At the time I worked as a manager for an accounting firm and my husband, Mark, had a good job at a hedge fund in the city. We had been married for twenty-five years and we still loved each other and made love several times a week.
He had asked me on a date my first week at college and that was it, I was deeply in love and so was he. It was a perfect match and as soon as we graduated we married and the kids followed the second and fourth year.
I was about to go inside for a glass of water when I heard Mark’s car and looked up. He parked outside the garage.
“Hi, honey. How did it go?” I said and took off the gloves I was wearing.
Mark walked around the car and opened the trunk. After giving me a peck on the cheek he said, “Fine, I got everything.”
The inside of the trunk was filled with bags from the grocery store. The following day was our annual BBQ where we invited the neighbors for food and drink in our back garden.
I helped him with the bags and when everything was standing on the kitchen floor I finally got my water. While I drank it Mark came up behind me and put his arms around me, fondling my boobs through the grimy T-shirt I was wearing.
“Wanna have some fun?” he whispered in my ear.
I put down the glass and reached for his chin. “Sure, why not, the kids aren’t around.”
He swung me around and lifted me up and then carried me to the living room where he dropped me on the couch. He began to pull down his shorts and I did the same. His tanned body was strong for a man over fifty and I was proud of my own at forty-five. Hours on the treadmill and at the gym had given me a body most women my age could only wish for.
When his briefs dropped I reached for his cock which was already hard.
“Come here, you,” I whispered and pulled him closer using his shaft.
I loved sucking him and he enjoyed it even more. I have always considered myself a good cock sucker because I take my time and actually enjoy it. The best part, of course, is when he comes. But today I didn’t want to suck that long, I wanted him inside me.
When he began to moan I lay down on the couch and indicated what I wanted.
“That fast?” he said.
“Yeah, I need to get back to the rose bushes.”
He laughed. “Talking about bushes, you had a haircut.”
I ran my fingers over my shaved pussy and smiled up at him. “Yes, I did.”
He lay on top of me and with some wiggling and adjustments his cock entered me and I sighed with pleasure. He knew exactly how to do it, not too fast and not to slow. Within minutes my nails dug into the skin of his back.
“Oh, yes, so good, it is so good,” I moaned in his ear.
With a few more thrusts he made me come and he soon followed emptying himself deep inside me. I must have been hornier than I thought because I usually didn’t come that fast.
We held each other for a while and then he kissed my cheek. “I love you, Carol,” he said before sliding off me.
Looking up at him I said, “I think I better take a shower.”
Hoping I wouldn’t drip cum along the way I rushed up to the bathroom where after a quick shower I dressed in clean shorts and a new T-shirt.
Mark must have used the guest bathroom because he was already in the kitchen putting the groceries away.
When he saw me he said, “Did I mention we have new neighbors?”
“No, you didn’t, who are they?”
“I don’t know their names but they moved into the house where the Maddison family used to live.”
“Maybe we should invite them?”
He looked up from what he was doing and said, “I thought the same. I’ll pop over when we have this straightened out.”
******
When Mark had left I began preparing lunch, deciding to leave the roses for later. I am a very organized person and I seldom let my husband into the kitchen. I like to keep things where they are supposed to be and I am the same at work. Mark is similar to me, but he tends to be a bit messy at home. One thing we do have in common is that we are not sporadic. We like to plan everything we do which drives our kids crazy. They always complain about our lack of being spontaneous. A trip to the movies is planned a week before, holidays a year and even something so simple as making lunch I planned a day before. I guess I don’t like surprises.
Mark walked into the kitchen just as I was placing the plates on the table. I had made a lobster salad with freshly baked bread.
“They are coming,” he said and washed his hands in the sink.
When we were seated I asked. “What are they like?”
A smile grew on his lips. “Different.”
“What do you mean different?”
He broke off a piece of bread and slowly chewed it, I was dying of curiosity.
When he had finished he said, “first off, they are wealthy, an Aston Martin and a Maserati were parked outside. His name is Larry and I peg him to be about our age and his wife,” he laughed and then continued, “she is a lot younger.”
“There is nothing wrong with having a younger wife, look at Dan and Helen down the street, they are at least fifteen years apart.”
“Sure, but Nicole, that Larry’s wife, she is more like twenty-five years younger.”
“Oh, I see. What else?”
“He has tattoos, and so does she. Both smoke and when I went over there they both had a beer.”
“C’mon, you can’t judge people because they like body art, smoke, and drink during the day.”
Mark had finished his salad and added more from the bowl that stood between us. “I guess you are right. In any case, it will be fun to see the reaction of the others when they show up.”
Most the people that live in our patch of suburbia are upper middle class, bankers, lawyers and such. Their kids are in college and they have time to spend with each other. Some are on their second and even third marriage. I would call them reserved on the point of being uptight. They are not bad people but the kind who don’t like changes in their daily lives.
After lunch, we took coffee in the garden and I read my book while Mark did a few crossword puzzles. He loved that stuff and could spend hours absorbed in them.
It was a nice afternoon and when the sun went down we went inside for dinner and then watched TV until ten when we went to bed, just a normal day in suburbia.
******
Sunday morning I was up before the sun and was hard at work in the kitchen when Mark came down around nine.
“You are up early?” he said and patted my ass.
“Yes, I am trying a few new sauces for the barbecue and thought it was best to take my time.”
He grabbed a mug and poured himself a coffee and then made two toasts with strawberry jam. Sitting at the kitchen table he said, “Any chance of some morning sex?”
I turned from the stove and opened my kimono he had bought me in Japan a few years earlier. It was black with a large red dragon on the left side. I loved how the silk felt against my skin. Under it I wore nothing.
His eyes were drawn to my shaved pussy and he actually licked his lips. Then his gaze moved up to my boobs he had bought me for my fortieth. I was a natural B cup but after breast feeding two children it had left me a bit saggy which was taken care of by the doctor. Now I had perfect C cups with large nipples Mark loved to suck on.
He got up and pulled his cock out from his pajamas pants. By the time he lifted me up on the sink he was rock hard and when I wrapped my legs around his waist he pushed himself deep inside me.
“It’s going to be a long day,” he moaned in my ear while thrusting in and out.
“Yes, it will,” I managed to say between gasps.
I loved the way he would take me all over the house, and not only in our bed. It made our sex life so much more fun.
I reached down and fondled his balls and then gently massaged them. What he really loved was when I used my nails on the sensitive skin.
“Oh, God, woman, you are making me come too early.”
“Sorry, but I have to get back to the food preparation.”
With a couple of hard thrusts, he emptied inside me and then pulled out. A strand of cum hung under his cock and I wiped it off with my index finger which I then placed in my mouth.
“You dirty girl, I love it,” he said and smiled.
“You taste good, you know.”
Mark laughed and walked up to our bedroom. I went to the guest bathroom and cleaned myself before returning to the kitchen. I didn’t care that I hadn’t come, sometimes I do sometimes don’t. It’s just the way I am.
******
At three o’clock the first guests arrived, Mark was at the BBQ and our next door neighbor, Jim, was at the bar. He did it every year and was usually drunk by six in the afternoon.
I did the meet and greet at the door and was talking to Clair and Harry when I saw the new couple walk up the driveway. I excused myself and walked down to meet them.
I had taken three steps when I stopped and stared at the man in front of me. He hadn’t changed a bit over the thirty years that I hadn’t seen him. Sure, he had a few wrinkles and his hair had gray streaks in it. But the dark blue eyes and the strong nose together with a square jaw was the same. When he turned to his wife I saw the tattoo that ran up his neck.
He put out his hand. “Hi, I’m Larry and this is my wife, Nicole.”
He didn’t recognize me I realized. I swallowed and then cleared my throat. “Hi, welcome, please come in. The food and drink are at the back, make yourselves at home.”
When I was alone I quickly walked over to the garden shed where I opened the door and walked in closing it behind me.
I stood there in the dark breathing hard trying to relax. What were the odds that Larry would move in two houses away from me, I wondered? Not only that, the town where we grew up was over a thousand miles away. The chance of winning a jackpot on a slot machine was bigger than us meeting like this.
******
I met Larry when I was sixteen years old. Being a dorky kid with braces I didn’t have many friends. He was the new guy in school and drove a Trans Am. Larry wore a black leather jacket, blue jeans and smoked. I was in the book club, music club and physics club. He raced his car on Friday nights and drank beer with the other guys. The girls were all in love with him and would follow him around like little ducklings.
Then one spring evening when I was walking back home from the library I heard his car. I turned and it came to a stop right behind me.
My heart threatened to jump out of its cavity and burst through my chest when I saw him get out.
“Hi, you are Carol, right?” he said with a cigarette between his lip.
“Yes,” I managed to say.
“Cool, get in.”
I was frozen, couldn’t move, and couldn’t breathe. I slowly shook my head.
“C’mon, I don’t bite, it’s just a ride.” His dark blue eyes were kind and he did look so hot in his black T-shirt and jeans. The jacket must be in the car, I thought.
“Sorry, but my parents wouldn’t be happy.”
He dragged his fingers through his thick black hair and said, “Okay, maybe next time?”
I didn’t answer and when he drove away I looked after him and actually swore out loud for being such a wimp.
School ended and summer break began. I spent most of my days at home watching TV or going over to one of my few friends’ house. I saw Larry around town but each time I would hide in a shop or anywhere else he wouldn’t see me. I wasn’t scared of him I was more worried how I would react if he actually spoke to me again.
I had discovered sex that May, well I didn’t discover it, but I had my first orgasm while rubbing my clit in bed one morning. It wasn’t the first time I had done it but it was the first time I did it until I came. When it was over I had a big grin on my face and knew that I wanted cock. I might have been dorky and dress funny, but my body was like any other teenagers, begging for sex.
The more I played with myself the worse it got. I would dream about Larry fucking me, but since I didn’t know what a cock felt like the dream always ended just when he lay down between my legs. I would wake up in the morning moist and horny. Sometimes I would rub myself several times a day and I was beginning to worry about my mental health.
In June I decided enough was enough, I had to try it. So, I simply went to the diner in town and ordered a milkshake which I took outside and sat in the sun. Half an hour later I saw the Trans Am coming towards me. It stopped and Larry got out.
“What are you doing here all by yourself?” he said.
“Drinking this,” I said indicating the shake.
“Can I sit down?”
“Sure.”
I took the straw between my lips and while looking at him I slowly sucked up the cold liquid. When I let go of it I licked my lips and sat back.
His eyes were on my face and he was smiling. “Do you want to go for a ride?”
“Mm, I might.”
My heart was beating like crazy and my hands were clammy. I wasn’t sure what to do if I got into the car with him. My pussy told me to get it over and done with but at the same time, I didn’t want to come on too hard.
I finished the shake and when I put down the glass he said, “Okay, let’s go.”
The car smelled of cigarette smoke and there were a few empty beer cans on the floor in the back. The engine roared and he drove out of town. I had no idea where he was taking me and when he turned off onto a track leading into the woods I said, “Where are we going?”
Without looking at me he said, “Somewhere we can be alone.”
For a moment I thought about asking him to take me home. What was I doing? This was crazy.
After a couple of minutes, he stopped and we sat in silence in the car. I could hear the ticking from the engine and birds singing outside. He opened the door and got out. I sat where I was, afraid to even move.
Sitting on the hood he lit a cigarette and then turned to me. “Are you coming?”
Slowly I got out and walked around the car. I sat down on the warm metal next to him. My summer dress slid up exposing my white legs. He looked down at them and smiled.
“You need more sun.”
“I burn easily,” I said in a small voice.
“You could use sun protection.”
I said nothing, only stared ahead. We were above the town and it looked so small from up here. I could see my house, the school, and even the church.
He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. Then he kissed my cheek, his lips soft and warm against my skin. Then he kissed my earlobe and I felt his warm breath as he continued to kiss me along my jaw until he reached my mouth. I turned and our lips met.
It was like nothing I had ever done before. My body went weak, my head spun and I just melted into his arms. We slid off the hood and down on the grass where he lay on top of me. His warm hands moved up under my dress along my thighs. I think I moaned, and I am sure he spoke to me, but I don’t remember what he said.
He pulled down my panties in one swift move and then pushed up my dress. With one hand supporting his weight he opened his jeans and I raised my head a little. There was a quick flash of his cock and then he was inside me.
I yelped when he broke through and pushed his way as far inside my pussy he could.
“Wow, you are really into this,” he moaned as my nails dug into his shoulders.
“Shut up, and fuck me,” I whispered.
And that he did. I don’t know for how long we were there, but he came at least three times, and I none.
When he dropped me off outside my house he smiled and said, “See you around.”
I did see him around, all summer actually but we never did it again. When school started he was dating Becky Rogers and I was still single.
The only benefit I got out of that one time in the woods was that I knew how it felt like to have a cock inside me and it was the best thing that happened that summer.
After Christmas that year my parents and I moved and I was sure I would never see Larry again.
******
Taking a deep breath I stepped out of the shed and walked back into the house and out to the garden where I headed straight to the bar.
“What can I get you?” said Jim.
“Something strong, a shot of vodka, please.”
He looked at me like if I was crazy. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I am fine, a bit stressed maybe.”
He poured a shot of vodka in a plastic glass and I downed it in one go. Turning around I scanned the garden looking for Larry. I spotted him over at the BBQ talking to Mark.
“Hi,”
I turned to the voice and Nicole was standing next to me. She was a very pretty girl with blonde hair, blue eyes and boobs bigger than mine that threatened to jump out of her tight dress.
“Hi, is everything okay? Have you tried the food and drink?”
She held up a glass of white wine. “Just the drink, for now, are you okay, you look a bit flushed?”
I indicated to Jim I needed a refill, but this time I sipped the strong liquid. “I’m fine, it’s just getting everything together that has me worked up.”
“So have you lived here long?” she said.
“Fifteen years, now. I love it here, so peaceful but still close to the city. What about you, where did you live before?”
“Denver, and before that, Dallas.”
“Wow, you move around a lot.”
She asked for more wine and then turned back to me. “Yeah, I know, but it’s because of Larry’s work.”
“What does he do?”
“Honestly, I am not sure, it’s sales I guess.”
“Have you been together for long?”
“Just over a year now and I know it sounds crazy, but I fell in love with him the first time I saw him. I was a cocktail waitress at a hotel he was staying at. My friends said he was way too old for me, but I didn’t care.”
“Young love,” I said and nudged her with my elbow.
“I guess, but there is something about him that is hard to explain. Women are just drawn to him. Sometimes I worry he will meet someone else, but I guess that’s a risk in all marriages.
“Mark and I have been together for twenty-five years now, and as far as I know he has been faithful, and so have I.”
Nicole looked up at me with sad eyes, “that is so cool, but honestly, I am not sure I will be able to keep him.”
I thought that was a very odd thing to say, so final. I left Nicole at the bar and went into the kitchen and on the way spoke to some of the guests that had ended up in the living room. They all gave me compliments on the food and I thanked them and reminded them that there were lots more outside.
I was taking out a bowl of salad from the fridge when I sensed someone behind me.
“Hi, can I help you with that?”
I recognized the voice from before, Larry. What was he doing in the kitchen, I wondered while turning around?
“No, I’m fine. I spoke to your lovely wife just a minute ago.”
This close there was no mistake who it was I was talking too. For a minute in the shed, I had thought that maybe my eyes had played games with me and the man had only looked like the Larry I knew. But no, it was the same guy.
He smiled at me and then turned to walk out again.
“Wait,” I called to his back. When he turned I said, “Don’t you recognize me?”
His eyes searched my face and I saw in them how he tried to remember. Then suddenly they opened wide and he walked towards me.
“Oh my God, how long has it been?”
I put down the salad bowl on the counter. “Over thirty years, Larry.”
“Let me look at you. Wow, you sure have changed since back then.”
I knew I blushed. “For the better, I hope.”
He chuckled. “I would say so, what a difference.”
His eyes zoomed in on my boobs which were hidden inside my tight blouse. Then they wondered down to my skirt which ended high above my knees.
“I can’t believe it, I have often wondered what became of you,” he said and sipped on his beer.
“Well, we moved, I graduated high school and then I met Mark in college. What about you?”
“After you left I got into some trouble and my parents thought that the military would be a good idea. I got out ten years ago and started my own security company.”
“Yeah, Nicole said you traveled a lot.”
“We are based in Dallas but yes, the work does take me around the country a bit.”
That was odd, I was sure Nicole hadn’t mentioned that Larry still worked out of Dallas.
“Do you have children?” I asked.
“No, never had the time to settle down.”
“We have two, but they are away at college, a boy, and a girl.”
“Lucky you.”
His eyes continued to play over my body as we spoke and I pretty much knew what he was thinking. Nicole had been right, he was still a player.
“Can I ask you something personal?” he said looking around making sure we were still alone.
“Sure.”
“That afternoon in the woods, what made you go with me?”
I gave him a grin and as I walked passed him I whispered. “I was a horny teenager.”
Safely back in the garden, I went over to Mark.
“Hi honey, how’s going,” I said.
“Great, do you want a hamburger?”
“Sounds lovely.”
While he prepared it I looked around and saw Nicole and Larry by the bar talking. She seemed upset and after a while, she put down her glass and walked into the house. I caught Larry’s attention but he only shrugged his shoulders and walked after her.
“That guy Larry, he is quite interesting,” said Mark after giving me the plate.
“Why do you say that?”
“He didn’t say it straight out, but I am pretty sure he was in some kind of secret military outfit, like the SEAL’s or similar.”
“What makes you think that?”
Mark makes the best burger in the world and I finished it quickly while he spoke.
“He didn’t want to talk about it when I asked him where he had been stationed, kept on changing the topic and when I asked him what he did now he simply said he was a contractor.”
“Maybe he can’t talk about his work. Lots of those security firms do top-secret work for the government.”
I didn’t want to tell him about my little talk with Larry in the kitchen. No point in dragging out the past and have him go on and on about that one hour in my life.
We spent the rest of the day talking with our neighbors and having a good time. Larry and Nicole never came back and to be honest, I was happy about it. When everyone had left it was close to ten in the evening and after cleaning up Mark and I sat down in front of the TV with a glass of wine each. The news was on but I hardly paid any attention to it. The anchorwoman was going on about heightened security due to some information the FBI had received, something about a bomb threat.
“Honey, I am going to bed,” I said.
“Okay, I’ll be up soon.”
When he came to bed he slid his arms around me and I felt his cock searching for my pussy. I lifted my leg a little and he slid inside me. Holding me tight we spooned and fucked until he came. I was too tired to go to the bathroom so I just closed my eyes, but before I fell asleep an image of two teenagers fucking in the woods entered my mind and I smiled at the memory.
******
The days turned into weeks and then months. We had planned a week’s vacation in Hawaii in August and were getting ready for our trip.
I had seen Larry and Nicole but they always seemed to be in a hurry, and never could talk. Maybe it was better that way, I didn’t need any drama in my life. That was a big lie, I had told myself. The truth was, I wanted Larry, and I wanted him badly.
They say that you never forget the first person you sleep with and it is true. Every day since that party I thought of Larry. I couldn’t get the man out of my head.
When Mark and I had sex, it was Larry I thought off, when I played with myself in the shower, Larry was right there. It was driving me nuts.
A week before out trip, I was out jogging and when I turned onto the street that leads to our house I saw Larry come out of his. He had a duffel bag in one hand and a backpack slung over his shoulder. I stopped on the sidewalk and when he saw me he didn’t smile.
“Hi, are you going away?” I said out of breath.
He looked around and then put the bag and the backpack in his car, the Maserati. “A business trip.”
“Where’s Nicole?”
He was quiet for a while and then said, “Gone, she left me.”
“Wow, sorry to hear that.”
“Did you want something else?” he said, and the tone of his voice surprised me it was almost hostile.
No one was around so I walked up to him and put my hand on his crotch. “What about one more time, please, I can’t get you out of my mind, Larry.”
“Are you crazy, what about Mark?”
“He will never find out, please I beg you. I have to get you out of my mind and the only way I can think of is if you fuck me.”
He checked the street and then took my hand. “Come on then.”
He closed the door and walked ahead of me up to his bedroom. The house smelt a bit strange, like a lot of cleaning liquids had been used. It tickled my nose and I sneezed just as we walked into the master bedroom.
The bed was neatly made and I saw an open wardrobe with clothes hanging from hangers. One side was men’s clothing and the other had women’s. Odd, I thought, if Nicole had left she would have taken her stuff with her, but then again, they might have had a fight and she left in a hurry.
“You know, you never gave me a blowjob that day,” said Larry and brought me back to the present.
We were facing each other and he began to pull my halter top over my head. “No, I never did, would you like one?” I said and pushed down my shorts and panties.
“Yes please.”
I giggled and knelt in front of him. He stepped out of his pants and underwear and when his cock was in front of me I sighed. It was semi-erect but in my hand, it grew hard.
I gave it a tentative lick and the cock head slid out, red and big. When I took it in my mouth he moaned and said, “Yes, take it deep, all the way.”
While massaging his balls I deep throated him and he moaned louder and louder.
“God, Carol, I had no idea, you were this good. Don’t stop, keep going.”
When his grip on my shoulders tightened I let go of his cock and lay down on the bed facing him. Spreading my legs a bit, I said, “Come and take me, Larry, just like you did that day in the woods.”
He entered me hard and lifted my legs over his shoulders. “Like that, fuck my pussy, fuck it hard,” I said.
I was so horny I didn’t know what to do with myself. Not even with Mark had I felt the way I did at that moment.
His cock filled me up and I moaned and yelped until he made me come. I was pleasantly surprised that I did.
He pulled out and I grabbed his cock while sitting cross-legged in front of him. I stroked his shaft and sucked on the head until he squirted his load over my boobs where it ran down my tummy.
“I have to go now,” he said, before getting off the bed.
“Okay, will I see you when you come back?”
There was a strange look on his face when he said, “I don’t think so.” Then he added, “close the door when you leave.”
I sat on the bed until I heard his car drive away and then I went to the bathroom. Mark was at home and he would smell the cum on me. I couldn’t let that happened.
When I walked outside I realized that I now smelt of soap which wouldn’t do either. I began to jog down the street away from my house; I had to begin to sweat again.
Twenty minutes later I closed the door behind me and called out to Mark.
“I’m in the living room,” he called back.
I went in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, baby.”
“God, you are sweaty, go and take a shower you nasty woman.”
I laughed and went to the kitchen where I drank water and ate an apple. I could still feel Larry inside me and when I closed my eyes I could see the look on his face when he emptied his load over my breasts. The memory made me shiver with pleasure, and I began to become horny again.
******
The next morning Mark and I woke up from sirens blaring down the street and the screech of several cars stopping.
“What the hell is going on?” said Mark and went to the window.
I stretched in bed still in bliss after Mark had fucked me the previous night. That was two fucks with two different men in one day, not bad for a forty-five-year-old woman.
“You better come and look at this?” said Mark.
I walked naked over to him and peered out. Several police cruisers and unmarked cars were parked outside Larry and Nicole’s house. While I watched a black van arrived and soon after an ambulance.
“What the fuck is happening?” I said, and I usually don’t swear.
Policemen and detectives rushed into the house and when they came back out a few minutes later they had a somber look on their faces. Two medics walked in carrying a stretcher and when they came back out I saw a body bag lying on it.
While we watched a detective walked up to our house and rang the bell. I put on my kimono and Marked put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Before we went to open I took his hand. “I’m scared.”
“Me too.”
“Hi, I have a few questions?” said the detective when he was sitting in our kitchen.
“Sure,” said Mark.
He began questioning us about Larry and Nicole. How long they had lived there, if they often had visitors, and if we socialized. We answered the best we could and when he was done I said, “What has happened?”
“Larry was killed an hour ago while planting a bomb at the federal building downtown. His car, the Maserati, was filled with explosives. Luckily a man walking passed noticed a cable hanging out under it and notified a police officer. When he approached Larry he pulled a weapon but the officer was faster. While looking through his house we found Nicole dead under the bed in the master bedroom. We don’t know why he killed her, but it fits with the other women we have found dead under beds across the nation.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, Larry, a terrorist, and a serial killer?
“Why do you think he murdered the women?” said Mark.
The detective shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea; maybe he didn’t want any witnesses. He was responsible for several bombings over the last decade.”
When he was gone I opened the cupboard above the sink and took out a bottle of vodka. After drinking directly from it I put it down on the sink.
“Are you okay, honey?” said Mark and hugged me.
“No, I’m not. I can’t believe we lived next door to that crazy man.”
“Neither can I, but he is dead now, gone. We are safe, so you can relax.”
I left him in the kitchen and went to the upstairs bathroom. I felt so dirty that I wanted to clean my pussy with chlorine to get rid of any part of Larry that might still be there. He had fucked me while his wife lay dead under me. The smell in the house had been to cover the slow decay of Nicole.
