Praising The Qualities Of An Older Woman

"So, Jack," asked Gillian, our HR Director. "What do you plan to do about Justin and Marge?"

"What are my options?" I asked, as I thumbed through the open file spread out on my desk before me.

"Disciplinary action, suspension, termination," she recited. "I guess it all depends on how far you want to take it. Termination could prompt legal action on their parts."

"Yeah," I said, taking a deep breath. "But I don't like any of those. It seems too severe just because they got caught fooling around in the storeroom."

"Yes, but Ray says he saw them having sex right here on company property."

"As if he wouldn't if he had the chance," I said.

The entire incident had fired the imagination of the entire company. A newly hired young kid had been caught in a storeroom with one of our older female employees. Rumors were flying about wildly over just who was involved and what it was that they were doing. Now it had landed on my desk and as General Manager I had to determine what to do. As Gillian gave me more details about what had happened, I pushed back in my chair to consider the options. It wasn't hard to place myself in their shoes, because the incident brought back an old memory from my past that made me want think the whole thing over before taking action. It had occurred several years ago, when I had just gotten a start in the business.

I had been assigned along with a handful of other employees to work on a quality assurance certification program. It was a great experience for me since it gave me the opportunity to learn about the entire company and the business it was in. It also gave me a chance to meet many of the other employees, whom I might not have otherwise gotten to know. Now that we had passed our final audit and were given our preliminary certificate, one of the older ladies came up with the idea to make up a banner to hang in the lunchroom congratulating everyone for doing such a great job. She and I had been on several sub-committees and had worked late together many nights. Being rather young and naïve, I was consumed by the business details of the project. It wasn't until that one evening in the lunchroom that I really noticed Peggy, that is, really noticed her as a woman.

"So Jack, can you give me a hand with this?" Peggy called out as she tried to stretch the new quality banner out above the bulletin board.

"Uh, yeah," I said reaching up to grab the end that was falling away from her. "Here, let me grab this end."

I took the other end of the banner, held it high above my head, and tried to position it where it should go. Peggy was standing on a short stepladder and nearly fell off trying to hang it up by herself.

"How's this?" I asked.

"That looks about right," she replied, pressing the banner onto the double-sided tape that held up her end. "Here let me move over and finish your end."

She stepped down and moved the stepladder over so that she could tape the end I was holding up over my head. As she set the ladder next to me and climbed up, I could suddenly smell the aroma of her perfume, very light and not too flowery. Somehow the scent of it in my nostrils made me think of sex and produced a growing lump in my pants. It made me turn my head toward Peggy and take a closer look at her.

She was so busy applying the tape to the backside of the banner that she didn't notice how my eyes ran up and down her body. She was several years older than me and although we had become pretty friendly during the last few weeks working on the quality committee, I had never given a single thought to her as a sexy woman. Hell, she was almost as old as my Mom, for Christ sake! Yet with her so close to me that I could smell perfume, I began to see her in a different light. Maybe it was the chemicals they put in the new scents, but there was a difference.

With her arms above her head, her breasts seemed to poke out farther than usual from her silky white blouse, her royal blue skirt clung closer to her heart shaped butt, and her sheer white hose followed the contours of her legs in a very appealing way. Even her modest blue heels seemed sexier as she leaned up on her toes to smooth out the banner. My gaze worked its way back up. I had never noticed how the ends of her shoulder length brunette hair were streaked with red and blonde highlights from the summer sun. Although there were a few faint lines in her face, she didn't look old to me now. There was a sense of beauty that I had never seen before. Her skin looked so very smooth and soft that I wanted to reach over and caress it. Suddenly she turned to me with her brown eyes sparkling.

"Uh, Jack?" she asked, brushing her hair back from her face with her fingers. "Is there something wrong?"

Suddenly, I realized that I was staring and looked away.

"No, no," I mumbled. "No, nothing at all."

She looked at me somewhat puzzled as if she were going to say something more. I looked back up to her face now covered with a smile and a fresh flush in her cheeks. There was an appealing look to her that made the lump in my pants twinge again. I reached up and offered my hand to help her down off the stepladder.

"Well, that does it!" she remarked happily. "I think it looks real good!"

"Uh, yeah," I replied. "You did a nice job on that."

We stood back to admire the banner. She set her hands on her hips and admired her handiwork. As a divorced mother of two, she had the full figured look about her that many older women get, once they give up trying to keep fashion model thin. Not that she was fat or anything, but with the last traces of sunlight filtering in through the windows and the scent of her perfume still teasing me, I began to appreciate the beauty of this older woman. I had to chuckle to myself at the thought for during most of the time spent on the committee, I had been pursuing Candace a pretty young girl in accounts receivable. She had turned me down at every step, and that hadn't kept me from trying. But now, here I was checking out Peggy. Was it desperation that brought me to this?

"Jack? Are you all right?" Peggy asked, looking at me with a quizzical smile curling her lovely full lips.

"Nah, it's nothing," I said with a shrug of my shoulders. "I think I'm suffering burnout from all of this quality time we've been spending."

She let out a little laugh that tilted back her head showing off the smooth flesh of her neck. My gaze dipped down and followed the folds of her blouse as it came together just below the third button providing a slight glimpse of the curve of her full womanly breasts.

"Speaking of quality time," she said. "Do you have any plans for dinner?"

"Well, no," I replied. "I was just planning on eating at home."

"Why don't we go out for dinner?" she asked. "My treat."

"Don't you have to get home to your kids?"

"They're with their father for the weekend for a change," she remarked. "I don't often get this chance. How about Alpoccino's?"

It took me a moment to respond as I looked into her eyes for a sense of where she was coming from. There was a friendly spirit mixed with the sparkle of her eyes, but I couldn't see anything else beyond that.

"Sure. That's a nice place."

We finished up, punched out, locked up the building, and I followed her as we drove over to the restaurant. As we walked in, I noticed that she had slipped on a jacket but the scent of her perfume was still tickling my nose.

Inside we relaxed with a glass of wine. The restaurant was on the dark side. Each table had a small candle that gave every face a rosy warm glow. She slipped her jacket off, folded it neatly and set it on the bench next to her. It seemed like the crease of her blouse was opened another button lower than before. The soft upper curves of her breasts were more fully in view and the lace edging of her bra barely showed.

"Here's to a job well done!" she laughed holding her glass aloft.

We clinked our glasses together and sipped.

She ordered oysters as an appetizer and offered to share them with me.

"I've heard some cultures consider oysters an aphrodisiac," I said flippantly, watching for her response.

"I don't know about that," she said. "I just love them with all the cheese and bacon and stuff on top."

She ordered the shrimp alfredo and I chose the veal marsala.

"Mmm! That looks delicious," she said looking over at my plate. "Can I have a bite?"

"If you let me have a bite of yours."

We each selected a choice bite of dinner to share and reached over to feed the other.

"Mmm! It is delicious!" she said, her eyes closing sensuously as she tasted the veal and sauce. After throwing together a quick dinner for her kids every night, this must have been a real treat for her.

"So is yours," I replied savoring the plump bite of shrimp.

Since Alpoccino's was well known for their cannolli and cheesecake, we each indulged in a dessert.

"I don't normally order dessert, but tonight seems different," Peggy said.

"I know. Neither do I," I replied. "But if I have one weakness, it's cheesecake."

"I'll have to make you one," she said. Then suddenly she added, "I mean for work. Make a cheesecake for work."

Peggy ordered us each a glass of brandy to cap it off.

"This is my special weakness," Peggy confessed. "I don't have it often. Just certain occasions."

"It's nice. I've never had it before," I said. I took another sip and swirled it about my mouth. It made my tongue tingle with my next breath.

"Sometimes, you just have to do something special to enjoy life and the people you're with," she said looking directly at me. Her dark eyes were twinkling in the glow of the flickering candle. It was as if throughout the evening, the years had melted away from her. I the rosy candlelight, she began to look less like this older lady and more like an appealing single woman.

"This has been very nice, Jack," she said. "I feel like I know you much better now. I always thought you were kind of a loud mouthed brat, but you've shown me another side that I didn't know existed."

"Same here," I said. "You always seemed nice, sort of like my Mom, you know. But you're a really fun lady."

"Well, thanks," she said demurely, taking a sip of her drink.

"You have to answer a question that's been bugging me all night," I said.

"What's that?" she said leaning forward in anticipation.

"What perfume are you wearing? It's been driving me nuts, ever since we were hanging that banner."

"So that's what that was all about," she laughed. "I think it's called 'Seduction.' I guess from your response that it must be working."

"Well, it's been working on me."

When the check came, I reached over quickly and pulled it to my side of the table.

"It's supposed to be my treat."

"I'll treat. Save your money and do something nice for your kids, or yourself."

She gave me a sweet smile and began to reach for her things. I tried to be a gentleman and help her on with her jacket, but she got tangled up in one of the sleeves. As I walked her across the half empty parking lot, she snuggled up close to me and took my arm. I was surprised how natural it all felt being with her like this. When we reached her car, she turned to face me and leaned up to give me a kiss on the cheek. We were standing close together, our faces just inches apart.

"Thanks for dinner," she said in a cool, sexy voice.

"You're welcome," I replied. "Anytime."

"I just may take you up on that sometime."

"Well, have a good evening, Peggy."

"Uh, Jack," she said, reaching out her hand to pat my chest. "It doesn't have to end yet, does it?"

"I don't know, Peggy. Do you want to do something else?"

"I've got a new cappuccino machine that I've been dying to show off," she bragged. "Would you like to stop by for some?"

For some reason, like some sort of reflex, my arms reached out to take her shoulders in hand. She looked up at me with her wonderfully dark eyes, anticipating my answer. So what if she was older, she didn't look it. And besides, there was this appeal, this allure that was drawing me toward her. With all of the time I had spent pursuing young Candace, we hadn't even gone out. Now I'm arm in arm with Peggy, half embracing her, deciding whether or not to go back to her place. It wasn't a difficult decision to make.

"Sure. Why not?"

As I had followed her to the restaurant, so did I follow her to her house, a nice Cape Cod in a neighborhood a few minutes away. My heart was racing as we wended our way through the curving streets of her subdivision. Jesus, Jack! I kept saying to myself. Are you prepared for what she might have in store? I kept thinking about how sweet she looked in the glow of the restaurant, the sparkling eyes, the soft rosy cheeks, the way she licked the whipped cream off her lips. Then the thought dawned on me that this was all a figment of my imagination; that I was getting all worked up over something that was really quite innocent. Maybe she just felt lonely going home with her kids gone and wanted someone to talk to for a while. What made me think that Peggy was coming on to me? Let's not spoil this, I told myself.

I parked behind her in the drive and followed her up to the dark house. In the darkness, she fumbled with trying to get the key into the lock, but eventually made it work. She invited me into the family room and switched on a lamp. It was a beautiful room, with a couple of overstuffed couches and a fireplace. She lit the gas logs, which sent a rosy glow out into the room. While she busied herself in the kitchen with the cappuccino, I settled onto the couch facing the fireplace. Pictures of her kids were placed carefully on the mantel.

"Here you are," she sang, carrying in a small tray with our cups of steaming drink and setting it down on the table in front of me. "Enjoy!"

She sat close to me on the couch, her legs crossed at first. After she took a couple of sips, she slipped the leg closest to me up onto the couch and turned to face me better. She set her cup on the table and propped her arm up on the back of the couch, which made her breasts much more noticeable. She brought her hand up to her head, combing her fingers through her hair, the light from the fireplace picking out the red and blonde highlights in her hair.

"You have a very nice house," I said. "Very warm and comfortable."

"Thanks! This was the only good thing to come out of my marriage. This house and the kids."

"Nice looking family," I remarked.

"You know I didn't invite you back here to talk about my kids."

"I know. The cappuccino. It's very good."

"Well, that too. But I had something else in mind."

I nearly choked on my cappu. I set it down to avoid spilling it and leaned forward. Maybe my fertile imagination had been correct. My hands trembled at the thought. I felt as if I should say something

"Peggy, this has been a nice evening. It's been great spending time with you."

"Same here. I was really surprised. I thought we might not get along, but as the evening has unfolded, I've started seeing you in a different light."

I looked back to her. She looked so comfortable reclining on her couch. The hem of her skirt was riding up her thigh showing off a bit of white lacy stocking top. Her fingers were combing through her hair, pulling it back from her face and fluffing it about her shoulders.

"Same here," I began nervously, trying to find the right words. "You know, Peggy, like I was saying earlier, I always thought of you as kind of like my mom. I mean, I never really thought of you as a woman. I mean, you know, a good-looking woman. But you're really beautiful. I mean it."

"Beautiful?" she laughed. "You silly boy. I don't think I'm what you call beautiful. I'm okay with my looks, but you don't have to call me beautiful. That's for the movie stars and fashion models."

"But you are," I insisted. "I think you're one of the most beautiful women I've seen face to face."

"You're really sweet, Jack," she said, letting her hand fall down onto my shoulder. "Look at you, nervous as a schoolboy. You have nothing to be afraid of with me."

Her hand began to rub my shoulder, and as it did, she began to move closer to me. Before I knew it, she had slipped her arm around my back.

"I'm not afraid. It just feels kind of funny being here with you like this. I'm normally attracted to younger girls."

"I know, Jack. Candace told me all about you. She said you were nice and sweet, but like a lot of young women she's looking for someone a little older and more experienced."

"Maybe more money too," I interjected.

"Yes, perhaps," she replied softly. She slipped her hand back from around my shoulders and sat forward, almost mirroring my position. "But, you know, this is new territory for me too. Look, I've been around the block more than once. I'm a lonely divorced woman who doesn't get out much and has maybe had one glass of wine too many. But there's no reason for us not to be here now."

"I know," I said turning to look into her sparkling dark eyes. I reached over to take her hands in mine. "I don't think I'm so much nervous as I am excited."

"I know. Isn't this a great feeling?"

Our faces began to slowly move closer. We smiled at each other; our breath mingled and brushed each other's cheeks. Our heads tilted slightly, our eyes closed, our mouths opened, and our lips met. I could taste the cappuccino with a light touch of brandy in her kiss. What began as a light brush of the lips, developed into a full-blown passionate kiss as we touched and pulled each other closer. Our tongues touched and wrestled back and forth. We finally parted to catch a breath.

"Well, for a kid, you sure know how to kiss!" she remarked.

I was going to say something complementary in return but leaned back to kiss her again. It wasn't long before our hands were all over each other. My fingers couldn't wait to sample the touch of her soft womanly flesh. From her cheeks to her neck, then over the soft fabric of her blouse, my fingers sought out the warmth of her body. Her hands moved over my shoulders and down my arms, to my chest and down to my lap. I could feel the generous flesh of her breasts through her blouse and the lace of her bra. Her nipples were getting taut as my fingers reached them. They sprang to complete attention when I rubbed my fingertips over and around them. Her hands had found my cock, now lying nearly erect in a crease of my slacks, and moved in gentle strokes back and forth. My lips had digested hers and were hungry for more.

"Oh, Jack," she whispered breathlessly. "Don't stop!"

She pulled me back for another kiss. My hands sought out the buttons of her blouse, fumbling with each one to open it. She brought her hands up from my lap to help, but I persisted in completing what I had started. When her blouse was completely unbuttoned and pulled up from her skirt, I slowly spread it open and feasted my eyes on the spread of her flesh before me. Her breasts curved generously upward from the sheer lacy cups of her bra. My fingertips lightly traced the outline of her bra as it followed those wondrous curves. Her blouse opened fully to her shoulders as my fingers moved to the satiny straps of her bra. It tumbled down her back when I eased the straps down her shoulders, bringing her swelling nipples into view. As I brushed the cups of her bra down and away, I lowered my lips and kissed her dark excited nipples. I teased them with my tongue and nibbled them with my teeth. I pulled them into my mouth and sucked on them like a baby. Her hands kept stroking my erect cock through my slacks. She tilted her head back and gasped with each new move I made on her breasts. When I kissed each one and pulled back to gently blow a stream of air on them, she gasped, reached behind my head and pulled my mouth back to her heaving bosom.