"Sure. Let me get it." I retrieved it from where I had written down all her information near my desk and brought it back to them. "Here it is. She didn't work tonight, so you may catch her at home. I only have her home, not her cell."
"Okay, thanks." Joyce took the number. "Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce Livy, short for Olivia."
Olivia put out her hand and I shook it. "Nice to meet you Livy."
She grinned. "Nice to meet you."
Joyce used her cell to call Jasmine immediately. They discussed when they would have to perform an audition and I listened with interest, marveling at how I came to be acquainted with a stripper and possibly two more. Considering that I had not gone to a strip club while married, it was an interesting development. I also have to admit that my horniness led me to hope that they would need a "practice dummy" – so to speak. I was definitely ready to volunteer my services.
After Joyce got off the phone, she and Livy thanked me and left. Drat! Why was it that now I was always horny yet when I was married we'd sometimes go a couple of weeks without sex and I was comfortable with that? Oh, yeah, back then I was working my ass off and there weren't nubile young things around all day.
Saturday, 6 October 2012, John's apartment, Seattle, Washington.
I got some decent sleep, but was still napping a little in front of a college football game when the doorbell rang. I got to my feet slowly, a little groggy from dozing and made my way to the door. I checked the peephole. It was Mary. Outstanding. My libido was imagining all sorts of scenarios.
I opened the door. "Hey, Mary. C'mon in."
She smiled and seemed hesitant, but eventually entered. "Hi. I just wanted to come by before I go to work and see how you were doing."
"Pretty well." She seemed a little distant, so I waited to see what was going on.
"I know that I've been a little bipolar when it comes to our relationship, but I wanted to stop by and let you hear it from me." She looked at me closely and I tried not to give away my feelings. "When I was on vacation I ran into my old boyfriend from a couple years ago. We got to talking and then spent the week together. We're going to get back together." She looked at her hands and then back up at me, trying to judge my reaction.
"That's great, Mary." I tried to sound very happy for her. I think I was, but I still wanted this woman. She was a very nice, pretty, and sexual woman.
"You're not mad? I mean we didn't discuss anything about us dating or anything, but you are a little more old fashioned and I thought you might think we had some sort of arrangement."
I had to chuckle at that. "Okay, I know I'm old, you don't have to rub it in."
She looked concerned. "That's not what...".
I interrupted her. "I'm just kidding. Mary, you are a free agent. You can do whatever you want. Of course, I loved having you in my bed, but we barely know each other and we can just look at that as two friends comforting each other, okay? I'd still like to remain your friend."
Mary looked relieved and then hugged me. "I do want you to be my friend. You never know when I might need more comforting."
I grinned. "I'm always available for comforting." I held her by her shoulders. "Now do you have time for a beer? I'd like to hear about this old boyfriend."
She looked at her watch. "Not really. I have to be at work in 20 minutes."
"Okay. Well, I expect to hear more about it. And I guess he's at least more physically compatible than Dave and can 'comfort' you."
She laughed and I loved her laugh. "Yes, things are much better in that department."
"Okay, good. I expect to hear more about him and maybe meet him."
"You will. Now, I'd better get going." She headed toward the door and then stopped and turned around. "Don't be a stranger because of this."
"No way, Mary. I'll be over there to visit my favorite bartender often."
"Okay, good." She turned to leave, but again turned to me. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you let me invite you to my parents place for a birthday party for my sister? You can come as just a friend of mine. I won't try to hook you up – much."
"Yeah, yeah. Get out of here. I'll come to your party, but don't expect your other sisters to take a liking to the old guy."
She grinned. "Don't worry, you're very likable." And she turned and left. Damn! When I saw her face I was immediately thinking sex.
I spent the rest of the night relaxing, watching some college football and finishing a book. I was going to have to hit Amazon and the bookstore again. I needed some more books, both electronic and paper.
Saturday, 13 October 2012, John's apartment, Seattle, Washington.
I spent the entire week working on mundane computer research. I found out that Justin, the drug addled idiot who attacked me, had been severely beaten in jail. The police suspect that his boss was sending him a message for being so stupid. Mary was also true to her word and had invited me to her parents' house for her sister's 36th birthday party. She told me her sister was divorced and had a daughter. Oh, great, she was trying to fix me up with someone with a kid. Not in my plans. I had already raised a daughter and was not thinking of more children at my age.
Mary sent me directions and I followed them to a very nice house in the Queen Anne area with a view of Puget Sound. It was a large and very nicely appointed house with a well-manicured lawn. I arrived and made sure to time it to show up with Mary. She met me on the sidewalk and walked me inside. Her boyfriend had to work and she was alone.
We entered the house without knocking and there was nobody in the living areas and it appeared that everyone was outside. This made sense since we were having a sunny day for the first time in several days. We went over and she pointed toward the back yard. There were plenty of kids and Mary explained to me that she had three sisters and a brother. From them she had four nephews and one niece. The niece was from Margaret, who she said they called Maggie, and she was the birthday girl. I could tell that was the one she was hoping I had an interest in. She had been divorced for four years and didn't get out much in Mary's opinion. I got a complete mini-family history, including the fact that her father was from old money and Mary, because of the direction she had taken, was the black sheep of the family.
Mary took me through the kitchen and got me a beer. Her father drank Guinness and she knew that was my favorite. Then she led me outside and introduced me to her brother who was the first person we ran into. He seemed nice, but quiet. Her parents were next and her father was not very friendly. He seemed a little surprised that Mary had brought me and didn't seem all that happy to see her. Her mother led us away from him toward the rest of the yard and apologized for him. I hated that. I always hated it when one spouse felt he or she had to apologize for the other.
Then, as we came around a tree there was a small table there with a girl, who was probably about 6 years old, playing with a tea set by herself. The boys were further out in the yard playing, as boys do, at being rough and out of control. Mary introduced me to the girl. She was pretty, with blonde curls, and big blue eyes, and wearing a very nice flowered dress. Definitely a girly girl from all appearances.
"John, this is my niece and goddaughter, Madeleine. Maddie, this is Mr. Jackson."
The little girl stood up and offered her hand. "Hi, Mr. Jackson." She was more polite than most adults.
I shook her hand. "Hello, Maddie. You look like you are all by yourself. Is there nobody who wants to have tea with you?"
She shook her head. "No, sir. The boys don't want to play teatime."
I looked up at Mary and made a motion toward the table. Mary knew what I meant and just shrugged her shoulders. I handed Mary my beer. I had done this many times with my daughter and her friends.
"Maddie, I'd like some tea. May I join you?"
She stared at me for a second and then looked at Mary with a wide smile. "Yes, sir. You can sit right there." She was so polite and pointed toward the seat opposite her.
"I'll be right back." Mary excused herself and left.
"So what kind of tea do you have here?" I sat down in the very small chair, but it was kind of interesting. This brought back good memories from my time with my daughter.
"I have Earl Grey tea."
I chuckled, thinking she was kidding, but then she poured what looked like tea out of her little teapot into a small cup and put it in front of me.
"Would you like some sugar, Mr. Jackson?"
"Uh, yes, that would be great." She was quite the little hostess.
She spooned in a couple helpings and then sat back down. "It's still warm."
I picked up the cup and tried it. Damn! That was really tea. And it was still warm. "This is very good, Maddie, thank you."
"You're welcome." She took a sip of hers. "Are you a friend of Aunt Mary's?"
"Yes, I am. I just moved here from Virginia on the East Coast and she wanted me to meet you guys."
"I like Aunt Mary. Grandpa doesn't like her, but me and my mom like her."
Kids. Never say anything to or around a small child that you didn't want everyone to know about. "I like Mary, too."
"Are you her boyfriend?"
I wondered if she even knew what that meant. "No, we are just friends. She has a boyfriend, but he had to work today."
She looked at me with those big blue eyes and I got the feeling that they didn't miss much. They reminded me of my daughter's. Even at a young age you could tell she was taking in everything and thinking about it. "Okay."
Then suddenly, Mary was back at my side and standing next to her was a goddess. I knew immediately who it was. She had blond hair and big blue eyes, just like Maddie. She was wearing a sundress like her daughter and I could tell she was thin, but shapely. Everything about her exuded charm and grace, just a glance told me that.
I stood up before they could say anything and spoke. "You must be Maggie."
She smiled. "How did you know?"
I looked down at her daughter. "No mistaking that resemblance."
She smiled larger looking at her daughter. "She is a lot like me, isn't she?"
I loved her smile. Her face was pale, with a few freckles. She was about 5' 6" and she appeared to be not just shapely, but athletic. "Yes, she is. She's very pretty."
Maggie blushed a little and Mary laughed. "I can see you're in good hands. I'll go get us some more wine." She took Maggie's glass out of her hand before she could say anything and left.
Maggie looked away from my gaze and I realized I was probably staring. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare so intently."
"No, that's okay. I was just wondering if I had something between my teeth or on my lip."
"You have neither, but even if you did, you'd still be beautiful."
She looked back at me. "Well, Mary sure can pick them."
"What?"
"You know what I mean. Mary always dates you guys who are constantly flirting and trying to be so smooth."
I didn't know if she was putting me on or not. "Mary and I are not dating. Her boyfriend had to work and couldn't make it so she asked me. We're just friends. And I'm so out of shape at being smooth it's ridiculous."
"Really?" She looked at me intently and then back down at her daughter who was watching us. "Well, um, let's go over to the food table and get something." I could tell she didn't want to say too much about that in front of Maddie.
I looked down at her daughter who would then be left alone. "No, thanks. Maddie just invited me to join her for tea and poured me a cup, so I'm going to stay here."
She looked down at her daughter and her daughter got this big smile on her face, like she had beat out her mother for my attention. "Do you want some tea, too, Mommy?"
Maggie smiled at her daughter and I could see that she immediately understood what I was doing. "No, thanks, honey. But I will sit here and keep you two company."
"Okay, good."
Maggie turned toward me and then noticed my wedding ring. She seemed a little surprised and it was easy to follow her gaze to it. "Interesting; you're married?"
I glanced at Maddie and then went back to Maggie. "Um, no. I'm, um," there was no way around this in front of Maddie; "actually I'm a widower."
Maggie's eyes went wide for a second. Maddie looked confused. "What's that, mommy?"
Maggie turned to her daughter. "That means that his wife died and went to heaven, like Uncle Mark."
"Oh." She looked at me intensely. "Do you have any kids?"
I could never understand how kids got from one thought to the next, but it was always interesting. "Yes, I do. I have a daughter. She's 18 years old and just started college."
"Oh." She appeared a little crestfallen, thinking she might have a playmate, I guess.
Just then Mary reappeared and handed Maggie her wine. "Here you go. How are you guys getting along?"
Maddie spoke immediately, 6 year olds having no filter. "Aunt Mary, did you know that Mr. Jackson's wife died?"
"Yes, dear, I did. It was almost a year ago."
Maggie again looked down at my ring and raised her eyebrows a little. I answered her question before she asked. "It's a tribute to Marie, my wife. I promised myself that I'd wear it for a year after her death."
Maggie stared at me more intently over the top of her wine glass as she took a sip.
Mary decided to change the subject. "Anyone want anything from the food table?"
Maggie stood up. "Sure, I'll go with you." They left me with Maddie and we continued to drink tea as she peppered me with questions about my daughter. I pulled out my wallet and was showing her a picture when the two women got back with some munchies. They both leaned over and looked at the picture as Maddie was holding my wallet.
"She's pretty." Maddie handed it back.
"Thank you, Maddie. I think you are very pretty, too."
"Thank you." She went back to fiddling with her tea as Mary and Maggie put a plate on the table with some veggies, ranch dip, cheese, and crackers.
We munched and talked about nothing important or in particular until it was time for the birthday celebration part of the party. Maggie stood and looked over at the group gathering around the food table. "Oh, god. Here we go. Another year older."
I stood up next to her. "And still beautiful."
She smiled at me. "Thanks, but I think you have an ulterior motive."
I looked at her in mock shock. "Who, me?" When I glanced at Mary, she winked at me.
"Mmm hmmm." Maggie grinned, gave Mary a knowing glance, and then walked toward the group standing around the food table where there was a birthday cake. Even if she hadn't been out much, she was still funny and could flirt.
They all sang Happy Birthday and Maggie opened a few token presents. Then her father told a funny story about her. I noticed that Mary stayed on the fringe of the gathering and wondered about her relationship with the rest of the family. So far I'd only seen her talk to Maggie and Maddie, nobody else.
After Maggie cut the cake and everyone was having some, Mr. Bradford came over to talk to me. As he approached it looked like he thought that he was approaching a used car salesman. Several people were still hanging around while the kids went back to playing. It turned out to be a good thing that the kids disappeared.
"Mr. Jackson." He held out his hand and I shook it.
"Mr. Bradford."
"Tell me, what do you to Mr. Jackson?"
"Well, I'm a Project Manager and Database Engineer by trade. I just moved out here from Virginia and don't have a job yet, so I'm doing some computer research work for a private investigator friend of mine."
"Interesting. And you are a friend of Mary's?" He said it like he was disgusted that he had to talk to me and that he couldn't wait to get away from me. I was a little peeved by this.
"Yes, that's correct."
"Unfortunately, she's not the best judge of character, is she?" He eyed me when he said that and I took it as a direct insult. This guy didn't care at all about me. He was just trying to make a point about his daughter, Mary, and the type of people she hung around with.
"Better than some." He just looked at me as he took a drink of his beer. "But what do you care, Mr. Bradford? You seem to have forgotten that she's your daughter." I could see everyone getting quiet and some looked like they didn't want to be around for this.
He stared at me. "Pretty bold observation for a stranger."
"Sometimes being new means you see everything more clearly. Am I wrong?"
He glanced over at Mary and she looked at her shoes. Everyone else seemed to be waiting and holding their breath. "Mary made some very bad choices when she was young. I made it clear how I felt about that, so she knew what she was getting into."
"And there's no chance she can ever redeem herself, is that it? So the sins of our youth can never be overcome?"
"She's had her chances."
"Yeah, I bet." I put as much sarcasm as I could into that.
"I think it's time for you to leave Mr. Jackson."
I stared at him. "Yes, sir. I think it is. I don't think I can put up with the level of hypocrisy that exists in this house." Mr. Bradford glared at me and then I turned and strode for the house. I was just through the kitchen and heading for the front door when Mary caught up to me.
"John, wait!" Mary grabbed my arm to stop me.
I stopped, but I was so angry that I yanked my arm out of her grasp and whirled around. "What?!"
She stood there, a little surprised at my show of anger. "I'm sorry about that." Maggie came up right behind her.
"Quit apologizing for your father. It's not your fault."
"I know, but I brought you here and he acted that way toward you only because I brought you."
"Absolutely right. He could have gotten to know me for who I am, not the kind he thought I was because I'm your friend, but he didn't."
"I know." Mary hung her head and Maggie put her arm around her.
"Mary went through a wild period and Dad has never forgiven her for that. He still treats her badly."
I stared at Mary. "And yet you continue to try to earn his approval, don't you?"
She looked at the floor and I saw a tear run down her cheek. I could see her start to tremble. Shit! Why did I have to say that? I took her in my arms and held her. She sobbed against my chest and Maggie put her arms around both of us. There was obviously a lot of emotion and history in this relationship.
I stepped back from the hug and held Mary by her shoulders. "Look. I'm sorry about what happened out there. I did the same thing at that party a couple of weeks ago. I don't know why. I used to be very accepting of people and able to control my anger, but, I don't know – suddenly I'm less accepting of anything that I feel is not right anymore. Sorry."
Mary moved in and hugged me again. Maggie just smiled. Mary looked up at me. "Okay, I'll try to explain it to my father. He wants to talk to me after the party, so I'll probably hear about it again. No problem, though. I'm used to it. Are you still going to leave?" She was close to me and motioned toward her sister with her eyes. Damn! After all that and she was still trying to play matchmaker.
"Yeah, I think so. I don't want to be here causing a major problem amongst the family."
"Okay. I've got to go to the bathroom. See you later." She leaned up and kissed me on the cheek then scampered toward the hallway leading to the bathroom.
Maggie was still standing there looking at me. "Sorry about that Maggie. I didn't mean to spoil your birthday party."
She waved my comment away. "Don't worry about it. He deserved it. I wish I could be as forceful with him, but he's my father and I have a hard time with it."
"Anyway, tell Maddie I'm sorry that I had to leave without saying good-bye. She's an impressive little girl."
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