Author's preamble:
The characters in this story are both over 18. It is entirely fictional: any similarity between them and real people is coincidental.
The Merry Widow is a stand-alone tale of two septuagenarians finding a new lease of life together.
I lost Bert, my husband, two years ago and still miss him dearly. I miss his companionship and I miss the physical side of marriage - we were sexually active right up to the heart attack that took him. Friends have tried to get me out more but I'm not a very social person so I've had no bedtime fun since Bert but I was determined to change that and set my sights on my next-door neighbour, John.
Regular as clockwork is John! Every evening, right after the Ten o'clock News, he takes his dog for a short walk along the dark footpath that runs past the back of our properties. He had devotedly nursed his wife through ten years of emphysema but lost the battle in spring, about six months after I lost Bert, when the last chest infection proved too much for her. We often exchanged greetings and local gossip over the low fence dividing our properties and he seemed a real nice man, about my age of 70. How was I to attract him?
My bedroom was visible from his back garden and from the footpath so I started by leaving my curtains open and the light on when I moved from the bathroom to bedroom, pottering around preparing for bed in just my night dress. In our younger days, Bert had encouraged me to expose myself 'accidentally'. It always gave us both a buzz of passion when other people saw my undies and occasionally a bit more flesh than was 'decent' so this sort of thing was nothing new to me. In the past, it had always been well away from home and exposing myself at home gave me an extra frisson of excitement, never mind that it was just John from next door who could see me.
I knew he was watching because his flashlight switched off outside my back fence so after a few evenings of this, I stood in my bathroom pondering whether to raise the stakes or not. I threw my bathrobe on and carried my nightdress to the bedroom as I heard his back door open and close. Yes, his flashlight went off again so I turned my back to the window, took off my bathrobe and changed into my nightdress. Over the next few days, I turned more towards the window, eventually giving John the full frontal.
One morning we were both out back hanging a line of washing when he called me over to the dividing fence. He sort of coughed in embarrassment and said quietly, "You looked really lovely last night, Meg."
I felt myself blushing but said, "What do you mean?"
He smiled. "You know what I mean, Meg. And thank you."
For the next few days, I changed my routine and undressed in the bedroom, performing a strip tease for him. He never said any more about it so I realised I would have to break the ice. Again talking over the fence between us, I invited him to my place for the next evening, "I'll make us a meal and we can share a bottle of wine."
"Sounds lovely," he smiled, "I'll bring the wine."
My hairdresser could come to me tomorrow morning, as it was 'an emergency', and I told her briefly that I had a 'date', something that amused her even though I did not say who my date was. She wished me luck as she packed her things away and left. In the afternoon, I did most of the preparation of the food then put the casserole in the oven. I baked a chocolate sponge and slathered chocolate fudge all over it.
I debated with myself long and hard about what to wear and settled on a blue, light angora, cardigan, with a neckline deep enough to show a decent cleavage, and knee-length cotton skirt matching the top in colour. Underneath I wore a blue bra and panties set Bert used to like. Look, I'm 70, OK? At that age, boobs sag a little and there are extra pounds distributed around my body, but overall, I had kept most of my shape and I have been described as 'cuddly'. My makeup was light, just enough to add some colour to my face and lips. I wore no hosiery and just a pair of comfortable shoes on my feet.
John knocked on my door at 7 o'clock wearing neatly pressed fawn slacks and a short-sleeved summer shirt. "You look beautiful, Meg," he said, as he looked me up and down to get the full effect and smiled. We kissed on the cheek and he passed me two bottles of a light German wine and a small but very pretty bouquet. The condensation on the bottles told me they were nicely chilled. I took them and the flowers from him, invited him in and sat him on one end the sofa while I took the gifts to the kitchen. I arranged the flowers in a vase that I placed on the kitchen table, already laid out for dinner. I put one wine bottle in the fridge, opened the other, poured two glasses then sat on the other end of the sofa, body and knees turned to face him. I explained that dinner would be ready in half an hour so we sat sipping our wine and in general chitchat.
Lifting my glass of wine, I joked, "Two bottles John? Are you trying to get me drunk so you can have your wicked way with me?"