I moved into my townhouse about 15 years ago. On one side was a family with two school age kids, and on the other, an elderly couple, probably 20 years old than me. I made friends with them all immediately, but I was especially friendly with the older folks. We would sit outside, weather permitting, and talk about our kids, local politics, the weather, and whatnot. I grew to love them and helped them with their daily lives as much as they would let me. During the winter, we wouldn't see much of each other except for snowblowing, but I would check daily to see that they were alive and well for many years.
As Frank gradually became infirm, he couldn't do as much and I tried to do more, but I was getting older, too. Barbara, his wife, would disappear into her hobbies for months at a time and all I could do was ask Frank how she was. When I did see her, I was always happy to see how pretty she was, even at her advanced age, somewhere in her early 80's. Both of them were quite lucid and eloquent, and as physically spry as you would hope to be at that age.
I often wondered when their sexual attraction ended, especially because they were very religious. I guessed that once they stopped having kids, they stopped having sex. I saw no urges from either of them. Frank wouldn't even look at a pretty woman walking down the street, and Barbara was as asexual as a eunuch. Even though I am single, and have been the better part of my adult life, I found it hard to imagine no physical contact with the opposite sex. Or any sex, for that matter.
Frank fell ill and went for a prolonged hospital stay. Barbara wanted to visit him but was not feeling up to driving one day, so she knocked at my door and asked if I would take her. Of course I did. On the ride up she was very nervous and babbled quite a bit. I told her to relax and that Frank would be alright. I didn't know that, naturally, but I wanted to console her. She was well dressed and had on a wonderful smelling cologne that affected my senses like a g-spot. I started imagining Barbara naked in bed smelling like that, and mentally scolded myself.
After the visit, I asked her if she would like to stop for something to eat and she eagerly accepted, which surprised me. We went to a local Italian restaurant on the way because I knew she liked spicy foods. I would often inflict my cooking on her because she did not partake in spicy food as Frank could not. She seemed happy and relieved. Frank would be alright, but would stay in hospital for several days for tests.
When we got home, Barb asked me to come in for coffee, and I accepted. We decided to play Scrabble, something we used to do without Frank, who didn't enjoy the game. So we played over coffee. Time passed and she said she wished she had some wine. Holding up a finger, I said I'd be right back. I went next door to my place and grabbed an unopened bottle of sake along with accompanying sake cups and pitcher.
I returned to find her waiting at the table as I began heating the wine. She indicated she had never had sake. I asked how that was possible at her age, to which she smiled snarkily. We began another game and I poured after testing it to be 69 degrees, which I prefer over the more normal 50 degrees. She liked it but she obviously had a low tolerance for alcohol. Barbara was pretty buzzed by the time we finished half of the bottle.
She lost the game, but was feeling no pain. "Harry," she said, "Would you do something for me, although you have already done so much."
"Sure Barb. What would you like?" I asked.
