It took a lot of planning, but my wife had worked on a 30 year reunion of her high school mates from when they had a large group that spent a summer in Italy. There were about 30 or 40 people spread around the world and their mentor had remained close but was in failing health. So my wife Ann and her friend Sue had planned for a year to have whoever could come for a weekend of parties in honor of their ailing friend. About 25 of those 40 people were planning to come and 3 of them were planning on staying at our house.
After months of phone calls, organizing and arranging, Ann's plan was coming to fruition and I was just playing along and trying to play good host and good husband over the weekend. Some of these people I had met over the years and many I hadn't. And even many coming Ann and Sue hadn't seen since high school 30 years ago. So they were all excited to see some long-lost friends and once the party started with people Friday, there were tears of joy and screaming about their lives and recapturing the fun of their youth.
One of the women staying with us was Gwen. She was apparently rather wild at the time, given the stories I heard from others as they were remembering—some with different details than others—their experiences in Italy. There was some partner swapping and 'hooking up' with some of the locals, and by many accounts, Gwen was an active participant in many of these escapades.
She was still quite stunning now at 48 years old. Raven-haired, curvy and still exuding the sexuality that she must have had then, now with maturity and experience that made her even more sensual. I was vicariously enjoying some of the more bawdy stories the women told, of how they picked up some local guys and showed them a good time. And as the Friday evening moved on, the stories got more detailed and it was quite funny how each person recalled a slightly different version of some of the events.
They had planned on going out about 9 pm to a club near our house, and some of the 25 people who were supposed to come were going to meet the group there. I was not planning on attending this event to stay with our kids. So about 10 pm, the kids were asleep and I was cleaning up the kitchen. I didn't expect people home until well after midnight, and by 11, I was up in our bedroom just lying on the bed watching TV in my boxers. I heard someone come in and come up the stairs and go into the guest room. I didn't expect anyone to come home that early and then after a moment, I heard the toiled flush and then a gentle knock on our door, which was just ajar.
Gwen peeked her head in and asked if she could come in a moment. She was wearing a rather short night shirt/shorts combo thing...
"Hey Gwen...come on in. How come you're home early?"
"Hey Bob...sorry to intrude. I just wasn't feeling too well, and had to bail on the party just a bit early."
"Can I get you anything?"
"No thanks...I'm ok...I just wasn't feeling up to a late night and took a cab home. I can't quite party like I used to, you know...I thought I might turn in early"
"Sure sounds like you used to know how to have fun, according to some of those stories I heard."
"That was a long time ago...don't believe all those things you heard."
She sat on the edge of the bed and we were both quiet for a moment watching the news.
"Thanks for having all of us at your house Bob. I'm sure it's a drag to have all these people invading your home for a weekend," she said after a time.
"Oh sure...it's really no big deal. Ann and Sue did all the planning. I'm just the hired help."
"You guys have a lovely home. I'm glad to stay here rather than a hotel."
"Thanks. Happy to have you here. Did you bring your husband?"
"No, I've been widowed for about 3 years now. He died from a heart attack rather suddenly."
"I'm sorry Gwen...I had forgotten that. He was young then to die from a heart problem.."
"Yeah...it was quite sudden. He wasn't sick or anything. I really struggled for a while. I still miss him, but I've been able to move on, as they say one should. Stages of grief and all that shit..."
"So you live alone then?"
"Yep...afraid so. It's hard to be a single woman again, after years of having a partner and friend like I had with Bill."
"I just can't imagine."
Gwen seemed sad all of a sudden, no doubt memories of her time with her husband coming back to her. I wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about this or if she just wanted to talk to someone about anything else.
"Yeah...we were life mates. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to move on after he died. But time does heal, as trite as that sounds and as many times as I heard that, it is true. One does move on and things get better. There are hard times though, still and I'm sure will always be."
"No doubt...it must have been quite a struggle to get over the loss of your spouse." I offered, still not really sure if she wanted to talk about this sadness, or what.
"There's a lot I miss about him. And it is really a drag trying to get back into the dating game after all this time."
"I'm sure things are really quite different than they used to be."
"You got that right. Now there's e-dating, texting, facebook, and all that tech stuff...I'm not real good at that. I'm still a bit old-fashioned I guess. I'd rather meet and talk to someone, normal like..."
"Yeah...we're trying to understand how young people manage these days..."
It seemed like she just wanted to talk a bit, and the crowd scene from the reunion was a bit more than she was wanting to do in spite of being around lots of her friends.
"It's doubly hard seeing all these old school folks in their happy lives now...makes me just a bit lonely even after all these years..." Gwen said, wringing her hands together.
"From what I've heard Gwen, there's lots of folks from your old days that have their fair share of problems."
"Yeah...perhaps you're right about that. I haven't been in touch with many people from those old days."
"Have you met anyone else since your husband died? A man that is..." I asked, since she seemed to be lonely and wanted to talk.
"Not really...a couple dates. But that's it. I haven't been with a man, you know sexually, in three years," Gwen said, plainly and without any embarrassment. It was just a frank statement. But as she said this, her hand wringing became more of an absent stroking of her thigh. Suddenly the ball game on television that I was glancing at wasn't that interesting anymore.
"That must be a drag..."
"You got that right. We used to do it all the time...going from that to nothing ain't fun."
"I sure don't want to imagine that scenario."
The conversation was getting a bit more filled with sexual overtones and definitely in an interesting direction.
"Do you and Ann do it a lot then?" Gwen asked, looking at the tv.
"Yeah...I guess a lot..."
"What's considered a lot these days?"
"2-3 times per week, I guess."
"Bill and I would have sex about every day. Well, not always sex, but something...we used to do lots of massages. They weren't always sexual but some kind of massage and touching was part of most of our days. I miss that touch...just touching another person can be so therapeutic, makes us connect as people."
"Sounds fun..." I began to get a bit of a stirring in my loins.
"Sometimes when one of us wasn't into it, then the other one would get the massage. It didn't always turn into something, but it was our way of connecting with each other."
"What else did you guys do?" I asked, now more interested in details.
"We'd sit and talk some days...drinking champagne...there wasn't always lots to say, but we'd just be near each other without all the normal daily distractions."
"Sounds like you guys had a special relationship...I am sorry for your loss Gwen."
"Thanks..."
I was just absently stretching my feet and rolling my ankles as we were talking, and my toes cracked a bit.
"Your feet bothering you Bob? I can do a pretty good foot massage you know..."
"Wow...if you're offering, I can hardly decline that."
She slowly reached out and pulled one foot to her lap and started rubbing my sore arches. Deep, firm strokes across my feet with very strong fingers.
"Gwen...that's awesome...my feet get so sore standing most of the day."
"You're welcome...you have very nice feet you know..."
"Thanks...feels great..."
"Got any lotion?" She reached up to the drawer of the bedside table and found the ubiquitous lotion I keep there.
"How'd you know there'd be some there?" I asked.
She just smiled and said, "most people have some lotion next to their bed...comes in handy for a variety of uses." Her comment was punctuated by a sly smile and squeezing out the white, cool lotion onto her hand and then resuming her massage of my feet.
"Wow...that feels incredible. You have great hands Gwen..."
"Feet can be very sensual, you know. The Chinese felt that there was a connection between the feet and the sexual energy."
