Ann: A Love Story Ch. 68

"Do you have everything you need?" Ann asked as she stood next to the open hatch of my car in the drizzle.

"Everything except you," I said in a melancholy tone that matched the dour weather.

It was a lousy day. The morning had dawned, barely. It was gray, cold and breezy, with a steady light rain falling. And that was looking like the best part of my day.

"Aw...it'll be okay, Neil. We won't be apart that long...I promise. I'll be out in just a few weeks, okay?" Ann said as she gently rubbed her hand against my cheek.

"Well, it would be a lot easier if I hadn't gone the last week without sex. That means it's going to be a month," I said with a pout.

"If you want, we can go down to Tina's shop on your way out of town. I finally finished my period late last night...and I'm sure she'd let us use her office again," Ann said, taking a hold of my hand.

Ann had come over to help me load up the car, and to see me off. I was heading out to West Virginia to start my new job that coming Monday. I decided to leave on Saturday, in case something happened along the way. I didn't like the idea of driving out on Sunday, and having some kind of unforeseen car trouble, or major detour, or whatever, that might make me late for my first day on the job. Besides, I figured I'd need a day to get settled and somewhat acclimated...I wanted to drive around and learn the area a little better so I'd know what was where in case I needed anything.

So, Ann helped me load up, carrying my bags out of the house through the garage to my car. Since I didn't park in the garage, we were outside in the rain. I suppose I could have moved one of my parent's cars, but that seemed like too much trouble. And it wasn't that big of a deal, since most of the time we were under the open hatch of the Nissan as I stuffed my things into the car.

I'd already said goodbye to my parents inside the house, knowing that I had everything I was taking with me. They'd stayed in the house, wanting Ann and me to be able to say goodbye in private, which was sweet of them. I'd said goodbye to Ann's parents the night before, at a celebratory cookout they'd had for Ann and me with some good friends...and they went so far as to invite my parents over, which was a wonderful gesture. But now, I was saying goodbye to Ann, and I was having a hard time with it.

I knew she was serious about going to the hair salon for a little fun, but it wasn't really practical. First of all, it was early on Saturday morning, and Tina's shop wouldn't open for another couple of hours. Secondly, it was early October, and the days were getting shorter as it was. Add to that the weather forecast I'd watched the night before, calling for the same rainy conditions all the way to the East Coast, and I was looking at a nine-hour drive that was going to be anything but fun. If I was going to have to do that, I at least wanted to do it when there was some semblance of light outside.

"I really wish you never would have brought that up," I said, thinking selfishly. "You know I need to get going soon."

Ann looked at me, her eyes showing their disappointment in how I was acting. Still, she didn't get pissed or angry with me. But she did let me know how she felt, and rightfully so. "You know, it's not like I'm not going to go without sex too, Neil."

"I know," I said as I stared at the cracks in the concrete of my parent's driveway, trying to hide a little of my shame for acting so selfish. Of course, it didn't help that I was also looking at Ann's sexy black stilettos. She was wearing a very cute tan raincoat that came down to mid-thigh, which covered her outfit, but showed off her beautiful tanned legs.

"And it's also not like I haven't taken care of you, baby," she said, almost scolding me. "I know I had a really hard menstrual cycle this time...like I told you all along, they usually only last 4 or 5 days, and this one was ridiculous. But...I do have one like this once a year or so. Even with that, I still gave you handjobs AND blowjobs."

"I know, babe. I know."

"And I want you to know that I loved doing that for you, baby...I honestly loved it as much as you enjoyed me doing it for you. But...I haven't cum since last Friday, Neil. And YOU have...a LOT!"

"I know, Ann. I'm sorry I'm acting like a jerk. I just don't want to go. Well...that's not true. I just want you to come with me. Look, it's not that I don't appreciate what you did for me this week. I love that you took care of me...and I know it was harder on you than it was on me because you didn't get to cum. But it's not just about the sex, Ann. It's more about connecting with you."

"It's not just about connecting, Neil. It's about the SEX, and you know it," she giggled.

"Okay...fine. It is about the sex...somewhat. I feel like every time that we get close to each other, we end up having to be apart again. I mean, we have our first week together, and then we're apart for three months. Then we have another amazing week driving home, and we spend the next week living apart and only being together one time. After that, you get your period, and it's another week...but instead being able to be together, I have to drive to West Virginia, and we'll spend three more weeks apart. It's just so..."

Ann put her finger over my lips, smiling sweetly at me, even though I was being an idiot at the moment. The way she was lovingly touching my arm as she looked into my eyes practically made me melt in the misty rain. She didn't care that I was being stupid. She saw through how I was acting, and knew that I loved her...and that was what I was really going to miss more than anything...that daily feeling of being with her in the moment.

"I know how you feel, Neil. I feel the same way. This is happening to both of us...not just you. But it's three weeks...not three months. We can do that...you know it, and I know it."

"It'll be four weeks, Ann," I said, reminding her of what she already knew, and fulfilling my overwhelming need to be ridiculously literal in the process.

Ann reached into the pocket of her raincoat and pulled out a little chain, letting it dangle from her fingers. On the end of it was a silver key, swaying back and forth. She smiled and said, "Not if you wouldn't be in such a hurry to leave town."

"Hurry...Ann, you know I have a lot of driving ahead of me, and it's going to be in bad weather. It's probably going to take me longer than nine hours as it is. And...w...what's that?" I said, finally focusing on the key moving in front of my face as she smiled sexily at me.

"It's the key to the back door of Sexy Styles," she said, referring to Tina's hair salon.

"W...why do you have the key to Tina's shop?"

Ann opened up the front of her raincoat, flashing me her sexy naked body, and said, "In case you happen to change your mind."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Driving around the Northeast side of Columbus, Ohio on the I-270 beltway, I kept my eyes out for cops. I was following another one of my Father's many bits of advice, in this case, a warning cultivated from his years of traveling as part of sales for Beck Manufacturing. And the advice in question had to do with police and state troopers in Ohio, particularly around Columbus.

He'd said that Ohio in general had more police patrolling the highways, on the lookout for speeders. And they had a reputation for pulling over cars from out of state. Sure enough, I'd already passed two along the side of the multilane beltway, lights flashing as they wrote a ticket in the rain. And I'd passed two more police cruisers parked on the side of the road, running their radar. Not that I had anything to worry about...I'd been running over the speed limit, but only by 4 to 5 miles per hour the entire way. I was one of the slower cars on the road, not wanting to push it on the wet pavement. I was already over two hours behind where I thought I'd be when I'd gotten up, and there was no sense trying to make up that much time by speeding on wet roads.

Yet, even though I wasn't going fast enough to get pulled over, that still didn't stop me from checking my speed often, and looking for signs of a speed trap. It was already a habit when I traveled in areas I wasn't that familiar with, and Dad's words of caution were fresh on my mind. As I passed yet another trooper hidden behind an embankment next to an overpass, I nodded and smiled to myself.

Of course, you couldn't wipe the grin off my face with a sandblaster. I'd been smiling every mile since I'd started out on my trip. It was a far cry from the gloomy mood I'd been in to start my day. Suddenly, the weather outside didn't seem so bad, and whenever I ended up making it to my final destination didn't seem to matter. I'd get there whenever I go there, but I'd be happy along the way. Ann had a way of lifting my spirits...and flashing me her naked body in hopes of convincing me to stay just a little longer may have had something to do with it this time.

I hugged the inside line, banking my car along the cloverleaf of the exchange between the beltway and I-70, heading east. As I punched the gas and shifted into third, my Nissan took off, and soon I was back to cruising along just a little beyond posted speeds. I settled in, knowing there was a still a long way to go...and as I listened to a Chicago's Greatest Hits cassette, I thought about Ann.

Oddly, what came to mind first wasn't how I'd left her at Tina's shop. I was thinking about the previous time that I'd left Ann there...heading back to work that Friday after we fucked each other on that magical black couch. Ann was lounging on the cushions that morning, her ass raised up in the air a little, and I'd just spanked her ass playfully. And from there, my thoughts shifted to the NEXT time I'd seen her after that.

I'd left Tina's that day hoping at the time that what we'd just done was going to be the launch into an amazing weekend. But Ann had warned me that she would be starting her period soon. And it turned out that she knew her body pretty well; she started it just an hour or so later. What neither of us really knew at the time was just how much that was going to change our next week together. Ann had told me she was due for a hard period, since she hadn't had one in a long time. But even she was surprised at how bad it was. She'd told me that her normal ones usually lasted 4 to 5 days, and the 'hard' one was usually a day longer. This one was different from the start.

I picked up Ann after I got off of work, and she'd told me the bad news when I took her over to my parent's house for dinner. Halfway though our meal, she said she wasn't feeling very well. I ended up taking her home around 7:30, and I didn't see her at all on Saturday. She'd woken up Saturday morning feeling even worse from cramping all night, and ended up spending the day in bed. And that, apparently, wasn't something she'd ever had happen before.

By Sunday, Ann was feeling a little better, and we tried to make the best of the day. I was open to just hanging out at her parent's house. But Ann wanted to get out and get some fresh air.

We ended up going to an auction, urged to go by her mother, Jean. Jean worked part time on some of her weekends as a cashier for a guy that ran an auction company, and she said there was a nice one on the outskirts of town that was concluding on Sunday afternoon. Ann and I really didn't want to go...but Jean said that maybe we could find some deals on some things for the house, and since Ann wanted to get out anyway, we went, more out of trying to appease Jean than anything else.

It was a gray day, overcast and a little windy. But that likely meant there would be less people to deal with, so Ann and I took her Dad's pickup truck and headed out to a big farm west of town. The auction was for a husband and wife that were selling their farmhouse and land, and retiring to Florida. So, not only were they selling the farm equipment, they decided to sell the rest of their possessions and start over buying new things instead of paying to move them. All of the farm related items, along the land and the house, were part of the auction on Saturday. So, there were only the household possessions that were left to bid on on Sunday.

Jean persuaded us to come out, in part because she'd seen all of the things that were going to be sold the day before. Ann wasn't looking forward to it, because she figured it was going to be nothing but antiques and 'old people' furniture, as she called it. In truth, she was more concerned it was all going to be a country motif like her Mom loved...and Ann had more of a contemporary flair.

But Jean had said there were a lot of eccentric things that were going to be sold off, and that intrigued Ann enough that she asked if I'd go. I had nothing better to do...I just wanted to spend some time with her, and since I'd never been to an auction before, it seemed like fun. So, Ann and I had lunch together at the Dairy Queen, and then we headed out to see what kind of treasures we could find.

"There's a lot of stuff here," Ann said as we walked around between the rows of items they had all over the front lawn and the driveway of the old farmhouse.

"Anything catch your eye?" I asked, knowing that most of the things I was looking at weren't anything that would interest Ann...or me for that matter.

"Not really. Mom means well, but she just doesn't understand that what she sees as traditional, I see as tacky."

"I wonder what she meant by 'eccentric' then."

"Probably that lamp over there," Ann said with a laugh as she pointed to a tall floor lamp that had a gaudy green velour lampshade, complete with fringe on it.

"Hmm...I bet we can win that bid, babe. What do you say...our bedroom?"

"Ha...not if you think you're getting laid in that room."

"Ooh...uh...never mind, then," I said quickly, drawing another laugh.

Ann took my arm, pulling me close to her. She stood up on her toes, and kissed me on the cheek. "Aw...baby. You know I'd never do that to you. I'll never cut you off, I promise."

I arched my eyebrow and said, "I have your word on that?"

"Yes," she grinned. "In fact, I even plan on taking care of you while I'm on my period."

Arching my other eyebrow this time, I said, "So...I get to fuck your ass?" Ann stopped in her tracks, her eyes like a deer caught in my headlights, and her mouth opened a little. She was shocked by what I'd said, and I could tell she was fumbling with how to answer. "Ann...I was just kidding...it's..."

"Neil, I'm not sure I can do that," she said, cutting me off.

"I was saying, it's okay. We don't have to do anything. Okay?"

"No...I'm taking care of you. I want to. I'm just not sure I can do that. To be honest, I never really thought of it. Maybe it would be okay...but I'd want to be at home in our bed. I couldn't just do that anywhere. I'll have to think about it."

"Don't. I don't want you thinking about it and letting it ruin our day. I want to have fun."

"Thinking about having sex with you IS fun. And it's not going to ruin our day if I make you cum somehow," she winked. "I just need to think about letting you fuck me in the ass. But you're right...now's not the time to worry about that. Let's find something to buy, so Mom won't think she had us show up for nothing."

"We don't have to buy...we just have to bid. That way we look like we tried."

"That sounds great, until we end up with something we absolutely hate just to act like we were trying."

"Aw...where's your sense of adventure. Besides, I'm sure there's something here we can find that we both actually like."

"Or, we end up with that lamp by accident," she laughed.

Ann and I looked around...and around. We looked for almost a half hour, and we didn't see anything at all that caught our eye. But when Jean came by to tell us the auction was about to start, and she handed us a numbered paddle, Ann didn't have the heart to tell her we'd be leaving. Instead, we stood in the small crowd, watching as the auctioneer started with the first item up for bid.

I looked at Ann, who batted her eyes and said, "I'm sorry baby."

"Sorry...about what?"

"Making us stay. I just...well...I have to live with her," she said, referring to Jean. "And things are actually going pretty well right now. I don't want to do anything that will change that. You don't mind, do you?"

"Nope. I told you, I'm just happy to be with you," I smiled.

"Hmm...you're being kind. But I love you for it," she said as she kissed me on the cheek.

So, Ann and I stood in the breeze, huddled together to stay warm as we watched item after item being auctioned off. And we stayed there...waiting and hoping that something might come up onto the little platform that would make our patience and, well...blind faith pay off. Or...as Ann said after about 45 minutes, she hoped we'd be struck by a moment of fate.

Roughly ten minutes later, that moment came. I was gazing off to the left, looking at the gray horizon over a grove of trees in the middle of the farm, when I felt Ann move quickly. I turned to see her eyes beaming and a smile on her face. Oh...and her right hand in the air, holding up our paddle.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Bidding," she said as she lowered the paddle and waited.

"On what?" I asked, not thinking to look for myself. I was stunned...not just that she was trying to buy something, but that she was even paying attention at all at that point.

But Ann was enthusiastic. "On that," she said as she raised her arm again, now agreeing to pay $50 for the item on the auction block at the time.

Less than a minute later, before I could really get a grasp of what she was bidding on, Ann was jumping up and down with excitement. So much so, that she turned and jumped into my arms, kissing me wildly. It was an odd reaction for me having to part with $80 dollars, but I kissed her back, feeling her tongue in the process.

"That was SO exciting!" Ann said as she broke off our sexy kiss.

"What did we just buy, babe?" I asked, bewildered by the entire series of events, and how quickly it all had just happened.

"You'll see! Come on...let's go pay Mom and take it home!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Home, as it turns out, was her parent's garage, where most of her belongings were currently residing in neatly stacked corrugated cartons. Ann had gotten out of the truck and opened the garage door with the keypad mounted on the side of the house. As I was backing down the driveway, she was standing at the edge of the garage motioning me backwards...and that made me laugh out loud. So loud, she heard me through the open window of the truck.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"It's a pickup truck, Ann. I'm not parking a plane."

"I know...but sometimes when people back up in a truck, they can't tell how big it is. I'm just trying to help."

"I know, babe. And I love you for it. Just step to the side, and I'll back into the garage, okay?"

"Alright," she said, shrugging her shoulders. She stepped out of the garage, into the grass next to the driveway, and I gunned the engine, whipping the tail of Chevy Silverado into the small single car garage in one quick movement. When I hopped out of the cab, still sticking out of the garage, she looked at me wide-eyed. "Wow...where'd you learn to do that?"

I laughed again and said, "I told you, Ann. I used to have a chauffeur's license. I used to drive big trucks for the plant."

"When did you tell me that?"

"Right before I drove a limo so you could have sex with Molly...remember?"

"Oh...yeah," Ann said with a giggle.

I opened the tailgate and looked at our purchase, and shook my head again. "So...NOW will you tell me why we bought this?" I asked.

"Since you brought up the subject...yeah."

Puzzled by what she'd just said, I looked at Ann and said, "Subject? What subject?"