I don't think that I was ever so happy to go on vacation. After finishing a very long, difficult job, I needed time away.
I took the job soon after my marriage fell apart and I had gone through an ugly divorce, and it was a great way to focus my energies and frustrations. By now I was feeling much better about myself, and life in general.
The slow season for construction was just starting, so I decided to take a couple of weeks off and head to Jamaica, my favorite destination.
When I got to the International Terminal at O'Hare, I saw a short line at the ticket counter and joined in. In front of me, I noticed a woman, about my age, looking even more anxious than I was to get away.
The woman was a little shorter than me, with blonde, shoulder length hair. As I looked her over, I was pleased to see that she was very curvy, with a nice pair of legs sticking out from under her sundress, and what looked to be a nice ass and big, full breasts.
She was the only person in line besides me that was alone, which got my attention, along with the fact that, also like me, she was the only other one already dressed for the islands, and very attractive.
I continued to watch her from behind as the line slowly moved forward, and I started to wonder why she was traveling alone. I was able to get a glance at her hand, and noticed that she was not wearing a ring, but there was an impression of one. That told me that either she was out for a "play time" get away, or recently divorced.
The line proceeded to crawl forward, and soon she was at a ticket window. As everyone else moved up, she passed through without a problem. As luck would have it, I found myself at the same window that she just left.
As I gave the woman at the counter my reservation info, I started to try to sweet talk her.
"I don't suppose there's any way you could get me seated next to the woman that was just up here, is there?" I asked, smiling at her.
"I'm sorry sir," the woman chuckled, "but the seats are assigned on a first-come-first-served basis."
"Damn," I muttered. "Oh well. It was worth a shot."
She laughed as she continued to process me, and said, "Yeah. It never hurts to try."
"With any luck, though, you can meet her once the plane lands," she said.
"Nah. With my luck, she'll be staying on the other side of the island," I replied, taking my boarding pass and ticket and heading towards the security check-in.
At the security gates, I was lucky enough to have only one person between me and the mystery woman, so I was able to get an even better look at her.
She was indeed a very beautiful woman, but her face, especially her eyes, told me that she had been through a rough time. My guess that she was recently divorced was gaining strength.
Knowing how I felt right after mine, I wasn't sure if I should try to talk to her, as she probably just wanted some alone time.
I was, however, able to get a very good look at her legs and ass when she had to bend down to unbuckle her sandals as she went through the metal-detector. "Nice!" I thought to myself. "Very nice!"
Once we got to the boarding gate, I was able to take a seat directly across from her. She looked up at me as I sat, and I smiled at her and said, "Good morning."
I was greeted with a strained smile and a nod, and she opened up her laptop computer.
"Definitely wants to be left alone," I told myself, and pulled out a book to read as I waited for the boarding call.
The flight was very uneventful, and I was seated two rows behind her, too far back to even see her.
As my luck would have it, however, I was seated next to a very young, pretty young girl, who was part of a church group doing mission work on the island and tried to engage me in a religious conversation.
Four hours later, the plane landed with the young bible-thumpers' brain rattled, and we all departed the plane.
I watched as the blonde got up and started walking down the aisle, and I followed as quickly as I could.
"What the hell," I thought to myself, "this may well be the last time I get to see her, so I might as well enjoy the sight as much as I can."
By the time we walked down the stairs to the tarmac, she was only two people in front of me. I watched her as she turned to walk into the terminal, and saw her look up into the sun, a small smile starting to creep on to her pretty face.
I managed to be right behind her as we went through customs, and I wanted to watch her as much as I could, to see what resort she was staying at.
Much to my surprise, and delight, she started walking towards a man holding a sign with the name of the same resort that I was staying at.
She gave him her bags and got onto the mini-bus, and I followed her on. I took a seat across the aisle from her, smiling and nodding at her as I sat.
This time, I received at least a small smile from her before she looked out the window.
A few minutes later, after four other people joined us on the bus, we pulled out of the parking area and started the drive to Ocho Rios. The blond and I were the only singles on the bus.
As soon as we were on the main highway, the driver announced that the drive would take two hours, and we would be stopping mid-way to stretch our legs and have a drink, if we wanted one.
I sat back and relaxed as we drove down the highway, enjoying the scenery. I looked over at the blond a couple of times and saw that she seemed to be relaxing finally, too.
About an hour later, we pulled up to what looked like a tiki hut on steroids, with a jerk shack next to it. The driver parked the bus, opened up the door, and told us that we had about a half-hour to stretch our legs, use the restrooms, and have a drink, before we finished the drive.
I watched as the blond made a bee-line to the bathroom, and I went up to the bar.
Just as the bartender placed two drinks in front of me, the blond came back and went to the outer edge of the shack, which was a long counter top, and sat down.
I took the drinks and walked over to her. "That coffee must have hit you pretty good," I said, sliding a drink to her.
She looked up at me, and said, "Excuse me?"
"The way that you almost ran to the washroom, I just assumed that your morning coffee went through you on the bus," I said.
She smiled, and said, "It was that obvious, huh?"
"Only to someone watching," I joked.
"So, what's this?" she said, motioning to the glass in front of her.
"It's a Planter's Punch," I told her.
"It's a little early to be drinking, don't you think?" she said, looking at her watch.
"No," I replied. "You're on vacation. What else do you have to do?"
"This is Jamaica," I added. "Time only exists on their conditions. And their conditions say that it's never too early for a Rum Punch!"
"I don't know," she said, looking at the glass. "I usually don't drink this early."
"Well, this isn't 'usual'," I replied. "This is vacation. In Jamaica!"
She still hadn't picked up the glass, so I added, "Besides, if you don't drink it, I'm going to have to, and you don't want that to happen!"
"Oh no?" she asked, smiling at me. "And why not?"
"Well, two drinks in me, this early?" I replied. "Who knows what may happen!"
"Ok, ok," she laughed, picking up the drink. "Thank you."
"Not a problem," I replied, touching her glass with mine.
"I'm Kurt," I told her, after he took a sip of her drink.
"Hi Kurt. I'm Terri," she replied.
"Terri, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Terri took another drink, and looked up at me.
"I just want you to understand something," she said. "I just got divorced, and I'm not looking to meet anyone."
"This is my first time away for anything other than business," she continued, "and I'd just like to enjoy myself and relax."
"I understand," I replied. "I'm not looking to meet anyone either. I was the same way right after my divorce."
"I just thought that since you and I are the only single ones on the bus, it might be nice to have someone to talk to. I didn't mean to seem pushy, or look like a wolf on the hunt. I apologize if I did."
"No, it's not that," she replied. "Like I said, this is my first time away from home since I was married, over twenty years ago, and I'd like to enjoy my time away."
"That's completely understandable," I told her. "If you'd like, I'll leave you alone, so you can have some solitude. If you'd like some company, or just someone to talk to, you know where to find me."
"Thank you," she said. "I don't want to be rude, but..."
"Hey, like I said, I understand," I responded. " I was the same way after my divorce."
"How long were you married?" she asked.
"Almost twenty years," I said.
"I made it past twenty," she told me. "I don't know how, but we did."
"The same here," I laughed. "If it wasn't for my kids, I would have left long before."
"I think that I wanted to stay together for the grandkids," Terri said, "but after a while, I decided that it just wasn't worth it. They deserve to see their grandma happy."
"That they do," I replied, raising my glass to her. "I can't believe that you're a grandma, though."
"Yep," she laughed. "Five times."
"Wow!" I said. "How come grandmas never looked like you when we were kids?"
I watched as Terri blushed and looked down at her glass. "Thank you," she said softly. "That's the nicest thing I've heard in a while."
We continued talking as we finished our drinks, and I was glad to see that she was starting to loosen up at least a little. Soon, though, the bus driver announced that it was time to finish the trip to the resort.
As we re-boarded, I asked Terri if she minded if I sat next to her.
"No, I'd like that," she said.
"Thank you," I replied. "And like I said, I'll leave you alone once we get there, if you'd like."
She didn't say anything as the bus pulled back out onto the highway.
"Have you been here before?" she asked.
