The lightning illuminates the night sky followed by cracks of thunder so close and unnerving that the hair on your arms is raised. It's 10:45 and your shift is about to end, the diner closing at 11. It's been a long day and your white sneakers are stained with coffee and dirt; they have made your feet sore and you're ready to shake your apron and skirt off. It's a uniform you don't hate, but it doesn't highlight your hips the way you would like.
This storm has been raging since 8pm, the water in the parking lot a little too high; you know you'll get your feet and shoes wet walking to your car. You look out the window, the reflection of the red open sign blinking almost outside your field of vision, to look at your car. A red Pontiac, not flashy, but reliable. I have to replace the rear tires soon, you thought to yourself. As you turn to begin cashing out and closing the register down, headlights become visible and a black sedan pulls into the parking lot, splashing water onto the front window of the building. As the water falls and your sight no longer obscured, you see it's a black BMW, the big one. "What do they call that one? Seven series?" You wonder out loud.
The driver side door flies open and I hop out, slam the door and run toward the entrance of the diner. Trying and failing to prevent the rain from soaking me. As I enter the door, the bell rings. It startles me a bit and as I look up, we make eye contact. It is obvious to me you are upset someone came in so close to closing time. You just bought a new vibrator the week before and have loved it ever since, you planned a date with it tonight after work. And you think to yourself "this guy better not keep me here much later" as you welcome me. "Hi, welcome to Shelly's diner. Would you like to sit at the counter or a booth?"
"Booth Please" I reply. "I am sorry it's so late, I've been on the road all day and I've just had enough of this rain. I don't need anything fancy. Do you have chicken noodle soup and maybe a BLT sandwich?" I try to wipe the rain away from my face and hair. But in just the few seconds I was in the rain, I'm soaked. My dark suit jacket is sticking to my body like a second-skin. I take off my jacket, revealing the starched, white dress shirt encapsulating my thick muscled arms. My collar is undone a bit, a loose tie.
I'm walking toward and sitting down the booth when you first notice: the bulging muscles of my arms and the tight, rain soaked shirt on my chest and back. "It's too late to turn the grill back on, but we do have some soup left. I'll bring a bowl over in a minute. Would you like some coffee?" You ask as your eyes drift up and down my body. "mmmm, he's a strapping young man, very handsome." you think to yourself.
"Yes, black" I reply. You turn to head back behind the counter and brew a fresh pot. As you walk I catch your backside out of the corner of my eye and am drawn to it. The light blue skirt, the one that waitresses in diners seem to have been wearing since the 1950's flows down your hips and drapes around your ass and thighs without showing off your figure, but teasing me with what lies beneath. The skirt sways back and forth as you walk, hiking up just an inch or two with each step, tantalizing me. I didn't notice before, but I notice now. This waitress is gorgeous, a MILF, attractive with nice hips, what look like big d-cup breasts, full luscious lips with cherry red lipstick and legs for days.
You come back with my coffee and soup a few minutes later. I try to grab my coffee mug from you and our hands touch. It lasted for less than a second but we lock eyes, and it felt like forever. A lonely, rain-filled, lighting-struck night with two strangers looking for something more, something raw, passionate and animalistic. That skin-to-skin contact, however brief, lit a fuse. This night, for the both of us felt electric. Independent of each other, we both have decided to submit to these passions that the world, the weather, the circumstances of life has placed upon us tonight.
I break eye contact, slowly moving my eyes down toward my coffee mug. But I stop. Your top has one too many buttons undone and more than a hint of cleavage is visible. I don't think I've ever been in a situation where this much sexual tension is hanging in the air with so few words said. "It seems pretty dead in here, why don't you join me?" I say to you. "Given that we are the only two in the diner, at 11PM at night in the middle of a thunderstorm, yes, I'd say it's pretty dead in here" is your reply as you slide into the booth opposite me.
As I'm eating, we start to chat. We start learning quite a bit about each other. Family, are we each married, what are we doing out on a night like this. I learn that you moved here to raise your children in a nice quite town with low crime. You were living in New York City, a professor at Columbia before you took some time off to raise your kids...and never went back to work. Your husband never believed you should be working anyway. But you had to take this job at the diner for two reasons: 1. There wasn't a college within 100 miles for you to teach at and 2. If you didn't get out of the house every so often, even for a menial job such as this, you would go insane. After a long pause in the conversation and a few spoonfuls' of my soup, I ask "Looks like this rain isn't going to stop any time soon. I would rather not continue driving in it, do you know if there is a hotel nearby?"
This tension, this attraction that has filled the air inside the diner as heavily as the rain outside is coming to a head in your mind. You know that if we just had a bit more time, perhaps away from the diner, you could take what has become a tedious conversation wrought with silent curiosity into a proper conversation over wine, perhaps with a more intimate ending...I wonder how those arms really look under that shirt... alas, there's not a hotel anywhere near here.
"The closest hotel is 3 towns over, 25 miles or so. But, I have an extra bedroom at my house. There's plenty of room, and my husband should be asleep by now-" WHAT?! Why did I say that out loud? What else could that possibly mean? I hope he doesn't run off...
"You know, that'll save me $100 at a hotel. Thank you. I'm Eric, by the way." "Christine, nice to meet you Eric...You can just follow me home. It's only 5-10 minutes" hmmm...He seemed oblivious to my comment, odd. I didn't mean to say it, but I hope he understood what I meant, you thought to yourself.
By this time it was raining so hard that in the few seconds it took for us to run to our respective cars, we were drenched, as if we had jumped into a pool. With that much water on the road, you had to be careful driving home. Those tires needed to be replaced sooner than you thought. You slid off the road, hydroplaning into a small ditch. Luckily you didn't seem to be hurt. A little panicked, I pull off the road and stop. Getting out of my car, I yell to you "Are you ok? Are you hurt?", barely audible over the rain. You yell back that you're fine but the car isn't moving until the rain stops, probably by morning.
Out of the ditch and into the front passenger seat you climb. Mmmmmm, tan leather. The seat warmer function on, to keep you nice and toasty. As we begin driving you turn to me and say "You know Eric, I'm sorry about that back there. My husband was supposed to change the rear tires on my car last week, but he's been in a foul mood the last year or so." "It's alright, I'm just glad you're safe and aren't hurt." I reply. "You know, he and I haven't been intimate in almost a year. He just rolls over in bed and doesn't even touch me. We barely talk when we are awake and when we do, all he does is ask me to make him dinner...more like tell me to make him dinner."... I look over and smile; I absent-mindedly pat your thigh just above your knee. My fingers linger...and you take my hand in yours. "My knight in shining armor".
This set off a wave of electric attraction between the two of us. This touch, this physical connection by the hand was all that was needed. Before I knew it, I was pulling into your driveway. I put my car in park and we sit there for several minutes. Silent. Only our breath and the pounding rain on the hood and roof of the car. We look at each other, break the contact our hands have made, open our doors and make a mad dash for the house.
Finally in, we laugh just a little bit, an uncomfortable and nervous laugh. We both know where this was going. After attempting in vein to dry myself off in the bathroom, I come out to the living room. You're standing in the doorway of the spare bedroom, where I'll be sleeping tonight. I walk towards you, get to the doorway and you don't move. You stop me in my tracks, our faces inches apart. Being this close, I finally notice the milky smooth tone of your skin. My first instinct is to caress it; the back of my hand comes up to run it down your cheek. You demure and reflexively pull back. As you do, you stagger and stumble in the shoes you've not yet taken off. Before your fall backwards ends at the floor, I catch you and pull you in close. Our clothes, still wet, cling to each other. Your arms reach around and feel the muscles in my arms and shoulders. You're turned on. My biceps flex as your hands glide down them, you steady yourself and I let go. But a second passes until I pull you back in for a passionate kiss, a kiss not of first time lovers, but of experience, as though you and I have been practicing this kiss for years.