I got to Karen's house...well...mansion...at about 6:00PM. I brought along a take-out order of Chiles Rellenos and Pollo Oaxaca con arroz--both are her favorites. Karen often mentioned to me that her cook was deficient in preparing Mexican food. I told her I'd bring some so she could give her cook a night off. Karen usually did anyway when it was my night at Karen's place.
Tonight, we ate first instead of hopping in the sack for sex. It's probably just as well because I recognized from the start that Karen wasn't feeling exactly sexy. It wasn't because she was on her period; that was the week before. In fact, she just seemed depressed. She wasn't wearing an make-up, not a tragedy for Karen as she was naturally beautiful without make-up, but it did say something about her paying attention to her appearance. Also, she was sitting around in blue jeans and a bulky sweatshirt; again not ordinarily significant but her attire just wasn't as sharp as I've come to expect. Yes, Karen can look sharp in blue jeans and a sweatshirt... just not the ones she had on.
"Hola, Karen, la comida Mexicana estΓ‘ aquΓ!" I said in the most cheerful voice I was capable of, "mangiare, mangiare!...No, wait...that's Italian. Hmmm. What's 'eat, eat!' in Spanish. Well no matter, I've got some good stuff that you love...Let's dig in!"
"I'm not very hungry, Drummond," she said in a small voice, "it does smell good, though. Why don't you have some and maybe I'll nibble off of your plate, O.K.?"
I scooped up big helpings of both dishes and put them on a platter sized plate guessing, accurately it turned out, at what was likely to happen. Sure enough, as Karen pecked away with her fork at the food, and sampled some, her appetite miraculously appeared. The next thing you know she was eating just as much of the delicious, spicy, food as I was. And it did seem to cheer her up somewhat.
I said, mid meal, "Karen I have an idea for tonight. I think you are lately suffering from 'cuddle deficiency syndrome',...yes I just invented that name for it. Unless you really want to, let's not have sex tonight. Let's just sit and cuddle and talk. How does that sound? "
I got a smile out of her on that one, and she said, "Oh, Drummond, you always know the right thing to say to me...and the right thing to do. Yes...let's do that. I mean...you know...unless something 'pops up' that you need me to take care of...you know?"
I blew her a air kiss and said, "Well, Karen, my love,..Capital! I've had a busy week too and I'm a little tired myself. I'm not going to say 'no' but I think my penis is probably as tired as I am...but one never knows...does one?"
We plunked the dirty dishes in the sink. There were no leftovers, nothing to throw away. Again, I was right. Between the two of us, we polished off the entire order. That being done, we headed upstairs.
Karen streamed some mellow music--she's a classical music fan--and changed into a practical, decidedly not sexy pair of cotton pajamas--she still looked beautiful, though. I stripped down to my underwear and threw on a sport jersey...comfortable and perfect given the fair weather.
We sat up in bead resting against the headboard with her head against my chest. Karen played with the hair on my arm, twirling her finger in random patterns in it. Her hair smelled wonderful which made me wonder if she used that fancy/schmantzy chamomile shampoo on it. I was feeling mellow and just about on the edge of dozing off; Karen was every bit of awake, though.
"Drum?" she said with some hesitancy, "do you love me? Do you?"
I answered instantly, "Yes, Karen my Dear, I do love you...deeply...you know that. What makes you ask?"
"Oh, reassurance, I think but..." her voice trailed off a little, "but truly, I love to hear you say it to me. Nobody else does...Nobody is around to say it to me. Kurt's off with his work and his boyfriends...I'm here with my house people but they aren't going to tell me that. Even when I had that fling with Zeta, she never told me that. She just wanted sex...and, of course, to keep her job. Cecilia used to tell me that she loved me...'Ti amo mia cara'. she would say to me...."
Karen's voice trailed off again and I could hear a sadness in her voice. I looked at her and her eyes were welling up with tears. I turned to her and kissed them away while I stroked her hair.
"Karen, my dearest love, " I said as gently as I could, "you are sad because you feel both alone and lonely. I totally understand that. I'm not trying to read your mind but you think about your lover Cecilia because that was a time in your life where you had a close friend and hope, too! And I'm sure sex with her was so very much different, exciting, and satisfying for you then. It was romance, pure and simple. Even as close as we are, my love, I am sure it is not the same as you felt for her. Am I right?'
There was a catch in Karen's voice, "Yes...yes...yes...YES! I did love her so much. I wish she were here but I know she can't be. I tried recreating that feeling with Zeta...a bad choice, I see now. I need someone like Cecilia now...and it's not just the sex...that would be wonderful buy I just need a good...true...woman close to me in my life. I just don't know where to look! After all...look at me...I'm not some interior decorator, or a perfume clerk at a boutique, or a lady....PLUMBER.... This society woman "schtick" sucks!"
My idea "light bulb" in my head started to glow. I said to Karen, "Sweets? You know what might help? Some of the new-age positive thinkers say that if you put into words what you are looking for, it will add reality to your search, and--according to them--you will attract that person or thing into your life. How about we try that...just for fun...if nothing else. Tell me about your 'ideal woman'...Let's start...how old is she?"
Karen perked up a little, the catch was out of her voice and the tears had stopped She started off, "Hmmm...well I don't know that age matters but probably about my age plus or minus a couple of years...not a lot older than me, though."
"O.K.," I followed up, "what does she look like? Large? Small? Skinny? Chubby? Ethnicity? Give it a go1"
She thought for a moment and said, "Well, I don't want a carbon copy of myself; but really, as long as she is loving, pleasant, and fun, I don't think it would matter much. Then again, I always think of Cecilia..and I know I can't recreate her...but her look, dark, ethnic, dark hair, beautiful face, wonderful eyes. Someone perky and sexy would be nice...I mean sex shouldn't be out of the question. And interesting...she would need to be interesting...have an interesting life."
I followed up, "Can you think of anything else? Any other little detail...small as it might seem... it might help fill in the picture for you?"
"Hmmm...well...Cecilia spoke Italian and that was fun. Maybe she should speak a foreign language....it doesn't have to be Italian...something romantic...French? Spanish? Nothing hard or harsh...like...Russian...or German. That's all I can think of right now...is that enough?"
"No, Karen, you've got the idea," I said, "now let's write that all down...I'll help you remember. and then you can put it away for a month, or so, and see what happens. It's worth a shot anyway."
She did just that and I helped her. She got out a yellow 'legal pad' and itemized all of her thoughts about her ideal woman. She added one or two things...."nice shape but not big", she put down 5'2" to 5'7" (1.6m to 1.7m), 100lbs to 125lbs (45kg to 57kg) and even giggled when she threw in bust measurements, 32B-Cup to 34C-Cup but she put an "-ish" after those. When she finished, she folded it up and put it in her drawer underneath her pantyhose.
This whole exercise cheered her up, gave her a sense of hope, excitement, and anticipation. I told her not to look at it for a month and then see how close she came.