Chapter 15: Joyce Louisa Abbadelli

January, 1985, Milford, Ohio

Joyce arrived at 3:00pm as expected and spoke briefly with Bethany to find out how she was doing. After the short conversation, I grabbed my coat and hat and we went out to Joyce's car.

"What's the plan?" I asked.

"I thought I'd cook dinner for you, like I used to."

"I guess we're going to your house, then?"

She laughed and held out her hand to give me something. It was a key. A key I recognized from years ago. I laughed.

"That's perfect!" I said.

"I think so. It ends where it began. A full circle," she sighed.

"It's not just the end. It's also a new beginning. You'll be on the Board of Directors for the new company."

"What are you going to call it?" she asked.

"I keep coming back to the name that Dave suggested — NIKA Consulting. I guess I have to decide before I call Mr. Jacobsen."

"You haven't done that yet?"

"No," I sighed. "You know how crazy things have been? Well, there's been this ongoing cheating scandal at IIT and one of my now former friends was up to her eyeballs in it. She's filed a lawsuit against me and two other students because of what we said to the investigation committee and at the disciplinary hearing."

"Shit. Does she have a case?" Joyce asked.

"I have no clue. Melanie connected me with a guy who her professor says is one of the best torts lawyers in Chicago. I'm supposed to hear back from him on Monday after he reviews the papers I was served with."

"She could have an accident, you know," Joyce said quietly. "I'd just need to talk to Anthony."

"Hell no! Let this play out. You and I need to stay as far away from that side of the business as possible. Even the union stuff is on the edge. I do have to talk to Theo about finding someone else to maintain the programs for the off-book businesses in Chicago."

"If things go badly, it's an option. I'll drop it for now. What about Becky? Could she do the programming?"

"Sure, but remember, she's not trusted because of the issue with her having opened the wrong file cabinet at the union hall."

"True, and even if it was an honest mistake, it'd be a problem. And you certainly don't want to vouch for her, just in case it wasn't."

We pulled into the parking lot at Kroger's, which had just recently opened in Milford. I followed Joyce around the store as she picked out the things she'd need to make the meal. Joyce had no idea how the apartment was stocked, so she ended up buying bottles of spices and other things, in addition to the food.

"How come you never moved out of the house?" I asked as we stood in line at the checkout.

"I will soon enough. I might move into the guest house at Grandfather's. That way, I can be close to him and have my privacy. It would be easier if I were married," she said with a smile.

"I'm sure it would, but you and I both know that marriage is not in our future. Well, not to each other. We're good friends, we enjoyed being with each other, but at this point, there's just too much baggage."

"I know," she sighed. "We made lots of mistakes. Both of us. And now we find ourselves in a place where we can't move forward that way."

"No, but we'll be friends and business associates for life. That I'm sure of."

Joyce paid when the checker finished ringing up the groceries and we headed back to the car with the bags. We made the short drive to Susan Circle, parked, and with the groceries in hand, went into the apartment.

All manner of memories flooded my mind — of a shower here with Joyce after Birgit died, and then of Joyce and me making love for the first time. Of dinners with Joyce; and later with Joyce and Kara. Of the day after Prom with Bethany and Kathy. Of the time I'd been with Jennifer and Stephanie, and first began to truly understand Jennifer.

"Reminiscing?" Joyce asked.

"Yes," I smiled. "And my first thought was of that shower you took with me after Birgit died."

"You were hurting so badly that I had no idea what to do. I guess I did the right thing."

"You did. That was over six years ago, but I still remember it like it was yesterday. We have a lot of good memories."

Joyce smirked, "My Prom?"

"Ah yes, when 'Bad Joyce' first made her appearance!"

"Maybe 'Really Bad Joyce' will show up tonight," she said invitingly. "But let me get started on dinner first."

I opened a bottle of wine that we'd bought and poured a glass for each of us, and then I put on a kettle for tea. When the water boiled, I prepared the tea to steep and added water to the teapot. Joyce finished her prep work and set the saucepan to simmer. The sauce she was making smelled excellent and my stomach rumbled a bit in anticipation.

"I hope that's not ALL that you're anticipating!" Joyce teased.

"Come sit on the couch with me," I said.

She sat down with me.

"I want to hear about this 'Really Bad Joyce'," I chuckled.

"I bet you do!" she giggled. "I'm not sure what 'Really Bad Joyce' could do that 'Bad Joyce' didn't do."

"You were pretty out of control at your Prom."

"But you remember I told you that was the real me. What I really wanted to do. Who I really wanted to be."

"Back then, you said it was when you were with me. Haven't you let yourself go like that with anyone else?"

"I tried with you and Kara," she sighed. "But you know what happened there."

I did. And it wasn't a topic I wanted to discuss at this point. Kara had gotten past it and so had I, I hoped.

"I meant another guy," I said.

"No. I never felt comfortable enough with any of the other guys to let myself go like that. I guess that's when I'll know I've found the right guy — when I can let him do those things you did to me."

"And the guys you've been seeing lately?"

"No. That's the problem, really. Do you know any good guys?"

"Around here? No. But you know what? If you come to Chicago, I'll introduce you to Jake. He's Navy ROTC, which means he's likely to be out in the fleet, but he's half Italian and doesn't have a girlfriend. And he's a really, really nice guy."

"If that's true, then why doesn't he have a girlfriend?"

"Why don't you ask him? I'll make the appointment with the lawyer for a Friday. You drive up; I'll invite him for dinner. I think you two will hit it off."

"And he'll expect to get laid?" she asked.

I chuckled, "No. But I'm sure he'd accommodate if YOU expect to get laid!"

"I just might take you up on that. What's he look like?"

"About 6′2″, dark hair, and wiry. He's a nuclear engineering major. He's absolutely brilliant."

"Hmm. Even more interesting. But, right now, I'm more interested in 5′10″, average build, sandy blonde hair, bedroom eyes, and the ability to make me cum repeatedly!"

"What can I do for you?" I asked, setting down my wine glass.

"Get the baby oil from the bathroom," she said, pulling her sweater over her head.

Ten minutes later, I was buried in her rear entrance, and gently rubbing her clit with my finger.

"Do it hard, Steve. I mean it!" she growled.

I wrapped my free arm around her stomach and pulled back slowly, almost to the point of leaving her gorgeous butt, then shoved hard forward. Joyce grunted and groaned with each hard thrust, moaning softly as I pulled back. Every few thrusts, she cried out, begging me to fuck her hard. She had two strong orgasms from the combination of my finger and the pounding I was giving her from behind, and just after the second one, I shoved hard and deep and cum exploded into her.

"Jesus!" she gasped.

"Yeah," I agreed, trying to catch my breath.

I stayed inside her for a minute, and then gently pulled out. I got off the bed and went to the bathroom and got into the shower to wash myself. When I finished, I dried off and went back to find Joyce stretched out on the bed. I gently took her shoulder and rolled her onto her back. I took a moment to take in her beautiful olive complexion and the soft curves of her body.

"Like what you see?" she asked.

"I do. And I bet it tastes as good as it looks!" I grinned.

I lowered my mouth to her breast and licked and sucked her hard nipple until she started moaning, then shifted to the other one. After lavishing attention on her breasts, I kissed my way down to her dripping pussy and drank in her wonderful flavor. I pleasured her with my mouth until I was able to get hard again, and then quickly moved to impale her with my rock-hard shaft in one swift movement.

"Oh!" she gasped.

We kissed and began to move against each other, quickly building to a driving rhythm that left me gasping for breath as I pounded into Joyce's hot, silky pussy. As her orgasm started, Joyce wrapped her legs tightly around my butt and humped as hard as she could, then bit into my shoulder, her loud groan muffled by my flesh. She came twice more before I groaned and fired jets of cum into her spasming pussy. We both relaxed, but neither of us could move for several minutes.

"Jesus," she breathed when she finally caught her breath. "Why couldn't we have been doing this for years?"

"It just wasn't meant to be," I said quietly.

"I need to check on dinner, but I don't want to get out of bed," she sighed.

I rolled over on my back next to her and sank into the mattress and pillow, not wanting to move further and waste any energy, as I was positive I'd need it later! A couple of minutes later, Joyce took a deep breath, then got out of bed and walked over to the stove to check on dinner. She tasted the sauce, added a bit of spices, then came back and lay down next to me.

"In about ten minutes I need to start the rest of the meal," Joyce said. "I know what I want for dessert, too!"

"And that is?"

"The slowest, sweetest, most loving act of sex we've ever had. If it's going to be the last time, that's what it has to be."

"Whatever you want!" I agreed.

"Well, that's after I give you the best blowjob I know how to give!" she giggled.

"I thought you were going to take a chunk out of my shoulder!"

"Well, it was either that or I'd have been louder than your mom that day she caught us here!"

"Don't remind me about that day!" I said. "She was crazier than usual. I thought she was going to have a stroke!"

"I was so tempted to call my grandfather and tell him what happened, but I knew that would only make things worse. Is she still that crazy?"

"I suppose. I don't think that we've said more than ten words to each other in the past few years. She doesn't really dare because of what happened with my brother. Her perfect kid is a convicted felon. My sister is leaving home in four months. She's pretty much going to end up with nothing."

Joyce got up and put on her clothes.

"I don't want to splash hot food on my bare skin!"

I got out of bed and dressed, and poured us each some more wine. I sat on the couch and watched Joyce cook. I really hoped that she could find someone to be with. At one time, she'd claimed that she was going to be the last girl standing, but events had conspired against her.

"Would you have been able to handle the kind of relationships I'm likely to have?" I asked.

Joyce turned to look at me, holding a wooden spoon. She cocked her head, and I watched as tomato sauce slowly ran down the handle of the spoon. She turned and put it in the pot and walked over to sit next to me on the couch.

"That's a hell of a question to ask at this point," she said. "Does it even matter what I say? It won't change anything."

"I suppose not, but I am trying to make a point. I don't think you would accept what my life is going to be like."

"Did you ever ask? Did you give me a chance? No! When I made the mistake with Kara, you wrote me off! It didn't matter what I wanted. It didn't matter how sorry I was. It didn't matter how I felt! All you cared about was Kara and your own damned standards!"

Tears were streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"You're sorry? Don't make me laugh! That's supposed to make up for it? I loved you. I still love you. But you never gave me a chance to right the wrong. You were so mad at me that you fucked my little sister! You weren't content with excluding me from your life. You had to go and shove a dagger in my heart and twist it, you bastard! And now you want to know if I would have accepted you being an alley cat?"

"Maybe you should just take me back to Bethany's. Obviously, I've made a huge mistake."

"You STILL try to run away from problems? Jesus. I should tell Grandfather to withdraw his investment offer. For somebody who can fuck like you can, how is it that you have no balls? So yeah, if you want to run away, go ahead."

"I wasn't running away. It seemed like you don't want me here, so I offered to leave."

"If I didn't want you here, I wouldn't have invited you! And I certainly wouldn't have fucked you!"

"I'm totally confused," I said.

"Why?" she sobbed. "You're the one who asked the question. Everything was fine until you asked that question and opened the old wounds. Well, here's your God damned answer. Yes! But you never cared enough to ask."

"Weren't you the one who told me to find one girl and stick with her?"

"When I was sixteen! I'm almost twenty-four! But you barely talked to me for ages, then you treated me like shit, and THEN you fucked my sister. You did this Steve, not me. You. I wanted to make things right. I wanted a chance. I knew who and what you were! And you pushed me away. Why did you push me away?"

That was a good question. A good question for which I didn't have an answer. I could easily try to blame her because of the incident with Kara, but truth be told, I had pushed her away before that. She'd always had her 'last girl wins' strategy, but I had never taken it seriously. She'd even covered for me with Don Joseph when I'd decided to be with Kara. The thing I couldn't answer for myself was why.