Summer Rendezvous – A Short Story

I wanted to write something different from anything I had written before. This is what I got out of it. Your feedback in the comments section below is welcome. Enjoy.

David had known for a while, somewhere in the back of his mind, that looking for sex on the internet was an option. It just took time for the idea to work its way into the gears of his conscious thought process. Somewhere between been trying to listen to the vapid conversation of the girl his friend had introduced him to at the club on Saturday night (what was her name? Cindy?), and browsing his list of latest matches on “America’s Most Popular Internet Dating Site” on Sunday morning, he had the epiphany. The reason he’s having so much trouble trying to make a connection with the girls he meets is that he wasn’t interested in dating any of them. In fact, he wasn’t interested in dating at all. What he really wanted- needed actually, was just to fuck!

At 26 years old, David often felt embarrassed about the small number of women he had bedded in his life. He had never been the type of guy, he felt, who could just take a girl home after having just met her. He had been around when other guys, some of them his friends, had managed this seemingly impossible feat, and he still wasn’t sure how it was done. So how could he be ready to start another monogamous relationship at this point in his life?

 What he needed, he reasoned, was brief fling with a woman who wanted the same thing as him. Maybe a fuck buddy. Maybe a couple of fuck buddies. He lived in a large city after all, and with the internet to help him find partners, why not be a little ambitious? This was the line of thinking that led David to meet the woman whom he would for many years afterward think of as Her. Not to mention Him.

There were plenty of internet sites to choose from. Just about any search combination of the words ‘sex’, ‘find’, ‘adult’, ‘fuck’, ‘search’ or ‘xxx” led to a site that advertised itself as the ideal means to find a causal hook up. After a couple of nights of browsing different sites and admiring the photos of skin he was able to view for free, David settled on two that came with promising “money-back guarantees”.

His initial forays into this new territory were less than successful. The same strategies that had gotten him phone numbers and coffee dates on conventional dating sites seemed to be ignored by the types of women whose profiles advertised their interest in casual sex. The first bite of interest he received was from a 43-year old woman who was married with children and looking for “discreet fun”. David decided to decline any further contact with that one. He considered himself to have some ethical standards, and preferred to find a hook-up with fewer possible complications. But it got him thinking that he might broaden the age range preference on his profile. There was no reason to turn away a hot older woman if on came along.

Within a two days of making that change to his profile, three and half weeks after he began his online search for an online hookup, David came back to his home computer to find a message waiting for him from ‘moonlightrevels’. The photo attached was of a petite, older-looking woman with pale skin and deep green eyes. How old, he couldn’t quite tell. Forty, maybe. She had declined to state her age. But she looked positively beautiful in the picture of her posing outdoors in a slim, low-cut summer dress, taken somewhere with oak trees in the background. There was something about her features that seemed both cheery and somehow dark simultaneously. This woman’s pic had a quality David almost wanted to describe as sprightly.

The message she had sent him was simple. “Hi cutie. Your profile mentions that you appreciate Shakespeare. Is it true?”

Well, David mused, it was true at one point. He looked over at his bookshelf and his collection of the Bard’s plays. He hadn’t read one or seen one performed in over three years now, but he had felt it was worth a mention under his interests.

The woman’s profile did not have its own photo and contained scant information. It did say under marital status that she was “separated”. David had to think about that for a moment and eventually decided that he would be alright with that, just so long as there were no kids he had to worry about.

He began to type a reply that included lines from Romeo and Juliet, but decided against it. Instead he typed, “It’s true. Would you like me to quote Hamlet? Your own profile doesn’t say much. What kinds of things are you into?”

There, he thought. If she’s a real person who’s interested, she’ll start a real conversation. If she’s another spammer, well he figured knew what to look out for by now.

The next night David got the reply he’d hoped for. “No need to quote for me. I’ve got a good feeling about you. Give me a ring sometime if you don’t mind a mature, experienced woman. –Tanya.” Her phone number was included. So was another photo, this one of her in a bikini. She looked much younger in this photo. Perhaps even David’s own age. It might have been from long ago, but the photo was date-stamped the day before. Definitely a little weird, he thought. Not that it would stop him from at least calling her.

David wondered if he should wait another night to call, so as not to seem over-eager or desperate. Then he took another look at Tanya’s bikini pic and couldn’t help himself from reaching for his cell phone. A female voice that he could only describe as sultry answered with “hello?”

“Hi, this is David. Um, I mean it’s swelldudexxx. You messaged me your phone number. This is Tanya, right?”

“Ahh, David. Right. I knew I had a good feeling about you.”

“So, do you want to talk? I mean, y’know, find out a little about each other before we meet?”

“I think we can learn much more in person, don’t you? Why put off meeting? Or love-making?”

David felt the sudden urge to learn to play guitar. Right then.

“Um, when are you free?”

“Tomorrow night is good for me,” Tanya answered. “Anytime after dark. I’ll send another message with my address.”

They said goodbye and hung up. David’s head was swimming. He had hoped things would be this easy, but had never expected them to be. It entered his mind that it really might be too easy. He figured that it didn’t seem likely she was out to rob him. She certainly couldn’t rape him if he were willing, could she? The worst possible case was that she was a furry. In that case, he could politely excuse himself and leave. He had her address, but she didn’t have his.

Through all of the next day David was almost too giddy and nervous to concentrate on work. The anticipation of meeting for this kind of sexual encounter was pushing most other thoughts out of his mind. He was thankful for it being a Friday. He slipped out of work early to shower and re-shave. Then David remembered what time she had told him to meet her. “After dark”. This was definitely a strange one he had found. At least in June that left him with time to eat dinner first.

He parked his car just around the corner from the suburban cul-de-sac where Tanya’s house was supposed to be, just as the sun’s last rays were fading toward the horizon. After waiting in the car until he judged it was dark enough, he checked his hair in the mirror one last time and then got out to walk toward his rendezvous. He noticed that there was no moon tonight, but the streetlights were enough to see by.

Her one-story house turned out to be smaller than he had imagined it, but it resembled most of the other homes around it. The concrete path he followed up to the door from the sidewalk was flanked by two beds of flowers. Some kind of vine grew around the archway over the front porch. David stopped on the front porch to calm his nervous breathing before he rang the doorbell. He reach out to push the button, but before his finger made it to its destination, he realized there was a note on the door.

Hello David, the note read, You’ll find me around back. The gate is unlocked. –T

David almost wanted to say aloud, curiouser and curiouser. Walking around to the brown wooden side gate, he found that it easily pushed open, and just as easily swung closed behind him with a loud bang. The dark and narrow side yard was sandwiched between a row of short trees and the vine-covered side of the house, but there was enough light coming from the backyard that he could make out the small stepping stones leading across the grass-covered ground. As he walked toward the back, he began to see the uneven rows of taller trees and rows of various kinds of flowers that made up the yard. There was enough light see that backyard was large- larger than he would have thought from looking at the front of the house, but he couldn’t quite tell where the light was coming from. He couldn’t see the fence behind the trees either, and wondered for a moment just how deep the backyard was.

He found Tanya reclining on her side on a lounge chair with a leather-bound book in her hand. The summer dress she was wearing seemed as though it might blow away in light breeze. She was looking at him and smiling.

“David, I’m so glad you came.”

Looking at her then, with her impish smile and breasts well-defined by her clothing, David had to swallow in order to find his voice. “Of course I came.” He smiled, then, not sure what to say, but feeling he had to say something, he asked “Um, what-“

It was a good thing she interrupted him, he realized, because he might have asked aloud, what now.

“Relax yourself. Please, come sit down. Would you like to try some tea?” She motioned to a tea kettle resting on a small table behind her. There was something in her voice both when she said to relax and when she offered tea that made David feel he might not have a choice about doing either one. “Sure,” he replied.

They sat down together and she poured tea into a cup for each of them. It smelled like honey but had a bittersweet taste to it. David found himself draining his cup quickly and pouring a second. He felt he should say something to get things started, but didn’t know what. What came out was “you have a very nice backyard.”

“Thank you,” she answered. “I’m glad that you appreciate my garden. But that wasn’t what you came here for, was it now?” Smiling again, she took his hand and led him away from the table. He felt a little light-headed, and wondered what was in the tea, but then wondered even more why she was leading him away from the house and towards the trees. “Leave your shoes and socks here,” she told him as they neared the trees. David did as he was told.

She led him into a darker space among a cluster of trees. Then she turned around and kissed him on his neck. When he felt the tip of her tongue against his skin, his nervousness melted away. He grabbed her and moved to kiss her on the lips, but was stopped by her finger placed in between their mouths. “Ah-uh,” she said coyly. “Not on the mouth please. But everything else is fine.”

So David settled for kissing her on her cheek, then her neck in the same way she kissed him. They removed each other’s clothes and she threw his back towards where his shoes were. They studied each other in the dim light. She looked as perfect as David could have imagined. Struck by a moment of whimsy, David gave her his best “Superman” pose, with his erection pointing toward her like a divining rod. She giggled at that.

She pushed him down then, and jumped on top of him. He was surprised by how strong such a small woman could be, but he stopped thinking about that or any of the other surprising things he had seen that night as soon as they began to copulate. She rode him in silence. He tried to stop himself from moaning by licking her breasts, but he could not stop a moan from escaping his mouth as he came.

He felt embarrassed that it had been so short, and worried he hadn’t pleased her, but didn’t know what to say. She simply laid down beside him with her hand on his chest. After he caught his breathe, he noticed the stars. He could see many more of them than he was used to seeing in the city. More than he should be able to see maybe. He said so to her.

“Aren’t they beautiful?” she replied to him. “That’s why this is one of my favorite spots.”

Looking at the multitude of stars above him gave David a sense of contentment then. He decided to simply enjoy the night and not worry about whether he was worthy of this enchanting creature beside him.

When they fucked the second time (he thought of it as fucking this time around) she let him take his turn on top to start with, then rolled him over and resumed riding him. There was more of a look of enjoyment on her face this time around, but still the only sound she made was to breathe, and not heavily either.

Afterwards, while looking up at the stars, her arm draped over him, he fell asleep.

David was awakened by the grey light of the new day and the feel of moisture on the grass. He could hardly believe he had slept outside for so long. His lover was sitting up against a tree nearby, wearing her dress once again, reading her book. “Good morning,” she said to him with a slight smile. He responded in kind as he stood up.

He began to walk toward where his clothes had been left, thinking of how to broach the subject of breakfast, when there was a noise from the direction of the house. It was the sound of a door opening. He looked toward the building to see a shirtless man standing in the doorway. A tall man, with the build of a professional weight lifter. He was staring in David’s direction with angry eyes that froze him where he stood, in the middle of the yard, completely in the buff.

“You slut!” The man yelled as he stomped forward. “How dare you demean our marriage in this way!”

David glanced behind himself to see Her standing there, returning the mystery man’s angry glare. But the woman he had sex with the night before looked different now. Her face seemed more angular now. Sharper even. And had she gotten taller somehow?

“You’re no different!” she said to the man a little more quietly, but no less scornfully. “I’ll bet you have one of your whores with you right now!”

“Ron, what’s going on out here?” came the voice of a woman from the doorway. The owner of the voice stepped outside, not wearing a scrap of clothing, before she realized what she was walking into.

“Oh, so I was right!” declared the woman known to David as Tanya.

David’s eyes briefly met those of the new stranger. She was dark-haired, and possibly close in age to him. Her shock and confusion mirrored his own.

David reached for his belongings. He had no idea what he was going to do, but felt it would be best to do it clothed. He was stopped by the words of the mystery man.

“Where do you think you’re going- you ass!” The man had raised his hand and clenched his fist as he said the last word.

David dropped his underwear then, realizing something wasn’t right with himself. His face felt longer. And now it was furry? Without thinking he tried to say ‘what the hell’, but the only sound that came out of his mouth was the braying sound of a donkey.

“You’re not the only one who can play this game,” said the angry man’s wife raising her hand as he had done. “How do you like your little chickadee now!”

David thought that what he saw take the place of the new woman’s head was impossible, until he heard her try to speak through her newly formed beak in the voice of a clucking chicken.

The husband and wife were arguing with each other face to face now. David wasn’t sure what they were saying. Was that even English? He didn’t know what he was going to do about his predicament, but somehow he knew he had to leave.

Grabbing up his clothes, not even stopping to put them on, he ran toward the chicken-headed woman, grabbed her by the arm and ran inside the house pulling her behind him. She followed his cue and led him down the long hallway toward the front door, stopping only briefly to grab her own clothes and purse from middle of the hall. Later on, when he had time to think about it, David wondered if there were any other rooms in that house at all.

“Do you have a car here?” David asked his new companion just as they exited out the front door. He surprised himself by actually speaking intelligibly. His head had apparently reverted to just what it should have been. So had hers.

“No. He drove.”

“Follow me if you want a ride.”

Still in the nude, the two of them ran to the end of the cul-de-sac toward David’s car. He fumbled his keys pulling them out of the pocket of the pants he wasn’t wearing and nearly dropped them.  “We can change in here,” he told her as he unlocked the car.

“Are you crazy? Just drive us the hell away from here!” She jumped into the back seat.

When they were several blocks away, and sure no one and nothing was following them, David parked the car and began to put on his own clothes. The girl was already half-dressed.

“What the hell was that back there?” she asked him, though not really as if she expected him to be able to answer.

 “I’m really not sure. But I have a crazy idea or two. Have you ever seen or read A Midsummer Night’s Dream?”

“Yeah, I have, but…wait, what? You have to be kidding.”

“I dunno. If you have a better idea, please let me know.”

When he finished dressing himself, he extended his hand to her. “I’m David, by the way.”

She took it. “Caroline. Nice to meet you, I guess… So, what now?”

“Do you feel up to getting some coffee?”

“Sure, ok, why not.” She smiled warmly at him. He smiled back.

*** 

Husband and wife lay on the moist grass together laughing hysterically.

“Did you see the look on their face?” she asked him when she caught her breathe.

“Which… one? They were… both… hilarious” he replied, trying to catch his.

She rolled herself over on top of him. “I’m ready for you now, Oberon, my king. Those mortals’ feeble attempts at love can never compare to the pleasure you and I can give one another. Make love to me.”

“Yes, they were simply an appetizer. Titania, my Queen, let us now partake of the main course.”