The physical passed uneventfully. I sat on a patient bed in a small room allowing people with lab coats to enter and take various measurements. Mostly, I was in a daze from how great I felt between the time I spent with Maria and Goth3 earlier. One awkward moment was letting a young male doctor with an Indian accent take exact measurements of my horse cock in its flaccid form. He stood there and passed me a porn magazine, expecting me to jerk off until I reached a full erection in his presence so he could measure that too.
Yeah right! I asked him to leave the room, which he did. Then, I pumped it to full with my trusty mobile porn stash. That mag was really old and the models, though they were hot, all had hairstyles from the 80s and 90s, which I was not in the mood to see. Clearly, there was an uneven distribution of funding internally within the HHS if they couldn't get something more up to date than that. A little improvisation and they'd surely be able to solve something like this. All the stuff I watched and read was free.
I called him back in once it was up and he took the measurements. Every year, I get a physical, and every time I can never get over how strange it is for a man to handle my junk. This time was particularly uncomfortable because a man touched my erection for the first time. I wasn't homophobic, but I had to admit it only felt less weird when I briefly imagined the doctor as a girl. Seeing his scientific fascination with my freak mutation, I gave him a pointed glare, which managed to shoo him away sooner.
I left the doctor's office with a workout schedule and diet sheet that I would have to follow at home. The exercise schedule was tailored to me so it considered the cardio I already do and added calisthenics on top of that. The diet sheet basically told me to reduce portion sizes on junk food, eat more protein, and drink tons of water. They were more like guidelines than mandates, but I wanted to follow them in order to excel at the job. The other Fixers looked like overachievers, so I had to catch up. All of it was easily doable if I cut down on the gaming and put my mind to it.
It was nearly 4 PM, so I made a beeline for the lobby. There I saw Monica being talkative as usual and my girlfriend was listening to her. While listening, Maria was looking around periodically. Almost like she sensed my gaze, she turned her head towards mine and our eyes locked together.
Before this, there was a definite series of coincidences drawing us together, but at that moment, I knew there was also chemistry between us. For all I knew, it might be the sort of chemistry that always occurs between two people in their first relationship, driven by a shared sense of excitement and expectations for the future. Or it could be a sign that we were soulmates! My brain was constantly attempting to throw out the former dispassionate analysis and stick to the latter soulmate hypothesis as smiles spread across both our faces.
I approached them and said, "Hey Maria. Hey Monica."
Monica stroked my arm once in a friendly manner and said, "Hey lover boy." She then burst into giggles, which sent her tits into vibrate mode. My eyes were captured, but I promptly made my escape.
Maria blushed and replied, "Hi Tom." She grabbed my hand and shuffled a little closer to me. My smile widened. I guess I had Monica to thank for Maria's initiative in marking her territory.
Monica did not seem to pay much attention. She was looking around for the others and chattering away, "You guys look gorgeous together. Make sure you communicate properly, m'kay? Just the other day, I saw some childhood sweethearts I knew from high school on Facebook. They broke up airing dirty laundry all over each others' timelines. I was like.. yall wilding!"
Noticing our awkward looks, Monica laughed it off and continued, "Don't worry dearies. That won't be you two. Y'all are the first Fixer couple in our batch! That's good luck, for real. You guys are gonna be like a.. a super hung Aladdin and less stripper-y Jasmine! A Monica-approved bonafide Disney pairing. The resemblance is there, trust me. Come Halloween, I'll be mad if I don't see it. Gurl, I can help you find a Jasmine dress with more skin coverage. Lover boy, I'll get you a special set of baggy pants. My aunt can sew anything in a jiffy!"
Both Maria and I were burning up, too flustered to interject in Monica's monologue. We both heaved a sigh of relief when we spotted Sagar, Keith, and Jill approach. "Hey guys." I raised one hand over to the other three, mainly to redirect Monica's attention away from her random Arabian fixation.
Keith's long legs carried him to us first and he said, "Hey chaps,"
Sagar and Jill were just behind him and they nodded in greeting. Keith asked, "Reckon we chat here for a few or head straight to Jill's?"
Monica said in a slightly suggestive tone, "Oh darling, you know me. I'm just peachy either way." Chuckling, Keith returned a naughty wink.
Maria spoke up, "Let's go to Jill's. I'm eager to get out of these masks."
"We should avoid most of the traffic if we leave sooner." said Sagar in agreement.
Jill delivered a picture-perfect smile, waved, and said, "See you all soon."
We all exchanged temporary goodbyes and headed out to the parking garage. Now that it was just us, I felt much more comfortable. Still holding Maria's hand, I squeezed it and asked, "What did you think of your first day?"
Maria hummed and softly replied, "It was nice. My Mentor is super famous, so it was a little overwhelming." Then she looked up at me and said, "These feelings too. I've never felt like this before."
I parroted, "Me neither." with a big smile.
Maria looked at me curiously and asked, "You aren't scared?"
Despite her lack of elaboration, I fully understood the meaning and implications behind her question and it made me really happy to hear her asking it. She was scared of her new feelings. On top of the loss of the status quo, any person with a previously fulfilling life would be scared if they found themselves inexplicably attracted to someone else. The possibility that their target of attraction, after noticing or receiving their affection, might turn it down or trample on it at any time was bloodcurdling. Romantic relationships always involve risk.
I replied after gathering my thoughts, "I am scared, but no matter what happens, it will have been worth it." That was the honest truth in my mind. My life had been entirely bland before Maria and she brought color to it. Even if we don't work out in the end, I'll always think of her fondly for showing me this new side of life and for triggering whatever portion of my brain is responsible for my current happiness.
Maria's slightly worried face shifted to a smile. She squeezed my hand back and said, "Maybe you're right. Are you always this cheesy, lover boy?"
We laughed together and the mood became more casual. When she finished giggling, she asked, "Is Carol expecting us home by some time?"
Woops. Most of my time out of the house in the evenings was either with my mom or on short solo errands, so I never even considered telling my mom that I had plans and might not be home when she gets back. These were the sorts of things that I'd have to remember if I was going to have a proper social life going forward. "Let me text her about it." I messaged my mom about all the Fixers hanging out at Jill's house, specifically that we would probably eat there and get home late.
We soon arrived at the car. I unlocked the doors and felt reluctant to let go of her hand, even for a moment. For sure, I was deep in the throes of romantic idiocy. However high my Intelligence Quotient (IQ) was, my Emotional Quotient (EQ) was nowhere close.
All my mind wanted to do was touch her, kiss her, and eventually go further. Letting go of her hand so she could get in the passenger seat was an inevitability, but a possessive streak suddenly made this mundane action seem distasteful to me. So I did the same thing she did after lunch. I pulled our masks off and claimed her lips. Maybe I wanted an advance payment of affection; maybe I wanted to satisfy the dryness in my mouth; maybe I just wanted to eat her up.
She had a distinct style of kissing where she would put her hands on my chest to allow her to feel up my body, but also allow her to push me away at any time. Like earlier, our tongues explored each other's mouths with curiosity and passion. She pushed me back against the hood of the car, but leaned forward onto me so our lips were still locked.
I had to admit, this partially seated pose was more comfortable because I didn't have to bend down as far and she didn't have to raise her head up. Was she utilizing her Fixing speciality of 'Empathy' or simple common sense? I didn't know, but either way, I liked her consideration. I was prone to neglect almost everything other than the feel, taste, sounds, and smell of her body while kissing her. I only opened my eyes to check the surroundings and to keep my balance.
While smooching, I was in awe at the length and flexibility of her tongue more than anything else. When Maria pulled back, I had a raging boner, which was painful, but I had temporarily satisfied my possessive streak enough to let go of her hand. Thoroughly blushing, she said, "Let's beat the traffic first and maybe we can.. You know."
Alright! I rushed for the driver's seat. She successfully enticed me with the way she left that statement open-ended. I could tell it was unintentional and she probably only intended to continue kissing because her expression while opening the passenger door was an adorably innocent smile. My imagination had us doing other things. Upon sitting down, I once again winced in pain, which Maria noticed this time. She must have also noticed my plating while pressed against my body, because she said with concern, "Does it hurt a lot? Should I drive instead?"
I returned a smile and said, "I'm fine." while starting the car.
Sensing that I was dodging the point, Maria objected, "No, you're still in pain." Of course, I hadn't lied to her. Technically, I was fine to drive, but not at all comfortable. She stared at my crotch for a moment, seemingly considering possible solutions. This did not exactly help the situation on my end, but I distracted myself by pulling my attention to the road. I started pulling out and heading out of the parking garage.
In the end, Maria reached her hand up and patted my head. Her hand dropped softly against my scalp several times. I was not sure what she was trying to accomplish, until she stroked my hair after that, which gave me tingles. Then, she said in a silky smooth voice, "Can you go soft, Tom?"
Somehow by putting me in a comforting daze and asking me nicely, that was enough to calm my rampaging lower half. Seeing the relief and awkwardness on my face from my penis going back to flaccid right away, Maria put her hand to her mouth and started giggling uncontrollably.
I laughed along and said with a cheeky grin, "Apparently, my little brother only listens to you."
She said between giggles, "He looked so scary yesterday, but now he's an obedient puppy!"
"Eh?" My mind went straight to the gutter. "Do-.. do you want to try petting him later?"
Maria coughed and giggled a little more, but I could tell with my panoramic vision she was trying to glare at me. She said in a fake indignant tone, "Hey mister! When did you get so bold?"
I followed the GPS to take a turn and answered her literally, "Today. I'm learning a lot from my Mentor just like you."
The conversation came to a stop. I cursed at myself internally, knowing I had screwed up. I unintentionally brought up the one topic that made her uncomfortable. Navigating safely through a conversation took too much of my effort for me to do effectively while also navigating through busy city streets. Even though the tiny bit of panic at that moment was nowhere near as bad as what occurred during lunchtime, it had the potential to slow my decision-making on the road, making it significantly more dangerous.
One interesting skill of mine is the ability to activate a pseudo-detached autopilot state similar to 'Gamer's Mind'. No ordinary person has the mental fortitude to tide through 5 hours of attempting the same boss without ragequitting or having their anger begin to affect their gameplay. Autopilot lets me shut down any emotional responses and do whatever activity I was doing with high focus, but it also effectively cripples my social skills. The best I could do to engage her was to reach over and hold her hand.
I felt her hands tighten around mine. She said in a gentle tone, "I'll put on some music." She subtly reassured me and avoided the topic at the same time. In fact, she even seemed to sense that I was not fully present, because she spent the rest of the time in the car holding my hand, checking her phone, and silently listening to Beethoven. By the time we arrived at our destination, I was suffused in a peaceful ambiance with my Autopilot long deactivated. I was also unsure if I deserved this angel named Maria.