It may have been December but it was still a warm day in the Valley of the Sun in Arizona. Natalie was on the way home from Christmas Shopping. It would be her first Christmas since her divorce. At fifty-two she was still attractive with dark hair and dark eyes. Even though it was a loveless marriage she still missed the fact that she was alone. She was a woman of passion and desire, but her husband was more concerned about work and Cardinal football.
As she drove along she decided that she was not yet ready to go to her empty house so she pulled in to a nice upscale lounge. She walked into the cool, low lighted lounge, and looked around. A couple of businessmen were at the bar and in a back booth a rather attractive blonde woman who was much younger. Natalie sat down, ordered a drink from the bar maid, and waited for her drink. As she looked around the room she made eye contact with the woman who was sitting alone. They smiled at each other but Natalie looked away as she felt a bit awkward. The drink came and Natalie pulled out a ten. The bar maid smile and told Natalie the drink had already been paid for. Assuming it was from one of the men Natalie asked which man to which the bar maid replied, "From the lady."
With that the bar maid left and Natalie looked at the younger blonde woman in the back booth. As she looked the blonde lifted her glass in a toast and both women smiled. Natalie was a bit shocked but relaxed as she sipped her drink and enjoyed the cool. Soon she noticed the young blonde get up and walk toward her. In a few steps the blonde was at her booth, offering her hand, smiling, and saying, "Hi' I'm Lisa Andrews. Mind if I join you?" The women shook and without waiting for a reply, Lisa sat down.
"I'm Natalie Dillard," the mature woman replied, to which Lisa said, "Nice to meet you." The two women visited for a while talking about their lives. Lisa had just gotten out of a marriage as well and relocated to the Valley of the Sun where she ran her internet consulting business.
"Why did your marriage end," asked Lisa to which Natalie replied, the love and the passion had vanished from the marriage. Once the children were out of the house t hey were like two strangers who no longer had anything in common. The passion and the desire that they once felt for each other was long gone and they mutually decided to go their separate ways. As Natalie talked she became much more at ease talking to Lisa and it was like they had been friends for a long time.
"I miss having someone around. Even if we didn't speak I still miss the companionship of someone being there. I had desires but he no longer cared about romance or passion. It was like a fire slowly dying." Natalie looked down into her glass and her eyes were swimming. The loneliness ached and left her feeling unloved and undesired. As she sat there Lisa held her hand and in a strange way Natalie felt comforted by the compassionate act. Finally Natalie composed herself and said, "So, what's your story?"
Lisa smiled, took a sip from her drink, and spoke. "Since middle school I was a bit unsure of what I wanted out of life. Not sure which direction I wanted to go. I got married as was expected of me, but as the years went on I felt that this is not what I wanted. That I was denying myself and who I was. We had a talk and I told him that I needed to make a lifestyle change. He agreed and we went our separate ways."
Natalie smiled and said, "You wanted to live down here and be a career woman so, you changed your life. " Lisa looked at her and smiled. "You are a sweet dear. Not exactly. Since middle school I was not sure of my sexuality and after years I decided I was not hetrosexual."
