Time is a funny thing. When you don't have enough it is an absolute challenge but when you have too much and nothing to fill that time, it can be even worse. The time I had now was a mixture of both. During the waking hours, my time was so filled with frenetic things that I hardly had time to breathe but when the day had been done, the seconds dragged to the point of being an eternity.
I can't say that I was bitter about what my ex, my wife, had done, but it was still taking a great deal of my mental strength to rationalise what had happened and how it had happened so fast.
Sure we had not had the best of relationships and there had been times in the past when I was the one to almost walk out but I honestly thought things were pretty good, even though there were times that we had both recognised and communicated that they certainly weren't for one or the other of us.
The first month after the ex had left was the worst. It was that time thing. Too much and too little all at the same time. I had slept little, eaten even less and consequently had lost lots of weight which, I can't deny, was an upside to the situation I had found myself in. Work had gone and they were very accommodating but there was that unspoken sorrow that I felt from my workmates that seemed to weigh heavily on me. For no other reason than I could, I had quit. Bad move.
All of a sudden I had ALL the time in world to brood and self-doubt, examine and criticise myself.
Still, the official separation documents came through quickly and a reasonable settlement was arranged. I got the house unencumbered and she kept her business though how she was going to run it from out of the country was unknown and to be honest, her problem and not mine. Obviously the "old flame" she was now living with was wealthy because the house was freeholded first before it was signed to me. Guilty? Who knows or cares!
It was almost two months after the bomb shell that I finally got to meet up with Gail again. She had been a real rock keeping in touch and offering all sorts of support even though we had not seen each other since that fateful night. It was late one week and she had suggested I go have lunch with her. We had originally discussed via text that we would meet in a café somewhere but eventually I agreed to go to her place where we could be a little more private.
I suggested I pick up a quiche and a bottle of wine and she suggested that perhaps inviting Dana would be a welcome source of fun as she was such a light hearted person. I readily agreed.
With no sense of what lay ahead, I arrived at Gail's house about midday on that Friday and was met with a huge hug at the door by Gail. She ushered me into the kitchen where not more than nine weeks ago, I had been well and truly immobilised across the bench in the pillory I had built. Glancing at the bench, it was almost unbelievable what had happened in the ensuing time.
"Danas running late," Gail told me as she thoughtfully moved me out of the kitchen and into a little sun room off to the side.
"She's been looking for a new place to live. Her flatmates finally got wind of her "orientation" and they all wanted her out. She's looking through a place right now but isn't sure how she will be able to afford to live alone," Gail continued.
I was shocked that anyone could face that sort of persecution now days but there you go. People can be so cruel!!
"We've told her she can live with us for as long as it takes to find a place if she just has to get out," Gail added.
Just as she said that, there was a knock at the door and we heard it open and footsteps on the tiled entrance way. Gail called out to Dana and she appeared in very quick time, as a vision of beauty gliding into the sun porch.
Dana, though not tall, certainly looked it just then. She was wearing a light floaty yellow sun frock and was perched upon the most impossibly high heels that gave the impression that she was much taller than she is. The most remarkable thing though was the colour of her hair. I had recalled a brunette yet she stood before me as a flaming redhead in all her glory, her green eyes flashing at me like beacons.
As a gentleman should, I stood at her entrance and she took that as an invitation to throw her arms around me in a huge hug while she planted a very full kiss on my mouth.
"Oh, it's so good to see you," she gushed as she disentangled herself from me and threw herself onto the couch beside Gail.
"Well?" queried Gail.
"Well, it certainly wasn't what it was advertised as and was a real dive," Dana offered as she seemed to deflate at the statement.
"I have no idea what I'm going to do now. The flat want me gone by Monday and though I am so happy to have your offer to stay, I feel like I can't really accept it as I would be so intruding upon you."
"Nonsense", was all that Gail said but in a brief glimpse at her, I gauged that perhaps she thought the same.
"I know this is sudden and perhaps not such a good idea but, I have a huge house all to myself and I could certainly do with some company in it," I ventured.
Both Gail and Dana stared at me open mouthed like they had just seen a ghost or at least had heard one. Both sat very still and said nothing then slowly turned to one another, grinned, smiled then launched themselves at me as one.
"Thank you, oh thank you," gushed Dana, "you won't regret this and I accept!" she said with utter authority.
All of a sudden, the mood in in the room had lifted from one of heavy and doom to a sparkling happiness that seemed to permeate the entire house. Both girls started talking at once, addressing each other and myself all at the same time. The noise was a cacophony.
I fell back onto the couch in a fit of laughter and just sat and watched the two girls plan the entire shift into my place as if it were planning a pitched battle. As I quietly watched, I noticed the relationship that Gail and Dana had was almost like Mother and Daughter. I knew Gail had an amazing daughter but that she was now living out of the country and they saw little of one another and perhaps she saw in Dana some of the things that she missed.
I noticed too how feminine Dana was and had to remind myself several times that she had been born a "he". The sun frock she wore, fit her perfectly and accentuated all the right places with her figure. My eyes drifted down her body to her amazing legs clad in ultra-sheer hosiery and onto those impossible heels she had on. How she could walk in those was a feat of courage. I had always had a very soft spot for incredibly high heels and these were certainly working on my libido very nicely.
During the whole discussion, they had not referred to me at all. I didn't really mind though was amused at the detail they discussed, right down to the times that everything would be moved in and in place. My place?? Probably not anymore!!
I suddenly realised that the room had gone quiet and looked up quickly to see two very amused expressions on their faces, watching me.
"Like something you see down there?" queried Dana with a chuckle in her voice.
