As I casually stroll down the street of our fair-sized town on this sunny late October morning, the air is cool and refreshing, nipping at my nose. I can feel and hear the crunch of fallen maples beneath my feet, yet, when I look up, I see rusty red and yellow leaves still clinging stubbornly to the mostly barren trees. The grass and the rooftops look as if they are covered in a light dusting of sparkling snow due to the previous night's killer frost.
The street is bustling with people going about their daily activities. A lady catches my eye while she sits on the bench in front of our small, recently renovated 19th-century post office. I approach the lady, hoping to get to know her; her nose and cheeks are rosy, as if she were a young girl. Those eyes, oh those eyes, I'm convinced are the work of some kind of love god; they're simply irresistible and inviting. They'll grab you and pull you in, and before you know it, you'll be madly in love. Her smile is welcoming and safe, like the shining beacon of a lighthouse. She is one of the prettiest ladies I've seen around here in quite some time, and she is not the least bit shy; rather, she appears to be calm, cool, and collected.
While cheerfully striking up a conversation, her voice is smooth and calming. "It's a nice day out, eh?"
"Oh, it's a beautiful day, except for this damn breeze." I hunch my shoulders and shove my hands inside my black bomber jacket for a bit of warmth.
As she speaks, her breath vapors dissipate in the nearly icy 2°C air. "It's not too bad sitting here; I'm out of the wind and the sun is shining on me. It feels nice actually. By the way, I'm Mary. "
Mary reaches up to shake my hand, and for a moment in time, we make small talk; already, there appears to be some chemistry building between us.
Mary appears to be in her early forties; her medium-length, wavy hair is black as coal and compliments her leather jacket. She's dressed stylishly in a thick black turtleneck with wide horizontal stripes. Her dark pants fit like a second skin around her tiny hips. Her black patent leather boots with wide squarish high heels are fashionable. A thin silver chain hangs loosely down the front of Mary's sweater, and she wears a pair of small diamond earrings. Her hands are sensuous and well-groomed, with red fingernails. Mary's look is finished off with a variety of beautiful, low-profile rings on her fingers.
Mary moves over and pats the bench a few times, inviting me to join her.
"Hey Mary, I'm Trevor. I haven't seen you around town before."
"Glad to meet you, Trevor. I don't come to this part of town too often. I drove my sister-in-law Rachel over to see her doctor today. She's in there now. " Mary tells me as she sits back on the bench with her legs crossed, holding her phone in her lap and pointing to the building across the street in front of us.
"Oh, I hope it's nothing serious."
Oh no... It's nothing like that. " Mary dismisses casually.
"So, you're married?" I ask while trying not to sound too disappointed.
"Widowed...
Rachel's brother, my husband, passed away about six and a half years ago."
"I'm deeply sorry to hear about your husband." I console.
"Thank you; how about you? Are you married? "
I raise my left hand and, with a bit of a frown, I point to my ringless finger. "Nope, never married and no children either."
Mary becomes flirty and curious and begins the sport of 20 questions: "Trevor, how long have you lived here?"
"I moved here five years ago from Toronto. Before that, I was born and raised in a small town near Lake Erie. I just got tired of the rat race in Toronto, like many of the other folks around here. How about you, Mary? "
My dad and my mom both worked different jobs at one of the big car manufacturers not too far from there. It's where they met, actually. I've known Rachel and Peter since our first year of high school. Peter and I started dating when he became a pilot for a small cargo airline. I think he was twenty-four at the time. Anyways, as Peter got promoted to larger and different types of planes and took jobs with other airlines, we ended up living in different places around the world. When he got sick, we moved back to Canada, here with Rachel. " Mary elaborates.
"You two seem to have had an amazing life together. That's too bad about Peter. "
Autumn clouds drift aimlessly across the early morning sky. It doesn't take long for Mary to become comfortable with me. Slowly, she inches herself closer and closer to me until our bodies meet. After a few seductive glances and some strokes of my salt-and-pepper hair and cheeks, she gives me a small but affectionate kiss. "Mm... Trevor, will you put your arm around me? It's getting cooler; I hope Rachel is done soon. "
Before I knew it, I felt like I'd known Mary for years, and she'd gone from a total stranger to a potential girlfriend. I enjoy the softness of her warm body snuggled up against me.
"Oh, there's Rachel now," Mary says as she emerges from the doctor's office and walks towards the stoplight with some difficulty. Mary gives Rachel a short wave, and she reciprocates with a wave and a smile while waiting for the lights to change.
Rachel limps across the street with a small black leather handbag slung over her shoulders. She is tall and slim with straight dark hair, flat-chested and donning an open-long beige cotton trench coat with black sleeves. She's breathtakingly pretty in her own right, and she's got a nice, thick Halloween-themed scarf wrapped around her smallish neck. Underneath, Rachel is wearing a black top with a single thin horizontal orange stripe midway down her sweater. The sweater is grey on the bottom and overlaps her tight-assy blue jeans, which she looks fantastic in. Her flat ankle-high boots match her outfit.
Mary inquires, "How did it go with the doctor, Rachel? Oh, by the way, this is my new friend, Trevor. "
"Hi Trevor, it's a pleasure to meet you." She locks her love-struck gaze on my eyes and fumbles her handshake.
"Oooh, I'm sorry. Rachel apologizes, her face turning red from embarrassment.
Rachel's voice is clear, light, and pleasant. I dismiss her blunders with a wave. "No big deal, Rachel."
Rachel discreetly whispers into Mary's ear as she sits down on her other side, " Damn it, Mary, he's cute, I'm in love. I swear, I'm having his baby. I hope he's not married. "
"Shhh... sit down and be quiet or you'll scare him off." Mary whispers frantically at Rachel while waving her hand as if chasing away flies.
Rachel looks to be the thoughtful, quiet, and eccentric librarian type; I picture her as a tigress in bed. Usually, the quiet ones are.
"The doctor said my foot would be fine. He believes I may have stepped on something or scratched my foot, causing it to become infected. He gave me a prescription... " Rachel shows Mary her prescription and they discuss her doctor's appointment.
Meanwhile, I give Rachel the once over as she sits confidently on the edge of the bench, her back straight, hands on her lap with her long slim legs angled towards us, ankles crossed on the ground.
Rachel raises a hand and pushes her straight almost waist-length hair neatly behind her tiny ears. Despite the cloud cover, her gold earrings twinkle when she moves her head. I notice Rachel is only wearing a single ring on her left forefinger. I can only assume she wears it to remember her deceased brother. Her face is sharp, with a fair complexion, model-like features, innocent hazel eyes, and medium-thick brows. Her lips appeared moist and inviting thanks to her rosy-red lipstick.
