Tina thanked Bob again as she closed the door behind him. He waved it off as usual because he knew she would return the favor ten-fold. He walked down the walkway to the sidewalk and strolled back to his own house two lots down.
Tina was a single mom with a teenage daughter and a pre-teen son that moved into the neighborhood about 2 years ago. Her divorce had been messy, which involved a prolonged battle for custody of the kids. Bob knew there had to be another side to the story, but the one Tina related to him indicated that her ex was an asshole of epic proportions. This guy made an easy six figure income and he put everyone through this drawn out legal process over a few hundred bucks a month of child support. Every time Tina spoke of it, she broke down into tears. Bob wondered what other crap this guy put her through that she was too proud to reveal.
Tina's pride was one of her weaknesses. She would only call Bob to help when she absolutely could not do the task herself. Bob would see her struggling with something and when he offered to help, she would tell him, "Thanks, but no thanks. I have to learn to do it myself." Bob would always reply, "Why? You have a neighborhood of guys here that are willing to help you out with stuff like this." It took her almost eighteen months to start to take Bob up on his offer and another 3 before she would actually ask his help.
Bob was also a single parent with 2 daughters, a teenager and a pre-teen. He lost his wife, Debbie, in a car accident a year earlier due to a drunk driver crossing the median and hitting her van head on.
He joked that he lived in 'pussyville', that even the pets were females. Tina helped him out by cluing him in on the female thought process, and being there for his girls when they needed to talk to an adult female. A few of the other ladies in the neighborhood helped in that respect too, but since Tina was so down to earth, they gravitated to her more and more.
Having this connection of helping each other out, they became fast friends. They would talk about the quagmire of the world of dating, and how they were not really ready to get back into that scene yet. Neither of them would be considered social butterflies, but by no means were they wallflowers either. Meeting any new people was hard enough when they had to juggle work, home and the seemingly endless transportation of kids from one activity to another, much less meeting someone eligible.
Tina's company had purchased a number of tickets to a black-tie fundraiser being held at a 5-star hotel downtown, and due to Tina's position, she would be expected to attend…with an escort. Tina fretted about this for weeks, not having anyone in her life that she felt comfortable asking to such an important function where she would be socializing with corporate VIP's.
"Bob, maybe I should just call in sick the Friday before, so that I could have a plausible excuse for not attending."
"Do you really want to do that? I mean, this sounds like a great time. That hotel is top-notch and I am sure the food will be out of this world. Surely, there is someone you can ask that would be relatively fun and be able to understand the importance of this to your career?"
Almost in tears over her now apparent 'singleness', Tina sobbed, "No, I don't. You're the only one that I know well enough."
"Well, then, what about me?"
"You? That's sweet of you but I didn't mean to guilt you into offering."
"Hey, what are friends for, anyway? And besides, I'm being a little selfish here too. I'd love to get a free meal."
"Are you sure? It's black-tie. I don't want you to have to rent a tux."
"No problem, I have one. I bought it a couple of years ago when I had to go to these corporate functions myself. Self-employment took care of that requirement real fast."
With tears in her eyes, she hugged him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "Thank you. You know you don't have to do this and I'll understand if you want to cancel. I can always pull the sick act if I have to."
Her hug and kiss awoke a feeling in him he thought had died with his wife. Her perfume was sweet and her hair smelled of flowers. He wondered whether he could be attracted to his best female friend.
Tina was a great friend but also a great woman too. She stood about 5'5" with shoulder length brunette hair that she usually wore tucked behind her ears. Her eyes were peculiar in that they seemed to change colors depending on her outfit. Bob joked with her about them, telling her she was a close relative to a chameleon. Not only did they change colors, but also they could keep you captive. Whenever she spoke of something she was passionate about, they would come alive and glitter like a Fourth of July sparkler. Her skin always had a faint tan because her brother owned a tanning salon that she could use for free. Her best feature was she had the sexiest legs and ass. When she wore shorts or a mini skirt, Bob couldn't help but stop what he was doing and admire them. He was sure she had seen him ogling her but she never mentioned it to him. The one quality she didn't have was breasts. She wasn't "flat chested", but they would not turn heads either. She was also not one for heavy make-up. Her philosophy is that make-up should be used to accent not cover up. On the whole though, on a scale of one to ten, she was a solid eight.
As for her personality, if she weren't a highly respected businesswoman, one would have expected her to be a kindergarten teacher or a librarian. She was sweet and gentle with everyone, very wholesome; someone a guy could take home to meet the parents without any worry what mom would think. That's why Bob trusted her with his kids so much.
Bob was just less than 6', and weighed in at 200 pounds. His exercise regime went by the wayside and most of his toning had faded. He always had the intention to get back to the weight machine in his basement, but something else always took precedent. His hair was thinning, and rather than deal with the unsightly comb-over, he cut it down a short as possible, and still maintain a professional look. He was told his best feature was his eyes, a steel blue that seemed to be able to look through people. He never felt he was a chick magnet, but women gravitated to him at parties. It wasn't necessarily his looks that women liked, but rather his relaxed demeanor and sense of humor. He loved to play practical jokes on his friends and family whenever he could. For his brother-in-laws birthday, he filled up his car with Styrofoam peanuts and replaced his license plate frame with one that said, "My other ride is a porn star." Needless to say, Bob's sister had a few choice words for him.
Bob went home that day and pulled his tux out of the closet to try it on. To his surprise, it fit, although a bit snug in the waist. He had two weeks left before the party, so he re-started his workouts, albeit a bit slower than before. He took his dogs on longer walks than normal and spent 30 minutes a day doing light weights and sit-ups.
Tina was feeling the same anxiety, but to a greater degree. She hadn't been out with a man since her divorce so her wardrobe had drifted to the more mundane styles of either work suits or the casual look. She did not have anything that she could wear, or more accurately, did not have anything she could wear that would not remind her of her disastrous marriage. Time to hit the mall!
She went to all the malls in the vicinity, and even those outside the metropolitan area every night after work, but to no avail. She liked Bob and wanted to look her best for him, since he as being so nice in bailing her out and going with her. With only a few days left before the big event, she was in a panic. She was about to give up when she headed back to the local department store to see if they had received anything new. Lo and behold, she found just what she wanted. It fit her perfectly, almost too perfectly, so no alterations would be needed. As luck would have it, they had shoes that matched like a dream.
The gala was to start at 7:00 PM but Tina's boss announced that he wouldn't be able to make it due to a family obligation and that Tina would have to represent the company. This meant that the other people at their table would be scrutinizing her and her escort to a greater degree. Even though they didn't report to her directly, her position was higher and, being a woman in a man's industry, made what could have been a nice evening more stressful.
Bob dress as carefully as possible, wanting everything to be perfect for Tina. He understood how important this was to her and wanted to make a good impression. He went back over their story that they would tell everyone in his mind. They decided to keep it as close to the truth as possible, with as few embellishments as possible so that there wouldn't be any slip-ups. He looked at himself in the mirror and was rather impressed at how good he still looked in a tux. Even his daughters gave him two thumbs up when he emerged from his bedroom.
He grabbed the wildflower bouquet he bought for her and drove the two doors down to pick her up. Apparently, his daughters had let the rest of the neighborhood know that he was going out with Tina and was in a tuxedo, because they were all out on their front lawns giving him catcalls and whistles. He waved to them and then did a model turn to show off a bit.
Tina's daughter, Megan, let him in and she too gave him a whistle. "You look great. I never would have recognized you."
"Thanks, I think."
Just then, Tina appeared at the top of the stairs and Bob was spell bound as she descended the staircase. Her dress was bright red, sleeveless, with the hem cut to mid thigh and a high neckline. She had her hair up, which accentuated her slender neck and wore matching pearl earrings and necklace. Bob couldn't take his eyes off of her, especially her legs. Megan watched with mild amusement, as Bob stood there with his mouth open, staring at her mother.
When she made it down to the foyer, Bob was spellbound and came back to reality when Megan said, "You two look good, have fun."
"Uh, thanks. Tina, you look absolutely beautiful. I am speechless."
"You look pretty handsome yourself." Her red lips formed a pretty smile that Bob, in that brief moment, wondered what it would be like to kiss.
They walked out and he put her into his car. As she sat down, her skirt rose enough for Bob to see her thigh-high stockings. She demurely fixed it, but that vision would be burned into his brain for a long time. The entire drive into the city, Bob couldn't help himself from glancing over at those legs she had crossed so sexily.
