Second Chance
© Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. All characters depicted are 18 years and over.
I first met her when I was in the ninth grade. She was everything a boy could want in a girl. She was also everything I was not. Where I was shy, she was outgoing. Where she was cute as could be, I was average. She was a majorette, I was a nobody. I could go on, but you get the point. I had zero chances of making any impression on her at all. So I stood by and just tried to wait. For what, I did not know, but waiting was what I did back in those days.
She continued to be in my orbit all throughout high school. In the tenth grade she started going with an ROTC guy. I thought she could do better but what did I know? In any case I thought he was wrong for her, but I did not know her well enough to say anything. And it was not my place to butt in where I would be unwanted.
She dated the guy all through high school and I heard they got married soon after they graduated. That was where I lost track of her.
Her name was Ariel and by the time she graduated she was a real beauty. Her cuteness had transformed her into a beauty. She had shoulder length brunette hair that curled at the ends, a pug nose, a smile that could melt butter, good breasts, and nice legs. And I was in love, or at least in lust, for her. And she slipped away from me.
Many years passed before I met her again. I went to our high school reunions hoping to see her, but she never showed up to any of them. In the meantime, I went to college and met my wife. We were married halfway through college, mostly to escape our parents. But we made it last, and I was in love with her. She meant more to me than anyone I had ever met. After both of us graduated we had wonderful careers, both of us moving up in our chosen fields. We made the choice after graduation that we would not have children because we both wanted careers. During this time we had the chance to travel and we made trips to Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Alaska, Peru, and all over the US. We had a tremendous amount of fun.
Sadly, when we were both 45 she came down with intestinal cancer. When it was discovered it was advanced and operating to remove it was just out of the question. She lasted about six months before succumbing to the cancer.
She had enough life insurance that I could keep our house. But it was a big place and I soon knew I needed to downsize. I bought a smaller house with a nice fenced in yard and good sized trees on the lot. It fit me perfectly and after giving away most of my wife's clothes and other items it was able to contain all my stuff. It had a two car garage so I made one side into a small shop area where I kept all my yard tools. I kept myself busy after work planting gardens on the lot and keeping up with the yard.
Soon I realized that I needed to get back on the dating horse again before I forgot how. I missed talking to someone, the companionship, and a warm body in bed next to me. I checked out dating sites but nothing grabbed my attention. This was about the same time that a new web site came online for former high school students, so I decided to see if any of my old school friends were available. I browsed around the site and found that most of them had moved away. And then I found Ariel. She was a member of the site as well and it was possible to send her an email, although what was listed was not here true email address, it was a forwarding address sponsored by the web site. I decided to send her one anyway.
I typed up a short note explaining who I was and asked if she remembered me. Then I sent it off.
I waited, and then waited some more. After two weeks I decided that she was not going to answer me. So I brushed it off and made other plans. About a week later, I received a reply from her. Basically, she was flabbergasted. Of course she remembered me. Her note was filled with excitement and it brightened my mood tremendously. She explained that the email address that was on web site was an old one that she no longer used so she rarely checked it. She gave me a new email address and said she wanted to hear from me.
I read her note twice before I typed up my reply. I gave her some history, after all, it had been over twenty five years since I last saw her. It included information about college and my wife, now deceased. I added that I would like to get together with her if she was up for it.
I only waited two days for a reply. She had just lost her husband of ten years and was trying to put her life back together just like me. She had been married three times, the first two were a disaster, the only thing good about them was her daughter from the second marriage. But the third marriage was wonderful and full of love and good times. He died in a car crash involving a drunk driver. He was on his way home from work when it happened. She was devastated. Lastly, she did want to get together. She asked me to suggest something. We were within easy driving distance, so that was not a problem.
I wrote back sympathizing with her plight. I suggested that we meet at a restaurant for dinner on a Friday night. I picked something that had a wide variety of choices, not too expensive, and in between the two of us.
She replied that was fine and she was looking forward to seeing me again.
So the time and place were set up. Now I just had to wait a few days until I could see her again.
When Friday night came I went to the restaurant and decided to wait in the lobby for her. When she walked in the door, I was not sure if it was Ariel or not. She had to be two inches taller than what I remembered. But she remembered me. Her smile told me that.
"Tom! Oh my God, it is so good to see you again!"
"Hello, Ariel."
And then she came up to me and hugged me. I had never been that close to her before. She was a good armful. She broke the hug and stood back.
She said, "Let me look at you. Why, you have hardly changed at all."
"You have changed a little. I don't remember you being this tall."
"I always was a little short. And then after I graduated I suddenly had a growth spurt. I grew almost two inches in six months. It surprised even me. I had to buy all new clothes."
"It looks good on you."
"Thanks. I want to know all about you, but let's get seated first."
We let the waitress seat us at a table for two. She gave us menus and left while we made our choices.
"I was sorry to hear about your husband."
"Yeah, it just happened out of the blue. And I feel bad for you. That must have been an awful experience."
"Yeah, I guess we both share the same feelings about our tragedies. But I am trying to move on."
"So where do you work, Tom?"
"I work for a software company that does systems for electrical providers. It's challenging work."
"Do you travel much?"
"I used to, but I kind of put that behind me after my wife's death. My employer understood completely and was very accommodating. What about you? What do you do?"
"I work for a small wireless company that will probably be bought out one of these days by a larger company. We are just not growing fast enough."
The waitress came back and took our order. When she left we continued to catch each other up. She talked about her three marriages and her daughter, who was in college now.
"So where do you live, Tom?"
"I have a little house about two miles from here. I sold the house my wife and I bought because it was big and held too many memories for me."
"I know what you mean. I sold our house and moved into an apartment for the same reasons."
"So how are you holding up?"
She sighed. "About like what you would expect. I am getting along, but it is lonely. At least I have my job to keep me busy during the day. It's the nights that get to me. But your email cheered me up when I got it."
"Same here. I try to stay busy around the house at night, but there is only so much to take up your time."
Eventually the waitress returned with our order. Neither of us was eating very heavy. She had a salad and some chicken with vegetables. I had a small steak with vegetables.
We continued talking through our meal. I was enjoying her company immensely.
As we were finishing our meal, Ariel asked me a surprising question.
"Tom, why didn't you ask me out in high school?"
"Well, I was pretty shy in those days. Besides, you were already going with Mr. ROTC."
She blushed at that. "You should have asked me anyway. The answer might have surprised you."
"Well I figured it was not my place to butt in. It's not like we had anything but a casual relationship."
"True, but you were always more polite than you needed to be. It's the one thing I remember most about you."
We continued to talk. She was easy to talk to and I was surprised at how easy it was. I guess I had changed since high school.
When it came time to pay the bill she wanted to split it, but I put her off. I told her it was my treat since I had contacted her first. She insisted that she would pay next time. And that was a surprise, she wanted to do this again!
So I paid the bill and we went to the parking lot.
"My car is over there."
She said, "Mine is that way. Would you mind if we did this again?"
"That would be really nice. When do you want to get together, again?"
"What about next Friday here at the same time?"
"That's fine with me. I will look forward to it."
"Me, too. So until then."
Then she leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek. I just stood there like a statue while she walked back to here car. I watched her get in and then went to my car.
**********
That started a pattern of seeing Ariel every Friday night. We always met at the same restaurant at the same time. Each meeting was better than the last. We got more and more comfortable with each other as time went on and I looked forward to each Friday night.
About five weeks into out meetings I had a Friday night that I could not make it. I had to be downtown that day and was taken out to dinner by the client. I phoned Ariel and let her know about the conflict and asked her if she want to do a Saturday lunch this time. She said yes and we made arrangements to meet at a different restaurant at noon.
I got up early the Saturday morning and mowed and edged the lawn. Then I did some touch up pruning to a few of the bushes. Then I gave everything a good drink of water.
After I was done I went inside and showered and shaved. I put on some nice casual clothes and when the time was right I left for the restaurant. We had picked a more casual place for lunch that served burgers and fries. Ariel arrived right after I did and we went in. The waiter seated us an gave us menus.
"So how was your dinner last night?"
"It was good. We went to a nice Italian place and the food was actually pretty good."
"What have you been doing this week?"
I had planted a new garden in the back yard and put in some flowers and a creeping vine on a trellis. I gave her the details and she truly seemed interested.
"That sounds really nice. I would like to see that some time."
