It was early afternoon and the gentle fall rain had slowed almost to a complete stop as I drove across the Potomac into the city. Washington D.C. has always been one of my favorite places to visit. My work still takes me there occasionally and I always try to make the best of each trip. The cookie cutter rental car I was driving from the airport was new and comfortable. The local jazz station on the radio almost served to welcome me to the city, inviting me in. All of it felt good, even the anxious anticipation of seeing Kate again.
Kate and I have been friends for a long time, since college, and as she calls it, occasional lovers for maybe three years. She and her husband used to live in Georgetown. Brian taught at the university, political science, I think. Kate has always been one of the most exciting women I had ever known. Her shoulder length curly brown hair frames a beautiful face with sparkling dark brown eyes. She’s always been athletic which explains her shapely legs and ass, but her upper torso has always been striking to me, her back is strong and tapered extending down from her broad shoulders.
Her breasts are full and firm, I know that for sure, and their nipples brown and rather dark. Kate’s pubic hair is always a surprise. She seems to have done something different with it every time I see her, one time leaving it untrimmed and bushy, the next time cutting it short or shaving it completely. Perhaps that is the most exciting thing about Kate, her unpredictability. I never know what Kate is going to do next. Her eagerness and desire to explore has always made her so damned intriguing, so much fun.
I drove north away from the mall area past DuPont Circle to the Hilton Towers. Kate and I had agreed to meet there. She last said she would leave me a note I would find at the desk when I checked in. I let the valet park the car and carried my briefcase and travel bag inside. As I checked in the clerk handed me an envelope, left for me earlier in the day, he said. I recognized Kate’s handwriting immediately. My name was written in her hand on the outside. I opened it to find a room key card and a note on the hotel letterhead. It said, “John, We are so glad you are here. Please come to room 763 at nine o’clock tonight. Leave your inhibitions in your luggage. Love, Kate.”
I stuck the note in my jacket pocket and grabbed my bags before heading to my room. Who the hell was, “we?” What was Kate doing now? I felt myself smiling inside as I stepped into the elevator.
On the way to my room I knew I had to do something to shake the tension of waiting. I pulled on a pair of black running shorts, an old t-shirt with the sleeves cut-off long ago, and a new pair of running shoes. The health club in the hotel is excellent. I have used it often. Forty minutes on the treadmill running at a pretty good clip can be boring without television or some kind of diversion. But the pace was making me concentrate and I was able to set aside the memory of Kate’s lips, her tongue, her taste, all of it I could put aside for at least a little while. Running on a treadmill has done a number of things for me over the years. One thing is that it has put me on a first name basis with everyone on CNN, ESPN, and the Weather Channel. I’ve yet to figure out though why the Weather Channel has such plan looking people, particularly the women, but hell, who cares really.
After my run and a detailed study of the weather patterns over North America for the next five days I moved over to begin working with the weights. It was my day to work my back and biceps so I began with some one-arm rowing. Again, the concentration helped me set aside Kate. After five sets, I moved on to cable pull-downs and tried hard to concentration on contracting my lats in the down position. Five sets more, super-setted with ab crunches. Then came bicep work, hammer curls mostly. I finished, a hour and a half gone since beginning on the treadmill, and sat down in the floor with a bottle of water to stretch and see if the weather forecast had changed in the last hour.
The clock on the wall read six o’clock. Three goddamn hours until nine.
I had dressed in a pair of jeans, dark denim shirt, and topsiders. No sock, no underwear, a minimalist’s approach. The grilled chicken salad and imported beer from room service had disappeared quickly, the tray sat on the coffee table in my room. I had tried reading and watching television, bouncing again from CNN, ESPN, the Weather Channel, even C-SPAN this time, but none of it worked. I stood at the window and took in the view of the nation’s Capitol. The clock said eight o’clock now and the evening had fallen over the city. My window looked out toward the center of the city. The Washington Monument stood stark in the middle of my view, the nation’s phallic symbol, it occurred to me.
I went back to the book I was near finishing. Concentrate, I almost chanted to myself, concentrate. It must have worked fairly well because the next time I checked the clock I saw the numbers 8:51. Time to go.
The wait for the elevator took a few minutes. The walk down her hall a few seconds. My watch read exactly 9:00 as I slipped the key card into the lock and turned the latch.
The door opened and I stepped inside. “Kate?” I called.
“We’re in here,” I heard her answer, “in the bathroom, John. Please come see us.”
We again, I thought, before stepping inside the open bathroom door.
Kate and another woman sat facing each other in a large oval tub. Candles were lit and sitting casually around the room. Two wine glasses partially full sat on the sides of the tub. The tub itself was full of water, bubbles, and naked female flesh. Their legs were entwined since the tub was really only long enough for the length of one person. I smiled and leaned over to kiss Kate softly. Her arms came up and embraced me through suds and warm water. Her smile warmed me and thrilled me at the same time. I sat down on a stool beside the tub and turned to the woman I hadn’t met before.
“John, this is my good friend Em,” Kate began, “Em, this is John.”
“Hi, Em,” I said, “Very nice to meet you.”
She just smiled a shy smile and nodded.
