Everyone portrayed is over eighteen. This is fiction; as always, all characters and events, etc. are figments of our imagination and have no connection to any living or dead persons, or true events.
Sally
I met Sally at one of the semi-annual get-togethers hosted by our apartment complex. The pretty blonde wore a modest blue bikini partially hidden by a cover-up. The cover-up did nothing to hide the fact that Sally was a very well-put-together woman.
Unfortunately, Sally was talking to Jeff Meyers, the complex lothario, and Jeff's body language was doing the cock-block thing, suggesting Jeff already laid claim to this wonderful creature. As they both stood near the pool, each with a drink in their hands, Jeff with his other hand caressing the lady's forearm; she looked past Jeff's head and stared into my eyes.
The next thing I knew, this woman was standing next to me. "Hi, I'm Sally."
I'm not a total geek, I know how to handle myself near beautiful women; so I was able to return her smile and get the words out. "I'm David."
"David, I see your drink is nearly empty. Can you get us a couple more, please?" She kept giving me a million-dollar smile as she asked the question.
I grabbed her glass and was surprised when Sally put her hand on my arm and accompanied me to the make-shift bar. With our glasses replenished, we walked back to the lounge chairs. When I looked out by the pool, Jeff was giving me the evil eye.
"Aren't you here with Jeff? I saw you over there with him."
"Jeff would like to think so. I met him my first month in town and made the mistake of agreeing to go out with him. The guy is a throw-back to the Sixties, Mr. Octopus was all over me that night and wouldn't accept 'no' when he wanted to show me his apartment. I slipped out the door when he went to put Sinatra on his CD player."
"How would you know what the Sixties were like?"
"My grandfather explained it all to me when I told him about my date. It was a veerry entertaining lesson, Granddad and Nanna were in stitches telling me stories about their youth."
"Your folks live in town?"
"Just my maternal grandparents, Mom and Dad are still living in Chicago. They both grew up here in San Diego but moved to the Midwest when Dad got a job there. I was born a year later and grew up there."
"What brought you out here?"
"My company offered me a transfer here; I decided to give it a shot. The weather's nicer and I lived twenty-two years within ten miles of where I was born, including college at Northwestern. Thought a change would do me good."
I was impressed, given that I've lived in Southern California all my life and never thought of moving cross-country.
"That's kind of ballsy, moving here like that. Any friends out here?"
"Well, like I said, my grandparents are here and that helps. No friends yet. It's only been three months and work's been eating up all my time. That's why I was looking forward to this get-together. Hoping to make some acquaintances with my neighbors."
Just then, Tom and Jan, my married neighbors, entered the pool area. Great timing. I took Sally's arm and walked her over to introduce them to her. It all escalated from there; Jan introduced Sally to a couple they knew, who introduced her to another of our neighbors. Before it got out of hand and some other guy took advantage of the situation, I interrupted Sally and two ladies.
"Sorry ladies. Sally, got a minute?" I gently led her away from the other two. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to go soon. Can I buy you dinner sometime soon?"
Sally gave me a big smile. "I'd like that David."
I called Sally the next day and we made plans to have dinner the following Saturday. I drove around the complex to her building to pick her up, she was wearing a little black dress and high heels, her blonde hair hung down to her bare shoulders, her face had a tint of sun that brought out some cute freckles and set off her blue eyes.
Sally caught me staring and smiled.
"Do I pass inspection?"
"Sorry, was I staring? Wherever we go tonight, I'll be with the most beautiful woman in the room. Your dress is wonderful, your hair shines in this late sun and you are just gorgeous."
We got in my car and drove down to the Gaslight Quarter. On the way, I had to ask the question which bothered me all week.
"Tell me Sally, why did you introduce yourself to me last weekend? There were so many people there; why me?"
Sally laughed, "Fishing for compliments?"
I turned red, Sally took pity on me and continued.
"There were a couple reasons. Number one, Jeff warned me to stay away from you. I figured if Jeff was worried about me meeting you, you must have some good qualities. Number two, I liked your shorts and shirt. Every other guy there was wearing those ridiculous shorts that hang way past their knees. What's with that? Your shorts were actually shorts, not Capri pants. And your shirt let me see you've been working out; I like a man that takes care of his body."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. Oh, by the way, don't get big headed, but I thought you were awful cute, too."
I liked this girl. The dinner and after dinner drinks were a success. Before the evening ended, we made plans for a second date. I received a nice first-date kiss when I dropped her off at her apartment.
For the next three weeks Sally and I went out at least twice a week. She was still getting used to her new responsibilities at work and that was her priority, which made sense and wasn't a problem for me. As far as I could tell, most of her free time was spent with me. One day, I stopped at her office to take her to lunch. Sally introduced me to her co-workers and if I'm any judge of people, it seemed Sally must have built me up to the ladies in her office; they had that 'approving' look in their smiles.
It was a month after the apartment get-together; Sally and I spent the day at the beach. This time she wore a red bikini that she just rocked. Half of her c-cup breasts were swelling out of the top, half of her tight buns out of the back of the bottom. Sally did the usual female thing.
"I didn't know if I could get away with this suit today; I haven't been in the gym since I moved to San Diego. It's been almost three months and all I've been doing is my yoga at night before turning in."