Now I was on my own again, and since my daughter had moved to Ottawa my weekends were quite lonely. I stayed away from that bar as I felt crushed and humiliated, I had thought so much of David it was hard to accept it was over between us. My friends asked me what had happened and I just said we had split up that our relationship just didn't work out.
I stayed on the diet my daughter had set for me as well as the walking, besides Ottawa was only about an hour and a half away by car and she was liable to drop in any time she felt like it. The first time she did one Saturday after our split, I had to tell her it was over between David and I and she surprised me. I told her it was because he didn't want to make a commitment, so we agreed to just part company. I was expecting a lecture about my poor choice of men, but she said she thought he was a more decent sort and it was a pity it didn't work out.
My swimming twice a week with my friends was an activity I looked forward to, enjoying the opportunity of getting out of the house. I had lost some weight and was actually feeling pretty good with myself, as a result as I could now wear clothes I'd thought I'd grown out of, particularly skirts and dresses that was more fitting where I worked, as I now had a job in the front office. My old jeans had been fine when I worked in stores, but not really appreciated for the office.
The swimming twice a week was when it was for ladies only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, there was about seven or eight regulars I got to know and enjoyed the socializing with them too. One lady in particular was an English woman named Sheila who I thought had a delightful accent, she was always upbeat and cheerful, saying 'ullo' to everyone. She was a tall well built woman, who normally came in wearing a track suit and running shoes she called 'trainers,' as she came straight from a Gym where she worked out. In her early fifties with thick curly hair, she had a well proportioned body she was not ashamed to show off. She would strip completely and put on her bathing cap and take a shower before getting into her bathing suit. It was white with high leg openings that left her hip bones exposed, and from behind the material disappeared between the cheeks of her ass making her look bare bottomed.
Once in the pool her her suit being wet would mold itself to her body, making her breasts quite prominent, particularly her nipples which seemed quite large. Her routine was the same, she would swim slowly at first then quite vigorously alternating between the crawl and the back stroke for quite a few laps, rest for a few minutes, chat to one of us then off she'd go again, repeating this till the hour was up and we had to get out.
In the locker room she would peel off her swimsuit, take a quick cold shower to rinse off before drying herself. After, she would remove her bathing cap and taking her hairbrush brush would stand naked in front of a mirror to brush any tangles out of her hair. She was never in a hurry like some of the women were, taking her time getting back into her panties, bra, ankle socks then tracksuit before slipping on her 'trainers' and lacing them up. She was never in a hurry to leave, would socialize with others for as long there was someone willing to chat. I was quite shy and would often just sit and listen to her talking, enjoying her accent.
The talk would normally be about current affairs, usually everyday mundane things and she would listen politely to other women's opinions, occasionally commenting but never putting anyone down. She never talked about her own situation other than her work, she lived alone and appeared to be quite content to do so, there was never a mention of a husband or possible boyfriends. I was no doubt attracted to her and liked looking at her, occasionally she would catch me looking and just smile at my embarrassment as I'd quickly look away.
One Thursday I left the pool and went to my car in the parking lot to find I had a flat tire. I had lingered as before listening to the conversations so my friends had already left. I didn't know what to do and was pondering my situation when I heard Sheila say, "oh dear you have a puncture." She immediately summed up the situation and said, "well no good looking at it, it's late and jump in my car and we can go have coffee then I'll run you home."
This was another of her habits I was to discover, she would join a couple of the other ladies for coffee before going home, only she had Tea instead. We spent about half an hour in the coffee shop sipping our drinks and chatting then after she did drive me home. On the way she asked me if I had anyone to help me the next day to get my car fixed, and when I told her I had no one as my daughter and other children now lived away. "Not a problem" she said and before she dropped me off at home arranged to pick me up from work and take me to my car to get the wheel changed.
She was good to her word and came and picked me up after work. Looking much different from the night before in a business suit with a skirt and high heels, I wondered how she was going to change my wheel dressed like that but I soon found out. In the parking lot at the pool there were quite a few people coming and going, and going up to a group of men going in explained my situation to them and sure enough, one of them offered to change the wheel for me. Sheila was quite light about it, chatting away to the man as he got my spare and jack out of the trunk and proceeded to remove the flat tier and install the spare one.
After she followed me as I drove to the Canadian Tire store where I hoped to get the tire repaired, but unfortunately it was in such poor shape it really couldn't be fixed, and I had no choice but to buy a new tire, in fact I bought two. Instead of waiting there for them to be installed, Sheila suggested we go get something to eat and drove us to a restaurant where she treated me to a nice meal with some wine. Over the meal I found out she was a supervisor in the financial department of a good sized company. I was in no hurry, I enjoyed her company and the way she talked to me made me feel comfortable with her.
Of course I'd told her of my situation too so she suggested as we were both not doing anything over the weekend, we should get together and have a few drinks, perhaps listen to some music. I liked that and I think my enthusiasm showed as she beamed at me and asked if I liked Celtic music, I nodded my head although I was not sure what she meant by that, and didn't want to appear ignorant. She drove me back to get my car and we arranged to meet at this Irish Pub the following evening around 9 PM.
I have always believed in a sixth sense, something you can't put your finger on, spider senses or just plain subject thoughts and feelings buried deep inside one''s brain. Like I said I'd come to like this woman and here she had come to my aid when I needed it and just knew what to do. Much like my own Patricia in a way.
I got ready early for my date, took a nice scented bath then after tried to decide what to wear. I had a good collection of underwear in my wardrobe thanks to David, most of them a little racy or more. As they would be covered by the red blouse and black skirt I planned on wearing, I selected a red ensemble with a little push-up bra and silk panties. I was out of clean pantyhose, still I had a nice collection of stockings and selected a nice black pair which meant I had to wear a belt to hold them up. Again they would be covered with my outer clothes so who was to know?
I felt like a teenager again, hard to control myself as I sat in front of my TV but not really watching it, just waiting for the clock to tell me it was time to leave. Around 8:30 I couldn't wait any longer, and getting my purse and coat left to go downtown. Parking near the Pub was hard to find and I had to drive around and finally found a spot a couple of blocks away, and walked to the Bar.
The place was starting to fill up but there were still some tables left, so I sat at one and ordered a drink. Some men looked at me and I was feeling anxious, till suddenly heard an English voice say, "there you are" and looking up saw Sheila standing there smiling. A wave of relief swept over me and I smiled back as she placed her purse on the table before removing her coat and placed it over the chair and sat next to me.
