Tom had had a very bad week. Everything he touched seemed to turn to shit. No less than seven clients had called to complain about some problem with service or another. He'd had to fire one guy and put another in a different department. At least now he had a three day weekend to look forward to.
The drive home was a bitch, as every day was, but this one seemed even worse. He chalked it up to people getting out of town for the long weekend. He sighed as he got off the freeway. A three day weekend had sounded great when he left work but now... What the hell was he going to do for three days?
He parked in the driveway and sat there. With the wife and kids gone, he hated to even go in the house. It had been a happy home for nearly fifteen years and then that went to shit. Margie packed her bags and the kids stuff up one morning and left. He had been at work and didn't have a clue until he came home to a dark house.
Opening the door, Tom sighed and got out. The heat was like a wall, the humidity something you could almost see. He took a deep breath and started for the front door. He stopped with his key in his hand. He still wasn't completely sure why Margie had left. The divorce papers said something about irreconcilable differences, whatever that was.
He shook his head and opened the door. If Margie or her mom or her sister, or someone would talk to him, he might find out. The silence was even worse than not knowing what the problem was. He sighed and went inside. He tossed his jacket on the arm of the couch.
Going down the hall toward the bedroom, he unbuttoned his shirt. He was taking it off as he entered the bedroom. He froze dead in his track and his mouth dropped open. Sitting in his bed was the most gorgeous brunette he had ever seen in person. The fact that she was buck ass naked only added to her beauty.
"Hello, Tom," the woman said with a smile.
"Uh... hello," Tom replied in a distracted voice. His brain was too busy trying to take in all the woman's charms to actually think about anything. She had a couple of pillows behind her back, her hips rolled toward him and her left knee across her right leg. Her breasts were not large but they were beautifully full. Her stomach had that soft look to it older women get. He found it very sexy.
"You don't remember me, do you?" She asked a moment later.
"Uh... no, I don't but then again, I don't find many naked ladies in my bed."
The woman laughed softly and grinned. "We met at a party a few years ago. I was there with my husband and you were there with your wife."
Tom shook his head. "Nope, no bells or whistles."
"My husband is the reason your wife left."
That statement was like a bomb. "What!" Tom almost yelled.
The woman laughed again. "I'm Rita Thomas or at least I was. Now I'm divorced like you."
Tom was busy going through the list of people he knew. He didn't remember anyone by that name, male or female. He shook his head.
"You didn't have a clue did you?"
"I still don't," Tom admitted.
"They started having an affair a few months after that party," Rita said and sighed. "I only found out about it myself a few months before the divorce papers were handed to me. It was a shock. Both the affair and the divorce papers.
"I... uh... I don't understand. Our love life had always been fine," Tom muttered more to himself than speaking to her.
"Tony's not that great a lover so I think it had more to do with the kids than anything else. I can't have children and he has always wanted a big family. It's an Italian thing, I think."
"But... but... but," Tom sputtered and then shook his head. "The more I know, the less I understand."
"Shit happens," Rita said with a grin. "And life goes on."
Tom looked at her and shook his head. "A sort of life." Then he asked the burning question, "Uh, what are you doing in my bed?"
Rita chuckled and replied, "I'm single, you're single, I'm horny, so here I am."
Tom's mouth dropped open again and Rita laughed. "Was that too straight forward for you? Should I have called you for a date first?"
Tom closed his mouth and swallowed hard. "I've never..."
When he didn't finish the sentence, Rita said, "Maybe it's time you should."
Tom groaned as his eyes ran over her luscious body.
"Your wife was the only one?" Rita asked a moment later.
"Uh... there was one other before her but it was one of those drunken college whirlwind romances that ended badly for both of us."
"I had one other before Tony but he died in a car wreck. I sometimes think I married Tony to just get away from the loneliness."
"Loneliness sucks," Tom said and sighed as he tossed his shirt on the chair in the corner.
Rita ran her eyes across his chest and asked, "How old are you?"
Tom looked at her. "I'll be forty three in a couple of months."
"I just turned forty six. Tony was fifty one. I think he thought time was running out for him to have a family."
"Why didn't you two just adopt or something?"
"I asked him the same question but never got an answer."
"Why steal someone else's family? That's what I can't get my mind around."
Rita shrugged. "Tony had some strange ideas and notions on life. If he saw something he wanted, he went after it."
Tom slumped and said, "I should have been paying more attention."
Rita sat up and smiled. "I have a little something that might get your attention and to tell the truth, it needs a little or is that a lot of attention."
Tom looked at the woman in his bed. She was a lot of woman to say the least. He shook his head. "Tony must be an idiot to trade you in on Margie."
Rita sighed and whispered, "I keep telling myself it was the kids and not her. It helps my self-esteem if you know what I mean. I always did my best to keep him happy."
"I know that feeling," Tom whispered in reply.
Rita shook herself and smiled. "Want to take the trade-in for a test drive?"
"I... uh..." Tom said as he wondered why he was still standing there. "I... uh... need to take a shower. I just got off work." He was stalling because he didn't know what to do next. Just jumping into bed with a complete stranger felt so wrong.
Rita sighed deeply and looked down. "I guess trade-ins just aren't worth all that much."
Tom found himself on the side of the bed with her chin in his hand. "No, it's not you, it's me. I can't get the possibility of her coming back out of my mind."