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Tim was slightly surprised that post-date Mary Ann was actually a little colder to him when she was bartending at the Goose. A few times, she was even downright mean.
“I think he looks like a porcupine,” she’d said, referring to Tim’s new haircut.
“At least you are not a weirdo like Tim,” was another comment Mary Ann made while she was attempting to help the young busboy ask a girl out. Sure, it was sweet for Mary Ann to help the kid, but why do it at Tim’s expense?
On the other hand, Mary Ann would purposely pinch him or grab a piece of Tim’s anatomy when she felt that no one was looking. So, Tim figured he could tolerate Mary Ann’s put-downs for the time being.
Tim was also close to giving up on stem cell treatments. After all, he wasn’t suffering from any of the major conditions stem cells could treat, and all he really wanted in the first place was dental implants to replace his failing teeth. This probably would have ended it, if not for the persistent emails from the CBSCRC. Tim had been sent a questionnaire, the type one might fill out when applying for a job at a large corporation. Tim was familiar with these types of tests and knew it was a process of asking the same question several different ways. The purpose was to determine the applicant’s characteristics, like if the applicant was a team player who got along with others. But why would the CBSCRC even care about anything like that?
Soon afterwards, Tim began to get emails from the CBSCRC. “Please contact us at the following number” one email read in the subject line. Another said, “We can help you live longer,” and still another read, “We will save your life!”
This was the one that got Tim’s attention. “What do these guys know about my life?” Tim thought to himself.
Each email included a phone number that Tim should call. Tim finally decided to do this, if only to find out what the CBSCRC really wanted.
The person who answered the phone sounded like a receptionist. After Tim identified himself, he was put on hold for what seemed like an eternity. He was close to hanging up when a man with a southern accent picked up. “Mr. Hall? This is Dr. Richard Justice speaking. How are you today, sir?”
Tim was somewhat taken back by Dr. Justice’s familiarity. “Ah, fine, doctor. And you?” he managed.
“I am fine, sir. It’s always a fine day here in lovely Santo Domingo, and I am very much hoping that you will be joining us soon.”
Tim was once again taken aback by the doctor’s enthusiasm. “Well, sir...” Tim could hear the nervousness in his own voice. “Well, that’s just it. I mean, I’m not sure why I’m coming down. I mean, I only really wanted some dental implants.”
Dr. Justice cut Tim off. “Dental implants, Mr. Hall? I am offering you another 80 years of life, and you’re talking about dental implants?”
Dr. Justice went on to explain the advanced algorithm that had been used to cull Tim from the thousands of applicants who’d applied to the CBSCRC program. The use of the term “advanced algorithm” impressed Tim, since he was a big believer in computer science. Humans had natural biases, after all, and although some computer programmers included their biases in their programing, Tim trusted computers a lot more.
After getting off the phone, he began to research stem cells again. Tim was still researching and making notes when the buzzer in his condo sounded. He glanced at his watch to see that it was 11:30 at night. Usually, any ringing at this time of night would just be some homeless person wandering the streets. He stood and made his way to the intercom, then pushed a button and said, “May I help you?
“Hey, let me the hell up. I’m freezing my butt off”, came the unmistakable voice of his maybe-girlfriend, Mary Ann Layback.
Tim looked around to see if there was anything lying about that Mary Ann could use to make fun of him, but the three knocks on his door came quicker than he expected.
Tim opened the door, and there she was. Black jeans, black sweater, black leather jacket, and a black watch cap on her head. She carried two bottles of wine.
“For what do I owe the pleasure—” Tim started to ask.
He didn’t get the rest of his sentence out before Mary Ann had placed the two wine bottles on the table and began to kiss him. Mary Ann soon had her hat, jacket, and sweater off and began to pull off Tim’s sweatshirt as well.
“Do you have a place where you want to do this, or shall we just do it right here on your carpet?” Mary Ann looked at the floor as she said this.
Tim motioned to the bedroom.
Tim had a large double bed with no head or foot boards. Once they reached the bedroom, Mary Ann playfully pushed Tim onto the bed and began to remove her jeans. Tim was not sure if he should help remove any of Mary Ann’s clothing, since she appeared to be performing a somewhat modified striptease. Mary Ann’s pants were now off, revealing that she was wearing a tiny black thong. She reached behind her back and undid her bra, which she threw at Tim.
Mary Ann then pulled Tim’s sweatpants off, got down to her knees, and began to go down on him. Tim just about lost it at that point, but he held off until Mary Ann got on top of him and managed to turn around, so her ass was facing his chest. She began to move her hips up and down and around. She raised up and took Tim’s penis in her hand and placed it close to her ass, but then reinserted it in her vagina. When she began to repeat the move, Tim could no longer hold on and found himself ejaculating all over the place.
Mary Ann was now lying on top of Tim, who was sweating. Mary Ann blew on Tim’s forehead to cool him off. No woman had done that to him for years, Tim thought to himself.
Mary Ann got off and went into Tim’s bathroom, coming back with a warm washcloth that she used to clean Tim’s genitals. After that, she laid back down next to Tim, who turned and kissed her.
“Hey, Mary Ann,” Tim said as he placed his hand on her cheek.
“Hey, Tim,” Mary Ann answered softly.
The two fell asleep in each other’s arms.
Tim and Mary Ann both woke up at 7 a.m. and made love again. This time, it was in a more traditional way, with Tim on top. Tim seemed to orgasm at about the same time as Mary Ann. He usually couldn’t tell if a woman did or did not orgasm, but he no longer worried about it.
He was in the kitchen making scrambled eggs when Mary Ann asked if she could check her email. He told her sure, not wondering why Mary Ann didn’t just check her email on her phone.
Mary Ann was now standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She was wearing one of Tim’s suit shirts, which just about covered her privates. “So, are you going to go to this stem cell place?” she wondered. “They sound like they really want you to come down there.”
Tim had forgotten that he had left his email open with all of the information about stem cells and the CBSCRC.
“Is this something you will be making fun of me for doing in front of everyone at the Goose?” he wondered. He really wanted to address the subject of Mary Ann acting mean towards him.
“Hey, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings,” Mary Ann said defensively, “but a couple of the guys already suspected that we went out, and I just can’t have those clowns know we’re lovers. You won’t be able to come in there anymore because they’ll all accuse me of giving you preferential treatment, and I just don’t need to hear some ‘your boyfriend this, your boyfriend that’ kind of thing.”
Tim felt that Mary Ann was making way too big of a deal about the entire subject and could also see how upset the conversation was making her. He placed three strips of bacon next to her eggs and put the plate on the table, then kissed Mary Ann on her forehead.
“Is that what we are now,” Tim asked, “lovers?”
Mary Ann kissed him back, on the lips this time. “Well, I guess—but it all depends on how good your eggs are.”
Tim and Mary Ann sat and ate in silence after that until she returned to the subject of stem cells. “You didn’t answer my question about if you’re going to this place in the Dominican Republic.”
“I don’t know, Mary Ann. I mean, it sounds interesting, and I sure don’t have anything better to do.” Tim took a long pause, then added, “I used to have a life, and it was not as a clerk for the Social Security Administration—but I can’t really tell you about any of that.”
“Because you were some kind of top-secret spy?” Mary Ann remarked somewhat sarcastically
Tim wished again that he had never told anyone that he had worked for the CIA. The only reason he had mentioned it in the first place was to settle an argument someone was having at the Blue Goose. Tim simply mentioned that he had worked at the CIA and everyone in the bar that night stopped talking and starred at him.
“Hey look, James Bond is in the room” someone said with a laugh and he had not been able to live down his statement since. This was an old, former Polish neighborhood of West Baltimore and everyone was thought to be a “bull shit artist”. Why would any CIA type spies live there they wondered, and the patrons of the Blue Goose had a point? Even Tim was not sure why he was living there.
“Well yes, that is part of it” Tim confessed to Mary Ann “But since the accident, there are some very large gaps in my memory, and no one will fill them in for me.”
“OK, cool down, cowboy.” Mary Ann reached over to hold Tim’s hand.
“I’m sorry, Mary Ann, but I just seem to live from one day to the next, and it’s becoming exhausting.” Tim took Mary Ann’s other hand in his own. “You are the best thing that’s happened to me in years, but it’s not fair for me to make any of this your problem.”
“So, what are you going to do, Tim?”
Getting lost in the deep brown of Mary Ann’s eyes, Tim leaned over to kiss her again. “I don’t know, but I’ll keep you in the loop.”
They both laughed at that and started to make love once again. Tim fell back to sleep afterwards, but he woke as Mary Ann was getting dressed to leave.
“I’ve got to go and open up the Goose. I’m already late,” Mary Ann explained. She kissed Tim on his forehead.
“Maybe see you later?” Tim asked.
“Maybe. You’ll just have to wait and find out,” Mary Ann replied. With that, she turned to the door and was gone.
After Mary Ann had left, Tim got up and walked to his computer. He opened his emails with the CBSCRC and started a new one.
“Hi, I am interested in receiving treatments with stem cells,” he wrote. “I am available any time. Please email the details so I can make travel arrangements. Regards, Timothy Hall.”
Tim sent the email and went back to bed, thinking about his night with Mary Ann.