How I Met Charlotte

I first met Charlotte through our mutual parish.

Admittedly I was never much of a religious guy, but when I was married to my wife Monica and my practicing Christian parents would come to visit us, we would take them to our local church under the guise that we regularly went ourselves.

When Monica told me she wanted a divorce out of the blue one day, my life as I knew it was shattered.

You don't realize how much you lean on someone or just grow accustomed to your life with them until they're gone.

I was lonelier and more depressed than I had ever been in my life in the wake of our divorce which was finalized a few weeks after my 38th birthday.

It probably sounds crazy, but I was ready to get married again tomorrow if I could. Single life wasn't for me.

I leaned on my friends as much as I could without wanting to be a nuisance, but it was still taking its toll.

That's when my mother suggested I get more active in "my" church to meet people.

While I dismissed the idea at first, I realized more than anything I desperately needed as much socializing as I could get.

With that in mind, I started going to the weekly service and more importantly threw myself into attending as many outside activities promoted by the parish community as I could.

One of these activities was a casual weekly barbecue that was held at a different parishioner's home every weekend.

Everyone was extremely kind and welcoming of a relative newcomer like myself and sure enough I made some friends after the first weekend.

When my mother suggested that I get more involved in my church, I think she was not so secretly hoping I'd meet a nice Christian girl there and settle down again soon.

I'm not sure Charlotte was who she had in mind.

The first time I saw Charlotte I thought she was attractive, but I also estimated her to be in her late 50's.

It was only the second weekend barbecue I had attended. I was chatting with a few people I had hit it off with in particular the week before when I noticed Charlotte across the yard.

She was average height and weight with stylish wavy bleached blonde hair she parted in the middle which swept across her forehead and came just above her shoulders. It had a lot of body and looked really good on her. She wore a couple of pearl loop earrings which looked like miniature bracelets on each ear and almost matched the color of her hair.

She was wearing a pair of thin stylish see through amber colored sunglasses and didn't look like your stereotypical mother at that age. She had a more youthful energy and style to her.

It was her red wine colored sundress that caught my eye in particular. It had a polka dot pattern and was kept up by two thin spaghetti straps on her lightly tanned shoulders.

It buttoned from the top of the bust down to just above her knees where it split and flared to create a bit of flow when she moved. It was both casual but very feminine at the same time and it looked great on her.

Admittedly it was also her sizable chest which grabbed my attention. The material of the dress was stretched in the bust with the buttons pushed to their limits, revealing a bit of her undergarment beneath in the gaps between them. I estimated her to be a D-cup, though it was difficult to tell given the dress.

She had some kind of cream colored, intricate strappy bra or sports top with an interesting pattern which looked good with the dress, just to keep everything both in place and respectable given her size there.

It was difficult to tell with the dress, but she looked to have a good figure for her age.

She matched the dress with a pair of pale blue sandals and had her toenails painted a bright red.

She had a small pink purse flung over her shoulder and ran across her chest to rest at her opposite side and she wore a decent amount of jewelry.

Aside from the earrings, she was wearing a white bracelet on one wrist, a silver watch on the other, and a small silver ankle bracelet, as well.

Most importantly, I noticed she wasn't wearing a ring.

I don't know what chemistry dictates which type of person or features another person is attracted to, but there was something about this woman that had me quite taken at first sight regardless of the age difference.

I caught myself sneaking a few glimpses of her until she came over to the group of people I was talking to with another woman who I had chatted with quite a bit last weekend.

"Sam, didn't you say you fixed your AC unit yourself recently?" the woman asked me.

I immediately felt guilty because despite our lengthy conversation the week prior, I couldn't remember her name despite the fact that she remembered mine.

"Yeah, the capacitor blew so I replaced it. It was an easy enough fix." I explained.

I liked taking things apart and putting them back together, so that along with a bit of internet research helped me figure out what was wrong. I was just happy to not have to pay out the ass to some service company trying to take advantage of my ignorance and overcharge me.

"Charlotte's unit clicked off a couple of days ago and they can't come out to see it until Tuesday. I was just thinking you might have an idea." the woman explained, gesturing to Charlotte as I learned her name.

"Ah I don't know unless I take a look at it; it could be anything." I pointed out.

"I'm Sam by the way, nice to meet you." I added with a smile and a small wave to Charlotte.

"Charlotte, nice to meet you, too!" she said in an energetic friendly tone, taking her sunglasses off and smiling at me warmly as we shared a light handshake.

"They can't get there until Tuesday though, in this heat?" I asked with concern, knowing the Georgia heat in the summertime was nothing to take lightly.

Charlotte let out a lovely full laugh.

"I know! And the thing is they just came out to work on it the day before it stopped working!" she exclaimed energetically in an equally lovely voice.

Now that she was closer up, I could get a better look at her without having to worry about staring from a distance.

She had an oval shaped face with full rosy cheeks from the considerable amount of blush she was wearing. Her cheeks had a bit of sag and showed her laughter lines, particularly when she flashed her very pretty smile.

Her nose and round chin were a bit larger than average but were framed well and looked cute on her face.

Her brown eyes were deep set and had a dreamy quality to them. Most of her wrinkles were around her eyes but she wore a lot of makeup to soften them.

She also wore a lot of lavender eye shadow and eye liner which made her eyes quite alluring. I don't know what it was, but I found myself especially taken by them.

"So clearly they messed something up. That's crazy that they won't come for that long especially after it sounds like it's their fault." I told her in getting back to the issue at hand, already annoyed on Charlotte's behalf.

"I know. I take a shower and I'm sweaty again an hour later!" Charlotte added with a chuckle.

"Well you'll stay with us tonight but I just thought maybe Sam you could take a look at it at some point if you wouldn't mind?" the woman said, looking at me hopefully at the end.

"Penny that's ridiculous!" Charlotte instantly protested.

PENNY, I thought to myself... that was her name!

"I'll be fine; Tuesday isn't that far off." Charlotte reasoned for my benefit, still embarrassed that Penny had volunteered my services like that.

"Having no AC in this heat is ridiculous!" I said with a smile and a chuckle.

I could see Charlotte beginning to protest again so I continued before she could.

"Hey I've got nowhere to be after this; I'm happy to come over and take a look if you're free." I quickly offered.

I definitely didn't have any complaints spending some time alone with this woman I had been checking out on and off since I noticed her. This felt like a gift had been dropped into my lap.

If nothing else, I figured it was a nice way to further endear myself to the group.

"You'd be my hero if you could do anything for it." she beamed gratefully.

"I mean I'm not an HVAC guy by trade so no promises, but I'm certainly happy to at least take a look at it." I said, trying to manage expectations.

"Oh don't worry, I'm not expecting any miracles, I just appreciate it!" she quickly assured me with a chuckle.

We spent another couple of hours at the barbecue as I had a burger and a soda, socializing with some other folks there.

As the first few people began to take their leave, I looked over at Charlotte to find her looking back at me so I figured I'd check and see if she wanted to head back to her place.

"I'm good to go whenever." I said as I went over to her.

"Well, let's head over now then if that's okay before it gets dark." Charlotte reasoned.

"Works for me." I agreed. "I'll just follow you over?" I asked.

"Sounds good, it's only a few minutes." Charlotte assured me.

With that she got into her car and I followed her in my pickup over to her house which turned out to be a two floor rancher in a nice neighborhood in the suburbs.

"I like your neighborhood." I said to compliment Charlotte as I walked up to meet her at her door.

"Thank you. It's quiet and everyone's very friendly. And I love the trees." she added with a smile, looking up to acknowledge them.

There were a lot of trees on all of the properties on the street, creating a nice naturally cooling canopy from the late afternoon Georgia sun.

"Yeah I can see why." I agreed with a smile.

"So, the AC unit is on that side of the house." Charlotte said with a gesture. "What do you need from me?" she asked.

"Where's the circuit breaker?" I asked.

"Right through here." Charlotte explained, leading me into the garage which had a second car in it and a bunch of boxes and gardening supplies. I couldn't help but wonder who the car might belong to.

"Any idea which of these switches might control the AC?" I asked as I was looking around for some tools.

"Hmm not off the top of my head... sorry." Charlotte said with a worried look.

"It's fine they're probably labeled, I'll figure it out. Though don't be surprised if a light goes out for a second inside." I joked.

"Noted!" Charlotte laughed.

"Otherwise just a screwdriver or set of tools if you have anything?" I mentioned still scanning but not seeing anything right away.

"My husband's tool kit is right over there." Charlotte explained, leading me over to a sizable toolkit tucked behind the lawnmower on the floor.

"My late husband, sorry. Harry died last fall." Charlotte quickly corrected herself as her expression dropped a bit.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I told her with a sympathetic tone.

That explained the second car.

"I know it's not the same, but I just got divorced so I... well I at least know what it's like to be alone." I admitted sympathetically.

"I know, Penny told me. I'm so sorry to hear about that." Charlotte said quietly with a tone of genuine compassion.

My first thought was that meant Charlotte had asked about me which surprised me.

I then figured more realistically Penny probably just let that slip through conversation. I had kind of poured out a bit too much to Penny the week prior and felt guilty about it after the fact, but I really had been desperate for anyone to talk to.

"Does it start to feel any better?" I asked, genuinely hoping for some kind of reassurance.

"He's been gone for almost a year now and I still miss him every day; I mean we were married for almost 40 years." she marveled almost like she couldn't believe that amount of time herself.

"Wow, 40 years." I said clearly impressed with a smile.

The math didn't add up in my head when I thought about it. Now I was genuinely curious about her age.

"You don't look old enough to have been married for 40 years!" I blurted out with a smile, meaning it to be a compliment but realizing I was flirting with her at the same time.

"Well I'll be 62 this October and I was 23 when I got married." she explained. "So 38 years." she concluded.

I figured it best to not point out that she apparently had gotten married the year I was born.

"Wow you look a lot younger. Sorry, I know that sounds like a line but it's true." I said in a friendly tone with a laugh.

I knew I was lightly flirting with her but it was true, she could pass for at least 5 if not 10 years younger.

"Well I will certainly take it, thank you!" she said with an appreciative smile and laugh.

"But yes maybe not normal, but things start to get a little easier." she finally said more cheerily, lightly brushing my arm for support.

Even with that momentary contact I felt my loins stir, jeeze.

"... Eventually." she added with a laugh.

"He would always deal with stuff like this. That's one of... a lot of things I miss about him." she confessed with a wistful smile.

"Now one of my greatest fears is being taken by some guy who's hired to work on the AC and leaves it in a worse condition than he found it." she told me with a chuckle, though I knew she meant it.

"Hey, you can always call me to check it out." I said genuinely to reassure her.

"You're too sweet, Sam, thank you so much again you really are a lifesaver." Charlotte said with a big smile.

"Hopefully! That remains to be seen." I said joking. "Speaking of which, I better get to it!" I added with a smile.

"Sounds good! Can I get you anything to drink? Lemonade or water?" she offered graciously.

"Ah no, I'm okay for now, thanks though." I told her appreciatively.

"Well I'll be inside if you need anything, just let me know!" Charlotte assured me with a smile and left me to it.

I quickly figured out which switch went to the AC, cut the power, and opened the unit up.

I was relieved that it appeared to be an easy fix but more importantly I was pleased that I could actually get it up and running to help Charlotte. I just needed a part from the local hardware store chain.

I knocked on the door and Charlotte came out with an anxious look on her face.

"How's the patient looking?" she joked.

"I THINK it's good news. Basically whoever was working on it last rewired it backwards when they were putting it back together. It's an easy mistake to make if you're not paying attention. This caused the capacitor to short out. Once I replace it and wire it up right... fingers crossed but you should be good to go." I explained.

"Sam you are my hero!" Charlotte exclaimed with excitement and forgot herself, giving me a big hug which caught me off guard.

Not knowing what to do I lightly and awkwardly half put one arm above the small of her back.

I got a whiff of some perfume she was wearing as her soft hair brushed against my face. It smelled sweet and feminine and I felt my loins begin to stir again.

I was grateful that she broke the hug when she did as parts of me in particular were not prepared it.

"You have no idea how much I've been stressing over this!" she added as she pulled back.

"Honestly you should call and tell them the mistake they made. You're lucky it only caused it to short out. If the fan ran backwards long enough it could have caused a fire." I warned her.

"Oh my... well I'll be sure to inform them. I'm just glad nothing like that happened. So how much does this part cost?" she asked, still just relieved.

"Even more good news, they're dirt cheap. I'm going to go grab one now so I'll be back in a few." I assured her.

"Oh, let me get my wallet." she quickly said, starting to turn.

"Please it's nothing, I've got this. Really." I quickly assured her again.

"Nevermind hero, I think I'll call you my knight in shining armor at this rate!" she said seriously with a smile, shaking her head overwhelmed with gratitude.

"So try to stay cool for another 15 minutes, and I should have this up and running." I estimated.

"15 minutes!? Wow, I might take a shower and change in that case!" she said with excitement.

"Don't change on my account." I flirtatiously blurted out with an unmistakable admiring smile and tone as I looked at her, completely forgetting myself in the moment.

"Oh no?" Charlotte quickly asked, sounding surprised and curious as to what I meant.

"Oh, I just mean you look..." I began to say aloofly in a clarifying tone to walk it back.

Then I thought to myself, fuck it.

We were both single and I genuinely thought she looked good, what's the harm in flirting a bit? The worst I could do was embarrass myself.

"I just think you look good in that dress." I finally told her with an admiring smile, fully expecting her to laugh it off or maybe even tell me she was flattered but not interested.

Either way, there was no mistaking what I said for a friendly, perfunctory compliment.

Charlotte looked at me pensively for a second, trying to decide if there was meaning behind my compliment or maybe just deciding how she felt about it.

For the first time that day she looked caught off guard and abandoned her energetic expression.

"Thank you." Charlotte finally said softly with a kind of serious appreciation in her voice and what looked like a small playful grin.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, my knight." she quickly followed with a playful tone and flashed her eyebrows and added what very much felt like a flirtatious smile that made me feel butterflies in my stomach.

"Ahem... well I'll be right back." I told her, feeling a bit red from more than the heat.

I got in my car and headed to the hardware store and quickly found the part I needed.

I tried not to get too carried away during the trip in thinking about what might be going on between Charlotte and I.

I conditioned myself to believe she was just being friendly and having some joking fun playfully flirting back. I mostly figured that she figured the age difference between us was too much to see me in that way.

When I got back I swapped out the part in the AC unit, carefully making sure to wire it back up properly. I was thrilled to see the fan working as intended when I turned the power back on.

As I got to the door Charlotte greeted me with a wide ecstatic smile on her face.

"I just felt it kick on! It's working!" she said with an adorable excited smile and gave me another hug. I put both arms around her as our embrace was tighter and more intimate than the last.

Her soft hair brushed against my cheek again and while she hadn't showered I could tell she had put on a fresh spritz of that same perfume from earlier.

I broke our hug as naturally as I could as I felt my shorts getting noticeably tight for this woman who was almost 24 years my senior; a woman I was growing increasingly attracted to and felt I would pounce on in a heartbeat if given the green light.

"So just like that, it's fixed?" she asked with excitement as we separated, fixing her hair.

"Yep, you should be good to go." I assured her.

I felt myself turning beet red, praying she didn't look down as I could feel I was clearly pitching a visible tent in my shorts.

"I have to call Penny and tell her that I can sleep comfortably in my own bed tonight thanks to the handyman she brought me!" she said with an excited laugh.

"Happy to help." I said with an embarrassed smile.

"You really are my knight, I'm not even kidding." she gushed gratefully.

I was embarrassed at all her praise for me so I just smiled.

I felt a bit of relief at feeling my boner begin to subside in my shorts. I was glad Charlotte was the kind of woman who maintained eye contact with someone when she talked to you.

"I decided I'm making dinner for you to thank you for everything and I won't take no for an answer." she declared. "You can say no, but... well please don't say no because I already started cooking!" she quickly added with a big smile.