Portland is a great town. In fact, I used to live there until I was pushed out of my job for reasons I didn't understand at the time. More about that later.
Anyway, I live in San Francisco now, and one day my boss told me to get packed and head for Portland. One of our top clients needed some serious hand-holding. So I flew north expecting anything up to a week of frantic, 12-hour days with the jittery clients.
I was able to quickly get our clients past their big problems and they were pleasantly surprised when I cleared up several smaller glitches as well. We were done by late morning Friday, so I shook hands all around and left with their relieved thanks ringing in my ears.
Since I had an open ticket, my grateful boss told me I could spend the weekend in Portland at the company's expense. I eagerly accepted the offer but soon ran into problems finding playmates.
My old girlfriend had a new guy, and plans for a romantic weekend on the coast. My best pal was dealing with his fiance's parents, just arrived on vacation from the Midwest. Several other friends also had plans, including one who still worked for my old company. At least
he had time to buy me lunch.
I was leaving his office after lunch, heading for the elevators, when I ran into another old co-worker, Ruth K-------. In fact, Ruth used to be my supervisor. Our relationship had varied from strained politeness to occasional moments of genuine warmth, but she was not an easy woman to get along with. One day she could be warm and personal, the next cold and aloof. We had gotten along fine at work and really had no relationship outside the office.
So I was surprised by her reaction when we met by chance. Ruth hauled me into her office and sat me down to talk as if we were intimate friends. She seemed genuinely disappointed that someone had already taken me to lunch. Talking with unusual animation, she seemed pleased, flustered and perhaps apprehensive at the same time.
After a bit of catching up, she surprised me again by inviting me to dinner at her townhouse. In fact, she was insistent. I hesitated, but not for long. With all my other friends committed elsewhere, my alternative was dinner by myself. I accepted Ruth's invitation.
So at 7 that evening Ruth opened her door for me. A New York native, she was 28 and educated at a first-class university. She had worked several years for an East Coast division of the company before getting an unusual transfer to the Portland office. The company rarely transferred low-level supervisors all the way across the country.
We talked and drank glasses of wine as she prepared dinner, and I found myself looking carefully at Ruth. Her large, brown eyes and dark, shoulder-length hair were her best features. Her typical expression at work was a bit severe, her thick hair tightly controlled. But when she relaxed her face was expressive and quite pretty. At 5'7" and maybe 145 pounds, she was no fashion model, but then I've always disliked the anorexic look.
She had broad shoulders for a woman, and hips to match, but her waist, calves and ankles were relatively slender and nicely proportioned. There had always been some curiosity about Ruth's body among her male coworkers because she dressed for work in clothes that concealed everything between her knees and shoulders. Her breasts seemed large, but nobody really knew. The rumor mill reported she was a regular at the downtown YMCA. But that was also uncertain, since most of us worked out at a gym closer to the office.
Sitting in her kitchen while she dealt with pasta and sauce, I became aware that Ruth seemed quietly but intensely excited, maybe even apprehensive. Her face was flushed, her eyes bright. Her conversation was a little distracted, but charming and she displayed flashes of wit she rarely showed at the office. She wore a loose, long-sleeved and high-necked blouse of some soft, opaque fabric, closed with dozens of tiny round buttons. A nun could have worn her brown wool skirt without embarrassment, except that it was expensively tailored.
Through dinner the conversation was casual; work and coworkers, my life in San Francisco, hers in Portland. But when dessert was served, she became quieter, seeming even more distracted. Finally we were sitting over coffee, in silence.
