Chapter 7

We took things slow in the weeks that followed, just as we had agreed. In fact, we didn’t even make love the first three weeks that Ilse came to clean my house. Naturally, I was always in the mood, but I left the decision to Ilse. I think it was the wise thing to do too since it felt like a sort of test.

Of course, I was frustrated like hell, but I had other ways to take care of that. I made sure that I didn’t pressure her. When we finally made love after a month it felt special, even better than the first time since we didn’t have to rush. I guess she couldn’t stand going without lovemaking any longer while I had already given up on getting lucky again this year. We talked a lot too and got to know each other much better. I valued every moment I spent with her, whether it was talking, kissing, cuddling, or making love.

I regularly visited Ilse during the week. On the weekends, I came over for most of the day, unless I had some other commitment. My mother’s side of the family had a gathering once every three months, while I visited my grandparents from my father’s side every month. I also visited friends and other family members occasionally. However, despite the social obligations, I spent most of my spare time with Ilse, Bram, and Naomi.

I hadn’t told my family or friends about Ilse yet. I could already anticipate how they’d feel about my affair and I anticipated that my family wasn’t going to be supportive. My friends probably couldn’t care less about Ilse’s social status once they got over the initial shock.

Another fun thing that had happened was that Bram and Naomi had teamed up and made a drawing for me that showed me as a part of their family, living in a big castle. Teddy and McQueen were also part of the family. It touched my heart when the children gave it to me. I treasured the drawing, giving it an honorary spot on in my study. It may not have been a Rembrandt, but it was the idea that counted.

I also ran into Kim one evening when I went to Ilse. She shot me a dirty look, but kept her peace. Ilse told me later that she had talked to Kim the day after we made up and had told her that she decided to go against Kim’s advice and would continue seeing me. Kim hadn’t been happy to hear that, but Ilse told her that she believed in me and had to follow her heart on this. I found out that the three-weeks waiting period had been on Kim’s insistence and just as I had expected, it was a test after all. A test that I passed with flying colors, considering the loving kiss I received from Ilse after she told me about it.

Overall, It seemed to be going well. The only thing that didn’t go well was my job. It was very busy at the company and people had to put in a lot of overtime, including myself. There were rumors of a hostile take-over and if it happened, it was likely there were going to be layoffs. My job was secure for now since I was one of the best performing employees, but it did cause me a lot of stress. If they were going to fire someone in my department, then I hoped it was either Mister Sweaty or Mister Grumpy as I had started to nickname my least likable colleagues.

There were a couple of chit chatting women that I wouldn’t mind seeing go either, since it’d bring some peace to the floor. However, I wisely kept my mouth shut to my manager and just focused on doing a good job. Nobody liked a blabbermouth after all. Keeping a low profile while putting in a lot of good work was most likely going to keep me in my job than when I badmouthed my colleagues.

This theory proved correct when one of the women began whining about my lack of social skills and that I never engaged in small talk. According to her, I was one of the rudest people she had ever met according to her for outright ignoring her. She thought that I should be the first cut loose if they fired anybody. I simply told her to take it up with our manager if she had any problems with me.

She actually thought that was a good suggestion, however, she shut up when my manager showed her the amount of work I got done, versus the amount of work that she got done. In fact, she even made a halfhearted attempt at her real job instead of gossiping all day long. Not many people had appreciated her attitude or the low amount of work she finished.

In the end, it turned out that there were some budget cuts to keep the company healthy, but as I had expected, I was unaffected. Unfortunately, so were Mister Sweaty and Mister Grumpy. Apparently, it had been too expensive for the company to fire them. Oh well. At least they were on the other side of the floor and didn’t bother me much. Mrs. Blabbermouth got a one-way ticket to the department of employment. Funny enough, after she was gone everybody got more work done. It’s amazing what firing a single person can do for productivity. With the spin in the wheel gone, the amount of gossip and chitchat reduced significantly and people were no longer distracted as much from doing their job.

It was autumn when I decided to take a week vacation. I wasn’t really planning to go anywhere, but it was the same week that Bram and Naomi had their fall break from primary school. I figured I could take them and Ilse on daytrips and have a fun time together. Ilse had once told me that Bram and Naomi had never been to the beach before or had even seen the sea other than on television.

I surprised all three of them by showing up on Monday morning and taking them all with me to the coast on the other side of the country. I knew that Ilse didn’t have to work this week either. She wasn’t able to arrange a free babysitter for the entire week and had decided to take a week off as well. It was only a two-hour drive to the coast since the Netherlands is such a small country.

The weather was good and the water was still warm enough to swim in the sea. Bram and Naomi had the time of their life and loved it when I helped them build a big sandcastle. Ilse quite enjoyed it when I gave her a massage. Of course, it was under the pretense of rubbing tanning lotion on her body, while I enjoyed the sights of her sexy body in a skimpy bikini at the same time.

We ate seafood for dinner in a restaurant that evening and ended up having a lot of fun with the lobster scissors and shells. Bram and Naomi slept in the backseat of my car on the way back while Ilse and I listened to relaxing music on the radio. We arrived at about eleven at her apartment. I helped Ilse carrying the kids upstairs, which turned out being easier said than done. Getting to the fifth floor with a sleeping child in your arms and a heavy backpack hanging on your shoulders was quite the energy drain. Still, it was only two trips and I enjoyed helping Ilse out.

That was also the first evening that Ilse invited me to stay over, which I eagerly accepted. We made slow and sensual love that night, being careful not to wake up the kids. The following morning, I greeted a very surprised Bram. He was up first and saw me busy in the kitchen wearing nothing but my boxer shorts.

“Tom, why are you here?”

“Ssh, you don’t want to wake up your mother or sister, do you?” I told him with a soft tone of voice, beckoning him to keep his voice down.

With a whispering voice, he asked again, “Yeah, but why are you here?”

“I stayed the night and now I’m preparing breakfast, do you want to help?”

I guess my casual answer took him off guard and he didn’t give it any thought where I had slept, instead focusing on the question I asked.

“Sure, what can I do?”

“Well, you probably know your way around the kitchen better than I do. Can you find me a frying pan? I want to prepare eggs, pancakes, and toast.”

“You want to make pancakes? But this is breakfast, not dinner...” Bram stated with a doubtful voice.

“I know, but in some countries, they have pancakes for breakfast. I figured we should try it. You like pancakes, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah, but...”

“Don’t worry. If your mom gives us trouble over it, I’ll make her spank my butt and not yours, deal?” I proposed, giving him a wink.

Bram’s eyes went wide for a moment, before replying, “Okay, deal.”

Now that we had settled that, I stuck my tongue out and I got a giggling and helpful partner in return. Us men would show that womenfolk what we could do in the kitchen!

Naomi woke up to the wonderful scents of pancakes and eggs on toast ten minutes later. After I seated both children and made sure they had enough food to last for a while, I prepared breakfast in bed for Ilse and myself. The kids had promised me that they would keep the noise down and that they wouldn’t disturb their mother and me while we kept the bedroom door closed.

I opened Ilse’s door softly and entered with the tray of food, closing the door behind me again. My beautiful sweetheart was still sleeping comfortably on the queen-sized bed. Her bedroom was approximately half the size of mine and I guess it was cozy. She didn’t have a lot of walking space apart from a small path to the door, her bed, and the closet. Ilse was sleeping on her back, with her head turned sideways on the pillow. The bed sheets only covered her body below the belly button, leaving her topless above. I also knew she was nude under the sheets.

After I set the tray of food down on the floor, I laid beside her on the bed. I gave her a gentle kiss on her lips and slowly woke her up by leaving a trail of kisses down her body. I noticed the smile on her face and I knew that she was awake, but pretended to be asleep. Pulling the bed covers off her I continued my exploration down her body, giving her a teasing lick in her bellybutton, which made her squirm for a moment. I knew she was ticklish there. Moving down further, I reached her Mons veneris and teased her with more kisses and licks.