Meeting the Cute Woman
Joe E Hartley
July 2022
Readers,
As the years keep piling on, my ideas of what is sexy and what's not, change. I'm looking more and more at people my own age since I can no longer relate to those who are fresh out of high school.
This story reflects what my life would be in a perfect world. We all have flaws and insecurities; contrary to popular belief these do not go away as we age, in some cases they get worse. This story, I hope, reflects one couples attempt to deal with those flaws.
Joeehartley
Pete, with list in hand, pushed his cart up and down the isles picking up the items written on his list. This was one of the few opportunities/excuses he had to be out in public. Since he retired grocery shopping had become a day trip for him. He got in line for the cashier and looked forward to interacting with another human being. Retirement was actually much more boring than he'd been led to believe; all that free time was not what it was cracked up to be.
He noticed a woman behind him in line who only had three items and he offered to allow her in front of him. He'd seen this woman before, actually he'd noticed her every time he came to this store. She was worthy of his notice, but this was the first time he'd been able to speak to her.
Liz looked up at the man with the shopping cart in front of her in line, she had been lost in thought and just now noticed that he'd spoken to her. His body motions indicated that he was offering her his place in line. "Thank you," she said, trying not to appear too senile.
Liz had noticed this man before, actually she noticed it when he stared at her. He was not bad looking, but it had been so long that she'd forgotten how to flirt.
"I've seen you in this store before," he said.
"I've noticed you too," she replied then thought that was a lame reply.
"Actually, I've noticed you every time I come to the store. We must have the same shopping days. I see that you don't have much today," he answered with a smile.
He was flirting with her, Liz thought. She smiled back before responding, "I shop every day. It's so hard to cook for one that I don't really make meals anymore. I just get what I want to eat for the day; it's mostly snacks, but I do try to avoid the junk food."
"I have the same problem, but I do still cook and tend to eat the same thing all week long. I assume that you, like me, are retired and have no one to cook for. If I'm not being too forward, might I suggest you come on over for a home cooked meal. It would be a favor to me to be able to cook for someone and have someone to talk to," Pete offered.
Just then the cashier was ready for Liz and she put her items on the conveyor belt. The casher rang up her order and said hello to Liz. "How are you today?" she asked.
"I'm fine. How about you, Sharon?" Liz knew her name from her name tag, but also from the fact that she'd seen this same cashier almost every day for the last several months.
"Great," the cashier said and finished ringing up Liz's order, bagging the groceries, and collecting the payment, "see you tomorrow."
Liz picked up her bag and hesitated before leaving. "Dinner sounds like fun," she said to the man behind her. She waited until Sharon finished with his checkout before addressing him again. "I'm Liz, by the way."
Pete answered her, "Hi Liz, I'm Pete. We should keep moving so we don't block all the other shoppers."
They walked together out to the parking lot and Pete invited Liz to come over to his place later this afternoon. He gave her his address and it turned out that they lived less than a half mile from each other. They chatted for a little while in the parking lot before loading up their cars and heading to their separate homes.
Pete patted himself on the back for taking the risk, safe as it had been, to talk to the woman he found so attractive. He got home and pulled out his recipe for broiled chicken. Luckily it was one of his best recipes and one he had already planned on having tonight.
He prepared the ingredients making sure he had everything he needed before attacking his bachelor pad. Luckily, he had learned that he enjoyed a clean and orderly home years ago and since he lived alone there was no one else to keep it that way. He did a bit of straightening up and cleaned the bathroom.
Liz could not believe her luck. She wasn't looking to find anyone, friend or more, but when Pete suggested she come over for dinner her mind went wild. She noticed a few years ago that after one frustration after another she started to live more and more of her life in the fantasies created in her mind. She seldom had to apologize for being lost in thought, as she liked to call it, since she seldom had friends of family over. Her friends and family had all moved away years ago leaving her to make do as best as she could. She had the TV for company.
Tonight, she had a date, at least that's how she saw it. Pete was going to feed her. The problem was that she no longer had any clothes she could wear on a date. All of her clothes were casual, she had some that she wore when she went out to the store, but she removed those as soon as she got home and put on her more comfortable attire. She searched through her closet, looking for something casual, yet sexy and more importantly still fit. She found a few items in the casual group and a couple in the sexy group, but when she tried those on, they were extremely uncomfortable and way too tight. Maybe that's what made them sexy, but for whatever reason she would not be wearing any of those.
She also found a few stylish clothes, that looked good on the hanger even if they were a bit dated. Unfortunately, none of those fit her anymore. She was left with the casual and she picked the least offensive among them. If she wanted to see Pete more and actually have dates with him, she'd have to go shopping for some new clothes.
It was quickly approaching the time Pete had told her to come over, so she put on the clothes she had chosen and drove over to the address he had given her.
Pete greeted her at the door and welcomed her in. "Would you care for a glass of wine?" he asked.
"Love one, I should have thought to bring over a bottle. Forgive me, no one has invited me over for dinner in quite a while," she replied.
"No problem. I haven't had anyone over in years, so, at least, we are on the same footing. I forgot to ask about if you had any dietary restrictions. I made broiled chicken with mashed potatoes and steamed carrots. I hope that's okay," Pete said.
"Wow! That sound just perfect. I haven't had anything that was not heated in the microwave in years. I'm looking forward to this and maybe next time I can break out some of my old recipes and have you over," she offered.
"Deal," Pete replied, handing her a glass of wine.
They enjoyed a pleasant dinner and learned a lot about each other. Pete was what he considered the perfect gentleman, not making any moves on his guest. He was afraid of scaring her off. Attractive women, like Liz, must get hit on a lot and he did not want to be grouped into the category of wolves only wanting sex, regardless of what his ulterior motive might be.
Liz enjoyed the meal and the company, even though she felt a bit frustrated that again, real life was not living up to her fantasy expectations. She learned of his previous marriage and told him of hers. They shared the whys they were both alone and found a lot in common.
They ended the evening early and Liz initiated a hug; she had gotten the impression that Pete was not at all forcefully, which was good, but only up to a limit. She felt that he was interested (at least in her mind he was very interested), but maybe a bit too fearful.
After Liz left and Pete was cleaning up, he thought about how lucky he was to have had an actual date after all these years. He applauded himself for not pushing and allowing her to make the first move. It paid off; he got a great hug from her and another dinner date tomorrow night. They had even exchanged phone numbers--a sure sign that this fledging relationship was off to a good start.