The Lady in the Cinema

The Lady in the Cinema -- Chapter One

This story concerns a young man in his twenties who, after a chance meeting in the local Multiplex Cinema, starts an intensely physical affair with a sexually inexperienced lady in her early sixties.

Chapter Two is already written and will be published in a week or so. I hope you enjoy Chapter One and look forward to receiving comments.

Sylviafan

The story really starts with me getting dumped by my girlfriend, by text message! It's a bit of a shitty thing to do, but to be honest the relationship was on the way out and had been for weeks. The only reason I hadn't dumped her first was because the sex was so great. Shallow of me, I admit, but there it is.

I'm Jack, by the way. I'm a self-employed electrician and I'll be twenty-eight next month. Physically I'm five-ten and a hundred and fifty pounds with black, curly hair and blue eyes. My mum says I look Irish and I guess she's right; three out of four of my grandparents were from the Emerald Isle. She also says I'm drop-dead handsome, which isn't quite so true. I'm pretty average really, in all departments. And yes, there too. I'm not hung like a donkey or anything, more's the pity.

Not that Liz ever complained. She's my girlfriend, or rather was. We met when the main fuse box in her house blew up and I put a new one in. I ended up inviting her to stay at my flat while she had no electricity and she said ok and that was how it started. I should add that I don't make a habit of seducing my customers. It's not great for business.

That was eighteen months ago and here I was, just after midday, in the local Multiplex Cinema sipping a Costa coffee and playing with my mobile phone while I waited for Liz. She works on Saturday mornings so I'd come independently. I was also checking out the lady at the table in front of me. Well, you do, don't you? Especially if your permanent relationship is headed for the rocks. Also, we were the only two people in the cafeteria area. In fact apart from a few staff, we were practically the only people in the whole cinema and I wondered, not for the first time, how these places ever returned a profit. Anyway, I digress. The lady at the table in front of me was facing the other way and all I could see was a big mass of blonde hair above a narrow back in a floral-patterned blouse. I think she was playing with her mobile phone too because her elbows were twitching.

That was when I got the text from Liz saying that she was very sorry but she wasn't coming to the cinema and would not, in fact, be seeing me anymore. She said that she'd had a wonderful time and had many happy memories but now was the time to move on. Well, fair do's I thought. That's that, then. Except that the film we'd come to watch was distinctly on the girlie spectrum and I'd got two tickets. I was debating whether or not to just go home when there was a choking noise from the table in front. I looked over, briefly wondering whether the mystery lady had choked on her coffee. But her shoulders were shaking and I realised she was crying and trying to stifle it. It was none of my business, but I hate to see people upset and anyway I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress so I got up and went over to her table.

'Are you ok?' I asked, which was a pretty stupid opener because she was sobbing into her hands, which were clasped over her face and I noticed, incidentally, that she wore no rings and her fingers were very long and tapered.

She looked around at me and I almost started with surprise because I'd got her pegged as someone in their thirties and this lady was much older. Late fifties. Maybe more. And she was wearing black-framed glasses and her makeup had run and she looked a bit of a mess. She gulped and took a deep breath. 'That's very kind of you but I'm fine, really.'

I hesitated, about to go back to my seat. 'Look, let me get you a fresh coffee. I'm having one myself anyway so it's no trouble.'

'Thank you,' she said, weakly and gulped again. I went over to the counter and ordered two medium lattes and tried to look anywhere but over at her table. The drinks came and I took them over and put one down in front of her and stood hesitating again. She looked up at me and tried to smile. 'That's very kind of you.'

'I didn't get any sugar,' I said, lamely.

'That's fine,' she replied.

'Is there anything else I can do?' I asked, feeling rather inadequate. Then a thought struck me and I delved into my pocket and brought out a clean and pressed white cotton handkerchief. And in case you thinks that's odd, I always use cotton handkerchiefs instead of tissues and I have a clean one every day and I always iron them after they've been washed. I'm not OCD or anything. It's just something I do. And now I offered it to the lady sitting at the table and it was her turn to hesitate but then she took it and said, 'Thank you,' and took off her glasses and mopped her eyes and looked at the handkerchief.

'I'm sorry, I've got eye makeup all over it.'

I sat down by her. 'Don't worry. Keep it. I've got loads. My relations always buy me handkerchiefs for Christmas.' She looked at me and we both laughed and then she sobbed again and I sat quietly while she got herself back under control. Eventually she took a deep breath.

'I'm sorry to make all this fuss. I hope you're not missing your film.'

'To be honest,' I told her, 'I'm in two minds as to whether I want to see it.' She looked faintly puzzled. 'I was going to see it with my girlfriend but she's dumped me.'

'Well if you've come to the cinema you must have wanted to see it.'

'Not really,' I said. 'I came to the cinema to meet her. She only dumped me fifteen minutes ago.'

The lady stared at me. 'Really?' She glanced at her phone. 'About the same time as me.' It was my turn for the puzzled stare. 'The man I was supposed to be meeting texted me and said he wasn't coming and wouldn't be seeing me again.' She dabbed at her eyes with my now bedraggled-looking handkerchief.

'Oh, I see,' I said. 'I'm sorry. What film were you going to see?'

'The romantic comedy, of all things.'

'Me too,' I said, dismally. 'I brought the tickets in advance.'

'Well at least I didn't do that.' She gave me a weak smile and I smiled back and we looked at each other. 'Look,' I said, eventually, I've got a spare ticket now, so if you fancy seeing the film... It might cheer you up. Might cheer both of us up.'

She paused, just for a second or two, looking at the table, then at me. 'Thank you. I accept your kind offer.' She held out her hand. 'I'm Linda.'

'Jack,' I said, taking it and feeling her soft fingers and noticing the faint brown marks on the back of her hand.

She stood up suddenly, taking a short, chocolate brown raincoat off the back of her chair. 'I must look terrible. Would you mind if I popped to the ladies and did something about my appearance?' I didn't protest; her hair was in disarray and her eye makeup was all over her face and her tears had made tracks in her face powder.

I waited fifteen minutes and was just beginning to wonder if she'd changed her mind and left when she appeared behind me and I stood up and turned to her and got my second surprise of the day. She looked good. Her hair was brushed and shining, her makeup had been repaired and she'd put some lipstick on and I saw what I had failed to notice before, that she was an attractive woman with aquiline features and serious grey eyes. She had a rather long face and a straight, narrow nose, with flaring nostrils. Her mouth was generous with full lips, but the marks of age were there: crow's feet at the corners of her eyes and faint lines down her cheeks and on her upper lip. She was tall and slender with narrow hips and a shallow bust. Elegant is how I would have described her. Elegant and mature. And that is a combination that has always had the power to turn my stomach to jelly and make the blood race to my penis. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So that's how Linda Parker and I first met and how we ended up sitting together in those ultra-comfortable reclining seats and watching a more than ordinarily silly rom com and laughing a bit too loudly and a bit too much. I sneaked a few looks at her during the film, although it was dark and I couldn't see much. Once she caught me scrutinising her and I flushed with embarrassment in the gloom.

After the credits had scrolled down the screen we stood up and made our way out of the Multiplex and stood at the edge of the carpark. The wind was tossing Linda's hair about and she kept brushing it out of her face. She was wearing tailored jeans and high-heels and her legs were good and I felt a surge of desire, which was crazy because we'd only just met. But I do have this thing about older ladies, particularly ones like Linda. So the last thing I wanted was to say goodbye and never see her again.

'I'm going to get some lunch while I'm here,' I told her. There are about a half-dozen food outlets scattered around the cinema complex. 'I'd be delighted if you'd join me.'

'Well that's very kind of you, Jack, but I'm not sure I'd be very good company. And anyway, you don't want an old stick like me with you, do you?'

'You're not an old stick,' I protested, 'and actually, I think we could both cheer each other up. So yes, I would like to have lunch with you.' I chose the Mexican, which was as empty as the cinema had been. We sat at a window table with a romantic view of the carpark and ordered drinks. I had a beer and Linda had a soft drink.

We sat at that table for the best part of two hours, ordering coffee after we'd finished the food and then more coffee. And I discovered that my elegant, mature lady was also a gentle and kind and interesting personality. She told me that she'd looked after her mother for many years, although she didn't say what was wrong with her. She said that this had pretty much prevented her from having a normal relationship with anyone. But her mother had passed away six months ago and Linda told me that she was actively trying to meet new people, by which I assumed she meant boyfriends.

'I'd have thought they'd be beating a path to your door. You're a very attractive lady,' I added, a bit shyly.

She smiled, showing strong, white teeth. 'Well they're not, whoever "they" are. The thing is, Jack, I'm not very worldly. I've been in this cocoon for the past thirty years and, well... men seem to want someone more sophisticated. I get one date and then nothing. Anyway, tell me about you.'

So I told her about Liz and my job as an electrician and what I did in my spare time, which was mainly walking and reading, and the next thing we knew it was five o'clock and the place was starting to fill up with early evening diners. I signalled for the bill but when the waiter arrived Linda insisted on paying. A few minutes later we were back in the carpark, that pre-parting awkwardness between us.

'Thank you for lunch,' I said. 'It's been really nice meeting you.' It sounded a bit mechanical to me.

'And you,' she smiled, and there was an awkward silence.

'I'd like to see you again,' I said, suddenly, to fill the silence. Linda looked uncertain. 'Look,' I continued, 'would you like to go for a walk one day, in the Peaks? Maybe take some lunch or something.' The town we lived in was on the eastern edge of the Peak District National Park.

'Thank you,' she said after a short pause. 'It's kind of you to ask me and yes, I would like to.' We arranged to meet at the bus station the following Saturday. Linda suggested this and I didn't demur; she was probably right not to give me her address. Then, slightly incongruously, we shook hands and went our separate ways.

I thought a lot about Linda over the next week. I wondered whether she'd turn up on Saturday. We hadn't exchanged mobile numbers so if she didn't, that was that. But I had the feeling that Linda wouldn't want to let someone down; she was too kind for that. And she knew what rejection was like. And that puzzled me because I found her very attractive, she was just my sort of mature fantasy: tall, slim, elegant, well dressed.

I will confess to a few butterflies as I drove to the bus station early the following Saturday morning, and when I saw her standing there my stomach did a little flip and my mouth went dry. I stopped and got out and we said hello. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she was wearing walking trousers and she had a small knapsack with her and I thought she looked ravishing. I put her knapsack in the boot with mine and we were on our way.

We chatted easily as I drove. I asked her about her week and she asked me about mine and we talked about our favourite walks in the Peaks and in what seemed no time at all we were at Edale, and the start of the Pennine Way. It was late April and the trees and hedges were just coming into leaf and there was a smell of May blossom in the air, though it was cool and we both wore walking jackets, hers a deep red. It got cooler as we climbed to the Kinder Plateau and the wind picked up. Above us buzzards wheeled and cried to each other and the wind soughed through the heather. There were few people about and the track was wide, allowing us to walk side by side. I can't remember all the things we talked about that day. I told her about my family and my friends and my hopes and aspirations; she told me about her childhood in the south and that she had played the violin in an orchestra when she was younger. There was an air of sadness about her. Maybe she was contemplating the lost opportunities, the years spent caring for her mother when she might have been raising a family.

We stopped at the Kinder Downfall for our lunch, finding a sheltered spot behind a boulder, off the main track of the Pennine Way. The sun had come out by this time and we sat with our backs to the rock and felt the warmth on our faces as we ate our sandwiches and drank coffee from a thermos flask that I'd brought. Afterwards we both felt a bit drowsy and Linda leaned against me. I was starting to think this was a come-on when I realised she'd fallen asleep, so I sat there, feeling her next to me, for five or ten minutes until she opened her eyes and looked round at me.

'Oh gosh, I'm sorry, Jack. I fell asleep. It's all this fresh air and exercise.' She seemed then to realise she was leaning against me and she straightened up with another apology.

'Don't apologise,' I said and, leaning over, kissed her gently on the lips, keeping the contact for a couple of seconds. Her lips felt soft and dry. She didn't really return the kiss but she made no move to pull away. I broke the kiss and looked at her.

'Sorry, couldn't resist it,' I explained. 'I do find you very attractive, Linda.'

'Yes,' she said. 'I thought you did.' She paused. 'And I think you're attractive too, and good company. But... I'm so much older than you, Jack.'

We got up and stretched and continued our walk, side by side, as before. Except that there was now a little touch of awkwardness after my attempt to kiss her. We avoided eye contact as we walked and the conversation seemed stilted compared to previously and I wished I hadn't been so stupid. Eventually we came to the narrow gorge that leads down into the Vale of Edale and we stopped and looked down at the toy houses below us and a miniature train running along the valley floor.

'It's so beautiful up here,' said Linda. 'Thank you for bringing me.' She turned to face me, her arms by her side and I held out my arms and she came to me and we kissed, tilting our heads to engage our lips fully. And this time Linda responded, working her mouth against mine, and I felt her warmth and wetness and the taste of her and my heart raced and my penis stirred in my trousers and I felt the sun come out from behind a cloud and bathe us in a warm glow, although it might just have been my imagination. I made no attempt to French kiss her; I wanted things to progress slowly and surely, if they were to progress at all.

I think that first, proper kiss lasted about five minutes and after our mouths broke apart I hugged her to me and she hugged me back and I felt the press of her small breasts through our clothes. Then, without saying anything, we descended into the valley and came back to my car in the station carpark.

I didn't drop Linda off at the bus station; that would have been silly. She directed me to her house, a surprisingly big detached Victorian villa on the outskirts of the town, and I pulled into her forecourt and switched off the engine. We kissed again before she got out but kissing in a car is awkward and it was not much more than a brief meeting of lips.

'Thank you for a simply wonderful day,' she said. 'I won't ask you in, the place is a mess and I've got things to do.' My spirits, which had begun to soar as we drove to her house now plunged. It must have shown in my face because she smiled her kind smile. 'But I wondered if you'd like to come for dinner one night this week.' We settled on Wednesday and I drove back to my flat on cloud nine.

I spent a ridiculous amount of time getting ready on Wednesday evening. Way more than I'd ever spent getting ready for Liz, or any of the others. I went out and bought some flowers and a half-decent bottle of red wine and I had a long bath and a wet shave and even dabbed a bit of cologne on my face. At seven o'clock I presented myself at her door in pressed chinos and a short-sleeved shirt.

Linda opened the door and I gave her the flowers and she gave me a huge smile and led me into her big kitchen at the back of the house. She was wearing a sleeveless, floral summer dress and her legs were bare and very slim and shapely. 'I don't think I've ever been given such lovely flowers!' She invited me to sit at the kitchen table while she fussed around with vases and scissors. Then she picked up the bottle of wine. 'Pinot Noir! You clever thing! It's my favourite. Would you like a glass?' I said I'd just have a glass with dinner as I was driving so she got me a soft drink and we chatted while she finished cooking dinner. 'Do you mind if we eat in here?' she asked. 'The dining room's still full of mum's stuff that I haven't got round to chucking out.' There was a note of sadness in her voice.

The meal was a slow-roasted joint of beef and it was delicious. Afterwards she produced a homemade cheesecake and by the time we'd done justice to that I was feeling full and mellow. We loaded the dishwasher and she picked up the half bottle of wine that was left. 'Shall we go into the lounge? It's more comfortable than in here.'

The lounge was tastefully decorated with oil paintings on the wall and a thick, pearl-grey carpet and a matching leather suite. I looked round admiringly. 'Nice.'

'Do you like it? I've been doing the rooms one by one since mum died and I've just finished this one.' We sat down on a three-seater settee in front of a big flat-screen TV, about a foot and a half between us. 'You seem very far away,' she said. I slid over and put my arm around her and she melted into my embrace and our lips met and I kissed her and she kissed me back and after a couple of minutes I slid my tongue tentatively between her lips and she opened her mouth to accept it and I felt her tongue and her teeth and tasted her saliva and felt her lips mash against mine, sweet and warm and wet and I thought I had never had such an exciting kiss before and I wanted it to go on forever.

As we kissed I put my other arm around her and I felt her arms go around me, her hands on the back of my neck and I stroked her hair, which was soft and silky, and ran my hand down the ridges of her spine and she shivered a bit and kissed me harder and I felt her small breasts press against me again through the thin fabric of her dress and my cock began to harden.