Picture Story: Easter Hunt

Another story in the "Picture Stories" set. These are not related and can be read in any order; the only common theme is that all of them are in some or other way related to a picture.

This is a story of dating in the quarantine times. It is hard enough to keep things alive when no touch is allowed, but how do you start something new if you just met online and have never even seen each other yet?

All photographs in this story were taken by the author.

***

They met on a dating site and hit it off right away.

She was a schoolteacher with a couple kids of her own, by that time already in high school. She married young and her family life was good, but for a long time she missed the spark, the excitement, the butterflies that came from any new connection. And there were bedroom things that she always wanted to try, but her husband was not interested. So, for her 40th birthday she made herself a present — bought a new set of lingerie, took a few mildly naughty selfies, and registered at a dating site. It was more of a cheating rather than a dating place, as most of the people there were married and were looking for an affair, not for a new spouse, but to herself she preferred to call it dating.

He was a semi-retired college professor, teaching only one class a week and working with a couple of graduate students, helping them to find their way through Middle Ages European History. He was also married and quite friendly with his wife, who, unfortunately, lost any interest in sex after menopause. For the first couple years he had hopes that some treatment or other might help, but then gave up and started looking elsewhere. For three years he enjoyed a connection with a former student of his, but when she moved away and got married herself, he realized that he needed some way to connect with women that were not part of his personal or professional life. His first few attempts did not go well - he either met women that were looking for money, or those that were looking for much more of a commitment than he was willing to give. He was about to give up and not pay for the next month's site membership when he saw her profile. He sent a request for her private pictures and a short note, saying that it looked like he fit all of her requirements and so did she for his own, both stated and not.

First message exchanges went well, they moved to e-mails, then after a week started talking about meeting in person. And then their lives, together with the lives of everybody else in the country, changed with the arrival of a new word: coronavirus. Overnight all the cafes and restaurants were closed, and people were asked to stay at least 6 feet from one another. A few days later another change came about — all schools and universities were closed, and classes moved online.

So, they did the only thing they could — went back to writing letters, adding a picture here and there. Their conversations were becoming increasingly personal, moving fast into sex territory. He shared with her his main kink: he loved to watch a woman slowly undress for him, strip one item of clothing at a time, tease him while more of her skin gradually came into view. She shared her want to lead, to be the one in charge during sex. She had never performed for anybody, but in her mind that was exactly the level of control that she craved, so she embraced the idea.

They moved further and role played their possible meetings. This experience was both very rewarding, as both of them got very aroused typing the words and reading the responses, and very frustrating, as it only underlined the impossibility of these situations happening in real life.

It was spring, Easter was coming, and that gave her an idea: why can't they do an adult version of an Easter egg hunt? They would never come into direct contact, but it would be much more real than anything else they could do at the moment. She knew this would require a bit of planning and a careful selection of the location, but it looked like a good distraction from her everyday life.

Her text was short and to the point: "Dave, would you like to make all this real? No contact, no touching, we are not even going to talk directly to each other, only on the phone. But we will see each other and play. Are you up for this?"

He did not need to think of an answer, his fingers typed the reply as fast as they could: "When, where, and how?"

It was Tuesday and she knew she needed to scout the location: "Thursday morning, I will text you directions at 9."

"You are not going to tell me how is this supposed to work? No details at all?"

"Nope. You will have to wait for the whole two days."

"You tease..."

"Yes, that I am, and you like it."

"Yes, but I want to know at least something!"

"Bye David, talk to you on Thursday."

"Bye Sarah."

***

Next day she drove around town looking for a perfect spot: she needed a park with benches, but with as few dog walkers and little kids running around as possible. And she wanted to have a large empty parking lot nearby. The weather was perfect for what she had in mind. Last week it felt like spring and trees and flowers started to come to life, but now it was back to just above freezing, which meant that she could wear few extra items of clothing without looking like a homeless lady.

She found a perfect place: a university campus with its huge parking garage, little gardens, and, most importantly, complete lack of people. She timed herself walking from place to place, took some pictures, and, completely satisfied, went back home to plan her outfit and to think over a few logistic puzzles that still needed to be resolved.

***

Thursday morning exactly at 9 he got a message and a picture:

"Good morning! I hope you are as excited as I am! Your first task is to drive to Loyola, park in the main garage, and walk outside. It should take you about half an hour, let me know when you are there."

The attached picture showed a place he knew well, this was not his school, but he visited often enough to know exactly which garage she was talking about. In usual Chicago traffic it would have taken him at least an hour to get there, but current traffic was anything but usual, and he thought that her time frame was quite generous.

When he got to the garage, the gates were wide open, nobody was there to check student IDs or visitor passes. On his previous visits he had to drive around to find a spot, but that day the garage was almost empty, just a couple cars parked on the lower level. Security? Construction workers? Her car is here as well? he wondered briefly.

When he stepped outside his car, he immediately regretted not checking the weather. He had not been out for the last few days and the weekend was so mild that he just assumed that the winter was finally over. It was not. His sweater was no match for the cold wind from the lake, and he wished he brought a hat and a scarf.

He got out his phone and typed his message, telling Sarah that he was in front of the garage. While waiting for the reply, he checked the weather... April or not, he definitely needed a winter coat:

His phone beeped with her message. He saw a picture and a short text:

"I am glad you made it! I was by the lake, the road in front of you will take you there. I got cold and moved on but left something for you there. Let me know when you find it."

He smiled at the way she was dressed, a wool hat, warm scarf, mittens, and her coat looked much more useful than his sweater. She came much better prepared than he, and still she got cold. He did not know how long ago she left, but it could not have been too long, so he felt a little tingle of excitement to share if not the time, at least the space with her.

He walked briskly for a few minutes and came to the lakefront. He immediately knew that it was the right place: a red winter scarf was tied to the railings, the same scarf that she was wearing in the picture.

He untied the soft fabric and buried his face in it. He felt a faint smell and smiled -- this must have been her smell. The scarf felt so good against his face, that he did not want to part with it, instead, he tied it high around his neck and pulled it up to cover his lower face.

He sent his message and thanked her for a timely gift of warmth.

"Did you not check the weather? It's been like this for the last three days! But I am glad you put it to a good use. Now, with your back to the lake turn left and follow the path. On your right you will see a building with marble stairs. The railing on the stairs is your spot."

He hurried on and soon saw the stairs and the metal railing. On the top there was a yellow shopping bag that he assumed was left for him.

He ran up the stairs and looked inside but was a bit disappointed to find it empty.

"Was there supposed to be something inside your bag?" he asked.

"No, silly. It was supposed to be for you to put the things in, so that you would not need to carry everything in your arms. How was I to know that you would prefer to wear it on yourself? LOL"

Does this mean that she can see me? He looked around but did not see a single person. Oh, right, I told her myself that I was wearing it. Now what? Before he finished the thought, there was a new text:

"Walk around the corner. Do you see anything interesting?"

He did. Bright red mittens were hard to miss against the white balustrade. He folded the bag and stuffed it in his pocket, the mittens were too small for him to put on, but he still preferred to hold the soft fabric in his hands. He thought about her taking off her warm coverings one by one for him and smiled — soon she should be getting really cold. What then?

He texted her his location and waited for an answer, which came fast.

"Can you see a small round garden to your left? There is a Jesus statue in there. What is he looking at?"

He looked around and indeed just a few steps away there was a tiny garden with a statue. He harried to it, glanced at the Savior then followed His gaze. He had to laugh — on a dry branch there was a white hat with a fluffy pom-pom.

It looked stretchy enough to probably fit him, but he thought about how he would look wearing a hat like that and with a sigh took the bag out of his pocket.

He texted his location: "Jesus says hi."

And got a new picture in reply:

Cold wind or not, he felt hot all of a sudden. He had seen her breasts a couple times before, once in an even more revealing picture, but now it was very different — she was here, he was not exactly sure where, but somewhere not far. He traced the cleavage with his finger, wishing he could do it for real, and read the rest of the text.

"Go back towards the garage, cross the Quad, and walk towards Dumbach Hall, it's a small brick building on the far-right side of the Quad, when the lake is behind you. When you get to the steps of the hall, look to your right."

It was easy to find the building, it had a large sign in front of it. He looked around but did not see anything that she might have left for him. He looked again at the picture. Last time all three items were in there, so probably what he was looking for was there as well. Not her coat, that should be easy to see, not the red bra, that would be hard to miss as well... Maybe the necklace? He looked closely at the trees to the right of the steps. There it was!

He was happy as a kid going through a birthday quest! Sure, there was enough of the promise of some form of sex involved to make anything exciting, but beyond that, there was something very touching in the fact that she took the time to set this all up. His mother was always too busy, but his Granny used to set up treasure hunts for the kids when they came to visit her in the summers.

"I like your necklace; may I keep it?" he asked half joking.

"You might want to keep the next item more. Go around the building, you are looking for something bright red, it will be hard to miss. Hurry up before somebody else finds it, it's a Catholic University, you know."

Bright red! There was only one red item left that she was still wearing, as far as he could tell, and now it was also gone. He imagined her standing right where he was, cold without her hat and scarf, in an open coat, trying to take off her bra fast and not let too much cold air in. Did her nipples get kissed by the wind? Got instantly hard from the cold? Or were they already hard from leading him to whatever destination she had in mind?

He walked around the building and sure enough her lacy bra was hanging on a branch there. He thought he could still feel her warmth on the silky fabric, but that probably was just his imagination.

The next text came as soon as he took his phone out:

"I am getting cold waiting for you! Please, hurry up."

So, she is watching me?! But how?

He was about to ask what was it that she wanted him to do next, but then the second text popped up on the screen:

"Go back to your car and drive up to the roof floor of the garage. There is only one car parked there — mine. It is a red minivan. Park next to me, but back your way in, so that your window is next to my back door on the driver's side, like in the picture."

***

She saw him put the phone away, smiled, and lowered the binoculars. From the top level of the garage, the spot where she left her bra was in direct view and that was the main reason she chose it.

Now she needed to move fast. Her initial plan was to leave home in jeans and then change into a skirt when she got on campus, so that her stockings could be one of the items for him to pick up. But it was so cold that she abandoned that plan and stayed in jeans while running around and setting everything up. Only now she really needed to be wearing a skirt as jeans would not do for what she had in mind.

She did not bother to hide inside the car, the place was empty, there was nobody there to see her. Not yet. Sarah smiled at the thought of him rushing to get to his car and ultimately to her.

She kicked off her boots and pulled off her jeans, leaving the bright red silk knickers and black stockings on. She threw the discarded clothing on the front seat and put on a long black skirt and heels. Together with her tight black top it looked almost like a dress. She put the heat on max, climbed into the middle row seat of her Siena, and closed the door right as she heard a car approaching the top floor.

It was show time. With the last nervous run of her fingers through her hair, she was ready.

***

As his car emerged on the roof, he looked around and easily spotted the lonely red Siena. He drove up to it and parked as he was told. The back and side windows were heavily tinted, so he could not see inside, but from the way she asked him to park, he assumed that she was in the middle row. He was right: as soon as he got his car in place and rolled down the window, the back door of the minivan slid open and he saw a smiling woman sitting inside. She was still wearing the same coat he saw in the pictures, it was not zipped, but instead was tightly wrapped around her. Her legs were covered by a long skirt that touched the floor.

"Hello, David," she smiled warmly, "how is your day going so far?"

There was laughter in her voice, and he smiled back, mentally stepping back and seeing how silly this game must have looked to anybody who was not part of it.

"So far, so good, thank you, Sarah. But I think my day is about to get a lot better. I have found a few things on my way here; I think you might have lost them. Do you want them back?"

"Later, not now."

She shifted in her seat and her skirt split, showing a long slit going all the way to the hem of her coat. How far does it go? he wondered but did not say anything. He also saw the stiletto shoes, that he assumed she just put on and had not walked around campus in them. Nice! How I would love to caress that leg, take the shoe off, and kiss her nylon clad feet... I will have to ask her for some pictures of her legs later.

She opened her coat and he saw the familiar black top, the same she was wearing in the bra and necklace picture. She took the coat off and put it on the seat next to her.

"You are going to get cold."

"I will be fine. I have the heat running on full. Can I ask you to do something for me? Call me. I will put the earphones in and hear your right here, whispering in my ear, not talking over the heater noise."

She inserted the airpods and waited for him to get his phone and dial her number. Following her lead he also put his earphones in, it made sense to keep his hands free. It also made it possible to hear her breathing, not just the words being said.

She shifted again and put her right leg on the back of the front seat. The skirt fell completely open and he realized it was a wrap. Both of her legs came into view, covered in stockings almost all the way up, with a thin band of bare skin on the top of them.

And the red panties in between. She does like red, and it suits her, he thought but did not say anything. His jeans started to feel a bit too tight, but he was afraid to take his eyes off her to do anything about it.

Her fingers followed the curve of her inner thigh and settled on the red silk. He realized that he was holding his breath and he inhaled loudly. She heard, smiled, and slipped her hand in. To see the shape of her fingers clearly through the thin fabric, to know what she was touching, was too much for him. He pulled the lever and let the back of his seat fall back. He leaned back, undid his belt and opened up his jeans. This was much better! He hesitated a second and then slid his hand inside and started to stroke his growing cock, trying to match her slow rhythm.

"Tell me what you want me to do next."

Her voice was low, but with the headphones it sounded as if she were standing in front of him, leaning over and whispering her question right into his ear.