He reaches over in the darkness hoping to find a warm body next to him. He smiles as he wraps his arm around her and pulls her close. Burying his face in her hair he asks, “you awake?”

“Yeah…just got here…did I wake you?”

“Not sure, but I hope so. I enjoy waking to find you here.”

She rolls over to face him and he see the tears in her eyes.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, I just want you to hold me. Is that okay?”

“As you wish,” he says with a smile. Taking her in his arms, he rolls to his back as she lay on his chest. His fingertips graze her back gently.

Holding him tightly she speaks his name….”Jake?”

“Yes Maddi….”

“Tell me a story?”

“I’d love to.”

"Once upon a time…there was a little boy and a little girl. The little girl moved when she was eight and found herself in a small town in the middle of nowhere. In time she made friends, but one in particular seemed to stick. Mary Ann's mother had developed a friendship with the mother of a boy in her class. As a result, they would see each other often and without effort their friendship grew.

This boy named Joshua and his new friend Mary Ann became very close.

They would talk on the phone for hours, spend recess together and they both enjoyed their friendship. The ability to be open and honest seemed so natural. Then came the fateful day….high school, something they couldn’t explain and didn’t really give a second thought about happened, they grew apart. She made her new friends and he made his, their paths drifted apart and they both considered it part of growing up.

Over the years, whenever they happened to run into each other, they spoke and reminisced and felt good for a while.

As their lives moved on and became complicated they saw less and less of each other. However, their mothers remained close and shared many stories about the lives of their children.

It soon became clear that they were both in relationships that were eating them alive and as mothers sometimes do, they shared pieces of things with their respective children. An odd thing happened to the little boy. He became sad that his childhood friend was unhappy and memories of their past flooded his mind and he waited to run to her, take her in his arms and make it all better,but yet…he didn’t."

At this point Jake stopped in his narration to ask “You still awake…?”

“I am, this is a fascinating story…reminds me of someone…please keep going.”

"One night, both the girl and the boy happened to be in the same place at the same time, a very public place…with games and rides and people everywhere. If anyone would have heard their conversation, they would have been amazed. They spoke candidly of their current situations and commiserated with one another on how things had gone so wrong. Loveless marriages and empty dreams. It was as if time had stood still. Their level of comfort with one another had been as if they were only apart for a few days rather than the years that had flown past.

They decided then and there to help one another in any way they could, emails, phone calls and the occasional coffee or other type of drink.

For a year, they had made an attempt at staying connected, sharing pieces of their lives in spurts.

They both knew that they were doing nothing wrong but yet there was a connection, acceptance, shared misery or just a level of contentment of being able to be real. Speak their mind unguarded and happy.

In time they began to drift again. Her self inflicted work schedule and his constant travel caused the bonds of friendship to be stretched…

They still made attempts to connect, but life seemed to get in the way.

One Friday afternoon he stopped in where she worked. The welcoming hug they shared was intense. They spent a rushed few minutes discussing various things and parted promising to find a time to get together.

The following morning he awoke to find a note in his inbox, “Where are you when I need you….”

This caused him to pause. What did this mean? Had she needed help, had she needed a “different” kind of help?

He thought he recalled she was home alone that night and checking the time stamp he saw that it was very late when she sent it. He made a guess as to what she meant. He responded, “Just waiting for you to ask…”

These two little lines seemed to open an entirely new area, an unknown. Could they? Would they?

He assumed she has known since the beginning that he was physically attracted to her…he had always repressed it based on his thoughts that she never viewed him that way but yet her words are impossible to misinterpret. The End."

“The End? Are you fucking kidding me? What kind of ending is that for a story,” Maddi screams as she hits him on the chest.

“Well, I noticed you were getting sleepy and didn’t want to bore you.”

“Bored is not what I was. I need to know what happens…do they get together, do they fall in love, do they remain in their miserable relationships and just find comfort when they can? What is going through their minds? Are they crazy?

Jake speaks portions of sentences between kisses, starting at her neck, “It seems…” kissing slightly lower, “that their desire to touch one another,” his lips find her navel, “increased as they allowed,” lowering his lips to her hip bone, “their minds to wander,” as he gently kisses her inner thigh.

His beard tickles her leg and she moves it to escape his light touches, although in moving it she is opening her thighs.

His warm breath on her lips feels amazing.

His hands wrap around her waist as he pulls her towards him.

His tongue finding her wet with anticipation.

Slowly he begins to explore, feeling her body respond to his touch.

Her deep breathing …her tensed muscles…the gasps escaping from her throat.

His tongue traces circles around her clit as he explores her folds with his fingers.

Her hips thrust…her hands in his hair…pulling him into her…he feels her body tense…she finds the long awaited release…she collapses back into the pillow and looks down at him as he lay between her thighs.

“So how did their story end?”

Looking up he answers, “I have no idea…but this is how it started…."