Rhonda Miller really didn't like datingâbut what was the option? Staying at home and being lonely; having an affair with a married man; or throwing herself at any presentable male, of whatever age, just to get some relief from certain compelling physical urges. No thanks!
It's true that, when you're a forty-eight-year-old woman, even one who is reasonably attractive and financially secure, prospects just aren't that great. Young guysâand that includes everyone up to the age of about thirty-fiveâdon't want to date you: for those poor sods who still want to bring children into this world, you're way beyond childbearing years, or else you either remind them of their mother (and if there are any who want to date you
because
you remind them of their motherâwell, you'd better stay far, far away from them!). As for guys your own age, they're weighed down by vengeful ex-spouses, demanding teenage or college-age children, and all manner of other impediments to long-term happinessânot the least of which were certain difficulties in the performance of intimate acts, if you catch my meaning.
Sometimes Rhonda wondered how people got together at all after their thirties. Maybe some couples just hooked up for companionship, but that wasn't nearly enough for her.
Of course, she had some impediments of her own, even though sagging breasts and excess weight around the stomach or hips weren't among them. Her impediment, it was becoming clear, was a certain creature who had emerged from her womb twenty-three years ago named Miranda.
At first, Rhonda and her ex, Davidâwho'd flown the coop three years earlier, predictably attracted by some piece of fluff at his office about fifteen years younger than herselfâwere delighted with the daughter whose name rhymed (sort of) with her mother's. She was bright, bubbly, vivacious, and reasonably good-looking, and seemed to have no end of possibilities. But she had made the decision to go to the classic "small liberal arts college"âand then major in something called "comp lit" (what on earth was that, anyway?). Predictably, she hadn't been able to find a job after graduation, and now she was more and more ensconced in the fatherless family home, doing very little to become gainfully employed and at times lapsing into a sulky depression that wasn't exactly appealing to the few men friends Rhonda brought over once in a blue moon.
Rhonda had to admit that Miranda had gone from merely good-looking to being a real knockout. But even though everyone seemed to think that pretty young women had it easy in this world, Miranda didn't seem any closer to flying the parental coop, however many heads she turned with her generous breasts and tight, round butt. In her especially sour moods Rhonda toyed with suggesting to her daughter the perfectly viable career of porn star or lady of the evening.
Meanwhile, she herself scoured several different Internet sites for suitable males. The quest was largely a failure, even when she extended her search down to men as young as forty. And so, having nothing to lose, she went all the way down to men of thirty-five and up. This was presumably not low enough to inflict upon her the unsavory type of youngish man who wanted a "Mrs. Robinson"-type of woman, but it might root out some nice, nerdish guyâfairly personable, well established in his career, and able to perform adequately in bedâwho didn't mind an attractive, self-assured woman who had a few years on him.
And, incredible as it may seem, the tactic worked. The profile of a man named Gary Sandersonâage thirty-six, working in the tech industry, and living only a few miles from herâcame up. His photos made him seem more than handsome, although Rhonda was too familiar with the ins and outs of online dating to take such photos (which might be more than a decade old) at face value. Still, after some initial chatting online, they had set up a date for that Friday. What did she have to lose?
And when she sauntered into the wine bar they had agreed upon for their first date, Rhonda wondered if she had hit the jackpot.
It had been a long timeâmaybe even before she had met her husband-to-beâthat a man had made her weak in the knees, and wet between the legs. But Gary did just that. Incredibly, his photo didn't do him justice: his tanned, craggy face, his substantial height (five foot ten, as compared to her five foot six), his broad shoulders, flat stomach, muscular legs, and (so far as she could tell from an initial glimpse) really cute buttâall these things made her stagger as she approached him, to such a degree that she actually stumbled into him, compelling him to seize her around the waist lest she fall to the floor.
"Sorry!" she cried, reluctantly prying herself out of his strong grasp. "Just tripped over my feet."
"Are you okay?" he said in a resonant baritone voice that made the crotch of her panties so damp that she worried about leaving a stain on the chair to which Gary led her.
"I'm fine," she said shakily. "I'm usually not such a klutz."
"I'm sure you're not," Gary said gallantly.
When she took off her wrap and hung it over the chair, Rhonda smiled approvingly to herself as she saw Gary give a covert glance in the direction of her chest. Of course, she was wearing a push-up bra under her business suit, and the scooped neck of her blouse displayed a fair amount of cleavage.
You'd better take a good look, guy!
she thought.
I'm wearing this uncomfortable garment just for your benefit!
They ordered two glasses of Sauvignon Blanc and some munchies and got down to the business of getting acquainted. Gary worked at a software company nearby, while Rhonda was a vice president at a bank. So neither of them had money worries. Rhonda was certainly not in the market for a guy whose chronic unemployment would become a drain on her finances (she had enough of that problem with her daughter), and she found nothing appealing in the idea of being a "kept woman" of some bigwig executive.
It turned out that both had been previously married. Rhonda did her best to speak of her ex without rancor, knowing that men find it a real turnoff if they think a potential partner has some long-simmering resentment against a spouse, no matter what he has done to deserve her abuse. And she admitted reluctantly that she had a grown daughter at home. Gary confessed that he had married at a very young age, right out of college; both of them, after several years of nearly nonstop arguing, realized that they were just too young for marriage, and had parted ways amicably after four years.
As they chatted, it was clear that a chemistry was developing. It wasn't that they shared a lot of interests, but their outlooks were surprisingly similarâas regards politics, religion (or, rather, the lack of it), interest in a family (Gary had little of that, and Rhonda took up some time telling him of her shiftless daughter), and so on. So it was unsurprising that their date extended into a proper dinner at a restaurant close by.
By the end of the meal, Rhonda for one was totally smitten. There was a gentleness in Garyâbacked, she sensed, by an inner strength that suffered no fools gladlyâshe found inexpressibly appealing; and she hoped her own charms, whether of body or of personality, had a similar effect on him.
It sure seemed that way. Gary unquestioningly picked up the check at the restaurant, as he had done at the wine bar. As they walked slowly to their respective cars in the restaurant parking lot, Rhonda's mind was racing fiercely.
I can't let this guy get awayâI have to snag him now, or I'll lose him to some younger female. Even if it means spreading my legs on the first dateâsomething I haven't done in ages, except in those few cases when that was the plan from the startâI'm going to have to seal this relationship right away.