Robert Thompson closed his book and shifted deeper into the covers as he waited for his wife. He could hear Susan humming softy as she moved around the bathroom. She's probably brushing her hair, he thought. Brushing her hair, the phrase brought back a flood of memories. He recalled the first time he saw her, standing in line for freshman orientation at Northwestern University. She was talking to her best friend, Monica. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail and it swayed back and forth when she talked. She was beautiful and he could tell be the way she was dressed that she came from money-very old money. Just as he was about to look away, she turned and noticed him. Her smile melted his heart and at that very moment in time, September 13, 1958, Robert Thompson lost his heart to Susan Miller.
It took him three weeks to get up the courage to ask her out. Their first date was to a university football game. The weather was chilly. At some point during the third quarter, she scooted up next to him because she was cold. He wrapped his arms around her and when she pressed her body against him, Robert knew she was his. They dated for two years before he asked Susan to marry him. They were both twenty and still in school. He was Pre-Med and she was Ancient Studies. She helped him study Latin. The following year, they graduated. Robert went to medical school and Susan went to work until she became pregnant with the girls. Those were happy times. He still loved her as deeply now as he did then.
Robert reached to unfold the thick down comforter that adorned the foot of their rice bed. There was a fire burning the fireplace across the room but the room seemed a bit chilly. He wanted his Susan; she always knew how to warm him up. As he touched the mute button on the remote, the television in front of him when silent. He removed his watch and placed it on the bedside table. "Honey?" he called out toward the open bathroom door.
"Be right there, Darling." Susan responded.
Robert reached for the lamp as Susan closed the bathroom door. She was wearing a new nightgown, not a revealing one but one that accentuated her soft curves. The white gown was low on her shoulders and the front was gathered with a dainty silk ribbon that Susan had tied into a bow. The gown clung to her as she walked. God she's beautiful. She was rubbing lotion into her hands as she crossed the room and crawled into bed beside her husband. He opened his arms and she moved into them feeling the warmth of his body as soon as it touched hers.
"Hmm...you smell good." He said as he kissed her neck.
Susan smiled. After nearly 40 years of marriage, he still belonged to her. He had been the boy that all the girls drooled over. Tall and handsome, he oozed the kind of self-confidence that most men of his age could only dream of having. Her father had been hard on Robert, never believing that he was good enough for his only child. Robert swore when their own daughters were born that he'd never be that way toward the men his daughters married. She thought it ironic that when Helena married Lee, Robert became exactly like her father.
Susan rolled over to face Robert and gently kissed him. She loved him with every fiber in her body despite some of the things he'd said and done over the last 40 years. A chill went through her body as the memory of his infidelity crossed her mind. Susan had was surprised to find he had succombed to the charms of a younger woman. They had always been so happy together. There seemed to be no warning signs. She overcame her initial fury, decided quickly that Robert was worth keeping, and confronted his young assistant. It took very little effort to 'convince' the young woman there were 'greener' pastures away from him. She quickly orchestrated the girl's departure, then confronted Robert. He didn't try to lie to her, instead he admitted his mistake and awaited her decision. He was definitely worth keeping. Robert never knew that Susan paid Debra to leave. Susan wasn't proud of it but she wasn't about to let some other woman take him from her. And now almost 20 years later, she still thought it was the best $25,000 she'd ever spent.
Robert's gentle touch brought her back to the present. He was murmuring in her ear as his hand crept slowly over her breasts to the silk bow in the middle of her gown. She felt the bow slip from its knot as the front of her gown opened. Robert gently moved the soft material back to expose his wife's breasts. His lips moved from her shoulders downward and Susan cupped his head with her arm, allowing her nails to move up his neck and through his hair. "Oh, Robby," she whispered as his lips found her nipples. She held him tighter as he gently loved her. Robby, she had called him that when he was younger-much younger. Now she only used it when they were in very intimate situations. It was her name for him and no one else had ever called him that.
"You are so beautiful." He said as he pushed the gown completely off her shoulders. The fire cast a soft light around and room and he looked deeply into her eyes. He could be a bear a times, some people considered him to be a hard ass but when he was with her, he wasn't either. He was entirely devoted to her now. There had been no more indiscretions. He moved up and pressed his lips against her and she reached to unbutton the top of his blue pajamas.
Brrring
Brrring.
Both Thompson's exhaled deeply. Susan favored her husband with a smile then disengaged herself as she reached for the telephone.
"Hello" Susan said breathlessly.
"Mom? Are you okay? You sound out of breath."
Susan sat up quickly and turned on the light. "Missy. No, I'm fine." She heard Robert fall back on the pillows and sigh, completely frustrated.
"So how are things going?"
'Fine, Sweetheart. Where are you? Istanbul? Paris? Alaska?"
Melissa laughed, "No, I'm not in any of those places. I'm at home."
"I see." Susan relaxed against the pillow and reached over and found Robert's hand. He stroked her hand gently, lovingly. She gave him with a smile--the one reserved only for him. "Why are you calling, Dear?"
Missy pulled the receiver away from her ear and stared at it. Her mother was always willing to listen and it almost sounded like she was trying to get her off the phone. What was that? A sigh? From her mother!
"Well, Alan received an email from John. He's with Cake in London."
"Yes."
Mel again looked at the phone. What no twenty questions? Another sigh?
"Missy?" Susan voice held a little impatience as she called her daughter.
"Sorry Mom," Melissa said, still a bit confused. "John is giving Cake plane tickets to Houston for New Years. I've made all the arrangements. He wants to know if you and dad would like to join the four of us for brunch on New Year's day."
Susan looked over at Robert and covered the receiver with her hand. Melissa could only hear bits their muffled conversation.
"Okay, Missy. Dad said to make our reservations. Anything else?"
Anything else? Is this my mother? No are you bringing Alan, Missy? What the hell is going on here. "Okay...Mom is everything okay there?" Melissa thought she heard her mother giggle. Giggle?
"Yes, Darling. Why do you ask?" Susan moved closer to Robert and began to trace random patterns on his chest.
"I don't know. You seem kind of rushed."
"Well, it is late. And frankly, I'm ready to go to bed." She winked at Robert who responded with a big smile. "And so is Dad. We're not a young as we used to be. We need out rest."
"Sorry Mom..."
"No need to apologize Sweetheart, I'll call you in the morning. Okay?"
"Okay. Tell Dad I said hello."
"I will...Goodnight Sweetheart."
"Goodnight." Melissa hung up the phone and looked over at Alan. "That was odd."
"What?"
"I swear my mother was trying to get me off the phone. I think I heard her sigh a few times. You don't think daddy's hurting her do you? She didn't even say Merry Christmas!"
Alan laughed as he pulled Mel toward him. "Sound like you parents were about to do what we've been doing, Love."
Melissa bolted upright and covered her mouth with her hand, "Don't make me sick, Alan. She wouldn't do that with him."
Alan only laughed. Guessing that the thought of her parents having making love was pretty sickening for their daughter.
Across the country, Susan hung up the phone and turned off the light. As she snuggled back into Robert's arms she was chuckling and so was he.
"She was always the one that interrupted us." He chuckled. "Her timing has always been bad. At least Helena always calls when we're finished."
"I know it's like they have some device that goes off whenever we decided to..." Robert's kiss stopped her in mid sentence.
When they parted she looked up at him seductively then snaked her arms around his neck. "Know what?"
"What?"
"I don't want to talk about the children anymore."
"Me either."
"Merry Christmas, Darling." Susan whispered as she gently kissed her husband.
Forty years of loving the same man is wonderful, she thought as she lay in his arms. She hoped her daughters would be as lucky in love as she was.
Maureen J. Long
February, 2000
