A loud, thounderous knock on the door distracted Michael from the action on his TV screen. He hit the Pause button on his PS4 controller, slid his cordless headset off his ears to rest on his nape, and granted his roommate entrance by shouting out the permission.

Nathan, Michael's best friend and longtime roommate, opened the door, and started talking in a seeming hurry: “Listen, bro, I gotta hit the road. I won't be back till, like, nine or so. I know this comes on short notice, but it's really important. Jessie just texted...”

By hearing the name of his besty's girlfriend, Michael's mind trailed off to picture her appearance, angelic to his eyes, and soon lost track of his friend's monologue. Nathan and her had been together before the former and Michael moved into their 800 square feet top-floor apartment with generous southward balcony that overlooked Zürich's skyline from the very heart of the city.

Both being master students affiliated to ETH Zürich – one of the world's top ten engineering academies according to Times Higher Education World University Rankings – they could consider themselves very lucky to be able to afford an apartment in this select neighborhood of one of the most expensive cities at the time being. Needless to say that Nathan's uncle being the estate agent of what they called their humble abode had played a substantial role in picking their dwelling place, given the typical Swiss student's financial situation.

As it had so often been the case while listening, Michael lost track of his roomie's words after a mere few lines, for listening had never been his strong suit. As Nathan proceeded explaining his plans, Michael kept on thinking of Jessica as he so often did. He had, in fact, never been able to listen to anyone for more than barely a few words, let alone complete sentences before losing himself in his own little dream world and being incapable of tracking back the conversation – a flaw that had cost him his one and only serious girlfriend after a few weeks not even worth mentioning, as well as a sheer endless list of potential mating partners.

With his abilities to imagine entire standalone universes and to perform exceedingly well in conceiving the most complex computer algorithms from scratch being his only talents – and also being well-aware of his pronounced introversion – he invested a greater effort into his looks. This way, he thought, he would at least make the impression of being a orderly and well-groomed person and show some self-respect.

Of course had Michael's absent-mindedness not passed unnoticed with Nathan. For this reason, the latter used to leave handwritten instructions hanging on the whiteboard they had acquired for communicative purposes mostly. Yet, on this particular day, Nathan was in such a hurry to leave, he had so far not found the time to put his explanations to paper. For this reason, while still rattling down his exact plans for the day, in his mind he hoped, he wished, he prayed even his roommate would listen to him this one time.

“You got this?” he asked, getting a determined nod as a response.

Michael's reaction put Nathan partly at ease, as the former usually did not react at all. Although not entirely convinced his friend had actually gotten the message, he decided to leave the apartment with his mind still repeatedly expressing its incertitudes.

Once alone in his dwelling, Michael tried to reconstruct his besty's instructions – in vain, of course. Then again, this had never been a particularly outstanding ability of his. This was one of the very few times he cursed himself for his innate lack of genuine interest for other people's words. He checked the whiteboard for his roomie's usual note, even, but failed to find it, obviously. Since Nathan used said mean of communication to write any important messages or instructions on, Michael misinterpreted the lack of such as Nathan's earlier soliloquy not to be all too crucial after all. Little did he know that this decision would set the ball rolling for a chain of unlikely, yet fateful events.

Michael headed back to his room, still lost in thoughts about Jessica, Nathan's girlfriend.

Owing to his close to eidetic memory and his ease in handling his imagination, he easily pictured her with all her female appeals in any imaginable stage of being dressed – or not. He couldn't deny sensing a mutual attraction he shared with this sexy beauty, yet he was all too aware of the prize at stake, should he ever jeopardize not only his roommate's love life, but also the privileges he benefited from having Nathan as his best friend – their beneficial housing situation not being the only one of them. Still, he knew that, should he ever find himself in this unfavorable situation, being alone with Jessica would eventually lead to the inevitable and unforgivable.

How he knew she had a weak spot for him as well, one may ask? Often enough had he observed her throwing unambiguous glances at him; glances that spoke volumes about what the fantasy of her own was picturing for the two of them. Her body language as well signaled a wanton desire growing in her loins when she sheepishly giggled while talking to him, nervously slid her hair out of her face when looking at him or pressed her soft bosom harder than necessary to his chest when hugging him. He knew she was a sucker for the abstracted kind of guy – found his constant dreamy state of absent-mindedness utmost romantic even. More than once had she expressed keen interest in having him show her his very own little – or rather immeasurable – imaginary universe.

Never had he quite understood what she found in him, given her boyfriend was smart, kind, good-looking, proved of great manners and had to be an amazing lover, judging from the deafening moans he caused Jessica to orgasm with. A secret crush, maybe? Who does not have them every once in a while, independently of their current relationship status?

His mind still circling around questions, scenarios and balancing their rather questionable likeliness, he tried to resume his ongoing round of Battlefield 4, another of his many talents that were not of significant usefulness in modern competition- and productivity-oriented society.

After losing his third round in a row due to dumb mistakes usually only the oh-so-disreputable n00bs were able to pull off, he found himself still distracted by the countless scenarios that filled his otherwise brilliant mind almost without gap. In other words: he had to admit that he had grown a set of affectionate feelings for this particular girl over time the more he thought about her. It was not exactly love, however, for too well did his conscience distinguish between hormonal matters and social boundaries that were not to be overstepped.

He shut his PS4 down and put on his favorite record on his antique Lenco 75 his father had bequeathed him. Whenever he seemed unable to keep his mind from drifting away, he would make use of his record player and dig his nose into a book while listening to the soothing sounds of his favorites from his considerable record collection. This being the case rather often, spinning records had become a ritual of almost meditative signification.

He grabbed the record, inspected the cover artwork and swiped the few traces of dust off its surface with his bare hand. He let the liner slide from the gatefold cover into his hand, pinched the very rim of the record with two fingers and gently took it out of its liner. With both hands, he carefully placed the small hole over the spindle and let the vinyl disc slide onto the platter. Before elegantly flicking the on-switch, he put on his high-end headphones, and adjusted the volume control wheel on his stereo that predated him by far as the notice made in West Germany so evidently stated . With his thumb, he gently lifted the tone-arm and placed it on the groove, which instantly sent the characteristic crackling any record plays before the beginning of the first song through the headphones.

Michael grabbed his copy of Lovecraft's short story collection about the Call of Cthulhu and threw himself on the bed as the first beats of the slow, yet driving rhythms of the atmospheric sounds that aided him dive ever so deeply into his book's fantastic universe came to his ears.

Lulled by the crystal clear sounds his cordless headset provided, he had completely immersed into his book within seconds. As he read page after page of t his most thrilling work of classic horror literature , he was completely numb to the world outside his solitary shell. Neither did he hear the apartment door being opened, nor the hello that was shouted by a familiar female voice into the void of the hallway of his shared home he so cherished.

Since the music was so well arranged on the record that one could not easily make out the transitions between the individual pieces unless one payed great attention to it, the A-side of the record passed without Michael noticing. Oblivious to the long and sudden silence, he finished his chapter to realize his headset was not playing anything but the crackling as well as the periodic bump that signaled the idling cycle at the end of the disc's groove. He thus got up to flip the record and let the needle trace its B-side. That was when he noticed he needed to use the restroom.

His mind still lost in Lovecraft's fantastic world, Michael slowly went down the hallway, savoring the effect the drawn-out, arching melodies had on his dreamy mind. For this reason, he was too distracted to notice the light that shun through the tiny slit between the bathroom door and its frame, and his headphones did not allow him to hear the low humming of the ventilator – two usually foolproof telltale signs that on any other occasion would have yelled to him not to enter the bathroom, for it was occupied.

He grabbed the handle and pushed the door open to find Jessica freeing herself of her clothes, surprised by the unexpected invader. She was unhooking her bra and about to free her, to Michael's eyes, magnificent breasts from their confinement as the door squeaked open. Caught off guard by Michael's sudden intrusion, she let her bra slide down her arms and fall on to the pile of clothes that had gathered to her feet before realizing what she was doing, leaving her in nothing but her cotton panties; and these were but a petty excuse for an actual garment.

Michael, shocked to have walked in on his roommate's practically nude girlfriend, had his eyes transfixed to hers. His mind for once blank – yet unable to process the situation – he just stood on the bathroom's threshold and didn't as much as even dare to move, nor to speak. He nervously tried to swallow the growing lump in his throat, but failed from having a bone-dry mouth. It began dawning on him, nonetheless, that he found himself in precisely this upmost dangerous situation he dreaded with great fear.

Even as Jessica slowly stepped towards him – her facial expression, alike his: non-assignable – and ever so laggardly lifted her hands to his headphones, his eyes did not move from hers.

She took his headset from his ears, slowly flipped it and placed it over her own. She felt her ears nestle against the comfortable, soft pads before she as well indulged in the lulling sounds of the music her boyfriend's roommate chose to listen to. Letting her thoughts drift into the comforting realm of the calming sounds, she pulled Michael close and pushed the bathroom door shut.

Encouraged by her gentle pull, he stepped right in front of her close enough to feel the softness of her bare breasts through the fabric of his flannel shirt. He only came to halt as he felt the warmth of her lips radiating on his that were merely inches away.

They barely touched, shyly brushed, gently caressed and finally allowed more daring kisses.

Michael and Jessica parted to look into each other's eager, yet hesitant eyes. He slid the headphones off her ears again and placed them next to the sink all the while Jessica was opening his shirt one button at a time. Once Michael was topless, a short glance of mutual hesitation was exchanged, yet their eyes could not hide the fact that both were aching to explore each other's bodies. A short nod of consent was thus all it needed for them to lock their lips and release weeks, months, years even of desire held restrained by the ever present awareness of the consequences borne by such a fling.

With all doubts vanished, they tasted each other's lips before letting their tongues dance in a harmonious waltz of lust. Their hands searched, caressed, fondled, scratched; n o body part was left unexplored. Soon Michael's hands came to rest on Jessica's curvy buttocks which he grasped determinedly , making Jessica squeal with playful giggles . His desire only fueled by her sexy vocal expressions of approval, he kissed her neck, bit her, gently sucked on her skin, having briefly forgotten whom he was pleasuring.

She suddenly snapped back to her senses and shoved him away.

“No, you can't give me a hickey, silly!” exclaimed Jessica, reminding Michael she was his best friend's girl.

He smiled apologetically, yet a tad bitterly, afraid he had turned off the beauty in the bathroom by with absent-mindedness.

He looked at her through discouraged eyes.

“How stupid of me. I should be going, I, uh... guess,” he said with a hesitant, yet submissive timbre and his eyes sadly looking at the wall.

He was already about to turn around and walk away as Jessica seized his hand to make him stay.

She placed a playful peck on his lips, smiled, and said: “Stop it, silly. Nathan isn't here, and he won't be back for a while, so why don't you just finish what you started?”

Michael thought he had heard a distant tone of hesitation in her voice, but decided to ignore it, for too great was the temptation to prey on this uttermost delicate situation he had gotten himself into. He thus decided to free himself of all his remaining garments to grant Jessica the long-awaited view of his well-groomed male body.

To say she was surprised to find him in such an exemplary shape would be a gross understatement. She was visibly dumbfound by what Michael had to offer despite his introversion and his being seemingly lost in his own little world all the time. Not only his kempt appearance amazed her, also his physique , testifying of a great investment in his air , appealed greatly to her.

She closed her mouth that was wide agape in admiration for this – to her view – exquisite male body. She ogled him through sultry eyes, their flaming sparkle not allowing any doubt about what she desired most in this instant.

She stepped into the shower, making sure her buttocks wiggle d in a way that addressed Michael's most basic instincts. Not entirely up to the situation, Michael backpedaled, however, and decided to give a shot at thinking it through again, although fully conscious of the danger brought by his tendency to drift back into his solitary shell and thus ruin the entire tension. Yet, before being able to even phrase his concern on rethinking the situation, his train of thought had chosen to take another, more adventurous track, threatening to let t his great misgiving of his occur .

“Hey, sleepy head! Come on in already!” demanded Jessica suddenly, making Michael come to his senses again and join her at once.

She greeted him with a surprise jet of pleasantly warm water to his face and delighted laughter. Then she mounted the shower head back to its clamp above both their heads.

Michael slowly, yet determinedly approached her to place his hands on her hips. He drank in the sight of the water running over her head and the droplets crawling all over her face, her collarbone, her grapefruit-sized breasts, down to her navel he found so sexy whenever she wore a belly top on summer days, down the “V” that narrowed in her crotch on which he was pleased to find a trimmed patch of auburn curls, and finally down her shapely toned legs to her feet.

Jessica was pleased to see him so mesmerized by her build . While he was obviously capturing her every square inch of skin in his mind for later memories to feed on , she gently caressed his face and his neck. Then, o nce Michael was done eyeballing, she bit her bottom lip, grasped a handful of his hair, and pulled him – yanked him actually – close to plant a kiss that let Michael forget all his questions and let him immerse into the coming moments of intimacy to share with his cohabitant's girlfriend.

Not even willing to try fighting the basic urges Jessica appealed deeply within Michael, despite their forbidden nature – or better: because of it – he kissed her back; allowed his tongue to slide past her lips to search for hers even. Their hands roamed in caresses and gentle rubs over each other's bodies in a quest for the spots that maximized the counterpart's desire and pleasure.

Soon they found mere kisses were not able to deliver the release longed for, so they began tracing each other's skin with their lips. They started with each other's necks, kissing them, licking them, letting their teeth sink into them. Although being consumed by their lust, they payed great attention not to leave any of the suggestive suction marks that would instantly give away their unforgivable dirty little secret to the eyes of Nathan.

With every kiss shared in the rising clouds of steam, they approached the inevitable in quick steps; with every caress, their ardor was amplified towards the impending climax; with every touch a moan more filled with desire than the preceding escaped from between their lips. They stood close to each other, rubbing their bodies together in the search for mutual release. The ever present danger of Nathan coming home unexpectedly early and finding out about their carnal escapade looming and thickening the tension had little effect on their conscience save fuel ing the fire they felt burning in their loins.

Aroused by the forbidden nature of their unforeseen encounter, willing to savor it, they refrained from their explorations to steal another glance at their soaked bodies.

Wickedly grinning, Jessica grabbed her bottle of shower gel, poured a handful into her palm and smeared it over Michael's chest. She let her slippery hands glide down his hips, reached further down and behind him to soap his buttocks all the while letting her tongue brush his lips to ask for his to join into the dance of French kissing.

Michael broke the kiss and reached for the bottle of liquid soap too. His targets for the viscid liquid, were Jessica's breasts on which he spread the scented slippery gel avidly, evidently amused by the way her orbs slipped through his palms. Low, yet pleased moans emanated from between her lips and she slowly lay her head back to show Michael how much she enjoyed his ministrations on her breasts, how much she wanted him to touch her, have his hands play with her chest, his fingers pinch her nipples. He only obliged to her urges with the fire of lust burning in his eyes.

Despite the lewd desire they shared, they took their time soaping each other,that is, srubbing away the last remaining worries about the cheating on Nathan they were on the point to commit. The feeling of the counterpart's soapy hands on every square inch of skin was pleasurably thrilling. The more they retarded the yet inevitable events, the more they grew horny beyond the point where simple touching and caressing could ever deliver the quenching of their shared desire for the sweet release of the climax they were both so meticulously building up.

Jessica then unhooked the shower head to wash the soap from Michael's body. With the lather being rinsed off him, she started her study of his body with her lips anew, tracing her way down a very distinct path.

As she kissed her way down from his chest, over his belly towards his loins, knelt down in front of him and firmly wrapped her fingers around his throbbing manhood all the while biting her bottom lip and licking her upper lip by turns , yet never breaking eye contact, Michael suddenly grew aware of the gravity of what was about to happen and the betrayal they were about to commit. Jessica slowly approached her lips to his glans as Michael made her stop.

“No,” he said, “we shouldn't be doing this. I can't do this. Not to Nathan.”

She backed off and stood up again. Michael could see the regret growing in her eyes. She pressed her lips together, then nibbled on her bottom lip. She was obviously fighting for words, struggling to get her feelings straight, for she knew Michael was right, yet could sense that he as well was not entirely at ease with the decision to prevent this course of events before the boundaries to this outmost dire act of betrayal were overstepped.

“Let's... uh... Let's just... err... rinse that soap off you and get out, okay?” Michael asked.

With her arms protectively, yet insecurely crossed before her chest and her eyes staring into the blankness of space, Jessica slowly nodded her head in affirmation, and tried to mouth a yes, but her voice failed.

Michael took the shower head and started pouring water all over her body. He started with her hair. He let the water run over her head while caressing her face with his free hand. She slowly eased off and closed her eyes, enjoying the warm stream and Michaels gentle touch. She knew his touch was meant to be comforting rather than as a sexual innuendo.

Soon she approached Michael again to rest her head on his chest and indulge in a warm and soothing embrace before regressing to reality, all the while he kept on pouring the warm water over her back.

He hooked the shower head back to its clamp, and reached for the tap, but was interrupted in his actions.

“Don't turn off the water,” said Jessica.

Michael looked at her, not sure of what she was trying to tell him.

“Please. If you turn off the water and step out of the bathtub, this will be over.” She paused. “And I don't want it to end already. I want it to last just for a little longer.”

Michael wrapped his arms around her as well and tugged her closer. The both of them stood under the running water for another minute or two before exchanging one last hunger-filled look and giving in to the need to enjoy the warmth and softness of the counterpart's lips. A shy, yet long lasting kiss; a gentle sucking and nibbling.

They parted, turned off the water, toweled themselves off, and went to their respective rooms. No more glances were exchanged, no more words spoken; they just regaled on the brief instant of intimacy they had shared.

Later that evening, Nathan knocked on Michael's door.

“Yo, Mike. I found these in the bathroom,” the former stated, handing the latter back his cordless headphones, “dude, you really need to get your shit together, man.”

“Sure, man, whatever,” replied Michael wearing a subtle, sly grin when remembering how the headphones had ended up there.

Although they never exchanged as much as a word of this incident they had known to prevent – or not, depending on the point of view – deep within their hearts, yet faintly, Michael and Jessica knew they had stirred an utmost unsatisfied beast. A beast that demanded feeding, that preyed on the remaining subconscious craving for each other. Little did they know of the full magnitude of the consequences that came with their mutual fling; consequences that would only start unfolding years later.

To be continued...