Chapter 8
HEREAFTER
It all began the evening a group of us had got together to have a few drinks as a way of celebrating a mutual friend's birthday. The pub was crowded and noisy with mainly youthful after-work drinkers and as we were all in our thirties and forties we probably stood out in various ways. But apart from having to speak rather more loudly than usual to make ourselves heard over the surrounding hubbub I'm sure most of us were enjoying ourselves. Perhaps as well as the light-hearted banter going on between us there were those who were using the surroundings to recall some of their own earlier mis-spent years, while others were quite obviously more than happy to spend at least part of the time ogling the female half of the throng that milled to and fro.
I don't mind admitting I did my fair share of both things; my ex-wife and I had first met in a club and for some reason the pub's boisterous atmosphere brought memories of those first months together flooding back, and the sheer quantity and quality of feminine flesh that was on display made it virtually impossible for any red-blooded man to ignore it.
So perhaps it was not so surprising that it was nearly an hour before I realised I myself was being watched. At first I thought it had been just one of those situations when two people's drifting eyes just happen to accidentally meet, but when what I hoped would be a couple of purely tentatively exploratory glances in that direction met the same steady gaze I felt I had no alternative but to give the young woman a half-hearted nodding smile. And when it was not only returned, but returned with undoubted interest, I took the opportunity to take a closer look at as much of her as was visible.
She was undoubtedly attractive, very! Her almost blue-black hair, cut in a short curving bob, framed a pale, heart-shaped face that was dominated by a pair of dark, slightly uptilted eyes and a sensuously sexy, ruby-red mouth. The only other part of her that was visible above the table she was sitting at was equally appealing, it wasn't so much that the simple silk shirt matched the colour of her lipstick, but the eye-catching way it clung to the apparently generous curves beneath it.
Even as young man I had been absolutely useless at pick-up one-liners, more often than not having to rely on either a friend, or the girl herself to break the ice for me, but even as the thought that I somehow simply had to meet this woman flashed through my mind, so did the opening gambit I would use. Slipping away from my friends and making my way through the crowd I headed straight for her and, ignoring the three or four people she appeared to be sharing it with, bent down over her table and said. 'I'm sorry to admit to having such a terrible memory for putting names to faces, but we have met before, haven't we?'
Her eyes had been watching as I made my way towards her and she showed neither surprise nor embarrassment at the sheer ineptness of my approach, on the contrary, both the flashing smile and her immediate, if somewhat inexplicable reaction seemed to indicate she welcomed it. 'Yes thank you, I'd love a drink, but I'll come to the bar with you for it.' she said enthusiastically before turning to the woman beside her and saying. 'See you tomorrow Marjorie.'
I was taken aback, but far from unhappy about her response and when she pushed herself away from the table and came around it to join me I was positively thrilled by what I saw. She wasn't particularly tall, at least a good head shorter than I am but, at least from a masculine viewpoint everything else about her seemed to be perfectly proportioned. A fair amount of her height had to be attributed to a pair of what appeared to be disproportionately long, well-shaped legs, a good deal of which were displayed below a short, slightly flared skirt. Then as well as those there were the breasts, which jutted just as prominently as my first look had indicated they might. And linking those two delights was an impossibly small waist and a gracefully curving hip-line. All in all she was undoubtedly something most men would drool over, and I probably risked disgracing myself by being unable to avoid quite openly doing so myself.
She smiled at my all too obvious reaction and moving closer said quite unabashedly. 'It seems we both like what we see.' then effortlessly threaded her way towards the bar and somehow found a space for us.
In spite of how crowded the rest of the bar was our presence appeared to dissuade others from bunching too closely to where we were and it was no time at all before our drinks were placed in front of us. 'We seem to have some sort of no-go area around us.' I suggested jokingly when a few minutes later even a pair of bar-stools became available nearby.
'Maybe we should check our deodorants.' she replied with a sexily deep-throated chuckle as she hoisted herself up on to one of them.
The move gave me a momentary glimpse of even more of her legs and thighs and although it was all too brief I felt sure I had spotted a dark welt marking an enticing division between nylon and creamily gleaming skin.
'Stockings, not pantyhose!'
I thought, trying to remember the last time I'd been with a woman wearing those.
For the life of me I don't remember what we said during the next period of time, and although I had both her breasts and legs less than an arm's length away, all I really recall are the sight of her eyes, her mouth and her hands. Her eyes were so dark that it was hard to see where the colour stopped and her pupil began, and when we looked directly at each other I had the impression I was being pulled down deep into their depths, they were literally the 'drowning pools' one hears poets writing about. Her full, ruby-red lips glistened, but somehow gave the impression that the sheen was natural and not just from the latest lip enhancer. But entrancing as those features were it was her hands I remember best. Matching the pale creamy colour I had glimpsed high up beneath her skirt, their skin was milky white, almost translucent, and the long, slender fingers were tipped with neatly manicured nails that perfectly matched the colour of her mouth.