Kim and Mark, Part 3

From: stinger27@gnn.com

Chapter 3

"How could the alarm be going off?" Kim thought as struggled to wake
herself.  The noise continued and finally she realized it was the telephone
on the opposite side of the bed.  The alarm said 2:30; and Kim wondered who
could possibly be calling?  Kim slid across the bed and picked up the phone.
"Hello."  She heard a pause and a crackling sound and then a voice.  "Honey,
honey it's Mark.  I'm sorry to wake you.  Are you all right?"  It was Mark!
Kim's heart pounded at the sound of his voice and she tried to answer but
her vocal chords wouldn't quite respond.  She managed a "Yes" and then
cleared her throat and repeated, "Yes, I'm OK, and I'm so glad you called.
How are you, sweetheart?"  "I'm fine.  We made it here okay with no
problems.  This is the first chance I've had to call and I've only got a
minute.  How are you?  Is everything all right?"  "I'm fine, honey.
Everything's fine here except I miss you so much.  How 'bout you?"  "Same
here, Kim.  Look, we're leaving tomorrow for two weeks of mountain warfare
training and I won't be able to call or write.  You know the number in case
of an emergency, right?"  "Yes, of course.  Oh, honey, please be careful.  I
love you so much!"  "I love you, too.  I think about you constantly."  "Me,
too, Mark.  I can't wait for you to get home."  "Can't wait to get back,
honey.  Look, I really need to go.  Anything else before I sign off?"  "Two
things.  I love you very much and I'm working on your surprise.  I hope that
will be enough to hold you for awhile, since I can't be with you!"  There
was a pause when Mark answered, "Oh Kim, I wish I could talk longer.  I'd
love to hear all the details but the thought of you, well, you know, I can't
really talk here.  Sweetheart, I love you too and I'll call soon as I can."
"I love you too, honey.  Be careful."  The phone clicked and there was
silence.  No dial tone-just the staticky sound of a broken connection. 

Kim was now much too 'wired' to lay back down.  It was Saturday and she
could catch up later.  Right now she just wanted to have a cup of coffee and
replay the phone conversation over in her mind. 

She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down on the sofa, wrapped in her
warm terrycloth robe that Mark had given her last Christmas.  Mark.  Kim
felt she must be the luckiest girl on earth to have found such a wonderful
husband.  As she sipped her coffee and reflected on the sound of his velvety
voice, she thought of having a cigarette with her coffee.  She had often
heard how well the two go together and she wanted to experience it first hand. 

Kim went back upstairs to fetch her purse which contained her lighter and
cigarettes.  She rummaged around the spare bedroom a minute and found an old
ashtray that had been used a couple of times by friends out on the patio.
She brought them back down and flipped on the CD player to listen to some
music and just relax. 

Kim slipped a Virginia Slims from its pack and lit it just as though she had
been doing so for years.  She inhaled as deeply as she thought she dared and
held the smoke in for a moment.  The same pleasant tingling returned that
she had experienced last night at Rita's.  After just a few seconds, she
took another, longer puff and exhaled smoothly, watching the smoke rise to
the ceiling.  A perfectionist, Kim worked on her style as well making sure
to follow Rita's instructions as closely as possible.  She tapped the end of
the cigarette in the ashtray and took another deep draw, trying her best to
imitate Rita's inhale.  She'd have to work a lot to perfect that, but she
was determined to master it before Mark got home.  This time Kim took a
total of nine puffs before putting it out and felt only slightly dizzy after
the last two.  She noticed that the coffee and cigarette had similar flavors
in some respect and thought for now that she agreed with the common
consensus concerning coffee and cigarettes. 

After a morning nap, Kim reawoke on her own at a little past 11 am.  She had
managed to get back to sleep for a couple of hours and felt pretty
refreshed.  After a light breakfast of toast and juice, she made another
half pot of coffee and sat down to enjoy a cigarette. 

This time, much to her delight, she managed to smoke almost the entire
cigarette.  The last little bit was still too strong for her, but this time
she felt only the slightest bit of the dizzy feeling.  Progress, she
thought!  And she had actually enjoyed this cigarette.  She liked the feel
of it between her fingers, inhaling and the feeling it created as she drew
the smoke into her lungs.  Watching herself exhale was probably the most
enjoyable part of smoking for her so far.  She loved to watch the smoke as
she exhaled somewhat forcibly and watch it stream upward.  Kim still had no
idea what a 'craving' felt like and wondered how long it would take before
she experienced one.  Time would tell but for now, she needed to get moving. 

Saturday arrived quickly in spite of the loneliness she felt at Mark's
absence.  Rita had invited her to join her for a girl's night out.  Dinner
and then to a nightclub both of them had been to before. 

As she stood in front of the mirror applying her makeup, Kim realized that
she had only one cigarette left from her first pack and would need to pick
up another before going out.  She had followed Rita's advice religiously and
had limited herself to 5 cigarettes a day.  Since she was nearly out anyway,
she took the pack from off the nightstand by her bed and lit up then tossed
the pack in the bathroom trash.  During the week, she had picked up several
more ashtrays so that she would be able to smoke anywhere in the house and
not have to search for one. 

Kim was wearing a black spandex top under a purple scoop-neck sweater with a
matching skirt and heels.  She took a deep puff on her cigarette, placed it
in the ashtray, and finished applying her mascara.  Kim enjoyed watching
herself smoke and thought it might be helpful to place their large bedroom
mirror somewhere where she could closely monitor her style.  She wanted to
be an absolute pro by the time Mark got home! 

In her hurry to get to Rita's by 7 o'clock, Kim had forgotten to stop for
cigarettes.  She knew that the two of them could drop by somewhere on the
way to dinner, so she wasn't at all concerned.  What she was a bit concerned
about was smoking in public for the first time.  She wasn't sure how she'd
react if someone she knew saw her but she was determined not to let that
deter her.  She'd just be friendly and upfront, telling them that she had
recently started smoking and they could make whatever judgment they wanted.
Why she chose to smoke was her business. 

When Kim mentioned her need to stop for a pack of cigarettes on the way,
Rita offered her a pack of hers instead.  "They're Lights, not Ultra Lights
so they're stronger, but I think they're a lot more flavorful.  Want to give
them a try?"  "Sure, thanks Rita,"  Kim answered a little intrigued about
trying a stronger cigarette. 

The girls took Kim's car and arrived at 7:30.  They were shown to a table
near a window which gave them a great view of the city's waterfront area.
Both women ordered a glass of wine from the young waiter and took their
Virginia Slims from their purses and set the packs on the table.  "Rita, I
haven't smoked in public yet.  I guess I'm a bit nervous.  Good thing I have
my teacher here for moral support!"  Kim reached for a cigarette and deftly
lit it as though it was old hat for her.  She took as deep a drag as she
could, finding she had been able to inhale deeply by the end of the week,
and was surprised that the first puff was similar to the fourth or fifth
with her Ultra Lights.  She quickly took a second, deep puff and inhaled
very deeply.  "Ummm, these are great!  I love the richer taste and the
menthol is a bit stronger, too, I think.'"  Kim took a third puff and felt
the tingle return she had experienced the first time she had smoked last
Saturday but without the dizziness.  As she chatted, she noticed that Rita
had taken a very deep puff, held it in, and then taken another puff before
exhaling.  Kim commented on it and Rita told her that it was called a
'double pump'.  Rita often took a double pump when she hadn't had a
cigarette for awhile and really needed one.  It had been close to two hours
since her last one and she had wanted to smoke in Kim's car, so was nearly
desperate by the time they got to the restaurant.  Kim decided that learning
to 'double pump' would be the next thing she would learn once she adapted to
the Virginia Slim Menthol Lights. 

Dinner was delicious and both ladies sat enjoying their after dinner
cigarettes and coffee.  This was the first time Kim had smoked two
cigarettes in such a short time (it had only been an hour since her last
one) but she enjoyed it thoroughly.  Rita put hers out and lit another
immediately.  Kim wasn't ready to try chain smoking yet, but wondered what
it would be like. 

They got to the nightclub at 9:30 and the band was in full swing.  They were
great!  They played a lot of 70s and 80s stuff that Kim and Mark loved.  She
thought of him again as she lit a cigarette.  She and Rita sat quietly,
smoking and listening to the music.  They left at midnight, right after the
end of the band's third set.  Kim had had three cigarettes, one an hour.
Rita, it seemed, had smoked about 6 or 7 although Kim hadn't really kept track. 

It was a 45 minute drive home and after 30 minutes Rita asked if it would be
all right if she smoked in the car.  Kim answered, "Sure, I've just never
checked the ashtray.  There might be something in it like a gum wrapper.
I'd like to try smoking in the car, too, if I can manage to light it without
causing a wreck!" 

Rita took two from her pack, handed one to Kim and pushed in the car's
lighter.  A few seconds later, it snapped out, and she lit her cigarette
before passing it to Kim.  Kim touched the end of it to her cigarette,
holding it with just her lips, handed the lighter back to Rita, and inhaled.
She blew a trail of smoke from her mouth which filled the area in front of
her.  Rita suggested they open their windows slightly to let the smoke
escape.  Kim held her cigarette with her left hand near the window, and
realized that she hadn't smoked with her left hand before.  As she finished
the cigarette, she managed to put it out in the ashtray without a problem
and knew that smoking in the car would become a regular part of her routine
from now on. 

Just before 1 am, Kim dropped Rita off, and headed home.  She decided to
have one more cigarette on the way home.  If she remembered correctly, that
was her eighth one of the day.  It didn't seem she had smoked that much, but
that was nearly double the five she had been smoking each day.  And those
had all been ultra lights.  Kim realized that she was really beginning to
enjoy smoking and was quickly adapting to the new habit.  She felt a small
tingle of excitement as the thought of Mark coming home and finding out that
his wife was now a smoker!  She took a last puff and put the cigarette out
just as she pulled into the driveway. 

As she was undressing for bed, Kim was aware of the heavy smell of smoke in
her clothes and hair.  Just two weeks ago, she would have thrown everything
into the hamper and washed her hair after going to a smoky nightclub.
Unless she and Mark were making love.  Kim had always wondered why Mark
never failed to be romantic after coming home from somewhere where there had
been a lot of smoke.  She would apologize for the smell, and Mark would
always tell her that he actually liked the way her hair smelled when it was
saturated with smoke.  Kim just assumed that Mark was too sweet to say
anything uncomplimentary, no matter how he really felt.  Now she knew why he
loved the smell of smoke in her hair so much.  She put on her nightie,
brushed her teeth and went to bed without showering, thinking of Mark
holding her, his face nuzzled next to her's telling her how wonderful she
felt and smelled.  Kim couldn't help put allow herself a few moments of
self-pleasure as she gently massaged her firm breasts and slid her hand down
her tummy to find the warm wetness between her legs.  Her thoughts were of
Mark and how excited he would be the first time she would lite a cigarette
and smoke while he watched.  She shuddered uncontrollably, moaning softly
until she lay still, drifting off to sleep. 

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