I wake up the next morning, and I am dragging a little. I get up and shower. I need breakfast, but not the hotel's. I am heading to a local place I like. As I walk out, Samantha and her sister are walking out next door to me. Samantha gets very cheery. "We have connecting rooms, and I didn't realize it was you? I could have had a wedding booty call with just a soft knock on the door?" She says.
"Samantha, just stop. Not all your jokes are funny." Says her sister.
"Who said I was joking." Samantha says with a wink to me. "Going my way sailor?" As her sister heads for the elevators in a huff.
"I was heading to breakfast." I say.
"Us too. Come join us." Samantha says as we meet Jim and his happy wife at the elevators.
"Ugh not here. I am going to a local spot." I say.
"Bernie's? Can we join you?" Asks Jim.
"I have room for the four of us in my car. The more the merrier." I say.
"Shotgun." Says Samantha with a smile.
"What are you 13?" Asks her sister.
Samantha looks at me. "If I am 13 I should have pigtails." She holds her hair to the sides and looks at me. "Would you like pigtails in my hair to hold onto?"
"JESUS, SAMANTHA!" Her sister yells, and glares at me. Everyone just laughs including Jim.
Samantha put her arm around her sister. "You are so easy sometimes."
I have had enough, as the elevator dings I say. "Jim, you and Samantha take this one. We need to talk." I say as I look at his wife. Jim hesitates. "Please, Jim." I say to him.
His wife looks at him. "Go ahead." She says.
It all just sort of clicked in my head just now. Sue gets mad whenever there is anything even close to me looking at a woman. Somewhere inside her she is thinking I am cheating on Jen. "Jen would have laughed and said I was a pig for looking at Chrissy. You know that right?" I say, and her face drops. "But she also would have done exactly what I said she would do that night." I say. I can see the sadness in her face. "I am not cheating on Jen. I am trying to move on like she told me to. We talked a lot at the end. She wanted me to move on. We bartered about the mourning time. I said a week, she wanted a year. We settled for six months." I say smiling.
I can see tears in her eyes. "She told me." She says. "We talked too. I promised her, Jim and I would look out for you." Now we are both crying. "It was her anniversary Charlie!"
"You think I didn't know that? I had put flowers at her grave that morning. I was honestly looking out and seeing Jen playing with Sean in your backyard when he was a toddler when I was staring. I joked with Jim to avoid talking about it. I see her sometimes, reliving memories that have finally started making me smile, and yes I snapped that day, because you ripped that scab right off." I sigh.
"I am sorry!" She cries as she hugs me. "I miss her a lot too."
We hold each other for a moment. "So can we call a truce?" I ask.
"Yes." She says sniffling.
"You will stop getting mad when I talk to your sister?" I ask.
She sighs and looks me in the eyes. "She and Jen are a lot alike. I think they would have really liked each other if they were given the chance, but Samantha was never around a lot after she got married." She looks at me and smiles. "I won't get mad."
We compose ourselves and head downstairs. Samantha takes her sister's arm and they walk together.
Jim looks at his wife, and then me. "Everything OK?" He asks.
"We are good Jim. We just needed to talk it out." I say.
"Good. Let's go get some breakfast." Jim says.
Everything goes well. Samantha doesn't make any more dirty comments, but when she comes back from the ladies room and sits in the booth next to me she pulls her dress up exposing her legs. She doesn't even glance at me, unless it's in conversation. Damn she has nice legs. When we decide to leave she smooths her dress back down into place. I hold out my hand to help her up. "Such a gentleman." She says with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes.
We get back to the hotel and Samantha sighs. "Oh I almost forgot. I need a few small things. Would you mind taking me to a store?" She asks me.
"Sure." I say.
"Don't let me hold you guys up Sue. You guys go do your thing, you need to be ready early. Charlie can drive me."
Jim and Sue get out, and I drive away. "So where to?" I ask.
"Any pharmacy will do." She says as she plays with the hem of her dress.
I walk into the store with her. She starts grabbing little small makeup items. "I forgot my makeup bag." She walks past the women's hygiene isle. "Surgery took care of needing anything down there." She pauses at the family planning isle and walks down. I follow like a puppy dog. "Again surgery took care of needing those again." She says walking past the condoms. "But this." She says picking up some lube. "Helps since the surgery."
She walks down the candy isle. She picks up a blue package of M&Ms. "No, I don't think you will need these." She says, making an obvious play on words for the little blue pill.
"No, I do not." I say smiling
We get up front and there is a big battery display. I point to it. "Do you need any batteries?" I ask.
She one-ups me. "Maybe some fresh batteries would be good." She says tossing some in the basket. "Just in case I run some down and they need a few minutes to recharge."
"Oh fuck." I sigh.
She leans into my face. "Oh I hope so." She says softly as she puts a soft quick kiss on my lips.
"Wow." I sigh. Samantha giggles and pays for her stuff. We get in the car and I hear candy wrappers crinkling. I look over and she is smiling at me as she sucks on a lollipop. I shake my head and we both laugh.
Samantha heads to Jim & Sue's room, and I head to mine. I put up my feet, put on some music, and review some work stuff remotely. Before I know it, it's almost two hours later, someone is knocking. It's not my main door, it's the connecting door. I open the door and Samantha is smiling with her door open. "Can I come in and talk." She says softly.
"Of course." I say as I sit on the sofa.
She turns and sits sideways looking at me. Almost looking concerned. "Sue and I had a long talk. She told me what you two talked about." She tells me. I just sigh and shake my head. She holds my hand. "Charlie, I know I can be forward sometimes, that I then cover by making a joke. I don't want you to feel pressured if you aren't ready."
I take her hand in mine and turn towards her. "Samantha, you have been like a breath of fresh air. It's been a little more than two years, and yes you definitely have me very interested. I do have some pressure building, but you are not pressuring me." I say with a smile.
She just smiles at me. "Are you sure?" She asks. I move slowly towards her. I reach out and run my fingers through her hair. I pull her to me, and kiss her. It's a soft, wet kiss that is just long enough to be a long kiss. I pull back and she opens her eyes. She gives me a longing look. "That was very nice. I haven't been kissed like that in a Long time." She says.
"I haven't kissed a woman like that in a long time." I say with a smile. I didn't lie, I argue in my head. Ashley & Chrissy are girls.
She takes a deep breath. "Ok well I know what dress I am wearing tonight."
"Excuse me?" I ask.
"Any woman that travels always brings a conservative dress, and a sexy one. You are definitely getting the sexy one." She says.
I laugh. "I will wear my sexy 3 piece suit then too. My conservative one just won't cut it."
She gets up and walks to the doors. I push mine open. "My door is always open." I say.
She looks at my bed. "Hhhmmm a king sized bed. Much better than my two queens." She says. She reaches up and kisses my cheek. "See you in about an hour, handsome." She turns and walks through the doors closing hers.
Fuck I am in trouble. I haven't felt like this in a long long time.
As the old saying goes I shit, shower & shave, and get dressed. I grab the two cards I have. One is signed Uncle with $500 in it. Sean was always Jen's favorite. She would want him to have a little extra. I then have an unsigned card with $5,000 in cash. It's kind of a thick envelope with two stacks of 25 $100 bills side by side. The kids need the cash more than I do, and Chrissy has earned it. As I am grabbing my wallet & phone. There is a soft knock on my front door.
Samantha is standing there. "Wow." I say stunned. She has a beautiful, sexy dress on. It shows Great cleavage, the top is held up with two thin spaghetti straps. Her shoulder length brown hair is up, showing more neck and shoulders. It's not skin tight, more like form fitting, but extremely flattering as it goes down almost to her ankles. Then she moves. A slit opens up over her left leg all the way up to just under her hips. I just take it all in.
"Why this door?" I ask.
She looks up and down the hallway. She smiles at me. "Well truth be told, it's been a long time for me too. I was kind of already sold on you, but Sue really put you over the top this afternoon when we talked. I am afraid if I walk into your room we will be late for the ceremony." She says to me.
"Sue put me over the top?" I ask.
Samantha gives me a look like I don't believe you. "I just told you I am afraid to be alone with you in your room, because I am unsure I can control myself. And you can't believe my sister had nice things to say about you?" She says with a smile.