ALEX

A knock on the door told him she was here. This time he had been expecting her. She was dressed in lycra shorts, running shoes and a tight, blue top. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, her face looked natural and fresh. Even this early in the morning she looked terribly attractive.

He followed her on the path that led into the forest where he’d been the day before. Now he had to run, though. At first, it was okay. The path was quite smooth, the scenery pretty and to his relief, he could keep up with her without a problem. 

Following her, being just behind her, had its perks too, he realized, because now he could look at her without feeling self-conscious. Her body in motion was a work of art. She was so feminine, yet also incredibly fit and strong. Like before on the tennis court she reminded him of a cat. The bounce in her step, the way she seemed to almost dance over loose stones and branches. He also kept looking at the muscles in her calves. On the top of her right calf she had a small birthmark, he noticed. His eyes took in her thighs too and above them her full, round bum. Part of her back was bare, with the top exposing her shoulders. Healthy was the word that kept popping up in his mind. So incredibly healthy.

It wasn’t until they got to a slope that he got in trouble. They had already run for about fifteen minutes by then and just when he began to feel tired, the path started to go up. 

Louise looked over her shoulder and said, ‘It’s about two kilometers like this. Are you okay?’

Of course he said yes, but ten minutes later his whole body was in pain. Sweating like a pig now he refused to give in though and gave it all he had, but still, it wasn’t enough. When the path became even steeper he saw the distance between them growing bigger and bigger. At some point, she looked back and seemed surprised she had lost him. She waited for him and laughed when she saw his sweaty, red face.

‘Don’t force yourself, Alex. On top of the hill is a meadow. I’ll wait for you there, okay?’

He nodded and she turned around, effortlessly picking up her rhythm again. He saw her run away from him so quickly that it alarmed him. There was nothing he could do about it though. At some point, he couldn’t even run anymore. The last part of the slope he just walked. 

When he got to the meadow, he saw her sitting in the grass, the morning sun warming her face. She smiled at him and patted her hand on the spot next to her. Come sit here, it meant, and he stumbled over and almost fell down. He was so incredibly tired. 

For a long time, they didn’t speak. The view over the valley below was spectacular and the temperature was just perfect. Louise seemed to feel completely at peace with herself and her surroundings. Every now and then he shot a quick glance at her and saw how balanced she seemed, both mentally and physically, and then he would remember his own stumbling up the hill and the embarrassment that came with it. After a while, she asked him if he was all right. Did he feel ready to continue?

‘Is it downhill from now on?’ he asked.

‘The route I normally take has another climb in it, but we could skip that today and go straight home.’

‘Okay,’ he said, but he felt like a wimp and then, stupidly, blurted that out.

‘What do you mean?’ she asked.

He stammered, searching for the right words, but in the end settled for an even sillier comment: ‘It’s just embarrassing.’

‘What is? That you can’t keep up with me?’

He nodded.

‘Why? What did you expect? I run at least three times a week, for you, it’s the first time.’

‘Yeah, I know.’

‘So why do you feel embarrassed? Because you think of yourself as some young god who can do anything right away?’

‘No, of course not. It’s just that, well, you’re a woman, I guess.’

‘What?!’ she exclaimed. She looked at him incredulously and in her eyes that fire lit up again. He felt he was suddenly on thin ice, losing control over the conversation. He tried to repair the damage and explained what he meant.

‘Men are better in sports than women, you can’t deny that.’

That too didn’t go down well either. The fire in her eyes was blazing as she said, ‘Yes, that goes for athletes maybe, but you’re hardly an athlete, are you?’

He desperately wanted to make peace now and acknowledged that, no, he wasn’t an athlete, because he was really out of shape. If he developed more stamina he would probably be able to keep up with her better.

‘So it’s about building up stamina now?’

‘I guess.’

They fell silent. She looked at him and nodded. Then she said, ‘You’re intimidated by me and perhaps by women in general. This is the second time you have said something that is really out of line and hints at a misogynistic attitude.’

He didn’t know what that meant, but knew it wasn’t anything good. He just wished that he hadn’t opened his big mouth. Meanwhile, Louise seemed to be making up her mind. Then she surprised him by asking him, ‘When did you last practice judo?’

‘Erm… two years ago, I think. Why?’

‘Which belt do you have?’

‘Purple.’

‘So you’re pretty good, I would say.’

He wondered where she was going with this.

‘Being a man,’ she said, ‘you shouldn’t have a problem beating a woman in a match, right? An older woman like me. Should be a piece of cake for you.’

Now it was his turn to look surprised.

‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes, I am. I’m daring you, because I think you’re having some strange ideas about women and I want to set you straight.’

‘Okay’, he said slowly, in an attempt to win some time so that he could wrap his head around this weird turn of events.

‘What if I win though?’ he asked.

She smiled for the first time since the conversation had spun out of control.

‘I would double this month’s salary,’ she said.

‘Are you serious?’

‘Is that enough motivation to take on this poor, old woman?’

She was teasing him now; the animosity that he had felt a moment ago was gone. A sense of relief washed over him. He wondered then if she would really double his salary if he beat her in a judo match. That was a lot of money for a couple of minutes' work, so to speak. All he needed to do was throw her over his hip and hold her down. He could still do that, even though he hadn’t practiced in a while. Technique wasn’t something one forgets.

But wait a minute, what if, by any chance, she would win? He asked her, but she shook her head and said, ‘Nothing. I just hope I can teach you a valuable lesson.’

He nodded and thought this was almost too good to be true. What should he do with the extra money? Save it for concerts? Buy lots of hash? A plane ticket to London, a train ticket to Paris? He got up, feeling suddenly very motivated, and she got to her feet too.

‘Just one match?’ he asked.

‘Best of three,’ she said.

‘Let’s make it best of five then,’ he said, expecting he would beat her 3-0.

Their match began. With the morning sun shining down on them, they started to circle around each other, both careful not to do anything rash. He was not the only one here with experience in competition, he reminded himself. He thought of what he knew about jiu-jitsu and remembered a classmate who was into that. He had never been too impressed with the tricks that boy had shown him. Anyway, he’d better focus on himself and figure out a way to attack her and bring her down to the grass. He looked at her as if he were a tiger and she the prey, watching her every move. She was heavier than he was, but that shouldn’t be a problem. He was a guy and whatever she tried to teach him here, that still accounted for something.

He thought about later, when he was back in his apartment. He should count his money and add this bonus which he was sure he was going to earn. He had never had this much money, so he felt quite rich and… whoa… what the hell?! Suddenly he was in the air, horizontally at first and then almost upside down. He felt her arm around his neck and then, when he landed on his back, her legs were around his waist. He tried to pry her arm loose but discovered that he couldn’t. He tried again, but now she got a firm grip on his arm and twisted it. He yelled and moved his whole body, trying to roll sideways so that he could throw her off, but somehow he seemed to be making things worse. Her iron grip choked him only more. Within seconds he realized that this round was lost. How stupid had he been, already counting money in his mind, where he should have stayed focused. He tapped out and they got up. 1-0 to Louise.

Second round then. Again they started to circle around each other, but now Louise was teasing him.

‘Was that all you had?’ she asked.

‘I wasn’t focused,’ he said.

‘And now you are?’

‘Yes.’

‘Okay, let’s go then.’

This time he didn’t think of anything else than the challenge here on this meadow. Fully awake now he focused on her catlike body and when she moved to her left, he came forward and attacked her. He grabbed her arm and put his left leg behind her. It was a good move and normally his opponent would have been in trouble, but somehow Louise turned away from him, so quickly and smoothly that he lost his balance and then it was over again before he knew it. She got behind him and grabbed his arm as if she were a police officer who was arresting him. She tackled him and as he landed on his belly in the grass she sat on top of him, still pushing his arm up his back. Again he yelled and tapped out before she hurt him even more.

‘You were right,’ she whispered in his ear. ‘You are a wimp.’

She was teasing him, but he felt himself blush and as he spat out some grass that had ended up in his mouth, he got up, feeling humiliated and angry now.

He made another mistake then. When Louise wasn’t paying attention, as she too was getting up, he grabbed her around the waist and tried to throw her down on the grass. It was an unfair and ugly thing to do. In a tournament, it would have meant instant disqualification, but on top of that, it didn’t even work. As surprised as she must have been, she adapted quickly and went along with his move, letting herself fall, but also bringing him down with her. Then they rolled around like children. Grappling and trying to dominate one another.

Soon enough it was clear though that, once again, he didn’t stand a chance. Before he knew it he was on his back, with her sitting on top of him and his arms locked firmly under her knees. Her dark eyes were on fire again, furious with him for ambushing her. With the thumb and index finger of her right hand, she pinched his cheek, as if he were a little boy, and scolded him.

‘Don’t you ever try something like that again, you hear me?’

Really afraid of her now, he nodded and apologized. They stared at each other for some time, the dominant one with fire in her eyes, the beaten one apprehensive and even fearful. Then the moment passed and Louise relaxed.

‘Did you learn your lesson? Will you stop making rude remarks about women?’

He nodded, not just because that’s what she wanted him to do, but also because he finally did get it. He hadn’t stood a chance in hell with her, something that he should have known before getting himself in this mess. Hadn’t she beaten him on the tennis court too? And just like then, there was something very confusing about this experience. A daunting sensation that she could dominate him whenever she wanted to. Something that turned him on just as much as it frightened him. Even though he was completely immobilized now, with her straddling him, it was a delightful feeling to be in her power.

He realized that he didn’t want to stop now and regretted that he had just accepted his defeat. He began to wriggle again and tried to break free. She just looked down on him with a smile on her face. Completely in control, which drove him even crazier. He tried a little harder, but she shook her head and said, ‘No no, I’m not ready to let you go.’

He kept trying though, grunting and wriggling, but he couldn’t get out of her grip. In the meantime, Louise just laughed and teased him.

‘What do you want, Alex? You want more?’

A hot flash of embarrassment went through him. He broke eye contact and looked away to the side, to the tree line in the distance. He didn’t stop wriggling though, not even when he heard her say, ‘Oh, I see. You like it.’

He tried to deny it, shaking his head, but she said, ‘Yes, you do.’

She relaxed her grip then and said, ‘Let’s go then. Let’s wrestle some more.’

She rolled off him and for a few seconds they just lay there, looking at each other. Alex was breathing hard but was hardly aware of it. His thoughts were a mess. It was as if a dense fog had entered his brain. What was going on here? Did he really want this? But then she spurred him on, saying, ‘Come on. What are you waiting for?’

Activated by her voice he got up and jumped on top of her. She let him this time. He grabbed her wrists and kept her arms pinned down on the grass. Thinking that he had her now he expected her to do what he just did: wriggle and try to get out from underneath him. Instead, she said, ‘Oh, I think you’ve got me now. What are you going to do to me, you strong man?’

But she was playing with him, he suspected, and sure enough, before he knew what was happening she wrapped her legs around his waist again, made a move to the left and when he tried to counter that, threw him off to the other side. She didn’t let go of him, but instead started applying pressure with her thighs, while at the same time twisting his right arm at such an angle that it seemed quite possible for her to break it. With his other hand, he tapped out before she could really hurt him. She let go of his arm and relaxed her thighs, but kept them wrapped around his waist.

They stayed like that for a while. He panted like a dog; she was just smiling now. Slowly the fog lifted from his brain, but the confusion stayed. What had just happened? How much of it did she understand? Had she noticed his excitement? Hadn’t she even made a remark about it?

‘I see,’ she had said. ‘You like it.’

Oh, the shame he was feeling now!

Sensing that he had enough for today she suggested they go back home. They got up and only then did he realize that he had an erection. Thank God he was wearing loose pants, but he couldn’t be entirely sure that she hadn’t noticed his hard-on as well. Quickly he turned away from her, already heading in the direction of home. Half an hour later he was in the shower, hoping to God that he could clear his head and leave the shame behind. 

***

The day had only just started though. Things were bound to get much more intense later on, but Alex had no idea about that when he decided to go to Nice in search of some hash. After the humiliation of that morning he felt like he really needed a smoke, but the night before he had used up the last bit of what he had brought from England. Work at the house could wait, he decided, because this was an emergency.

Rob was gone for the day and Louise had said that she was going to Cannes for a meeting in an hour or so. On his way out he ran into her and she asked him where he was going. He made up a story about wanting to go sightseeing in Nice. He even mentioned visiting the Matisse museum. She hardly paid attention though and just asked him to pick up her new shoes. She had already paid for them with her credit card, she said. The red shoes, she meant. The ones they didn’t have in her size last week. The shoes which somehow seemed to have woken up a perverted lust for her.

In Nice he parked the van in a residential area and from there he walked to the city center. On a quiet square in the old town, he found a North African guy who sold him a good piece for a decent price. Happy with this and feeling quite pleased with himself again, knowing that even though he got thrown around by a woman earlier in the day, he could at least find some hash almost anywhere.

He rolled a joint right away and smoked it on the boulevard, sitting on a bench looking out over the Mediterranean. He sat there for a long time, until the strongest waves had passed and he was ready to drive back to Grasse.

Just before he got to the van though he remembered that he needed to pick up Louise’s shoes. He sighed and briefly thought about not bothering, but then remembered how angry she had been with him the night before, so he turned around and walked all the way back to the city center. Fortunately, he found the shop right away. The sales girl had the shoes ready for him in a plastic bag behind the counter, so he was out on the street again in no time.

Back home he rolled another one and smoked it on the terrace of his apartment. Feeling high and thinking about silly things, he didn’t pay any attention to his surroundings, so he only heard the clicking of high heels when Louise was just a few meters away. In a weird kind of panic, he threw the remainder of the joint underneath the table, even though she knew he was a smoker and she would probably notice that he was high anyway.

When he looked up she was standing in front of him. Apparently, she had just got back from her meeting. She was wearing a brown camel coat which she untied as she asked him about his day. Underneath the coat, she wore a cream-colored dress and black high heels. Her legs were bare, he saw, which slightly disappointed him somehow. She did look fantastic though, with her gorgeous dark hair hanging loose on her shoulders and the magnificent bosom proud above him. Suddenly the achievement of having found a dealer in Nice and his cool afternoon there seemed almost futile. Looking up at Louise in her high heels he only remembered this morning and how this beautiful, classy lady had played with him as if he were a doll. He felt his willpower, his strength, seep out of him all over again. 

She sat down in the other chair across the table and asked him how he had liked the Matisse museum. God, he had forgotten all about that little lie. He stammered and said he hadn’t gone there after all.

‘But you did get my shoes, I hope?’

He nodded, painfully aware of how high he was.

‘I smell hash,’ she said. ‘Have you smoked?’

He coughed and stammered.

‘But it smells like something is still burning,’ she said.

He hesitated and gestured at the table.

‘I don’t know why, but you surprised me, so I threw it under the table.’

‘You don’t have an ashtray?’

‘It’s inside.’

She looked at him with that bossy look again that he was getting more and more familiar with.

‘I don’t mind that you smoke,’ she said, ‘but you’re not throwing your waste on the terrace like that, understood?’

‘Sorry,’ he said.

‘Sorry? What good does that do? How about picking it up and throwing it in the bin?’

‘Erm… yes of course. Sorry.’

What an idiot he was sometimes! Quickly he dropped to his knees and reached for the joint that was somewhere down there. The damned thing had rolled away though, so he had to go almost under the table himself to pick it up. Just as he had done that he looked up and saw Louise’s legs from up close. The shock made him drop the joint and now it rolled in the crack between two tiles. Goddamned, he was way too high for this shit! He reached for the joint again while at the same time trying to take in as much of her legs as he possibly could.

That’s when he realized that her legs weren’t bare. She did wear nylons, it was just that they were the color of her skin and seemed to be extremely sheer as well. Quickly his eyes traveled down over her shins to her ankles and pumps. His heart was beating fast now, sending waves of lust through his veins. He couldn’t stay down here forever though, so he picked up the joint and stumbled out from underneath the table.

‘Everything okay?’ Louise asked.

He felt himself blush and tried to explain about how the joint had rolled away, but then realized that he was making things worse and stopped talking. Louise observed him as if he came from another planet. To change the topic he asked her if she wanted to have her new shoes.

They got up and went inside then, where she sat down on the couch and crossed her legs with her nylons making that swishing sound again. It made him feel weak in his knees and stomach and he wondered why. Louise in the meantime was opening the shoe box. She was happy with her purchase, holding one of the pumps in her hand and looking at it from every angle.

‘They were expensive,’ he said.

‘I know. Nice shoes usually are.’

She uncrossed her legs and took off her black pumps. Standing passively at her side he tried not to stare, but seeing her painted toenails underneath the sheer nylon made him want to moan. Her pantyhose was a bit thicker there, he noticed. She wriggled her toes a bit and that too seemed to almost hypnotize him. Louise shot him a look, but then slipped the red pumps on her feet and got up. She walked to the kitchenette and back, turning and looking down at her shoes.

‘I love them,’ she said. ‘What do you think? You still think I shouldn’t wear heels?’

He protested, but his voice sounded hoarse and she said she was just teasing him. Again she walked to the kitchenette, looking at her reflection in the sliding doors to the pool while he stared at her muscular calves for the second time today. Now, in heels and nylons, they looked even more attractive than this morning. On her way back to the sofa she stopped and looked at her legs again. She bent over, having noticed something apparently, and stroked her knee. With her thumbs and index fingers, she then pulled up the nylon of her pantyhose very gently. The gesture made Alex almost moan out loud again, even though he had no idea why.

Happy with her shoes, she told him that she had to go now. Rob was coming home and she wanted to cook for him. Perhaps, she said, they would see each other later, and if not, then tomorrow.

After she had left, Alex felt both high and completely messed up by the desire for her. He desperately tried to regain some control over himself. He texted some friends and chatted to them about nothing special. About life in their village, music, concerts and whatever made him not think about Louise. When it was time for dinner he cooked himself a simple meal and ate it while reading an article about Indians in the Amazon forest. There you go, he thought, that’s what he needed. Back to nature and some distance from all that was happening here. After finishing the article he put on some music. His hero Dylan singing about a girl from the north country and then about a man who got convicted for a murder he didn’t commit.

All in all, he managed to stay busy and not think about Louise too much. At around nine o’clock though he was becoming hungry again. Still feeling a bit high he was in the mood for something sweet, like chocolate, but he discovered that the bar he bought yesterday wasn’t in his fridge. He got it together with groceries for the villa, so he must have accidentally put it in the fridge there. Intent on having chocolate now, he put on his shoes and walked over to the big house. The chocolate was nowhere to be found though. That awful Rob must have eaten it, he suspected.

Alex was about to go back to his apartment when he heard Louise’s phone ring. He recognized the ringtone. He looked at the screen and saw that it was Monique, the woman he met the other day. Not really knowing why, he did what he would normally never do: he picked up the phone and answered it.

Monique seemed surprised at first, but then relieved that at least someone had picked up. He said that he didn’t know where Louise was, but that she couldn’t be far. Monique asked her to please go find her, because it concerned the possible sale of a painting that she would definitely want to know about.

With the phone at his ear, Alex first checked the therapy room, but the door was open and she wasn’t there. Chatting to Monique about the weather he then went into the hallway that led to the master bedroom, not really expecting anyone there either, as it was still early of course. The door to the bedroom was closed though and it sounded like he heard voices.

He was just about to knock when he realized what it was that he was hearing: Louise and Rob were having sex. It was such a shock to his system that he forgot about Monique right away. The sound of the bed creaking, Louise moaning with pleasure--it was just too much. He leaned against the wall, then slid down to the floor, not even aware of pressing the button that disconnected the call.

He heard Rob too then, but immediately tried to filter him out. Focus on Louise, he thought. It didn’t even cross his mind to be decent and walk away. The day’s events had been too intense for that. The lust he felt for her had spun out of control and what he was hearing now sealed his fate.

The creaking of the bed became louder, Louise’s pleasure apparently getting bigger. Her soft moans entered his head and then his entire system and when it sounded like she was coming he came with her. Without even touching himself, he shot his load in his pants.

It was then that the phone rang again. He reached for it quickly, fumbled with it and pressed the red button before it could ring a fourth time. Quickly he got to his feet, while he heard Rob ask Louise if that was her phone that he had just heard.

He sneaked back to the living room and put the phone on the table where he had found it. Then he hurried to his apartment, overwhelmed by shame and with a wet and sticky feeling in his groin. This whole situation had just turned into an embarrassment of nightmarish proportions.

TO BE CONTINUED...