A Normal Life

A Normal Life, 2

A year and a half after Nancy died, and after we'd weathered Covid, I retired.

I really didn't give a damn if I lived or died. I didn't have Nancy.

I stayed home, did only what must be done; mow the lawn, wash the dishes, do my laundry. If I went to the store, I wore a mask and just had the barest exchange with clerks. It wasn't so much disliking others as it was me hating that I had survived and Nancy hadn't. And who do I blame for that? The unknown person who passed Covid to her? The medical professionals who let her die?

Maybe the government that didn't act fast enough to stop Covid before it spread.

After a while, well, really more like eighteen months, I slowly came out of my shell.

I was still alive and I didn't think Nancy would approve of me.

First thing was to go through the house and clean up all the dirt and dust I had neglected. Then out to the yard and weed out the flower beds and properly take care of the lawn.

Next on my agenda was the motor home. It had sat, covered, since Covid shut everything down. Parked next to the garage it was sheltered from the worst weather but not from the sun in the summer or dampness and humidity in the winter.

Fearing the worst, I opened her up. There was some mold here and there, but not too bad. So I opened all the doors and windows and hauled the mattress and all the seat cushions out on the lawn for a good sunshine disinfection.

I was scrubbing all the hard surfaces that had stuff growing on them when I heard a knocking.

Two women stood in the doorway. My first thought was bible thumpers, but that didn't jibe with long brown hair and shorts on the tall one or a tie-dye shirt, jeans and flowing dark hair on the other. I stepped out, wiping some of the grime off my hands, asking if I could help them.

"Oh no, we just thought we'd introduce ourselves." Said the tall one. "I'm Grace, Grace Williams, I live next door, just there. And this is Sondora Lucca. She lives three houses down."

"Glad to meet you, I'm Parker."

"Just Parker?"

"Yup."

"Well anyway, we were talking ... and since we three seem to be the only ones home during the day on the whole block ..."

"We decided to introduce ourselves." Piped up the littler one.

I checked my watch. "Yaknow, now's a good time for a break, why don't you join me on the patio. I have coffee brewed, or if you want pop, I think I have some in the fridge."

"Coffee's fine."

I brought them coffee, then said I'd grab a quick shower. "That cab got a lot hotter than I expected."

Ten minutes later I joined them.

"If you don't mind my saying so, this yard is looking much better than a couple weeks ago." Grace had been looking around.

"No I don't mind. I finally hit a moment when I came back to life."

I gave them the short story of me, Nancy and Covid.

That of course brought out the tsks, and the sympathetic noises, but I just let those slide; they were nice and weren't being nosy about anything. Just neighbors getting to know each other.

So I asked about them

Grace went first, I began to suspect she was the more outgoing one. "Like I said, I live next door. I bought the house two years ago, just as the madness was easing. Right after my divorce. It had been on the market all through Covid and the owners really needed to move, so I got a very good price. saved a bunch of money. Which I promptly blew with renovations." And she laughed about it. A pleasant laugh I would add.

"I've lived here five years now, and I bought after my divorce too." Sondora smiled. "I would see you or your wife, but never introduced myself. You guys always looked so busy."

The conversation went on for a bit longer, until Sondora rose, thanked me for the coffee and left.

"She can be a bit abrupt at times." Said Grace. "I think she just hits a moment when she feels awkward or maybe runs out of things to say. I'm not really sure, she used to do that to me when we first got together, but she's more comfortable when we're just sitting with nothing to say now."

"You don't seem to have that problem."

"Oh heavens no!" She laughed. "My folks said I could have a conversation in an empty room." And she laughed again.

I offered more coffee, but she also rose. "Thanks, but I have a yoga class in an hour."

"Teaching or taking?"

"Taking, why do you ask?"

"Because you look like someone that's done yoga for years and could be a teacher."

"Thanks for the compliment. I just like the classes." And with that she left.

I did get a good look at her. Hey, I wasn't being a dirty old man. Just happen to notice she was medium tall. Maybe five eight, slim - what used to be called 'willowy', so maybe in the one hundred thirty pound range. Her shorts came a little above mid-thigh on very shapely legs. She has a narrow but tight looking butt.

And yes, she smiled over her shoulder as she walked away.

She knew she was being watched and liked it.

~~~

Over the next few weeks we'd get together at one house to the other. They both worked, part time, so the days might vary. Or sometimes just one or the other was available.

When I was first invited to Grace's it was interesting how her house reflected her; lots of warm pastel colors, soft couch and chairs. And then there were the paintings.

Done by her. Bright, vibrant, and abstract. They didn't clash with the house - they emphasized it. It was like she was saying yes, I'm this person to the world, but I have this other within me.

When I commented on this she just said "There's a side of me that not many see."

~~~

Sondora's house was just the opposite. Simple white walls, no paintings or pictures on the walls, not even a momento of any kind visible. I commented that her house and the way she dressed were so different, because of her colorful clothes I expected color everywhere.

"My ex-husband was abusive and controlling. I left when he destroyed every family picture, every keepsake, everything that he didn't like. Even my dresses and blouses."

"You didn't buy more after the divorce?"

"By the time I had gone through getting this house and some new clothes, I just didn't have the energy. Now I'm used to this."

~~~

So we would get together on a regular basis in the late afternoon, sometimes just to kick back in the sun, others to discuss the latest news or what ever came up in our lives.

Maybe you think it's odd an old (ish) guy and a couple younger women would get together on such a regular basis, but for me they were the only adult companionship in the neighborhood that didn't have (and talk incessantly about) kids. I think they were getting bored with just each other.

And then there's the different political view points.

Sondora came from traditionally Republican Long Island Italian-Americans. Grace from an ultra-conservative Chicago family but she said she'd seen the light and now was a Liberal, and I would call myself a Pragmatic-Liberal.

Which all just goes to some very spirited political arguments. But we valued friendship more than party so never, and I mean never, crossed into disrespectful or spiteful talk.

Somehow one day we got into personal stories. I began reminiscing about my time as a high school wrestler and that led them into questions about my life. So l ran through a brief run down of my time with Nancy and our travels.

One asked why I never went to college. "It just wasn't for me. I had average grades in high school and needed to find work as soon as I could."

"So what about you guys?" I asked.

Sondora grew up in New York, but went to University of Chicago for a Business Major.

"You Did? So did I, but I was going for an Accounting and Finance degree. We probably passed each other a hundred times."

"Yeah, but I was so busy I hardly remembered anything but which class I had next. And when I didn't have classes or studying I was modeling."

That perked my ears. "Modeling? What kind."

"Hair, hands and nails, some fashion, lingerie. Just about anything legal for the money."

"I wish I could have done that. But I had a full-ride and my parents would have dis-owned me."

Sondora looked over at Grace. "I'll bet you could have made good money. You have a regal quality that looks great in ads."

"I still lived at home and my parents insisted I focus on studies. Besides my father didn't abide with fashion or makeup. They were very strict with me and I just assumed that was normal. So when I met Ronald, and he was very much like my father, and he dated me I just accepted it."

"You married him?"

"With my father's blessing."

"What did your mother think about it?" I asked.

"She never said. She never went against my father. Not even when I announced my divorce and he dis-owned me."

"Why the divorce?"

"My husband was just like my father in his attitude plus everything had to be just to his satisfaction. Everything. We had established our own accounting firm. Technically as partners but he over rode me constantly."

She paused, and then shook herself, as if ridding of a bad memory.

"Our firm used computers just like every other, but I began to notice our business was lagging. We weren't picking up new clients and old ones were slipping away.

So I called some of them.You know, to ask why."

"It was because our turn around time was much slower than our competition. We were using older computers and older programs. Their boards wanted information yesterday, not next week. I tried to tell Ronald. But in his mind what would I know?"

Grace was on a roll so I poured another round of wine and sat back. Sondora came over and curled against me and I just naturally put an arm around her.

"You two look nice like that." I lifted my arm but she said don't. And Sondora pulled my hand down. Grace was pacing the room.

"Where was I? Oh yes. He didn't like my ideas. Honestly I had been questioning our relationship for a while, but when I went home that day I looked at my house - it had never felt like my home - and it just reflected him. I couldn't see myself anywhere.

So I filed. As a partner I claimed half the current value of the business, let him buy me out of the house, and left Chicago."

Sondora leaned forward. "What made you move here?"

"A new start. Trees and mountains. No damn Lake Superior wind. I looked into transferring my accounting certificates and setting up a new office."

She sipped her wine.

"I was just a year into the new digs when Covid hit. I had two employees and a couple dozen contracts, so I was making payroll plus a little profit. When it was over one employee has long Covid. She can work from home. The other went south to take care of her mother. We lost half our contracts because the businesses went under."

"Wow."

"Yeah, tell me. Now I'm back up, I have a dozen employees, some work from home, others in the office. I can now set my own hours, even get to the gym when I want. That's where I met Sondora."

"What about you?" I asked Sondora

"It was almost a cliche. I met Edward in college because many of the same classes. It felt like kismet, fate. He was charming, paid attention to me and made me feel like a woman. After college he had a job offer in Florida and I had one by a large construction company in Kansas City. So we went our separate ways."

She rose from the couch, glass in hand, and poured another round. Now it was her turn to pace the room, and Grace slid in beside me and wasted no time pulling my arm over her.

"Five years later I was transferred out here. Like I said they're a large construction outfit that specializes in multi-building apartment complex. I do kitchen and bath inventory oversight. It sounds as boring as accounting I suppose, but when you're suppling a hundred (or more) apartments on a tight time line it is anything but."

She stared out the window, and then turned back to us. "So who's working for the same company? But in a different department? Yup, Edward. So we picked back up where we left off. And he was perfect. A true gentleman."

She poured herself more wine, I went for another bottle.

"We married in fifteen. A small ceremony with friends. Mostly mine. That was a sign I should have picked up on. We honeymooned in Hawaii. We bought a house in Shorewood because he liked the name of the area."

"It was a nice house, modern, all the conveniences and less than half an hour from the office."

"Now, in my position I often visit job sites for input and updates on schedules from site foremen. Sometimes they would come into the office, and we'd sit in a conference room with coffee going over invoices and spec sheets."

She paused, taking a deep breath. "Edward would see me in these meetings and question me about them on the way home and sometimes well into the night.

Everything finally blew up during one of those sessions when I asked him if he thought I was cheating on him. He came unglued. Swore he knew I was. Had proof. I called bullshit. He began pulling all my clothes from the closet, the dresser, hell he even dumped out the hamper! then he pulled all my family pictures off the wall and threw them on the pile. Then he pissed on all of it, grabbed my guitar and smashed it to pieces. I walked out with the clothes on my back and my purse and phone."

The next morning I was at the bank. I emptied our bank accounts and claimed our credit cards had been stolen.

By the time Edward figured out what I had done I'd contacted a divorce attorney.

We didn't have much equity in the house, and dummy hadn't even put my name on the paperwork, so I just walked away from that. "

"Damn," I was thinking. "Did I get lucky with Nancy or what?"

~~~

Then there was the day they came over and I wasn't saying much. I had music playing but I had to be the saddest Blues ever recorded. I guess I looked pretty glum. I didn't want to talk but they kept after me until it slowly came out. I'd decided I had to clear a lot of Nancy's stuff out. Her clothes, makeup, purses. Things like that.

And I was having a damn hard time starting.

That's when Sondora jumped up and declared they would help. I just had to tell them what to save and what to go.

It took us a couple hours, but when they pointed out others could use the clothes and shoes that helped me accept them moving on. We kept a couple of Nancy's favorite purses and her Stetson hat. And her hiking boots. Scuffed, permanently dirty, beat to hell. I told them how Nancy had picked the hat up in Montana because she wanted to shade her head while sapphire hunting. Sondora suggested hanging them as a group in the den next to the sapphires on their display shelves.

I still had all the mementos we'd picked up in our travels, the pictures on the walls and in the computer. Nancy wasn't being forgotten, I was just accepting a new phase of life.

I have to admit the house felt better. Sure I had a lot to remember her by, but the clothes always felt as if she were coming back, and in my heart I knew that wasn't true.

~~~

In late May I took the RV to one of our favorite State parks - Ohanapecosh, on the east side of Mt. Rainier. Parked under the trees in a site we'd used before, just above the river. Sitting there that evening ... it just didn't feel the same. It was just me. Sharing it with no one. Watching dusk descend through the trees, hearing an owl calling. Just me. Families at other sites only made me feel worse.

I went home the next day.

~~~

One Saturday evening we were sitting around the fire pit on my patio, feet up and drinks in hand when Sondora asked about the RV.

"I'm going to sell it."

"Why?" Grace asked.

So I told them about my trip and how going alone just wasn't the same thing for me.

"Well, why don't we go with you?"

"Both of you?"

"Sure, why not?" And they were nodding together

I hadn't thought of it, but figured why not. And then I had second thoughts; they'd never been

in

the RV and didn't know the layout. it had a nice semi-queen bed across the back, a sort of bunk above the driver/passenger seats, and the little dinette converted to a bed.

I suggested they look inside and think about sleeping arrangements.

They came back ten minutes later and said "No problems."

"Okay," I sad. "Who gets the overhead bunk? there's a bunch of stuff up there but I can move it."

"Oh no," says Sondora, "We wouldn't want to crawl up there."

"So you're sharing the dinette? It'll be crowded, but the bed is mine."

"Well see," chimes in Grace, "We think there's room for three on that bed."

And they smiled at me like a pair of cats with a bird cornered.

"Ahhh, listen, I'm may be older than you, but that close together I'm bound to have some reactions."

"You mean if we aren't wearing

anything

you might notice."

"Grace, even when you are dressed I notice. And Sondora, you are just as much an eyeful."

"But you've never said anything .."

"Or done anything."

"Okay, maybe I'm just dense, but you two have been perfect ladies around me. So there's that.

But in my own way I have been still mourning Nancy. So I just haven't been thinking of sex. Oh, and which of you should I hit on? Won't the other get upset? You two are now my closest friends, I don't want to blow that."

Sondora looked over at Grace. "He said 'blow'." And giggled.

Grace just smiled, and licked her lips.

I ran all the quietest camping spots I knew through my mind. And then remembered it had been five years. Who knew what those places would be like. Well, this should prove interesting.

And looking at the two of them, I was pretty sure they thought the same.

Suddenly Sondora straddled my legs and sat on my lap, facing me. "Yaknow, it might be awkward us getting naked for the first time in the RV." She looked over at Grace. "How about we have a practice session now?"

And before I could say anything she whipped her shirt off. Sure she was still wearing a bra, but damn that woman looks good. I automatically put my hands on her waist, and for the first time in a very long time felt a woman's skin under my hands.

I ran my hands up her back, over her bra strap, "You can undo that." So I did.

She gave a shrug and the bra dropped between us. "God." It was all I could say. Her breasts aren't huge, but definitely more than a handful. Topped by large dark nipples. By themselves my hands were drawn to those beautiful orbs, the smoothness and the weight registering in my mind. I kissed each beautiful nipple, savoring the texture, the feel of a woman's breast. She held me to her, cooing.

I looked over at Grace, to see her reaction to us. She'd pulled her top off also, and while her breasts were much smaller, they were just as captivating, the nipples pink to match her skin.

I had a moment of clarity, asking why now, why so quickly I asked.

Grace sat next to me, a hand caressing my cheek. "Sondora and I talked out in the RV and decided we liked and trusted you. We don't need more time. You see what we are offering. Do you accept?"

The thought ran through my brain that I swore I would never cheat on Nancy.

Followed by the thought that I wouldn't be cheating. It's funny what can flash through our mind in an instant.

"On one condition; that you get off my lap."

"You don't like me here?"

"Oh I like it. It's just that my leg has gone to sleep."

She laughed and spilled off to the side, and I stood to shake feeling back.

So I'm standing in my den, my leg numb as piece of wood, Grace is pulling my shirt off and Sondora unbuckling my belt and pulling my pants and shorts down. She gave me a quick kiss on the end of my dick and then pushed me back.

I crashed down on the sofa and Grace climbed onto my lap as Sondora finished stripping my clothes.

"Hi." Grace said. "Are we having fun yet?"

"Well, I'm getting there."