"Attention Passengers!
"Passengers may I have your attention please!" The stewardess said, speaking thru the plain's sound system.
"Passengers please put away all loose items and take your seats.
Place your seats in the upright position and fasten your seat belts."
"The pilot has determined that the weather is too severe to continue over the mountains. Therefore we are landing at Midland International to wait for better flying conditions.
Once we've landed you will be given further instructions"
"There it was. Just what I was afraid of. Another glitch in my vacation plans." Thought Jerome.
"I save for five years to finally get to see the West Coast and this happens." He thought wryly.
Jerome gloomily followed the flight attendants instructions. He stared blankly out at the dark clouds covering the distant mountain peaks whishing to be far to the other side of them.
The plane landed uneventfully. They were in Midland Texas. Ground crews swarmed over the plane as the passengers disembarked grumbling.
The whole plane load of passengers boarded buses and were taken to the nearby Ramada Hotel
The Airline had arranged for the passengers to stay, complete with meals. There were the usual complaints but most took the delay in stride.
Jerome was given a room all to himself on the ground floor. He found he was near the restaurant and cocktail lounge. After Jerome was shown to his room, he spent some time unpacking his carry-on bag and tried to plan his stay. He found a computer terminal built into The television cabinet and turned the unit on.
Jerome searched around a bit till he logged on to his chat room site and searched for a friendly partner. After finding no one on he knew, he decided to send some e-mail in the faint hope someone would respond.
He typed in the nickname of his Texas friend, a married lady he met on the Internet.
The lady was off-line according to the screen which provided a list with user options. Jerome clicked on the link and left a message. After sending his message he decided to take a shower and relax a while before going to dinner.
Laura Sparks dried her hands on the hand towel and started putting the breakfast plates away. It was a miserable gray day. A bad western storm was moving eastward as part of a large depression that threatened most of the state. The mountains west of her were snow bound and getting more of the white stuff. The report said it would pass over her area and stall for few days.
Thinking about being shut in by a Winter storm really upset her. It meant days of isolation and boredom. Even the nice people she'd met on the Internet were no substitute for face to face human contact. With few exceptions most of the people she met were women like herself. Women with children, a house to run, and a husband who would rather watch TV than do anything else.
It had been years since she last had any loving contact with her mate of over thirty years.
There was one special exception on her short list of contacts.
Jerome Overstreet.
Jerome was an older black man she chatted with from time to time. Actually it was as often as she could, or dared. Fortunately she was able to keep anyone from knowing of him. They had a lot going on besides the usual idle chit-chat. If the truth were to get out, there would be upsets all over the place. Her family would most certainly not understand their relationship. Notwithstanding that they never met in person or could meet anywhere except over the Internet. Her people still would have trouble with it.
Jerome, like Laura, was married with children. Both were over fifty and still very much interested in the physical aspect of being human. Their conversations had taken many erotic turns short of e-sex. Their chats had become increasingly intimate and clandestine in nature. If they weren't separated by thousands of miles. Who knows where their on-line affair would have taken them.
Many times and in very plain language, Jerome told Laura he wanted her.
To Laura it was a lot of hot air. She jokingly dared him, to come to Texas and prove he meant what he said.
It was their little game. As long as there were rivers, mountains, and over half a continent between them, neither had to worry. So they had continued their game for a year.
Sometimes though, their discussions got them both aroused. It was at those times that Laura hoped, almost wished Jerome would materialize, and treat her to some good old fashioned lovemaking. The kind of bone jarring loving that's been missing from her life for too long. Her whole being languished for some virile male attention.
Her sexual yearnings hadn't diminished as she expected. Despite the gray hairs and extra inches around her bottom, her body still responded to touch. Her own touch, such as it was, just wasn't enough.
As the storm warnings became more urgent, Laura became more distressed. She didn't want to spend the next forty-eight or seventy-two hours at home, virtually alone. She made up her mind to go into town and be among people. Even if just for the day.
Laura showered, washed and set her hair, and laid her city clothes out. She left a note to her husband telling him that she was going to town and would be back late and that food was prepared for his dinner. She placed the note under the remote, where she knew he wouldn't miss it. Then checked again around the house before she finished dressing.
The blinking icon on her computer screen drew her attention. There was a message waiting for her. She was about to ignore the message, but her intuition stopped her from turning the screen off. A touch on the mouse opened the message in a new window. It was from Jerome.
Dear Star Lady;
I'm stuck in Texas for tonight. Snow storm forced my plane to land. I'm in Midland at the Ramada. I'll be on-line looking for you tonight. Will you be free to chat? Look for me.
As ever, Jerome
Laura stared at the screen in disbelief.
For several minutes she sat there looking at it, pondering the turn of events.
As incredible as it seemed, some power had heard her secret wish and decided to grant it.
"Did it really mean what it said?" She kept asking herself.
"This can't be happening." She thought in disbelief.
"Coincidences like this just don't happen…What'll I do?" she asked herself, knowing the answer.
"It's less than half an hour's drive from here. I could be there by dinnertime if I hurry." She thought.
Her plan was quickly formulated as she dressed to depart.
Laura was energized now and nervous too. She had never given any real thought in relation to the thing she was now planning to do.
Her husband was the only man she had ever been with. Yet she knew if everything went well, she would experience another man. Just this once.
This opportunity could be her last chance to obtain answers to the present anguish in her life.
Her husband was a good man, but he had kept her at arms length for years. He literally retired from sex and thought she should too. Why?
Laura had to know. Was she still a functional woman. Was she still desirable to men? Could she still pleasure a man?
More important. Would a man still give her pleasure?
Her hands grew sweaty as she gripped the steering wheel.
It was cold outside yet she felt hot.
"Was it a flash?' She wondered. 'Or just anxiety?"
"What if he wasn't thrilled about having her show up unannounced? What if he didn't think she was attractive or young enough to be bothered with?
What if this? What if that?"
