Aaron was debating going to the office party. He never went, but maybe this year he should go. He lived alone and often felt lonely. Socializing was just often difficult. He was into weird things and had a hard time not info-dumping on people during conversation. It always hurt when people would be into him, but then realize what it meant when he told them he had autism and then lost interest because they couldn’t handle the idiosyncrasies that came with his neurodivergence. 

It was December twenty-third. The office party was tonight so that those that had them, could spend the actual holiday with their families.  Aaron was a single bachelor with no family he was really close to. They lived in another country anyway. Another thing that was both a fascination and an awkward thing to others he tried to talk to. Having an accent did not help.

It was a potluck so he did his best to make a meal and then got in his car and drove to the office party. He might as well. The next few days off he would probably just sleep.  

He arrived at a good time. He placed his dish on the food table. He saw his boss and his wife and then his cubicle partner and her husband. He felt awkward and was starting to think about leaving when someone called his name.  He turned to the sound of it. 

“I have never seen you at one of these before.”

Aaron gave an awkward smile, “I had nothing else to do,” he answered honestly.

The coworker smiled.  She had green eyes and olive skin,  her hair was very short, gave her a military look,  she had a jagged scar that made her left cheek look distorted in a way. 

“I know you don’t know me. We are in different departments, but I remember when you got hired,  six years ago. I remember thinking how you looked like this boy that I grew up next to,  before we moved, same blonde hair and pale eyes. Tall awkward limbs, like you also. It is like he was more in his head than his body, similar to you, how you always have this distance to your eyes."

“What is your name?” Aaron asked, feeling awkward but curious.

“Nicole. Nicole Basin. I work reception for HR.”

“I am in IT.”

“I know,”  Nicole said with a smile in her voice. 

“What do they do at these things anyway?”

Nicole buzzed her lips and made a vague gesture.  “Mingle? Socialize? Eat everyone’s food. Sometimes they bring out karaoke.  And they exchange the secret Santa gifts if you signed up for that.  I never do, but yeah. It is just a casual get-together. Really mild, nothing too crazy.”

Just then, Aaron registered that his body was hungry. He looked toward the food table.  “What dish did you bring?”

Nicole smiled.  “Bacon-wrapped rolls. What did you bring?”

“Coleslaw. It's my grandmother’s recipe, the only thing I know how to make from memory,” Aaron confessed.

“What do you say we taste each other’s dishes?”

Aaron smiled.  “I’d like that.”

Together they went to the food table,  to get plates.  There were some loud engineers arguing about something to do with engineering, one of them only held a bottle of soda, the other was about to drop his plate of beans because he was too busy trying to win the argument.

Aaron had to look away, he could already feel the stims wailing at the mask he held in place.  He didn’t realize some had slipped out until Nicole said his name firmly, her hand hovering near his back but not touching.  He blinked his pale eyes at her.  “He’s going to drop his plate, plate, he’s…” he then echoed the word ‘plate’ several times over, the stim ticking out of him.  Nicole looked around to see the engineers and the plate.  She calmly went over and with a disarming smile, diffused the argument and made sure the plate didn’t spill.  And just like that, the situation was de-escalated. 

Aaron’s breathing calmed to normal levels. Nicole returned and suggested they get a spot to sit where there weren’t a lot of people sitting just then. Aaron agreed. They sat and ate quietly for a while.

“Do you like them?”

“The rolls? Yes, ingenious. They are delicious.”

“One of the meals I learned to make when I was on tour.  You get protein and carbs in one go. Efficient.”

“Efficiency is good. I like efficient things.”

“I imagine so. It would be hard to work in IT otherwise, wouldn’t it?”

“Heh. Yes, I suppose so.”

Aaron found his eyes dropping to her full lips, and his body started to react, immediately. He was getting an erection, he looked away but it didn’t stop the heat and flush to his very pale face revealing his embarrassment.  He closed his eyes.

“I am so sorry,”  he confessed awkwardly.

“For what?”  Nicole asked as she scraped the last of the coleslaw in her mouth. 

“I… nothing I… need to go.” He got up and stumbled off down the hallway to the public bathroom on the work floor that was left open while the party was in full swing. He splashed water on his face and tried to calm his breathing down.  The erection was at full mast and aching. He groaned. 

The sound of the door opening made him gasp softly and then hide in the only available stall in the men’s room.  He did his best to keep quiet.  

Nicole, not caring about gender rules, had followed Aaron into the men’s room. She went to the stall and knocked. Aaron’s heart sped up in his anxiety.  And the anxiety also made his bladder realize he was in proximity of a toilet.  His erection wasn’t softening either.  He closed his eyes and pressed a hand over his crotch.  

“Aaron, it’s Nicole,” she said. 

“I-I will be out in a minute,”  he said in a tense and nervous voice.

“I just want you to know you don’t have to be embarrassed. It’s a perfectly normal reaction.”

“I s-said I will be out in a minute.”

Nicole sighed, but then left him in the men’s room and stood outside in the hallway, looking at her phone, idly.  

Figuring he may as well,  once he heard her footsteps leave,  he unzipped and took a leak. He was still hard, he gently stroked until he came into the toilet. barely making a sound. The tension left his body. He smiled to himself when he thought about how many times when he was at work that he actually did this very thing. Then he washed his hands and splashed more water on his face, before exiting,  and finding to his dread, she was standing right there, waiting for him.  He felt his anxiety rise again. “You d-didn’t have to--”  he started to explain before she interrupted him to kiss his cheek.

Aaron stared at her wide-eyed and confused.  “What is going on, Nicole?”

“Do you want to come over to my apartment, Aaron?”

“For what?”

“Well, for sex.”

“Oh! Well… okay.  I … yes.”

Nicole smiled.  “Let me get my coat.”

That night, Aaron gave himself the unexpected holiday gift of companionship. He followed her to her apartment.  It was 26 stoplights and one and a half highways away. He counted. Her apartment was clean and warm. Very minimalist.  She took her shoes off at the door and asked him to do the same. 

“Do you want some wine, Aaron?”

“Oh, does that… make the sex better?”

Nicole laughed.  “I actually don’t know. Wait. Have you never had sex?”

“No.  Never.”

She set the wine down.  Her face sobered.  “You’re a virgin.”

“Yes, I am.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-eight.”

Nicole smiled.  “Well I consider it an honor to be your first,” she said. 
Aaron seemed to relax hearing that. Like he was afraid his lack of experience would be a deal-breaker for her.  “H-How old are you?”
She smiled.  “Thirty-One. But I have lots of experience.”
“That’s good,” Aaron said. Then Nicole closed the distance and kissed him on the lips this time, and he kissed back with a soft moan. His hands tentatively went to rest on her hips.  He really liked her lips, they were full and soft and tasted faintly of the coleslaw he made.  He was getting excited again.  He broke the kiss to look at her face. 

“I don’t… have protection.”

“There are condoms in my bedroom, C’mon,” she said and held her hand out to him and guided him to her room. It also was simple, a dresser,  and a queen-sized bed with a nightstand that had an alarm clock.  She went to that nightstand, opened the drawer on it, and took out a condom for him. 

He took it and swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. “I am a little nervous.”

“S'okay.  The first time is always a little like that. But there is no rush. We have the next two days off work, remember? If you want, you can spend those days here with me, practicing as much as you want. I have  plenty of condoms, and  there is a convenience store across the street if we run out.”

Aaron made a soft laugh sound.  “You are optimistic.”

“More like very horny and a little lonely,  And you are very, very attractive.”

Aaron blushed.  “Thank you.  So are you.”

Nicole ran a hand over her nearly buzzed scalp, over the short fuzz of dark hair, and then over the scar on her cheek and smiled at him.  “Thanks.”  it was the first time all night she let herself express how insecure she felt.  Aaron liked that. That glimpse of this being a vulnerable thing for her too.  

“Can I see you?”

She smiled and took off her shirt,  and then pants, and socks and stood before him in just her underwear. There was a scar across her abdomen.  And then she took off her panties and revealed she was shaved down there, just a landing strip of hair that lead to her navel or would have if it wasn’t off-center from the scar.  And then she took off her bra.  She looked shy and nervous herself now. The bra fell to the ground to reveal that she only had one fully formed breast, the other was gone, just a scar left in its wake. 

Before Aaron could say anything or ask questions,  Nicole said.  “Your turn. Let me see you.”

He gave a nervous nod and then started to unfasten his jeans, and pull out his tucked-in shirt.  Unbuttoning each button slowly, he took it off,  then took off the undershirt,  and stood,  to take off his pants and boxers. He gathered his clothes so they were all in one spot at the foot of the bed, and turned to face her. She was smiling at him. He smiled nervously back.  And closed the distance to kiss her again. 

“Do you Dutchmen have a lot of stamina?”

“I cannot speak for all Dutchmen, but I hope I do, And if I don’t, then we have a few days to help me build it, right?”

“Right,” Nicole said with a smile.  She handed him the condom,  “Put this on before we get so lust-filled we forget about it.”

“Good idea,”  Aaron said with a laugh in his voice. He opened the condom with his teeth and then slid it on his rock-hard boner. 

Nicole moved to the bed and positioned herself on all fours. Her ass toward him. 

Upon seeing her like that, Aaron gasped, “Oh my goodness. This is really about to happen, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. I didn’t want to do the missionary position,  I did that for my first time,  I learned I like this position best.”

Aaron made a sort of incoherent sound as he fumbled for his English.  “Yes, yes,  I think this is a very good position.”

He slowly climbed onto the bed.  “This one?” he asked as he nudged the head of his cock awkwardly against her vaginal entry.   

“Yes. that one. You can try the other one later.”

“Okay,” he held his breath, anxiously, as he moved to thrust inside her. After fumbling twice from his nervousness and how slippery the condom was against her very wet opening, he was in. He groaned softly with a stuttered sigh. His hand flailed to grip her hip as his own hips seemed to have a mind of their own and started a steady thrust slow and hard into her.  “Ohhh wow, you feel really good.”

“You can speed up a little if you want?”  Nicole moaned the words out.

“Oh,  oh kay,  maybe… in a minute.  I… need… to make sure I….”

He hit her spot and Nicole groaned in such a way that drew his attention.  His eyes snapped to how the top half of her body was melting onto the bedspread. The hand he could see was gripping the comforter.  

He hit that spot again and she made that groan again.  His breathing was fast and his mind focused.  He wanted her to keep making that sound so he kept at it.  Over and over and over again before he knew it, she was chanting that melting groan sound and nearly tearing the blanket off of its hospital corner. 

“Ohhhh, I’m going to cum,  I’m going to cuuuu-- ohhh, Aaron!” She wailed as her body curled and arched and trembled around him.  His eyes blinked rapidly and he lost control of his rhythm.

His mind went blank when his own orgasm hit. He just felt good all over. He could feel the warm fluid of his cum squishing around his cock  in the condom.   He couldn’t stop trembling, he doubled over on top of her, his hips half fucking her still, with a mind of their own, as the aftershocks pumped the last drops into the condom and he swore softly in Dutch into her sweat-slick shoulder blades.  

“That was very good," she panted. "I think I need some water before we try again. Are you okay back there?”

Aaron groaned.  “Yes,  oh yes, I am very okay.” 

He pulled out and then rolled over on his back, taking the condom off and awkwardly setting it on the bed. He looked over at her as she moved to curl up next to him, her brown scarred body and brightly happy eyes,  locked on to his pale eyes that looked startled with their dilated pupils.  “You’ll remember me, won’t you?  After our Holiday fun is over.  You’ll remember me, right?”

“I have an eidetic memory.   I will remember your every detail.”  Aaron said matter of factly.

Nicole nodded and smiled a bittersweet smile and then her face twisted and she started to cry. 

Aaron instinctively moved closer.  “What’s the matter?”

“Got an email the other day,  my cancer is back.  I'm so afraid.  I'm afraid it will take me and not just my other breast.”

He ran his hand over her shoulder as she covered her face in her hands, vulnerable and raw,  she cried in front of the man she just deflowered. Because she couldn’t help it.  She couldn’t help it. Aaron’s touch as he caressed her in silence was almost paternal. 

“Nicole?”

“Yes, sorry, I don’t mean to be blubbering all over you like this.  Fuck.  I’m such a mess.”

She sat up and started to reach for something to wipe her face. 

He let her grab at clothes and things to feel safe again. To not feel so exposed or insecure and open. Choosing his next words carefully, “My father is an oncologist,”  he said simply.

She turned around and just stared at him.  He continued, “The Top Oncological Surgeon in Delft, where I am from. I could call him,  see if he can make time to  take your case?”

“You would do that for me?”

Aaron gave a bittersweet smile. “Cancer survivors have to stick together.  I had Leukemia as a teen.  He didn’t rest till I was cancer-free.   Cancer took his brother,  my uncle when he was around the age I had it.  He is very dedicated to his patients.  I am living proof of that.”

“But you’re his son. Why would he care about some  Dishonorably Discharged  American Veteran?”  

“Because," he stated and paused, trying to find the English to go on. He looked up at her face, giving her eye contact, he continued, "I would be very sad if you died before I got to know you.  And I want to know everything.  Every single story.  Every detail about you. And if you are that important to me,  you’d be that important to him.”

Nicole went and sat next to him on the bed. She kissed his cheek again.  “Thank you, Aaron,  I would like that. I could use all the help I can get.” 

“Time zone is not optimal to call him right now. But my next opportunity, I will make the call.  For right now, we can just enjoy the moment, and maybe now we can try that wine?”

“Sounds good.”

She got up to go to the kitchen, grabbing her robe to wrap around her as she did so.  Aaron grabbed his boxers and tugged them on and followed her out.  She poured two glasses of red wine.  Then raised her glass up to make a toast. 

“To Happiness. May we live long enough to cultivate as much as we can!”

“To Happiness,”  he seconded. 

They clinked their glasses and took a sip.  And as she was setting her glass down on the counter, she looked past Aaron to see that it was snowing outside from her living room window.  

Together, almost wordlessly, they went over to stare out the window and watch the snowfall.  Looking up at the sky and down below the stories to the cars on the ground.   As she was looking up, Aaron looked toward her and moved to hold her hand. She felt his hand grab hers and she held his hand back and then turned to look at him.  She smiled. 

“How do you say snow, in Dutch?”

He laughed. “It’s basically the same as in English. Just spelled differently,” he said a bit evasively. 

Nicole smiled.  “I wish I could remember the word for snow in Hindi,” she said almost forlornly.

Aaron squeezed her hand gently.  “Tell me, do you even celebrate Christmas?”

Nicole shook her head.  “No, I’m a lapsed Hindu.  What about you?”

“I’m a fifth-generation Atheist.” 

There was a slightly awkward pause before they both burst out laughing for several long minutes.   And then Aaron took a final swig of his wine glass he held in his free hand. Nicole turned to look at him. "Ready for round two?" she asked.

"Yes, please. Can I try the other hole?"

"Yes, yes you can. Just let me get the lubricant from my bedroom, I wanna do it by the window so we can watch the snowfall."

Aaron watched her jog to the bedroom to get the lube, and when she came back, he was sitting on the couch that was facing the window, stroking his cock slowly. She smiled, and set the lube on the side table. "How about a two for one special?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Without another word, she got to her knees and took his cock in her mouth.

"Ohh! Oh, yes, that's good. That's v-very good," Aaron sighed out the words with a soft sigh as his toes curled on the rug and his inner thigh trembled slightly nearly in counterpoint with the bob of her head as if they were making their own music where their very bodies were their instruments...