Chapter 3: Fate Takes a Breather

We were the children of the baby boom. Our parents survived a depression, fought a world war and unleased a tsunami of kids that swamped the system. First, it hit the elementary schools and then the high schools. By the time college rolled around we were like a pack of starving hyenas.

It would be an understatement to say that the competition was ferocious. You sent out ten applications and got maybe one acceptance. You never even thought about applying to the prestigious places like Harvard, Berkeley, or Michigan. Only the best-of-the-best got into them. That’s the reason why I was such a misfit when I showed up on the Ann Arbor campus.

I was a working-class kid recruited into the Big U on an athletic scholarship, not his genius IQ. In fact, the kids from my high school had a pool going about whether I’d flunk out by Thanksgiving. It didn’t help when the fellow at freshman orientation told us to shake hands with the person on each side, because one of us wouldn’t be around next semester. So, I felt neither entitled, nor even like I belonged.

They housed scholarship athletes in their own dorm. I could’ve gotten another swimmer, or a gymnast; somebody with a minor sport scholarship. But I got a football hero and he was a total pain in the ass. Chuck had no concept of personal space and his side of the suite was always a den. Even worse he was hornier than the fabled two dicked billy goat. So, he spent most of his time either pussy-hunting or drinking with his fellow Neanderthals. But Chuck could throw the ball seventy yards. So, the athletic department kept him eligible, and his future was always more NFL than MBA anyhow.

His legitimate prey were the girls who were trying to prove how wrong their mothers were. There were herds of them on 1960s campuses. And so, there were far too many nights when I’d come back from the library to find a tie on the door. Unlike Chuck, there was no pot of gold at the end of my college rainbow. Hence, I was getting an engineering degree. That wasn’t an easy major, especially when you had three hours of practice five days a week. Every other minute I was in the library, or class. So, social life wasn’t an option.

The campus is beautiful in the middle of October. There are a lot of mature trees and little sidewalks lined with old fashioned streetlights. There was the hint of burning leaves and I knew I was as prepped as I could be for tomorrow’s 9AM exam. They’d kicked me out of the library when it closed, and I was enjoying a leisurly walk back in the soft fall evening. My mellow mood changed as I approached our room. There was the ubiquitous tie on the door and faint thumping and moaning noises were emanating from inside.

Most nights I was willing to give the inconsiderate piece of shit some space. But tomorrow’s exam was going to make-or-break my grade point average. So, I was in no mood to suffer my horny friend. I banged loudly on the door. The moaning stopped. Chuck’s pissed off voice said, “I’m in here!!” I said just as pissed off, “I’ve got an exam tomorrow. So, take your ass over to Sigma Chi or I’ll get the RA!!” That was the nuclear option. He knew I meant business.

A couple of minutes passed, and Chuck appeared in the door, disheveled. I stepped back to let him go by. He gave me a surly look. I didn’t care. He was a quarterback, perhaps six feet and two hundred pounds. I might be a fish. But I was big and blond, two inches taller and twenty pounds heavier.

Then Chuck’s current object of lust emerged. She was small, perhaps five two. She was wearing the standard coed uniform, tight jeans and t-shirt. It showed off a superb body. But this wasn’t one of Chuck’s usual skanks. She was knockout gorgeous; super-thick chestnut hair parted in the middle and draped down her back in a long smooth curtain almost to her tiny waist. That was the Ali McGraw, Love Story, look. All the coeds wanted it. This girl had it nailed.

Her shining hair framed a flawlessly proportioned heart shaped face. She had high cheekbones, a beautiful, slightly snubbed nose, wide mouth with full, sexy lips and incredible blue eyes. She was trying to avoid my eyes, because she was doing the walk of shame. But she had to glance up as she moved past me. We both gasped. It felt like standing in a railroad tunnel watching a locomotive rushing at you. I instantly knew that I’d sacrifice anything to make this woman mine.

I just stood there gaping like an idiot. She was frozen in the doorway with one hand over her mouth and the other pressed against her big round tits. An uncomfortably long period passed. We both knew that something deeply special was happening. Chuck might be dim-witted. But he could sense that there was electricity between us. So, he grabbed my mystery woman by the arm and said roughly, “Come on Annie. We can finish what we started back at the Sig Chi house.”

I was gazing longingly up the hall, as her perfect round ass swayed its way toward the elevator, when she turned and gave me a look that overflowed with confusion and yearning. I knew where Chuck was taking her and what they were about to do. The dazzling bolt of jealousy that hit me was astonishing. I wasn’t simply bothered by the fact that Chuck was about to fuck her. It drove me wild to think that she’d ever been with another man. It was a terrifying feeling.

I aced the final, even though I hadn’t slept much. Chuck was gone all night. I got back from the exam about ten-thirty in the morning and he was zonked out. It must have been an all-night fuck-fest. The raging pang of jealousy nearly buckled my knees.

I had a meet that afternoon. So, I hit the rack myself. I woke up just in time to make it over for the pre-race stretching. Chuck was gone, probably for a second round of humping the other half of my soul. I took a couple of cleansing breaths, just to clear my mind.

The thing about swimming is that you sit around bored, waiting for one incredibly intense minute. The strain builds as your event gets closer. But this time, I wasn’t agonizing about the race, as much as I was eating my heart out over Chuck’s mystery girl. It was ridiculous to pine for somebody who you’d never even talked to. But I could sense the connection. She felt it too. I could see it in her eyes. The word “soulmate” is such bullshit term. It embarrasses me to use it. But there’s no other way to describe what this woman meant to me.

Then they called my event. Competition focuses you, which was exactly what I needed. I had to stop my ridiculous mooning over a woman I didn’t actually know. It was disturbing. She was probably fucking my worthless roommate, right that very second. But I couldn’t imagine how I could live the rest of my life without her. To say the least, I was conflicted.

I was doing the 200 ‘fly, that day which was definitely not my best stroke. But the guy who normally did it had the flu. I was poised on the blocks, psyching myself to endure the usual two minutes of undistilled agony, while I looked up at the sparse crowd. It was a pre-race ritual, like an actor counting the house. Maybe twenty people were sitting up there.

Then I saw her!! It was the girl from last night!! We locked eyes. She waved. I false started. Actually, what I did was fall face first into the pool out of sheer shock. Then, after I dragged myself out of the water, I proceeded to set a personal, pool, conference and NCAA record for the event. I didn’t need to guess what had motivated THAT.

When I came out of the dressing room, I found my mystery girl leaning against a wall. She was clearly waiting for me. She looked self-contained and heartbreakingly beautiful. She walked over, stood directly in front of me and eyed me somberly like I was some kind of zoo animal. Then she said simply, “We have to talk.”

I said flustered, “How about Dominik’s,” which was a few blocks away. She just nodded and marched off. I hustled to catch up. But not before I noted the twitching of those incredible buns. I got us a pitcher of sangria and we sat out under the pergola in a beautiful October day. The campus surrounding us was buzzing with activity. The sky was cloudlessly blue, and the late afternoon sun was bright.

Up to that point we’d exchanged exactly seven words. But it felt like we’d been sitting across from each other for at least a hundred lifetimes. She was still looking at me puzzled, like I was a novel species of anthropoid.

She said with wonder in her voice, “I feel like we’ve known each other forever. But I don’t know your name.” I said trying to sound cool, “It’s Lambert, Tommy Lambert.” Then I went back to staring at her. She blushed and said, “I’m Annie Gregory.” The wordless gazing continued.

All of us jocks take an eastern religion, blow-off class, to satisfy the liberal arts requirement. But I’d learned some things in it too. I said, trying to sound spontaneous, “The Hindus believe that the soul is immortal. That it progresses through an infinite number of lives. Maybe we knew each other in a prior life and are fated to be together here. Don’t they call that kismet?”

I honestly thought that she’d laugh, since that sounded like something Pepe Le Pew would say. But instead, she seemed to melt right in front of me. Her huge blue eyes registered total astonishment. I could see that she believed it too. But she didn’t want to say it. It was like I had read her mind.

She actually blushed. No coed does that. They’re all too jaded. Particularly the beautiful ones. She said, “I don’t understand this. But I feel exactly the same way. It is as if we’ve shared each other’s intimate secrets?” She went back to looking at me, eyes shining.

This was getting too intense. I said, “Do you want some time to thing about this? We could get together tonight and talk it through.” She looked relieved. Too much had happened too fast. We needed a bit of time apart to figure out where our heads were at.

She said, “Pick me up at my place at 6:00. We can grab a bite to eat and talk.” I said questioningly, “Your place?” She said, “I have an off-campus apartment.” She wrote down the address and said, “How about six o’clock?” Hmmm, so she had money.

I hustled back to the dorm to interrogate Chuck. There were too many missing pieces. High on the list of questions was how many times he’s fucked her last night. Chuck was a study in death-warmed-over, sitting there in a ratty old glen-plaid bathrobe, hair still messed up from sleep, face pale and unshaven. I said, trying to sound sympathetic, “Rough night?” He said, “You have no idea. I’ve never been this hung over in my life.” I said as nonchalantly as I could, “That was Annie Gregory you were with last night, right?” Chuck got a sour look and said, “That bitch is a freak!!”

My heart sank. Anybody my roommate thought was freaky would have to be a real slut. But I said, like I was mildly curious, “How so? Is she into kinky things?” Chuck grimaced and said, “I wish. She dated Rocky Ferraro for a while, and he said she was the hottest fuck on campus. I had her down to her panties when you barged in. But the minute we got to the lobby she blubbered something about how she “couldn’t do this,” and ran off leaving me holding my dick. So, I went over to Sig Chi and got wasted.”

He added puzzled, “Man! It was frustrating!! She’s the best looking bitch on campus. But I don’t know what crazy monkeys are fucking in her head. Nobody passes up an opportunity to sample MY man-meat.” My heart soared. He hadn’t fucked her. The part about the love of my life being the hottest fuck on campus was a little disturbing. But this was the Age of Aquarius, the pill, and free love. I thought to myself, “We hadn’t met yet.”

Annie’s “apartment” was actually the first floor of one of those old turn-of-the-century houses just off the campus. There had always been a lot of money in the area. And the houses were big, bright and airy. I knocked on the intimidatingly big Victorian door, wondering what I’d gotten myself into.

Annie and I might have a connection. But I washed dishes in a fraternity house to make the pocket money I was going to use to buy her a burger; and she could obviously shell out for something like THIS? The woman who answered the door wasn’t the same one I had been sitting across from a mere three hours earlier. This one was firing for effect.

Annie was wearing one of those baby doll dresses that the model Twiggy had made popular, with about four inches of gleaming thigh showing. She’d had on jeans before. So, I had no concept of how shapely and well-muscled her legs were. It was an erection causing sight. Her sheaf of thick chestnut hair was pulled back smooth into a long ponytail down her back and she was wearing makeup for the first time. Her superb eyes were only matched by her full succulent mouth.

She was amazing. I had an instant flash of insecurity. She was rich, beautiful and incredibly sexy. What was she doing with me? Then I looked into those huge intelligent eyes and saw nothing but love and devotion. She was so happy to see me that she was almost prancing with eagerness. She said brightly, “Where are we going?”

I didn’t have a car. So, it had to be close. There was a nearby campus hangout that had cinnamon buns to die for and hand squeezed limeade to wash it down. More important, it had very private booths. I said, “I might be a starving student. But I can still afford a trip to Drakes.” Annie just glowed with contentment as she grabbed my arm and said, “My favorite place!” I enjoyed the heft of her firm boob pressed against my arm.

The place was jammed as we settled into one of the big wooden booths. I was returning from the counter with two limeades and a big cinnamon bun to share, when Austin Cooper sauntered up. He was one of those hot-shit, preppy douchebags who infested the campus back in the day; slick and totally entitled by daddy’s money. The rumor was he’d deflowered more virgins than the high priest of the Druids.

It was obvious that he and Annie had a history, likely in the biblical way. He said, ignoring me completely and talking directly to her, “Hey babe, haven’t seen you in a while. We’re partying tonight at the house and I know how you like to party. Come on up any time, and we can renew old acquaintances.” I was thinking of kicking his ass on principle alone.

Annie looked at the piece-of-shit as if she was having a hard time remembering him. Then she said, like it was all coming back to her, “Oh yes, I remember you now. It’s Austin isn’t it?” That took fuck-face down a notch or two. She added dismissively, “I don’t party with boys anymore. I prefer men. Meet my fiancé Tommy.” Did she just say “fiancé??!! Okay – I can go with that.

I stood and offered my hand. I was perhaps five inches taller and easily sixty pounds heavier. He took an instinctive step back, intimidated. I said meaningfully, “Hi, I’m Tom Lambert and I’m the only one Annie will be partying with from now on.”

He looked me up and down and sneered, “All you’re going to do is join a long line of guys who’ve fucked her.” Then without shaking my hand he spun and walked away. He was pissed. How delightful. I sat back down and said mildly, “Nice fellow.” Annie’s face was bright red. She was obviously so angry that she was almost frothing at the mouth. She said, “I don’t know what I was thinking. He’s a total asshole. I swear that you can count on one hand the number of guys I’ve actually slept with. But the stories just keep coming.”

She gently reached across the table and took my hand. She said, “I always knew you were out there. I just had to kiss a few frogs to find you.” Then, she added sheepishly, “Your roommate was more like a horny toad. The instant I saw you I knew who you were. So, I just ran off. He was livid.” Chuck had already made that clear.

My instincts told me that Annie was telling the truth. But it really didn’t matter. I had been waiting for this woman my whole life. She said meekly, “Can we please go back to my place. I knew what she wanted, and that was going to present a problem.”

Annie’s place was neat and tastefully decorated. It reflected a sophisticated and thoughtful person. She was indeed the whole package; beautiful, intelligent and sensible. She was chattering away from the large kitchen where she was getting us both a glass of cabernet.

She said, “Both my parents are lawyers and we’re rich.” She added uncomfortably, “They kind-of spoil me.” I said apprehensively, “My dad’s a high school teacher and my mom took care of us. I hope it doesn’t bother you that I’m poor.”

At that point, she appeared in the doorway holding two wine glasses. She handed me a glass and sat, leaning into me with her long gorgeous legs folded under her. I put my arm around her, marveling at her ease and grace. Women are indeed the flexible sex. If I’d tried to do that, we both would have both been drenched in wine.

Then she seemed to decide. She took my glass and carefully set it on the coffee table. She turned and slid crossways, facing me. She threw her arms around my neck and raised her lips for our first kiss. And that was the predicament.

I’m not bad looking, tall, blond and well-built. So, you’d probably wouldn’t guess that I was a twenty-one-year-old virgin? But as I said, I was either studying, or swimming and I am not the most confident guy around women.

I was also certain that Annie would expect a performance similar to the ones she had gotten from the five men who had come before me. After all, she was supposed to be the hottest fuck on campus. I had to come clean. I said, “I know what you are thinking. And I have a secret that I have to get off my chest first.”

She looked at me in horror. It was like she thought that I was about to confess that I was out-and-proud; or I liked to see my women hogtied in a rubber suit, something like that. I said,” I hate to admit it. But I’m still a virgin.” I could have probably told her that I was actually from the planet Tatooine and I would have gotten a less astounded reaction. I was humiliated.

Then she began to laugh. First the mirth came into her eyes. Then it took over her entire face. And finally, her whole body was convulsed by uncontrollable paroxysms of laughter. Okay, that was mean!!! I started to rise in a huff. But she yanked on my hand to pull me back. I was off balance, and I fell face first on her big couch. As I fell, SHE was arranging herself so that I would fall on top of her. Her legs were spread incredibly wide.

I immediately pushed myself up on my arms to take my weight off of her. In the meantime, she was frantically scrambling around in the area of my zipper. The next thing I knew, there was an extremely hot and wet sensation on the part of my anatomy that had never experienced such an amazing, out-of-this-world feeling before.

She grabbed the back of my head and pulled me down to an open-mouthed kiss that replicated the wonderful feeling at the other end. I had watched enough porn that I had the process down in concept, if not actual practice. So, I began the age-old motion and Annie went utterly nuts.

She threw her head back, mouth wide open making extreme effort noises. It was like she was choking to death. Then she let out an unearthly cry and threw her legs around my hips and her arms around my neck. I don’t use a word like “abandoned” very often. But that was how Annie gave herself to me.

She would buck shout, and quiver wordlessly. Then she would go right back to throwing her hips up at me. That motion is similar to swimming and I have the endurance that you get from all those years in the water. So, I just kept on-and-on and she kept bucking, shouting and quivering. I finally looked at her face. She had the exhausted look of somebody who was right on the edge of losing it.

She started chanting, “Come Tom!! You have to come in me NOW. I can’t take it any longer. Please come. PLEASE!!!” I started pounding on her like I was trying to break her. She took me to the hilt making hoarse grunting noises while I lost myself in an ecstasy of coming.

There were several mislaid minutes as I got my wits about me. I had bailed out of Annie the instant the cataclysm in my loins died down and I was now lying on the floor. Annie was on her back, one arm dangling off the couch like she had been shot, and legs spread wide. That would have been a wanton sight, except she was out colder than a proverbial mackerel. I thought, “Great, I’ve finally found my soulmate - and I’ve killed her!!!”

I rushed frantically into her bathroom and got a cold wash rag. She was still just lying there when I hustled back. Her delectable chest was rising and falling with great intensity and her nipples were like little brown acorns. I considered that a good sign. I pushed her gorgeous legs together, while examining her fertile hips and hard stomach. I’m a GUY. I notice those things.

Then, I began to gently bathe her forehead. She came back to me slowly, like she had been someplace long ago and far away. Those incredible blue eyes focused and then she gasped. She said with wonder in her voice, “What did you do to me? I’ve never experienced anything like that in my life.” I shrugged lamely and said, “I don’t know. I’ve never had sex before.”