Ariana & Sex

   Ariana loved sex. She didn’t just enjoy it; she actually adored all that she could feel while doing it. For this, she had been called “promiscuous” and even names like “whore” and “slut”. She did adhere to the thought that she was promiscuous. She did have sex with a larger array of men than usual but she wouldn’t call herself any other names than that. It wasn’t like she did it every single day with every guy she crossed on the sidewalk. She wasn’t a female predator or anything. No, she just loved pleasure.

 People that called her names were often part of one of two groups: the jealous women and the hurt men. The first group was very large and it consisted manly of women that were envious of her because she men were drawn to her. And what made them even more jealous was the fact that Ariana wasn’t the typical kind of girl that one would think was of the promiscuous kind. She wasn’t ugly either but that was alone enough to make all those girls go crazy.

 It has to be said, because people might be thinking it, that Ariana never slept with men that had any kind of relationships to other women. Of course, there were many that try to lie to her about it but, by now, she knew men so well she could tell if they were lying. And if that failed, she had learned to read cellphones and go through wallets without the guys even noticing it. This worked to her advantage very often.

 The other group actually departed from this first screening she did. The rejects, or men who she denied sex too, were often so offended that, instead of correcting their ways, they spread the word of her being someone less than a common prostitute. A man that is hurt is, however, not very dangerous. That is because they do it out of spite, like a small vengeance towards the girl, a childish reaction, to sum it up. And Ariana was simply bigger than that.

 The girls, however, could be very destructive. Some of them had actually done pretty awful things to her but Ariana just kept on going. She knew herself and wasn’t ashamed of anything. When confronted to any of those girls, she acknowledged what she did but she also asked them if they were also envious of her being more free and nice than any of them? Because she was, Ariana was not only liked because of sex. She was actually a great girl, compassionate and a great friend.

 So the name-calling was something she didn’t care about anymore. Ariana just had sex when she felt like it and that was all. She did it only with guys that had earned her trust and, as weird as it may sound, she always asked them for a date first. There, she realized if the guy would be a nice sex buddy or if he wanted more or even if he proved to be one of those obsessed guys that roam around the world. She knew the types and rapidly discarded the ones that she didn’t like and kept close those who she liked.

 Yes, there must be romantic souls reading this going “But what about love?”. Well, Ariana didn’t believed in love so that made all of what she did much easier. She formed no bonds with any of the guys and only slept with them three times, at most. After that she would just lose contact with them on purpose and, most of them, would understand. She did feel something special for a couple of guys but this proved to be that aching people have when being alone for too long. And that feeling doesn’t lead you to love but to despair.

 Of course, she always used protection and if a guy refused to use a condom, she would simply leave or she would expel him from her apartment, whichever was the appropriate thing to do. Besides, she had gone to several classes of personal defense; she was a green belt in karate and knew how to use a knife and a gun. All of this was because her father, a former policeman, had taught her how to defend herself and never allow anyone to turn her into a victim. Of course, all of this had come in handy in the last few years, when many guys stepped beyond the boundaries of their arrangement or when someone tried to mug her.

 She smiled every time she remembered people clapping on a bus when she almost broke a guy’s arm. As the bus was full, he had decided it was time to touch many ladies in their behind and even in other parts. But then he committed the stupid act of touching Ariana and he ended up in police custody. That moment made her proud because none of the other women there had reacted appropriately, all scared and screaming and waiting for others to react. Ariana just wasn’t the type.

 This toughness also attracted men. That’s why, during sex, she could use all that she had learned in self-defense but in a more pleasuring way. No man had ever said anything bad about it and it wasn’t very hard to tell if they were enjoying themselves or not. Actually, one of the things that she liked the most was the fact of feeling the other person’s pleasure. Just feeling it and looking straight at it. It was great and it felt better when she made them feel desired and unique.

 Ariana didn’t like the jock types. Most times she went out with too good looking guys, she would get soon very bored because those guys always think everything about them is just perfect and flawless when it’s not. That safety about themselves relies only in their looks and nothing more so when any woman looks beyond that, it isn’t a pretty sad. So abs and that metrosexual sense of fashion, wasn’t her thing. She did have some lovers of the sort but only because they had something else going on for them. But they weren’t the best lovers, not even close.

 The best lovers, she thought, were the ones that are a bit more reserved but not entirely shy. It’s the kind of guys that are nice and all but also have a bit of a dark side. She enjoyed that very much. Also, the guys that maybe most girls overlooked but which she senses had something going on for them. It was something hard to explain but she was sure many others felt it too. Because it was with guys like that with whom she realized she actually enjoyed sex, far beyond the final act of penetration. It sounds so awful but that’s the word.

 Many men and women think that’s all sex is about when it actually isn’t. Just think about it: you’re alone, naked, with a person you like, hopefully in many ways. Maybe there’s not love but there’s a particular interest, a kindred spirit if you will. How not to get pleasure from such experience? And how not to imagine so many ways to actually experience that moment. All senses are more acute when experiencing pleasure so Ariana knew exactly how to use them all, how to arose her and others, how to fully enjoy everything that the body is and gives.

 And, again, it wasn’t like she was having sex all over the place, every hour of the day. No. She enjoyed I but she wasn’t a freak about it. Some of the objects in a sex shop made her blush still and she only did have any sex with guys that convinced her of it. It wasn’t about fucking random guys. That wasn’t her deal. It was about sharing an experience she liked with people that understood that the body is much more than just a bag were we carry our souls.

 She shared most of her experiences with friends, because people who were really close to her knew about who and how she was and that didn’t bother her at all. She loved to tell and also to hear. Many of her friends, both women and men, asked her for advice and she would give them tips and advices on some tricks she had learned or read about somewhere or even seeing in a movie. She wanted others to enjoy themselves too, no matter if it was with their partners in life or with a new acquaintance or whoever.

 Ariana also learned a lot from her friends because, of course, she hadn’t done it all or anything. In many aspects, she was a very classic lover and it was always nice to give things a twist from time to time. Actually, she loved to talk to her lesbian and gay friends because they seemed to be a bit more open about their sex lives and also because they dared to go a little bit beyond what most straight couples did. Some things were surprising and others were simply too clever. In any case, she always remembered in time to practice them, if the moment was right.

 But anyway, Ariana is much more than a girl that loves sex and the pleasure it gives to people. She’s also an accomplished woman, always trying to better herself in order to learn more and enjoy life responsibly because, as she often states to her friends and lovers alike, “life is only one and it is too short to be spending it worried about what others might think of you”.  

Una y otra vez

   Por alguna razón, era como si la imaginación se hubiera acabado. Siempre los mismos sueños, casi siempre en el mismo orden y sin ningún cambio significativo. Era como si mi cerebro quisiera que aprendiese algo con esas imágenes pero la verdad es que no se parecían a nada que hubiera vivido. Tal vez a cosas que sentí alguna vez pero como recordar todo lo que se siente, a menos que deje marca de una u otra manera. No recordaba de donde podían venir tantas escaleras y filas y sillas y gente. Porque todos tenían rostros, borrosos o no.

 Y con los que interactuaba más, los conocía. Estoy seguro de que existen en realidad y de que los he, al menos, saludado en la calle. Pero no, son más que eso. Así los besara o me persiguieran, así fuese el centro de atención o solo uno más, los conocía y por alguna razón seguían detrás de mí incluso después de terminado el sueño.

 Lo peor era el dolor de espalda y de hombro, como si hubiera peleado toda la noche. Es así que un ose da cuenta que dormir no tiene nada que ver con descansar. Porque descansado no he estado por un buen tiempo. Solo caigo por el poder que pesa encima mío y después me despierto porque es lo que tengo que hacer. Y siempre que lo hago trato de recordar los más mínimos detalles del sueño que acabo de tener. Normalmente, es una tarea inútil, que no acaba en nada que sirva.

 Es interesante como algo que no existe, que simplemente no tiene forma física, tenga el poder de ejercer presión y de causar reacciones físicas en nosotros, como si de verdad estuviese peleando con alguien o quien sabe que más. Este dolor que no se quita, este peso horrible que siento, es uno de eso que pensé que ya nunca volverían. Y lo sé porque este me preocupa y cuando algo lo hace es que es grave o importante. Eso pesos en el pecho o sentimientos de presión en el corazón son lo peor.

 Y existen y eso es aún más atemorizante. Y que tal que el sueño sea algo así como una premonición? Una alerta para estar al tanto de cosas por venir, tal vez no todas buenas o tal vez no todas fáciles. Porque si hay algo que yo deteste más que nada son las cosas innecesariamente difíciles. Muchos dicen que el camino difícil es el del valiente pero para mí es el del masoquista y el del mártir. Yo no soy ninguna de esas dos cosas. Ni lo seré nunca porque no lo deseo.

  En fin, esos son mis sueños, mundos inexplicables que se repiten y se repiten. Y no es que sueñe todas las noches ni nada por el estilo sino que, incluso después de meses sin recordar nada de mis sueños, de pronto aparecen estos de nuevo: las mismas estructuras sin sentido, la misma gente con los mismos diálogos y el mismo desarrollo del sueño. Es como ver una película favorita, una y otra vez. Solo que yo jamás elegí ver esta película, solo soy el proyecto que se usa para que el filme corbe vida y sea lo que tiene que ser.

 Algo curioso es que mi respuesta a lo que ocurre ha cambiado con el tiempo. Al comienzo era confuso y era más precavido en el sueño, todo iba más despacio. Eran sueños que se desarrollaban en la noche durante seis o más horas de sueño. Pero ahora pueden aparecer mientras duerme apenas una hora o poco más. Y ya no soy el mismo de antes si no alguien que recibe todo de buena gana. Incluso parezco actuar en ciertas escenas, disfrutando mi papel sin tapujos.

 Y lo digo así porque a veces siento que me veo hacer cosas pero no soy yo el que las hace. Y cuando soy yo, se siente como si cuerpo estuviera en algún tipo de piloto automático que sabe que hacer así mi conciencia real no tenga ni idea de todo lo que sucede. Es casi mágico salvo que no lo es ya que todo depende mi cerebro, de todo lo que allí reside, tanto en la luz como en la oscuridad. Como me gustaría aprender más de mi! Sé que hay mucho más de lo que sé dentro de mi cerebro pero es como si yo mismo no tuviera la contraseña para mi propia caja de seguridad.

 Cuando despierto, es frustrante. No solo porque parezco no avanzar en el sueño, sino por el dolor y el saber que probablemente volverá a pasar lo mismo en días y semanas. Y es tremendamente frustrante. Estar tan cerca y nunca llegar. Aunque quien dice que los sueños tienen de hecho un final? Tal vez simplemente sigan y sigan hasta que el cerebro se cansé y decida despertar al cuerpo. Pero entonces entre más tiempo dure el sueño, más del filme se podría ver. Y eso es lo que quiero.

 A más de una persona le parecerá extraña mi obsesión con saber más de mi mismo. Dirán que para eso no hace falta soñar sino ser sincero con uno mismo. Y tal vez tengan razón. Pero siempre es útil un pequeño empujón, algo que nos haga caer en cuenta de las cosas. A veces es un alguien el que hace eso pero tendría que ser alguien que nos conoce a la perfección y en mi caso no hay nadie así. Ni mi familia sabría más de mi que yo mismo, tal vez porque he ocultado tanto conscientemente. Por eso no sé si lo que me quiere decir mi cerebro es algo sincero o no.

No sé y a veces prefiero no pensar tanto en el asunto. Porque a la larga de que sirve que todo parezca un gran misterio que solo tu puedes resolver pero que en verdad resulta que no es más que un laberinto oculto en una red espesa de mentiras y verdades que ya no eres capaz de separar porque ambas cosas forman parte de lo que eres, de lo que soy en este caso. Porque si somos sinceros, todos los seres del mundo que valen la pena tienen esos dos lados: el claro con las verdades y el oscuro con las mentiras. O incluso al revés si se cree que también la luz puede cegar y la oscuridad puede ser fuente de vida.

 Que si me da miedo saber ma miedo de la realdiad, de lo que es sin nuestra influencia consciente.ncluso al reveres del mundo que valen la pena tienen esosás de mi mismo? Por supuesto que sí. Solo un tonto creería saber todo de si mismo y solo un idiota no tendría miedo de la realidad, de lo que es sin nuestra influencia consciente. El miedo en este, y en todos los caso, es increíblemente útil. Y no es que adore mi miedo ni nada por el estilo pero le tengo respeto y creo que eso es algo necesario para saber manejar sentimientos tan volátiles como ese. De pronto estando consciente de mi miedo, puedo entrar más fácil en contacto con lo que hay detrás de los sueños.

 Porque estoy seguro que hay algo detrás. Si pudiese alguien ayudarme sería lo mejor del mundo porque me quitaría un peso de encima. Y sé quien podría ser esa persona pero, lo peor del caso, es que sé que esa persona no existe ya que es esa media naranja de la que tanto habla la gente. Es ese otro ser que me complementa en todos los aspectos y que sabe cada cosa de mi y yo de él. Sé que es la única persona que me puede ayudar pero, como dije, no existe. Porque si existiese ya lo conocería porque como más sabría más de mi que yo mismo?

 Es un camino muerto y es inservible recorrerlo porque no tiene ningún sentido. Está claro que esto es entonces que tengo que hacer yo solo. Lo único es que tendré que estar listo para la próxima vez que los sueños, las imágenes y los sentimientos lleguen. Y no es fácil estar listo para algo así porque te toma desprevenido, te da mil vueltas en un mismo sitio y no te de deja en paz. Es por eso que no puedes ni pensar ni mucho menos decidir que hacer coherentemente.

 Supongo que en ese momento entra el miedo porque no sabes si actuar de manera desmedida sea lo mejor. Que pasa entonces si tus acciones cambian el curso del sueño de tal manera que en verdad nunca descubras nada sino más bien al contrario? Que las acciones lo que hagan sea arrojar piedras sobre lo que quieres saber y lo oculten incluso más de lo que ya está? Es un riesgo, después de todo. Y creo que estoy dispuesto a arriesgarlo todo ya que no perdería nada en todo caso.

 Y que sin esas verdades quedan enterradas para siempre? No sería yo el primer ser humano es fracasar al querer conocerse íntimamente. De hecho, la mayoría de personas en este mundo creen que conocen cada pequeño trazo de su personalidad, de su ser interno y externo y eso simplemente es imposible. Con la porción tan pequeña que usamos del cerebro, es imposible que no existan secretos más allá de nuestro entendimiento, incluso si esos secretos están guardados con recelo dentro de nuestros propios cerebros. Que tal si esa es la última fortaleza que debamos enfrentar? Que tal si es allí donde están las respuestas a las preguntas que nos hacemos como especie, como seres humanos?

 Hemos creído toda la vida, toda nuestra existencia, que la verdad está más allá, lejos, oculta tras las nueves o la neblina pero que tal si es al revés? Si en verdad todo lo que necesitamos saber está aquí mismo, dentro de nuestros propios cuerpos, oculto en esa parte que nunca usamos porque no sabemos como? De pronto es todo lo que necesitamos para ser verdaderamente felices o para vivir realmente en paz.

 Tengo que creer que así es. Y por eso no descansaré hasta penetrar la realidad de mis sueños, así eso implique crear muros para derrumbar otros. Y así será. No importa el dolor solo el saber.

Work on a Saturday

   As fast as I could, I grabbed a pair of socks and put them on fast. The guy kept ringing and ringing, as if it was possible I hadn’t heard the doorbell the last one hundred times or that I had just fallen asleep after speaking with the doorman about letting him in. Some people were just very rude and I had no idea this guy could be this rude. Finally, I went to the door and opened.

 He barely looked at me as he entered my place, sat on the sofa in front of the TV and, for no apparent reason, grabbed the remote and turned it on. Confused for a few seconds, I decided to stand in front of him and ask what he was doing here. It was then that I noticed he had brought a backpack with him, which he had dropped on the floor.

 The man, whose name was Alex, told me our boss had asked him to fix the work we had done back at the office. As the work had been done by the both of us, and only I had some of the information, he decided it was a better idea to come all the way to my home and finish the work together. In any case, he didn’t seem that interested to have any work done as he kept changing channels and moved on the sofa to find the best spot possible. As the natural nice person that I am, I decided to offer him what little I had in the kitchen (orange juice and wafers).

 But I put the plate on my dining table, a small round surface from which he could watch TV but also pay attention to whatever it was that I had to do. After great insistence and with food as my ally, Alex finally got up from the sofa only to sit down heavily on one of the dining table’s chairs. He grabbed his backpack, took out his laptop from there and asked me the password of my Wi-Fi network.

 To be honest I was going to tell him we could do it all from my computer, as I thought the internet might prove to be another distraction but then he told me he needed to send me the email with all the details about the information we had to change and some other things that we had to add. Finally I gave up and gave him the password. To my surprise, he was fast to send me the email and in fifteen minutes we were already in full work mode.

 The work we had to do was long and it would take time to get all the information necessary to finish it thoroughly. As we advanced, I realized I seemed more distracted than he was at the start of the session. I mean, I was entering all the wrong numbers; even my grammar seemed to be getting worse by the minute. And the truth is that I was distracted. After all, it was Saturday evening and I had planned to stay at home, order takeout and watch at least three movies on a row. Working with that guy wasn’t on my mind.

  Alex and I had never really bonded at the office. To be honest, we had only spoken to each other about work related subjects and for an hour straight, at most. Now he was in my house, eating all my wafers, not speaking to me and it had been more than an hour from his arrival. If he was going to stay any more time, I needed to be able to be myself in my house. After all, he had not called prior to his arrival or warned me in any possible way. What if I had been out with my friends or something?

 Well that wasn’t really possible as all of them were busy with their own stuff but, hey, it was a possibility, however remote it may seem. So I decided to try and chat with him but that seemed pointless. I asked him if he lived far but he only said he had taken the bus. No idea what that was supposed to mean. Then I asked him about people in the office and he answered me by asking a nine-digit number that I had in my laptop. No, he seemed inclined to get the job done fast.

 I hadn’t thought of it but Alex might have had plans or something and now he was stuck in my place working. So it was logical that he would prefer the job done than answering my silly questions every few seconds. So I decided to shut up and just offer him some more juice. No more wafers. Now that I realized, it was almost eight o’clock and my belly had begun to complain. What if I ordered a pizza, as I had planned? True, I hadn’t planned on sharing it with anyone but at least that way I could have part of the night I had envisioned earlier.

-      -  Hey, would you like some pizza?

 Those were like magic words as he turned, raised his arms to stretch his body and smiled. It was the first time, in almost two years of watching him in the office, that I thought he was rather good-looking. I mean, some of my friends at work had told me he was “hot” or had “a nice piece of ass or even that he looked like, at least, three celebrities. But I had not realized about any of that until that night in my place.

-       - Sure. I’m starving. What would you like on it?

 I’m sure I looked like an idiot right then because it took me a long time to understand what he had just said. Seconds felt like hours and when I spoke, it didn’t make any sense at all. I tried again, and this time I had perfectly said:

-       - What about veggies and meat lovers? That’s my regular…

-       - Awesome. Love it. Nice choice.

He only said that but I blushed as if he had just told me something much more intimate. I shook off the feeling as I grabbed the phone and made the order to the pizza place I usually called on weekends. Not that I ever dated but it had been quite a long time since that and when I got out with friends it was frequently on Fridays. For some reason, I didn’t like to go out on a Saturday, unless the day called for it, so only for very good reasons.

 I sat down in front of my laptop and started entering some more data, numbers, statistics and so on. I didn’t even try to talk for the next half an hour or so. I only stared at my screen and answered Alex’s questions as fast as I could, without even looking at him. I felt him staring from time to time but I suddenly felt very self-conscious and I really didn’t want to talk to anyone.

That thought was soon interrupted, when the delivery guy made his appearance. Apparently there had been some kind of malfunction in a machine at the pizza place, so they were handing out these bread sticks made out of pizza dough before they went bad. I paid for my pizza, took the food and thanked the nice man. As I turned, I realized Alex had taken my computed and his and put them, with everything else that had been on the table, on the kitchen counter.

  I put down the two boxes on the table and he eagerly began to talk, as he opened both boxes and grabbed a napkin. Suddenly, for whatever reason, I smiled and decided to go along. After all, we had been working for hours and we needed some time to relax. I asked him about what he had planned to do today before knowing we had to work. Alex, who appeared to enjoy pizza very much, told me he might have gone out with some friends and drink beer or maybe just watch a movie at home.

 I told him that had been my plan: pizza and movies. Then he smiled and said something I thought I had heard wrong:

-       - Cool. We could do that after we’re done.

I didn’t answer right away but apparently he was too busy dipping the “pizza sticks” on a special sauce so no problem there. Again, he smiled and looked so much more noticeable to me than ever before.

-       - Why hadn’t we ever really talked?

To my surprise, it was him that had made the question, even if I had been thinking about it for that few minutes. Weirdly enough, I didn’t have the answer or at least not one that made any sense at all. I had no idea why I had never tried to bond with him, even if I had in fact done it with virtually anyone else on our office. It wasn’t like I was friends with everyone but I had tried to be nice to everyone and let them know they could count on me for all work-related stuff. So why did I never approached him?

-       - Do you hate or something?

-      - No. – I said with confidence. – It’s not that.

-       - Then what?

 He has stopped eating and was staring at me, almost without blinking. I didn’t have the answer to his question but, deep down, I knew why I hadn’t spoke to him at all. Maybe it was just because I liked him and I had shut down that possibility from day one. So I told him that out loud and asked him if he wanted more orange juice. He nodded so I went to the kitchen for more.

 We finished work two hours later and, at last moment, I asked him if we would stay for a movie. He said yes.