Party Early

Business was good, a little too good for my tastes. I was working with a new client in a new town. I had been in this little one horse town for two weeks and only had two days off. Twelve, twelve to fourteen hour days, was too much from my point of view. When the client said he wanted to take the weekend off for Halloween, I readily agreed.

As I was packing up my laptop and equipment, Jerry, the client said, "There's going to be a Halloween costume party out at the country club tonight, why don't you join us. My wife has asked to meet you and this would be the perfect time."

"A costume party? Man, I don't have a clue about a costume or where to get one. I had time to pack one bag and my toothbrush before I got on the plane to come here. Maybe I should pass. Anyway, I need to catch up on my rest." I really didn't want to spend any more time with this guy. Working with him was bad enough.

With a shrug Jerry replied, "I had to offer. If you change your mind just give me a call, you have my cell phone number."

"Will do," I told him as I picked up my computer bag. "Have a good weekend."

"You too," I heard him say as I went out the door.

*****

Jerry's office was downtown and my motel was out by the airport. It's only about ten miles but the quality of the rental cars available here is terrible. The car I had didn't have air conditioning and ran as if it was on its last legs. I wasn't surprised when it started to overheat about a mile from the motel.

I ended up coasting into a service station parking lot in a cloud of steam. I called the rental agent and he said, "I'll send someone as soon as I can but it might be a few hours or even tomorrow morning. My mechanic has already left for the day."

With a frown, I asked, "Do you have another car?"

"Not right now but I'm supposed to have one returned in the morning. If not then my mechanic can get that one back to you tomorrow afternoon at the latest," was his reply.

With a sigh and a shake of my head, I said, "I'll leave the keys under the floor mat." I didn't hear if he said anything else because I hung up on him.

A one mile walk with a computer and equipment bag in ninety degree heat was not something I had planned for but I didn't have much choice. I wasn't going to hang around on a street corner. My tie went into the bag and my suit coat went between the strap handles. With my shirt collar unbuttoned and my sleeves rolled up, I headed out.

*****

By the time I reached the motel, I was soaked with sweat and halfway to a heat stroke. I dropped the computer bag in my room and headed for the bar and a cold beer. The air conditioning in the bar chilled me when I first walked in but felt damned good.

"Bill, you look like you took a detour through the swimming pool," Rita the bartender said as I sat down on a stool.

"I probably would have, if I had thought of it. I sure as hell couldn't get any wetter. That junk pile they call a rental car broke down and I had to walk," I told her.

"One glass of water and one beer coming up," she said as she turned away. "Drink the water first and then sip the beer. We don't need you getting a heat stroke."

"Thanks Rita," I said and grinned. Rita was the mother hen type. I had already figured that out. This was usually my first stop after work, here and then the restaurant across the way.

Rita returned with the water and beer. As she watched me drink the water, she asked, "Are you coming to the Halloween party tonight? It's going to be a costume party but you don't have to dress up if you don't want to."

"That's two costume parties I've been invited to this afternoon. Is someone trying to tell me something?" I said with a grin.

"I love costume parties," Rita said. "I'm coming as a black cat. Tail, ears, whiskers and all."

"If that's all that you're going to wear, I sure won't miss the party," I replied with a big grin.

Rita giggled and slapped me lightly on the hand. "I'm wearing a cat suit too."

I chuckled and ran my eyes up and down her slender, well filled out body. "That'll work and I'll be here, believe me. Just remember to yell if you need help pinning that tail on or something."

Rita laughed and shook her head. "You're terrible."

"Yeah I know but I can't help myself around pretty women. I've got to flirt with them or die."

"Flirting is good, I like to flirt myself," she said and then added, "I'll keep you in mind for the tail thing."

"Promises, promises," I told her with a lecherous smile.

She giggled as she turned and went toward the other end of the bar and a group of construction workers. I watched her well rounded ass sway as she walked away. For an older woman, she was still in great shape. I sure wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers or anything else for that matter.

*****

I finished my water and then the beer. Both went down nice and smooth. When I ordered another beer, I asked Rita what time the party started.

"Officially, it starts at eight but the crowd won't show up until nine or nine thirty," she told me and then added, "So, you are coming, right?"

I nodded. "I'll get a shower and something to eat before I do though."

"I'm going home to change here shortly myself," she said and then she leaned over the bar toward me. "Do you want to come with me?"

I did a double take and Rita laughed. "You're about my husbands size and I may have a costume for you. It's one he wore a few years ago, a hillbilly outfit."

"Uh, what's he going to say about you bringing me home and lending me his stuff?"

"Not much, he's been dead for almost a year now."

"I'm so sorry," I told her.

"I'm not, he was a mean son of a bitch most of the time and an asshole all of the time. At one time, he was a good man but that was over twenty years ago when I married him. If it hadn't been for the kids I would have left him years ago. As it was, the last kid left about the time he did."

"Some guys just don't appreciate a good woman."

Rita grinned and winked at me. "Ain't that the truth." She paused a second and added, "I get off in an hour."

"Then I need to go get a shower and something to eat."

"Have another beer, you can shower at my place and I'll fix us something to eat. I love to cook and there's no one to cook for but me. I have an icebox full of leftovers."

"Well, thank you," I told her.

*****

Rita's car had air conditioning. I had almost forgotten what that was like. When I relaxed back in the seat with a deep sigh, Rita grinned at me. "The air conditioning was out on the rent a wreck rental car again, I take it."

"You mean it actually worked at one time?" I asked grinning back at her.

"Everything in this town worked at one time but after a while everything wears out, even the people. The heat, the humidity, time, they all take a toll."

"Then why are you still here?" I asked.

She shrugged and shook her head. "No place to go and no reason to go there. I have my little house, a fairly good job that I enjoy most of the time and...." She let the sentence trail off, as she looked thoughtful.

"That's about it, I guess," she added a moment later.

"I shouldn't have asked that. It really is none of my business," I said apologetically.

"You don't learn if you don't ask. Anyway, I have asked myself the same question many a time. I don't have family here, a lot of friends yes but no real family." Again, she paused in thought.

"I guess the main reason I stay is I'm afraid to go anywhere else. I'm comfortable here."

"Comfortable can be good."

Rita laughed as she made a turn into a side street. A narrow side street shaded by large oaks that overhung the road. Small neat houses lined both sides of the street, manicured lawns spread before each one.

"This does look comfortable," I said as I looked around. "There may be more to this town than I've given it credit for."

"It does have its good points and I've always loved this neighborhood. I was raised a few blocks over from here. From my fathers house to my husbands without the need for a moving van."

"You were married young, I take it."

"Right out of high school and barely seventeen. Yes, that was far too young but then again...." Rita pulled into a driveway and stopped. The small house was neat and the yard immaculate.

"So, that makes you thirty nine, more or less," I said with a grin.

"For another few months and then the big four zero shows up," Rita said with a big frown and a deep sigh.

"There's nothing wrong with forty. I've been there a couple of years myself."

Rita looked at me and winked. "I'm not worried about it to tell the truth. It's just a number and I know that. The only problem is the number of eligible men keeps getting smaller."

"The same can be said of the number of women," I replied softly.

"I know far more single women my age than I know single men. So...." She let the sentence trail off as she opened her door.

I got out on my side of the car and looked at her over the roof. "I work too much and I'm seldom in the same place for very long so I gave up looking a long time ago."

As she walked around the front of the car she asked, "Have you been married?"

I shrugged and then shook my head. "Close once but it ended badly a few weeks before the wedding." I told her as I followed her up the sidewalk toward the front porch.

"That doesn't sound good," she said with a smile as she stopped on the first step. "You're not an axe murderer or anything like that, are you?"

I screwed my face up in a scowl with my jaw offset. I took a couple of steps forward with my left arm dawn up, my hand in a claw, my right leg dragging on each step. "No, Mistress, I've never killed anyone on purpose but accidents do happen."

Rita laughed and shook her head. "I guess you've been told you're crazy a time or two, right."

I straightened up and nodded. "A sense of humor keeps me sane most of the time."

"I know that feeling well," Rita said as she turned and continued up to the porch. She unlocked the front door and opened it. "Welcome to my parlor, said the spider to the fly."

"I thought that was, Mi casa, your casa."

"Yeah it is but the spider line works better with Halloween," she said with a smile as she went inside.

The house was as neat inside as it was outside and very comfortable looking. "Nice place," I told Rita.

"Thanks. It's more work than it's worth but it's all I have so taking care of it is the least I can do." She crossed the living room to the kitchen. "Care for a beer, while I get my shower?" She asked.

"Sure, why not. You are driving tonight, right."

She came out of the kitchen with two beers. "You still have a room at the motel right, so no one has to drive if they don't want to."

"A very good point," I said as I took a beer from her.

She turned toward a hallway and started that way as she said, "Kick off your shoes and relax, I won't be long."

I waved at her as she entered the hall. "If you need someone to scrub your back or anything else, just scream," I called out as I sat down on the couch.

*****

I finished about half the beer and sat it on the coffee table. I must have dozed off because I awoke to find Rita leaning over me, shaking my shoulder. She had a towel wrapped around her head and she was wearing a short silk looking robe. Bent over the way she was had the front of the robe falling open. My eyes instantly found the cleavage and half of one breast that was showing.

Rita straightened up slowly, my eyes following her chest. "You're not dead, that's for sure," she said with a smile as she pulled the robe closed. "Time for your shower, while I find us something to eat."

"Nice robe," I said as my eyes dropped to her bare legs and lower thighs.

"I live alone and it's always warm around the house, so I don't own a long robe," she said. "I usually don't wear this much unless I have company and you qualify as company."

"I'm glad to hear I qualify for something," I replied with a grin. "Although the thought of you running around without that robe is very interesting."

"Interesting in thought maybe but scary in actuality," she said with a grin of her own. "Gravity sucks, if you happen to be female."

"Not just for females," I said as I stood up. "My chest seems to like being around my waist as I get older."

She reached out and patted my stomach. "Not bad for middle age," she said and then laughed. "You should see some of the guys that come into the bar. Not only do they waddle but if they fell down they would roll."

"I'm not to that point yet but... I could definitely use more exercise."

"Couldn't we all," she said and then sighed. "Go get your shower. I laid out a clean towel and a pair of my husbands old shorts and a t-shirt."

"Have you got a trash bag for the clothes I'm wearing?"

"I'll bring you one in a minute," she said as she turned and walked toward the kitchen.

I watched the sway of her ass and the way it moved under that short robe for a second and then headed for the bathroom with a smile on my face.

*****

Getting out of the shower, I started to dry off and then grinned as I saw a white trash sack lying on top of the shorts and a t-shirt. Rita had been there and gone and I hadn't even noticed. The shower door was clear but had frosted strips across it. I wondered what had or hadn't been showing.

With the shorts and shirt on, I put my dirty clothes in the bag. I felt a whole lot better and I knew I definitely smelled better. The shorts and shirt were both tight so I guessed her husband had been a smaller guy. The soft cloth of the shorts didn't exactly cup my manhood but it didn't hide it either. Thankfully the t-shirt covered at least part of problem.

*****

I sat the sack down by the couch and entered the kitchen. Rita was sitting at the kitchen table with a plate in front of her. Her legs were crossed at the knee and one side of the robe had fallen open, displaying her right thigh to the swell of her ass. There was definitely nothing wrong with her legs.

The front of the shorts felt a little tighter as I crossed the room and sat down at the table. There was a plate of food in front of me and a large glass of iced tea. There was ham and turkey, as well as mashed potatoes and green beans.

I took a sniff and smiled. "This smells wonderful."

Rita smiled back at me, finished chewing the bite in her mouth, and said, "I cook way too much when it's just me, but I can't help it."

"I love to eat. That's another reason my chest is in my lap," I said as I forked the green beans.

"If I didn't walk, stoop, and bend so much at work, I'd weight three hundred pounds," Rita said between bites.

"I don't usually get that much exercise. Computer work isn't that physical."

"Then you need a membership to a gym or something."

I chuckled and shook my head. "I'm not in one town very long, remember. Anyway, a gym is too much work in my opinion."

"Exercise should be fun," Rita said and then grinned at me.

"Yeah it should," I replied with a like grin.

"Want to?" She asked a second later.

My fork stopped halfway to my open mouth. "Uh.... Want to what?" I asked for clarification. I knew what I was thinking but was she thinking the same thing.

She laid her fork aside and took a sip of her tea. I finished the bite on my fork as she stood up. My eyes grew wide and my mouth dropped open again as she opened the short robe and then shrugged it off her shoulders. I was on my feet before it hit the floor.

Rita grinned and then laughed. "My exercise equipment is in the spare bedroom and I always exercise in the nude."

That stopped me dead in my tracks as I had started around the table. "Uh... uh... uh..." I said wittily.

Rita laughed again and sat back down at the table. "But I'm going to finish eating first."

Confused as hell, I returned to my seat, my eyes wandering over the portion of Rita that I could see and pictures of her standing up flashed on and off in my brain. It was obvious that she used the exercise equipment. Her breasts were not large but they were well rounded and sat well on her chest. Her stomach looked soft but not flabby. There were light stretch marks visible.

While I was still trying to sort things out, she asked, "Those shorts looked a little tight earlier, how are they fitting now?"

I shifted in my chair and looked down. My hard-on was prominently displayed in the front of the shorts in question. "Uh, snug, very snug," I replied as I looked up at her.

"Good, I'd hate to think my getting naked had no effect on you."

"Oh, it's had several effects, believe me."

Rita laughed then went back to eating.

I watched her eat for a moment and then resumed also.

We ate looking at each other in silence for several minutes and then she said, "You must think I'm a terrible tease."

"Well, no, you're actually pretty good at it," I replied with a grin.

She blinked twice and then laughed. "You're sharp and I like that."

"You're crazy and I like that."

She chuckled softly and nodded. "I am feeling a little wild and crazy. I think it's the company I'm keeping."

"Speaking of company, I seemed to have been promoted."

"Yes you have but I'm still not sure to what level."

"What levels are there?" I asked as I laid my fork down. I had my fill so it was time to quite eating.

"There are friends, close friends, and then there is one more classification."

I took a sip of tea and asked, "Friends with benefits?"

She nodded and said, "Exactly." She ate one more bite and laid her fork aside. "I only have one person in my life with that classification."

"I've had a few in my past but none at the present."

She nodded. "You don't seem the type to have a girl in every town. You flirt and kid but you're never serious about it. Not truly serious, anyway."

"You read people fairly well," I said with a smile. "Flirting is fun and it's also what most people expect."

Rita stood up and turned around slowly. "Nice, very nice," I said and then added, "You're in better shape than most twenty year olds."

"You should have seen me at twenty," she said looking at me over her shoulder. She bent at the waist and picked up her robe. Her ass was oval shaped and looked very firm. Her sex was shaven and peeked at me from high up between her thighs.

I gave a soft low whistle and then said, "If you were any better, you would have been a walking dream."

She laughed as she straightened up. She hung the robe on the chair and shook her head. "I weighted close to two hundred pounds."

"That is hard to believe."

"I didn't do anything except housework and eat. We never went out and we never did anything together. I was bored, frustrated, and lonely. Eating was my escape."

"Was he abusive?" I asked and then quickly said, "Uh, never mind, that's none of my business."

Rita picked up her plate and then mine. She stacked them and then got the silverware. Picking it all up, she started for the sink and then stopped. "No so much physically as mentally. I never did anything right or the way he liked it done. He was just angry all the time." With that said, she went on to the sink.

I was thinking what an asshole her husband was as I stood up and carried our tea glasses over to the counter next to the sink. I returned to the table to wipe it down with a paper towel. I tossed the towel in the trashcan by the back door and turned to see Rita looking at me. She grinned and turned back to rinsing the dishes.

"What? Is there something wrong?" I asked.

Without turning around she replied, "You just did more than my husband ever did in twenty something years."

"The word asshole keeps rolling around in my head."

Rita nodded and replied, "I told you as much in the car."

"Yeah you did, but it's just now starting to sinking in."

With a shrug Rita said, "Live and learn, as the old saying goes."