It was the six month anniversary of my divorce, not that it was anything to celebrate. I got the house and car, Karen took everything else. I had been out of town on business and when I returned I found that Karen had run off with another man and had emptied our bank account on the way. A month later I was notified that Karen was getting a quickie divorce in Reno. So here I am, six months later sitting in a bar by myself, slowly getting drunk.
It's not that I had to be alone, there were plenty of women in the bar and I knew of at least three that would go out with me and two of them probably would have gone to bed with me. I was alone by choice. I just wasn't interested in getting involved with anyone at the moment.
I had been sitting at the bar for about an hour when my neighbor Kathy walked in and sat at the other end of the bar. Kathy and her husband Jack live in the house adjacent to mine. Our houses are on the corner of Rosewood and Jasper. Jack and Kathy's house is on Jasper and mine is on Rosewood. Over the five years I have lived in my house I have become very close to Jack and Kathy. Jack and I play golf together every weekend and we all often get together for dinner at each other's houses. Although I haven't had them over to my house since Karen left. Jack and Kathy were a great support for me while I went through Karen's leaving me then the divorce. Since the divorce Jack and Kathy have been trying to get me to start dating again. They have tried to fix me up a couple of times but I was able to escape there traps. I told Jack that I would not start dating again until I found someone that would love me they way Kathy loves him. Jack just smiled and said, "You will meet the right person when the time is right."
Jack and Kathy are a great couple. They seem to have such a great marriage. I have been a little jealous of them since my divorce. When Jack and I play golf together on the weekends and he is always bragging about Kathy. What a great cook, what a great conversationalist, she so great in bed. Sometimes I want to tell Jack to shut up, but I can remember when I thought Karen was just as great as Kathy so I don't say anything.
Jack was a star athlete in college and still has the body to prove it. He is a salesman for a company that makes exercise equipment. Kathy is a tall (five feet nine inches) with shoulder length dark brown hair and a very nice body. She is very attractive but in a demure almost shy sort of way. She has a very nice body, but she doesn't dress to show it off. She never makes off color remarks and always seems to be concerned about other peoples feelings. Somehow to me, Jack with his rugged good looks and Kathy with her innocent beauty seem to be made for each other. It was my image of them as the perfect couple that caused me to be so surprised when I saw Kathy come into the bar alone.
This was more of a singles bar than a place to go just to have a drink. The only reason I came here was that the bar is only seven blocks from my house. This allowed me to walk to the bar so I wouldn't have to worry about having to much to drink then driving home.
I kept watching Kathy to see what she was going to do. She looked so out of place sitting at the bar alone. She didn't see me when she came in and still hadn't noticed that I was sitting at the other end. She ordered a drink and before the drink arrived some guy came over and started talking to her. I was surprised that this bothered me so much. I guess I just didn't like the idea that Kathy might be carrying on behind Jack's back. I was trying to figure out if Kathy was here to meet this guy or if he was just hitting on her. To my relief he soon left. I got the impression she sent him away. About the time her drink arrived another guy sat down next to her. They talked about five minutes, then he also was dismissed by Kathy. I didn't know what Kathy was up to but I wanted to make sure that whatever it was didn't happen right in front of me so I called the bartender over and told him to give Kathy a drink and tell her it was from me. I knew that once she knew I was in the bar she wouldn't do anything stupid.
When the bartender delivered her drink Kathy looked over at me and when she recognized me her face lit up with a big smile. Kathy immediately picked up her drink and came over to where I was sitting. Kathy kissed me on the cheek and sat down next to me. She spoke first "Bill, Great to see you. What brings you out tonight. I thought you were still being a hermit."
"Not a hermit. I go out occasionally, I just avoid women. Especially attractive women like you."
"Well if I am so attractive why are you talking to me?"
"Because I know I am safe with you. You're unavailable." Kathy made a funny face when I said that but didn't comment. "What are you doing out here without Jack? I always thought you two were connected at the hip."
"I thought we were too." The smile seemed to slip off Kathy's face, but for just a second as she spoke but quickly returned as she finished. " Jack is out of town for the next two nights. He'll back late Friday. I just had to get out of the house tonight. I am sure glad you're here. I would hate to have to drink alone."
I suggested that since we were both planning to stay for a while that we should go sit at a table. Kathy agreed and we moved to a booth. In the five years that I have known Kathy we had never really had any deep conversations. We would talk about what she and Jack were doing around the house, we'd discuss current events but nothing very personal. So at first is was difficult to find anything to talk about so we just talked about simple things. Our gardens, the weather, my last golf round with Jack. Actually I found it pleasant talking to her. I hadn't really had a conversation with a woman since Karen left and Kathy was easy to talk to. We kept the conversation light for the next hour while we consumed a couple more drinks. By this point we were both feeling pretty good.Then Kathy started asking me questions about Karen. "Did you know that she was cheating on you?"
I was a little surprised by the question because it seemed to come out of nowhere. I asked, "How did this conversation suddenly become about me?"
Kathy said, "I don't know. Anyway, did you know that Karen was cheating on you?"
I said, "Unfortunately no, I didn't. Did you?"
"I am sorry to say yes, I did. I wanted to tell you but Jack thought we should stay out of it."
"Do you know how long she had been cheating?"
"I think it started about a month before she left you. We saw this guy come over to the house when you were out of town and he stayed the night. It upset Jack a lot. I felt bad for you but I figured a girl's gotta do whatever makes her happy?"
I looked closely at Kathy's face to see if I could tell if she was joking or not. It looked to me as though she was serious. "Do you really believe that? That a girl has to do whatever makes her happy?"
"Well, yes I do. Men always do what makes them happy so if a woman isn't happy why shouldn't she do the same. If Karen wasn't happy she eventually would have made you unhappy too. I think you were better off to have it end quickly."
"Are you telling me that if Jack wasn't making you happy enough in bed that you would have no problem going to bed with someone else?"
"That is kind of what I mean. It would be a problem going to bed with someone else. I couldn't go to bed with just anyone, you know? It would have to be someone I could trust to be gentle and passionate and could keep a secret. Someone like you."
I had just started to take a sip of my drink when she said that and I almost choked on it. Kathy started laughing at me. I said, "You're kidding right?"
"Of course I am kidding. But not completely. There are times, well let's just say I have my fantasies.
I said, "I'd rather not talk about this any more."
Kathy said, "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"
Feeling a little silly from the effects of the drinks I asked, "Can I ask you a personal question?"
"You can always ask, but I may not answer."
"Were you a virgin when you and Jack met?"
"That is very personal. Why on earth would you want to know that?"
"Well Karen was a virgin when we met. From the time we started dating till she started up with the guy she ran off with I had been the only guy she had ever had sex with. I was wondering if that may have been part of the problem in our marriage."
"I would have to say the problems were more complicated than Karen needing to sample another lover."
"You still haven't answered my question. Were you a virgin?"
"If I answer that you will have to answer an even more personal question for me. Okay?"
"Agreed. Now, were you a virgin?"
"No, I wasn't. Now it's my turn. I want you to tell me about the first time you and Karen had sex in detail."
I objected, "I can't talk about that with you."
"Why not? How often do you have an opportunity to talk intimately about sex with a woman other than your spouse, that is if you still had a spouse? I'm sorry, that wasn't funny but you get the idea. Anyway we are both a little drunk and we don't have anything better to do tonight so talk. And don't leave out any details."