The Libertine of Anacortes

THE LIBERTINE OF ANACORTES - Chapter Two

“Are you from Germany, Friedrich?” I asked.

“No, I was born in the US but I lived for many years in Germany,” he replied.

I sipped my champagne and listened as he chatted about his work in Germany and about the family he left behind there after his divorce.

“That must have been difficult for you,” I said sympathetically.

Friedrich shrugged.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “You don’t have to tell me anything more. I understand.”

“No, it’s OK,” Friedrich replied. “I actually now feel liberated; like I’ve been reborn.”

I smiled at his positive attitude.

“That’s what I need!” The words sprang unintentionally from my mouth.

“You do? What do you need to be liberated from, Ingrid?”

I thought of my husband but instead replied ruefully, “Everything…”

“You can tell me, Ingrid. I am a good listener,” Friedrich said.

His eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses but I didn’t need to see them; I believed him and there didn’t seem to be any harm in telling him everything.

“My husband has become very distant in every meaning of the word,” I said. “Throughout our marriage he frequently was physically distant; as an army wife you get used to that. But it’s the emotional distance I’ve sensed for quite a while now that makes me think the marriage ended long ago and simply neither of us has thought to tell the other.”

I told Friedrich all the facts about my marriage. He then gently probed me for details that were more intimate.

“You have to stop thinking of him and make your own needs a priority,” Friedrich ultimately said in an assessment of what I disclosed.

“What I need is another drink!” I laughed wryly to agree with his statement and to end the seriousness that had befallen the conversation.

Friedrich laughed and handed me his empty glass.

When I returned I caught Friedrich’s eye on me. He gave me a look that I recognized; a barely disguised lustful look. It made me feel self-conscious about my body and how little of it was covered by my bikini. I tried to put it from my mind when I bent over in front of him to hand him his glass. He peered over the rims of his sunglasses and I could tell he had his eyes on my breasts.

“There you are, Sir,” I said to distract his attention.

“Thank you, Ingrid,” he smiled. “You know, it’s a real pleasure for me to be served by such a sexy young woman like you.”

I blushed slightly. “I’m not as young as you think,” I said to avoid a response to his sexy comment.

“It doesn’t matter,” Friedrich said. “You’re still very sexy!”

I squirmed uncomfortably in the seat beside Friedrich.

“No I’m not. My boobs are too small,” I said and cupped one in my hand to prove the point and then stood, turned my back to him and said, “And my butt is too big!”

“Nonsense, Ingrid. You have all the looks any man would go crazy about!”

There was now no doubt in my mind that Friedrich truly did believe every word he said about me and that his interests in me were far more sexual than platonic. Strangely, that thought didn’t bother me but still I questioned it; just to hear him tell me again.

“No I don’t,” I said. “I’m old and fat and can’t possibly compete with all the glamorous young things out there.”

“Ingrid, if you really want the liberation we talked about before, you really have to be positive about everything; and that includes your looks.” Friedrich paused for a moment and then added, “You know what it is?”

“No; what?”

“It’s simple insecurity,” Friedrich said.

The slight hint of a German accent in the context of his psycho-analysis of me almost made me laugh out loud. “It is?” I asked but I knew he was completely correct.

“I can help you, if you want?” Friedrich said.

“Help me do what?” I was intrigued by his statement.

“I can help to liberate you; to reveal the real Ingrid! You said you wanted liberation, remember?”

“Yes, I replied but before I could ask how he intended to do that he interrupted.

“Good. Here’s all you have to do.”

I looked directly at him. “Put your drink down and stand up again,” Friedrich said. “Now, take off your bikini top.”

I blinked. “You don’t want to liberate me; you just want to see my tits!” I laughed.

“That’s the spirit! Seriously now, take off your top. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. I’m sixty-seven years old; do you think I’ve never seen bare breasts before?”

The smile on my face remained frozen to conceal my inner turmoil. I glanced around.

“It’s OK. There nobody else to see you,” Friedrich said.

Just you! A voice in my head spoke. I reached behind my back and felt for the Lycra strings of the bikini top. The bows tied by them slowly unraveled and then fell loosely away.

Friedrich sat relaxed with his arms draped over the backs of the seats; one knee crossed casually over the other.

“Here,” he said after I removed my bikini top. “I’ll look after it for you.”

I held the flimsy garment pinched between my thumb and forefinger at the end of an outstretched arm; my other arm used to modestly cover my bare breasts.

Friedrich rolled the Lycra into a tiny ball and slipped it into the pocket of his Bermuda shorts. “That feels better, doesn’t it?”

I blushed and smiled a doubtful smile.

“I’m ready for another drink.” Friedrich held up his empty glass and then reached for mine. “Get yourself another one also.”

I uncovered my breasts to take the two glasses from him. Mine was still half full but I gulped it empty in one, large mouthful. I then quickly scurried back down below deck to the galley.

When I opened the fridge door the gush of cold air from it made me conscious of just how hot and flushed my face was. I glanced down at my bare breasts and saw that my nipples were also tensely erect; unmistakable evidence of the aroused state that gripped my senses. Once the glasses were replenished, I climbed carefully back up the steep stairs to the deck. My concentration was so fixed on the avoidance of any spillage that I didn’t notice that Friedrich wasn’t where I expected him to be until I’d taken several steps across the deck.

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