This story is dedicated to someone very special, a beautiful and caring lady who is very dear to my heart. And I care about her dearly. You know who you are, sweetheart.
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My name is Ira. I grew up in Queens, NYC, in a mostly happy childhood. I married young, when I was 20 and still in college. Me and my ex, Tracey, were crazy in love and we just couldn't wait to get married until after we graduated. It was heaven at first, going to school and working part time and living in a tiny off campus apartment. We had little since neither of our parents were happy about us getting married in our junior year and they didn't help us out, but we didn't care. We were in love, after all.
The first 3 years were great. We didn't get out socially unless it was just to hang out with friends and it was enough for us. But after a few years, we fought about being broke all the time. We both worked, but we had starting salaries and loans to pay, Soon we were fighting about everything. The great sex we used to enjoy dried up to almost never. We realized we got married too young without knowing enough about each other. So we got an easy divorce. No kids, no assets, no fuss. No bitterness either. We said goodbye amicably and went our separate ways. I moved back in with my parents and she moved out West to stay with a friend in California, where she lives to this day. I'm in New York, our hometown.
So from the time I was 24 I was divorced and I concentrated on my career. Since my degree was in Philosophy, there weren't a lot of good paying jobs around in my field. You learn how to think in an objective way, but it's not a career practical area of study. I got a job in retail sales, and over 3 years I worked my way up to a management position in a major, upscale department store. 3 years after that, I was offered a position as a store manager in a new location, still near my home turf on Long Island. By then I had my own home, a small 3 bedroom, 2 bath about 20 minutes from where my new job would be. I invested my money, mostly wisely, and over the next twenty years I built up a nice nest egg and I was being considered for a corporate position working out of the headquarters in Manhattan.
I was 50 now, and had it all going right, except I was alone. I was now middle aged with no family. I looked good (you have to maintain a physical appearance and you have to dress well in upscale retail). I was 5'9" with a broad build, not fat. My hair was thinning and greying at the temples and I had a Van Dyck style beard and mustache, also going a little grey. I had a closet of dark suits, a couple of lighter suits for hot days, a whole bunch of white and blue dress shirts and about 20 ties. About a half dozen pair of black and brown shoes with plenty of socks. I looked the image for my career.
I had a number of blind dates over the years through friends. Some went decently well and led to short term relationships and others were just two people who had little in common, one and done dates. I could have dated plenty from the mostly women I worked with, but as the boss in the store, that's a huge no-no. It can only lead to problems, either with the woman you get involved with or with others who can develop the feeling that there's favoritism going on...just too many problems. I even had opportunities with various customers who let me know they were available, but that could be equally bad if things went south.
So over those years, unless I got into some relationship that went well for a few months, my sex life was pretty sparse. There were entire years I didn't get laid at all. Even more than that, I missed female companionship. Someone just to share life with, someone to cuddle with in bed or on the couch, someone to just have dinner with or take to a concert. I had a social life with my friends, went to ball games and concerts, dinners and drinks. I just couldn't seem to meet someone that I clicked with.
I was watching a ballgame, the Yankees, at home one night when an ad came on between innings for a dating site. Sure, the models were all gorgeous and they even did international connections. I knew people lied on these sites, sometimes even putting in a picture that was years old or had no resemblance at all to the actual person. Men and women did that. But I was tired of not having someone to share my life with and I figured, what the hell do I have to lose? A few bucks? So before I could change my mind I was on the website on my laptop, put in my credit card for a signup fee, and filled out the profile and uploaded a picture that was less than a year old, dressed in one of my best suits from a corporate event. If others wanted to lie, that was on them. I didn't search for a woman, I decided to let them seek me out and I could go from there. Then I went back to my game.
2 hours later, when the game was over (Yankees won!), I went back on my computer and saw I got over 20 hits on my profile. I had given an age range from between 25 (I know, too young for me) to 50. A few years older would be fine, but not more. And the hits were from everywhere. A few were local, within 10-30 miles but most were from other places in the country and 3 or 4 were from women in Europe. Talk about a varied pool of possibilities.
I was nervous as hell about answering any of those responses, so I decided to just winnow through a few and see what I had there, starting locally. No, no, maybe, definite maybe, no, maybe...I went through 10 profiles like that, deciding that 4 were worth following up on. But not that night. It was after 11 by then and I had to be at the store at 8 to open to let people in to set up a sale.
Two days later, I answered each of those four possible matches. Two were within 20 minutes drive, one was a little further and the fourth was in Connecticut, a lawyer and, from her picture, a real looker and 36 years old. She was actually my favored choice. The first one, after messaging back and forth, agreed to a Skype conversation.
I don't understand why people lie or fake their profiles and then agree to meet online. Her picture on her profile had to be at least 10 years old. She was clearly a lot older, and wasn't a little heavy, which I wouldn't have minded, but she was a big girl. Over 200 pounds. Everyone has their tastes, and I know some guys would have been very attracted to her, but not me. I was polite, we talked a while and she was nice and smart, but I just was not interested. And so it went with the next two, for one reason or another we didn't connect. I'm not going to claim it was always me finding fault. The third lady, who lived in Queens, about a half hour away, wasn't interested in me after we talked a while. The fourth, the lawyer, went very well. After talking by streaming for almost 2 hours, we agreed to meet in Manhattan for dinner. She worked in the city, so it was easy for her, and I suggested a night when I was off work. So that Thursday night I drove into the city and met Elaine at the agreed on Italian restaurant at 6.
The evening went very well, we had a lot in common and she was, as I said a looker. Short black hair and a slender build with a cute face. We were obviously attracted to each other and after dinner, we made plans for me to drive up to her house in Stamford Saturday. We'd spend the day together and she'd take me around and we'd see what happened.
I brought an overnight bag with me, just in case, which I left in the trunk of my car. It took about two hours to get there and when Elaine answered her door, she had a broad smile as we kissed on the cheek. She had a lovely home, which she had gotten in her divorce four years before. After showing me around, we got in her car and she took us to neighboring Greenwich, one of the most exclusive towns in the country. We went to lunch at a sidewalk bistro and then we walked around the historic district, wandering into a few art galleries and antique shops between our conversations. We were having a great time.
Around 6 we stopped into a bar for a couple of drinks and our hands touched across the table. We decided to stay there for dinner, specializing in seafood. We had wine with dinner as we kept talking and there was a definite sexual tension between us.
By the time we were done it was 9 and I had to know whether I was staying or going. I had a two hour ride ahead of me if I left and I had more than a little to drink. I'd need some coffee if I left. But I hoped I was staying the night. We got in Elaine's car and, after she started it, we faced each other and moved in for a tentative kiss. It was nice, soft and her lips invited me for more so I kissed her again, with more confidence. Her lips parted slightly and the tip of my tongue traced over her perfect white teeth. Our arms went around each other and our kisses became very passionate. After a couple of minutes of that, we broke off and Elaine smiled sweetly. "So, Rich, do you have to drive home tonight?"
Bingo. "No, I have no plans for tomorrow. What do you have in mind?" I asked, teasing her.