Mark put his phone down and gave a sigh of relief. Cybil had been over eight times in the past three weeks and while none of the sessions matched the intensity of their first encounter, he was still beginning to feel his fifty six years. So when she called to tell him she was going home to the bay area for the weekend and had decided to stay a few extra days, he wasn't completely disappointed.
The phone rang again, Mark thought it might be his friend Tony, but when he looked at his caller ID, he was shocked by the name he saw...Darlene.
Darlene was Mark's ex wife, they were divorced for over twenty five years, she remarried, but he never did. They actually became friends after the divorce, but when she moved to New Mexico they kind of lost contact with each other.
"Hey, long time since I heard from you, what's up?"
"Hello to you too."
"Sorry...hello...how are you?"
"I doing good. How about you?"
"Never been better." Mark and Darlene had been on good terms, but he was still a little leery as to why she might be calling him now.
"You're probably wondering why I'm calling."
"I'm guessing it's not because you are nostalgic and you want to hook up sometime."
"You're right, but it's actually not terribly far off. I'm heading out your way on for a meeting Monday and was wondering if you could put me up Sunday and Monday nights."
"Sure, the guest room will be ready and waiting for you. Will Bob be joining you? We have a new bar-b-q place he would love."
"No...ah...Bob and I have split up. He's now living with some twenty two year old woman in Sante Fe. The divorce should be final any day now."
"I'm really sorry to hear that. I thought you two were a good match."
"We were, but things change and anyway the good news is now I can move back to Cali, which is where I want to be. My meeting is actually a job interview."
"Ok then, well I'll see you Sunday. Oh, ah...what time do you think you'll get here?"
"Probably late afternoon."
"Okay, well I could whip up some Chicken Alfredo for you; it used to be your favorite."
"That would be very nice. I'll look forward to that, see you Sunday."
"Right, see you Sunday."
Mark began thinking about Darlene, when they were married she was an attractive woman, long straight blond hair and nice figure, maybe a couple pounds overweight. Darlene was short, barely five foot tall, but had big breasts for such a little body. But after the divorce she cut her hair short and started working out and lost about ten pounds, which made her breasts look even bigger. She had even entered some fitness contests and finished near the top. Mark hadn't seen her in about twelve years, but she had looked awesome then, she would be 57 now and Mark wondered if she still looked as good. He'd find out Sunday evening.
The rest of Mark's week went very slow, but finally Sunday afternoon arrived and at 3:30 the doorbell rang. Mark opened the door and Darlene was standing there more beautiful than ever, her blonde hair had given way to something that Mark thought was called frosted, kind of different shades of gray and silver. Whatever it was called, Mark found it to be stunningly beautiful. Darlene had maintained her shape as well, if anything she was a tad thinner than the last time he saw her.
"Hello beautiful!"
"Hello to you too." Darlene reached up and embraced Mark with a big hug.
"How did I ever let such a beautiful woman get away from me?"
"I think when she was younger, she was a real bitch."
"Well, there is that. Of course, her husband was a bit of an asshole too."
"You can say that again and again...anyway are we going to stand out here all day or you're going to invite me in."
"Oh, you'd like to come inside..."
Mark picked up Darlene's bag and took it inside, waving her to follow him. Darlene wanted to take a little time to freshen up before dinner and so Mark left her to go work on dinner. Dinner was nice, Darlene told Mark about how Bob had started cheating on her and finally he started shacking up with this young woman he had met online. Their son had joined the Air Force and was at least considering making a career out of it. Darlene had allowed herself to get really depressed about the whole thing, but pulled herself out of a hole when she decided to move back to California and look for work. She was excited about her interview the next day, a great job with a bigger salary than she had ever seen, but wanted to cautious that she didn't get her hopes too high, in case she didn't get the job.
Darlene asked Mark a lot of questions as well, why didn't he ever remarry? (Almost did twice. Just didn't work out.) Was he seeing anyone? (There's this twenty two year old girl.) What the hell is it with you old guys and twenty two year old women? (Don't want to speak for anyone else, but for me it's just about the sex.) What else could it be? (Probably nothing.)
After dinner Darlene helped Mark clean up and then asked if there was a safe place she could run nearby as it was getting dark. Mark took her to a local high school where she ran a few laps around the soccer field. They returned home and Mark made some decaf coffee while Darlene showered. They watched television for a bit and Darlene went to her room and read a book. Mark watched Sports Center and went to bed himself.
Darlene's interview was in the afternoon and so Mark was off to work before she emerged from her room. They had agreed that they would visit an old favorite tavern for dinner that night, even though Mark warned her that the food wasn't as good as it used to be.
Mark returned home from work the same time Darlene was returning from her interview. Mark waited to walk in the apartment until Darlene caught up. "How did it go?"
"Better than I could have dreamed!" Darlene grabbed Mark by the arm and pulled herself close to him. "We need to discuss something over dinner."
Just then Mark's neighbor, Marie, was coming out of her apartment. Mark introduced Darlene as his friend, Marie was cordial, but said she needed to get going.
"This is my friend, Darlene, there's something going on between the two of you isn't there?"
"Something went on between the two of us, but I don't want to talk about it."
"Okay, well then get ready to go to Flynn's. I want to tell you all about the interview."
They got ready and headed to the little bar a couple of miles down the road. Darlene talked about how everything in the interview seemed to go well. The job would be hard, sometimes fifty five to sixty hours a week and travel would be required about a quarter of the time, but she was certain she could handle that part of it. They got to the bar and found a table where they could talk.
"Well it all sounds great, when will you find out if you get the job?"
"That's what we need to discuss. They want me back for a second interview tomorrow, so I was wondering if I could stay an extra night."
"No problem, I'm really enjoying your company."
"Thanks, I'm enjoying my time here too. Do you ever think that maybe we should have stuck it out and things would have worked out?"
"Believe this or not, but I think about that all the time." Mark was stretching the truth a bit, but he had on occasion wondered if they gave up on each other too easily.
"Really, you were never one to dwell on the past."
"I didn't say I dwell on it, just wonder if I screwed things up."
"You, I think I was the one that messed things up."
"I guess you're right."
"Oh, the one time I want you to disagree with me, you say I'm right, you never say that I'm right."