To say that Len was nervous would be a serious understatement.
He had slept a bit later than usual which was normal if he had masturbated the night before, and when he first woke, he lay there luxuriating in the warmth of his bed. In his semi-comatose state, that time when you are not quite awake or asleep, his mind wandered all over the place, then the events of the previous day came back.
He was suddenly wide awake and wondered if it had all been a dream but quickly recalled caressing his neighbours breast and feeling her hand cupping his penis. It was exciting and he was quietly enjoying these thoughts when he remembered the arrangement they had made for that afternoon.
He sat bolt upright in bed. 'My God what have I done!' he muttered to himself. The thought had been exciting the evening before but now in the cold light of the morning he was suddenly petrified. A whole list of 'what-ifs' crossed his mind accompanied by a number of excuses for not going through with it.
He got up and went through his normal morning routine all the while thinking about what might or might not happen and working himself into a mass of nerves.
At last, when he sat down with his coffee; he'd foregone breakfast; he started to think more rationally. The prospect of what might happen was very exciting but this was very early in their relationship and it had been a good fifty years since he had done any courting – if this is what they were doing. He just didn't know how to go about it especially the accelerated version that seemed to be happening now.
It was also obvious from what Masie had said that the intimate side of their married lives had been completely different. Hers had been open, experimental and energetic, whereas his had been reserved and restrained and conducted within quite narrow confines of Roses' acceptance. He wondered if the relationship did develop whether he would be able to live up to her expectations, or whether she would find him boring and limited and quickly tire of him.
'Whoa, you're getting a bit ahead of yourself,' he muttered, 'slow down George.' He shuddered as he said it. It had been one of Roses' humorous comments to him if she considered he was letting his imagination run away with him. Then of course there was Rose, or rather there wasn't. What would she think? Would she want him to have a fulfilling life or would she want him to dwell in the memory of their lives together?
The turmoil in his mind was getting to fever pitch. 'You need to give yourself a good talking to Lennard!' he muttered, another of Roses' sayings whenever he was indecisive or worried about something. 'After all, what is going to happen? She'll come round here and we'll watch a film together and if she or I get a bit excited then we'll see what happens. That's all. No big deal.'
Yeah Right!
For the rest of the morning he busied himself around his apartment, cleaning, dusting and polishing, things he didn't feel the need to do too often these days. He rarely had visitors or callers.
He looked at himself as he polished the mirror. 'Haircut.' he thought, he wanted to give a good impression so a trim wouldn't be amiss, and it would help take his mind off things if he went out for a while, so off he went.
On his way back he bought a bottle each of red and white wine as he felt it would be nice to offer a drink but he didn't know what her fancy was or even if she drank at all. He had beer and scotch at home so that was covered, and a drink might help relax them when she arrived.
He tried to eat something at lunchtime but the butterflies in his stomach now resembled seagulls and a couple of mouthfuls of toast was all he could manage. He had heard Masie a couple of times through the seeming thin wall between them and he wondered if she was in a similar condition as himself. He doubted it very much as she had seemed quite outgoing and self-assured yesterday and was probably taking all this in her stride.
He'd showered carefully and taken a lot of care shaving and had dressed casually but smartly and sat and waited as the clock ticked slowly towards two thirty. He'd got some of the films out and decided he would let her chose which one she wanted to watch.
A couple of minutes to half past there was a light tap on his door. His heart was pounding as he answered it and Masie stepped into the hallway.
'I'm not too early am I?' Her voice was nervous and as Len looked at her he could see she was shaking slightly. His nerves evaporated.
'Are you alright Masie?' there was genuine concern in his voice. 'Come and sit down.' He took her arm and led her to the couch and repeated his question. 'Is anything wrong? Are you OK?'
She nodded and shook her head confused as to how to respond. She gave a nervous little laugh.
'Yes I'm fine'.
'Are you sure?' he said disbelievingly.
She nodded. 'Yes,' she paused, 'I'm just a bit nervous.'
'You? Nervous? I thought it would be just me.'
'Oh no,' she said, 'I didn't know how you would feel about it today. I had no idea if you would still want to and if I'm being honest I didn't know if I'd be able to go through with it.'
He laughed gently as he put his hand on hers. 'That makes two of us. I had exactly the same feelings and doubts myself and a couple of times I nearly knocked to give you some lame excuse about having to go out or something.' He looked straight at her. 'I'm glad I didn't though.'
She smiled gratefully at him. 'So am I.'
'It's all a bit...too pre-arranged really though isn't it.'
She nodded.
'Tell you what,' he said suddenly decisive, 'why don't I put these away and we'll settle for a drink and a bit of a natter?' He indicated the films as he spoke.
The look of grateful relief on her face told him all he needed to know. He put the films back in the cupboard and got her a glass of wine and himself a beer and sat beside her.
They sat and talked about everything and anything that came to mind, their previous partners, marriage generally, families, holidays, the apartments, Vera, and before they knew it a couple more beers had disappeared along with half the bottle of wine and the late afternoon light was fading.
It was nearly six o'clock when Len looked at his watch, painfully aware that his stomach had been growling at him for quite a while.
'Look Masie, I don't know about you but I couldn't eat a lot this morning and I'm starving now.'
She nodded. 'Me too.'
A sudden thought struck him. 'Have you eaten at that Italian restaurant in the High Street?' he asked.
