Chapter 2

I was at home after a long and tiring day at the office, wanting nothing more than to mindlessly watch some television and enjoy a good cup of steaming tea. I had just turned off the fire below my singing teakettle when the doorbell rang. I wasn’t expecting any visitors and I wondered who it could be.

I was surprised to find a nervously looking Ilse in front of me after I opened the door. I had completely forgotten about her promise of two weeks earlier. After my hot fantasies that night, work had picked up in pace the following day. I had worked overtime the last four evenings in a row and I was glad that tomorrow things would be calmer again.

“Hi Tomas, how are you?”

“Ilse! It’s a pleasure to see you again. Please, come in,” I replied, ushering her in.

She was wearing another summer dress this time, a more fashionable one at that. Looking her over I could even detect a hint of makeup and she smelled fresh. It looked like she had put a lot of effort into styling her hair too. Ordinarily, I’m pretty dense and don’t notice such things, but this time I did, which only attested to how much effort she must have put into her looks.

“You look lovely,” I complimented her, after she entered my house and I closed the door behind her.

I thought I saw a small blush, as she replied, “Thank you.”

“Welcome to my humble abode. Would you like a cup of tea? I just boiled some water.”

“Sure, that’d be nice.”

“I’m afraid I only have Earl Gray, but I hope that’s okay?”

“It’s my favorite,” she grinned.

“Seems like we have that in common then,” I replied, smiling back.

I guided her into the living room and offered her a seat on my comfortable couch. I’m not much of a housekeeper, but I generally try to keep the place tidy enough so that I don’t have to be ashamed if guests unexpectedly come over.

Since I lived alone and I preferred calmness, I had a lot of space in my living room. In fact, easily half the living room was empty. Then again, I also hadn’t had a chance yet to purchase new furniture. Okay, that was a lie. I was simply too lazy to go out and compare all sorts of couches, while a sleazy overweight salesman breathed down my neck, trying to get me to purchase a couch that was way overpriced and didn’t really offer what I was looking for anyway. I swear; they were worse than used car salesmen. At least with those you can expect that they were dishonest.

My cat looked up lazily from her spot on the windowsill, before getting up, stretching, and deciding that it was time for more cat food and another round of bug hunting. She walked past Ilse, sniffed her leg for a moment and decided that the woman was friendly enough to rub her cheek against, before departing with a loud purr to the kitchen where her cat food was located.

Returning to the living room with our tea, I saw how Ilse studied a painting on the wall; giving it a critical eye.

“It’s an heirloom I received from my grandmother,” I explained with a grin on my face. “It was either picking that painting or a meter high statue. Since I had first choice I went for the painting, while leaving the statue to a nephew. He wasn’t really happy about that, considering it was a heavy piece of rock that was difficult to move.”

Ilse returned my grin and sat down on the couch.

“This seems like a very nice neighborhood,” she remarked, while picking up her cup of tea to take a sip.

“Yeah, it is. Mostly elderly people live here with several young couples with children added in the mix to liven things up. I bought the house last year and it’s been really nice so far.”

“Bought it, huh? I thought the houses here were for rent only,” Ilse said, sounding impressed by my explanation.

“They used to be, but the corporation that owns them wants to invest in a new project and needs the money. They’ve been selling these houses to the people renting them for the past two years, but because most of them are already retired they can’t get a mortgage from the bank. I’m just lucky that the woman who used to live here went to an old people’s home and that I could afford to buy it,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “What about you? Where do you live?”

“I live in one of those ugly apartment buildings a kilometer away from here. I caught my husband cheating on me when I was seven months pregnant with Naomi. What followed was an ugly divorce and now, four years later, I’m trying to rebuild my life and make ends meet. The bastard has no interest whatsoever in his children and since he’s unemployed he can’t pay alimony or child support either.”

“I can only imagine what that must be like. Some parents of friends of mine went through a divorce too and things can get ugly. Do you have any side jobs to help you out?” I asked, curious how she could get by on just welfare.

“Yes, I clean the houses of several families for a few hours every week, but it’s hard to get a babysitter for free and the work doesn’t pay a lot. Usually my neighbor babysits my kids on Mondays and Tuesdays for a few hours, while I babysit hers on Thursdays and Fridays. She’s in a similar situation.”

“Can’t you work for two days a week or so as a secretary? It has to be paying better than cleaning houses and some companies have a special plan that allows you to put your children in daycare cheaply.”

“I’m thirty-one years old; companies are mostly looking at younger women since they’re cheaper. On top of that, I don’t have a lot of practical experience. I’ve been a housewife for most of my adult live. My husband used to provide for us, until he had an accident at work. It kept him partially disabled, but not disabled enough to start cheating on me,” Ilse replied, with a sour look on her face.

Switching topics to something more cheerful, I asked, “How did the kids enjoy the cookies?”

“Oh they absolutely loved them! I told them they could only have one a day if they behaved and I swear, I’ve never seen them behave this well before,” Ilse replied more animatedly, her face cheering up at the mention of her children. “It was really kind of you to give them those cookies, they savor every last crumb of them.”

“They’re nice children. You’ve raised them well and you have every right to be proud of them,” I complimented her.

“Why thank you. That’s the kindest thing anybody has told me lately. It’s a real struggle sometimes, but I’m glad that at least somebody recognizes my efforts,” Ilse replied, beaming a wide smile at me.

She took a sip of her tea and I noticed she seemed to fidget for a moment, as if she wanted to ask something but wasn’t sure how. Giving her time to work out her thoughts, I took a sip of my own tea.

After half a minute she seemed to have gathered enough courage and with a tense undertone, she carefully asked, “I take it your wife was surprised by what you did for me?”

It took me a moment to realize what she meant, but then I held up my ring finger and replied, “Oh, no I’m not married nor am I currently in a relationship. I haven’t been so in a while either for that matter,” I added as an afterthought.

“Ah, I was wondering about that, since I noticed you weren’t wearing a ring. Then again, it’s not uncommon for married man not to wear their wedding ring on a daily basis these days,” Ilse replied.

Was that relief I heard in her voice?

I became curious why she wanted to know this and inquired, “Why are you asking?”

“Oh, well,” Ilse’s cheeks flushed a delightful red, before she replied, “I was afraid my ‘Thank you’ kiss was improper if you were in a relationship already. I was pretty emotional at that moment and I wasn’t thinking clearly. If anybody saw me kiss you like that it could have gotten you into trouble with your spouse and that would be the last thing I wanted to cause.”

“I see; that’s very thoughtful of you. You don’t have to worry about that though and I really enjoyed that kiss. It was the highlight of an otherwise boring day,” I replied, blushing myself now.

I could already feel myself getting hard again at the memory of that kiss, it felt as if a sexual tension was building up between us and I wondered where it’d lead us to.

I was pretty sure that ‘improper kissing’ wasn’t the only reason she wanted to know my relationship status. Looking at Ilse I could slightly make out her nipples, poking at the fabric of her dress. Considering she was also wearing a bra it wasn’t very obvious, but I could definitely make out two small dents that weren’t there before. I just hoped my hard-on wasn’t too obvious; however, Ilse seemed to take swiftly glances at my crotch increasingly more often.