I'd often joked about having 'a bit of black.' Not remotely racist, I suppose I never really thought seriously about the issue. I know I should never have been upset if my teenaged daughter had come home with a black guy. So the happenings I am about to relate shouldn't have come as a surprise to me - but they did, in a way.
I flew out to Toronto, for my fortieth birthday present to myself, to see my aunt and uncle for a couple of weeks, leaving my wife at home working - and sulking, probably because we were not enjoying a particularly good relationship around that time. (It didn't last much longer, but that's another story)
I sat in the departure lounge, herded into a sort of waiting-pen with all the other sheep about to board a 747, with the one vacant seat in the place alongside me. It was soon occupied by a young black girl, who first asked me if the place was taken. I shook my head no, and she sat down gracefully. She looked as if she did everything gracefully, in fact, and had the manner of a natural athlete. I glanced sideways at her for as long as it was polite to do, and saw a girl in perhaps her late twenties (though I was hopeless at ages) with a proud, West African, aquiline profile, showing evidence of some European involvement in her ancestry (one grandparent?) as she was not coal-black, but a rather lovely shade of dark oak. She had short hair and was neatly dressed in a denim suit, with a short skirt, showing off shapely knees when she sat beside me. I've always had a thing about nice knees, and having hers to look at as I waited to be called was better than reading the paper!
The wait was long, and I was startled by her voice, 'Would you mind watching my bag while I go to the loo?' said a Midlands accent, and she plonked her flight-bag on the seat, got up and skipped off, her skirt flouncing prettily around her slim legs as she did so. She was soon back, all white teeth and long pendant ear-rings as she thanked me unnecessarily for guarding her bag. When she picked it up I noticed that she had long, well-manicured nails, and hands that didn't do a lot of housework.
After an interminable wait, we were called forward on to the aircraft. What followed was one of those moments which can only be described as pure happenstance. I found that I had been allotted an aisle seat, one of three outer places. My dusky friend from the lounge was seated across from me, in the centre seats, of which there were five. But her neighbour was most anxious to sit next to the people who had been placed next to me, in the window seats, as they were supposed to have been travelling together. Would we do a swap? I shuffled around, and found myself sitting next to the black girl from the lounge! If I had tried to engineer it, I couldn't have done better. She turned and smiled at me, saying, almost theatrically, 'So, we meet again! My name's Sally, by the way, as we're going to be neighbours for seven hours.'
'Hi,' I said, 'Andrew, pleased to meet you, Sally.'
We chatted about this and that throughout the journey, without ever really learning too much about each other. She seemed reluctant to tell me what she did for a living - I understood she was some kind of office worker - but I did find out she was single, had a little boy, who was being cared for by her mother in Leicester, and was going to visit family in Toronto. She was easy to talk to, though, and laughed a lot, which I liked. We poked fun at the stewardesses, airline food and other passengers, and the journey passed all too quickly.
When the pilot announced we were over Canadian airspace, I felt impending loss start to crowd in on me, and knew she was thinking the same when she suddenly slipped her hand into mine, and said, 'I've really enjoyed talking to you, Andy - it's made the trip pass ever so quickly.'
I squeezed her hand and said, 'Thanks, Sally, I've enjoyed talking to you too - it's been a breath of fresh air for me, and I mean that.'
She fell silent for five minutes, then we both started to talk at once, and laughed, just like they do in films.
'I was wondering,' she said, 'where you're staying, in Toronto, I mean?'
'Near Brampton,' I said, 'my folks have a house not that far from the airport. And you?'
'Mississauga,' she said, 'that's not far away, is it?'
If it had been a hundred miles I should have replied in the negative. Those knees had got right to me - seven hours in close proximity to them. I knew my aunt and uncle would expect me to disappear for days' sightseeing and suchlike. The difficulty was arranging a meeting place, but I dug out a city map and we found a Metro station that looked handy, and fixed to meet three days later, at eleven in the morning, to spend the day together. I told her I could hardly wait, and meant it.
As the plane came in to land, Sally turned to me, and said, 'Just in case you have second thoughts, Andy,' and she quickly snaked an arm around my neck and kissed me full on the lips, opening hers just enough so that I could feel suction and the very tip of her tongue running along the edge of my teeth.
'I'll be there,' I said, when I came up for air, 'count on it.'
Toronto was as I remembered it - friendly people, a bit boring, lovely summer weather - and my aunt and uncle were very happy to see me, so I passed a couple of pleasant days visiting with their neighbours, walking their two dogs and generally socialising, but thoughts of Sally, and that kiss, were never far from my mind.
The morning came, and my uncle lent me his massive Buick for the day, so I drove in gingerly fashion the short journey to the station where I had arranged to meet Sally. At first I thought she had got cold feet and decided to give it a miss, but then I spotted her stood at the corner by a news-stand, a white bag in her hand. I took a moment to look at her. She was dressed entirely in white, which contrasted amazingly with her dark skin. She wore a pleated white cotton summer skirt, just above knee-length, and a cropped white top, leaving her midriff bare, so that I could see she had a discreet stone glinting from her navel. She wore simple white sneakers, and her jewellery consisted of silver pendant ear-rings, several silver bangles and a silver ankle chain. I hadn't really had the chance to have a good look at her before, on the plane, and hadn't realised what a great body she had - slim, but by no means skinny, and with lovely long legs. I congratulated myself on my good taste, and went over to her.
It took us some time to get clear of Metropolitan Toronto, but then we headed out along the 'concession' roads, seeking out some of the nice, surprisingly old, quaint villages which abound in Ontario, shopping for curios, and walking hand-in-hand around a botanical garden.
But the memory of that kiss was eating at me, and, when we stopped to admire a nice fuchsia, I slipped my arm around her narrow waist and drew her close. She sensed what I wanted to do, and offered her full, luscious lips to me, this time completely without reservation - we were in a corner where we were not overlooked at all. Our tongues met and entwined, and her breathing increased in tempo, as I'm sure did mine. I could feel her breasts pushing against me as hard little points, as she let herself be pulled in towards me, and I could feel a growing erection tenting my trousers - she cannot have failed to notice it.
Suddenly, she pushed me away, and skipped a few paces back, saying, 'You are a naughty boy, Andy - what would your wife have to say?'
'Frankly, I don't much care,' I said, 'she may very well be doing something similar for all I know - or care.'
'Oh, hush my mouth,' she said, 'touched a tender spot, haven't I?'