Chapter 4

Caitlin arrived in Ireland in early September, her first time returning to her homeland since her family had moved to the United States almost six years ago. She thought she was excited to be 'home' but questioned if that was really an honest thought or whether it was simply the impact of nostalgia. Of course, many things had changed in the years that she had been gone, most notably, her. Her debut into the world of fashion modeling involved her prom dress and the resulting advertisements featuring her picture wearing it and the follow-up feature stories on the national news of the "Girl in the prom dress". After that, model agencies and designers made repeated offers to her to model their newest fashions. With my encouragement, she finally accepted a single offer for a weekend in New York modeling for one studio. The success of that 'shoot' was beyond most expectations, and cemented her position as a very recognizable and beautiful girl. Spotted at the Paris conference on Physical Science, the "Professor is a professor" headline only increased the hype of her return to Ireland.

For the first time in her brief and expedited college career, Caitlin did not live in a dormitory. She rented a small furnished apartment several blocks from the campus hoping that by living alone, the distractions of dorm life would disappear and she would better be able to concentrate on her classes. As expected, she was welcomed by the professors and the administration, both for her extraordinary intelligence and for the notoriety that her presence brought to the institution. Her fellow students, those within her program were in awe of her grasp of apparently everything scientific. Students not in her program were simply in awe of her. To them, Caitlin was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful young women in the world.

In the first few months, Caitlin was diligent in her letters to her family, to Hanna, and especially to me. As the semester progressed, however, our workloads increased and our letter writing diminished. Photographs and memories helped to overcome our physical separation, but even those could only do so much.

Redmond O'Rourke was one individual who did not have to rely upon photographs to appreciate Caitlin's beauty. He enjoyed that opportunity each morning in a small coffee shop near the university. Mr. O'Rourke, or more officially Assistant Professor O'Rourke, was a member of the staff of the university with class responsibilities for several undergraduate Civil Engineering courses. He had heard the chatter in the faculty meetings last Spring when the administration had announced that Caitlin would enter the program. He understood the excitement of having someone so gifted as Caitlin enrolled, and he was pleased that she had made Galway her choice. But he had not made the connection between Caitlin the doctoral candidate and Caitlin the fashion model until he saw her in person for the first time in the coffee shop. He came very close to embarrassing himself by fumbling his coffee cup in the exchange from the counter person, but recovered sufficiently to make it to the table without spilling all of it.

On the happening of their next meeting, he concluded that he was thankful that she was not a student in any of his classes as he was certain that he would be unable to concentrate on anything except her beauty. By the end of that week, Professor O'Rourke had changed his schedule slightly to assure himself adequate time to secure a seat facing the other customers in the coffee shop. He had also resolved to meet the young lady and attempt to build a relationship with her.

The first part of that resolution was made much easier by her unfortunate collision with a wayward bicyclist on the sidewalk outside the coffee shop two days later. Redmond was two steps behind her and was able to catch her in his arms and prevent her from being knocked to the ground by the collision. In the resulting confusion, he assisted her in retrieving her books and papers, then offered to buy her a cup of coffee to give her the chance to "settle her nerves".

She accepted his offer and thanked him for being there to rescue her. They made small talk while they enjoyed their coffee, and then he walked with her across campus. Later that day, he discovered that a few papers and a letter addressed to Caitlin had been inadvertently combined with his as people assisted them in picking up after the accident. With her apartment address clearly marked, he opted to deliver it in person, and after delivering it to her, secured her promise to meet him again for coffee the next morning.

Coffee in the morning a few times led to dinner and a movie the next Saturday and then, a week later, a drive in the countryside after church on Sunday morning. A week following, he invited her to spend the weekend in County Cork, visit Blarney and check out an art festival in the area. Caitlin had not had this much attention paid to her since the prom. Granted, it was her own choosing to push herself so hard through the first years of college, but now that she was here, in her homeland, in the final stages of her formal education, she found it very relaxing on the weekends to be able to get away from the rigors of the classroom. And Redmond O'Rourke was nothing for a girl to turn her nose up at. At six feet four inches, he was tall and well built, strong but not overpowering, with coal black hair and a rugged, weathered complexion that said "All Man" to a girl. He was personable, charming and every bit a gentlemen to her. So she accepted his invitation.

They spent the afternoon walking through an outdoor craft and art fair, enjoying the balmy weather and breeze from the ocean that made it a perfect fall day. Everywhere, the fall colors were bursting onto the scene creating a pallet of beauty at every turn in the road. He checked them in to a small inn tucked into the side of the rocks just south of Tralee on the N86 motorway. The inn itself was as you might expect, very quaint, very warm, and not much more than a three bedroom home. Their room, on the second floor, faced the ocean giving them a view of an incredible sunset. Caitlin noticed that he had registered them as Mr. and Mrs. O'Rourke, but chose to say nothing about it.

After their dinner, they shared a bottle of a local wine while they sat on the balcony outside their room, watching the waves and just hearing the sounds of the ocean.

"I can not believe how relaxing this is," she told him. " I haven't felt this calm in months."

"It is incredible, isn't it, and from my standpoint, it doesn't hurt at all that I am sitting next to an extraordinarily beautiful girl either." He kissed her tenderly and she responded to him. He did not want to hurry her in any way so he refilled their glasses and just sat closer to her. As the sun began to set, the temperature followed.

"It's getting chilly out here," she said.

"Maybe we should go in and call it a night. We have a big day ahead of us."

He grabbed the wine and the glasses and then secured the door. When he turned around again, she appeared from the bathroom in a sheer navy blue gown that made him stop dead still. He had the feeling that he was melting right into the floor because he had never seen anyone as beautiful. He was tender, cautious and patient, spending extra time caressing and kissing, tantalizing her until she pulled him to her.

For Caitlin, it had been a long time. Physically she was ready. She was wet inside, she could feel her moisture dripping from her body. Her muscles were tight and as he expanded her, she could feel every part of her awaken once again to the presence of a man within her. As a lover, he was very good, bringing her to two orgasms before calmly yet with a certain measure of force, delivering his full load of semen deep into her body. She fell asleep soon afterward, with him still between her legs, the wind, the wine, the walking, and two orgasms all combining to deplete her energy.

At some time in the middle of the night, Caitlin was not sure because no clock was visible, she awoke with a violent start, a shudder that carried the length of her body. She had just come to the realization that she had just had sex with a man, a different man, another man than the one she loved. She was so ashamed. She cried silently, tears pouring from her eyes. How could she have done such a thing? How could she allow herself to betray the man she loved? What was she going to do?