'I've seen you in here before, haven't I?' she said.
He nodded. Just slightly. 'Umm... probably,' he said.
'Is this your local?'
'I suppose so. It's convenient. The beer's OK. Also, I quite like Charlie's taste in music. That's something that is not to be underestimated in this day and age.'
She laughed. 'Are you on your own?'
'On my own?'
'Yeah. You know... you usually seem to be on your own. When you're in here.'
He nodded. 'In that sense, yes. I suppose so. Since my wife died.'
'I'm sorry,' she said.
'Hey... these things happen.'
'Unfortunately,' she said.
For a moment or two, they both seemed to be waiting for the other to say something.
She spoke first. 'Look, I'll come to the point,' she said. 'I'm married. I'd even go so far as to say
happily
married - in as much as I'm happy to be married to the man to whom I'm married. But I also need a bit of extra from time to time. And I have a particular liking for older gentlemen.'
'Does the man to whom you are married know about this?'
'Oh, yes. He knows. It's not a secret. Well... it's not a secret between us, anyway. We've talked about it. He understands.'
'When you say older...,' he said.
'Well, I'm forty-nine,' she said. 'But I do have a bit of a thing for gentlemen in their seventies. Does that count as a fetish? Yes, I suppose it probably does.'
He nodded.
'How old are you?' she asked. 'If you don't mind me asking.'
'Seventy-five. Going on seventy-six.'
She smiled. 'That's what I thought. Shall I go to the top of the class?'
He laughed.
'More importantly,' she said, 'shall I buy us a drink? And then we can talk further.'
He laughed again. 'Shouldn't I be buying the drinks?'
'You can buy the next round,' she said.
'OK,' he said.
'Are you retired?' she asked when she returned with the drinks.
'Not by choice,' he said. 'I always promised myself that I would work until the day I died. But the gods had other plans - as they often do. First, my employer went tits up. And then I had a small health problem that turned out to be not so small. I was still determined to get back on the horse, but after two years of unsuccessful attempts, I had to concede that Pegasus and I were probably no longer the dream team we once were.'
'I like you,' she said. 'You have a sense of humour. I like a sense of humour in a man.'
'What you see is what you get,' he told her.
'Do you still get hard?' she asked.
He was just in the process of taking a sip of his drink and he almost sprayed the entire pub. 'Gosh, you cut to the chase, don't you?' he said. And then he added: 'But, if you must know, no. At least not reliably. The medications.'
'That's OK,' she said. 'Tongues and fingers... we can still have fun.'
Their first liaison (liaison was his word; she used the term hook-up) took place the following Wednesday.
'Is there anything in particular you would like me to wear?' she had asked.
'I will leave it up to you.'
'Garter belt perhaps? Stockings?' she said.
'That would be nice,' he said.
'Black?' she suggested.
'Perfect,' he said.
The London weather was not good on that particular Wednesday. In the morning, there were a few showers. But, by afternoon, the showers had turned into proper rain. And it was cold.
She arrived shortly before three.
'I didn't think you'd come,' he said, taking her coat.
'Come? Well, I haven't come