Sarah Jansen wasn't very happy with her life.
At least it's a temporary thing,
she thought to herself, and was often reassured, even if only for a short while. Her husband, Robert, was away on business far too often, and treated her with undeserving nonchalance when he was home—but at least she got to take care of the children. Another woman might have seen it as a chore, but being with them made her feel truly blessed every single day, because they always made her proud, and because they needed her, even though the youngest among them was twelve.
Sarah was 46. Her smile was as radiant as ever, but her eyes told a different story, even if the rest of her hadn't grown middle-aged enough to lump her in with the rest of the "Over the Hill" club. Every morning she took a good look at herself in the mirror and on some mornings she'd smile with semi-satisfaction at her own reflection. Usually, though, she shook her head with disdain, even as she imagined her own face within the pages of
People
magazine, wondering if all the plastic surgery and makeup of Hollywood could make her happy with what she saw. When Robert slept in their bed with his back to her, as he always did, she could hardly bear to even face herself the morning after.
But it was, after all, only temporary. Sooner or later, rational thought would set in; in her mind she'd rail against Robert as she always did, knowing her displeasure would fade by the time he returned home (as it always did).
It's not my fault I've gotten older. Why does he have to be so thoughtless? When he looks at me I don't feel like a woman anymore. I don't feel anything.
It was nine-thirty. The children were all off to school; her grapefruit lay before her in its bowl, still undisturbed. She shook her head and wrapped it in plastic;
I didn't really want it anyway,
she thought to herself. She had enough food for thought to delay her appetite another day or two.
------
She sorted through the day's email, tossing the spam and saving the rest for later, until she came to it. She had received another email from her online friend, her confidant of sorts. He lived only a half hour's drive away, yet seemed most comfortable talking to her online—they never communicated any other way. His words had always marked him as a gentle man, a caring man, someone who didn't mind listening to her; and when he wrote to her he always seemed to know, if not how to say exactly what she wanted to hear, then how to confront her fears without hurting her. She loved hearing from him.
What he wrote today surprised her:
Sarah,
The more I read of your letters, the more I am convinced that your loneliness really is dangerous to you. You need someone to love you, to make you feel like a woman and satisfy the desires of your body.
I am coming to see you today. I should be arriving at eleven a.m., so I hope that you will read this before then.
-M.
She looked at her watch. It was eleven o'clock. Sure enough, there was a knock on the door just a moment later.
She froze.
He's here? I'm going to meet him? There's so much I don't know about him; how old is he? Is he really male? I really hope he's not a transvestite…
She shook her head and chuckled at herself, then decided to answer the door, silencing her mind's paranoia.
Oftentimes when writing to "M" she had wondered what she'd say to him if she ever met him in person. She always envisioned them meeting under different circumstances, with her having something wonderfully witty and/or romantic to say to him upon first meeting.
"Uh… how old are you anyway?" she said to the man now standing at her door.
* * * * *
"Why didn't you tell me you were only 22?" she said, handing him a glass of iced tea where he sat on the couch, comfortable already as a guest in her home. He was much younger than she had expected, from the way he wrote, from the things he said, and from the interest he showed in her; it had surprised her, but she wasn't entirely sure that the surprise was unpleasant.
He nodded his thanks for the icea tea and took a sip, then set the glass down on the side table. "Twenty-two years," he said, "really, that's not so young. I've already finished college; I have a real-world career now. I being as much younger than you as I am doesn't make me a child, or immature. I hope you'll look at me with an open mind, as I look at you."
She sat down next to him on the couch. He slipped his arm around her waist and she smiled; she wasn't afraid to admit that she liked his touch. She could sense his affection for her, undiluted by having met her in person; and she knew he was a gentle and loving man. What he said was right—she had been his age once, and though she knew more about life now than she did then, it wasn't so great a gap that she could think of this man as beneath her in any way.
He moved, turning to face her, wrapping his arms around her, shifting to allow her body to rest comfortably against his as his arms circled around her back. When he lay back on the couch, she went along with him, lying on top of him, her head comfortably on his chest. She felt his fingers running through her hair, softly stroking her, comforting her, caressing the warm skin of her neck; smiling, she shifted to press herself against him, her breasts cushioning his stomach. Gently, she kissed his chest, grateful for this closeness with him.
She knew that she should feel excited, should feel that this was wrong somehow, this man she'd never met before today suddenly taking her into his arms, but she didn't. With him, it felt right; it felt soft and peaceful, as it should, and she liked it more than she was willing to admit to herself.