The White-Out (closed to MidnightBliss)

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The White-Out

Name: Adrian Ham
Age: 52
Height: 6 ft
Eyes: Piercing Blue
Matrimonial Status: Widower
Hair: Black, with grey highlights and slightly balding, so cropped short
Build: Tall, broad like a rugby player but also carries some middle age spread
Profession: Accountant in small town Mid America


Adrian shivered as he heard the wind howl outside. This was definitely one of the worst cold snaps in living memory, and in some areas, since records began over 100 years ago. He looked outside, the snow had stopped flailing it seemed, but the wind was whipping up the loose flakes. If it wasn't soo cold, he would go out with his camera. But that would have to wait for a while. He lived in a small block of apartments on the outside of the town. Not that it was a large town, it was picturesque in the summer with a mountain range a hours drive or so for hill walking, and enough local businesses to keep him busy.

Before his wife was diagnosed with cancer, he, they lived in New York, where they worked in the financial district on Manhatten Island. But then Jane became a cancer statistic, and so they moved closer to her family to help support her whilst he still lived and work in the city. But he quickly grew tiresome and so moved back to live with his wife in her final years, before she passed away. He was 48 at the time.

He continued to live in their large house for a while but decided to move, a mixture of sad memories and a degree of practicality. And so he sold their home and bought a luxurious apartment in a quiet street on the edge f the town, one room was large enough to be an office for when he worked at home. Whilst he wasn't a multi-millionaire, he wasn't n a situation to worry about his financial situation.

He heard another howl of wind as he looked out, and saw a fellow occupant struggling with the snow. He watched her walk in the wind barely making any headway. He shrugged his shoulders and put his thick coat on, and a pair of high walking boots, and ventured out into the hallway and then the cold.

"Hey, you all right, what the fiddlesticks are you doing out here?" He impulsively wanted to swear, but wasn't sure how she would react. Whilst they had made small talk, they had never really chatted in any detail

The wind was blowing around him, as he struggled to walk towwards her, as he looked behind his footprints seemed to dissappear as quick as he made them.

Name: Melissa Worth
Age:34
Height:5ft 2in
Eyes:Blue-Green
Hair: Long and Red falling to the middle of her back
Relationship Status: Single recently
Shape:Curvy and busty
Employment:Editor for a publishing company


Melissa had lived in the small town for the last few years and had been working from her apartment for a few weeks. First thing this morning she woke up to the wind howling and feeling cold. She got out of her bed and walked to the thermostat to find it was barely 58* in her home. She turned the heat up but it never kicked on. She rolled her eyes, grabbed her jacket and wrapped it around herself while she tried to call the maintenance number but all it did was ring.

After trying for an hour to get a hold of someone she figured she would make the trek out to the main building to try and see if someone was in the office figuring it would at least get her blood flowing and warm her up to take the walk. Boy was she wrong.

On the way to the office she realized that she had made a stupid call and turned to head back realizing she hadn't really gotten very far in the snow to begin with. The wind was whipping past her and just as effectively whipping through her. She gripped her coat closer to her and tried to make her way back to her apartment figuring she would just try to call again when she heard yelling on the breeze... at least it sounded like yelling.

Melissa laughed softly at his wording at looked at him.

"Yeah I'm ok, well sort of. I was trying to get to the office but I didn't get very far because no one was answering the phone. The heater in my apartment isn't working"

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"Yeah I'm ok, well sort of. I was trying to get to the office but I didn't get very far because no one was answering the phone. The heater in my apartment isn't working"

"Fuck, bad luck Melissa!" as he remembered her name. "Well, we need to get you inside before you start to go down with hypothermia!!"

He continued a few more paces until he was within arms reach of her, realising under her jacket, she was still in pyjamas.

"We need to get you back into the warmth first, here let me give you a hand."

She instantly reached for him, and he grasped her wrist, to ensure he wouldnt't let go, and turned to try and retrace his footsteps, and lead her abck inside, closing the door after him.

"Well Melissa, we need to get you into the warmth. How about a hot chocolate and some warm toast to warm you up?"

He met her eyes, her lovely red hair covered with snowflakes, and streams of melting snow.

As she nodded, he started to lead her up the flights of stairs to his top floor apartment, pausing as they approached her floor.

"Why don't you get a change of clothes and then you can have a warm shower and warm up whilst I make the drink? Then we can see if we can get your heating working?"

He turned and left her to retrieve her items from her flat as he headed up the final set of stairs, opening his door, and leaving it ajar.

With the kettle on the boil and the milk in the microwave for her chocolate, he headed to the bathroom, and turned the shower on in the large wetroom, allowing the temperature of the water to stabilise, making sure it wasn't too warm.

For a minute she couldn't remember her neighbor's name normally she was good with that sort of thing but she was so cold that she just couldn't think straight at the moment.

"Th...thank you for the Help....I didn't realize it was quite so cold"

Melissa looked at him before walking into her apartment to grab a change of clothes. She smiled at him and nodded her head before walking inside, letting him know she would be up soon.

Once in her apartment she stripped out of her soaked pajamas and grabbed her bathrobe, wrapping it around herself. She went into her room and grabbed a pair of sweatpants, underclothes, a tank top and a zipper down sweatshirt and headed back towards the door.

She shoved her things into a bag and put her slippers on and then headed upstairs.

When she got to his apartment she knocked on the partially open door. Finally remembering his bame she called out as she walked in.

"Adrian are you sure I'm not troubling you?"

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Adrian heard the knock and yelled from the bathroom.

"Hi Melissa, door's open, please come in, I'm in the bathroom..."

Satisfied that the shower temperature wasn't too hot, he headed back towards the main door of his apartment.

"Adrian are you sure I'm not troubling you?"

"No, not at all! With this weather, not sure I'll be able to travel, and I don't have much work yet!"

Smiling as he looked at her in her robe. "Quick change, the bathroom is down there and the shower is running. When you're done; I'll be in the kitchen with your hot cocoa."

"Oh, and there is a clean towel on the radiator for you to use, the royal blue one!"

With that, he turned his back on her as he headed to the door to ensure it was closed before heading into the kitchen.

The milk in the microwave was hot enough as he made her a hot chocolate, and himself a flat white using his espresso machine. then he sat at the breakfast bar and waited, watching the local news channel as he waited, reaching for his laptop and started to review some of the photographs he took over Christmas but hadn't yet edited and uploaded.

"Thank you Adrian..you are such a sweet guy."

Melissa walked into the bathroom and stripped out of her bathrobe after putting her bag down. She stepped into the shower and let out a soft moan as the water, perfect in temperature, cascaded over her body warming her up.

She stood under the water for about 10 minutes just letting it heat her up before she turned the water off and stepped out. She grabbed the towel that Adrian had left for her, wrapped it around her body and slipped into her bathrobe.

She grabbed her bag of clothes and headed out into the kitchen seeing Adrian she spoke softly.

"I hope you don't mind me being in my robe again....its just that the towel was so warm and my clothes are a but cold from not having heat in my place, I figured I would let them warm up a bit more...if that's ok?"

She stepped towards the breakfast bar and sat in the stool beside Adrian she didn't mean to be nosy but when she saw the picture on his screen she was stunned.

"Wow, that's a great picture....did you take that?"

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Adrian was editing some snowscapes from a few days ago when he had driven up to the mountains between Christmas and the new year. The weather was perfect, snow-capped trees and mountains, but clear blue skies and clear roads that his 4x4 made eas work off.

He turned when he heard footsteps approach and as he looked up he saw her standing in the doorway still in a robe. He was about to comment when she spoke first.

"I hope you don't mind me being in my robe again....its just that the towel was so warm and my clothes are a but cold from not having heat in my place, I figured I would let them warm up a bit more...if that's ok?"

"OF course, if you want to, you can place them on the radiator and clothesline in the spare bedroom, second on the left? Your hot cocoa is ready, and what would you like to eat? I've got muffins, toast bacon, and even porridge!"

He watched her curiously as she just nodded and sat next to him before speaking. He couldn't help briefly look at her decolletage, most of it was covered up, but that was what made it more alluring, a slight provocative hint, before he looked away, not wanting to overly look, to make her feel threatened at all.

"Wow, that's a great picture....did you take that?"

"Yes, and well thank you! I took it last week before this storm came in, up in the mountains. Do you ever go there, lovely for walks and even longer hikes. So what about breakfast. You should probably eat something."

"Breakfast sounds great...but I don't want to unconvinced you at all. I'm sure you have a ton of work to do. How can I thank you for your help?"

Melissa didn't want to take advantage of Adrian's kindness and she definately did not want to get in his way. She got up and headed towards the counter where the hot cocoa sat, grabbed the mug and headed back to the breakfast bar to sit across from him.

"I promise not to take up to much of your time"

Melissa sipped the hot cocoa and let out a soft sigh as,it warmed her even more. She looked over Adrian while he seemed to be concentrating on his laptop. He was actually a very good looking man, how had she not noticed him before? Not that she was ever actually looking, her last relationship had ended pretty badly which was why she was worried about taking up Adrian's time. When her ex and she had split he made,it a point to tell her he thought she was a waste of his time and she still held onto that, thinking she wasn't really worth anyone's time

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"Breakfast sounds great...but I don't want to unconvinced you at all. I'm sure you have a ton of work to do. How can I thank you for your help?"

"Melissa, you are not an inconvenience. And as your heating is not working, you are welcome to stay as long as you need to. I can even make the spare bed if required?"

He looked at her as he spoke, being as sincere as he could. She wasn't any trouble, and besides, he wouldn't want Melissa sitting alone in her rather cold apartment. He had some work to do, but it wasn't urgent, yet as he didn't have all the data he needed from the two clients.

As she went to get the cocoa, he watched her and saw her shapely legs, and remembered how well she filled her leggings and tight skinny jeans, though he also remembered how good she looks in some of her summer dresses.

"I suggest we have breakfast, then you can grab yourself a book or laptop and do whatever you was going to do downstairs up here in the warmth?"

He stood up and walked to the gas cooker and turned to her.

"So Melissa what is it going to be for breakfast?" looking at her with a cheesy grin. "And do you want to put your clothes out on the radiator for them to warm up?"

Melissa looked at him as he stood at the cooker and decided not to argue with him. He was nice enough to let her shower and get warm in his home, she could be more thankful instead of acting like a spoiled little brat.

She smiled at him and took a sip from the hot cocoa again letting out a soft moan of delight.

"This is really good thank you again. And I'm really not much of a breakfast eater but some toast would be wonderful. "

She got up from the stool and grabbed her clean clothes to put over the radiator and warm them up a bit. Then went back to the breakfast bar and sat down.

"I will go down and retrieve my laptop and cell phone in a few minutes and hopefully I'll be able to get someone out to fix my heat today this way you don't have to put up with me for too long"

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"Toast it is..."

He started to slice some fresh bread and placed it in the toaster before briefly watching her leave the room still in her robe. With her gone from view, he opened the cupboard and got out a selection of preserves and placed them on the breakfast bar, before returning to make himself another coffee.

By the time Melissa returned, the toast was ready as he placed the two slices on a plate and placed it in front of her.

"Sounds like a plan, getting your laptop and mobile... Then we can chase up the management company about getting your heating repaired!"

Melissa nodded her head and grabbed a jar of preserves, opened it and spread a small amount on her toast. She took a small bite and thanked him and then went back to eating the toast quietly. She was wondering about her heat and why it just stopped working and she was also curious about why she wasn't able to reach anyone with building maintenance. She sat there silently for a few minutes finishing her toast and then stood up and smiled at Adrian.

"Sorry for being so quiet, thank you for everything again Adrian. I'm going to go get dressed and then run back to my place to grab my stuff. "

She took her plate to the sink and washed it off then headed out to get dressed and go to her apartment. She gathered her things and waved to Adrian as she walked out of his place and headed to hers. When she got into her apartment it was even colder then it had been earlier. She grabbed her jacket, her laptop and cell phone and the chargers for both. She also grabbed her address book this way she had all the numbers to get ahold of someone. Before she headed back upstairs.

Stopping at Adrian's door she raised her hand to knock and then waited for his response, not wanting to barge in. He was being kind enough to let her invade his space for this long. As she waited she thought back to earlier, for an older man he was pretty good looking, she didn't know much about him but was curious about whether or not he was seeing someone. She shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts...the last thing she needed to do was act on her impulses...he probably had no interest in her other then being helpful.

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With his toast, he followed her back to the breakfast bar, and started to eat his toast with his favourite pate, and sipped his black coffee.

The room descended into an errie silence, every now and then a gust of wind howled around the courtyard outside, breaking the monotony of chewed toast.

"Sorry for being so quiet, thank you for everything again Adrian. I'm going to go get dressed and then run back to my place to grab my stuff. "

"No need to apologise Melissa, we were both eating... Besides the speed you ate that toast, maybe you were more hungry than you thought? But sure I'll see you in a few minutes."

He took the items and started to load the dishwasher, and clear up. He saw her briefly in her sweatpants and hoodie and smiled, Warm and comfortable but not at all sexy he thought to himself.

He heard the door close, and so he headed back to his large bedroom, dominated by a Kingsize Gothic arched bed. He quickly changed into his favourite lounging around attire, a pair of faded men's running tights.leggings and a fleece with a 1/2 length zip at the front.

Back in the kitchen he finished tidying up, before he headed to the living room, and sat down, with his laptop. The room was large, and dominated by a bespoke fitted unit at the front. Int he centre was a large flatscreen TV, with cupboards above and below it, and to teh sides of the central unit was glass display cupboards on top of sets of draws. Above the central unit was a projector screen, the projector mounted on the ceiling on the other side.

On the floor next to the subwoofer speaker, where he had placed his Christmas tree were several books. One was 'Techniques of portraiture photography, whilst another was about indoor lighting. The third book was about posing and the fourth was entitled 'The Boudoir shoot'

Around the walls were various framed and canvas prints of photographs, as they were in the hallway and other rooms.

He heard the knock on the door as he got up and opened the door smiling.

"welcome back Melissa, please come through..."

He lead her into the large living/dining room.

"Please take a seat"

Melissa followed him in to sit down and gave him a smile as she pulled her laptop out and set it on the . She grabbed her cell phone and attempted to call the maintenance people again. Once again all the phone did was ring and ring and she was getting pretty upset with the fact that she couldn't get ahold of anyone. She put her phone down and looked up at Adrian.

" I cannot believe that no one is answering the phone I mean not even the emergency service phone is being answered. By any chance do you have another number for them maybe I have the wrong one."

She open her laptop and pulled up a file as she waited for Adrian to answer her. She really didn't want to be much of a burden on him but then again not having any heat in her house it wasn't like she could go back there she would freeze.

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Adrian settled into his favourite chair, in the sweet spot, in front of the TV, and in the perfect palce to listen to his music. He reached for the laptop as he watched Melissa settle down on one ofe the two sofas, and reached into her bag.

As she took her mobile and started to call, she opened up her laptop and watched it boot up.

" I cannot believe that no one is answering the phone I mean not even the emergency service phone is being answered. By any chance do you have another number of them maybe I have the wrong one."

"I'll have a look, but I don't think its changed, maybe its the storm, affecting communications as well as travel?"

He checked his laptop for their website and read out the numbers listed to Melissa as she checked them on her mobile.

"Well, You are welcome to stay here as long as you need to Melissa, that offer still stands. I can't have you freezing in your apartment downstairs!"

He smiled as he started to edit a few more photographs, every now and then looking at her over the tops of his screen.

Melissa looked at Adrian as he spoke about the storm affecting the communication lines as well as everything else and had to admit he had a point. She was just furious about her heat not working.

"Yeah you are probably right Adrian, Thank you again. I am really glad I'm not downstairs, if possible it felt even colder when I went down earlier."

She logged into her computer and began to work on some of her projects for work, glancing up every now and then to look at Adrian while he worked as well. So far he hadn't noticed her looking at him so each time he seemed to be engrossed in the work he was doing she looked him over and smiled to herself. He was a very good looking man and she honestly would not mind getting to know him but then he probably thought she was too young for him so she shook the thought out her mind and went back to editing a story one of her writers sent in.

About 2 hours later Melissa started to feel a little warm and took her sweatshirt off, revealing her tiny yoga top that was tight to her body, showed off her toned stomach and also showed a slight hint of protruding nipple from when the air hit her skin, then leaned back against the sofa to stretch her back, letting out a soft moan as she cracked her back, forcing her chest slightly forward.

"Adrian, could I trouble you for a drink?"

She got up and headed into the kitchen then leaned against the counter noticing some pictures along the walls. One of them looked like a woman that was closer to Adrian's age and another was a girl she had seen in the building a few times and actually had a conversation with at the mailbox a few weeks ago.

"So can I be so bold as to inquire who these lovely ladies in these pictures are?"

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Adrian ended up losing track in time, and almost forgot Melissa was there after a while as she occupied herself and he was editing photos or looking up the news and visiting other sites on the internet, before he tired of his laptop and reached for one of his Christmas presents, a sort of a joke present from a friend about 'Boudoir' photography.

He was so consumed by his own activities that he only became aware of Melissa as she removed her swear top, exposing her shoulders, and the outline of her breasts, covered by a rather tight looking Yoga-tank top with numerous spaghettis straps. He glanced at her and smiled before resuming to his book, skipping pages as he tried to get a feel how serious the book was.

He had never really been into portraiture work, but recently daughter, Emma had suggested it on a recent visit. She still lived in New York, but often flew out every couple of months or so for a long weekend of hiking, sometimes with her girlfriend, other times alone. And so he looked up a few books and added them to his Christmas wish list. The result was some serious books and a couple of teasing ones, including the boudoir one. But it may be useful, but his first effort was to learn indoor lighting.

"Adrian, could I trouble you for a drink?"

Adrian closed the book and placed it down as he heard his name called looking at the clock, barely 11:30.

"Sure, what would you like? Another cocoa, coffee tea, water..."

He looked at her as she stood up and walked over to a couple of the photos on the wall, he watched as she walked, and stood browsing, ignoring momentarily his answer.

"So can I be so bold as to inquire who these lovely ladies in these pictures are?"

"Sure, my lovely beloved, and our daughter, Emma. She works in the Big Apple but comes home to ensure I'm still alive!"

He grinned.. "Actually I think it is to get away from the city as we usually go for a hike or two in the mountains. Have you ever visited those mountains for a walk or two??"

He stood up and walked towards her, aware of how full her breasts seemed to be in that yoga top.

"Water would be perfect thank you Adrian. Too much hot cocoa and I'll need to clock a few extra sessions with my kickboxing instructor"

Melissa turned towards Adrian and gave him a smile, listening intently as he spoke about his daughter and noticing he did not really say much about his 'beloved'. Even though she was curious she didn't want to pry so she leaned back against the wall and looked at him.

"I've met Emma before I believe. About a month ago she was here wasn't she? I was fighting with getting into my mailbox and she helped me. Yet another thing maitence still needs to fix. She seems like a sweetheart."

Melissa ran her fingers through her hair and moved away from the wall then headed into the kitchen.

"I noticed you picked up a book, can I ask what you were thumbing through?"

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"Water would be perfect thank you, Adrian. Too much hot cocoa and I'll need to clock a few extra sessions with my kickboxing instructor"

Adrian grinned as he heard her response and replied. "Well Melissa, from what I've seen, you do not need to worry about your weight, unlike me!"

"I've met Emma before I believe. About a month ago she was here, wasn't she? I was fighting with getting into my mailbox and she helped me. Yet another thing maintenance still needs to fix. She seems like a sweetheart."

"She is, still worried about me more than I worried about her I think after her mother died, another cancer statistic..." He paused as he looked at a photo of the three of them with Emma being in her early teens.

"But yes, she is a lovely person, and we still sometimes sip wine and cry over Clare, but we are for the most part over our loss in different ways...."

Adrian led them back into the kitchen as he opened the fridge and took a jug of water and lemon slices and poured two glasses before he put the Espresso machine on.

"I noticed you picked up a book, can I ask what you were thumbing through?"

"Sure one of my Christmas presents. I asked for some books on portraiture and lighting techniques, and one of my friends for a joke got me some books on boudoir and glamour photography, the cheeky sod...." grinning..

"How was your Christmas Melissa?"

"My Christmas was ok I guess. Stayed in mostly but my best friend came to see me and we had dinner together then exchanged gifts...Mostly just silky things"

Melissa accepted the glass of water and took a sip then glanced around at a few of the other pictures on the walls. She couldn't help but feel sadness for Adrian when he mentioned losing his wife. That had to be extremely difficult to go through for him and his daughter. She turned to look at him again and smiled.

"So your friend got you a joke gift on boudoir photography....is that something you want to try doing? If you need a model...."

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"So your friend got you a joke gift on boudoir photography....is that something you want to try doing? If you need a model...."

Adrian blushed slightly at Melissa's Offer.

"Well possibly in the future... But most of my portraits have been taken outdoors as family groups, that sort of thing. I've never really sat down and done any studio work, or even just made the effort to improve lighting etc...."

He looked up as he spoke meeting her eyes briefly.

"But certainly a model for just learning the basics of lighting etc would be useful..... Coffee?"

With that, he started to grind some coffee beans to make himself a coffee.

"Coffee sounds great actually and I wouldn't mind helping you with lighting at the very least..I mean if that wouldn't make you uncomfortable"

Melissa leaned against the counter as Adrian worked on the coffee, still taking sips of her water and tracing the fimgertips of her free hand along her bare stomach, not even realizing she was doing it.

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"Coffee sounds great actually and I wouldn't mind helping you with lighting at the very least..I mean if that wouldn't make you uncomfortable"

"One coffee coming up, Americano, flat white or Latte?" he asked as he started to grind some more beans.

"And yes, I probably will feel uncomfortable to begin with..." looking meeting her eyes as he continued speaking.

"From my almost inevitable fuckups with the lighting, or the composition or something!" grinning.

"SEriously, if you would be interested, that would be a great help...."

He suddenly wondered whether Melissa was after cash, or would she be offended if he asked. He suddenly felt unsure about that aspect. But for now, he decided not to mention it, maybe just a dinner one night? he thought to himself.

As he looked at her, he saw her fingers stroke her partially exposed abdomen.

"A latte sounds great actually if it isn't too much trouble and I would Love to help out anytime you need it. What are good neighbors for? Especially considering that you are helping me out currently "

Melissa thought to herself as she looked at Adrian, that she wouldn't mind spending more time with him, getting to know him better and maybe getting closer as well.

She felt her cheeks heat up from blushing as her thoughts went to something a lot less appropriate and she bit her bottom lip. Her hand trailed over her stomach more and then up towards her breast then back down.

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"A latte sounds great actually if it isn't too much trouble and I would Love to help out anytime you need it. What are good neighbours for? Especially considering that you are helping me out currently "

"Well that's kind of you, and well I'll would like to take you up on your offer at some point!"

"Latte coming up, can you pass me the ilk from the fridge please?"

Adrian soon had two drinks ready, his flat white and a larger cup for Melissa's LAtte.

As she passed him the milk, he poured some into a metal jug and started to steam the milk, before pouring it carefully on his coffee and then in hers, allowing her to have all the light frothy milk at the end.

"There you are, Cooke?"

He reached into a cupboard and bought out a packet of thick chunky luxurious chocolate cookies and offered her one.