I've worked next door to Debbie for about 5 years, we both had little stores on the High Street, both opened 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Thursday and 4.30pm on a Friday, neither of us open weekends.
Debbie's shop was a ladies shoe and handbag shop, mine was a men's clothing shop. I'm not making a fortune but it gives me a comfortable income.
I'm single now, my wife passed away a couple of years ago, that when I stopped working Saturday's, I decided life was to precious to be working all the time, so now I spend my weekends visiting family and friends.
I normally had my lunch out the back of my shop in a little court yard I shared with Debbie and would see her out there having a coffee and smoke, we generally have a bit of a chat before going back to work.
I started noticing that Debbie was appearing more tired than usual and not quite as bubbly. Her daughter had recently got divorced and Debbie was spending a lot of time looking after the grandkids while her daughter worked.
One Friday I was outside having a beer after I closed the shop when Debbie came out.
"Hi Deb, another week done and dusted," I said.
"Hi Ted," Debbie said.
"Anything exciting planned for the weekend?" I asked.
"I wished, cleaning, washing, babysitting, no rest for the wicked." Debbie said.
"At least your husband and daughter can help," I said.
"Ha, my daughter will be working and my husband will be golfing and drinking," Debbie said dejectedly.
"Sounds like you need a beer," I said.
"Thanks but I need to go," Debbie replied.
"I insist, one beer and a little bit of me time," I said.
"Alright Ted, one beer," Debbie said with a smile.
We sat around chatting, Debbie venting about her husband, daughter, life in general. One beer turned into two, then three, Debbie just kept talking, months of stress being released, she started to cry. I put my arm around her giving her a hug, she softly sobbed as I hugged her, she stayed in my embrace for a couple of minutes.
From what I could gather everything was left up to Debbie to do at home, her husband retired a few years ago and now spends less time at home then he did when he was working. Most of his time was spent on the golf course or in the club house, and when he was home he was usually drunk and was of no use to her, I'm guessing in or out of bed.
Her daughter was working 2 jobs, daytime she was in a supermarket and night time at a service station. Her divorce was messy and expensive, and she was working as many hours as possible to payoff her debts and get her life moving forward again. She had twin daughters aged 8, they were at school during the days but at night time and weekends it was up to Debbie to look after them.
Debbie also ran her little shoe shop, it didn't make a fortune for her but it paid the bills and gave her a little money of her own. Most of her customers were regular so it was a social outing for her also.
All up Debbie was constantly on the go, no time to put her feet up and relax.
I let go of her, "Thank you Ted I needed that," Debbie said giving me a kiss on the cheek.
"It's good to talk about these things, doesn't help bottling it up," I said, "You can talk to me anytime you like."
"Thank you Ted, I appreciate that," Debbie said giving me another kiss on the cheek, "See you next week."
I watched Debbie walk to the car park, she was in her mid fifties, short brunette hair, a petite build. She generally wore a skirt and blouse at the shop, her ass looked sexy as she walked away from me.
The next week I saw Debbie at lunchtime as usual, we chatted like normal but she didn't mention last Friday, it was like it never happened. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable so I didn't say anything either.
I was getting ready to go on Friday when there was a knock on the back door, I opened it, Debbie was standing there holding a six pack of beer.
"I owe you a beer and want some more of that me time," Debbie said.
"Well come in and pull up a chair," I told her. The back room of my shop had a small kitchen area with a table and a couple of chairs.
We sat around talking or rather Debbie talked and I listened again, at some stage she placed her hand on my arm, when she talked about her husband her grip would tighten.
When we finished the beers Debbie leant across and gave me a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you Ted, I enjoyed our talk."
"My pleasure Debbie," I said giving her a hug, as we separated she gave me another kiss, this time on the lips.
For the next couple of weeks it was pretty much the same, we meet on Friday for a beer, Debbie talked, I listened, we ended with me giving Debbie a hug and Debbie giving me a kiss.