My husband, Bob, had just retired, he was now sixty-five, I had just turned fifty-nine, I had under a year to go, and I would be sixty. Bob was an excellent Architect; he had his own practice which he had just sold. We were comfortably off.
Bob was a reserved, soft-spoken man. His work had been his life. We had two children, Robert, who was thirty-five and was now a doctor in Australia. He had married an Australian girl who was also a doctor. Her father, who was also a doctor, had recently retired. Robert and his wife had taken over his practice. They had two children, both boys aged one and three, I was now a granny.
My daughter, May, was now thirty-one, she was Veterinary Surgeon and had her own practice in the next town to where we lived. May was single and wasn't dating anyone. Since Bob had retired, I now realised how boring he was. He had taken up golf, or as I called, it had become a member of a golf club and did all his drinking there. It got him out of the house, which was good for me. My life was basically looking after the house.
Bob and I no longer shared the same bedroom; I had told him that my sleep was being distributed because of his loud snoring. He had accepted this, and I now had the privacy of my own bedroom. Bob and my sex life had died years ago. It had been over fifteen years since we last had intercourse. I was happy being able to give myself relief in the comfort of my own bed.
It was a Monday morning that my life changed. I was in the Supermarket looking for a piece of Parmesan cheese. I had spent twenty minutes scouring the cheese shelves and couldn't find it. I then saw a member of staff filling shelves at the other end of the aisle. I went towards her and managed to bang into the leg of a tall young man. I was so embarrassed, I said, "I'm so sorry, I've just spent twenty minutes looking for Parmesan cheese, I saw a girl stacking shelves, in my rush, I didn't see you, I'm so sorry."
The young man smiled then said, "It is not a problem; I didn't feel a thing, the Parmesan cheese is back here, please let me show you."
I was impressed with this young man; he was so courteous, I followed him to where the cheese was then he said, "They have an amazing whole wheat pasta on the next aisle, would you like me to show it to you?"
I replied, "That's so kind of you, if you have time, I would love that. My husband is heavily into pasta at the moment; I would appreciate you showing it to me."
I followed him again after putting two pieces of Parmesan into my trolley. We then stood chatting in the aisle for ages. I told him my name was Val; my husband had recently retired. I shared a lot of personal information with him; he was so attentive, he was also an excellent listener. He told me that he was single; he had a law degree and was now writing a thesis for a Master of Law degree. He told me where he lived, which was very close to me, he had a small apartment in a student block of flats. He told me his name was Jack. He then said, "I have a lecture in twenty minutes. I've enjoyed chatting with you, Val. I will be here tomorrow morning at eleven, would you like to meet me for a coffee in the cafe?"
I replied, "Jack, I would love that, but the coffee is on me. I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow."
We shook hands, his hands were firm and healthy then he left, but we exchanged phone numbers, I was so happy that we did that. We met the next day at eleven, we talked for an hour, he listened to every word that I said, I felt great, I thought that I had gotten out of the monotonous life I had been living in.
We met every day for ten days; there was one day Jack couldn't be there, I missed him so much, I was very irritable with Bob, I hadn't told Bob about Jack though I knew that I would have to in the future. The day that I hadn't seen him in the evening I got a WhatsApp message from Jack it read, "Dear Val, I missed seeing you today. Tomorrow would you like to come to my apartment at eleven for coffee; I've got some of your favourite cake. Kind regards, Jack."
I replied immediately, "Dear Jack, I've missed you too; I'll be there at eleven, thinking about you, Val."
Everything had been so innocent up until now. I had bought some new lingerie and two mini-skirts, I decided that tomorrow I would wear a push-up bra and a mini-skirt. I was so happy that he'd thought of me. I wondered if he had a girlfriend, he had told me that he spent all of his time studying. If he had a girlfriend, then I knew that I would feel jealous.
From the next morning every day, I would visit Jack's apartment. We had beautiful talks. We chatted about everything; he wanted to know about Bob, I was diplomatic and said, "Bob's getting older now."
A week later I realised that in all fairness I must let Bob know that I was seeing Jack. I said, "Bob, I called into a friend's apartment for some coffee today; he is so nice."
Bob replied, "That's good, Val, you should get out more, is he married? "
"No, he's single, he is at University, he has a small apartment."
Bob then asked, "Were you alone with him?"
Bob was curious, I replied, "Yes, over the last few weeks, I've got to know him well, he's a kind caring young man. I have been to his apartment many times; we are always alone, we enjoy each others company."
Bob seemed surprised and puzzled, he didn't ask any more questions and went to his bedroom
