Due to the lateness of the hour, my internal clock let me sleep till 7 that Saturday morning. I was as quiet as I could be as I left the house, picked up my car from the neighbors, went to the gym, showered there after my workout, stopped at a little diner, and went to the main branch of our bank which, unlike the branch near the house that only opened the drive throughs on Saturday mornings, was open until noon. I withdrew half of the amounts in both the savings and checking accounts and with the help of the assistant manager on duty that day put in cancellation notices for the two joint credit cards we had.
Since it was the only bank in town that was open on Saturday, not counting drive throughs, I opened a new checking account only with my old bank and informed them that Sylvia was not to be notified about the new account. Any correspondence from the bank to me that needed to be mailed would be sent to my new P.O. Box which I had obtained the day before. I was assured that my wishes would be followed to the letter.
I went to a national restaurant famous for never closing and called Mindy using the pay phone near the restrooms. "Hey Mindy, it's me, Don. I'm officially a free agent again so how about I come by your place with a couple of steaks later this evening so we can get to know each other better."
"Can't you take me out instead, Don?" She whined over the phone and I almost aborted right then, but I knew she was interested in me so I continued with my plan.
"No Mindy, I can't. I promise to explain everything tonight if you're still interested and I'll understand if you're not."
"Okay, we can stay in. Do you know how to get to my apartment?"
"Yes Mindy, I do. I'll see you about seven, okay?"
"Why don't you make it six?" She answered me with, I would swear on a stack of Bibles, eagerness to her tone.
"Six it is. See you later."
I left there and went to a competing cell phone provider from the company cell phone I had and got a new phone with the bills being auto paid from my new checking account. The number of people who would get that phone's number would be very few and Sylvia would not be one of them.
I made it home a little after one knowing Sylvia would be out doing the grocery shopping for the week. I looked for the panties that matched the lacy black bra she had worn the night before, but did not find them, deducing Lover Boy had kept them after all.
I dressed for the chill in the air and finished mowing the leaves from the oak and hickory trees that were around the house and had been one of the factors that had led us to buy the house in the first place. When the bag catching the discharge was full, I emptied it onto my compost pile and wondered if I would be in the house come spring planting season for my garden.
I ignored Sylvia when I saw her waving at me with a glass of water in her other hand. Every other fall when I had done this chore that had been our signal for me to take a break and help her carry in the groceries. She could carry the groceries and all of the other heavy things she had gotten me to carry for her over the years from now on as far as I was concerned.
I had an hour to get ready and get to my date when I was finished with cleaning the mower so I walked right past Sylvia sitting curled up on the living room couch without saying a word. I locked my bathroom door behind me and ignored her knocking and pleading for me to open the door while I shaved then showered. She was gone from in front of the door when I emerged and I was able to dress in peace.
"Where are you going, Don? We need to talk about last night." Sylvia started in on me when I came down from the second floor.
"I'm going out to have dinner with a friend and have you already forgotten about Rule Number Three? I don't want to hear anything about your night last night. Goodbye and don't bother waiting up." I growled at her and watched her blanch from my tone as I walked out to my car and left.
I made it to Mindy's apartment complex with five minutes to spare and parked on the opposite side of the building from where her apartment was located. It was actually two buildings with a central breezeway with the second and third floors being connected. The second floor's connecting corridor had a small convenience store, a deli, and pizza parlor and the third's had the two laundry rooms for the two buildings. The doors to the two buildings on the second floor stayed open 24/7 unless the fire alarm went off and they closed and locked as a fire stop between the buildings.
I used the stairs to the second floor then walked into the building Mindy's apartment was actually in. I climbed the three flights of stairs to the fifth floor and rang Mindy's doorbell at exactly six o'clock. The nervousness I felt waiting on her to answer the door vanished when I saw her.
Mindy looked as if she were going out instead of staying in. Her long blond hair was loose and it was styled to frame and accent her face. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement and she had the biggest, whitest smile I had ever seen in real life. A light blue dress that was as clingy as the one Sylvia had worn the day before and hugged her curves adorned her body. Dark blue or black spaghetti strapped shoes with four inch heels were on her feet.
She must have went to the beauty salon and had an expert in makeup attend to her round, yet pretty, face sometime that day. She looked good, good enough to eat; which I planned to do along with much more, and from the big smile and sexy pose she was giving me, would be later that evening.
"I brought the steaks like I promised." I said, holding up the flip topped red and white cooler I had also found and cleaned up the day before during my foray into the attic.
"You look great, Mindy, but you shouldn't have went to all that trouble and expense when we're not going out for other people to see you looking so beautiful."
