Spend eight months or so traveling New York State, from County to County and you'll pray for some relaxation time. I did. I had to update voting machines all over New York with new software to insure the security of your votes.
Once the election was over and I secured the machines it was time to go home. I mean back to California. I packed up my belongings and sent them ahead via PODS. It would take about two weeks to get everything back there.
No, I could have hoped on a plane the next morning and been there for dinner. But no, I wanted my relaxation time. So I booked a five-day train tour from New York to Los Angeles. A private room and access to a glass-top viewing car were just what I needed.
I left Penn Station in Manhattan on the first leg of the trip. The only accommodations were coach seats. But they were bearable. I would transfer to the Coach-liner at Chicago's Union Station. There I would get settled into my private room.
It was kind of nice getting senior discounts now. I never would have paid full price for this twenty-three hundred mile journey. But with discounts in place, I boarded the train at Chicago's Union Station and we pulled out, headed for the west coast.
Since the train was nearly empty I was able to get what amounted to a double room. That meant I could lay down for a nap without having to fold up my laptop and table to fold down the bed. After settling in I went to the lounge car to get a drink and head to observation.
I was alone on the upper deck watching the Cityscape fade to farmland. Rolling fields of wheat and corn blurred past. They did seem to wave. I was nearly finished with my first beer of the week when a young woman walked through and sat at the far end.
After maybe an hour the overhead speakers announced lunch being served in the dining car. I got up and headed down for some lunch. I ordered a Monte Cristo sandwich, a sweet iced tea, and a chocolate mousse for dessert.
While waiting for the food to arrive the same young woman from the observation deck approached me.
"Excuse me," she said politely. "It seems it is just you and I for lunch. Would you mind if I joined you?" I motioned to the empty chair across from myself and she sat down. She was dressed in older hippy-style clothes. Painted bell bottoms, a tie-dyed t-shirt, and a floral scarf around her head.
We talked about nothing in particular. I'd comment on the scenery and she'd tell me her thoughts on nature and sustainable crops. She introduced herself as Charlotte.
"Nice to meet you Charlotte," I extended a hand across the table. "I'm Mike." Then I grinned, "But my Mother and enemies call me Charles." then I winked.
"Well Mike, it's a pleasure to dine with you," she replied with a winning smile. After lunch, we walked back toward the observation car together. Somewhere between Des Moines and Omaha, the train got crowded. I told Charlotte I was headed back to my room.
At her disappointed expression, I told her I wasn't good with crowds and needed to decompress. I promised to look for her around dinner time if the crowds had subsided by then. Charlotte gave me a tight smile and wished me a comfortable rest. I retired to my room and shut the shade.
When I awoke, it was darker than I'd expected. I raised the shade and found it was dark outside. Checking the GPS on my phone, I found we were now halfway to Denver out of Omaha. I freshened up a bit and went to the dining car. Finding it closed, I went up to the observation deck.
There I found Charlotte sitting staring out into the darkness. There were streaks of lights we passed and the glow from the train's lights illuminated the area for a few feet to each side of the rain.
"I wasn't sure how long you'd sleep, so I got you a special and a bottle of beer," Charlotte said without turning toward me. On the table next to her, sat a plate with some veggies, a lump of mashed potatoes, and a Salisbury steak in some kind of demi-glace. A long-neck lager sat next to the plate.
"Thank you," I said in a low voice. "I must have been more tired than I thought." She turned and smiled at me as I unwrapped the plate and began to eat the lukewarm meal. The beer though was still cold.
"The night is very calming, isn't it?" she asked me and nobody simultaneously. "It's quite freeing."
That was when she pulled her t-shirt up over her head and flung it to the floor. She wasn't wearing a bra. I could see the definition of her back as she raised her arms to the ceiling.
The smooth lines of the muscles in her back seem to make her equally smooth skin ripple in the changing lights from in and out of the train. I must have gasped involuntarily because she turned to face me. I felt my jaw go slack as I silently mouthed "Oh My."
Charlotte appeared to be a woman in her early forties. Now exposed fully to the waist, she was in amazing shape. Her long chestnut hair now flowed down her back and rested just below the waist of her jeans.
Her breasts were large but still very firm. Her areolas were small and her nipples were like hard eraser tips. She'd either never been pregnant, or never lactated. Her abdomen was tight and defined.
Charlotte smiled at me. She seemed amused by my discomfort. She walked over and stood face to chest with me as I sat at the small table. "Does my nakedness disturb you my son?" she asked.
What? My Son? What was she saying? Was she fucking with me? I shoved my chair back against the train wall and stood up. "Look, it isn't so much that it disturbs me," I began and walked around her and went to pick up her shirt. "It's just a bit inappropriate, don't you think?"
"How so?" Charlotte asked. "There is no one here but you and I," she stated confidently.
"True enough," I answered. "However this train is not yours or mine and it is technically a public forum." I handed her shirt to her. "Anyone could walk in at any time. We are not alone on this train."
Charlotte put her shirt back on and looked at me questioningly. "What if we were in private?"
The question was a fair one, so I answered honestly. "You're a gorgeous woman," I admitted to her. "I'm old enough to be your father. But yes, if we were in private I wouldn't have reacted like this."
Charlotte smiled and grabbed my hand. She pulled me along toward my room in the sleeping car. I'll admit, she was conscious of my cane and limited ability to move fast, so it took a few minutes. Once we were standing outside my room she asked to come in.
"Will you invite me in?" she asked. There was no cute pout or other sign she was trying to influence my decision. My confused look made her elaborate. "I'll answer anything once we're inside." then she asked again. "Will you invite me in?" I just nodded dumbly and opened the door.
I walked around the bed that I intentionally left open for my convenience and sat in the lounger next to the window. I reached down and grabbed complimentary water from the mini fridge and offered one to Charlotte.
She declined but sat down on the edge of the bed. I took a sip and asked the big question. "Ok so what the fuck is going on?" she seemed shocked for a brief moment, then composed herself. "If you're looking for a place to start," I added. "The beginning is the best place.
Charlotte just smiled at that and began. "Well." she paused and sighed after that. "I'm a Nun. Or at least I used to be." The lack of reaction from me seemed to upset her a little. "You are not a Church goer?" After her initial display, I thought I'd shock her.
"Moses is my savior, sister." her sideways look made me smile. "My Ima says I'm a good Jewish boy and should look for a good Jewish girl." I Mikeled under my breath. "But she's passed on now."
Charlotte crossed herself. Probably more out of habit than real concern for my dead mother.
"I am sorry for your loss." she offered and I just nodded. Taking a deep breath she continued. "I was forced to join the convent when I was a young girl by my mother." with her hands on her thighs, she began scratching her jeans with her fingers.
"The first few years were my hell. I tried to run away several times." She went on to tell me about how she eventually became desensitized and simply accepted that she was stuck there. Until a few months ago.
"I don't know what came over me. I just snapped," she admitted. "I've told many people over the years that confession was good for their souls. So here is mine." Charlotte sat up straight and looked me in the eyes.
"I Stole a bottle of Sacramental wine and got drunk in my room." Then I saw her blush. "Then the Mother Superior caught me Masturbating. She was searching all the rooms for the wine." One of my eyebrows shot up at that, and she glared at me indignantly.
I held up my hands in a gesture of surrender and Charlotte took a deep breath and went on. "I suppose you could guess what happened next." She spread her arms and motioned down her body. "They'd destroyed my street clothes years ago to stop me from running away."
She looked defeated as she continued. "These were what fit me in the lost and found." she sighed.
I smiled at her and said, "First, I wasn't judging you. Honestly, being the dirty old man I am, I imagined a bad eighties porn movie with Nuns in leather wimples and sprayed-on latex stockings pleasuring each other."
The sudden look of astonishment on her face was highlighted by the bright red of her cheeks. "I may be considered a heathen by the church, but I still do have a sense of social propriety." I extended my hands and motioned upward.
