Ms. Small
Someone kicked Robert Crane under the table. He snapped out of his trip down Memory Lane and looked around the restaurant table. The eleven people, including himself, were neighbors and this was the first outing of their newly formed dinner club.
He had been recalling special times he'd had with some of them, such as Roxanne and Brad Bullock on his right, his fuck buddies because the husband liked to watch his wife having sex with Robert. She hadn't kicked him because she and Brad were engaged in conversation with Darrell and Maude Burke on their other side. Nor was it Kara Brown across the table from Robert because she was too far away. She and her hubby, Don, were his movie stars because they liked him to video them having sex, after which she usually gave Robert oral relief.
Next to Kara was Robert's wife, Joan, talking to Kara. The two had become good friends, although the film business was kept secret from the Mrs. So, she hadn't kicked her husband.
"That was me," Peg Small, on his left, admitted. "You were staring off into space."
"Just reminiscing about my relationships with some of these people and how we got . . ."
"Involved?" Peg filled in for him when he seemed to be searching for a word.
"Involved?" Robert would have taken that word as a sexual connotation, and however accurate it might be, she couldn't have known that—unless she was referring to her relationship with him.
"You know what I mean. Your connection, your association."
"Yeah. I got it." He didn't read anything into her correction.
"What about ours? Do you remember that?"
Of course, he did.
* * *
The subdivision was getting a lawyer—as a resident. That was the word going around, but that's all anyone knew. And with little other fanfare, Margaret Small had moved in and that was it. Except for walking her small dog twice a day, three times on the weekends, she kept to herself.
Ms. Small was neighborly enough to exchange greetings with Robert and other neighbors when on her dog walks, even a few other pleasantries, but little else. That of course, convinced everyone that she had some deep, dark secret. But Robert merely believed that she preferred her privacy.
Finally, Peg—as she eventually let on she liked to be called—became friends with Kara, since they were next door neighbors, and revealed that deep, dark secret: she was a recent divorcee, it had been bitter, and this was her attempt to start a new life. Joan had talked to her a couple of times, but at that point, they hadn't become close friends yet.
* * *
During one of his afternoon walks, Robert saw a dog wandering around that he recognized from Joan's description as Peg's long-haired mutt. The friendly animal approached him, tail wagging wildly. He stooped to pet the pooch and it occurred to him that he'd never seen the canine loose before. He wondered if the dog had gotten out of Peg's yard, so he scooped—Robert checked underneath—
him
up and headed to Ms. Small's front door.
She answered quickly, surprised to see her pet in her neighbor's arms.
"Hi, I'm Robert Crane, Joan's husband. I found him running around and I didn't think he should be." While she glanced at her dog, Robert couldn't help being mesmerized by her jet black hair and deep green eyes. He scanned her up and down rapidly. She was quite attractive in her tank top and form-fitting workout pants. All her parts were proportional and shapely, particularly the important parts: tits and ass, not to demean her. This neighborhood just kept getting better.
"Oh, Scooter, did you get out of your little patio," she was saying. Then she looked up and their eyes met. Robert felt a brief but instant connection. "I'm so sorry," she offered. "I'll have to figure out how he got out and fix it."
"Oh, it's no problem," Robert said.
"You're very kind," Peg said, sounding genuine, taking Scooter from him. "I'm Peg, by the way. I'll try not to let this happen again."
"It really was no bother," Robert reiterated. "As neighbors, we try to take care of each other."
"Well, thanks again." Then she closed the door.
Robert couldn't help remaining at her front door for a few seconds allowing the image of her to ingrain itself. As he walked off, he replayed the encounter in his mind. She had been somewhat subdued, almost sad; although she was happy to see her dog. He would stop short of saying she had been unfriendly, but neither had she been . . . neighborly. Perhaps it was just that she was new and really didn't know too many people beyond Kara, and to a lesser extent, Joan.
When he mentioned the incident to Joan later, her only comment was, "She does take a while to warm up to people. Kara and I have been talking about having a meet and greet gathering after a few more people move in so everyone can get to know each other. That might prevent awkward moments like you had."
"Sounds like a great idea," Robert agreed, meaning it. Recalling his thought upon first seeing Peg, if the subdivision was attracting this many nice-looking women, he definitely wanted to meet them all.
* * *
It was about to be a very dull weekend for Robert. Joan was off to care for her sickly, elderly mother, Brad and Roxanne were going out of town to visit their family—she was terribly annoyed about having to miss their Friday night sexcapades, and if that wasn't bad enough, Kara and Don were on one of their trips. Since Robert's weekends with the Bullocks and the Browns had begun, this was the first time everyone had been gone the same weekend. Robert even considered accompanying his wife, but a client needed some work done that ended up taking longer on Friday than Joan wanted to wait, so she went alone.
With nothing to do he decided on a long walk around the part of the subdivision still under construction. He didn't usually venture that far on his normal walks, but it was interesting to see what other people were doing to customize their houses.
On his return home, who should he see but . . . Scooter . . . on his own—again. Being the good neighbor that he was, Robert picked him up again and excitedly headed for Peg's house, hoping she was similarly attired.
This time, it took her some time to come to the door. When she finally opened it, he quickly glanced skyward to see if his lucky star was hovering overhead. Instantly returning his vision keenly to her, he was thrilled to see her standing before him wrapped only in a towel.
"Oh, my god, not again." Her smile was actually becoming. "I'm sorry. I was just stepping out of the shower."
"It's really okay. No problem."
"Come in. Let me go put some clothes on. Just put him down," she said quickly and trotted off.
He closed the door and eased the dog onto the floor. The animal followed his mistress, so Robert just made himself comfortable on the sofa. Glancing around, he saw that the room was decorated plainly, obviously the look of someone starting over.
Peg was not gone for more than a couple of minutes. She appeared to have slipped on the same tight-fitting workout pants, but this time, her tank top ended midriff, just above her belly button revealing not only a flat abdomen, but the elastic of her pants were slung low on her hips. No doubt she'd thrown on something quick, and the question now taunting him was had she bothered with any under things?
"Okay. Now I'm decent. Can I get you something to drink?" Peg asked. She had a very soft tone of voice.
This was turning out better than Robert expected. However, he thought the towel was more than decent. "Sure," he answered enthusiastically.
Again, Peg left him alone for a few minutes this time. And though she hadn't asked, she returned with two glasses of red wine. She sat on the sofa not far from him, twisted to somewhat face him.
Taking a sip, Robert commented by way of making conversation, "Very nice."
"Well, I thought as much time as you've been spending with my dog,
I
should get to know
you
."
"I'd like that also."
"So, you're Joan's husband."
"I am."
"She's a nice person, but I haven't really gotten to know her very well yet. I like Kara. Really, everyone I've met here so far is pleasant. And they all speak highly of
you
."
Slightly embarrassed, Robert said, "I'm humbled."
"Kara talks about how you do their photos and videos, and Roxanne says you help them with
things
—though she didn't
what
things—and now you're taking care of
my
dog."
Robert wondered if that's all Kara and Roxanne told her. "Well, you seem to know things about me and I know very little about you, except that you're a lawyer." He thought it might ruin the mood to mention that he knew she was divorced.
"Yeah, that's one of my talents, but don't hold it against me." She smirked indicating she was joking.
"Oh, what other talents?"
With a smirk, Peg shrugged it off. "Doesn't matter."