It had been a long day. I went to my hotel room to take a shower and change before I went downstairs for a drink; then I would think about dinner. I was seated at a table reviewing the events of the day when I noticed a very nice looking woman sitting at a table nearby. A guy came up to her and offered to buy her a drink. She thanked him but declined. She said that she was waiting for her husband. His reply startled me when he said that he had noticed that she had been there for well over an hour. She smiled and nodded but said that he would be there shortly.
I travel frequently for a living and have seen many women sitting alone in bars. Some want to be picked up, some just wait until their boy friend or husband shows up. I had even seen a few where the husband was sitting on the other side of the bar waiting for her to get picked up. But I don't recall ever seeing a woman wait for over an hour alone for a husband or boy friend to show up. Usually they left after a half an hour or so or got frustrated and started dancing with the next person who asked.
Casually, I turned to her and said in a quiet voice. "I heard that you have been waiting for your husband for quite awhile. If you like, come share my table. It will keep the wolves away and I always like to talk to a pretty woman. And I promise I won't hit on you."
She looked like she was in her mid twenties and at thirty five, I must have looked like a father figure to her because she smiled and said, "I'd think I might like that." She moved herself to my table and I introduced myself as Jared Green; she introduced herself as Megan Stromberg.
We talked for a while and she gradually told me that her husband was actually next door in a sports bar watching a football game with his buddies. He had asked her to meet him to go to dinner but he had met up with his friends and a lot of time had passed. She didn't have her car which was in the shop so she was mostly stuck until he finished and came for her. She loosened up and she gradually started laughing at some of my lame jokes. I found her easy to talk to and definitely not hard to look at. It was now about 8:30 and I was getting hungry and I knew that she must be also; so I offered to take her to eat in the dining room. I could tell that she was tempted but still hesitant. She said that her husband would be really angry if she left. I suggested that we go over to the bar and tell him what we were going to do and he could join us when he was finished. She was debating the issue when we both heard a loud belligerent voice say, "Who the hell are you and what are you doing with my wife?"
While it caught me by surprise, I responded in a quiet and measured voice, "I am doing the exact opposite to what you have been doing; I am not ignoring your wife and leaving her alone for over two hours in a bar to be hit on by every horny man in town."
His response was less belligerent but his attitude still pissed me off. "Well, I'm here now and you don't need to hang around sniffing any more, old man." His wife started to say something but I held up my hand to her. Then I stood up and at 6'2" and 200 lbs looked down on his 5'8" slender frame.
"Now look here son; you have ignored her all night and she has waited patiently for you. But you would rather watch a stupid game with your buddies than take her out to eat. We were just talking about going over to tell you that I was going to buy her dinner in the restaurant but since you have been such an asshole, now I am going to tell you what we are going to do and what you are going to do. Listen closely. I am going to take her out to dinner at any place she wants. And then I will take her anyplace else she wants to go. If she wants to go dancing, then we will go dancing. If she wants to go fuck, then we will go fuck. In short, we will do what your wife wants to. I will have her home at midnight. In the meantime, you go back and finish the game with your buddies and when the game is over, go home and on the way stop and buy a bottle of nice white wine. Have it chilled for us when I bring her home. Have a couple of candles lit also. If you can't act civilly when I bring her home, go to bed or go play with yourself but stay away from us when we get there. If you can act like a civil being, you can share a glass of wine with us. Now do you understand what is going to happen tonight and what you are to do?"
He looked into my eyes and saw that I was serious and said a simple, "Yes, sir." I reached for Megan's hand, she took it and I led her out of the bar into the parking lot without either of us looking back.
"Oh my God. I can't believe you did that and he backed down so easily."
"Megan, your husband needs a couple of years in the military and a tour overseas to learn how to be persuasive. Now, where would you like to have dinner, my treat?"
"You don't have to do that. I can fix something at home if you would drop me off."
"I told him that I was taking you to dinner and anywhere else you wanted to go. So take advantage of it."
"Well, there is a really good Chinese place not too far from here, if you like Chinese? It's kind of expensive though."
"I like Chinese as long as it is good but there is nothing worse than bad Chinese food. And I don't remember saying that we could go anywhere you wanted as long as they have value meals." I smiled at her and that seemed to calm her down some. "So here is my car and you will have to tell me how to get there."
I helped her in the passenger side and got in and started the car. She gave me directions to a really nice looking place a couple of miles away. I took her hand and helped her out of the car and led her to the door where we were promptly seated.
"Order anything you want. Would you like some plum wine with dinner? It is very nice."
"Yes, thank you." We ordered our dinners and a bottle of plum wine. Then she asked, "Are you staying at the hotel?"
"Yes. I usually stay there when I am in town. The rooms are comfortable and it never gets too noisy."
"Do you travel a lot?"
"Yes. I am usually on the road four days each week then in the office for one and the weekend is mine. Do you work?"
"Yes, I'm a management trainee at one of the retail stores in the mall."
"That's nice. How is the program going?"
"So far, OK. I liked working in the personnel and the accounting departments. Now I am in the sales rotation. That isn't my strongest suit but it is alright so far. I still have the operations rotation and then they will assign me to a permanent department."
"Good. Is the company pretty stable?"
"I hope so. It is one of the big department store chains but any more you never know for sure."
"That is for certain. So tell me about yourself."
She talked for fifteen minutes about her background and schooling. She only briefly mentioned her marriage. Then our food arrived and we ate like we hadn't eaten since lunch, which neither of us had. She seemed to really like the plum wine and had two glasses. I wasn't sure if I should warn her that it sneaks up on you. But I let it ride.
When we finished dinner it was almost 10:00. She had loosened up nicely and was back to the laughing woman from the bar. "So, is there something else you would like to do tonight? It is still early and the game is still going on."
"Are you sure? I mean I have enjoyed being with you and all but dinner should be enough."
"Nope; you have a free pass until midnight. What would you like to do; go dancing? I told him that we might do that."
"You also told him that we might..."
"That was for his benefit, not yours. He needed a wakeup call and that was it. So dancing or something else?"
