The first six months after a separation or divorce is probably one of either intense happiness of being free or intense despair at being alone. To me it was more like what now? The first three or four weeks after I finally got out of the house were busy. I had to complete the sale of the house. I had to find a new house and then I had to finish moving out. I had never really accumulated much so there wasn't much to move.
I was just beginning to really feel the pangs of loneliness when one of the guys I worked with asked if I had been dating anyone. Getting back into the dating pool was a traumatic experience to say the least. Especially when you walk into the process determined to not make any mistakes.... because that will be all you make.
Denise. She was the result of one of my younger friends.. if you can call her that ... setting me up. When I got there I saw a fairly decent looking 40+ year old woman sitting by herself looking out the window. I smiled to myself and figured this was my window being opened. I asked the Maitre de for my table and watched him point to the back of the restaurant. There she was with her cell phone in one hand and chewing on a bread stick with the other. I rubbed my hands together thinking I hit the jackpot.
"Uh Denise right?" I took her in. She was about 34 or 35 and a bit on the short side. She was very nicely dressed in a pin stripe vest ,white blouse, and matching skirt. She was fairly good looking not in the Librarian way that Mary had been but still in a nice classical way.
"So you know Anna right?" She seemed like she could carry on a conversation fairly well ,but what do you talk about with someone almost twenty years your junior. What toys she likes... no that would not be a good question to ask no matter which way she took it. We sat there and basically exchanged resumes for the first five minutes until she flew into her last boy friend. She jabbered on and on about his watching sports, his friends, and anything else about the guy. I was just finishing my ravioli when I heard the word "wimp". It was like the hand of god shaking me awake.
"What do you mean he was a wimp?" I tried to keep my tone as flat and inquisitive as possible.
"He wouldn't do anything without prompting. I always had to tell him what to do. I always had to check up on him. I had to tell him where to put it." I scratched my fork slightly along the plate as she said it. I looked up slowly and saw a dull pink color spread across her face. I could feel the smile come across my face. I let her stew for about 10 seconds before I bailed her out.
"What did he not follow through when you tossed him one?" I kept the smile down to a smirk.
"What?" A look of nervousness spread across her face mixed with just a twinge of anger. It was even more sumptuous than the meal before me.
"You guys played tennis that's how Anna told me she knew you. Did he not follow through when you guys were on the courts together?" She looked absolutely relieved when I asked her that ,but I just had to keep pushing. Hell it was a bad date anyway might as well try for the Hall of Fame of bad dates and have it out in the restaurant. It was a boring place that needed a floor show.
"Or is that he wasn't being decisive under the sheets with you." Her eyes instantly froze in place fixed on the plate in front of her before she grabbed for her water and took a long pull off the top. I kept talking not really going fast or slow just trying to keep my tone nonchalant. It took her maybe a full minute to finally blurt out something.
"No no that was fine." She fiddled with the bread stick some more. Her thumb was stroking the tip of the bread stick in a way which in a crowded restaurant drew a few stares. She quickly blushed as she realized it and dropped it back onto her bread plate.
"Just fine not good? Geez no wonder he didn't make the cut. He had no redeeming qualities whatsoever." She looked relieved that I given her out to talk about how bad her ex-boyfriend was. She easily went back to telling me how he never mowed the lawn or did anything else. Her voice was nice but we had nothing in common. I tried to breach politics once and her eyes seemed to grow vacant and hollow. I let her go back into telling me how her job as a the booking agent and coordinator for a cruise ship was so fulfilling. Then she talked about some celebrity gossip news. I felt like I was flipping between E! and the Travel Channel on my cable box. She had seemed flustered though when I had brought up the wimp comment. Maybe she did have one redeeming quality. I wondered what she sounded like when she came? I smiled and began to chuckle just as she finished another one of her bad jokes about the travel industry. She smiled and seemed to glow as she thought her joke was funny. Maybe she was worth another night of my time.
By the fourth date, I wanted to see how far a stiff push could get me. I was amazed that she had told Anna that I was the best listener she had ever met after our first date. What no "he asked me how my last boyfriend wasinbed?". I was both relieved and mad at myself for not pushing more... Because after her one slip I couldn't help but picture her in various forms of undress either tied face down to my bed or to a chair as she serviced my cock. She had suggested we go to a concert in town that she had wanted to see at some dive bar. Split V or something. I wanted to see what she would do if I completely ignored what she wanted. That evening I showed up at her house wearing a nice sport coat and a pair of chinos. She told me I could leave my jacket when we went into the club.
"A guy from work gave me a set of tickets to go to see a new historical exhibition from the Civil War. It was the only date that he could get tickets. Your welcome to come but if you want to go see your band .. we could meet up later that would be fine." I tried to look apologetic but occasionally a smirk would try to appear so I would have to turn my head.
"I guess that would be fine with me. I didn't know you liked that history stuff." I had told her at least five times that I had just finished reading Sears' biography on McClellan. It seems I wasn't the only one fantasizing about the other. The night went on pretty much like a normal date. As the night drew to a close I implemented what I had planned the night before. As I walked her to her door she leaned forward to give me a quick peck on the cheek.
"I'm thirsty why don't you go inside and get me a drink of water." It was a honest enough request.. if she had denied me she might have come off looking like a bitch.
"Uh sure." She sounded fairly nervous as she walked in. I went in right behind her and sat down. She seemed a bit alarmed ,but I acted like it was just another date. I quickly flipped on the television. It was almost 11 and I knew she liked to watch Chelsea Lately so I flipped on the News Hour and pretended to get into it. When she came in with the water I patted the seat beside me without looking at her. I grabbed the water and took a small pull off of it. It surprised me when she sat down. I had the remote in my right hand while she sat on my left.
"Its getting .." I cut her off with a slight shush and wrapped my arm around her. I waited for the first commercial break and then stood up.
"Its getting late." She seemed to be relieved when I said that. Her entire body relaxed and she reached for the remote.
"You need to be getting to bed." She seemed to be wondering where I was going with this.
"So why don't you go brush your teeth, get changed, and I will come tuck you in." I wanted her to fight me on this and it looked like I just dropped a bomb in her lap. I smiled as she seemed to back off from me.
"Just because you look like my dad doesn't mean you can treat me... " I just took my water and walked to her bathroom and flipped the lights on. She followed me into the bathroom and continued to berate me as I pulled her toothbrush out and sat it on the bureau.
