by J. M. Colail
Giving Jack Lucas’s phone number was right, she concluded, no matter what Lucas’s intentions were. Besides, Jack Christensen was a grown man. He hadn’t made it this far in his career at such a young age by making the wrong decisions. She closed the filing cabinet in a determined fashion, just as Jack walked out of his office and handed her another stack of papers on his way out.
“I think this is the last of them. I’m off to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the day I met my wife, so you know how to reach me, but only if you have to.” He rounded the corner and then turned back. “Once I’m at the art exhibition, feel free to call a national emergency.”
They both laughed.
“Come on, Your Excellency, it’s art,” Gertje mocked.
“It’s not the art that’s boring; it’s the politicians who feel they have an opinion on the art who drive me up the wall!” Jack rolled his eyes, before he waved at her and walked away again.
LUCAS SAT in his broom closet of an office in the UK Embassy with his cell phone in his hand. He wanted to call Jack, listen to the man’s soothing voice and arrange to meet him somewhere to talk, continue where they left off that night of the dinner at his house. Only it was abundantly clear that Jack was doing his best to avoid him. His secretary had given him a lame excuse every time he had called, and the times when he had walked over there on his lunch break, he hadn’t been able to get past her, either. No doubt she had been given instructions not to let him in. Since he didn’t have Jack’s direct number, he would have to go through the guard dog again.
He knew he had taken it too far, but he was so sure that the older man had not only acknowledged his feelings, but had also given some indication that they were mutual. Only now, reality had kicked in, and since they were not together, it was probably easy for Jack to deny the feelings were there and choose his easy, comfortable life with Maria.
But Lucas couldn’t forget the way Jack had slowly run his hand down his back, deliberately taking his time to feel every bone, every muscle. Slowly torturing Lucas, who couldn’t even acknowledge how good it felt to feel Jack’s warm hand caressing him, because the eyes of both their women were on them.
Lucas had jacked off every single morning in the shower, thinking about what it would feel like to really touch Jack, to kiss him, and to make love to him. This morning he had almost gotten caught when he had failed to hear Lucy enter their tiny bathroom. He had obviously not been silent during his release since she asked him if he was okay. He had mumbled something to her, afraid if he stuck his head outside the shower curtain, she would see his flushed complexion.
“Damn!”
Lucas got up swiftly and grabbed his jacket from the peg on the door. One more time. One more time he would go to Jack’s office and demand to be let in.
“HE’S NOT here, Lucas, I’m sorry.” Gertje Claessens was compassionate, watching how disappointment took hold of Lucas’s face. “Listen, sit down for a moment and let me get you a cup of coffee. Or tea, you drink tea, right?”
Lucas shook his head. “Did you give him my phone number?”
“Yes, dear, I did.”
He tried to smile. “Thank you, Gertje,” then turned around to leave.
“Lucas….” As he turned back, he could see she was clearly hesitating. “Go to the Palais des Beaux Arts tonight. It’s the gala opening of the American Indian Art Exhibition. Here…” She dug into her drawer. “…is Jack’s spare invitation. I always ask for one, in case he and Mrs. Christensen can’t arrive there together.”
With a big smile on his face he took two steps forward, grabbed her head in his hands and gave her a smacker on the lips.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he heard her call after him, when he ran out of the office.
MARIA HAD spent her day at a spa in Grimbergen. It had been her welcome to the American Women’s Club of Belgium, and even though it was not exactly her goal in life to spend her time there the way most expatriate women did, she enjoyed the pampering just as much as the next person.
She wore a cream-colored cotton undershirt, skimpy panties and no bra, and admired herself in the gigantic bathroom mirror that lined most of the wall. She didn’t look any different from this morning. Still fairly bony, missing the curves of a true woman, she feared, and not enough bosom to properly fill a bra. Thank God for Wonderbras. She had some muscles though, in all the right places too, she thought, because this is how Jack liked her. Her skin did feel nice and soft after all that peeling and mud packing they had done to her in the course of the day.
As she was lightly stroking her flat belly, she noticed Jack standing in his usual place, by the doorpost.
“So, stranger… you like what you see?” she asked him seductively.
Maria could see Jack slowly take his shirt off and move behind her. As he wrapped his arms around her, he moaned appreciatively. “Hey Maire, you smell like roses and your skin feels like silk.”
His touch was light and soon made her skin tingle as she leaned back to feel him closer to her. He was kissing her neck and slowly grinding his growing erection against her ass as he slipped his hand down her belly and into her panties. Maria enjoyed this new side of Jack she was seeing. He had never been the most adventurous bed partner, but there was something to be said for a dependable husband. Only now she stared at herself in the mirror while he kissed her shoulder and used his finger to slowly stroke circles around her clit, making her wet.
She reached behind her back to unbutton his pants. To feel his fingers on her was amazing, but to actually see him do it as well made her heart race. She wanted to feel him inside her, wanted to bend over the sink and let him pound into her, all the while watching him do it to her.
“Come on Jack, show me what you got.”
This made him look up at the sight in the mirror, his cerulean blue eyes a little glazy, his lips red and moist from kissing her neck. Her hair was coming undone, and he smiled as she pinned it up again so it stayed out of her face. He let his pants and boxers fall to the floor and stepped out of them and then crouched to slip her panties down.
“I want to see you fuck me, Jack, here in front of the mirror. Would you like that?” She inhaled sharply as he pushed her down over the sink and roughly inserted two fingers.
As she looked up, he was smiling widely. “You’re absolutely soaking wet, Maire.”
“Well, what did you expect?”
She moaned as she felt him entering her right after pulling his fingers out. He felt good inside her, and she knew all too well he was the most unselfish lover she had ever had. She only hoped that the intoxicating sight of the two of them joined in front of the mirror wouldn’t make him come too quickly; she wanted this to last. But then again, he wasn’t really looking. She could feel his hands on her hips and his heavy breathing on her neck.
As he slowly started to move, she realized she wanted more, she wanted to be in control, which was a lot less unusual than the fact they were being adventurous enough to fuck in front of the bathroom mirror they had both hated from the moment they entered the house. All of a sudden it became an asset.
Maria pushed herself and Jack with her away from the sink and down onto the closed toilet seat. He clung to her and gasped as they came down on the hard surface. She realized that from where they were sitting, she had a full-length view of the two of them, between the two sinks. As she slowly spread her legs and leaned back she could see him buried deep inside of her, his cock shiny and wet with her juices. With his arms wrapped around her waist, she bent forward again so she could put her hands on his knees and use them as support as she started to ride him. Slowly at first, she found it easy to vary the angle a bit until he was hitting just the right spot, just the right amount of friction to make her pant and moan. “Oh, Jack, so good, Jack.”
He moved his hands to her ribs to support her movements as she increased the speed and he started thrusting upward. The sight in the mirror was exhilarating as she could see herself riding his beautif
ul, rock hard cock. She knew she was going to come like she hadn’t come in a long time as she felt the tension build in her belly. Jack spread his legs too, pushing hers even wider apart. It made her lose her leverage, but as she looked up, she saw his eyes, dark with passion looking at the two of them in the shiny surface of the mirror, and this sight pushed her over the edge, convulsing around his hard cock. She could feel him burying his head in her neck, murmuring something that sounded like “Yes, yes, you can now” as his movements too became erratic and convulsive.
She slumped down onto Jack’s now limp body and realized through her haze that they hadn’t even kissed. His body was hot and sweaty beneath her.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
“Yeah,” he croaked. “Just give me a minute.”
As she got up from their uncomfortable position and felt him slip out of her, she decided they would both need a shower before they could go anywhere.
And they had an art exhibition opening to attend.
Chapter Seven
JACK AND Maria arrived late at the Argentinean restaurant where they had booked a table for dinner, and thanks to the Friday night traffic, they would undoubtedly arrive even later at the exhibition opening.
Jack was clearly in a wonderful mood, and over dinner they reminisced about how they had met at an Embassy party in Argentina, where Maria’s father was the Information Officer and Jack had been sent on his first overseas posting. That was twenty years ago and Maria was glad she could still look at her husband and say that marrying him was the best decision she had made in her life.
“So tell me again why it took you almost a year and a half to sleep with me?” she teased him.
Jack wiped the corners of his mouth with his napkin and ticked off the reasons she’d accept. “I was a gentleman, what can I say? Besides, I didn’t know where my life was going. You knew I could be posted anywhere with almost no notice, so I guess I wanted to be sure you were right for me. And I wanted to get my master’s degree first, so if I took you abroad with me, we would at least be able to live off one salary.”
“Well, it was nice of you to leave such a good impression with my parents. I think that was the only argument I gave them that stood any ground when I told them I wanted to move to Denmark with you before we were married.” She put her hand on his and played with his wedding ring. “I have to say this afternoon made up for the eighteen months of waiting for you.”
“I thought I made up for that a long time ago, Maire,” Jack answered a little shyly.
“Well, I don’t know what you were making up for earlier, but by all means do it again!” She rolled her eyes as she took another sip of her wine.
Jack grew silent until he realized this was probably making him look guilty. “So do you want dessert?” he asked lamely.
LUCAS WALKED into the Palais des Beaux Arts with Lucy on his arm. He had tried to go without her, but after seeing her eyes light up when he told her where he was spending his evening, he didn’t have the heart to tell her she couldn’t go.
Even though it was a large museum, the reception was in one of the smaller halls and consequently, it was fairly packed. Most of the guests were older, stuffy men with bored looking women by their sides, and very few people were actually looking at the objects on display.
Lucas scanned the room for Jack, but couldn’t find him, so he guided Lucy toward a large tapestry covering most of the wall nearest to them. He didn’t want to venture too deep into the crowd in case he would miss Jack walking in.
Tall, elegant, but stern looking young men in tails walked around the room carrying trays with drinks and Lucas was quick to scoop up two glasses of champagne, handing one to Lucy.
“We should mingle with the crowd, Lucy, there are a lot of important people in this room,” Lucas suggested, but he saw panic overtake his girlfriend’s face. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here,” he offered with a smile, though it meant that it would be virtually impossible to talk to Jack alone tonight.
Just at that moment flashbulbs went off at the front entrance and all eyes turned to the couple that walked in.
Jack wore an elegant dark suit and tie, and Maria looked absolutely radiant in a powder blue two piece. They were greeted by the curator of the museum and quite a few of the other guests flocked toward the entrance to shake their hands.
Lucas knew he and Lucy would have to bide their time before going over to them. This function required far more protocol and their status of personal friends would not carry far here. Jack would probably open the exhibit or at least observe that opening, and many more “higher ranking officials” would want to talk to him before Lucas and Lucy could greet him.
Although Lucas knew this, he still wanted the American to be aware of his presence, so he casually led Lucy into Jack’s range of view. He still had the feeling Jack had been ignoring him all this week and he wanted it resolved tonight, one way or the other.
“Why can’t we just get in line with everyone and go say hi?” Lucy asked.
“Because there are other people he needs to meet first, Lucy,” he shot at her, then sighed, “I’m sorry, but we can’t just….” Lucas didn’t finish his sentence, because Jack was staring him straight in the eye, his expression blank. After an almost imperceptible nod, Jack’s eyes turned to an older lady in traditional Indian costume, who was clearly introducing herself. The surrealism of the situation made Lucas wonder if the nod of recognition had really been there, or if he had just wished it.
As one of the waiters passed with another tray of drinks, Lucas replaced his empty champagne flute with a full one. Jack was ushered toward the passage to the exhibition where he would have to cut a ribbon to open it officially, so with Lucy still on his arm, Lucas followed the stream of guests into the hallway. He made his way to the front of the crowd that formed a large semicircle to listen to the short speeches and official words of welcome.
Lucas couldn’t help but admire the natural ease with which Jack acquitted himself of his task and the grace with which he turned the focus away from himself and his presence here to place it on the plight of ancient culture in today’s global society and the importance of the preservation of indigenous culture and art. His short and concise speech even contained humor as he added that Belgians were particularly adept at understanding this, since they had been conquered by so many nations in their past before becoming a country in their own right.
Lucas was wondering if Jack wrote his own speeches when their eyes met again. Once more Jack’s expression was unreadable and he turned away almost immediately, leaving Lucas with a hollow feeling in the pit of in his stomach. He couldn’t just stand here; this was driving him crazy. If Jack didn’t want to have anything to do with him ever again, he wanted to hear the man say it himself.
After the ribbon was cut, the crowd was allowed to enter the exhibit and it dispersed quickly. Lucas and Lucy were finally able to make it over to where Jack and Maria were still being greeted by all sorts of people.
“Lucy, Lucas!” Maria greeted the young couple warmly with a kiss on the cheek. “What a surprise to see you here! Lucas, I didn’t know your liaison duties extended to art exhibit openings?”
“They don’t,” Lucas answered trying to come up with an excuse, but drawing a blank. “I was just… interested.” But not in the art.
“Lucas, would you mind very much if I stole that lovely fiancée of yours away for a moment? There are some people here I’m sure she will want to meet, and I have to turn her into the perfect diplomat’s wife for you, right?”
That was obviously a rhetorical question, because as Lucas was trying to form a witty answer, Maria carted Lucy off to a group of middle-aged women standing together at the other end of the room, so he was left to his own devices, only a few steps away from Jack.
Lucas hadn’t even been able to say hello yet, as Jack was still busy with a number of Americans and Belgians. Lucas could hear him speaking English and French, occasionally even Spanish, seemin
gly effortlessly switching between the languages. Lucas knew he should be building his network, talking to people and introducing himself, but what he really needed to do was talk to Jack. Unfortunately, the American might as well have been on the other side of the world.
Eventually Lucas took a walk around the hall, admiring the very diverse artwork, hoping that Jack would take his continuing presence at this function as the sign it was meant to be: a cry for contact.
People started to leave as the waiters stopped coming around with their drinks trays, and Lucas found himself almost alone in a corner of the hall. He had seen Maria and Lucy talk to numerous people, and they were now sitting together in the foyer talking girl talk, judging from the excited expressions on their faces.
“It always strikes me how effortless art is with indigenous people,” Lucas heard a familiar voice with an American accent say. “They use it in everyday objects, like this rug for instance, and they depict ordinary daily occurrences.” Lucas closed his eyes and a smile broke on his lips. He was afraid to look to the side, afraid that he would break the spell if he looked, and the voice continued. “Art is also a collective thing. The ego of the artist is not important, in fact, you may have noticed that on a lot of these works, there is no artist mentioned, because the name or names are not known.” Lucas could listen to this voice for hours and searched for the right question to keep him talking.
Eventually he dared to look sideways, only to find there was no one there. He could see Jack walking out toward the hallway. Oh no, he wasn’t leaving!
Lucas looked around to see if it would be deemed suspicious if he followed suit. Realizing the hall was almost deserted, he practically ran in the direction where he had seen Jack disappear. Once inside the hallway he only just saw Jack slip into the men’s room. There were more people standing around here, and he noticed some of them looking in his direction. He tried to look inconspicuous and took a deep breath to calm himself while he walked over to the side where the toilets were.