Rescue Me

"Thirty-eight, huh? So that means you're in your sexual primed, you're gorgeous, and not having sex. To say that's a shame is an affront to all things shameful," he told her.

"Well, I...I really do like sex," she blurted out for reasons she couldn't explain. "Or at least I seem to recall I do."

And just like that Shaun said, "I gotta get back inside. You know, Joe and the dishes and all that."

"Right. Yes. The dishes. And Joe."

And once again she felt 13 and out of control as he opened her door.

"I will call you," he said again. "Is tonight okay?"

Her heart began hammering again as she simply said, "Yes. That would be fine."

He closed her door, did a kind of wave, then turned around leaving there all alone thinking, "What in heaven's name was that all about?"

She sat there for a full minute trying to calm herself down. After several long, deep, slow breaths she started the car and headed back home feeling like she'd just been run over by a freight train—a very handsome freight train.

Stephanie had a hard time sharing the details with Claudia, who, in spite of her earlier comments, realized something had happened during this meeting. She was dying to know what that something was, but knew that Stephanie was struggling with something so she let her talk and offered support.

At one point Claudia said, "Are you afraid you might get hurt?"

"No. Actually, I'm not. I'm not sure what all I'm feeling. All I really know is he makes me feel alive again."

"Girl? I'm dying to ask what kind of alive you mean, but I'm gonna mind my manners today."

"I...I think he just wants to have sex with me," Stephanie said out of the blue.

"And that's bad how?" Claudia asked with a tilt of her head.

"It's not. It...it just surprised me, I guess. I mean, that's what I think I was wanting, and then when he said it...."

She stopped talking and Claudia asked, "So are you gonna go out with him?"

"Yeah. I...think I am. If he really does call. And ask."

"Well, then be safe but have fun!" her friend told her.

"Claudia?" she said.

"Uh-huh?"

"Things have changed a lot since we were that age."

"Uh-huh. You got that right!" she said as she got ready to leave.

Stephanie walked her out then after checking on her mom sat down and tried to sort through this first meeting with the handsome, young fire-rescue guy who seemed to really want to...fuck her.

It was close to 11pm when she finally laid down, and she'd no sooner turned off the light on her nightstand than her phone rang.

"What in the world?" she said as she reached for her phone.

it said 'Shaun Calling', and her heart went into overdrive as she swiped, 'Accept Call'.

"Hello?" she said tentatively.

"Hi. Are you in bed?" he asked in his cheerful way.

"Um...yes," she said still surprised by his directness.

She could 'hear' him smile before he said, "Me, too. What are you wearing?"

She was in an old, blue, cotton gown that was anything but sexy, and started to laugh.

"Seriously? We're just gonna have phone sex?" she said trying not to laugh.

"It's more sex than you've been having the last couple of years, so don't look a gift horse in the mouth," he told her in his aggressively playful way.

"Well. Okay," she said. "How does this work exactly?"

"Whoa. You've never done phone sex?" he said with total unbelief.

"No. Is that unusual?" she asked hoping he didn't think she was some kind of total prude.

"No. I guess not," he told her. "But regardless, you're about to."

He wasn't asking. He was telling. Normally, that would have turned her off immediately and completely. But not with Shaun. In fact, it was just the opposite as she felt herself growing very wet.

"Okay. You lead and I'll follow," she told him sweetly as her pulse quickened even more.

It was nearly midnight when he hung up, and she'd cum three times, and she wasn't sure whether he had or not. Her biggest surprise, other than them doing that in the first place, was how concerned he was that she had fun. He was surprisingly romantic and sexy, and he'd taken her to the edge several times then denied her each time just before her body exploded in a mind-blowing orgasm.

He was also surprisingly sweet. Initially, she assumed there would be a lot of outright explicit language using certain words for body parts, and yet that never really happened. He had this way of making her able to temporarily live in some kind of dream state where his words did more than his body ever could. Then again, she imagined his handsome face hovering over hers each time she came so....

All in all, it was one of the most romantic things she'd ever experienced and they hadn't even touched.

When he finally said, "Goodnight, beautiful," Stephanie was hooked.

She was addicted to the drug of Shaun Patterson and his sexy voice and the image of his handsome face and his hard, muscled body as she lay there basking in the afterglow of sweet, blessed release—and relief.

Unable to hold those images for long, she drifted off into the soundest sleep she could remember since her life had taken such a dramatic turn for the worse. Her final thought before doing so had been a question. Had her life finally taken a turn for the better?

Stephanie was up early the next morning. She was even humming as she showered, and by the time Claudia showed up, she was dressed and ready to go, but not in jeans and a tee shirt.

"Well look at you looking all nice again!" were the first words out her mouth when she saw Stephanie.

"It's...the new me," she said happily as she spun around to show off.

Claudia put her hands on her hips then said, "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd swear you went out on that date last night."

Stephanie glided right in front of her, smiled, and said, "Maybe I did."

"Oh, no! You do not get to just slide on by like that! I need details!"

Stephanie turned around then said, "We just talked. On the phone."

She could see Claudia wasn't buying it. In fact, the way she was staring at her told her she knew there was more to it.

"Did you forget how long I've been married to the same man?" she finally said to Stephanie.

"No, but it was...private."

Stephanie's girlish smile was revealing.

"Oh. Ohhh!" Claudia said. "So was there a little...pillow talk goin' on in your bedroom?"

"Maybe," was all Stephanie was willing to admit at that point.

"Oh, girl. You have no idea how good that sounds to me! Do you know what kinda sex my husband I have most of the time?"

Not knowing what was coming, Stephanie winced and answered, "Anal?"

Claudia nearly passed out from laughing so hard. When she finally stopped, she grabbed a dishcloth to dry her eyes.

"Girl, ain't never been none of that back door stuff goin' on...back there," she announced. "No, we have hall sex."

"Hall sex? What's that?" Stephanie asked, walking right into the trap.

"That's when we walk by each other in the hall and yell, 'Fuck you' at each other!"

Stephanie gasped at her friend's language then started laughing. Claudia joined in and together they laughed so hard it brought Stephanie's mom out.

"Are you having a party?" she asked.

"No, Mom. No party. Just a long-overdue laugh."

"I like parties," her mom said. "What are you celebrating? Is it your birthday? Did I forget your birthday?"

Moments later she was crying out of frustration and Claudia said, "Go ahead. I got this," as she led Helen back to her bedroom.

Not even that dampened Stephanie's spirits as she drove to work all the while reliving the experiences of the night before. She still had no idea Shaun was a college graduate who was also well read. She'd just assumed he had a high school education and a solid vocabulary. Oh, and a real understanding of what turned a woman on.

"And did he ever turn me on," she said out loud to herself as she pulled into the call center.

Shaun was also even more upbeat than usual, a fact not lost on Joe who was always watching his people for signs of anything that might be a problem on a call.

"Why do you look like the cat that just ate the canary?" he asked the younger man.

"You know, I'm not really sure," Shaun replied.

"Did someone...get lucky last night?" Joe asked somewhat quietly.

"No. Not really. And yet, I kind of feel like he did. Get lucky, that is."

"You're making even less sense than normal, Rookie."

"I know. And I'm even more confused than I sound. And yet, I've never been happier in my entire life."

"Ah. I see. All what? Twenty years of it?" Joe teased.

Shaun chuckled then said, "Twenty-three, but okay," he replied. "You know, I've never been in love before, Joe. What's it feel like?"

"Oh, wow. Well, it's a whole lot of things. You get all sappy inside and you start thinking things like how you'd do anything for her and you want to spend every minute of every day with her. And you really know you got it bad when you can't even think about anything else."

He looked right at Shaun then asked him, "Does that help?"

"Yeah. I think it does."

"So...are you in love?"

"I don't know. I just know I didn't have sex with a woman last night, and I feel really great about it."

"You need to go see the shrink again?" Joe said pretending to be dead serious.

"Maybe so," Shaun said before a huge smile broke out on his face.

"Would this 'feeling really great' have anything to do with a recent visit from a very attractive woman by any chance?"

"No maybe there, boss. That's a big 10-4."

"Well, listen. You did the right thing then. Having sex too early is a recipe for disaster. If you really like a woman, and if she's worth holding out for, then yeah, you did good, kid."

"I hope so. I think I really like her," Shaun confessed. "But believe or not, I've never held out before. Ever. I've been shot down a couple of times, but this is the first time I haven't tried to go for it."

"You know she's a lot closer to my age than yours, right?" Joe reminded him.

"I do. And yet, for some reason, I don't care. Maybe that's what's so different this time. I know we have this big gap between us, and yet I just don't care. All I want to do is make a good impression on her."

"Then that's a good start. The no-sex thing. But if you really do like her, and there's a third date...."

Joe wiggled his eyebrows up and down and Shaun couldn't help but laugh.

"You know what? I can wait until then. Or longer if I need to."

"She's hot all right," Joe offered.

"She is, but it's not just that. Hot chicks are everywhere. And I mean...everywhere. And what can I say? Most of them are, you know, attracted to me. I'm like some kind of sex magnet or something."

"And humble," Joe said trying not to smile.

Shaun leaned closer thens said, "No. I'm serious. Even the shrink hit on me."

"No joke? She's pretty damned cute."

"Tell me about it."

"So you said 'no', right?"

"Um...not exactly," Shaun said sheepishly.

"No way."

"Way," Shaun admitted, smiling that smile of his.

Joe shook his head then said, "Man. To be your age again."

Shaun got serious then said, "Joe. Can I ask you something? Something serious?"

"Yeah. Shoot."

"Do you think the age difference is too big a deal? Is it...insurmountable?"

"Insurmountable. Nice work, college boy," he kidded.

Joe got serious then gave Shaun his best advice.

"Between you and me, when I found out she was coming to the station, I even thought about possibly asking her out. But I also have to admit just the difference in our ages made me think I was crazy. And I'm guessing it's less than the one between you and her."

Again, Shaun said, "Tell me about it."

"But," Joe began. "I saw the way she looked at you, buddy. She was nice to me, but I did not get 'the look'. You did, and it was pretty obvious the age thing doesn't matter. That doesn't mean she wants to have your love child or anything. It just means she's at least willing to go out with you. And maybe have sex with you. Anything more than that? I have no idea."

Joe got ready to leave then said, "Just don't blow it."

"No. No, I won't. I really don't want to mess this up. Whatever 'this' is."

"Last word of advice. Just be yourself. She obviously likes you, and if you're really serious about her, don't put on a false face, because at some point, it'll come back to bite you."

"Not bad," Shaun said. He smiled then added, "For an old guy."

He feigned ducking as soon as finished the sentence, but to his surprise, Joe didn't react.

He just said, "Good luck."

As Stephanie began her shift, her mind was a jumbled mess of last night, 'will he call', 'should I call him', and responding to 911 calls. It was during lunch when she found herself reaching for her phone. When it rang just as she looked at it, it made her flinch.

Then when she saw his name, it made her smile.

"Hello there," she said.

Shaun could 'hear' her smiling and said, "Hey. You okay?"

"Of course," she said, pretending to be supremely confident. "Why wouldn't I be?'

"I don't know. I just thought maybe last night might have been too weird for you or something."

"No. It wasn't weird, Shaun. It was...nice. Really nice."

"Yeah?" he said, the enthusiasm picking up in his voice.

"Yes. Why wouldn't it be?" she asked politely.

"I guess I was just concerned. That's all."

And that concern touched her deeply.

"That's very sweet of you, but I'm not fragile, Shaun. You don't have to treat me like I'll break."

"Good to know," he said, still smiling happily. "Listen, I was thinking maybe we could do something nice this weekend. Are you off Friday night?"

"I am," she told him. "But I have to make sure Claudia can stay with my mom. She may have plans since it's Friday evening."

"Oh, sure. No problem. Anytime would be okay. Seriously," he told her earnestly.

"I appreciate you saying that. My mom is a very important part of my life, and she needs full-time care and will as long as she's, you know, with us."

"No. I totally understand," he said immediately. "And that's just one more reason I like you so much."

"You do?" she asked playfully. "I'm tempted to ask how much you like me, but I won't."

"A lot," Shaun replied without hesitation. "A whole lot."

"Well, the feeling is mutual then," she said very sweetly.

"And anytime is okay with me," she told him.

"Cool. Well, check with Claudia and let me, okay?"

"I will, Shaun. And...thank you. For last night. That was really...amazing."

"Yeah, I enjoyed that, too. That was a first for me."

"Seriously? I had the impression you'd done that before. No?" she asked.

"Nope. I've never had to um...resort to the phone."

Before she could say a word he said, "But that doesn't mean it wasn't fantastic."

Stephanie laughed then said, "Shaun. You're very good looking. I have no doubt you have a long list of...other girls...in your wake. I'd be shocked if you didn't. I'm not jealous of your history so don't apologize for it, okay?"

"Wow. Are you even for real?" he said admiringly.

"I'm real," she said quietly. "Very real."

They talked for another minute or so, but Shaun had to get back to work.

Unable to wait, Stephanie called Claudia to ask her what her schedule looked like for Friday evening.

"Oh, my. After all the things I've said about my husband, he made plans for us."

Before Stephanie could tell her, "No problem," Claudia added, "All weekend, too."

Again, she went to say how wonderful that was when Claudia, who felt so bad for her friend said, "Girl, I am so sorry! It's just that...."

"Claudia?" she said interrupting her. "It's fine. Really. And I'm very happy for you. I think that's so romantic!"

"Well, every once in a while he surprises me. And this is definitely one of those times. You sure it's okay?"

"Of course it is! You go. Have fun. And don't do anything I'd do if I had the chance."

"Now I feel really bad!" Claudia said, knowing how little chance Stephanie had had since her mom got sick.

"No. Don't. We'll find something else to do. I promise."

"That makes me feel a little better. But only a little."

Stephanie would never admit it, but she felt very let down. Not by Claudia. Just by the way things had worked out. She'd waited so long, and just when she was so close, it still wasn't going to happen.

Rather than call, Stephanie decided to send a text. She was so disappointed she didn't want Shaun to hear it in her voice. He sent back a 'no problem' reply which only added to her frustration and insecurity.

She let out a sigh loudly enough for the others in the break room to hear before she finished her yogurt and went back to work.

That evening, just when she thought she couldn't feel any worse, her phone rang right after she got her mom to sleep.

"Shaun? Hi! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Is this a good time?" he asked.

"It's perfect," she said. "Did you want to know what I'm wearing?"

Her voice was light and playful, but that's not why Shaun was calling.

"Yes, but I wanted to talk to you about something else."

"Oh," Stephanie said, assuming it was the worst. "Okay. Sure."

"Since Friday doesn't work, I was hoping I could take you somewhere that isn't exactly romantic."

The fact that he still wanted to even see her boosted her spirits enormously.

"Of course. Romantic is nice, but I'd just like to spend some time with you."

"Yeah. Same here," he told her. "It's kind of big deal. I've never done this with any other woman before."

"Should I be concerned?" she asked only partially teasing.

"No. Not at all. It's just not something I share with other people."

Stephanie wanted to ask for a hint or a clue so badly it was killing her. Instead she only told him she was looking forward to it.

"We both have the whole day off on Friday, so could we maybe do this in the morning? Since Claudia will be there and all."

"Um...sure. What time?"

"I could pick you up around 9:30, and when we're done, I'll spring for lunch. It wouldn't be fancy, but...."

"I'll be ready," she said happily. "Oh. What should I wear?"

"Nothing as sexy as you wore to the station. That's for sure," he told her in his upbeat way.

"It was just a skirt and sweater," she said.

"Uh-huh. Have you seen your body in a skirt and sweater?" he teased.

"So you did notice," she teased back, secretly thrilled with the compliment.

"Stephanie? A blind man would have noticed."

She laughed and once again, felt on top of the world as she walked into her bedroom.

"So...what are you wearing?" he asked. "I'm picturing you in that leather skirt and that figure-hugging sweater. You're not wearing that, are you?"

She loved his playfulness and told him, "I could be. But I could also be wearing a very sexy, slinky white nightie with nothing underneath."

"I'm listening," Shaun said.

"Or I could tell you the truth and admit I'm wearing sweats, an old robe, and some goofy house shoes."

"Ohhh, stop! You're killing me here!" he told her. "I've got a thing for sweats and house shoes."

"Shaun?" she said, unable to help herself.

"Yes?"

"You make me happy."

There was a short pause which made Stephanie think she'd just blown it when he said, "You know, I was telling Joe the other day how much I like you."

"You...you were?" she said, barely able to believe her ears.

"I was. I told him I thought you were really special."

"Me? Special?"

"Yeah. You. Very special. Look. I'm gonna be honest with you, Stephanie. I've never...dated anyone older than me. Hell, I don't even really 'date'. I just, you know...."

"Hook up?"

"Well. Yes. Mostly. But I don't want to hook up with you."

"Gee, you really know how to make a girl feel wanted," she quipped.

"No. It's not like that. I mean, I do want to, you know, I just want more than a hook up."