She stopped for a moment after washing her hands to look in the mirror. Torie knew what she would see, yet something was different this time around.
She looked good. Not may girls in their mid-30s can say they're at their physical prime, but Torie was different. She'd lost weight. She'd worked hard to make sure her wardrobe matched her improving body. And that wondrous hair, shoulder length and dark, was as straight and shiny as ever.
The mirror confirmed all that.
Her white cotton top with the plunging neckline accentuated her assets, such as any B cup is, and the dark blue, cotton skirt hugged her hips just as she planned.
Still, something felt different. Torie didn't know it yet, but she was feeling the rush of attracting the very kind of attention that rarely rolled to her before.
It wasn't necessarily a conscious decision.
Her marriage is a good one. Her husband, John, is faithful and reasonably thin and works hard and gets hard. Her two school-aged sons are solid students with strong social skills and a respectful tone that pleases Torie.
She views her boys as accomplishments. They arrived dirty; she made them clean. She gave them refinement.
What Torie was feeling at this moment didn't match that refinement. Jacob was one of the 50 people in her house on this June night celebrating another year of health and happiness.
Torie and Jacob have a relationship. They're both happily married, though not to each other, and savor their time in the same social circle. They're both smart-asses, though their deliveries are much different.
Jacob is an extrovert; a happy-go-lucky guy with a bellowing voice who can command any room. Torie saves her comments for the appropriate moment, much like a sniper, but tends to lose her discipline while nervous or imbibing.
She's a work in progress.
The sexual attraction between Jacob and Torie isn't overt. And it may not be real. With that said, they joust at each other in their own ways each time their paths meet.
It's something.
Jacob is heavier than Torie's husband. Jacob is taller and louder and far more obnoxious than anyone who intrigued Torie in the past, but she quickly was learning that physical attraction wasn't necessarily the first step in longing.
Jacob was impressed profoundly by Torie's witticisms and, in time, she realized it was a huge turn-on. If she twisted a phrase in a unique way, 49 people at the party would chuckle and expunge the information almost instantly.
Jacob didn't. He watched her. He listened. He cataloged.
The mirror that night was a signal. Something was changing inside Torie. She bought this outfit with Jacob in mind because he once wondered aloud why she didn't wear skirts more often. It was a badge of sorts to Torie, who felt a rush of excitement knowing that someone other than John was paying attention to her physical transformation.
It sparked a self-awareness that was entirely pleasing.
As Torie stared into the mirror, she wondered what Jacob thought about her outfit. This was for him. Did he notice? Did he even remember suggesting a skirt?
She cared. She wanted to maximize herself.
This was new.
As she turned the light off and opened the door to leave, she closed her eyes for a brief moment to savor this rush. It was arousing and affirming in a way that didn't push boundaries she didn't want to push.
In other words: It was perfect.
She turned left the bathroom and headed down the hallway toward the kitchen. Her friends, drunk and happy, had turned Torie's typically docile home into a rambling good time.
The he appeared.
Jacob was headed out of the kitchen and bumped into her as the two approached a blind corner. Instinctively, Jacob grabbed Torie by the arms just below the shoulder to help avoid a full collision.
"Whoa. Sorry about that. Did I scare you?"
He didn't release immediately.
Torie, six inches shorter, just stared into Jacob's eyes for what seemed like a full minute. A jumpy person by nature, she was sluggish in a way she's never felt before. The rush wasn't easing its grip and Jacob's hands only enhanced the sensation.
Suddenly, Torie realized she was woozy.
Jacob let go slowly, sliding his hands down her arms to her elbows. Torie still hadn't answered him.
"I guess I did scare you. I've never seen you at a loss for words," he said.
She ignored the tingle and got herself right.
"You should watch where you're going, sir," she said.
"Maybe I meant to do it. Are you going to punish me," he asked.
Typical Jacob. Aside from playing along with Torie's every move, intellectually and now physically, he was outstandingly forward and flirtatious. His wife, a busty woman with a similarly outgoing attitude, egged it on. She loved watching him flirt and Jacob, after years of winning his wife's approval, was becoming even more cavalier.
