Mature Model
Graham Shiers was highly competent at his job. A stickler for detail and keen to maintain all documentation. He seemed to be happy in his job, even though the pay wasn't as good as he might have been able to get elsewhere. He was in his mid-50s and widowed, having lost his wife of twenty years - she died ten years before.
He had been at the company now for twenty-five years and was seen by most of the staff as a permanent fixture. Perhaps they and the company took advantage of him on that basis. He was tall, with a powerfully athletic build, and a full head of greying hair. A warm smile suggested gentleness. However, he was a very private person and didn't often open up to others about his life outside of work
Sara, on the other hand had only been employed for a mere twelve years. Single, divorced and in her mid-40s, she had an attractive face and, although slightly heavier than she would like to be, the extra pounds gave her a shapely body, although she remained physically active by swimming and walking. She had a few boyfriends after the breakdown of her marriage, but none that she wanted to spend more time with. She was, however, outgoing and more than once had been approached by men in the office (mostly younger than her), but she had gently turned them down. Of course, it gave her a kind of thrill to think that they would consider her attractive enough to want to date and... anything else. That "anything else" gave her some pleasant fantasies when she was alone, at night, in bed. But it was Graham that she found really interesting, even though he showed no signs of considering her anything but a close work colleague.
Graham, contrary to what Sara thought, found her both interesting and attractive. In fact, he had frequently fantasised about her. But... he didn't want to spoil what was a very good working relationship by making a move on her that she was likely to take offence at. After all, she was ten years younger than him. Almost a different generation.
*****
Things changed one day. This came about as a result of one of their colleagues (Jacqui) leaving to have a baby. She had been presented with gifts and a good luck poem read out by a talented member of the Finance Department. Afterwards, everybody reconvened at the nearby pub, the Blacksmith's Arms.
It was about 9pm, after Jacqui and what some might call the "lightweights" had left for the evening, that Graham and Sara found themselves seated next to each other indulging in some "pub grub". To be precise, pizza and chips.
"Not exactly good for my figure," said Sara.
"Looks all right to me." Graham had replied without thinking, possibly because of a little too much alcohol in his bloodstream.
Sara, momentarily surprised by his comment, turned to look at him.
"Er...sorry." He reddened slightly.
"Oh! No, that's OK Graham. I'm not offended in the least. In fact, I'll take it as a compliment. Even if its patently not true." She smiled.
The conversation moved onto more safe subjects for a while, but by 10pm Sara felt emboldened enough to try and find out a little more about Graham.
"Please," she began. "Tell me to mind my own business. And I know its possibly a painful subject, but you've never told me anything about your late wife."
Graham looked down into his glass and a shadow crossed his face momentarily.
"I'm sorry," said Sara. Instantly regretting what she had said. "I didn't mean to pry. Forget I said anything, please?"
He looked at her and a slight smile broke on his face. His eyes seemed to sparkle as he began to speak of his wife.
"Jennie was...amazing. She was everything to me. She was my friend, my confidant, my advisor, the love of my life. All that and beautiful too. Here, I'll show you."
With that, Graham pulled out his mobile phone and quickly searched through pictures stored on-line.
"Here you go," he said, handing her the device.
"Oh wow! She's gorgeous!" Sara declared.
"Was," he reminded her.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's nice to be able to show someone pictures of Jennie. Would you like to see some more? I find myself looking at them most days."
It sounded a sad thing for him to say, but she thought he seemed happy about doing so. He began showing her some more photographs of his late wife.
"These are really good photos," she said. "Who took them? Some professional?"
He laughed then said, "No, nobody special. They're my pictures. I took them. Photography is my hobby."
"Really? I had no idea. You're obviously very talented," she commented.
Graham made a non-committal sound and left it at that. The conversation turned to slightly more mundane things to do with work for the next few minutes, but Sara's mind was working in the background. Eventually she turned the subject back to the photos.
"Tell me, as Jennie was your wife, did you...well, did you take any saucy pictures of her?"
"Hah!" he replied. "Do you really think I'd tell you if I did?"
"No, that's not really what I meant. Did you ever take pictures of her in say, a bikini, or underwear? You know, artistically?"
