Travelling for work is not as much fun as it used to be. All those airports, those sleepless journeys, being up to speed on most movies and Discovery Channel documentaries is no substitute for a regular life. Constantly hopping from hotel to hotel, albeit with grander and grander rooms then suites as the work and career progressed. Learning to pack for a week in a walk-on bag and still look smart every day - an unwished for skill but essential nonetheless.
The biggest drawback was what to do with the evenings. Taking out clients or being taken out only takes up about one or two evenings a month. If you have colleagues, you can be forced into companionship and spend evenings with them, one eye on the most senior colleague, most watching the amount they drink and all conscious that this is away from their chosen home.
I had spent years with about 60% of my time away from my home. Yes, I had a nice house, no I wasn't married (she'd left when the geegaws were outweighed by the absences and I don't honestly miss her) and I was steadily building a tidy retirement pot which I looked to cash in for my fiftieth, only five years away. Now staying in deluxe suites, often for whole weeks, always in the world's best cities, meant that I, on the outside, was at the peak of my game but, in reality, just doing it for another reason. Sex was an infrequent occurrence as I had never been one for hookers and whilst the women I would 'bump into' around my hotel were glamourous and well put together, more than capable of conversing eloquently, you knew there would be a discreet mention of financial involvement which killed my enthusiasm.
Over the past few years, I had really got into CrossFit and loved seeking out those sweaty boxes of sublime torture. This meant that I was in the best shape of my life but it wasn't in the local 'box' that I was to meet Melanie, she and I were to meet under totally different circumstances.
I decided to go to a local mall for some supper and a movie one night. Nothing unusual - I knew I would get to see the film on a flight soon but sometimes just watching it on the truly big screen won through. The mall wasn't too crowded so I grabbed a bite at a local outlet and, after finishing, wandered through to the cinema.
On the way, I saw this cute, blonde girl. Even though I am not a regular seducer of strange women, she certainly caught my eye. About 5'8'', straight blonde hair (natural, too - I always scope the eyebrows), dressed in a short, white skirt with strappy sandals, a loose t-shirt and a denim jacket. Cute face, with the hint of a blush on her cheeks and delicate, rosebud lips. A pale form with graceful limbs and fingers, tipped by light pink nail polish. Delicious but I also could tell that she was at least 20 years younger than me and not someone I should even think about.
This was easy to take in. What I also took in was that she was surrounded by three guys who seemed to be hassling her. I couldn't be sure but I kept on glancing over and her body language and general demeanour looked uncomfortable. They were your typical youths in jeans and sneakers, one with a baseball cap and all laughing at each other and moving closer to this girl.
Normally, I wouldn't do anything. But she was looking down, her face was colouring and when one of the guys placed his hand up against the wall beside her to get even closer I thought that enough's enough.
I walked quickly over and asked, looking at her, "Is everything alright?"
The three young men all stopped and looked round at me. One jutted his jaw out and said, "What's it to you, mister?"
"Nothing at all, it's just that it seems this young lady doesn't want to talk to you." I replied, all the while looking at the girl, trying to reassure her that she would be ok.
"Look mate, why don't you piss off?" said another of the men.
Then I decided that this needed to be nipped in the bud. I'm 6'3'' and quite broad, as well as enjoying the CrossFit benefits so looked at him and said, "Or what?"
All three had turned and were squaring up, so I looked back at the girl and asked her, "You ok, can I help?"
"Why don't you run along, old man. This isn't any of your business." The guys were all trying to look as tough as they could.
"Look", I said, "I know you guys could all rip me limb from limb and show how incredibly tough you are. Trouble is, we're in a crowded place, there's CCTV everywhere and it would take no time for the police to find you. So why don't we all calm down." I could see their eyes starting to shift, checking out the crowds, looking for cameras, some concern showing.
I then turned to the girl, "Why don't you come with me, and if you want to come back, I'm sure we can find these guys again?"
She didn't need a second bidding and squeezed between them, her handbag grasped, her eyes cast down. "C'mon, let's go and find a warm cafe and we can have a sit down."
We walked off and I stayed close to her. She was obviously nervous and I saw a cafe about 50 metres away so I pointed and she nodded so we headed that way. I could tell the guys were following so I wanted to get somewhere I could keep an eye on her as well as them and think through my options.
We sat down and ordered our drinks and I could see the guys outside so I thought it best to clear the air.
"I'm sorry I came up to you out of the blue. Are you ok?" she nodded and I could tell she was still feeling very tense.
"Do you know them?" I asked.
"One of them. We were at school together. He used to get in a lot of trouble and always hung out with some bad people."
"Well, don't worry, they can't touch you here. Are you on your own?"
As we got chatting it turned out that she was meeting a friend in a couple of hours, she had finished her shopping and was going to see a movie on her own when the guys had spotted her and surrounded her, trying to get her to come to a bar. She told me her name was Melanie, she was 19 and that she didn't want any trouble.
I said that I was on the way to the movies and I could walk her there and if the guys were still around when she came out, I would call the police for her and get it sorted. She was warming up and starting to smile a bit as we were chatting so she told me which film she was going to see (some shoot-em-up thriller) and off we went.
The guys were still outside so I ignored them and walked her to the cinema. We stood in the queue and I noticed the young men didn't follow us in so I bought us both tickets and offered some candy. She was starting to giggle a bit as I teased her about losing her appetite for supper and we went in.
You remember I told you how cute she was? This hasn't changed and I'm walking into a darkened cinema that wasn't too crowded with a sexy girl in short skirt and a lovely figure. I knew I would have to concentrate to follow the film.
She obviously liked the action moments in the movie because she would tense up and sometimes grab my arm. This became more and more as the film went on until she was bucking her knees up and burying her head in my shoulder. This was doing my erection, which had pretty much arrived as soon as we sat down, no end of torment.
The film ended and, as the lights came up, I saw she was flushed and her eyes sparkling with excitement. Clearly she had enjoyed it and I was really pleased that things had turned out better.
Of course being 19, the next thing she did was check her phone and looked upset.
"What's up?" I asked.