Low lamp-posts created distinct, brightly lit circles in the parking lot of my wife's office building. But there was more shadow than light across the paved space.
They really should do a better job of illuminating this lot
, I thought to myself. After seventeen years together, fourteen of them as husband and wife, I knew Sandy would be a surprisingly tough target for anyone looking to try something, but cataloguing risks and planning mitigating measures was too ingrained a habit for me. Besides, what sort of a husband doesn't have any concern about his wife's safety when he's not around, I rationalized?
The lot was empty, with the exception of one other vehicle, parked directly under a lamp. I saw a figure leaning on the driver's side door, engrossed in his phone. He glanced up, seeing my headlights sweep across the dark pavement as I turned into a spot two lights removed from his own, and turned off my SUV. Average height, solid build. Black slacks and brogues, burgundy open-necked dress shirt, no visible jewelry other than a large-faced watch and a wedding band. Shaved head, coffee coloured skin. Leaning on a black Audi. Not a likely threat. In fact, more likely another husband here to pick up his wife, I concluded. Sandy's firm was good about making sure employees always had a way home that didn't involve getting behind the wheel after cocktail parties and conferences.
But tonight I happened to be close by her office after dinner with a client of mine, and so she was getting dropped by the taxi back at work, rather than stay another twenty minutes in the cab to reach our neighbourhood. Besides, it meant we could pick the kids up at her parents' house together. I left the keys in the ignition, rolled the windows down, and turned the volume up a little on the hockey game as I waited. Now that I was parked, the other fellow returned his attention to the phone in his hand.
"Matthews gathering speed through the neutral zone...cuts to the inside - oh, what a move! - goes to his left - he scores!"
"YES" I cheered, and pounded a fist to the wheel of my car. The horn blared briefly, and the gent with the Audi looked up sharply. "Sorry, Leafs game," I raised my voice to carry the distance between us and apologized with a grin. He pocketed his phone and strode my way.
"I always find it weird cheering for hockey when it's almost summer and the weather's like this," he offered as he approached my open window. "But I'm glad they're still in it," he added quickly. "What's the score?"
"Two nothing in the first. Matthews has both, apparently. I just turned it on, so I missed the first fifteen minutes."
"Yeah, he's a hell of a player."
I turned up the radio a bit more, and we listened to the play-by-play in companionable silence until the buzzer sounded the end of the first period. "Not a bad start for the Buds - better than last game," I opined as I opened my door and stepped out to stretch my legs.
"Absolutely. I'm Donovan, by the way." He extended a hand with the introduction.
"Grant," I replied as we shook. He had a firm grip, but wasn't one of those guys who tries to crush your hand. "I'm just waiting for my wife to get dropped off."
"Yeah, I figured," Donovan replied with a chuckle. "Insurance conference?" I nodded. "My wife must work with yours," he finished.
The sound of another car pulling into the parking lot interrupted our conversation, and we turned to see a taxi pulling up to the curb in front of the office. A couple of giggling ladies stepped out of the back door a few seconds later, and the cab pulled away. Almost immediately, they both doubled up with laughter at some comment we couldn't hear, hands on knees as they tried to catch their breath. Sandy reached out a hand to steady herself on her companion's shoulder as she stumbled a little in her peekaboo heels.
So, it had been that sort of a night.
"Yours?" I asked Donovan with a tip of my head towards the women.
"Yeah," he said with a smile and small shake of his head. "Looks like they had a good time," he added as we started walking towards them.
"Hey babe," I called to Sandy as we got closer. Both wives stood up straight, finally taking notice of us approaching. I felt a brief flash of annoyance that she hadn't scoped us before getting out of the cab.
The smile on Sandy's pixie face broadened as she looked at me, and her blue eyes shone. Her blonde hair was pulled back and high with a couple of those engraved, polished chopsticks whose structural properties were incomprehensible to me. She was wearing a form-fitting teal dress cut just above the knee. It was a favourite of mine. The design featured a military-style high collar which split into a dipping neckline that was sexy as hell without being inappropriate. It bunched in the right places and stretched in the right places, and it showed off a lithe fitness underneath that made her the envy of women a decade younger. I melted a little.
God, she's beautiful.
I'd been of that same opinion since the night we first met, but it still caught me off guard on a regular basis, the sudden shock of emotion cutting through our everyday familiarity. Sandy stepped towards me and reached out for a hug. I could feel every smooth muscle and curve in her back under the thin material of her dress. It clung to her in the unseasonable heat of the evening, and started to create some unexpected heat for me too. Something about her when she was tipsy just radiated sexiness to me. She tilted her head back for a brief kiss, and her breath had a hint of whiskey on it, which got my spidey-sense tingling. Insurance mixers were the exclusive domain of chardonnays and merlots, with a smattering of Stella Artois for the guys wanting to butch up their image a bit.
What would get Sandy to opt for whiskey at an industry evening?
I put the question to one side, and listened to her as she released me and stepped back to introduce her colleague.
"Hon, this is Dani. She works on Christine's team with Tim and Philip - you remember them from the Christmas party?" I remembered Tim and Phillip: two guys just out of university who were still acting like kids with drinking permits rather than adults. They'd gotten sloppy drunk and more than a little obnoxious at the holiday social function, and I was quite frankly surprised Christine still had them on her team. I nodded and smiled at Dani, reaching out to shake her hand. She had to pull her arm out from around Donovan's waist to reciprocate.