Lisa dropped her daughter off at her father's. She doubled checked her reflection in his bathroom mirror. She frowned at what she saw there. Even though she was technically a dress size smaller than she had been when she got married ten years ago, she had become hypercritical of her appearance. It was a side effect of a very bad and sexually unfulfilling marriage. She sighed as she sucked in her tummy, what she considered her worst feature.
Maybe she should just cancel this evening. It might be for the best, she thought. After all, what were the actual chances of thirty-nine year old divorcee and single mother finding happiness? Wasn't it more likely that she would get by lightening? Or was it die in a plane crash? Either way, it did not bode well for this first date in a dozen years.
She was broken. Totally, completely and irrevocably broken. Her spirit. Her self-esteem. Her very womanhood had taken such a severe beating from her marriage that Lisa was without hope. Why should this night be any different? What hope did she have?
"Hey, could you hurry up in there? April needs to use the potty and it's not like you're going to get any thinner the more you stare in the mirror. Or have you become one of those crazy chicks that take laxatives to lose weight?"
Her ex-husband's voice on the other side of the door jumped started her, but not for the reasons he wanted. She had spent the past almost two years since the divorce celibate. Hell, she had not even gone on a single date. If she cancelled now, he would win again. And Lisa was tired of letting his hurtful words rule her life. She had done that throughout their marriage, going from a sexually confident woman to someone petrified of intimacy. But no more.
She opened the door and bent down to kiss her delightful seven year old daughter. "You have fun with daddy, sweetheart. Mommy will see you tomorrow." She squared her shoulders as her daughter closed the bathroom door. "Please don't bring her home before five tomorrow. I have a date and might be out late."
His lips curved up in a sardonic grin, "Oh, really? Who is the poor bastard? Anyone I know?"
He did in fact know her date, knew him very well, but Lisa was not about to share that information with him. "It does not concern you. Enjoy your time with April," she said over her shoulder as she left his house.
The drive to Tim's house was less than a mile, but it seemed to take hours as Lisa's conviction bounced back and forth like a ping pong ball. 'Go for it.' 'He's your ex's best friend.' 'You can't let him control your life forever.' 'How do you know this isn't some sick practical joke that the two of them have cooked up?' Those and litany of dozens of other random thoughts flitted through her brain like a deformed butterfly.
By the time, she pulled her car into the driveway behind Tim's pick-up truck she was trembling. She sat there for a couple more minutes, the ongoing battle waging still in her confused head. She was just about to turn the key and drive away, when he knocked on the driver's side window.
"Hey, are you getting out? Or should I join you in there? It's been years since I made out in the back seat of a car, but I'm game if you are," he smiled.
Tim was the exact opposite of her ex-husband. At forty-two, he still had an almost boyish charm as opposed to her ex's overwhelming bad boy persona. His red hair and freckles only enhanced the appearance. But it was his easy laughter that had always appealed most to Lisa.
As her marriage began to crumble about her after the birth of her daughter, Tim had become her friend, more than her husband's. But it was more than just friendship. She found herself falling for him. If she were completely honest, only her strict religious upbringing and strong moral convictions had kept her from having an affair with him. But now, there was no reason not to indulge herself. To see where this thing might take her. Might take them.
"So what's it gonna be, Lisa? Nice steak dinner in my back yard? Or making out like a couple of teenagers in your car? You know it won't even be dark for another couple of hours? You wanna give the neighbors a free show?" he teased.
She shook her head nervously and took the key from the ignition. "Don't think my ego is up to that one," she mumbled as she got out.
"What did jerk face say this time?" he asked as he brushed a kiss on her cheek.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it," she followed him up the walkway and through the gate to his backyard.
Being single had some advantages she thought as she looked at the hot tub that sat to one side of his patio and the bar on the other. Even with two incomes, they had never been able to afford those kind of luxuries on a cop's salary.
Tim walked over to the bar and took a couple of moments pouring several different liquors into the blender. She watched as he added ice, orange juice and some red liquid. A couple of whirs of the machine and he was pouring the slushy looking drink into huge glasses. He brought her one and took a smaller one for himself.
"I'm gonna get you drunk and take advantage of my best friend's girl," he smiled. "I always thought it would be cool if just once the geek stole the girl from the jock."
She laughed as she brought the glass to her lips. At first it tasted overpoweringly sweet, exactly like the strawberry slushy that April favored, but after a moment the burn hit your throat and she realized this was no kiddies' drink. "Wow, this thing has a kick."
"It's okay. I'm not going to let you drink and drive. No worries," He said taking a small sip of his own before walking over and opening the lid of his grill. "The coals are just perfect. You take your steak well done, right Lisa?" he asked as he put two pieces of meat on the metal rack over the flames.
Lisa nodded as she took another large swig of her drink. This time it did not burn as much going down so she took another and another. By the time her steak was done, she had finished the whole glass. She was giggling at everything that he said as he led her to the bar. He sat the plate of steak and salad in front of her as he began to refill the blender once more.
