Let me tell you a little about Christine. She was vibrant, blindingly intelligent--which translated into a sharp wit and wonderfully sarcastic sense of humor. She was gorgeous: short, pixie cut dark hair, a delicate ring adorning her cute nose, dark piercing eyes, a stinging body: wide, womanly hips, gorgeous perky b-cups topped by dark, sensuous nipples, and smooth, creamy pale skin. And she always wore bright right lipstick on her beautiful little mouth. Not everybody's type of girl, but the first time I saw her, I wanted to know more. We dated for a long time in university in the states. My best friend moved into the house she was living in, we met, we talked, we drank, and we started getting closer. Eventually (actually after about two weeks) we started having sex, and that was that. She was by no means my first lay, but for all intents and purposes, she was. I'd had several long-term girlfriends before her; even ones that were pretty crazy in the bedroom, but nothing like Christine. We explored each other immensely, and explored our likes and dislikes, and our boundaries. Even years after things went south, I still felt she was the best sex I had ever had, and a part of me still loved her deeply.
But, things happened, we parted ways, there was always a great connection, albeit contentious and tumultuous. I had ended up living across Europe for most of my time after university. There was a lot of aimless wandering, a couple of ski seasons in the Alps, summers crewing for rich men and their mistresses on yachts in the med. It was a pretty glorious existence for the most part. But, money caught up to me, and I needed to finish out some sort of education. So, I returned to London, where I'd lived for a year during undergrad, to get a law degree. That took a while, because there was still quite a bit of travelling and wandering in my life, but I eventually did it. Then, I found a job in a respectable firm and have been living in north London since-a pretty comfortable life at that.
It wasn't long after having settled into a new place in Islington, I was at this nice bar in an area called Angel, having a night out with some old mates from my earlier university life in London. It was a 'my treat' kind of night. We all did our share of fucking about after uni, but I was the only one with a substantial, real-money-making job. So it was a pleasure to see the old mates from across Europe and show them a good time. We had been drinking for quite a while, and were pretty tuned up having a great time on the dance floor. I was Dancing with my old friend Emily, a sultry little redhead. I had been in love with her for a long time during undergrad, but she always had a boyfriend, now fiancΓ©, whom became one of my best friends. Nonetheless, we always had a very flirty relationship.
As we were dancing, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and an eerily familiar voice said,
"James?"
I turned around, and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was Christine, still looking as gorgeous as I remembered her. And I remembered her well-- along with my study of politics, philosophy and law, I also got a degree in art, with a focus on photography. I thought of Christine as my muse for a long time, so I had an extensive collection of beautiful nude pictures of her, some of the exceedingly explicit. Even years after we'd parted, I'd still occasionally break open the digital archives or my big black portfolio and stroke myself to her glorious form, immortalized in greyscale.
I was staring at her blankly, unable to believe my eyes. It had been probably five years since I had seen her, and she didn't look a day older.
She looked a bit confused. "It's not possible that you don't remember me..."
I cut her off. : Don't remember you? Are you serious? I'm just trying to figure out if somebody spiked my drink and I'm hallucinating this, or you're actually here. What the hell are you doing in London, the last I heard of you, you were somewhere in South America researching monkeys or something like that?"
A smile started to turn at the corner of her lips, "Oh ya, I did that for about 18 months as a part of my studies. But I transferred here to King's to finish out my PhD. What the hell are you doing here? The last I heard of you, you were gallivanting across the Med in rich dudes yachts or something ridiculous like that" she said, that sharpness in her hadn't gone away either.
I started to chuckle a bit. "I was doing that for a good long while. And leading tours in the Alps, but I've been livin' in London for a while now. I got my law degree, and now I've got a job here."
She looked astounded. "You? James? Settling down before the age of 35? Before the age of 50 for that matter? Man, maybe somebody spike my drink, I don't know if I believe what I'm hearing!"
I was laughing out loud at this point, and I coyly responded, "Well, I don't know if 'settled down' is the right word," looking around the bustling bar and holding up my drink, "but I've definitely become a bit less nomadic and picked up a few more responsibilities...But man, it's really nice to see you! I really can't believe it. Can I like, give you a hug or something"
"Of course!" she almost shouted and threw her arms around my neck. I melted. I hadn't felt her body close to mine in so long. I had spent the last seven years trouncing around Europe, it wasn't like I wasn't getting laid, but there was always something about this girl that just did something to me.
We embraced for a good long while, and parted, both of us smiling.
Almost lost for words, I finally blurted out, "Well, can I buy you a drink or something. The guy at the bar definitely knows what he's doing."
She looked at her watch, and looked sad. "It's almost midnight, so I really have to run and get the train. I really don't want to have to take the night bus home from North London"
"Well, if you want, I can give you a ride home, where do you live?
"Wait a second, you have a car? In London? Well, you of all people would, I don't even think I want to know what it is. I live down in Holborn, so not too far. Can you even drive? How much have you had to drink?" She snipped.
"Oh I kind of came across the car by accident. I couldn't pass it up. But this is my first one. I had a late night at the office, making up for a long weekend in Zagreb, so I'd love to buy you a drink and catch up, then I can definitely swing you down to Holborn" I said trying to sound as casual as possible, and conceal the rising erection that the mere touch of her skin our hug had elicited.