Pure Fiction. Many thanks to my editor Windy Swimming, who went way above and beyond on this one.
*****
I roused myself from my torpor, realizing that I had just been staring at the hotel room wall. I had checked in a bit earlier after spending the day flying cross-country. I had unpacked, then blanked out, just waiting until time to get dinner. Well, it was time.
I hate business travel. I hate eating alone; I hate evenings alone; and I hate sleeping alone even more. No matter where you go, it's always the same. Oh well...
I headed down through the lobby and noticed an attractive woman sitting there alone. She was shutting down her laptop, apparently after taking advantage of the free WiFi available in the lobby. This was back in the days when hotel room connections were neither free nor reliable.
I stopped and watched her for a moment - no-nonsense dark shoulder length hair, pleasant face, conservative business outfit, mid-height heels and a good looking body. Hell, I had nothing to lose, so I decided to take a chance and walked up to her just as she was about to leave. I said, "Hi, pardon me. I just noticed you seem to be traveling alone and wondered if you would like to get dinner together. I really hate eating alone." For some reason my stomach tangled in a knot.
She gave me a look equal parts sizing me up and annoyance. I waited while my stomach tightened further. After a moment she asked, "Who do you work for?" I told her, she grunted, and after another seemingly long moment said, "Ok, let me dump my ball and chain."
She headed off down a hall with her computer. I watched. She was relatively short and definitely had a good body. I sat down to wait for her while I tried to get my stomach to relax.
She came back fairly quickly. I said that I just planned to go to the Italian Grill across the parking lot, but if she had a better idea that also would be fine. She shook her head and we headed across the parking lot.
Once we had ordered we finally started a normal conversation. It turned out she shared my annoyance about having to travel, so we had something in common. She was in marketing for a tech firm. I'm a product engineer for another tech firm. I guess that's why she asked who I worked for. After all, one can't be seen having dinner with the competition. As we ate, gradually she opened up and so did I. We both talked about our kids, our hopes and dreams for them (which did not include lots of business travel), our jobs and possible retirement plans. She mentioned only that she was divorced about three years but didn't talk about either the husband or the divorce. So I mentioned that I was divorced five years and also skipped the details. I couldn't talk her into dessert. She made the point she was also on expenses and paid for her own dinner. After we signed our credit card slips, neither of us was in a hurry to leave and the restaurant was hardly full. I bought us both another glass of wine and we continued to talk.
At some point she lightly placed her hand on mine and left it there. The warmth was doing strange things to me. I think I got a cramp holding my hand absolutely still so not to scare her off. Did I mention I'm a klutz around women? But when she announced, with apparent regret, that it was time to go, I had already decided to take another chance.
"Eating alone isn't the only thing I hate about traveling," I said. "In fact, it's number two or three. I suspect you know number one." Wariness had crept into her eyes, but she didn't stop me. I plunged ahead, "I'm totally inexperienced at this, so please forgive my awkwardness. I think you are very attractive. I would be very honored ... happy ... if you would be willing to spend the night with me, even if it just meant we cuddled together as we slept." Damn! I chickened out there at the end. I'm really inexperienced at this.
Her reaction caught me completely off guard. Tears welled up in her eyes. She jumped up without saying a word and headed for the door. We were outside before I caught up with her.
"Please, please! I didn't mean to ..." Geeze, what was it I didn't mean to do?
She stopped suddenly and sharply turned to face me. Lit by the parking lot lights, I could see the wet tracks of tears down her cheeks. Her eyes held fear, not anger. Now I was completely confused. I shut up and waited with what I hoped was an empathetic expression.
It took her a few moments. She closed her eyes and said, "I'm not what I seem."
Not enough information - I kept my mouth shut as the image of a transvestite performer I had once seen flashed through my mind. That was not helpful.
She looked at me, "You think I'm attractive?"
"Yes, absolutely!"
She looked to the side and spat out the words, "I'm a breast cancer survivor - radical mastectomy! "
I waited. Apparently that was all. Oh ... radical ... missing breast ... or breasts.
I responded as softly and calmly as I could. "I'm the survivor of a multiple coronary bypass with scars up and down my chest and legs. When I see them in the mirror, they just remind me I'm still here." I allowed myself a small smile. I looked her up and down in an obvious manner. "And in your case, I still think you look damn good!" I dropped the smile. "All this wear and tear is just testimony that we have lived and survived. They are badges of honor. Having been there, in a sense, any scars you have just make you more attractive to me."
Her eyes snapped. Suddenly they showed anger and defiance. This woman had been hurt badly. I suspected the cancer had something to do with the timing of her divorce. She turned back to the restaurant. I followed her into the bar. She found an isolated booth and ordered both of us another glass of wine. I waited.
