Audrey's Road Trip

by Susan Bella Ikin

  “What side do you prefer?”

  James turned to me and said:

  “Whatever side you don’t want, I can adapt”.

  “No, you choose”, I insisted. Not for the world would I tell him that I had only ever slept in a single bed. That might lead him to query whether I had ever shared my bed with a man, which I hadn’t. There was no reason that James needed to know that I was still a virgin, so I was not volunteering any information that might lead him to thinking.

  James looked at the door, which was locked and had a chain across it.

  “I’ll take the side nearest to the door”.

  I nodded and got in on the side where I was standing, which was nearest to the bathroom anyway. As I laid down so that my back was to the centre of the bed, I realized what James had just done. He had just made sure that he was nearest to the door, in case there was a problem in the night. That was really cute.

  I tried to relax and breathe deeply, hoping that I would go to sleep quickly, but I was too nervous. I heard the TV get shut off, I heard James moving around the room, I assumed he was gathering his things together, then the bathroom door opened and closed. After a couple of minutes, I heard the door open and close again, and James’ feet made a little sound as he padded across the carpet to the bed. I felt the depression of the mattress as James climbed into the bed. I laid there a while longer, then I heard James’ chuckle.

  “Relax Audrey. You are so tense I swear I could bounce a coin off you! I’m tired, I did a fair bit of driving today and the walking tonight made me ready for bed. Even if you hadn’t made it perfectly clear before, nothing is going to happen in this bed tonight, so you have nothing to fear from me. Goodnight”.

  I heard him yawn and felt a bit silly. I had been lying in bed trying to pretend I was asleep, and apparently not fooling James.

  “Goodnight, James,” I said, and heard his even breathing. The man had already fallen asleep! I laid there for a while longer, and then I must have fallen asleep too, because the next thing I knew it was morning.

  I woke up feeling very well rested, but it didn’t last all that long as I was soon confused. Why was there a large male hand resting on my breast? I opened my eyes and turned my head and saw James’ face just centimetres from my own. I looked down and saw his hand resting on my breast. I looked at his face again, and realized he was still asleep. This was absurd! I tried very gently to sidle out from under James’ hand, and heard him snort and then say very sleepily.

  “That feels nice”, and then his hand began to massage my breast. At the same time as I was wondering what to do, I was also deciding that the sensation was not entirely unpleasant. In fact, it was quite enjoyable. Suddenly I felt a twitch inside my abdomen, and realized that this must be the start of arousal.

  James suddenly woke up and realized where his hand was, snatching it back and bursting out:

  “Oh, Audrey, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that, I guess it was just an automatic reaction to sleeping with a gorgeous woman like you, don’t be mad”.

  I quickly got out of the bed and stood at the side, I didn’t know whether to be angry at James’ wandering hand, or to laugh at his obvious distress, but I knew that my own reaction was very confusing. In the end I decided to make light of it.

  “Well, I suppose you don’t make a habit of sleeping with women you aren’t having sex with, so I guess it’s understandable. I’d really appreciate it if you could work out how to make it not happen again though, anyway, dibs on first shower!” and I grabbed some clothes at random and ran into the bathroom, leaning against the closed door afterwards.

  I put my hand to my breast where James’ had been. How was I going to sleep in the same bed as him tonight, knowing how delightful that had felt, and wondering what else he could do that might make me feel this way? It was probably just as well that I was having my period at the moment, hopefully by the time it was over we would have different sleeping arrangements, as how awkward would it have been if I had responded to James’ touch?

  I quickly jumped in the shower, having the water a bit cooler than necessary to ensure it was bracing and I didn’t stay in there very long, then dressed and left the room for James, taking my makeup and hairbrush out to the bedroom, I could finish getting ready out there.

  When James was dressed and I had returned my things to the bathroom, we raided the fridge for our breakfast. I sat cross legged on the bed, James sat on the couch, and we tried to act normally, but our conversation was stilted, we were still a bit uncomfortable about the start to our morning. After we had finished eating, James went next door, only to return straight away.

  “They’ve put the do not disturb sign on the door”, he said wryly, “I think that means that we may as well go out sightseeing on our own, if they want to catch up they can call us”.

  So we started our day on foot. First we went to City Hall, which was a beautiful building, built in the period after the great earthquake of 1906 when the city wanted to re-establish itself. We had a tour of the building, and then went into the administrative offices to buy some passes for the public transport system. Each time we walked through the central hall, we had to step carefully to avoid getting into someone’s wedding photographs, as the building was so beautiful, it was popular for civil weddings and then photo opportunities in the grand hall afterwards. We then walked a few blocks to the nearest cable car terminus, and caught a cable car heading to the bay area.

  Originally we thought they might be similar to the old trams that ran around our native Melbourne, but they were quite different, and we had fun riding the car, and looking out at the streetscape as we went past.

  Of course we ended up at Fisherman’s Wharf, and walked around there for a while before eating lunch from one of the carts at the wharf. I wasn’t a big fan of crab, but had to try it as everyone seemed to be selling it. We walked along the waterfront for a while, until we heard some strange noises. Investigating, we found pontoons covered in seals of varying sizes, from the mature enormous males, to the immature males and the females. There seemed to be a game afoot to see who could push who off the pontoons, and we watched for a long time, laughing at their antics.

  Andrew and Kerry still hadn’t called, and I wasn’t anxious to call them, so we took another cable car into the shopping district and wandered around. At Union Square, we were walking past a Victoria’s Secret shop, when I had the sudden urge to go inside. James looked a bit uncomfortable when confronted with all the bras and panties, so I told him I would be fine, and if he wanted to wait in the square, I would find him later. His haste in leaving was almost comical.

  I looked around for a while, wondering what all the fuss was about – but then saw some items that I couldn’t resist. They were on sale, which was how I justified the expense to myself, but I really shouldn’t have bought them anyway. But sure enough, when I located James I was carrying the little pink striped bag that was the Victoria’s Secret signature bag. James’ eyebrows rose, and I told him to mind his own business, I just needed some new underwear. James smiled as he turned to the waiter and signalled for a coffee for me.

  By the time we arrived back at the hotel, we were feeling quite footsore. So we were quite happy when Andrew emerged from the room he was sharing with Kerry, and suggested that we go for a drive to find something for dinner. I knew that James was getting concerned about walking around this area of the city after dark anyway, as he had started walking more quickly as we got closer to the hotel.

  We found a reasonably priced Pizza shop for dinner, and as we ate, James and I explained what we had done that day. Kerry and Andrew looked abashed as they admitted they had only left the hotel room to find food. At least they seemed a little more relaxed today, I suppose to be fair that it must be difficult for them as well, sharing a room with two people if they weren’t used to it, or used to denying themselves either.

  After dinner we drove around the bay for a while, stopping at some viewpoints and enjoying the sight
s, and making plans for the next day. We had pre booked a trip to Alcatraz, and would have to go back down to the wharf area to catch the ferry. After a while I started yawning and asked if we could go back to the hotel, as I was tired from all the walking around today, and didn’t want to oversleep tomorrow and miss the Alcatraz tour. I didn’t miss the knowing look between Andrew and Kerry. They probably thought that James and I were sleeping together. Well, they were right about that, but that was as far as it went. If they believed that James and I were now lovers, that would be why they thought I was eager to return to the hotel, but I didn’t care, I just wanted some sleep.

  James

  I was a bit annoyed that Andrew and Kerry thought that Audrey and I were sleeping together now, just because we had spent the night in the same room without them. I had noticed the way they looked at Audrey when she asked to go back to the hotel, and I also think that Audrey noticed it too. Did they really think that Audrey was the type of woman to just have sex with a man because he was convenient? I was offended on her behalf. I got the impression from Audrey that she was a bit choosier than that. Then I had to laugh inwardly, I was actually thinking that I wouldn’t be the type of man that Audrey would choose. After that, I started wondering if I was. Then I realized how twisted my thinking was getting, first thinking that Audrey should not choose me, then wondering if she would, then wondering why not?

  Plus, I was going to have some difficulty tonight. Last night had been difficult enough, getting into bed with a beautiful woman knowing that she was strictly hands off, tonight was going to be so much worse. Not only was I not as tired as yesterday, so wouldn’t fall asleep as quickly, but I also had the memory of how soft and malleable her breast had felt under my hand this morning. It had completely been an unconscious reaction to finding a woman in my bed, but that didn’t mean that I hadn’t enjoyed it. Now I was worried what would happen if I did it again, at the same time, hoping that I would get the chance, and that Audrey might laugh it off as she had this morning. The woman was turning me one way and the other, and she wasn’t even trying.

  Consequently, after getting back to the hotel, I went with Kerry and Andrew to their room for a few minutes, ostensibly to talk, but hoping that Audrey would get into bed and fall asleep before I got there. Finally Andrew’s patience with me wore thin and he made pointed remarks about how late it was, so I left.

  When I got back to the hotel room, it was in darkness, except Audrey had left the bathroom light on, with the door just a little bit ajar, so that I had enough light to navigate around the room without stumbling into things. I would have to thank her for her thoughtfulness tomorrow. When I crept towards the bed, I discerned from her breathing that she was asleep. I lifted the covers on my side, and slid in. I could feel the heat emanating from Audrey’s side of the bed, and since she was asleep, I thought perhaps I could cheat and take a little advantage from that. So I slowly backed up against her so that my butt was against her butt. That was probably not smart, as I was going to find it even more difficult to sleep. I stayed awake for what seemed like a long time, running through fantasies in my head, imagining taking off Audrey’s clothes and running my hands all over her soft skin. It also didn't help that I had seen some of the underwear in that shop today, and knew that Audrey had bought some things there. I was now imagining her wearing some of the items that I had seen, and imagining the pleasure I would get in removing them.

  I moved away from Audrey, thinking that I was a fool. Then I heard Audrey mutter in her sleep, and back up so that her butt was now against mine. Great. Now how was I going to sleep?

  I must have slept, but obviously I fell asleep quite late as I woke up a bit grouchy, my foul mood was not made any better by the awareness that I was alone. I heard the shower shut off, so realized that Audrey must be in the shower. I got up to go through my clothes and work out what to wear that day, and as I stood there in just the boxers and t-shirt that I had slept in, Audrey walked into the room, and saw me standing there.

  “Good morning”, she said with a smile, “I must have gone out like a light, I didn’t even hear you come in. You have to hurry, we have to have breakfast and get to the pier”. She then went and sat on the couch, and started to apply her eye make up while looking into a folding mirror.

  I quickly showered and dressed, then we met up with Andrew and Kerry and headed down to the pier, picking up a light breakfast on the way. We boarded the ferry when it was our time, and headed out to Alcatraz Island, listening to the information over the loudspeakers as we went. I was still feeling a bit grouchy, but was mollified somewhat by Audrey’s light touch at my arm. She had spotted some seals in the water and was pointing them out. I looked down into her cheerful face and decided that I was losing my mind. I was falling for this woman, at the most inconvenient time. We still had over two months to go on our trip, and I would have to keep my hands off her for that whole time. It was clear to me that Audrey was not a very sexually experienced woman and I didn’t think she would be happy to carry on a casual dalliance with me with my friends in the next room, or worse, in the same room. There was also the problem of proximity if such a dalliance did not work out – the car was a small place for two people to be in if they had a falling out. So I would have to keep my hands to myself, no matter how enticing her high firm breasts were, and behave as if I wasn’t attracted to her. Let’s see how good an actor I am, I thought to myself.

  The island was very interesting, and we took a tour with one of the National Park’s guides, in which she explained a bit about the history of the island. After the tour, we took another ferry back to the pier, and then Andrew and Kerry wanted to lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf, so with a shrug of our shoulders, we joined them. Afterwards we walked on a bit further, and found San Francisco’s signature chocolate company shop, and stopped for an ice-cream and some chocolate to buy ‘for later’.

  We found ourselves doing a lot of the things that we had done the day before, as Andrew and Kerry had not done them. I was beginning to get annoyed with them – as I thought Audrey might want to do something different, and I know I did – but kept it to myself. A few more cable car rides, and we ended up back at Chinatown. Audrey and I looked at each other again, but at least we had dinner somewhere different. I guided everyone back so that we didn’t have to walk through that area again, not only because I wanted everyone to be safe, but also because I knew if I put my arm around Audrey again to keep her safe, then it would just confirm what Andrew and Kerry thought they knew about us.

  So for the third night in a row, I found myself alone in a hotel room with Audrey. I was idly flicking through some TV stations, not really seeing what was on, just trying to keep my brain occupied and not think about how I was going to cope with sleeping next to Audrey again, when she came out of the bathroom, freshly showered, and got into bed. I had tried not to look, but had watched out of the corner of my eye, and had been entranced by the trim form of Audrey encased in her summer pyjamas, which were really no more than a thin cotton t-shirt and shorts. Her hair was still damp from her shower, and I could see her nipples through the thin material of the t-shirt. Feeling my groin begin to stir, I headed off to the shower, resigning myself to yet another cold shower.

  When I headed back to the bed, I realized that Audrey’s breathing was not that even, deep sound that indicated she was asleep. This was going to be awkward, I thought to myself.

  “James”, Audrey began, and continued at my mumbled reply. “I just wanted to thank you, for you know, for not, well, you know, for not-“

  “It’s ok, I told you it would be ok, Audrey. Now just go to sleep. Tomorrow is our last day here, then we’re on the road again, and it could be a long day, so let’s just sleep, ok?”

  I felt Audrey nod, and then slowly she relaxed – I swear I could feel the lessening of tension in the bed – and shortly afterwards she started breathing the even breath of sleep.

  When I awoke the next morning, I was surprised to find myself on my side
facing away from Audrey, and that she was spooning me. I should have pushed her gently aside, but instead I lay there just assimilating the feeling of her pert little breasts squashed against my back, and relishing the heat of her crotch nestled up against my butt. Her arm was thrown over my waist, with her hand resting on my stomach, and I couldn’t stop myself from slowly moving a hand so that it was covering hers, and holding it there. I drifted off to sleep again, but woke up when I felt her withdraw from me slowly, as if she was trying not to wake me up. Smiling to myself – for she couldn’t see my face from where she was – I let her believe that she had succeeded and I was still asleep.

  That last day we walked down Lombard Street, taking photographs of the ‘crookedest street’, and visited Coit tower and the Golden Gate Park. I know we took lots of photos, and I was thankful for that, as I wasn’t really paying a lot of attention to my surroundings, I just kept reliving that embrace this morning. Not only had it felt really good on a physical level, but I was also pleased that Audrey felt secure enough around me that her unconscious self allowed her to do this.

  Towards the end of the day, we returned to the hotel, where we had stored our bags, loaded the car and drove out of the city, across the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped at the parking areas at both ends, taking all the obligatory photos, and then drove through Sausalito. We planned on a detour to Yosemite National Park, then would continue driving up the coast road again, all the way to Seattle, just below the border with Canada, but didn’t have any set timeframes for our journey. Very few things on this road trip were booked far in advance, only those things that we had been warned book out, such as the trip to Alcatraz, or a hotel stay at Monument Valley, so a couple of dates were already set for us, but the rest of the time was open.

  I hoped that the next accommodations we had did not involve Audrey and I sleeping in the same bed, as I needed some solid sleep.