He'd been standing in line behind her at the bank, quickly scanning the back and side view of her, the junoesque proportions, taking in the tailored suit, sensible shoes, her meticulous grooming, a teasing whiff of her perfume and something less tangible.
She concluded her business and turned to leave, his peripheral vision caught something falling to the floor, but by the time he'd bent to retrieve it and turn to tell her she'd dropped something, she was already through the door briskly walking away. He looked at the two small floppy disks in his hand, one titled "des histoires" the other "des pensƩes" hmmm, it appeared the lady was French or at least wrote it.
The teller was ready for him, his thoughts interrupted, he slipped the disks into his suit jacket really without thinking and proceeded to get his banking needs done.
It wasn't until that evening as he removed his jacket that he remembered the diskettes he'd found. He pulled them out and inserted the one titled "histoires" into the computerās drive, waiting patiently for ol' Bessie to sputter and wake from a day of idle occupation. He hoped his rusty high school French would be up to the task of deciphering the contents of the disk, hopefully finding a way to identify the owner, to return them to her.
The titles were all in English, so he clicked on the first one "Dreams".
He read several paragraphs before he became conscious that his jaw was hanging somewhere down on his chest, his necktie felt unbearably tight as he gulped, the bulge in his pants attesting to the fact that he'd been captured by the sensual erotic meanderings he was reading.
He smiled to himself, never judge a book by it's cover, was certainly applicable in this ladiesā case. She was at least forty, packing a good fifty pounds more than was acceptable by fashion's dictum; she'd appeared a sensible, conservative lady. There were silver streaks through her dark hair held in a twist, the brief look he'd had of her face had shown him a serious looking, matronly woman.
He continued reading the story, releasing himself from his trousers, taking himself in hand as her words seduced him with descriptions of feasting on some lucky devil's turgid manhood. His own tightness becoming almost painful with need.
At the end of the story she'd signed it with what he presumed was her nom de plume, but also an email address. Perfect. He continued to read all of the stories listed, taking a break to rapidly relieve the pressure her words had inspired, wishing he could conjure her up to assuage each of her needs and his own.
He'd inserted the second diskette; this one was where she stored her ideas for possible scenarios, paragraphs started but incomplete, erotic ponderings, fantasies. His favorite, the beginnings of a bondage scene that promised to be very hot.
He started formulating a plan on how to get in touch with her to return her lost diskettes. He would email her saying that he'd found her lost property, if she wanted them returned, to respond forthwith.
********************
I couldn't wait to get home, this day had gone from bad to worse, an unscheduled meeting had ensured I'd missed lunch, a hurried trip to the bank instead, an afternoon of endless interruptions that caused me to leave the office later than usual.
The suit Iād worn was far too warm for this day. Shedding it and everything else, a quick shower, slipping into my silky nightgown were foremost on my mind as I entered my quiet apartment, the cat nearly tripped me as he wove his way through the steps leading to my bedroom;
āFirst things first puss, momma needs to changeā.
The de-grooming tasks quickly accomplished, to the sounds of Darwinās incessant meows, he was hungry and that was all there was to it. A frozen entrĆ©e for myself popped into the microwave, a chilled glass of white wine, a can of seafood delight for Darwin, our dinner was ready in minutes.
āFinish your supper Darwin, momma's going to check her emails.ā
I made my way towards my computer, punched in my password and quickly perused the list of emails received since yesterday, discarding the junk ones, my eyebrows puckered at an address that wasn't familiar. Iām always wary of opening emails from unknown addresses, fearing another virus, I was about to click on it to send it to the trashcan when I noticed the subject line "your erotic stories" clicked on it and cried out in disbelief at the first line.
"Do you have back-up copies of your diskettes 'Mes histoires' & PensƩes"?
OH MY GOD NO
I ran to get my purse and day planner, flipping to the back where I keep a spare check book and also some diskettes, sure enough, the diskettes with the stories I'd penned were missing. Feelings of dread, embarrassment and defeat settled on me all at the same time.
No I donāt have backup copies of either one.
I continued to read his missive with tears in my eyes.
Please reply if you want these returned to you. A bientƓt, Richard
I hit the reply button;
"Yes please, I'd like the diskettes returned to me, how shall we arrange this?"
I pressed Send, hoping against hope that it wasn't going to become the ordeal I imagined getting those disks back. He'd obviously read one in order to have my email address, I wondered briefly if he'd thought my silly notions pathetic.
All evening I kept going back and forth to the email box to check if he had responded to my missive; each time there was nothing.
What kind of a man is this Richard, will he be difficult to deal with, I berated myself once again for my stupidity as I made my way to bed. Dreams filled with unknown faces that chased me, laughing when I stumbled, teasing mercilessly. Not a restful sleep at all, I awoke tired and irritable, grumbling at Darwin who cast a snooty look and pranced away, tail flicking angrily.
I couldn't wait to see if there would be a reply to my email; there were a few but not the one I was hoping for. I was starting to get angry now, those are mine damn it, he has no right to play cat and mouse this way, the bastard. I fumed as I stepped under the stinging stream of the shower, thinking up scathing remarks to offer him if and when he ever wrote back.
I prepared for work and before I left, made a quick trip to check the emails again, there it was, the reply.
"I presume you work downtown, for that is where you do your banking, I also work downtown, perhaps we could meet on neutral territory, say at the outdoor bistro on the corner of Jasper & Lynden. If this is not acceptable to you, you can send me your mailing address and I'll return your disks that way."
I sat stunned for a moment, meet him, dear sweet lord he'd probably fall out of his chair laughing so hard when he spied the frumpish old lady joining him at his table, claiming her property. Then again, he had my email address, which was bad enough I supposed, he was a stranger after all, I certainly didn't want him having my home address.
"I can meet you at the bistro you suggest shortly after 1:00 pm, if that's okay with you, if not, after work around 5:00 is the only other time I can manage, please advise."
I waited a few moments and was rewarded with a quick reply.
"It will have to be after 5:00, see you there later."
All day I was a basket case, imagining what kind of person would be there, some sick weirdo with a strange sense of humor, at least Iād be meeting him in a public place, heād not have a chance of getting too creepy on me, I hoped.
āDamn I hate having to watch that clockā, it seemed the minutes crawled by, each one adding another butterfly to my stomach, at one point I thought Iād be ill, the nervousness threatening to overwhelm me.
The time finally arrived, I made my way to the bistro, half wanting to run there and get it over with, half wanting to turn away and forget the whole thing, screw the diskettes and screw him. The closer I got to the bistro the better that plan sounded, but just as I was about to turn away I saw a man stand and offer a lopsided grin.
I reluctantly made my way to his table, extending my hand.
āRichard I presume?ā
āThatās correct, you have me at a disadvantage though, I only know your pen name and somehow I donāt think youāre really called Erotique?ā
I felt myself flushing; āAnne,ā not quite sure what else to say as he held the chair for me to sit;
āPleasure to meet you Anne.ā
As soon as I was sitting, he fished the two missing diskettes from his breast pocket and handed them to me.
āIām sorry youāre embarrassed by this, it wasnāt my intent to do that, I just wanted to meet the woman who wrote such lovely stories.ā To himself he thought āand to see if there was a possibility of living one of these experiences with youā but he held back on that.
I studied his face, noticing the fine wrinkles, the salt and pepper hair, he was of medium height and seemed to be fit, I made a quick perusal of his hands and noticed there wasnāt a wedding band, though that didnāt necessarily mean he wasnāt taken.