The sound of a train whistle goes off in the next room. "Ah who could that be at this hour?" whispered Lesley as he gets up from his desk chair. Upon entering his kitchen, his mobile phone rings out another train whistle chime. He picks up his phone and slides his finger across its screen. "Two messages from Sharon. Hmm."
The screen brightens up from a green to a bright white loaded with a few lines of text. The first message read "Free tonight? Stressed and ready to blow." The second message read "Got to get out of here right now. Be there in half an hour max."
Less than twenty minutes go by when his phone rings. Lesley answers "Hello there."
Somewhat panting and in a hurried voice, Sharon whispers over the phone "Sorry its short notice, but I really needed to get out of there or I was about to throw my keyboard across the room. Can I come in or actually, let's go for a walk. Do you mind?"
Lesley responds with a smile "Sure. I'll meet you outside in a few minutes."
A couple of minutes go by and Lesley hears a knock downstairs. He quickly puts his pants on and a sweater then walks down to open the door. Sharon stood there in her shorts wearing a thin jacket. Her breath is clearly shown in the cold air outside. She doesn't say anything to him when their eyes meet. Lesley's heart jumps a bit and he smiles at her.
"So you're clearly freezing in those shorts. Let me get you a jacket." Before Sharon could say anything, he disappears through the door and around the corner. He comes back a few moments later with a large orange jacket. He puts one of his hands out and asks her "May I have your thin jacket? Why the heck did you bring that anyway?"
She shrugs at him and takes off her jacket, then place it in his hand. He quickly puts the big jacket around her and asks, "Would you like pants as well?"
"No. It's okay. My legs are okay." Sharon hastily answers.
Lesley tosses her thin jacket on a chair inside the house, closes the door and locks it. He turns back and looks at her again with a smile and says, "So, shall we?"
They both walk down the dark pathway out onto the street in silence. Some ways down the sidewalk, he leads her onto a pathway into an open field. He looks up at the night sky and breathes in a deep breath, then slowly lets it out, watching the mist-like vapour dissipate. Sharon seemed to be troubled, but even though Lesley turned to her a few times, he wasn't able to speak a single word. Instead, he notices her hair is tied up into a pony tail and she is wearing a new pair of earrings. In the dim glow of the street light in the near distance, he could see her eyes are watery and her cheeks flustered with temper.
Lesley opens his mouth to speak, but Sharon beats him to it.
"I was so angry. I smashed my hand on my desk and thought I broke it. That's why I'm wearing shorts and that jacket." Lesley takes Sharon's hand and looks at it while he gently massaged it.
"Does it still hurt?" asked Lesley in a worried voice.
Sharon shook her head and went on to explain her situation. Lesley listened the entire time. Every now and then, he would acknowledge her explanation, ask questions, reaffirm her thoughts and continue to listen.
They both end up sitting at the steps of a high end office building surrounded by Sakura trees and low hedges, unknowing how far they have walked. As Sharon vented away, Lesley could not help but notice how sweet looking Sharon is. His eyes scanned her facial expressions and the way her lips moved. Every now and then, Sharon would turn away to look obliviously at her surroundings and her pony tail would fling to the side towards him. He would notice her exposed neck and in the moment, think about giving her a kiss there. He snapped out of it when Sharon would turn back to him continuing her rant.
He placed his hand next to her, near her backside and leaned against it. As she talked away, his thoughts trailed off and he could not help but get closer to her. Sharon again looked away oblivious and went silent.
She speaks in a lowered voice, "Sometimes I just don't know what to do. I get so stressed out and it ruins my mood for days."
Lesley suddenly realizes what he is doing and backs off slowly just to have Sharon catch him. Her eyes stare right into his and she doesn't say anything. He stops backing away and notices his heart beating really fast. A part of him wants to quickly lean in, place his hand on her thighs and run it up her leg, but another part stops him from acting upon his fantasy.
Sharon quietly speaks out, "So what do you think Les?"
Shifting his eyes to her earrings, Lesley responds, "I think you look fabulous with your hair like that and a fantastic choice of earrings."
She smiles and says, "You notice these things. These little details."