Stranded 3 - Porno Story

“It’s not a unique trait, ma’am.” I said deprecatingly, “All it

requires is that one think for one’s self instead of adopting the

thoughts of those around us. Of course, that also means you have to

get used to THINKING, a fad which seems to have gone out of style

these days.”

As I pulled up into the common yard and backed toward the barn,

Parminder looked around with a gasp.

“THIS is your ‘little piece of dirt’?” she exclaimed, following the

fence lines out toward the horizon, “What would you call a BIG piece

of dirt?!”

I smiled indulgently.  “It’s only a few hundred acres, ma’am. Mostly I

just raise horses, but I keep a truck patch for the table, and a few

Holsteins. They’re kind of switch hitters - produce plenty of milk but

make decent beef if it’s aged right. Got a few chickens and a couple

of sheep too. I’m sort of partial to lamb, but don’t much care for

pork, so I don’t keep pigs.”

I walked Parminder and her bags to the house and got her settled in

her room, pointing out the bathrooms, the living areas and the

kitchen, then went out to unload the feed.  This is one of the reasons

I’ve gotten in pretty good shape working this place - tossing forty or

fifty hundred pound sacks of feed into the loft, even from the

elevated truck bed, is a pretty good workout for anybody.

After I got the feed sacks stacked for easy access to the feed

troughs, I went in to wash up, and was pleasantly surprised to find my

nostrils filled with some very savory aromas.  Following my nose into

the kitchen, I found Parminder with her sleeves rolled up and an old

apron of mine wrapped almost all the way around her.

“You keep your pantry and spice cabinet very well stocked, Mr.

Stafford!” she said, stirring something on the stove, “I was able to

find most of the spices I’d find in my mother’s cabinets, and

reasonable substitutes for the others. I do hope you don’t mind, but

it’s been a while since I had a good lamb dish, and your mention of it

got my mouth watering. I wasn’t really expecting to have to cut it off

a hanging carcass though!”

I smiled at that. Most people are a little surprised at the meat

locker I built just off the kitchen, and how much meat they find

there. I guess she hadn’t looked in the walk-in freezer yet.

“If that tastes as good as it smells,” I smiled, “I can probably find

it in my heart somewhere to forgive you!”

That got me another charitable smile.

By the time I got cleaned up, Parminder had set two places and was

serving a delicious meal for the two of us.

“It’s nice to see you haven’t completely abandoned your heritage!” I

said as I savored a tender morsel of spicy lamb. The flavor was

reminiscent of curry but there were other spices in combinations I’d

never tasted before.

“It’s not that I don’t respect my heritage, Mr. Stafford.” she said, a

bit huffily, “I just don’t find that all of it is compatible with

modern life.”

“Don’t get your bowels in an uproar ma’am.” I said, placatingly, I

hoped, “I meant it as a compliment - another way of saying ‘this is

delicious’. How you preserve your heritage is as much your choice as

how you live the rest of your life. I may have an opinion about it,

but it don’t amount to a hill of beans, since you’re the one that’s

got to live your life, not me.”

She was silent for several long moments, studying me as I tried not to

wolf down the delicious repast before me.

“I can’t get a handle on you, Mr. Stafford.” she finally said, “Most

people I can figure out pretty well, but I can’t figure out what it is

you want with me.”

“Why don’t you try asking me?” I said quietly.

The obviousness of that set her back a bit.

“Very well, then,” she said, screwing up her courage, “what DO you

want from me?”

I chose my words carefully before replying, “I WANT only a couple of

things from you, Ms. Nagra, and EXPECT even fewer. I want to spend a

little time with you, to enjoy your company. I also want to get you

into my bed - to enjoy sex with you. I EXPECT the first of those - to

spend a little time with you and enjoy your company.  I don’t expect

the second, but I can always hope.”

She didn’t, at first, know whether to be angry, shocked, or flattered.

“But, well, I guess a lot of men want to have sex with me,” she

finally said, “so that’s a pretty obvious one, though one doesn’t

normally expect it to be approached so directly! The first one, about

spending time with me, I don’t understand. What’s your real purpose?

What are you hiding?”

“Is it so incredible, Ms. Nagra,” I said, “that someone would just

like to spend a little time in your company? You are a lovely young

woman, and just being around you lifts my spirits, but I also think

you have within you, the seeds of an actual thinking human being - a

rare and valuable species! I have found that hiding my agenda, so to

speak, only complicates things. By telling you up front what I want,

we can bypass all the dancing around and trying to communicate without

saying anything, and get right to the decision-making stage.”

“Well, Mr. Stafford, I’m not going to share your bed, so that

decision’s made.” she said, “As for whatever else you want, well, I’ve

gotten pretty good at avoiding the people who want to cheat me out of

my money, so whatever scheme you’ve got planned, forget about it!”

“I can understand your paranoia, Ms. Nagra,” I said past the forkful

of food I was preparing to stuff in my mouth, “so I won’t waste my

breath trying to convince you.  Thank you, by the way, for being

honest about the sex thing. Now I can forget about that and just enjoy

your company.”

She gave me a curious look and went back to eating. A few minutes

later I heard her fork land on her plate rather loudly and looked up.

“That’s it?!” she asked, somewhat peeved, “I tell you you’re not

getting me in your bed, and you just accept it?! You stop trying?”

I just looked at her calmly and said “Yes.”

“No man alive does that!” she cried, “Why would you?”

“Ma’am, if you want to have sex with me, just say so.” I replied, “If

you don’t, why are you making such a fuss about getting your wish?”

“Whatever happened to romance and seduction?” she ranted, “When a

woman says no, most men take it as ‘not yet’! But not you! Oh no! A

simple refusal, and you just give up the chase!”

“First of all,” I said, “I wasn’t chasing to begin with. Secondly, if

you can’t say what you mean, how are we ever going to communicate

effectively? I took the first step by taking your words at face value,

as I do everyone’s until I catch them lying to me. It’s quite simple,

really. You say something, I believe it. I say something, you believe

it. Saves all that chasing around after hidden agendas.”

I went back to eating, but could almost FEEL her seething.

“Why the hell would I want to sleep with an infuriating,

holier-than-thou FARMER such as yourself, anyway?” she almost shouted

“That’s what you need figure out, if you’re considering it.” I said

calmly, “I will say this: For someone who doesn’t want to sleep with

me, you’re certainly making an awful fuss about not having to!”

She spluttered for a few moments before retorting, “Well, a girl wants

to feel wanted, even if she doesn’t return the feeling!”

“I already TOLD you I want you!” my exasperation was starting to show,

“So that’s not the real reason. Why don’t you close your mouth and

open your mind. You just might discover something about yourself that

you didn’t know.”

That caught her up short, but to her credit, instead of exploding, as

I half expected, she snapped her mouth shut and sat, sullenly mulling

over my words.

Finally, grudgingly, as I continued eating, she said, “It’s the female

stereotype, isn’t it? Despite our pretense at liberation, we still

want to be pursued, until we catch our pursuer. That way we can avoid

taking responsibility for whatever happens, but if it turns out all

right, we get to feel all smug and clever.”

Without looking up, I said, “Are you asking a question, or thinking

out loud? If it’s the former, you can answer better than I.”

“Just thinking out loud, I suppose.” she said, her face still twisted

in thought.

“And are you reaching any conclusions?” I asked as I placed my

utensils on my nearly spotless plate.

She shot me a venomous look, followed quickly by that dazzling smile,

and said, “You’re an evil man, Mr. Stafford, forcing me to face my own

weaknesses like that…”

I held up a finger to interrupt, and said, “I beg to differ, Ms.

Nagra. I have encouraged you to think, but have forced you to do

nothing. As for facing one’s weaknesses, how else does one get

stronger?”

“As I was saying.” she gave me a reproachful glare, “In the cold light

of logic, I’m forced to admit that I want you, too. All that other

flotsam was just to relieve me of the responsibility of admitting it

to myself.”

I gave her a warm smile and changed the subject, “This has been an

excellent meal, Ms. Nagra! Whatever else you may be, you’re a superb

cook!”

“Hey!” she exclaimed, “What’s happened to your country bumpkin

accent!”

I twisted my mouth in grimace, “It seems to come and go at will,

without conscious intervention on my part. I kind of wish it didn’t

because it’s a bit deceptive, but the habit’s been with me too long,

and changing it would require somehow becoming conscious of it at all

times.  I haven’t figured out how to do that yet.”

She laughed a little at that and shook her head, “You still confuse

me, Mr. Stafford…”

“Nick, please!” I interjected.

“…Nick, then.” she continued, “You tell me you want to sleep with

me, then, when I finally admit to the same desire, you immediately

change the subject! Have you changed your mind?”

I chuckled, “No, Ms. Nagra…”

“Parminder, or Par, if you please!” it was her turn to butt in.

“Par.” I said, “I haven’t changed my mind, but now that it’s out in

the open, there doesn’t seem to be much to discuss. From here on, I

will assume that it’s ok to make advances, when the time and mood seem

right, but there’s no hurry to get to it!”

Her laugh was soft, like her face, “You’re right, of course. Such

things are best left to find their own time and place!”

We worked together to clear away the dishes and straighten the

kitchen, swapping stories and jokes like old acquaintances reunited.

When all was done, we settled into chairs in the sitting room - what

most would call a family room, I suppose, but since it was just me…

I poured us each a snifter of fine cognac and settled down across from

her, watching the sunset behind the hills, and the way the waning

light highlighted Parminder’s dusky features.

She joined me on the sofa, after a few minutes, without being asked,

and we watched the sun’s final plunge together. We sat for several

minutes in peaceful silence, just enjoying Mother Nature’s light show.

Some time later, Parminder spoke in almost a whisper, “It’s so quiet!”

Indeed, the creatures of the day were putting themselves to bed, and

the sounds made by the swifts and bats as they hunted insects in the

fading sunlight were inaudible to our ears. Their fantastic, seemingly

silent, aerial maneuvers only emphasized the quiet.

Almost as though a signal had been given, though, as soon as the last

rays of sunlight winked out, a symphony of night sounds arose around

the house. Crickets started their nightly serenade and owls hooted in

counterpoint. Whipoorwills called to each other, and night insects

began buzzing at the screen door, hungry for the meager light that

seeped out from where we were.

“I remember this from my childhood!” Parminder whispered, “In the

Punjab, at night, it’s like this! Oh, some of the sounds are

different, but this brings back so many long buried memories!”

As naturally as if she’d done it all her life, she wrapped both arms

around my right one and leaned her head on my shoulder, heaving a

contented sigh.

A few more minutes of silence, then suddenly, Parminder sat bolt

upright, exclaiming “Oh bugger! I’ve forgotten to ring my agent! He’ll

be worried sick!”

I just handed her the handset from the cordless phone and tried not to

listen as she finally tracked him down on his cell phone.

“Maury! I’m so sorry! I forgot to call, with everything that’s

happened!”

“You won’t believe! The stupid rental car broke down!”

“A BMW! Can you believe it! Anyway, there was no replacement closer

than the airport.”

“No! I missed my flight!”

“No, no. I TRIED to book another flight, but there’s not one ’til

tomorrow!”

“Oh, I’m not in a hotel.”

“No. A nice gentleman offered me a room and a ride to the airport,

and…”

“No, Maury, he’s been a perfect, if somewhat infuriating gentleman…”

“Well, it’s the oddest thing! He expects me to THINK!”

“No, really, my head doesn’t hurt at all! I think I could actually

come to like it!”

“Not another one! Come on Maury, those guys are just dirty old men!

They’re not looking for an actor, just a pretty face and sexy body!”

“Yes, I know their movies sell, but to whom do they sell?”

“I don’t want to be a sex symbol! I want to act!”

“NO, Maury! Call them back and tell them no!”

“I don’t know if I’m coming back tomorrow or not. If my host agrees,

perhaps I’ll take a long overdue vacation and stay here for a few

days.”

“Yeah, the number is… No, Maury, you know what? I’ll call you!”

“When I’m good and ready!”