyana and I weren't quite as close, but we did take it slowly."

"Which is why I don't worry about your dalliances, really. I mean, well, you know what I mean."

"I do. You wish it were otherwise, but you know that if I take them to bed quickly, they won't be a threat, so to speak."

"You haven't mentioned Penny."

"It's the age difference. Six years is a lot at this point. Sure, we're compatible sexually, but then again, I'm compatible sexually with just about any female you can point to!"

"Asshole!" she said with a laugh. "But I get your point. How is this new plan of Sofia's going to work?"

"It doesn't limit me from being with any of the girls I've been with before, but new girls would need approval from you, Kara, and Sofia."

She smiled, "Kara will give you blanket permission at this point. She's content to just make love with you and be with you. You heard her plan. For me, for now, just be smart. I'd also suggest rubbers with any new girls to prevent any accidents or worse, another Becky situation. You never objected to those, so I can't imagine it's a major hardship. If and when you propose, we'll set some ground rules."

"If and when?" I asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Oh, I have a serious leg up on everyone, I know that. And honestly, having access to your journals is like cheating. But all's fair in love and war. And this is both!" she smirked.

I found it interesting that both Sofia and Bethany thought that they had an advantage based on something that the other one didn't know. Bethany was certainly in a better position, as she could easily discern what I'd told Sofia, and even if she didn't, being my best friend was a major advantage for her. I wondered if I shouldn't just ask Bethany to marry me right then and there and follow Kara's outline.

"Maybe I should just let you and Sofia duke it out and whoever wins lets me know!"

"No way! You have to decide. She might take herself out of competition in the end, if she doesn't think you can commit the way she needs you to. I see the way you are with her. You really love her deeply and you could decide she's the best one for you. As you've said, Kara, Sofia, Tatyana, and Penny all provide a slightly different answer to your question, and we each meet your needs in a unique way. As your best friend, I want you to decide on the girl who you feel best meets your needs in the way you need them met. As your Sweetheart, I want that to be me!"

"You are my Sweetheart!" I said. "I'll leave you to your reading. I'm going to go find Sofia. What time are you leaving for Madison tomorrow?"

"After dinner," she replied. "I want to have a full day of research. Where am I sleeping?"

"Sofia's or Cindi's bed. I didn't feel right displacing Sofia when she'd assumed she was going to have me until tomorrow."

"And you shouldn't," Bethany confirmed. "I came to do research, not get laid. Not that I would object to that!"

"Take a number and get in line! Alejandra and Leila want another shot, but Sofia's doing her best to keep those wolves at bay!"

"Good luck to her with that!" she laughed.

I went to hang out with Sofia for the afternoon. About 2:00pm I heard my phone ring and by the time I got to the study Bethany had answered it.

"Steve, it's someone named Scott," she said.

I was surprised, because it was a Saturday and I hadn't been to work and all of our class assignments were up to date.

"Hi, Scott. What's up?"

"Are you free for lunch on Monday?" he asked.

"Sure. I usually eat with my girlfriend, but I can change those plans."

"OK. Come to the faculty lounge. You and I are having lunch with Doctor Bauer."

"What's this about?" I asked.

"We'll discuss that at lunch," he said.

"OK. Thanks, Scott," I said and hung up after we exchanged goodbyes.

"What was that about?" Bethany asked.

"I have no clue. He said that we're having lunch with the Computer Science Department head, Doctor Bauer. But when I asked what it was about, he said we'd discuss it at lunch."

"Is anything going on that might warrant it?" she asked.

"Not that I can think of. Maybe it's about nominating me as valedictorian. I won't get it, though. It almost always goes to an engineer or an architect."

"You can't think of anything else?"

"No. I have A's in all my courses and I received glowing reviews from Scott for my work at Nuvatec. Maybe it's about the Software Development class. It was kind of an experiment this semester. Anyway, I'm not worried about it."

"Let me know what comes up," she said.

I promised that I would, then went back to Sofia, who was with Leila and Alejandra. Jorge and George had disappeared somewhere, and I hadn't seen them since breakfast. Sofia would be taking her friends back to Loyola first thing in the morning, so she asked them if there was anything that they wanted to do. Leila smirked but said 'no'. Alejandra just said 'no'. I knew what Leila wanted, but Sofia didn't seem to be in a mood to allow it.

Jorge and George surfaced at dinner time and joined us for the last meal of the week. I was going to drive them back to IIT, along with Wen at the same time Sofia was taking the girls to Loyola. After dinner, we all walked to the ice cream shop on Hyde Park Boulevard and I spent a bit of time with Bethany before bed.

On Sunday morning, I woke Sofia as I had on Saturday, agreeing with her that it was indeed a wonderful way to wake up. Even though I was in the kitchen at 6:30am, Bethany had already made coffee and was in my study reading and taking notes.