Age is Just a Number, Isn't It?

The hotel lobby near the Miami airport was stirring as March was a busy month. The snowbirds, young and old, had made their way back down to warmer weather to ease the last few days of winter back home. Kaleigh however, was not there purely for pleasure. On yet another business trip, she had just ended another week looking at an acquisition target for her employer. Kaleigh was an accountant, 27 years old, with long wavy strawberry red hair that framed her beautiful facial features perfectly. Her sparkling blue green eyes were the first feature most people noticed. But they complimented her rosy dimpled cheeks that were sprinkled with cute freckles. Her mouth was small, and was perfectly outlined by soft thin lips. As a former track athlete in college, she carried her short thin body perfectly. On this particular day, the traditional size 6 business suit fit her perfectly. Each piece, from the tight black mid thigh length skirt that hugged her toned legs, to the white blouse that hung off her shoulders and hid her 32 b chest, toned abs, and tucked neatly into that skirt. She could always do without the black nylons that clung to her runners legs, but they accentuated one of her best features. With her black blazer draped over one arm, she strode into the hotel bar in her two inch pumps confidently all be it frustrated as her flight had been canceled, again. So it was traveling in March she thought, holding her black Saint Laurent bag over her shoulder, and her black blazer draped over the other arm which was also dragging her carry-on luggage.

Multitasking, Kaleigh was trying to look at her phone to see if there was any way to get out of Miami tonight while trying to find a seat at the crowded bar. There was a confident purpose to her gait. She had been here before, both in this particular lobby and in this situation. She was scheduled to leave this evening and be back in New York by midnight. But the nor'easter, making its way up the east coast had other ideas and basically shut down the entire corridor. To make matters worse, the hotel she had been staying at all week, was booked for the weekend and couldn't extend her stay. "Ok, I've got to either find a plane that will take me somewhere closer to home, or find a place to crash for the night and deal with the airlines tomorrow," she thought in her typical methodical way. The only interruption to that thought process was that she needed food and this hotel had one of the better lobby bar areas in the city. It presented a semi dark, quiet ambiance, with dark wood tables and matching cushioned high back chairs. It also had a horse shoe shaped marble topped bar area with comfortable leather bar stools that had comfortable wood slatted backs. As Kaleigh pulled her eyes away from her phone, they scanned the bar for an open spot. After a minute or so, she found what seemed like the last available one between an older gentleman who had the last seat at the end of the bar and what looked like a couple who were either married, or on a date of some sort. "Not ideal, they guy will hit on me, and that couple seem like they are only into themselves," she told herself as she politely asked the man, "is anyone sitting here?"

The 55 year old man was dressed in a stylish blue striped buttoned down shirt, a gray fleece vest, beige khakis, and those half sneaker, half dress shoe that all the cool kids seem to be wearing. His blue blazer hung neatly over the back of his chair, and he was definitely older, but easy on the eyes Kaleigh thought. He must have been in Florida for some time as his tanned face showed a healthy glow and complimented his deep brown eyes and salt and pepper dark brown hair nicely. From what she could tell he was in good shape, a bit of a dad body, but without the typical gut hanging over his waistline that seemed to be standard on most men over 50.

"No, not at all," the gentleman said as he pulled his own eyes away from his phone to answer Kaleigh. She could see that he was on some airline app and thought he was probably in a similar dilemma as her.

"Perfect," she replied, pulling the chair out and hanging her blazer over the back of the chair. She then turned her attention to finding a spot close by for her luggage. As she did so, the man noticed and said, "oh, your bags, here put them next to mine, by the wall." A few feet away from the bar, was a glass wall that overlooked the hotel pool which was also crowded. Kaleigh scanned the pool area and saw that the quiet spot in the far corner of the patio was now occupied by a group of friends her age, obviously on some sort of vacation. "That was a great respite this week," she thought as she wheeled her carry-on over to the wall and returned to her seat. As she walked back, she thought about how the next few minutes might play out. "You know he is going to start talking to you, be friendly but don't extend any conversation. "You are here for a meal, don't do anything to lead him on, just keep your head down and eat until you find a hotel" she gave herself mental instructions as she carefully stepped up into her seat with her phone still in hand. As instructed, she kept her head down, conveniently focused on her phone tapping away looking for a hotel room. As the bartender noticed her and asked if she wanted a drink, she realized a few minutes had already lapsed and was somewhat surprised that the man sitting next to her hadn't said anything to her yet. "Curious," she thought, as she ordered a glass of white wine and water.

As the bartender stepped away to fill her order, the man said "are your flight plans affected by that storm too?"

"Here we go," she immediately thought and then replied politely. "Yeah, my flight was canceled and there doesn't seem to be anything until Sunday at this point."

"Well, at least it's Friday, and you are in Miami, things could be worse, I suppose," he replied.

Staring intently into her phone, Kaleigh mumbled in a low tone, "yeah, but I need to get back," purposefully, not making any eye contact.

After some time had passed, Kaleigh was slowly realizing that not only were there no flights, but the hotels and Airbnb's in the area were completely sold out.The couple seated on the other side of Kaleigh were suddenly asking for their check and preparing to leave. The rustling of the dishes and glasses, along with her chair getting bumped startled her slightly and forced her to look up at them. "We got a flight, thank goodness," was all the woman said as her partner paid the bill and they quickly left.

Kaleigh smiled at her and immediately thought, "would it be too rude to slide a seat over?"

"I don't mind Miami too much, business brings me down here quite a bit, so when this happens, I just try to make the most of it," she heard the man say.

"Yes, it is a nice city, I've been here a few times, but this just seems like madness," Kaleigh replied to him, this time turning to look at him. Her inner voice was asking why hadn't he introduced himself yet, no hand on the back of my chair, no offer to buy me a drink, no "hey, why don't you stay with me" nonsense.

He quietly continued, while mindlessly staring at the tv's above the bar, "madness is a perfect description, the golf show, spring training, the cruise ships, there's a lot going on for sure." He continued, looking down into his glass of red wine, "luckily, I've got nowhere to be, so it's dinner, watching whatever game there is tonight, getting some sleep and enjoying the pool for the weekend."

There was a confident yet sadness to his voice, Kaleigh thought. She took a quick second and scanned his left hand, it was long enough to notice the absence of a ring. Taking another sip of her wine, "ok you idiot," she thought to herself, "you can be nice and socialize. He's just a guy, looking to make the best of a bad situation, just don't say anything about the hotel situation, you will lead him on."

"That's probably smart," she said. "This is actually not my first time getting stuck like this, it has been a brutal winter."

"Yeah, New York has had more snow than the past four or five years," he said while continuing his forward stare into the tv. Kaleigh was pleasantly surprised. She had been in this situation before, she thought. In a bar, alone, seated next to a guy, but by this time she was usually doing all she can to give them every non verbal signal she could think of to fend them off.

She looked over to him a little more and let her eyes give him a once over. He was handsome, she thought, and dressed like one of those finance, private equity types. Her mind started to drift and wonder what his story was.

"I look at it this way," he continued, "I could either be traipsing through the City, with howling wind, and snow blowing sideways pricking my face, or I can be here in sunny Miami, enjoying the fresh air and playing some golf. By the time I get home on Sunday night, the snow will be gone and the City will be back to normal. Miserable people ignoring each other, gridlock traffic, and filth, piles and piles of filth."

Kaleigh smiled to herself. He was right. She had lived in the City since she graduated from Columbia and she did like it at first. But as work became busier and she traveled more, she found the warmer, sunnier places she visited more attractive. Sipping her wine, she looked at the man and said, "even the birds know better than to fly north in the winter, don't they?"

The man, surprised by Kaleigh's quip, chuckled and turned to her with a soft smile and said, "you are 100% right," and raising his glass toward her, he continued, "here's to warmer weather and the blessings of canceled flights!"

Kaleigh smiled and awkwardly raised her glass to clink with his. She always felt she could read people and it usually didn't take her long. As their glasses met, she quietly looked at him again. His friendly warm smile, his confident gaze, combined with the idea that maybe he wasn't another typical guy, biding time to hit on her and ask her back to his room, gave her a little more confidence to be friendly. Not flirty, she reminded herself, just friendly. Her legs were tucked neatly beneath her raised seat, her pumps hanging on barely by her toes as she reached to rest her feet on one of the rungs of the bar stool.

"I'm Kaleigh," she said, surprising herself a bit as she put her glass down and turned to him and awkwardly extended her left hand, looking down at first then directly into his eyes.

He looked straight into her eyes and extended his hand in return, "I'm Matt, it is nice to meet you." As their hands shook, he noticed Kaleigh's beauty for the first time. Trying hard not to grip her hand too hard, he felt her small soft hand wrap comfortably around his. He felt slightly embarrassed that he let his hand go a little limp as he felt his knuckles sort of squeeze together inside her hand. As it were, he let go holding his smile. Her eyes were hypnotic, he thought, he could see himself losing himself in them. But, wow, she is young, what are you thinking you creep? He felt that an internal battle of his conscience and his desire had commenced. She was certainly young enough to be his daughter, but she also seemed mature beyond her years. There was more to learn for sure, he continued to let his mind process, but he wanted school to begin immediately. "Don't come on too strong, knucklehead, she's probably got five guys at home to choose from and they are all studs. She's not interested in some old man."

"It is nice to meet you too, Matt," she replied.

"Where are you headed," Matt quickly asked.

"Oh, I'm trying to actually get home to NY, you know that city you mentioned with all the miserable people," she smiled.

"Ha, yes, how is that for knowing your audience," he replied with a smile shaking his head in disgust with himself.

"Oh don't worry, I agree with you," she tried to reassure him, "the city's a mess, I'm not sure how much longer I can live there."

Looking down at his glass Matt let his thoughts seep out of his mind, "I've been in the upper east side for about 15 years now. Yeah, this probably falls into the category of too much information, but after my divorce, I decided to move off the Island and back into the City. I'm closer to my office and I'm now married to my work. But, I've reached my breaking point, every time I come down here, I like it even more. Ah, sorry, I'm going on my rant." Matt looked down, away from Kaleigh, 'you're talking too much you idiot,' was all his mind could think to say to himself.

"No, it's ok," Kaleigh replied. "I know I'm not as..," she stopped herself.

Matt jumped in to finish her sentence, "as what, as old as I am, great," he laughed.

Embarrassed, "you dumb ass," Kaleigh yelled at herself, "what in the world is the matter with you?"

Her face flushed, and noticing the bartender coming back to ask, "will you two be eating tonight, do you want menus?"

Kaleigh and Matt hesitantly looked at each other and then back to the bartender. Matt was first to speak, "yes, sure, we are not exactly sure what we are doing, but leave the menus, that would be great,"

As the bartender handed each one an oversized menu, Matt started to punish himself internally. "...we are not sure what we are doing? You are a complete imbecile, you know that," he thought as his tanned face reddened slightly. Externally, he verbalized his faux pas as best he could, "What I meant to say, was I wasn't sure what I was doing for dinner," and looking at her he continued, "you of course have a mind of your own, and can clearly decide for yourself what you want to do with your time, my apologies, Kaleigh."

That exchange and Matt's reaction did not escape Kaleigh. She smiled to herself as he tried to explain himself. His self depreciation is kind of cute, she thought, but more importantly, was the way he said her name. His voice was soft but confident and he wasn't talking down to her, as she felt other's often had when they first met her. She knew that her small frame, her pale freckled complexion, and yes even her external beauty led most people, men to be precise, judge her as young and naive. But with Matt she started to feel more comfortable with the fact that he thought more of her than most.

Half giggling, she looked down at the menu, quietly folded one leg over the other, and gently placed a few strands of hair behind her ear. She replied, "no, it's actually ok, I'm actually starving. I was going to ask for a menu myself." She knew that was one of her nervous tics, the move with her hair, when she got nervous. But to Matt, he got to see more of her pretty face, and he didn't miss the chance given to him. Beyond her beautiful eyes and softness of her face, he noticed for the first time the soft pink lipstick on her thin lips. "Perfect," he thought as he also noticed the lack of make up in general. No caked on blush, or heavy eye shadow, or eye liner. Her natural beauty was not interrupted by attempts to accentuate one feature over another. Simple, soft, pretty, he thought to himself. The fact that the hem of her black skirt rose up her leg didn't escape his eyes either. Her beautifully toned thighs looked spectacular through the sheer black nylons she donned.

"Well, good," he replied, "I'll just enjoy eating the rest of my foot that has once again found the inside of my mouth."

"Well, here, look, the salmon might go well with that," she quipped as she turned to look at him and smile, "It's ok, Matt, really, I have nowhere to be, and I could use a good meal."

Matt returned the gesture and raised his glass, "fair enough, I love salmon by the way."

Laughing again Kaleigh replied, " good to know," as she returned her eyes to the menu. She could feel Matt's eyes on her. She noticed internally that she didn't mind and that surprised her as the thought of him glaring at her or, checking her out so to speak, made her smile internally. She then added, "I'm more of a bone-in prime rib-eye girl with a side of roasted potatoes girl myself."

Matt's eyes opened wide in surprise, "how could she eat..." he started to ask himself as the bartender came back and asked if they were ready to order.

Kaleigh looked over to Matt and said, "I am if you are."

"Yeah, umm, sure," he replied, "fire away meat and potatoes girl."

Kaleigh looked at the bartender, with a playful smile and asked, "can I get the garden salad with the salmon, please?" The bartender nodded and wrote down the order as Kaleigh turned the playful smile toward Matt. That was followed by her reaching for the long thin stem of her wine glass which she let her thumb and forefinger stroke softly as she anticipated Matt's reaction to her little joke.

"Cute," was the only word Matt could think to say as he smiled and ordered the salmon dinner plate.

As Matt placed his order, Kaleigh once again found herself noticing Matt's features. His salt and pepper hair was cut short on the back and sides, and neat, but he left it long enough on top to leave room for a bit of style. A hard part on one side and combed over and back on the other. His brown eyes were soft and welcoming, his tanned boyish face was shaved, and he was clean cut. His shoulders were broad, topping a small frame. But, she thought to herself, he looks like he's no stranger to the gym. His chest seemed to fully fill out the fleece vest and his arms were thick, making the shirt sleeve stretch a bit when he flexed them. "Back to reality, Kaleigh," she yelled at herself again, "he's old enough to be your father. Besides, a divorce doesn't mean he's not seeing someone. Can you just go back to your plan?" she asked herself as her fingers kept stroking the wine glass. Her internal war between her conscience and curiosity was starting to intensify and she knew that the move with her hand on the wine glass was something she did when she was comfortable with the person she was talking to. "That ship has sailed," she told herself. "Just stay calm, and don't be an idiot."

"So what brings you to Miami? Matt asked, feeling as though the door had opened slightly to ask a slight more probing question.

"Work, " Kaleigh answered, and despite her earlier instructions to herself, continued, "I work for an accounting firm in their M&A group. We help clients with their financial due diligence on deals."

"That sounds like interesting work, so are you an accountant?" he continued his probe, confirming in his own mind her intelligence.

"Well, I was initially trained as one but it bored me, so I got into this practice after graduate school.

Matt and Kaleigh continued to talk, drink and when the food came, ate. The wine flowed throughout the evening as Matt shared his story of starting out his career similar to hers, and moving into private equity. He was now a partner at one of the more prestigious firms in the city. They complained about their jobs, how they had no time for their social lives, and how they both were starting to hate the City. As the night moved along, and one or two glasses of wine became four and five, and their plates had been taken away, Kaleigh and Matt became more comfortable around each other. The crowd in the restaurant had dissipated and there were only a smattering of people left in the tables and booths around the bar. Kaleigh looked around the bar itself and noticed that they were the only two left seated. The bartender, without asking, placed two dessert menus in place of their dinner plates, while the two newly acquainted friends continued to talk.

"Ah, my weakness," Matt said as glanced down at the menu, trying to erase the lustful thoughts that began creeping into his mind about Kaleigh. "Do you do dessert?" he asked.

"Sometimes, I kind of have a thing for chocolate, but I try to be good," she answered, staring down at the menu, twirling her hair gently with her fingers. This time not noticing what she was doing to Matt.