A Tale of Two Loves Pt. 01

She choked up, and I reached and took her hand, "Trish, this is not the end for you. It's just the beginning, a new beginning. Try to put what's happened behind you and look forward to what can be in your future."

As she wiped at her tears with her napkin, she put on a feeble smile, "Are you going to be in that future," she asked, pinning me with her big, doe eyes.

Well, crap! Suddenly this went from a fun date to a serious situation, really fast.

I hedged, "I don't know, maybe; but don't make me all the eggs in your one basket, Trish. I don't know that I'm what you would call the most solid guy to lean on, right now. But I'll try to be there for you. That's the best that I can offer."

She smiled, "Well, that's the best offer I have so far, so I guess I'll settle for that...for now," she added the last with a smile, but with a slightly serious tone in her voice. I tried not to visibly squirm.

You ever feel like you were walking a tight rope, and there was no doubt that you were going to fall, just a matter of which direction and how far. That's how I felt at the moment. After dinner, I drove Trish home, all the while thinking about Angie. I liked her. I liked Trish. I was afraid this was going to get messy.

When we arrived at her house, and I went to help Trish out of my low-slung car, I realized she was a bit tipsy. After our drinks, we had shared a bottle of Bordeaux with dinner.

"Coming in for coffee?" she asked.

"I could use a cup," I answered.

"Me too. I think I had more to drink than I should. But you had just as much, and you seem fine."

"I'm bigger than you...by a little bit, and I hold my liquor pretty..."

She slapped my arm, "A little bit?" then laughed, "You're bad, Matt, but I like that. She fell against me, wrapped her hands around the back of my neck, pulled me down and kissed me, urgently, passionately. I kissed her back, with just as much passion. She pressed her warm body and full breasts against me, and I felt a stirring for the first time in months, but I quickly tempered that with the thought that, one - Trish was in a vulnerable state, and two - that she was currently inebriated.

That's one of the other traits I have to recommend me - I try to never take advantage of a woman, or anybody, for that matter, especially if they're vulnerable. I mean that in a 'personal' sense. In business, certain types of vulnerabilities have to be taken into consideration, and exploited. Ethics then come into play, and determine how you go about 'exploiting'. For my part, I try to shoot for the 'win-win'.

When we separated from the kiss, Trish was flushed, from the passion or from embarrassment.

"I'm, um, sorry. I guess..." she started.

"Trish, I'm not. That was lovely. But why don't we put on some coffee."

"Yeah, mm hmm," she softly answered, and we headed to the house.

Trish was quiet while the coffee was making and I let her be. Once we had the coffee and had sat at the dining table, Trish opened up.

"I hope you don't get the wrong impression from that, from what happened. I just, I don't know. I couldn't stop myself, and I'll be honest, right now, if you wanted to take me to bed, I wouldn't stop you. I haven't had much love in my life for quite a while."

"Trish, I can't say I don't want to take you to bed. I'd love to. But we're just going to sit and have coffee right now. Maybe sometime in the future, we'll revisit that. I don't want you to rush into something tonight, and regret it in the morning. I would regret that, myself."

"Thank you, Matt. That's pretty decent of you."

"Yeah, I've got to find a cure for that, or I'm never going to get laid."

She laughed, then started to cry. I quickly got out of my seat and pulled her up into an embrace. She wrapped her arms around my waist, buried her face in my chest, and began sobbing. I held her while she cried, and waited for her to get it all out. It took a while. She had obviously been holding it all in for some time.

As she released me, I reached and snagged a napkin from the table and handed it to her.

"I'm so sorry..."

"No, no. Don't go there. You needed that, and I'm glad I could be here for you."

After wiping her eyes, she reached for me again, kissing me warmly, tenderly. I held her until she was ready to sit. Then we finished our coffees while she told me about how things had developed with her husband over the last year - how he had become less loving; then quit making love; came home smelling of another woman's perfume; then came the fights, the denials, and finally, the soul-crushing truth.

Trish was reaching out to me. And I was flattered, but concerned, also. I was attracted to Trish. She was sweet, lovely - all woman, and I wanted to pursue what might be there. We obviously had a connection, were comfortable with each other - and she was a helluva kisser.

At the same time, there was pretty, dynamic Angie. Crap. She was very sweet and beautiful, too; but very different from Trish. I didn't want to hurt Trish, but I was very interested in Angie.

I went home that night with mixed feelings, and I actually did consider canceling with Angie. That would have simplified things.

Glad I didn't.

Wished I had.

But very glad I didn't.

VII. ANGIE - FIRST DATE

Saturday, the whole day before heading to Angie's, I was thinking about Trish. Though when I arrived and Angie greeted me at the door, all thoughts of Trish vanished.

Angie greeted me with a broad, dazzling smile, showing her perfect, white teeth, "Right on time."

She was wearing a pretty, blue and white peasant blouse, off the shoulders. Her slightly prominent shoulders, collar bones, and elegant neck were attractively displayed and quite captivating. Her medium-sized bosom filled out the bodice nicely. The blouse stopped just above her high-on-the-waist, designer-type jeans, exposing enough of her midriff to be sexy without being tawdry, and the gap just revealed her sexy, elongated navel. The snug-fitting jeans pleasingly showcased her moderately-flared hips and long, firm-looking legs. Wow, if I was going to eliminate one of the two women based on physical beauty, I was out of luck. They were both exceptional, though quite different in appearance.

Where Trish is shorter, and more voluptuous, with brown hair and dark eyes, Angie is tall and slender, about 5'-9" and 130 pounds - maybe more, with very long, naturally blond hair (no dark roots evident), and bright blue eyes. Her hair was currently gathered in a pretty, blue clip that matched the dominant color of the trim on her blouse, and was draped in front of her left shoulder, covering her breast. Her eyes are enchanting, and her slightly long, straight nose fits her oval face perfectly. But her broad mouth with it's moderately full lips is the most eye-catching feature of her lovely face - she is strikingly beautiful.

As I walked up, she surprised me, reaching out and pulling me into a hug, then giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"I can't tell you how excited I am about our date. This is my first since I got here, and my first since...well, in a long time."

I was surprised to hear that, but didn't comment.

"Then, shall we?"

She grabbed a shawl by the door, then cheerfully remarked, "Absolutely. I'm starved. I didn't eat lunch so I would have room for dinner tonight. Since I'm paying, I'm going to chow down."

After the drama with Trish, and the misgivings I had about this date, her enthusiasm and playfulness lifted my spirits.

"Top up or down?" I asked as I helped into my car.

"Sunny day; who in their right mind would drive a convertible with the top up?" she grinned.

If I was looking for a reason not to like this woman, she was giving me none!

"Top down it is," I remarked as I got in and started the car. It rumbled to life and we were off.

With all the wind, road and engine noise, we tabled conversation till we arrived at the steakhouse that I had picked. There were better places in town, but this one was midrange, price-wise, and had pretty good quality with excellent service. Since I wasn't paying, I wanted to be considerate of Angie's budget.

When we arrived at the restaurant, Angie remarked, "That was a blast. I haven't been in a convertible since riding with my dad as a teenager."

As I got out and went around to get her, she pulled a small brush out of her purse, removed her hair clip, brushed her hair out, then replaced the clip.

"Glad you enjoyed. Come on gorgeous, I want to make every guy in this joint green with envy."

"Matt, you dog, are you trying to butter me up?"

"Up one side and down the other!"

"Well, it's working," she laughed.

After we were seated, we ordered iced teas and chatted until the waiter returned for our order.

Angie requested an eight-ounce filet, medium rare, baked potato with extra butter, broccoli, and added with a grin, "Bring a loaf of bread with a tub of butter."

When the waiter turned to me, I said, "I'll have the same, but we can share the bread and the tub of butter."

A good waiter, he chuckled and thanked us.

After he left, Angie remarked, "You didn't have to order the same thing as me."

"It was exactly what I wanted. And when you said you were going to chow down, you weren't kidding. How do you stay so slim."

She laughed, "Are you saying I eat like a pig?"

I chuckled, "I guess so."

"Well, actually I can eat like that and keep my figure, because afterwards, I go to the bathroom and stick my finger down my throat."

I laughed, "I thought I was the only one that did that."

She kidded, "So that's how you keep 'your' girlish figure."

"You know, I love your sense of humor," I remarked.

She followed with, "I love yours, too. That's one of the things that attracted me to you - that and your 'fists of fury'."

"Fists of fury! Another catch phrase for my business card."

She came back with, "I think you need a different business card - one for your apparent hobby."

She gestured with her hand to make lines in the air.

"Fists of Fury - Bully-Bashing Service"

"Bullies summarily subdued"

"Damsels rapidly rescued"

"Or something like that," she finished, grinning.

I laughed, "You're hired; you can be my agent."

When dinner arrived, Angie didn't mess around picking at her food and being all dainty. She dug in, cleaning her plate almost before me. We still chatted, but mostly about me, to my chagrin.

As they cleared our plates, I asked her about dessert.

"No, I'm sated, thanks."

"Drinks?"

She eyed me for a second then asked, "Your place or mine?" catching me off guard.

She saw the surprised look on my face, "Just drinks; don't have an aneurism," she kidded.

"You almost made my heart stop," I joked back.

She explained, "Well, actually, I'm curious about where you live, so..."

"So, my place. But I have to warn you, I live a ways out of town, and it's a little secluded."

"Sounds ominous, but I'll risk it," she grinned.

When we got to the car, I asked top up or down, as the sun had set, and it was cooling off.

"It's a clear, lovely night, and I have my shawl. I want to see the stars."

"You got it."

Angie was certainly not making things easy on me. I was quite taken with her. She removed her hair clip, rearranged her hair, draped behind her, reclipped it, and wrapped the shawl around her shoulders.

As we left the city lights behind, a canopy of stars appeared in the night sky and an almost full, gibbous moon hung low on the horizon, silhouetting the mountains in the distance - an altogether magical setting. We raced down the dark, two-lane highway to my house with Angie's long, blond hair whipping in the wind.

When I turned onto the gravel lane that led to my house, she remarked, "Boy, you are remote, isolated. There's almost nothing out here."

"I like my privacy, but I do have neighbors scattered around, and a couple small developments nearby, just none too close."

"You're pretty much a loner, aren't you?" she correctly observed.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm not anti-social, but I'm pretty comfortable with myself...Here we are," I interrupted as we pulled up in front of my house.

"This isn't at all what I expected," she remarked, "I wasn't expecting anything in particular, but I guess I was expecting bigger, maybe fancier, something with a fountain in front. I don't know. Don't get me wrong. It looks very nice, but I guess I thought with your money..."

"Yeah, I could afford larger, snazzier, but I've never been about spending money just to spend money. Shall we?" I asked as I got out.

"Your handle doesn't work," Angie remarked as she tried to open the door.

"Nope, it's broken. It's on the list."

I opened the door and helped her out. As she unfolded her long frame and stood, I was again made aware of how tall she is, at least compared to me.

I killed the alarm with a fob then unlocked the door and let us in.

"Wow, nice, very nice; masculine but not too masculine, and I can see where you put your money. This is really gorgeous," Angie commented as we entered and I turned on the lights.

"I'm glad you like it. I'm still finishing up some of the renovations, but I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out. What would you like to drink? I have a couple wines, a few different beers; I have vodka and tequila. I can make..."

"What kinds of beers?"

"Ales, porters, a stout, and a couple local, craft lagers."

"What's a porter?"

"It's between a dark ale and a stout."

"I'll try that."

I thought, "Gal after my own heart." Damn, this woman was really having an impact on me. I hadn't been with a woman that I felt this connected to, comfortable around, in a very long time.

Since it was still a pleasant, clear night, I set us up on the patio so we could enjoy the stars.

"You have a wonderful view. I love the mountains there, silhouetted against the night sky."

"Yeah, it's just as beautiful in the daytime. One of the reasons I bought out here was the unrestricted views - no other houses in immediate proximity, no highline wires, no cell towers; I can enjoy an uncluttered vista.

"How's your reception out here?"

"Oh, it's good. There's a cell tower to the south, and I have fiber optic internet service for my computer. It cost a bundle to get it out here, but enough of us got together and subscribed that it made it work for the provider. Internet connection is imperative for my business."

"Of course. I understand that."

"Speaking of business, you know all about me; we've practically covered my life history, but all I know about you is that you moved here recently for a job, that you came from California, and that you're too pretty to be genuinely interested in me...I'm still assuming you're attracted to my money, and my fists of fury."

Angie laughed, "Oh, no, just the money." Then she hesitated a few moments before starting, "Well, I guess, there's not a lot to tell. You know I moved here for that job a couple months ago. I work at a federal agency in town. Let's see...I grew up in Colorado, average family, great parents, like you. I have a younger brother, and an older sister. I met my husband when I was visiting her in California...and, um, I'm single now..."

"Divorced?" I asked, as she kind of glossed over that detail.

Again she hesitated, "No, um, I lost my husband last year."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"No, it's okay...He was in the Air Force, a loadmaster on C-17's, and they were unloading some large equipment in Iraq, there was an accident..." she choked up and couldn't finish.

"I'm so sorry." I reached for and covered her hand. In turn, she grabbed and squeezed mine.

"I, um, I never got to...the last time I saw him was two weeks before. The last thing I said to him was, 'Love you; see you when you get back'...I, I didn't know it was 'goodbye'..."

She began sniffling and tears starting running down her cheeks. I handed her a napkin. She thanked me and squeezed my hand harder.

"Sorry, I still have trouble talking about it."

"You certainly don't have to. I'm sorry if..."

"No, Matt, it's okay. I'm just still working on coming to terms with it. That's why I moved here. I lived in military housing at Travis, and all my friends were military. It got to where I couldn't breathe. My friends meant well, but everywhere I went, everyone tried to comfort me - I was constantly reminded of what had happened, and then I would see my friends with their husbands...well, I just had to get out of there."

"I understand. I can't imagine what you're going through, but I can appreciate how difficult it must be...So, tell me about your job," I said to change the subject.

"I work at the regional FBI office." She saw the look that I got, and quickly explained, "No, I'm just in administrative, not too exciting, but it's a good job. I was a GS civil service employee at the base, and the colonel who was my husband's boss, pulled some strings and got me this job when he learned I needed to leave; so I'm lucky to have it."

"Well, yes that is fortunate," I put in.

"And now I've met you," she replied as she stood and pulled me up. "And I feel fortunate for that, too," she finished and pulled me to her.

I didn't hesitate and met her waiting mouth. She immediately slipped her long, slender tongue between my lips, kissing me firmly, sensually, but slowly and tenderly at the same time. I got lost in the kiss, the feel of her tongue, her lips, and her trembling body pressed against me. Eventually, we slowly separated, and again she had tears leaking down her cheeks. I wiped at them as she hugged herself to me. I hugged her back.

"You're strong," she remarked, "it reminds me of James. He was a strong man, but you're...bigger, more muscular. And like with him, I feel safe in your arms...Do you have any music, something we could slow dance to?" she asked.

"Sure, I'll put something on."

We walked inside, arms around each other's waists. I found an old, Johnny Mathis cd that my last ex-wife gave me. I'd never heard of him, but I liked his soothing crooner's voice. I put the cd in and turned to Angie. She immediately wrapped me up and put her head on my shoulder.

"Who's that?" she asked softly.

"Johnny Mathis."

"Not familiar; very nice, though," she cooed, and further snuggled into my shoulder and painted her body to mine.

We slow-danced through two songs. The feel of her slender, shapely body against me did not go unnoticed, and my libido betrayed me at some point. As we danced, Angie's leg rubbed up against my growing bulge. She lifted her head and looked me in the eye.

"Sorry," I whispered, embarrassed to no end.

She smiled, placed her head back on my shoulder and pressed her leg into my groin against my growing erection.

When the second song ended she lifted her head, "I'm thirsty; some ice water or iced tea?"

"I have iced tea," I said, still embarrassed by my lack of control. My ears felt like they were burning, but Angie was obviously unperturbed.

I returned with our teas, and motioned to the sofa for Angie to sit, then handed her a tea. I went to sit in a chair across from her and she patted the sofa cushion next to her. I went and sat beside her. She took my hand with her free hand and held it in her lap.

She turned and smiled, "I know you were embarrassed by what happened, but I'm not. It's the first time in many months that I've been reminded that I am a woman, not just a widow." She squeezed my hand and I squeezed back.

We sat and sipped our iced teas as the deep, sultry tones of Johnny Mathis played in the background. After a while, Angie set her tea down, and I followed suit, then she turned into me, wrapping me up in another passionate kiss. My erection returned and began to grow. She reached a hand down, laying it on my leg, then running it up till she found my erection and ran her hand up the shaft, outlining it with her long, slender fingers. She left her hand there, lightly grasping my ever-stiffening rod.