Spirits in the Material World Pt. 02

"Ouch! <sigh> Ok, so if this were your car, what would you recommend?" Alan asked.

"If this was my car, Mr. Harrison, I would look to buy a replacement one. Once we get these issues resolved, this particular make and model is known to develop even more complex issues down the road. It has given you how many years of service?"

"Let's see, I got it for Laura when David was 3, so ... fifteen years or so, I suppose."

"Well, that's five years longer than most others I have seen of this make and model. I'd count my blessings that I'd gotten the extra service from it."

"Thank you, Mike. We'll make arrangements to have it removed from your parking lot today." Alan ended this call and returned to his desk. To find Maria leaning on his desk again where she was yesterday. Surprised, Alan sat in his chair giving Maria as much room as possible in the cubicle workspace. He paused to take in her appearance today.

Maria's yellow dress was like a ray of sunshine. Its hem came right to her knees, and the neckline was squarely cut, showing a little of her upper chest but no cleavage. Her legs were dressed with some shiny, suntan hosiery, and her yellow shoes had a higher heel than yesterday's pair had. Her left shoe was dangling from her toes again, and she flipped it back and forth without it falling. He then noticed some bumps starting to tent the dress high up, and she had her necklace caught between her lips as she slid the cross left and right and left again along the chain. She reminded Alan of a cat sizing up its cornered prey. Alan's erection sprang to life, unbidden and quite noticeable to Maria. Their conversation was very muted.

"So, Alan," Maria began, removing the necklace from between her lips, "were you able to get reservations for tonight at the Bristol Grille?"

"Uh, yeah, but not until 7:45, if that's acceptable to you."

"Well, would you still pick me up at 7:00? Here's my address," as she handed him a 3 by 5 index card with her address and both home and mobile numbers written, "and I'm sure that Google Maps will get you to where you want to go." Then her left shoe fell to the floor with a soft clunk. Watching his eyes closely, she spread her toes on the left foot, then curled them under, then spread them again. Then she held out her foot to Alan and wiggled her toes at him.

Finally catching on, he wheeled his chair up to her and placed her left foot in his lap as he bent over to retrieve the errant shoe. Sitting back up, Alan's lap now had two unshod, nylon-encased feet with unpainted but cared for wiggling toes. He lifted Maria's left foot and caressed the foot, the ankle, and the calf, delighting in the smooth feel of her hosiery. While he was placing the retrieved shoe back on her left foot, Maria's right foot was nudging and stroking Alan's erection through his pants, making him even harder.

"Now the right one, please," Maria directed.

Alan bent and retrieved the right shoe and repeated his caressing to Maria's right foot and lower leg, then restored her shoe to that foot.

With a soft giggle, Maria stood and repeated her fingernail stroke of Alan's jaw and left saying, "7:00 pm tonight."

= = =

David awoke to the sound of the shared bathroom's shower running. Grabbing his phone, he noted the 7:50 time and decided to get up and with the day. He dressed in a football jersey pullover and jeans and proceeded down to the main level. He proceeded to the kitchen where half of the pot of coffee remained being warmed and a mug and plate in the sink. He got out his "cereal killer" bowl and poured half of a box of Cheerios in, adding milk and sugar. Ah, the breakfast of champions! Sitting at the kitchen table, he heard Tom descending from his room, so it must have been Julie in the shower. Tom entered the kitchen, looked around for a moment, then liberated two coffee mugs from the cupboard, filling one-quarter full with Julie's flavored creamer, and used up the last of the pot of coffee into the mugs.

"Dave, will you want any coffee today?" Tom asked.

"Nah, I'm good with the cereal. Thanks for asking."

"Ok, I'm gonna take this up to Julie and we'll get a bag set for our overnight at her mom's. We'll be sure to say goodbye before we leave."

"Cool beans, bro'."

Tom mounted the stairs to the bedrooms, and when he entered his room, Julie was out of the shower, dressed in panties and a bra, and was brushing her hair. Tom stopped and stared at Julie. He could watch her in her underwear brushing her hair all day long, and half of the night as well.

"Take a picture; it'll last longer," she teased.

Breaking free of his mesmerized state, Tom offered her the mug of coffee he had prepared for her, and she accepted it with a kiss and took a big sip. He then reached for his phone to take the suggested picture. Flipping her hair back much like Rita Hayworth did in "Gilda", Julie posed for Tom who took several pictures.

"I don't need to take much in the way of toiletries; Mom has stuff for me. But you, sir, will need to pack your toothbrush and deodorant." She sniffed a couple of times and said, "And it will not hurt my sensibilities if you were to shower here this morning. So, hop to it!" She grinned at Tom.

Tom stripped off his shirt and boxer briefs with intentional slowness, trying to tease Julie back a little, and failing. Harrumphing, he strode naked to the bathroom and began his shower. Julie finished brushing her hair and placed the hairbrush into her toiletries bag and pondered which clothes she wanted to take and which to leave for their return time. She pulled a couple of things out, then put them back, then a few other items and put them back too. "Aw, piss on it!" she exclaimed and placed the toiletries in her bag with all the clothes she brought from school.

Tom soon returned, and Julie hugged him and took a couple of deep sniffs. "Tom, I just love the smell of you fresh from the shower."

"Ninety-nine and forty-four one-hundredths percent pure. And 'no more tears'."

"Come again?" Julie inquired.

"Ivory soap is ninety-nine and forty-four one-hundredths percent pure, and I use Johnson's Baby Shampoo with the 'no more tears' formula. They're holdovers from my scouting days, and they work for me so why change?"

"Well, give me your toothbrush and I'll pack it with my toiletries. Deodorant?"

"In a moment, Jules." Tom applied a scent-less deodorant and handed the deodorant to Julie. He then dressed and handed her extra underwear, socks, and a couple of t-shirts to pack. "Are we set now?"

"I think so. Let's take this bag to the front door and get some breakfast before we roll to Mom's."

Julie and Tom arrived in the kitchen as David was rinsing out his cereal bowl and placing it and the spoon in the dishwasher. Rinsing out their coffee mugs, they placed the mugs in the dishwasher as well. Looking around, Julie and Tom decided to pick up some breakfast (and some more coffee) on the road to Centreville.

"Bye, David. We'll text you and Dad when we get to Julie's Mom's place," Tom offered.

"Bye, you two. I have to say this because Dad's not here: 'Drive Safely'."

With that, David headed to the basement and Tom and Julie made their way to the front door to retrieve their bag and headed to her car. Buckling into her Toyota Camry, Tom queued up the Road Trip playlist on his phone and Bluetooth connected to the radio. And they were off to Julie's home.

David looked around once he got to the bottom of the stairs and noticed a small-but-growing pile of laundry at the bottom of the chute. Sighing, he sorted the items into the proper staging baskets and even went so far as to start a load of laundry. With that task completed, he stepped to his studio area and completed the Kitsune caricature of Maggie. By now it was 9:45 and he had to get ready for his ride to show at 10:00.

He spent the day with his buddies, but while they were all scoping out the pretty females around them, David effectively had blinders on. He did reference the pictures of Maggie on his phone a few times, though.

= = =

At 11:30, Alan received a text from Tom saying they had arrived safely and without incident in Centreville at Julie's Mom's place, to which Alan replied with a "Thank you for that update". The rest of the workday passed uneventfully for Alan. He did locate a U-Pick salvage yard that would accept the car, so he contacted a towing service to pick up the car from the service shop, but they could not schedule the non-emergency pick up until Wednesday afternoon. So, Alan called the folks at Miller Automotive Repair and arranged for the car to be kept overnight. One of the nice things about using the same mechanic for many years was the long-term relationship built.

Finally, 4:30 rolled around and Alan sent off a small batch of emails, just in case someone might check their work email before Monday. Then he shut down his computer and headed for the door. Right in front of him at the door was Maria, and Alan hurried to open the door for her. He also accompanied her to her car and opened the door for her there as well. Maria did the fingernail caress of his jaw again with a mischievous smile and thanked Alan before getting in and slowly driving out of the parking lot. She was looking in her rearview mirror when she saw Alan adjusting his crotch, and her smile grew much broader. Oh, tonight was looking like it was going to be a lot of fun!

Alan turned and walked to his car. He, too, drove cautiously home, arriving at 5:15. Google Maps said it would take him 20 minutes to get from his home to Maria's, so he had a good hour and a quarter to prepare. Entering his home, all was quiet, and he remembered that David probably would not be home yet. He went to the basement and discovered the laundry in the washer, which he moved to the dryer and started another load of laundry in the washer.

Alan then mounted all the stairs to his bedroom. He got out a purple, long-sleeved shirt he had not worn in quite a while as well as his favorite gray, pinstriped suit. He dusted off his formal black dress shoes, and some thin gray dress socks. He then added a silver-gray tie to the pile. Stripping down, he took a longer-than-usual shower, being sure to clean everywhere, very thoroughly. Alan shaved his face very closely and carefully, then applied a light touch of cologne below each ear. Because he kept his hair rather short, he could just towel dry it and let the air complete the process. He then dressed in some sexy navy-blue silk boxers that Laura had gotten for him for their playdates, then attired himself in the clothing selected. He pocketed three condoms from his bedside table (because the Scout Motto is "Be Prepared"). Looking at the alarm clock, it read 6:20 pm. With a sigh, he turned out the lights and went downstairs to the living room.

"Laura," Alan prayed, "Is this what you wanted me to do? I feel like I'm dishonoring you by accepting Maria's offer of a date. I miss you so much, Laura! I'm so lost and sad without you by my side. What do I do?" He sat in prayer and communion with Laura's painting, and then his phone's alarm sounded and it was 6:30. After making sure all the lights were off, he got into his car and drove to Maria's, arriving five minutes early. He sat in the car, his heart seeming to want to pound out of his chest. He waited until just before 7:00, then walked up to the door of Maria's townhouse apartment and pressed the doorbell. After a few seconds, the door opened.

"Alan, you are quite punctual! And you look very handsome tonight!" exclaimed Maria. "Please come in for a minute; I just need to get one thing before we go." Maria returned a few seconds later, her hands were fidgeting with her left ear lobe.

Alan looked up, and his breath caught in his chest, heart once more pounding as if it were trying to make a jailbreak.

"Oh, my Lord! Maria!"

Maria Villamonte was dressed in a flowing, breezy red silk dress with an extremely plunging neckline. The dress stopped just above her knees, and her black nylon-encased legs ended in a pair of red sling-back pumps with 4" heels. She had been inserting the last of her diamond stud earrings, and she had both her small gold cross as well as another gold necklace with a diamond solitaire around her neck. She was carrying a black velvet clutch. At Alan's exclamation, she giggled, then turned a pirouette for Alan's benefit. He quickly noted that the back of the dress plunged just as low as the front, and she was not wearing a bra. Her nylons had a very straight seam running down the back of her legs.

"You like?" she inquired.

"Absolutely!" replied Alan. "You take my breath away, Maria."

Giggling again, she pulled a black shawl across her shoulders and did the fingernails to the jaw stroking thing again. "Thank you, kind sir. Come, Alan, we don't wish to be late for our supper reservations, do we?"

Alan opened the door, then asked, "You do have your keys and your phone, right?" Getting an affirmative response, he made sure the handle lock was engaged and gently led Maria to his car. He opened the passenger door and helped her to be seated. The hemline of her dress rose quite a bit, and Alan got a great view of a lot of Maria's right leg before he gently closed the door. Exhaling mightily, he got in and set them on their way to the restaurant. After a minute, Maria reached over to hold Alan's right hand in her left. Both could feel the other's pulse hammering in the fingers of the held hands, but nothing was said, each wrapped in their thoughts.

They arrived at the restaurant with ten minutes to spare, and Alan opted for the valet parking this once. He scampered around in time to hold Maria's hand after she had arisen from the car. They were immediately taken to their table and Alan once again held her chair out and pushed gently once she was seated. Alan then seated himself across the table from Maria. Their waitress was quickly there with glasses of ice water, a basket of bread choices, and heavy leather menu holders. When asked if they wished something more to drink, Alan looked at Maria, who answered, "Let us decide on our entrees first. It would not do to have red wine with a poultry or fish choice, now would it?" With that, the waitress gave them space to review and choose.

"Alan, have you ever eaten here?" Maria asked.

"Yes," he answered, softly. "This is where Laura and I came for our twentieth anniversary. I have not been back since. Is there something you see that you would like?"

"Would you recommend anything in particular?"

"The Eggplant Parmesan and Veal Piccata are excellent. Other than that, I can't imagine they would have anything offered that was not wonderful."

"Hmmm. I like the idea of the veal. That would lead us to rosé wine. What is on your mind?"

"I was kind of leaning towards the salmon," Alan replied.

"That would go very well with the rosé."

Alan then gestured and caught the waitress's attention, and she was instantly at their tableside. "We would like the veal piccata for the lady and I will have the salmon steak, please. Do you have a recommendation for a bottle of wine?"

She answered, "The sommelier recommends the Mirabeau Cotes de Provence Rosé for both the veal and the salmon." She pointed out the choice in the wine list. It was not excessively overpriced, in Alan's estimation, so he agreed. The waitress then disappeared with the menus to place their order.

Maria reached her hand half-way across the table, palm up, an invitation to Alan. A little hesitantly, he laid his hand in hers, and she wrapped her fingers around his hand.

"Maria, I think you ought to know that this is the first date I've been on in 25 years. I'm kind of out of practice."

"You know, Alan, this is and it isn't really a like a first date for us. We've been working together for the past four years. I know a lot about your temperament, and obviously where you work and what you do. But you've also been able to keep many of your personal details to yourself. Likewise, you know a bit of who I am, but not many of the personal details. So, I'll start and you can follow my lead if you like."

"Sure, that sounds like a plan," Alan admitted.

"Ok. My name is Maria Christiane Villamonte. I'm 42 years old. I have two children, Anthony, who we call Tony, who is 15 and a sophomore at the high school; and Amelia, who we call Ami, and she is 12 and in the 7^th grade. I divorced their father five years ago for reasons of infidelity on his part. They are spending this week with him, which is why you did not meet them earlier. Ok, you go now."

"I'm Alan Joseph Harrison. I'm 47 years old. I have two sons; Tom, who is 21 and a senior at the state university, and David who is 19 and a freshman at the state art institute. Their mother, Laura, passed away 16 months ago from pancreatic cancer, and we had been married for 24 years. We met in the bookstore at State. What else to share?"

"How about what you like to do?" Maria prompted.

"Well, between Laura and I, we pushed the boys to complete their Eagle rank in the Boy Scouts. I was the Troop Committee Chair for six years and went camping with them whenever possible. Laura had served as their Cub Scout Den Mother when they were still in elementary school, but she did not like to go camping, so she left the Boy Scout stuff with the boys for me. I like to read fiction as a means of escape. I live inside my head a lot; even more now with Laura gone. And yourself?"

"Very good, Alan. My kids play a lot of sports, so I've become a bit of a Sports Booster Mom. I like to exercise, mostly at the gym three times a week, and I'm really into crossword and sudoku puzzles. My parents live in Boston, and I have two older brothers and a younger sister. My family is intensely Catholic, and the divorce from Robert really strained my relationships with them. I don't really talk with them much anymore. Your turn."

"My parents were killed in a home robbery back when I was in college before I met Laura, and I'm an only child, so no family to speak of aside from my boys. They're back home this week for the Thanksgiving break, and Tom brought his girlfriend home. He and she left today to stay the night with her mother in Centreville. They plan to return tomorrow and will leave on Sunday to return to State. We have attended a non-denominational church since before the boys were born, so they have a lot of adoptive grandparents there." Alan did not mention Julie begin a lookalike to Laura. That was just too raw to share. Alan and Maria sat there, each eating a breadstick, thinking of where to go from here.

Their internal deliberations were interrupted by the arrival of their food and drink. The veal and the salmon were excellently prepared and very tasty. As Alan had already had the veal, he declined the sample offered by Maria. He felt obligated to offer her a taste of his salmon, which she readily accepted, and she declared it to be delicious. Alan sipped his wine very slowly throughout the meal. Maria was not nearly so reserved, but then she wasn't driving either. She had two glasses of the delicious rosé, and she started giving Alan some suggestive glances.

Towards the end of the meal, Alan felt Maria's foot rubbing on his leg and up his pants leg a bit. He looked at her, startled, and she returned his gaze with a sultry smirk and a very suggestive running of her tongue over her upper lip.

"You know, Alan, I really liked the foot massages you gave. But they were just far too brief and way too limited. You have a thing for nylons and feet, don't you?" she asked, quietly. "Don't you?" she pressed. Her foot shifted to his other leg, remaining on top of the fabric, but traveling much higher, past his knee and approaching his groin. "These stockings are imported from Italy, very sheer and very silky. Sexy. They make me feel sexy. You like them, don't you?"