Just What They Needed Ch. 02

There is a part one to this story. It is not a necessary prequel, but it is short in case you want to quick brush up on your backstory.

*****

More than a week had passed of Lauren being no more than a few steps away from her father's bed. She was there for every nurse's visit and every meal, making sure that Paul had everything he could possibly need. Her father appreciated the company, but he also became increasingly unaware of his surroundings and wouldn't necessarily recognize her or know who was taking care of him. It was a Saturday that Lauren's step mom had the day off from work, and it was per her suggestion that Lauren take a day off from the depressing job of caretaker to get some fresh air and perspective. Lauren did not fully like the idea of being away from her dad in case he needed something, but she also thought she should give he and step mom some time to be alone together.

Lauren called up her friend, Hannah, to see if she was free for a little afternoon hangout. The tone of Hannah's voice said more than her words. Lauren could tell Hannah did not have willing free time, but she also felt bad for Lauren's situation, so she conceded to invite Lauren over for a while. Hannah still lived with her parents and sisters while she was taking classes and waitressing part time, so even though Hannah wouldn't be out of work for another hour, she told Lauren to come over, that someone would be home to let her in.

Lauren borrowed her father's station wagon to make the five-minute drive to Hannah's family home. There was only one car in the driveway, but that was enough. Lauren parked beside it and made her way to the back door of the big, white house - that was the way she'd entered for years of birthday parties and sleepovers. She knocked a couple times, and it didn't take long for Hannah's dad, Mitch, to grab the door.

The back door opened into a slightly cramped, but clean, kitchen. Mitch had to step back to let Lauren pass in front of him into the room. Mitch looked happy if not a little surprised at the new presence. It looked like Hannah had not warned her dad that Lauren would be stopping by.

"Hi, Mr. Clark," Lauren said, trying to make her greeting light even though she was feeling rather awkward.

"Hi, Lauren," Mitch mirrored her greeting, not exactly sure what else to say.

"Hannah said I could hang out in her room until she got home from work. Is that okay with you?" Mitch's face became slightly more relaxed.

"Yeah...yeah, fine. You're welcome anytime. Hey, I'm sorry to hear about your dad." The last part he said really fast, and his face contorted to look apologetic. "How's he doing?"

This was the kind of forced conversation that Lauren had tried to get away from by spending some time away from her own home, but Lauren also had an answer that was practically scripted at this point. "He's doing alright, all things considered. He's comfortable." Lauren hoped this would be a satisfactory answer so they could drop the subject.

Her hopes were answered, because Mitch merely smiled and pulled her in for a short hug. It was nice. Mitch and her own dad had similar builds. They were both 6 foot and broad-shouldered. At 5'4", Lauren couldn't help but get absorbed into the fatherly embrace. As a dad of three daughters, Mitch was good at comforting a girl.

She'd known Mr. Clark since she and Hannah were in elementary school, and she'd always liked him. He would bring them snacks and drive them around to the mall before they got their own licenses.

The hug ended, and Mitch smiled down at her, hands on either shoulder, holding her an arm's length away. "Can I get you something to drink?" he offered genuinely.

"Actually, a glass of water would be great, thanks," Lauren replied.

"Sure thing. How about you go make yourself at home in the other room, and I'll bring it to you?" he offered, already reaching into one of the cupboards for a large glass.

"Thanks," Lauren reiterated. She knew by "the other room" he meant the living room, and she helped herself through several doorways to get there. The living room was a little bit of a mess. Obviously the family wasn't expecting company, but Lauren barely thought anything of it. Their large TV was muted in the middle of an episode of "Criminal Minds." Lauren sat down on the left side of the couch, because it was the only piece of furniture that did not have clothing on it. She found a place for her purse on the floor. It looked as though Mitch had been folding laundry into many piles before she'd knocked on the door. With three daughters and a wife living there, it was no wonder that laundry was a big job.

Only a few seconds later, Lauren was joined by Mitch, who came around the corner already apologizing for the mess. Lauren, of course, brushed off the comments, saying it was no big deal. He set the glass of water down in front of her. As soon as he did so, it would have been natural for him to take a seat, too. He eyed his chair, nearby, which would have been perfect for sitting an appropriately comfortable distance away, except that a precarious stack of jeans had already claimed it. Then he glanced to couch next to her, as it was the only place without piles of clothes on it.

"Uhhh," he stalled, looking back and forth.

Lauren giggled at his hesitation and finally said, "You can sit next to me. I won't bite."

Mitch nodded his head, which nonverbally communicated "Well, yes that's true." But Lauren could tell he felt slightly uncomfortable. Already, this was probably the longest period of time Mitch and Lauren had ever spent alone together. Usually by now Hannah would have dragged her by the hand upstairs to her bedroom and closed the door. Both awkward parties now sat on the couch, faced forward, feet on the floor and hands on their knees.

Lauren picked up the glass of water and took a sip to try to occupy the silence. She underestimated the fullness of the glass, and a little bit spilled over onto her chest. What would in normal circumstances have been an a trivial accident to go unnoticed, the spill was amplified because it was the only action happening in the room.

"Oh!" Mitch exclaimed and laughed a little. Lauren startled at the drip and set her glass back down. She looked down at herself to assess the damage. It wasn't that bad, but definitely noticeable.

"Shoot," Lauren said.

"I'll get you a napkin," Mitch said.

"No it's okay. It's just water." Lauren swept away the few drops of water that had beaded up on the bare skin above her bosom. The rest of it soaked into her tee shirt and it felt cold, but she could ignore it. She was suddenly aware of how low-cut her v-neck was. It was just a department-store tee shirt, but it was old and stretched out, so it hung down low. She usually liked how it draped over her slightly-above-average breasts. It drew positive attention to her cleavage in an effortless way. The attention she intended, though, was not that of her best friend's father.

She looked up to catch Mitch look abruptly away. She knew he'd been looking at her chest, because he overcompensated and turned his face to inspect a random spot on the wall.

Lauren tugged her shirt up to hide her cleavage. It looked silly with the fabric folded over in that way, but at least it was more modest.

"Apparently I forgot how to drink water," she blurted out to try to break the tension. Mitch turned his focus around to smile with the girl. He laughed a little too hard and took a deep breath in and out, but he seemed more relaxed.

"Where is everyone else today?" Lauren asked.

Mitch relaxed even more, since there was now conversation he could grab a hold of and was happy to tell her, "Wife's out with her friends. Who knows what they're up to" he laughed. "Sydney and Leila are at the mall, or that's what they told me, anyway." He rolled his eyes a little at the last part.

Lauren laughed at that too, because she knew that Hannah's sisters had been getting in on the pot scene recently. Nothing dangerous, but she hadn't realized that Mitch might know more than she'd suspected. He really was a cool dad.

"And Hannah's finishing up her shift at the restaurant, but you knew that," Mitch finished.

Lauren nodded and added, "so you're stuck doing all the chores."

Mitch surveyed the laundry mountains in front of him and smiled. "What the heck?! You're right!" he joked as though he just realized he'd drawn the short straw. At this point, Mitch was back to his normal dad-joking self, so Lauren felt comfortable settling in a little. She slipped off her shoes and brought her knees up to her chest, cozying in on the couch in the fetal position.

"You can keep folding if you want. Don't stop on my account," Lauren suggested, but she knew he wouldn't busy himself while she was there.

"Nah, I'd rather hang out with my new best friend," Mitch responded, smiling at her again. He had a really genuinely charming smile. It's no wonder Mrs. Clark fell for him.

Lauren had to tear herself away from his handsome face. She didn't want it to look like she was gawking. The TV, again, caught her eye. "I love this show," she hyperbolized. It was not necessarily on her top ten, but she pretended to like it to keep the conversation flowing.

"Oh yeah?" Mitch said, happily grabbing the remote off the coffee table.

"Yeah, Agent Morgan is such a babe," Lauren said, mentioning the smooth talking, sexy cop on the show.

Mitch laughed at the comment and turned up the volume on the TV so they could hear. Mitch and Lauren both relaxed more into the couch, getting to focus on the television drama in front of them. They both put their feet up onto the coffee table and leaned back. Mitch grabbed a pillow from his right and placed it between them so they'd have an arm rest, but Lauren knew it was also a move to eliminate the threat of them accidentally touching.

"Can I get you anything else?" Mitch checked.

"Nah, I'm good with my water." Lauren reached forward and took a sip of her water to make a point. Her folded over shirt slipped back down into it's normal drape, but it would have been too obvious if she were to modify it again, so she just left it and leaned back. Mr. Clark kept his attention on the show.

At the next commercial break Lauren decided to remove the hoodie she had pointlessly hanging at her sides. The Clarks always kept their heat on the abundantly comfortable side. So Lauren leaned forward once more and tugged on the sleeves to release the extra layer. In the process, her tee shirt got pulled down enough to uncover the top part of her white bra on the left side. Without moving her head, she turned her eyes up enough to check that Mitch had not seen the slip. When in fact he sat, expressionless, but definitely staring at her breasts. Instead of embarrassed, Lauren felt strangely empowered. There was something tantalizing about capturing the attention of someone she'd always thought of as straight-laced and family-devoted. Lauren pretended to struggle with her sweatshirt even more, just to draw out the experience a little longer. Of course, Mr. Clark didn't know that Lauren was watching him stare. He was just breathing quietly through his mouth, eyes sweeping across her partially uncovered bosom. Finally Lauren fixed her shirt and sat back on the couch again. Mr. Clark seamlessly returned his attention to the TV.

Lauren respected the man, so she did not want to outright tease him, but the attention made her adrenaline pump. She could feel a slight warmth in her stomach and groin. Lauren couldn't help but wonder when the last time was that Mr. Clark had had sex with his wife. With three daughters in the house, and both of them had demanding jobs, Lauren assumed it had been a while. It had been months for Lauren, too, which might have explained the fresh stream fantasies beginning to flow into her head, all revolving around Mr. Clark. She faced the TV, but she wasn't really watching it. She knew she was attractive, and she pictured herself utilizing that in different ways to seduce Mr. Clark. Lauren subconsciously reached up to let down her hair from the confines of her messy bun. Her long, dark brown waves bounced down to loosely frame her face and her spectacularly defined collar bone and it fell perfectly over her breasts.

Mr. Clark, of course, noticed the movement, so he looked over to inspect the change. He was met with Lauren's eyes looking back at him. They smiled at one another. Again, Lauren was charmed by his smile. Letting her hair down was harmless action, but some of the tension from before seemed to return between the two. Lauren ran her hands through her hair in several places to control it and settled back in.

At this point Lauren was outright horny. She wanted Mr. Clark to look at her again but did not know how to go about attracting him without doing something he could easily reject in case he really was not interested. Besides, her conscience told her to calm her ass down. Disobeying her mind, her body became inflamed; her breaths became noticeably deeper, her breasts heaving.

As though in a reversed fashion, the symptoms of a panic attack brought on an actual panic attack. The deep breaths brought on a sudden wave of anxiety followed by grief, and Lauren realized she hadn't thought about her father since she sat down on the couch. Lauren knew the overwhelming emotions would eventually pass, but the change in her demeanor did not go unnoticed by her friend's dad, who turned to tend to the upset young woman. He touched her gently on her arm, much like a doctor would, in a grounding fashion. Mr. Clark did not have to ask to know what was wrong. He knew she was grieving. Thinking fast, he threw aside the pillow that was stationed between them and scooted himself closer. Lauren took the opportunity as she was meant to, to turn towards Mitch and throw her arms around his neck. He hugged her back and turned himself into a shoulder to cry on. She cried a little, but mostly enjoyed the closeness. Mr. Clark's fatherly presence felt safe and secure. In that moment, it felt innocent.

Nonetheless, when the backdoor squeaked open from the other room, the couple broke apart. Mitch even stood up, distancing himself from Lauren, so that when Hannah entered the room, they were not sitting together. Lauren wiped her eyes and tried to straighten herself up.

"Hey," Hannah said apologetically to her friend and came around to greet Lauren. Lauren stood up to meet Hannah half way, and they hugged. Hannah and Lauren had been friends for so long that they had pretty much established their own language of nonspeaking, so when Hannah turned to leave the room again, Lauren knew she was supposed to follow. The two girls camped out on Hannah's bed and talked for a solid hour. When they emerged again, Hannah needed to hurry to get to her second job, and Lauren grabbed her purse and shoes from the living room, mentioning a "goodbye" to Mr. Clark, who had finished sorting the laundry and was now piling it back into individual laundry baskets for each of the house's residents. He responded with his own "goodbye," and the girls walked out of the house together.

Hannah drove off first. Lauren had just sat back down into her father's car. She hadn't even put the key in the ignition when a knock came at her window. It startled her a little, since she hadn't seen Mr. Clark walk out of the house. She opened the door.

"You forgot your sweatshirt." Mitch held out the piece of clothing to her. Instead of just taking the sweatshirt and driving off, Lauren decided to open the door wider and step out to give Mr. Clark a proper goodbye. He'd been a good comfort to her, after all. She took the sweatshirt from him as she stood up. She looked down at it, briefly, in her hands, and when she looked back at him, his face was only a foot away.

"Thanks for taking care of me," she said to his handsome face.

"Anytime," Mitch responded. Lauren couldn't help but notice he had smile lines around his mouth and eyes that made her heart melt a little bit. Mitch almost imperceptibly dropped his sight to take in her entire body, then looked deep into Lauren's eyes again. He opened his mouth slightly like he was going to say something else, but nothing came out. He just moved his right hand to set it on Lauren's left hip. It burned hot on her waist and the warmth returned to her groin. The pleasure forced her to close her eyes and dissolve into it. She opened her own mouth in protest but didn't speak any words. Her body and her mind were in conflict again.

"Lauren..." Mitch spoke in barely more than a whisper.

Lauren began to ask, "yes?" but barely got there when Mr. Clark kissed her. Lauren had seen this coming in a fantasy, but it still came as a real life surprise. She squeaked startledly, but Mr. Clark did not retreat. His lips were rougher than hers, and they were pressed on pleasantly hard. In fact, Lauren found herself opening her lips to make room for Mr. Clark's passionate invasion. He sucked gently on her bottom lip. Mitch hummed in approval and flicked his tongue softly over the inner part of Lauren's welcoming pout. She had just started to really relax into the kiss when Mr. Clark pulled away abruptly. Lauren made an accidental noise of protest at the change.

"I would love your company this afternoon," Mr. Clark said to Lauren. It wasn't a question or a command. He genuinely desired her company. Lauren could have said no, but she didn't want to. She instead found herself being led by her hand back up to the house she'd just left. Mr. Clark opened up the back door and closed it again behind her. Lauren felt nervous and excited. She wanted to kiss him again. She thought he was going to pursue her once more, since they were now safe in the kitchen, but she was disappointed when he spoke instead.

"If you're not okay with this, you can leave at any time." Again, Mr. Clark sounded genuine.

"I want...this," she spoke back to him shakily. She was sure of what she said, but nervous for what was about to happen.

He nodded when he was satisfied that she was being truthful. "Meet me in the other room."

It was not what she expected, but Lauren did as she was told. She sat in the same spot on the couch as before. In a few minutes, Mr. Clark came around the corner again, this time carrying a bottle of wine and two glasses. Lauren must have given him a questioning look, because he answered her unspoken question.

"I thought it might calm the nerves," he said. He was not clear whether it was his nerves or hers the wine was supposed to quash. Perhaps both, she thought, when she looked over at him and his hands were shaking slightly as he poured. She took the glass from him and sipped it. She preferred white wine, but the cabernet still felt welcome as it burned some feeling back into her throat. Mr. Clark gulped down a mouthful as well.

Lauren's mind was full of questions and worries. The first to slip out was, "your wife..."

"She won't be back for hours." Mitch sounded annoyed. He took another gulp of wine.

"Is everything okay?" Lauren asked, concerned.

"Fine," he spoke back, gruffly, although Lauren could tell the anger was not towards her. There were obviously more issues with Mr. and Mrs. Clark's relationship than what was apparent on the surface, but Lauren did not dare to delve deeper right then.

Instead, Mr. Clark continued, "I haven't had sex in..." he chuckled, looking at the ceiling.

"What, months?" Lauren guessed, to break the silence.

"At least ten?" Mr. Clark threw out. He looked Lauren in the eye and said, "I need you." The statement sounded sure. The lust grew in his eyes. Lauren was taken with the words. He flattered her. It had been a while since a man looked at her that way. Her mouth was suddenly dry, so she took another sip of wine.