Single Life After Divorce

The Single Life After Divorce, Part 1

The Book Club

Ding Dong!

Emmanuelle rose up from the couch and put her magazine down as she walked to her front door. The mid-afternoon sun shown in the windows of her 10th story apartment that overlooked the Pacific Ocean and California coast. She was expecting company after receiving an intriguing call from a journalist just two days ago.

Emmanuelle opened the door to a pretty young blond with glasses.

"Hi!" she said to the stranger, the unexpectedly good-looking young woman.

"Hi, Emmanuelle?" the stranger asked.

"Yeah. Vicki?"

"Yeah, Vicki Valentina from Southern California Scene magazine," the young blond said extending her hand.

Emmanuelle shook her hand, feeling its warmth and softness. Even just 10 years ago she would never have reacted like this, but now... she'd had some life-changing experiences that made her look differently at both men and women. This girl was ringing her dominatrix bell.

Emmanuelle took a step back so that she wasn't blocking the doorway. "Please, come in."

"Thank you for letting me interview you. I'm really excited for this article and what you can bring to it," Vicki said. She had a bouncy, fresh intonation in her voice. She brought even more sunshine into the room.

Emmanuelle guided her to the living room and directed her to the couch. "You're welcome," she said, sitting in the chair beside the couch. "I'm not so certain my life is that interesting though." She stood again. "Make yourself comfortable. Can I get you something to drink?"

"Yes, please. Do you have any tea?"

"Yes, I was just boiling water for some myself," she said, walking towards the kitchen. "I have a new Herbal Tea that's incredible. Wild Raspberry Hibiscus. Is that ok?"

"Yes, that sounds delicious."

Emmanuelle walked into the kitchen and took out the box of tea and set it on the counter. Then grabbed the kettle to pour out the water.

As she was gone, Vicki looked around her spacious apartment. The windows were huge on the ocean side and the ocean looked so blue this afternoon. This was a beautiful place to live.

She turned back again as Emmanuelle walked into the room with two cups of tea, handing one to Vicki.

"Thank you," Vicki said before taking a sip. "Oh... that really is good!"

"I know... I found it last month and have been drinking it ever since."

"A good find. You have a nice view here, too," she said, indicating the windows behind her. "How long have you been living in southern California?"

"Just over 20 years now. I moved here right after my divorce," Emmanuelle said.

"What do you think of our little neck of the woods?"

"I absolutely love it here," Emmanuelle said, catching the unique phrase Vicki used. "Sounds like you're a transplant yourself."

"Gave myself away, huh?" Vicki asked, looking a little surprised.

"Well, most people here don't talk about the woods."

Vicki giggled. Her laugh gave Emmanuelle a little tingle of desire down her spine. "Yeah, I moved here just 2 years ago... from Maine."

"Now that's a huge change," Emmanuelle said. Moving from a cooler northeastern state to a warmer southwestern state is a big change.

"Yes it has been... and I won't be going back any time soon. Where are you from?"

"Oklahoma. And... I'm not really looking to go back either. It's so different here."

"It's definitely a different climate... both the weather and the way people act." Emmanuelle had to agree. California was far more open... sexually... than Oklahoma. She would never be living like she had been for the last 22 years if she was still in Oklahoma.

Vicki dug a small recorder from her purse and held it up. "Do you mind if I record this... so I can get the story right?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm just not sure my life is that interesting," Emmanuelle said.

"I'm sure it's more interesting than you think." Vicki started the recorder and set it on the coffee table in front of her. "This is Vicki Valentina from Southern California Scene magazine interviewing Emmanuelle, age..." She paused momentarily, letting Emmanuelle fill in the details.

"Sixties," Emmanuelle said, not wanting to give any specifics.

"Sixties... divorced for 20 years. Emmanuelle, you've obviously been active on the dating scene here, which is the point of the article. But first, let me get some background information on you. Is that ok?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Tell me about your dating life before your husband? Were you with a lot of different guys or stick with one for a long time?"

"When I first started college I was a complete virgin and came from a pretty conservative household, so I didn't have much experience with dating or sex. But it seemed to come to me pretty quickly. I wouldn't say I slept around, but I dated several guys before my husband and most of them went to third base, I'd guess you'd say. I got pretty good with my hands and mouth." Emmanuelle laughed softly, a little embarrassed.

"Self taught?" she asked.

"Mostly, yeah," Emmanuelle said, nodding. "A couple of the guys were kind enough to talk me through what was good for them or better for them. So I was able to improve."

"Tell me about how you met your ex-husband," Vicki said.

"Well, I met my husband in college as most people seem to do. We met at a Halloween party and dated for a few years afterwards. We married just a year out of college when I was 23. I felt pretty excited to start living life. We had a huge family wedding with all the trappings."

"I don't want to pry too deeply, but tell me a little about your marriage and why it ended."

"Well, I divorced after 20 years, when I was 43. Our marriage had just turned into a roommate situation, really. Both of us were bored with it and both of us wanted a change. Sex was practically non-existant and neither one of us would cheat on the other. That was just not how we were brought up. Really, we both felt like we weren't really living. It was a consenual divorce. No fighting. And we split everything up evenly."

"So after you divorced, you moved to southern California and got a nice place overlooking the ocean. How long before you started dating?" Vicki asked.

"It was actually about 4 or so years after I moved here that I ever got the desire to date, to tell you the truth."

"Four years after your divorce? Tell me about it. How did you get to your first date?"

"Well... it wasn't expected. I was asking friends about dating again and how to do it and they all kept pointing me to the internet. You know, those dating sites." Vicki nodded. She'd written about those sites. "So I started to do that. But when I got online, I found a local book club site through the library. There were multiple groups on the site, each at different stages, going through a different book. And they had pages of interactions with the members, asking and answering questions about the stories and such. And then there was a place where you could interact directly with other members. So, I created an account and signed up."

"Did you use your name or something anonymous?"

"Oh, anonymous for sure. I didn't know what to expect and I certainly didn't want to cause myself any problems. I used Clare... from the character Clare Aubrey in The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West. I enjoyed and identified with that character. Then I found a book that was upcoming in one of the groups and I wanted to read and talk about it." Emmanuelle dug into her memory. "What was that book called? Oh... my memory... oh yeah... Sheiks Harem. It's a romance novel with a little sizzle in it."

"I've heard of it. I think they made a movie of it several years ago."

"Yeah," Emmanuelle said. "Nothing like the book, though. It was a bit too... sexual... to be shown on the big screen."

"Ok... what then? What happened?"

"Well, that part of the story can get a little spicy. How detailed do you want me to be?" she asked. She was actually anxious to share the juicy story with this young thing. Maybe it would get her all hot and bothered too.

"Don't worry... just tell me what you remember. I'll definitely be careful what I say in the article. It is more of a family magazine."

"Well, as I said, I'd been divorced for about 4 years when it all happened... I was 48 at this point... a little naive... a little shy. Not long after I arrived, I started going to this little coffee shop down the street... pretty regularly."

*****

"Emmanuelle! How's my favorite customer?" the waiter said, walking over to her table as he did just about every time she came in. He seemed to always be her waiter.

"Good morning Jacob. Oh, I'm only your favorite customer because I tip so well," Emmanuelle laughed.

"Nonsense!" he said. "Although, the tipping doesn't hurt. Need more coffee?"

"Actually I'm good. I'm gonna be leaving in a couple minutes," I said. I was going home to read some more.

"Ok, gotcha. Hey, Sheiks Harem," he said, seeing the open book turned over on the table. "That's a big seller nowadays. Over half of my customers are reading it."

"Yeah, well I just started reading at the suggestion from a friend of mine," I said.

"Awesome! Well, no spoilers for me, though. I just started reading it myself," he said, surprising me.

"I didn't know you read romances." That wasn't common for guys. But this book did promise some hot sex in a couple places. I hadn't gotten to them quite yet, but, to tell you the truth, I was looking forward to them. I hadn't been touched in years.

"Mmhmm! Well, you know. I have my moments," he said, almost going red with embarrassment. I didn't want to push it too much. I mean, people are different in California.

I giggled a little at his revelation and near embarrassment. "Well, sounds good. And I promise I won't spoil anything for you."

"Sounds good," he said, returning to his duties. "Have a great day."

"You too," he answered.

From that point on, every time I went into the coffee shop, we talked a little about the book. He was pretty much keeping pace with me, so neither one of us gave away anything. Jacob was an interesting person, but he was young. He was a 21-year-old college student who was an English major. He would be the age of my son, if not younger... if I had one. There was no way a 43-year-old woman would hook up with a guy that young. That would rattle society the wrong way.

It wasn't too long after that that I started talking about the book online, engaging with the others in the group. Before that, I was mostly lurking, trying to get a feel for how it all worked. Now that I knew someone else was reading it, I felt emboldened.

After a while, I even started to privately communicate with one of the members. His screen name was Athos, based on the character in The Three Musketeers. The way he talked about it and the way we talked to each other... I have to say it was very pleasant. And... I have to say, it fueled my fantasies. I started thinking that I might just have found someone to get to know even better.

We started talking almost every day.

Then I went into the coffee shop a month or so later.

"Hi Emmanuelle! How's the book going?" Jacob said, coming over to me as he always did.

"Oh, I'm loving it," I said. I really was getting into the book and the characters. And the three sex scenes I read so far were extremely hot. They melted my pussy and made me a gooey mess. "Sit down, please!" I was hoping he could join me for a minute or two since we talked so often and had something in common to talk about.

"Oh, alright," he said, taking me up on my offer. He pulled out the chair and sat down at the table beside me.

"So... I can't believe it," I said, starting in with the book right off the bat. "Andrew and Elise, you know they're meant to be together, but I'm having serious doubts he can rescue her... or that she'll want him when he tries."

"Yeah. It's gonna be tough that's for sure. I was surprised that she was falling for the Sheik. I'm excited to see how it all works out," he said.

"Yeah, me too. Plus... I'm embarrassed to say, where she gets with the Lady of the Harem." In that scene, the Lady of the Harem, the older woman in charge of keeping the younger girls in line, seduces and dominates the young Elise. I'd been exposed to lesbians before, but this book completely blew my mind. I'd never even thought about women being so... dominant! And then with a woman!

"Oh my God!" he said, almost blushing again. "Talk about a total twist in the middle of the book! That was hot!"

I have to admit that I was actually enjoying seeing him blush. I wished I could talk to him like the Lady of the Harem spoke to everyone beneath her. She was so in control. I loved having that kind of confidence.

Then one night, it was late and I was in bed on my computer talking with Athos about the book.

"I just finished the book", I typed on the screen.

"What a great ending!" he returned.

"I know. I can't believe it's over." I felt a bit lost knowing that he might not follow me on to the next book I read. I'd gotten attached to him over the past 3 months.

"Yeah," he typed.

I decided that this was it. I was going to ask him out. "We've been talking like this for 3 months. How would you feel about meeting up?" I was nervous as hell! Would he say no? Would he let me down? He had no idea who I was. I could be some kind of stalker as far as he knew.

"I'd like that," he typed back quickly. "How about at Vixen's."

I don't know if you've been to Vixen's or not, but it's a nice little restaurant and bar. It has small dinner plates and cocktails. It's really nice. "OMG I love that place!" I typed back.

"How about tomorrow night at 7:00pm?"

Tomorrow night at 7:00 was perfect for me. And I was so excited. It was going to be my first time out with a man in over 4 years!

"It's a date!" I typed back and then instantly regretted it. What if he wasn't considering it a date? What if he thought this was just another time together to talk about books? I wondered if I'd screwed up again! God I was horrible at this.

I walked into the restaurant about a half hour early. For some stupid reason, I'd gotten used to carrying my laptop around with me and tonight was no exception. I immediately took it out and started looking through the group posts about the book. It seemed everyone was loving it and talked about the sex scenes a lot... although in a repressed sort of way.

I sent a message to Athos to tell him I was at the restaurant, wondering if he had the page up on his phone or something. And then I started getting nervous. How was I supposed to recognize him? Neither one of us even asked the other what we were wearing or anything about our physical appearance. I looked around the restaurant nervously. No one seemed to be alone... or looking around for someone else. But... I was early...

Then Jacob walked in wearing a nice suit and tie. He looked like he was going on a date as well.

"Jacob?" I asked, genuinely surprised to see him outside the coffee shop.

He smiled. "Emmanuelle?"

"Hi! Wow... you look handsome," I said. And he did. He looked completely different than what he did at the coffeeshop. He actually looked older. He was adorable actually and sexy... but I knew he was so young.

"You look amazing yourself," he said smiling at me. I loved his smile. It was nice to see a man smiling at me like that again.

"Thank you."

He looked at me and spoke as if he was revealing a secret. "I'm on a blind date," he said just loud enough for me to hear.

"Really?" I shouldn't have been surprised the way he was dressed.

"Yeah."

"So who's the lucky lady?" I asked. I knew I'd see soon enough anyways.

"I met her on the online book club I'm a member of. It's actually interesting with six of us reading the same book and talking about it." My mind started to go crazy. A book club? How much of a coincidence could this be?

"Oh... uh... what was her name?" I asked suspiciously. Could Jacob be Athos?

"Her name is Clare, although I don't think that's her real name," he said.

My heart fell out of my chest and I felt like I was going to be sick. Jacob was Athos! "Oh... oh my goodness, look at the time. I'm sorry, I gotta go. I completely forgot about an appointment," I said suddenly. I got up and without even thinking, dashed out of the restaurant, and drove home. As you can imagine, I didn't even think about my laptop.

I was crying so bad when I got home. All that time fantasizing about being with a great guy and finally having a great time together... maybe marriage... it was all down the toilet. I put some of water in the kettle to make some tea. I was seriously wondering what I was going to do now.

All of the sudden my doorbell rang. I had no idea who it might be. But I wiped the tears from my eyes and answered it. When I opened the door, Jacob was standing there.

"Oh no! Jacob!" I said. "Go away! I don't want to see you!" And I didn't. I couldn't. I closed the door on him.

"I have your laptop," he said through the closed door.

I shook my head. I guess I didn't have a choice. So I opened the door again and let him in.

"You left it at the coffee shop," he said, handing me the laptop in it's bag.

"But how did you even find my address?" I asked.

"It was inside the laptop bag."

"Oh... well... thank you," I said. Yeah, I can be that stupid.

"You're welcome."

"Jacob, I do want to apologize. I'm really sorry about making that silly scene and running out of the restaurant earlier."

"Why didn't you tell me that you were my date?"

Oh my God! He figured it out, too!

"Jacob, you know why," I told him. "I know you were figuring on meeting someone your own age. I was expecting to meet someone older. I was just... surprised."

"What's wrong with you being older and me being younger?" he asked. He just didn't get it.

"Yeah, but our age difference is so huge," I argued. I was 48... he was 21. The lousy math in my head said that the 27 year difference was just too much!

"Yeah, well, Andrew and Elise didn't let things stop them from being together," he argued. And he was right, nothing that was between them could stop them. Not the kidnapping... not the move halfway around the world... not the security guards... not her almost falling in love with the Sheik. Everything fell and they were left together.

"Well, yeah, but Andrew and Elise are just fictional characters."

"Look... what are you afraid of?" he asked, surprising me. Was I afraid? Was our age difference really that wrong? He certainly didn't see anything wrong with it.

"You're just so young. You could be my son for heaven's sake! Why are you taking this so well?" For realizing he was almost out on a date with an old broad like me, he was pretty calm, cool, and collected. And he came here... to argue that it was ok.

"I've never felt this connection with anyone before. After messaging each other for 3 months..." he said.

He felt a connection with me? In a way I felt complimented... adored. After years, a man actually admitted feelings towards me... even if he didn't really know who I was.

"Yeah, I've been attracted to you, too," I admitted.

"I feel like Andrew would do this," he said, taking a step towards me until he was right in front of me. Then he bent down and kissed me. It was a soft kiss... gentle... and then his hands were on my sides, his arms wrapping around me, pulling me against him. The kiss deepened and didn't stop. It became more sensual... sexual... I wrapped my arms around him, too, feeling his warm, hard body against mine.

His body was athletic... firm... strong. I stepped backwards, slowly leading him into the living room without breaking our kiss or our embrace. I was melting and it seemed to take forever, but when we finally reached it, I turned us around and pushed him to sit, slowly moving down to lay on him.