I first saw her in the bar off the lobby of my hotel but couldnât believe my eyes, thinking that it had to be a mistake, I mean here I was in a beautiful boutique hotel on the Left Bank in Paris and what was my ex-wife Anne doing here, of all places? I had just finished a week of business meetings in Germany and had a connecting flight through Paris so I decided to spend the weekend there and return Monday. Here it was Friday night and Anne was in the bar, alone. It had been at least 10 years since we spoke, although we both lived in the same city, in the same Upper West Side neighborhood and we never ran into each other. Was she re-married, was she still at the University, what was she doing here? I went up to the bar and sat down next to her and spoke as she turned around, Anne, long time.
âRed,â she immediately used my nickname, âI mean Nick⌠what, I havenât seen⌠who, what are you doing here?â
She turned and kissed me affectionately on the lips and we embraced briefly.
I replied, âBuy you a drink, what is that, let me guess, still slurping your expensive scotch.â
I ordered two rounds and we moved to a private table in the back. Turns out she had just finished a week lecturing at a French University and had become quite well known in the time since we had split. We spent the next hour finishing off several more rounds, nibbling little corn snacks and catching up.
She looked at my ring and said, âYouâve re-married, someone I know?â
âNo, but itâs better for me this time, I think weâre more suited for each other than you and I were at the time. No offense, Anne, you know I was madly in love with you and wouldâve done anything at the time to save our marriage, but you were working so hard with your academics, conferences, papers, that crowd which I wasnât part ofâŚâ
âI know, we went over all that years ago. Well, we all learn from our mistakes, and Iâm in a better place now, I think.â
âHow about you, no ring, children?â
She looked at me very intimately but somewhat hesitatingly said, âRed, I donât know how to say it, I mean, well actually itâs no big deal, or at least it shouldnât be but.. Iâm with Kristin, a woman. Iâm gay.â
I donât know what was more of a shock, seeing her that moment in the bar for the first time, or hearing this news.
âWow, and, I mean, how did it happen, what, who is she? Whatâs it like..â and I found myself beginning to ask all these embarrassingly personal questions of someone who for all intents and purposes was little more than a stranger.
But perhaps she fell as easily into our old intimacy as I did, for she answered calmly and explained without trying to make me feel uncomfortable. We were fairly tipped, which did make things a bit easier.
âI met her the year after I got my first position, the year after we divorced. I was too fucked up about us and all the pain and all, so I just dug in my work. Sheâs French, also a professor at the University; we actually met one day at a faculty get-together which was very stuffy and for some reason, I was pouring myself a glass of wine and her eyes caught mine and Iâll never forget that feeling, it was so compelling⌠I overfilled the glass and wine poured everywhere and one of the old deans looked at me with a glare and Kristin burst out laughing. We never even spoke as we left the party; it was about 6 p.m. We just walked down the street, I felt kind of magnetically drawn to her. I asked her name a few blocks later. We went straight to her small apartment and I just canât explain it, maybe it was the space I was in then, it was so new and wonderful after the bad years you and I had been throughâŚâ
âHey, itâs ok, I think thatâs great, if youâre happy. Youâre happy, arenât you? I just never thought youâd be into that, I mean..â
âYeah, I think I am happy now, weâve been together almost 8 years and we really do love each other.â Sheâs here with me, though sheâs gone out tonight with her family, theyâre all from Paris. I just didnât want to spend the evening with all the yelling and stumbling through my French⌠so I came to the bar andâŚwell, here we are.â
She still looked great; slender, probably not having put on a single pound in a decade; firm tits under the cashmere black top, short chic black skirt. Dark brown long hair, halfway down her back, brown pretty eyes, delicate features, except, of course when she was kicking me out of my marriage, but let bygones be bygones. I immediately thought of her pink cunt, surrounded by the beautiful thick black hair, usually pungent and glistening. But now� It was around 10 p.m. and I was hungry and suggested we find someplace for dinner.
âListen, Red, I donât know why Iâm saying this, but letâs go up to my room, Iâve got some food there, I guess I just want some quiet place, Iâve been out all week.â