It had been six months since his divorce had been finalized, and exactly one year since the best and worst night of his life. He had moved into a small two bedroom house, a few miles from his ex-wife's house. He had shared custody of the kids, which really worked well for him. He loved his kids to death, but having a week alone did help with dating. All things considered, everything was going okay since the divorce.
The end of his marriage was pretty messy, so he was surprised the divorce went rather well. She had her rich boyfriend, so he assumed she just wanted a clean split. He was a good dad and she never seemed to question that, so he didn't have to fight for shared custody. When he left the house that day, he was feeling pretty good about things.
He decided to take the day off from work, to kind of celebrate the anniversary of that fateful night. After calling in "sick" from work, he went back to sleep until almost noon. Then he decided he should probably get something to eat. There was a small ma and pop bar and grill about three blocks away, so he thought he'd kill two birds with one stone. He could eat lunch and get started on a good buzz at the same time.
When he walked in, the place was just about full, but he was able to find one empty table. He sat down, and opened his menu. A very pleasant looking brunette caught his eye, or rather her legs did. He was able to really look her over, and he hadn't had a drink yet, so he knew everything was accurate.
She had her hair tied up in a ponytail in the back. It was very dark, almost black, and very shiny as well. Her face was very pretty, but he wondered how much her makeup had to do with that. He guessed she was in her mid to late forties, but she wore her age very well. She had a jacket over her shirt and she was reading a book, so he had no clue on the size of her tits. That didn't really bother him anyway, because he was definitely a leg man. And, she definitely had nice legs. She was wearing a red skirt, with black pantyhose and red heels. He really liked what he could see.
After studying her for a little bit, he remembered where he was and realized he'd need to order shortly. He looked over the menu, and picked out a nice burger just in time. The waitress came and took his order, and then he was free to admire the brunette a little more. When her food arrived, she ate slowly while continuing to read. He thought she even ate her lunch in a cute way. Everything about her was just cute. She looked kind of short, which was cute, and she had a cute face with a cute ponytail.
When his food arrived, he tried to eat and stare, without getting caught. About halfway through his meal, he looked down to find a good fry, and when he looked back at her she was looking right at him. He quickly looked away, and found another fry. When he looked back at her, she was still staring right at him. Well crap, he'd been caught. He turned his complete focus towards his food, too nervous to look back at her again.
As he was getting closer to finishing his plate, he ordered his first whisky. It was the start of his plan to get nice and inebriated, and then walk the three blocks home. A few minutes later the waitress brought his drink. He ordered another before she left, and then took a big long swig. He gulped it down, and then half looked at the brunette. She had her eyes back on her book. He felt it was safe enough to continue admiring her again.
When the waitress arrived with his second drink, he ordered another one again. He brought the glass to his lips, and moved his eyes back to the cute brunette. Just when the whisky hit his lips she looked right at him again. He nearly spilled his whisky, failing to make it look like he didn't just get caught staring again.
"You do know it's not polite to stare?" she asked.
"I uh, didn't mean to, uh, I wasn't really," he stumbled through. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and try to regain just a little dignity. "I'm sorry, and yes I do know that it's not polite. I just can't seem to convince my eyes to look anywhere else."
"Maybe try a little harder," she said. "It's a bit creepy when you stare at me like that."
"How about I buy you a drink to make up for it, and then maybe I can join you over there?" he asked. "Then I can look you in the eyes while we talk, so it's less creepy."
"That does sound less creepy, but I don't drink alcohol," she replied. "My soda gets free refills, and she just refilled it, but thanks for the offer."
"How about you let me join you until you're ready to go, and I'll buy the lunch you just finished?" he asked, hoping he wasn't starting to sound desperate.
"Okay, fine," she answered. "You're obviously not going to let me read my book in peace, and it's just as distracting when you stare at my legs in silence."
He grabbed his drink, and moved over to her table. He picked the seat directly across from, rather than the one to her left, so she would feel more secure with at least the table between them.
"I'm Drake, by the way," he said.
"Wendy," she replied.
"It's nice to meet you Wendy," he said. "So, what is it that you do Wendy?"
She hesitated for a moment, as if she were trying to decide if she would really tell him or not. Her face told him that she wasn't sure if he could handle the truth. Eventually she must have decided to just come clean.
"I'm a church secretary," she finally said. "And, what about you Drake?"
"I'm just a pencil pusher at Jacoby's down the street," he answered.
"Oh that Jacoby's huh?" she said sarcastically, having no idea what Jacoby's was. "Why aren't you pushing your pencil today?"
"I'm celebrating the one year anniversary of the best and worst night of my life," he said, holding up his glass to show her. "Why aren't you at the church secretarying?"
"The pastor is out of town today, so I decided to take an extended lunch," she answered. "What happened one year ago today?"
"Oh I don't think that's a good story for a church secretary," he replied. That was when he noticed the ring on her finger. "Especially not a married church secretary."
"I won't judge you, and I'm the pastor's secretary, so I've heard a lot of good stories over the years," she said. "I doubt you can really shock me with yours."
"Well, basically my wife hired a gorgeous hooker to have sex with me, so she could record it and use the video as leverage in the divorce," he explained. "Her plan kinda backfired though, when I recorded her and her boyfriend having sex on the exact same couch I did it with the hooker on."
"You were right about one thing," she said. "That's not a story for a church secretary."
"What really bugs me about the whole thing is wondering why she felt she needed to do it," he said. "Her boyfriend, who's now her husband, is loaded. She didn't need to get the better end of the divorce, so she must have really hated me."
"Well you did jump right in bed with a hooker," she pointed out.
"Actually it took her three tries before I finally caved," he said. "And, I thought she was married as well, so I convinced myself that fact somehow justified it."
"Oh, so you get off sleeping with someone else's wife do ya?" she asked.
"Not particularly, but that's how I justified it with her," he replied. "I looked at it like we were on the same playing field, and we were both risking the same thing. Little did I know she wasn't married, and had been paid to hit on me. Finding out she was a paid hooker probably hurt more than seeing my wife with that other guy."
"Surely you didn't have feelings for her after just three conversations?" she asked.
"I wasn't in love with her, but I felt like we were headed down the right path," he answered. "Because I'm obviously quite a moron, as you can see."
"Yeah, it's hard to call you a romantic when she's a hooker," she said with a laugh. She looked at her phone and must have noticed something on it. "I really should be getting back to work. Thanks for buying my lunch, and proving you aren't as creepy as I originally thought you were."
"It was my pleasure Wendy," he said. "Thanks for letting me check out your legs for awhile. You enjoy your afternoon at work. I'm gonna get back to the task at hand." He held up his glass again, shook it a little, and then downed the remaining whisky.
"Can I have your number Drake?" she asked. "It can get rather boring sitting in the office when the pastor is out of town. Maybe we can text or continue our conversation on the phone."
"Absolutely, that sounds great to me," he replied. "What's your number and I'll send you a text right now." He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and hit the screen in the right places to send a text.
"Here it is," she said, writing it down on a paper towel that was left on her table.