This is the fourth in a series about the journey of newly divorced Lee Stephenson and his voyage of rediscovery. The time has come to reassess the inexplicable events of the past six days. I am, as always, grateful to ErikThread for his editing assistance and advice. Any errors or omissions are entirely my responsibility.
Chapter 4: Beth
I sat in my car in the parking lot of the convenience store for quite a while. I had long since finished the wretched coffee that they offered and I was lost in my thoughts. A wise man once said "never look a gift horse in the mouth," but that's exactly what I was doing. I had left my old surroundings only six days ago and it was as if I had stepped through some portal into a parallel universe. I was living in a fantasy land of willing women and unlimited sex. I kept wondering when this was all going to come to a crashing halt and I would be returned to my mundane existence. The magic that had enhanced my short, new life seemed to continue without any assistance from me. I began to think I didn't really didn't need to do anything but hang on for the "ride."
When little kids misbehave, parents often give them what they refer to as a "time out," a little private time alone to think about their behavior. I was pretty sure I needed a "time out." I certainly needed to think about my behavior. I also needed to try and figure out just who Leighton Philip Stephenson had become. I was certainly not the man who married Jocelyn Campbell ten years earlier. I may have been the guy who had the responsible and generally interesting job as an insurance investigator. I wasn't a virgin when I married Jocelyn but I certainly didn't have the skills and experience that I had picked up in the past six days.
When our marriage petered out and was put to a merciful end, I made the biggest decision of my life. I quit my job, "cashed in my chips" and took a sabbatical from my old life and went looking for a new one. In my back pocket I had a job offer from Orca Investigations that would be at least as interesting as my old job and probably more so. My old friend, Pete Dennison, had been pestering me to join them, but because he understood my need to escape for a while, he was holding the offer open indefinitely. You just can't lose when you have friends like Pete.
But back to my problem. Now I realize not every guy would think of the last six days of my life as a problem. In fact, they would probably think I was paranoid, or at least mildly psychotic for complaining about what I had experienced. But the truth is, my life during this past six days bears no resemblance to my life for the previous 34 years. I had lived a pretty plain-vanilla existence and I acted as any normal working husband would. I got up, shit, shaved, showered, had breakfast, brushed my teeth, drove to work, came home had dinner, watched some TV or read a book and went to bed. Once or twice a week I would make love to my wife, and other than the weekends, that was pretty much my life every day.
When I broke that bond with my routine, everything changed. Maybe it hadn't all happened this week, but the really weird stuff had. My encounters with Constance, Glynnis, Sophia and Anna were sequential and almost, it seemed, inevitable. It was as if they had been preordained. Now, I know this sounds goofy, but that's how it seemed to me. So to save my sanity and try to find an answer to this conundrum, I was going to abstain from interaction with females for at least a few days. I hadn't decided on how many, but I had decided it would be more than two. I also decided I would start to keep a diary of my travels and experiences. It would be a way of recounting this strange voyage and give me something to keep me occupied at the same time. Decision made, I headed for my next destination point, Fairmont Hot Springs.
Mountain Meadows B & B was an Alpine style home with three guest suites in the loft, each with an ensuite. When I phoned that morning, there was one room available and I immediately booked it. I was a bit surprised at how busy they were, but I remembered that the area was known for corporate retreats; and nestled right in the heart of the Rockies, the skiing would last considerably longer than nearer the coast. I arrived in mid-afternoon and checked in with the hostess, Sandra Melling. As usual, this was a family business, and while they preferred I didn't check in until four o'clock, I was given a break since the room was ready and they were almost finished with their chores. I dropped my bag and laptop in my room, surveyed the facilities, grabbed my digital camera and left to explore the area.
It was a fairly cloudy day and the mountains were somewhat obscured with a low overcast, but it was easy to see the attraction of the area. The Rockies are majestic at any time and the magnitude of the rock faces and upheavals from so many millions of years ago is always spectacular. I felt pretty insignificant in these surroundings.
I drove around the little town and found a couple of likely restaurants. I had booked my room for three nights in anticipation of my hiatus from hedonism. The town was pretty small and I hoped I could find enough things to fill my time. Just before five, I headed back for Mountain Meadows to start my diary and record some thoughts. It didn't take long to get going, and when I looked up at the clock on the wall it was almost seven. I took a break and headed off toward town. I ate by myself, pen and notebook by my side to record any thoughts or remembrances of these past few weeks, and more importantly, the last six days.
I was oblivious to my surroundings in the restaurant. I was seated by a young lady of nondescript features and my waitress was equally forgettable. Good! I wasn't distracted and neither they nor I were likely to fall under whatever spell that had been cast. I finished my meal and as I was savoring the remains of a nice Chilean red, I looked around at the other patrons. Besides the nearby young woman, there were two older couples at different tables and another table of four younger people and that was it. There was nothing to command my attention. I finished the wine and signaled the waitress for the check and prepared to leave. Then, as I looked up, an absolutely stunning young woman walked in, looked around, saw me, nodded and smiled.
As Jack Nicholson so aptly put it, "I was just inches from a clean getaway." I sat frozen in place. I felt powerless to move; certainly to leave. She was a dazzling redhead of about thirty years and she was tall. Very tall. Her hair was long and very curly, her face was that perfect oval shape every woman wishes for, and there was a lovely sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her long, aquiline nose and the tops of her cheeks. She was lean, yet still very voluptuous. A nice hip flare that was accented by a tight, long, grey wool skirt while her more-than-adequate breasts were snugly confined in a dark forest-green sweater. A wide black belt and black low heels were the only accents on this beauty and they were more than enough. On top of all that, she looked vaguely familiar.
She was by herself and she sat at a table that was directly in front of me, giving me a complete view of her in profile. It was now a battle of wills. Could I simply pay the bill and leave, or would I be tempted to introduce myself and see what effect my new powers would have on her. Incredibly, my waitress chose that very moment to bring my bill and stand directly in front of me, blocking my view of the mystery woman. Damn! Well, it was the excuse I needed. I pulled out some bills, left a reasonable tip and walked to the exit. I turned briefly to look back at her one more time, sighed, and left. I had managed a small but important victory.
I returned to my room in the loft and opened my laptop. I reread my musings from the afternoon and thought for a moment about where to continue. There was so much to say and the only path to take was to record it all and edit from there. I set to it and by ten I had fifteen pages of notes, comments, remembrances and observations. Mountain Meadows was equipped with wireless and I surfed around for a few minutes, gathering the news and checking my e-mail. I signed off for the night and went to bed. I was asleep in seconds.
I awoke with the realization that it was Saturday morning and my one week anniversary was upon me. I had finally put one night behind me that had been free of sex or involvement with a woman. One down, two to go. Go ahead, laugh! Everyone has to have a goal in life. Mine was to avoid having sex for three nights in a row. Doesn't sound like much, does it? Well, we'll see.
I joined the other three guests for breakfast, and as usual, ate more than I was accustomed to. The food was great and irresistible, so I didn't resist. I went back to my room and resumed my diary where I had left off the night before. I banged out my thoughts on the almost silent keyboard for an hour or so and then hit save, picked up my jacket, and headed out to the car.
I slipped into the seat, started the engine and then just sat there. I had no idea where to go so I pulled out my topographical map of B.C. and had a look at where I was and where I might go. I found a back road up a valley to what appeared to be an open area, and since the weather was good I decided to try my luck up there and do a bit of hiking. After all, I needed the exercise. I'd had enough breakfast to last me until supper time, so there was no need for anything but water and I could pick that up along the way.
When I got to the end of the narrow, rough road, I noticed I wasn't alone. A mid-size SUV was parked off in the grass and I parked my Outback nearby. I grabbed a couple of water bottles and started to walk up the incline of the meadow. There was no one in sight, but since it was a big meadow, that wasn't surprising. I walked for a half hour or so, stopping now and then to take some pictures of the marvelous scenery with my digital camera.
It wasn't a few minutes later that I came over a rise and spotted a figure ahead of me. At first I couldn't tell if it was coming or going, but soon I realized it wasn't moving at all. As I got closer, there was something familiar about this person, and a couple of minutes later I was sure of what it was. I was also sure of who it was. The tall redhead was standing in a field of alpine flowers and looked to be making notes on a pad. I was pretty sure it was the woman from the restaurant, and as I got closer, that was confirmed. I realized she wasn't making notes, but sketching with a pencil. I made enough noise so that I didn't startle her and continued to approach.
She looked up in surprise as I came toward her from the side. That same big smile broke out on her face as she apparently recognized me as well.
"Hi," I said with a smile.
"Hi ... you're a long way from home," she said casually.
I wasn't sure what exactly she meant. My old home was certainly a long way away. Other than last night, I didn't have any sense that I had met her before. I was confused.
"I'm sorry ... have we met before?" I asked.
"I'm not surprised you don't remember, Lee." She held out her hand and I took it. "I'm Beth Jorgenson. I'm Brian Tennyson's P.A."
"Oh, Beth ... of course. I apologize for not recognizing you," I offered. Brian Tennyson was my former employer's executive vice president. I saw him seldom in the course of my work and would have only seen Beth Jorgenson in passing.
"No apology necessary," she smiled as she seemingly examined me. "You're a bit of a celebrity around the office."
"How so?"
"You quit a great job just before they were about to promote you to department head. You just told them you needed some time and space and that you likely wouldn't be back," she said with a rueful smile. "Not many guys have the guts to do that."
"Well ... there were special circumstances," I suggested.
