I had only been on the job as superintendent of the apartment building in Miami a couple of weeks. My job consists of maintaining the common areas of the buildings interior and attending to the simple everyday problems with plumbing, electrical and a myriad of other small items in the tenants apartments. Generally speaking, I was a handy man. For 30 odd years I was a highly paid engineer. I got tired of the rat race and chucked it all, my wife included. We never had children and since I gave her everything she didn't mind too much.
My third week on the job found me changing the filters in the return portion of the air conditioning system. There are three air returns in the hallway on each floor. Mid-morning found me on the second floor right next to the elevator. An extremely small man in his late sixties engaged me in conversation as he waited for the elevator. He introduced himself as Hal in apartment 214. The elevator came and he let it go without him, explaining he thought his wife was right behind him.
In the next 5 minutes, Hal told me the short version of his life story and got mine in return. He had been a jewelry wholesaler in New York for 40 years and retired last year at his wife's insistence. Hal was impeccably dressed. He wore a navy blazer, gray slacks and white shirt. All of them were obviously tailored and very expensive. He repeatedly looked at his watch and followed that up by looking down the empty hallway for his wife.
In a few moments, a woman stepped out of an apartment, checked the door and proceeded down the hall toward us. She was a little over 5 feet tall, had dark brown graying hair and appeared to be in her early to middle sixties. As she approached, Hal told me she was just as lovely and sexy as the day he married her 40 years ago. I looked at her carefully as she walked down the hall. She wore a teal colored dress with a wide black belt. Perhaps it was the belt which caused my eyes to be drawn to her very small waist. She was not a slim woman. Her shoulders were somewhat broad. Her breasts, while not really large were pronounced because they rode up so high and pointed straight out. Her hips were wide and looked somewhat out of place considering the began at that very small waist. She was obviously a beautiful woman when she was young and she was still lovely. She wore a moderate amount of impeccably applied makeup, but it was not caked on and you could see her skin unblemished and remained taut. She looked very much like a lovely, prim and proper matronly lady.
When she reached us, Hal introduced her to me as Harriet. Hal pressed the button for the elevator as we exchanged pleasantries. There was something a little unnerving about Harriet. As Hal and I conversed , Harriet looked me straight in the eye. I don't mean she looked me in the eye when we spoke, she looked me straight in the eye from the moment we were introduced until she entered the elevator. As she entered the elevator, I took the opportunity to look at her backside. It was full, well rounded and like her hips, jutted out at a precarious angle from that small waist. When I looked up, Hal was looking at me. He smiled and waved at me. I blushed like a little boy who was caught.
Over the next couple of weeks I saw Hal and Harriet several times in the common areas as I went about my duties. Hal would engage me in conversation while Harriet stood by and listened. She was very quite. The conversation which consisted mostly of Hal asking me questions took on a more personal tone. I was too dense to realize he was getting as much information about me as he could to allow himself to reach a personal comfort level with me. Each time I saw them I was amazed at the shape of Harriet's body and more impressed with her beauty.
Late one evening, about 6 weeks after we first met, Hal called my apartment and asked if I could come up and take a look at a dripping kitchen faucet. He apologized for calling so late, but, told me they had been gone all day and the faucet almost ran him crazy last night. I went right up. Hal answered the door wearing a housecoat over his pajamas. He ushered me into the living room. I could see Harriet sitting at the table on the balcony. It was obvious they were having a nightcap and enjoying the cool night breezes.