Chapter 44: A Journey Ends; A Journey Begins

May, 1985, Chicago, Illinois

After dinner and karate, Bethany and I went up to my room. We'd agreed to take everything slowly and savor each step. I hadn't seen Bethany so excited about sex since the very first time we'd been together in the apartment back in Milford. At each step, she was fighting her urges for us to simply fuck like crazed bunnies. I spent considerable time licking and sucking her nipples, and then traced my tongue down her chest to her stomach, and eventually to her labia, which were dripping with anticipation.

"Kiss me," she whispered insistently.

I planted a soft kiss on her mons, then slowly pressed my tongue between her swollen lips. I drank in her musky juices, twirling my tongue and gently sucking on her clit.

"Make me cum," she begged. It's been WAY too long!"

I slowly worked her to her first orgasm since before her accident, and was rewarded with a loud groan and then strong spasms around my tongue as I lapped up her juices.

"I need you!" she demanded.

I moved over her and supported myself on my hands. I slowly pushed my rock-hard erection into her steamy folds, savoring every inch of movement. When I was fully embedded in Bethany, she smiled at me.

"It's OK to lie down on me," she said.

I lowered my body to hers, crushing her breasts between us and pushing her down into the mattress. Bethany sighed deeply and wrapped her arms and legs around me, holding me tightly.

"Slowly!" she whispered in my ear.

We began moving together, and after three gentle thrusts, I noticed that our breathing had synchronized. We continued moving together, our bodies moving in an ancient rhythm, building towards ultimate release. Bethany cried out loudly as a strong orgasm crashed over her body and I felt strong spasms around my dick.

"Cum in me," she growled.

I allowed my pleasure to build, and a minute later fulfilled her request as hot, sticky cum bathed her insides. She squeezed and held me tight and kissed my shoulder over and over.

"Thank you," she said, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

I pushed myself up and asked, "Everything OK?"

"Perfect," she smiled. "Just perfect."

I gently withdrew from her and pulled her into our usual cuddling position. I held her in my arms and she fell asleep a few minutes later. I reflected on the beauty of that simple act of lovemaking. There was nothing fancy, nothing wild, and nothing crazy — just a pure, simple act of love. And it was one of the best experiences I had ever had. It wasn't about the mind-blowing orgasm; I hadn't had one. It wasn't about extreme pleasure. It was about love and intimacy and closeness. And it was nearly perfect.

On Thursday morning, I stayed in bed with Bethany until she woke up, instead of getting up early, as was my wont. When she finally stirred, she propped herself up and smiled at me.

"Last night was amazing. I could feel your love for me in every motion."

"I agree. Can I do something for you now?"

"Make me breakfast!" she giggled. "I'm famished!"

We got out of bed and showered, then went downstairs so that I could make breakfast for the two of us. Elyse and Kara were just finishing, and gave Bethany a knowing smile before they left. I made waffles, bacon, eggs, and toast, and Bethany brewed coffee. When everything was ready, we sat down at the table to eat.

"I felt like we were truly one last night," Bethany observed. "I really only felt that one other time — and that was a long time ago."

"Me too. It was really special."

"We've always been good at the sex part. And the intimacy part. It's the combination of the two that seems to always have escaped us. Maybe that's the key."

"Maybe so," I replied. "I think Anala would agree. Sex enhances true intimacy, it doesn't create it."

"She's right. But it's also the case that very soon you and I are going to try to fuck each other to death!" she giggled. "But not yet. I was a bit uncomfortable with you lying on top of me, so we need to take it easy for a bit. That's what the doctor suggested as well."

"I can't even begin to imagine THAT conversation!" I chuckled.

"I described our sex life as 'athletic'," she grinned.

"That's one way to put it! Though we've sort of dialed back on crazy. I have with everyone, actually."

"We'll test those limits, Mr. Adams! Remember, you made me a promise!"

"I did. And I will keep it."

"Good! What days do you have exams?" she asked.

"Monday and Wednesday. I lucked out — one each morning and one each afternoon."

"Keep Thursday open, please!" she grinned.

"It's all yours, Sweetheart!"

We spent the day relaxing, including sitting in the sauna that evening with all my housemates. I was surprised that there was very little teasing, but with final exams for our last semester weighing on Julia, Katy, Cindi, and Elyse, I shouldn't have been surprised.

"What are the ground rules for the party next Friday?" Elyse asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, for example, are we using weekday or weekend rules for the sauna?"

"There are going to be a LOT of people here," I said. "Not everyone is comfortable with the weekday rules."

"Fuck 'em!" Elyse grinned. "I'm putting up a sign that says 'no clothing permitted' on the sauna and the ones who don't like it can stay out."

Julia laughed, "Which ROTC guy are you wanting to get a look at?"

Elyse smirked, "Guilty as charged! Jake is pretty fine and I wouldn't mind seeing him in his birthday suit!"

"Careful! Joyce is Sicilian!" I teased.

"She's driving up on Friday for the party and for commencement on Saturday. Didn't she tell you?"

"No. Jake has another year."

"But he's shipping out on his Summer cruise a few days after the semester ends. This is her last chance to see him until fall. She's cool with being naked, right?"

"At this point? I'd guess so. The weekday rules are fine. Just make sure you put up the sign and warn people. Who's coming?"

Cindi smirked, "You and me together, if you'd go for it!"

All the girls laughed.

"We invited pretty much everyone who's been here at all during the semester, plus a few more," Elyse said. "Sofia's friends will be here, along with Kara's friends, your friends, all the boyfriends, Pete, Melanie, Kathy and Kurt. I figure we'll have at least 60 people here. Cindi, Katy, and I made all the plans, and Kara and Sofia are going to do the shopping. Kara said she has access to the household expenses bank account that you set up."

I'd given both her and Elyse access to write checks against a separate bank account that I used for groceries, utilities, and other household expenses. It had really simplified things because I didn't have to worry about reimbursing them for shopping trips or getting them money in advance. Elyse balanced all of my accounts each month, which was something I really appreciated.

"Once she moved here, I added her to the account you and I shared," I said. "I assume burgers, brats, and hot dogs on the grill are the main fare?"

"Yes," Elyse said. "I already checked with Pete, Kurt, and Jake, and they'll man the grill. I know that you don't like to give up the tongs and spatula, but you're graduating! They aren't. You need to enjoy the party! Any other ground rules?"

"Just the usual ones — no rowdy behavior and keep the noise inside. Bart and Alice would never call the cops, but the neighbors on the other side are fussy. Alice told me that they were complaining to anyone who would listen about the, and I quote, 'party house', that we have here."

"Party house? They have NO idea!" Cindi laughed. "This place is a fucking monastery or convent most days!"

"Cindi, I don't think there's much fucking in monasteries or convents," Julia smirked.

"There isn't any here either, at least not me and the landlord!" she complained.

"You have only yourself to blame for THAT," Katy said. "He was always available to you."

"You all suck!" Cindi said, but she laughed.

I scanned the sauna theatrically and smirked, "Yes, they do!"

The girls all laughed hard at that jest.

When we got out of the sauna, Bethany followed me to my room and we made love slowly and gently, and once again fell asleep in each other's arms.

The last day of class was uneventful. I had already turned in my last assignments and projects, and all that was left were course evaluations and final reviews. I made sure to thank all of my professors, especially Mark, and extended an invitation to the party the following Friday to both him and Staci.

Friday evening was quiet. I was mostly alone, with only Elyse and Kara in the house, but not in the same room with me. Sofia was out on a date, Katy, Cindi, and Julia were out with their guys, and Bethany had a date with Andrew. I called Jessica, knowing that she'd be at home, and talked to her for about fifteen minutes. When Bethany came home, she joined me in bed.

On Saturday, I went to karate and spent the rest of the day studying. There was no gathering that evening, another good tradition we'd developed during that first semester four years earlier. I'd surrounded myself with people who are good students and who took academics seriously, and all of them agreed that the weekend before finals was no time to drink or otherwise cut loose.

The one person who seemed to disagree with that idea was Doctor Charles Bauer. Dave, Julia, Cindi, and I left for the party at his house in Winnetka. All the CS professors were there, including Scott, and most of our CS classmates who were Seniors. Unfortunately, that excluded Wen, Bert, and Charlie — they still had a year to go before they graduated. We gathered in Doctor Bauer's expansive back yard.

"I am quite pleased with this year's graduating class in Computer Science," Doctor Bauer said. "Already, most of you have jobs. The ones that do not are going on to graduate school. As we have for the past five years, IIT's Computer Science department has achieved 100% placement of our students in jobs or graduate programs!"

He paused and there was applause and cheering from the sixty students who had gathered.

"All of you have done a great job, but I would like to call attention to several students. First, pending final exams, we have five graduating seniors who have achieved magna cum laude honors, three graduating seniors who have achieved summa cum laude honors, with two of those achieving 4.0 GPAs. I'd like to commend Steve Adams and Bala Subramarian for achieving 4.0 GPAs, and Dave Kallas as summa cum laude graduates."

Dave had received two B's over the course of his four years, both in liberal arts classes.

"Magna cum laude honors were achieved by Cindi Spanos, Julia Simmons, Mike Evans, Brad Forest, and Jack Carter."

There was a lot of applause and back-slapping.

"Finally, I want to call out a couple of special and significant things."

"First, congratulations are in order for Bala Subramarian, who has been offered a position with Apple Computer in California. Being invited to interview with them is a challenge in and of itself. Being hired is something to really celebrate."

More applause and cheering.

"Second, I want to recognize Steve Adams, Dave Kallas, Cindi Spanos, and Julia Simmons, who are starting their own software company. I'm sure none of you will be surprised that despite Steve Adams being the driving force behind this venture, he's taking a job as a programmer and working for Julia."

There was a lot of laughter, then cheering and applause.

"Finally, I want to call out Jack Carter, who will be leaving for military service as soon as exams are over. He's completed the Naval ROTC program and has been issued orders to report to Charleston, South Carolina, for training, and from there, he'll report to the USS Enterprise."

"He should have had a name like Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, or Chekov," Julia whispered.

"That would be hilarious. I bet you anything you can find a Captain Kirk or Doctor McCoy in the Navy!" I whispered back.

"Lastly, I want to commend Scott Bannerman, an adjunct professor, and a senior manager at Nuvatec. He has been a driving force behind their internship program. Steve Adams and Dave Kallas were the first two interns in the new program, and next year, Wen Zhou will fill one of those spots."

There was applause for Wen, despite her absence.

"Unfortunately, we were out-competed for the second spot by a student at the University of Chicago. But that's not all we should thank Scott for — he, along with several students, notably Steve Adams, Dave Kallas, and Julia Simmons, helped create a new class in software development that is going to be the cornerstone of our department in the coming years. IIT is going to be known for turning out graduates who understand the business and processes, not just the technology."

Everyone applauded for Scott.

"And now, something that will surprise you all after sitting through my lectures, I'm going to be quiet and allow you all to enjoy the day!"

There was laughter and then everyone broke up into small groups to talk. I made my way to Bala to congratulate him on the job at Apple. He talked about the interview process, which sounded grueling. He wasn't going to work in the Macintosh division, so he didn't get a chance to interview with Steve Jobs, which he and I agreed would be been the pinnacle of success. The one thing that did concern both of us was Jobs bringing John Scully, who had run Pepsi, to Apple. But, with Jobs still serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors, we agreed that it probably wouldn't make a big difference.

I circulated, trying to talk to everyone, and had to fend off a few inquiries about jobs which we were not in any position to offer, as we couldn't take on additional employees. I did promise that when we were ready to hire, that we'd make sure that we let them know, but that they shouldn't count on it happening anytime soon. The party broke up around 6:00pm, and the four of us headed back to Hyde Park, though we dropped Dave at the Sig Ep house where we'd picked him up on our way north earlier in the day.

At home, I grabbed the newspaper to read an article that topped the headlines, but I hadn't had a chance to read. The FBI had brought charges against the suspected heads of the five major Mafia families in New York City. I read the article with interest, and mentally thought about the Corleone, Tattaglia, Barzini, Cuneo, and Stracci families, rather than the actual families. I wondered if Chicago was next, and if and when the government might try to take down the Chicago Outfit again.

When I finished reading the paper, I went to my study and shut the door. I reviewed my notes from my European history class and from my microprocessor class, finally heading to bed about midnight. I wasn't worried about either exam, and six hours of sleep was about my norm. Kara was waiting for me in bed, but we just cuddled before we fell asleep.

My Monday exams went as expected, and I went to karate after dinner. I didn't study because I had all day Tuesday free, and I really didn't need to study for the exam in Mark's class. The exam for my compiler class was going to be easy, but with our programming projects counting for 80% of our grade, and the midterm 10%, I wouldn't have worried no matter what. I already had enough points for a B+, and even a D on the final wouldn't prevent me from receiving an A.