Standing in the queue in the fried chicken outlet on Haverstock Hill, my mind blank, I heard a voice behind me.
"I hope we don't have to wait too long. I need to get home before it gets dark. I hope they haven't forgotten mine."
Turning I saw it was a lovely elderly gentleman. He was waiting patiently behind me, his receipt in his hand. I asked.
"What's your order number?"
He showed me his ticket, it was 0657, mine was 0655. He had ordered the same dish that I had, a mighty bucket for one.
"No, they've got the orders up there on the board, yours is just below mine there on the orders under preparation side."
A number of young men were turning to look at us, I was grateful that he was talking to me, as I didn't want to be bothered by chancers making passes. I get so tired of the banality of the 'chat up' lines, and thankfully he took my attention and dissuaded anyone from trying to get close to me.
I hadn't intended to meet anyone, I was just getting a quick takeaway for my supper. I was not in the mood to cook, and I was alone that evening, so it seemed the ideal solution. I have to admit though, that I have developed quite a weakness for older men, and he hit all the right notes for me.
We talked lightly about the food, and the service, and in a short time, our orders went up the board, one of the staff called our numbers out, and we went up to the counter and took our bags. We walked to the door together and hesitated as it had begun to rain quite heavily. He looked a bit worried, saying to me.
"I'm going to get wet, I'll just wait inside the door until it eases off a bit."
Asking him where he lived, he told me his address, just of Belsize Lane, it was a little out of my route home, but not excessively so. It would have taken him a good 5 to 10 minutes to walk, and he would have got soaked. My journey from there to my home in Hampstead was only 15 minutes or so, and it was a small sacrifice for me.
He got onto the passenger seat, and we made off, driving to his home. He had a nice little mews cottage type home in the set away from the general area. Parking outside he turned to me before he got out.
"Thank you, Lucy, I hope I haven't kept you from your family?"
"No, I'm on my own this evening, so it's not a rush for me."
"Well, why don't you come in? We can eat together, and I enjoy talking with you."
I don't know what it was that I found so attractive about him. He had silvery white hair, and blue eyes, his physique looked delicate, but the expression on his face was mesmerising to me. Finding him almost irresistible. I agreed. We went into his kitchen and ate our chicken meals. Enjoying the flavour and juiciness of the food. When we finished, he collected the bones and waste, putting it into his food caddy outside the back door, with the cardboard buckets into the recycling bag.
We talked a bit more, he told me about his life and his job. He had been a chartered accountant and had been successful making a good living. His wife, Isabel had worked as a clerk in a solicitor's office, she had earned a good salary, so they were comfortably well off.
They'd had one daughter, Alice, who had met a nice young man when she went up to university, and when they graduated, they had married. Moving up to Arbroath in Scotland, visiting them at least once a year. His wife had sadly passed away several years previously after a long illness. Alice had wanted him to move up to live with them, but he felt close to his wife in their home and had declined the offer.
He was a bit of a charming old devil and had a mischievous glint in his eyes. They twinkled when he smiled, and I found him to be so interesting, that I was excited, just listening to him talk.
I noticed he was surreptitiously peeping up my skirt, it wasn't a surprise, most men do that when they get the chance. They seem fascinated by our underwear, a little bit of cloth, or lace, and they can't take their eyes of it. In earlier days, I'd had a lot of fun teasing men unable to resist 'accidentally' showing my knickers at various opportunities. It became quite an exciting pastime, and I began to enjoy it, I still do. I suppose it's a measure of the cruel streak that I have within me, in that it gives me a thrill. Particularly when I see the look in the eyes of these men, when they catch a look at what's on offer, but realise it's just that little bit out of their reach.
Over the next few weeks, I took to calling on Gary, usually once a week, but occasionally more often than that and we began to talk about more and more personal things. He had been telling me about his late wife, and mentioned that since she passed away, he'd had little to no connection to other women. Some had drifted into his acquaintance, but he knew that most of them were after his wealth and his property. He never directly asked me whether I had a boyfriend, but I took an opportunity during one conversation to let him know that I didn't. Speaking quietly, I said.
"I've been out with a few men, and one or two girls, but nothing serious. I get bored with them quite quickly."
He didn't reply straight away, then after a few seconds spoke.
"That's disappointing to hear, I though you'd be engaged at least?"
"No, I keep things casual, I like to enjoy myself, but I don't want to be tied down."
He nodded, and we continued to talk, mostly about his wife and their marriage. Isabel had been the light of his life, and they had enjoyed a long and loving relationship. Childhood sweethearts, marrying at 16, they had been together for 50 years. She had taken ill in the last few years, and she had passed away two years after their golden wedding anniversary. I put his age at around 68, possibly 69, but he never told me how old he was, nor did he ask how old I was.
Slowly our conversation turned to sex, it took quite a while for me to gain his confidence, but eventually he started to open up about the physical side of his marriage.
"We had a very active and adventurous sex life, although there were things she didn't want to do, we discussed them, and agreed we wouldn't do anything the other felt uncomfortable with. I listened intently before asking.
"What things did you want to do, but didn't because she didn't like the idea?"
"It's embarrassing talking about this Lucy."
"Don't be, Gary, I'm broad minded and there isn't much I haven't heard."
"Really? You're so young."