Claire had not noticed him until the third day that he ran past her house.
With Covid-19, she wasn't working at the office any more, but was working from home.
She had moved her desk to the front window in their living room because she had felt too isolated in their small home office. Living on a quiet country road, she hadn't figured on too many distractions but it allowed her to feel like she was still part of the world.
The odd car, sometimes a truck, and more animals than people, passed through by her window. Mostly she was able to focus though, and never noticed anything while she worked for the first few days.
She was talking on the phone when happened to glance up and notice him.
She hadn't noticed anyone jogging from her window until today. He was a big man, he was older, she could see a little grey hair under his ball cap, but otherwise he might have been thirty, nice shoulders and from what she could see, a nice butt, connected to two toned legs.
There was still snow on the ground, but he wore shorts and a sweatshirt, and it didn't look like the cold bothered him.
Even before the sudden appearance of Covid-19 and the subsequent lock down, she had pretty much resigned herself to a life without much excitement. Her work was the one exception, as a senior leader in a large corporation, working fulfilled her professional needs and the social interaction made up for the shortfalls in her personal life, but now even that had been taken from her.
She and her husband lived more as brother and sister than as husband and wife. Yes, they shared a bed, a nice house, three great kids, but any passion had long since evaporated. At 52, she was no longer a MILF, she would laugh to herself hoping someone might be looking for a GILF.
Dressed in sweat pants, her PJ top, and her hair looking like a bird's nest, she figured that no one was going to be knocking down her door any time soon. Almost without a thought, she had let her physical appearance suffer the past few weeks since she spent most days alone.
Sex was a distant memory, and although a very attractive woman; because of her position at work, she never even considered attempting to form a liaison with anyone that she met due to her loyalty to the company and an ingrained sense of what a marriage meant learned from a strict childhood.
All three kids were away at either college or university, and although they talked weekly, she felt more and more like a prisoner, it was a nice jail, but a jail nonetheless.
Her husband was still working at his office and had left early, like he did every day, she hadn't even gotten out of bed today when he left.
Although the runner had only been visible for maybe one or two minutes as he ran past, she had felt something, a longing, a sense of wistfulness.
She thought he had glanced at her window and smiled, but she couldn't be sure.
Throughout the day, she wondered who he was and whether she might see him again. It was silly, she figured it was just because she was lonely and he was the only person who she actually had seen that day.
The next day, she actually got dressed, jeans and a t-shirt, with her hair in a pony tail. She knew it was dumb, maybe he hadn't even remembered her, but she could dream, couldn't she. But no sign of him, she felt silly, old, and disappointed.
She was on the phone again with an important client from overseas the next day when she saw him. It was sunny, but still cold, she could see his breath.
He stopped in front of her house, seeming to catch his breath. He looked in her window and smiled. This was not an accident; he had done this so she would know he had seen her. Not handsome in a movie star way, he was nonetheless not unattractive. His eyes caught her attention, they were incredibly blue, not like most people's, they were a deep blue that captivated her momentarily, she smiled back and waved, then the client began speaking and she glanced at her computer screen and when she looked back up, he was gone.
"Damn," she said louder than she thought and had to apologize to her client, who mistakenly thought she was disagreeing with them.
The next day, was trash day, and first thing in the morning she was putting out her garbage cans, when she saw him again.
"Oh fuck," she said, she was wearing her old robe over her pj's, she wore an old toque over her hair, and could not imagine herself looking any uglier than she did at this moment. She thought she looked like a bag lady.
It was too late to avoid being seen, she saw him approach, he was maybe about 6.2, 200 pounds, muscular but not in an exaggerated way, strong features, and that nice smile.
He wore the same outfit today, and she could see the sweat despite the cold. Looking closer at him, she thought he might be younger than her, if you discounted the hair, he could be 38 or 39, but with the grey, he might be as old as 45-50. Later when she actually found out he was actually 54, she almost didn't believe it.
"Good morning, it's nice to see you again, how are you today?" he asked in a voice that she could feel more than hear, it was quiet but deep and powerful, it was hard to describe.
Oh god, I'm going to scare him away, looking the way I do, "Good morning," she managed.
He stopped and smiled, she couldn't remember afterwards what he had said, it had only been a few seconds, but she knew how he made her feel. Afterwards she was almost embarrassed; she was a business professional, not a school girl, but there was something about him, about his deep blue eyes that seemed to make her forget all of that.
Despite the cold and that he was sweating, she remembered his scent, yes, she could detect the sweatiness, but there was something else, something like cinnamon and the smell of fresh motor oil, or nice leather; a masculine smell. The scent reminded her of only one other person, her father. Her father was much older than her, and she remembered him as a big strong man, but always gentle with her, she loved those memories and this man reminded her of him.
As a young woman, she had always hoped she would find someone like that; but, life, school, university, kids, and a career pushed that desire into a forgotten corner of her mind. She hadn't thought about it again, not until today.
For the rest of that day, as much as she tried to focus on work, her mind drifted back to him, she suddenly remembered he had introduced himself, his name was Trevalian, he said she could call him Trev, if she wanted. Thinking back and she didn't even remember if she had introduced herself.
A few times during the day, she had found herself doodling and by the end of the day, she realized she had written the name Trevalian about 30 times on her scratch pad, and worse yet there were tiny hearts over the" i".
"Get a grip, woman," she admonished herself, you barely know him and besides it hasn't been that long.
"Actually, maybe it has," she thought. It had been years since the last time her and her husband had done more than a simple peck on the lips. He husband was almost ten years older than her, out of shape, although a good provider, she was far from happy. Looking at a recent picture, all she could remember thinking, "Was this all that I have to look forward too?"
As her kids moved off to university, she devoted herself to work, and tried not to think about how her own life wasn't satisfying. Sex wasn't sometime she thought much about, and when she did, she had her vibrator. At work she looked like she was happy, nice and professional, attractive in an older woman kind of way, her blonde hair now sprinkled with a little grey. Despite yoga, she had added a few extra pounds and she had meant to exercise more, but just didn't get around to it, although getting a little rounder herself, she laughed.
"T-r-e-v-a ..., oh fuck off," she caught herself writing the name again.
That night her dreams had haunted her with images of him and when she awoke, she was sweating.
"Just some hot flashes," she told herself.
Secretly her fear was ending up as one of those women who have dozens of cats. Her friends couldn't understand, because, to the outside world, she looked like they had the perfect life, all she knew is that "her sparkle, seemed to have gone out ".
This day, she got up and for the first time in a week, did her yoga, online she had notice comments from people working from home warning of, "Covid-19 pounds," and they weren't kidding. Putting herself through a hard workout, her heart was pounding when she was done and her t-shirt and shorts were soaked as she dragged herself into the shower.
Whenever she closed her eyes, she could see Trevalian. She shook her head, this was not her; she was not some starry-eyed kid, she was an executive of one of the biggest companies in the area, she was being stupid.