There wasn’t much, either on the train or in Rome. Maureen was insatiable, though at the same time a great companion. After several days and nights of sightseeing, and fucking in public places that would have drawn praise from the lascivious Roman Emperor Caligula, I felt the need – just as I had with Anna in Norway – to set out on my own again.
“I’ve gotta get on the road again, Maureen,” I said.
“Of course you do, baby,” she responded, as we were eating dinner one night in a romantic, open-air trattoria. “I have a flight to New York, available on 24-hour notice, that I can activate with a phone call. Just tell me when.”
“Day after tomorrow would be good. I want to get to Venice, then down to Amalfi, then maybe loop back north to Milan, Assisi and Florence before I head to Naples where I can get work. My money’s getting low and I need to finance the rest of my trip.”
“Do you want me to help, honey? I’ve got plenty of money,” she said, generously.
“Naw, thanks. I’ll manage. I might want to see Lindy again, too, except that’d interrupt her studies.”
She looked at me and her eyes welled up. “You don’t get it, do you, sweet boy. She loves you and, even though I think you’re both too young, I approve of her choice. I’ll pay whatever it takes to bring you two – we three – together. In the Fool’s Paradise that I live in, when we’re back in the States, we could all live together and she and I would smother you with love. I get the feeling when you were growing up you didn’t receive such unconditional support.”
She was right but, realist that I am, I switched gears. “I’m poor relationship material, Maureen. Even now I feel guilty about not dropping Lindy a card. She was in tears at the train station.”
“My baby daughter’s emotional but still a tough customer. She’s spoiled and has a vengeful streak. You should write her. She’ll love it and get back to you when she can. Better yet, call her!”
“I’ll do that,” I said. “In the meantime, you said you had surprise entertainment for tonight.”
“Oh, yes!” she replied, enthusiastically. “There’s a sound and light show at the Coliseum. If we stand up top, near the back, I can suck you off and maybe one of these sexually-repressed Romans will see us.”
It was difficult and sad to leave the incomparable Maureen in Rome, though I promised to see her in the States, many months down the road. I’d never in my life experienced such fantastic sex, and it would be a long time before I did again. I didpromise to pay special attention to her daughter, Lindy, though.
Yet I finally felt free, and dropped postcards as if I were Casanova acting as the Postmaster General! Strangely, I received no responses from Lindy, however, even when I’d established a stable residence in Naples. Through my buddy Bill’s stateside academic contacts I got a job working for the UN Food and Agricultural Organization as a multi-lingual courier. A few months later I was dispatched to Paris and decided to stop in Grenoble and rekindle my contact with Lindy. Regardless of what Maureen had said, something was obviously wrong. This was not how young girls acted who were hot for a guy. I decided to call, just out of curiosity.