Joe Elliot got the last load of rubbish loaded into his truck and looked around. Today's clean up of yet another city park had gone well, far better than expected. There had been more than the usual number of volunteers, word was getting around. There had been high school kids, parents, teachers and seniors, all eager to chip in and remove the rubbish and debris that had been infesting what once again looked like a lovely little park. Joe had been donating his services and equipment for the better part of a year. It gave him one less Saturday a month, but it made him feel good about himself. He was doing something good for the environment and it helped to take his mind off Jillian. Which in itself was an odd thing, because in a roundabout way, it had been Jillian who had led him down this path.
He had been getting rid of some things from his home at the recycling depot when he first met the gorgeous, dark-eyed Jillian. She worked there and seemed to be very eager to help and was milling about, doing a hundred different things at once. Jillian seemed to very much believe in the environment and doing the right thing. "I work here because I know it makes a difference," she had said to Joe. "I'm well-educated but I don't want to work in some corporate world, stuck behind a desk," she told him. "I couldn't stand it."
Joe had flinched because he had been with Simonson and Goodwin for the past ten years, stuck behind a desk and working in the corporate world. As he and Jillian continued talking, he realized he wanted to know more about her. She was at least 15 years his junior, if not more but that wouldn't stop them from becoming friends. He asked her out to coffee and she smiled and nodded and asked him to come back at 5 PM at the end of her shift.
He went home and showered and changed and took some of her words to heart. He tried to do his best to reuse and recycle but maybe he wasn't doing enough. When he met Jillian for coffee, he listened to some of her advice. She seemed to be very sensible for someone who was only 22 -- 18 years his junior, he learned.
"We've only got the one earth and we need to lessen our environmental impact," she told him. "I bring my own mug to most coffee places. I ride a bike to work when I can and I try to buy from companies that are putting something back into the community. I don't know how you can work for a company the way you do. I'd find it stifling," Jillian had told him. He was trying to listen and take it all in, but the dark beauty had the most beguiling smile and beautiful brown eyes that Joe had ever seen. He had known her less than a day and he was already smitten. He hoped that she could be his friend and he'd work darned hard to make their relationship progress beyond that.
Over the next few weeks, he and Jillian brainstormed over some ideas he could present to his bosses to make their company more environmentally friendly. All of her points were valid and he sure didn't mind spending time with her over meals, making plans and plotting strategy. She might have worked in a recycling plant, but she sure cleaned up nice and was sexy as hell in a short skirt and heels.
When he brought his summation to his bosses, not only were they not welcoming towards his ideas, but they were downright hostile. He was ordered out of the offices and told to concentrate on the projects to which he was assigned. Realizing the company wasn't even going to spend minimum amounts of money to be more responsible to the environment, Joe reassessed his life. He couldn't work for them anymore, but what now? He knew what he had to do.
Joe had a couple hundred thousand stashed away in his life's savings. He had planned to retire in another 15 years, but he decided to take a risk. His English-born mother had a green thumb and loved the outdoors and so did he. He bought a landscaping business that was established but poorly run. He fired the employees that weren't doing the work, reworked their business strategy, hired college students at good wages and used sustainable materials. Within his first year, Joe was almost equaling his old salary and answered to no one. He was outdoors most days, which he loved and when he saw a need in the community to clean up certain areas, he organized these cleanup projects. At first, only a handful of people came out. He supplied everything needed, trash bags and other things they could use to pick up the garbage. He used some of his former connections and got news coverage. The mayor came out to a few of the clean ups and things began moving from there.
He hoped that Jillian would be pleased; he had done so much of this as a result of her encouragement. She was, but when he asked her out on a few real dates, Joe got a shock he had not expected. Even someone with a good social conscience could be shallow at times.
"I like you Joe, but you're too old for me," the now-23 year old Jillian had told him. "Besides, I've been with my boyfriend for six months now and things are going really well." Jillian's boyfriend was 24, drove a gas-guzzling Maserati and bought Jillian anything she wanted. Until that day, Jillian had been his idol. Now Joe saw that she had feet of clay and he felt like a damned fool. Here he was, 40 years of age and he had let himself be lured by a pretty face and body. He wasn't going back to the person he used to be, but it smarted. Some of his friends noticed that his disposition was a bit dour for a while. Some of his couple friends invited him to dinner or to functions where he might meet some single women, but he wasn't interested. For the time being, he was a bit disillusioned and wanted to stay out of the "scene" for a while.
Today, for the first time in several months, Joe found himself in a very upbeat mood. The reason for that mood was another female. He had been cleaning up a very large pile of trash when he noticed an attractive blonde kept looking his way. He smiled at her and she smiled back. When he finished that area and moved on to another, she stayed in the same vicinity. Another smile and another smile returned. He wondered if she was trying to get his attention. "Everything okay?" He called out to the attractive blonde, a woman who appeared to be in her mid-30's.
"Everything's great over here and it looks better over there," the woman blatantly flirted. This woman was a real looker, even in casual clothes, a jacket and jeans. It was a bit windy so her hair was under a baseball cap, but Joe could see she had a lovely face and even the dumpy clothes could not completely contain what looked to be a lovely figure. She walked closer to him and he saw aquamarine eyes that would lure almost any man in. "I'm Marilyn Storm," she said, extending her hand.
"Joe Elliot," he said, taking her hand and shaking it.
"Oh, I know who you are, I was at your last clean up with my sister, Tracey," she told him.
"Impossible, I would have noticed someone as attractive as you are," Joe flirted right back. That got a smile out of her and if possible, she looked even lovelier.
