The day had started like most others - I woke up, showered, and had toast with coffee for breakfast, but, unlike most days, my stomach was a swirling mass of butterflies and my mind full of uncertainty. As I sat, slowly eating, I thought of the day ahead whilst my coffee sat untouched, cold and uninviting.
I had been separated for seven months, but I had been emotionally adrift for the last two years of our marriage. Coming to the conclusion that it was over had taken time and had been a painful journey, one that had started in my heart and led me to the stark realisation that life without love is not a life at all, but just an existence for its own purpose.
Leaving the marital home, finding somewhere to live, organising a lease, finding a housemate to share costs with and finally moving out had kept me busy. With my focus on starting a new life for myself, I had no time to think of women, romance and love, but with my life now settling into a routine, my body had started to remind me of the need to satisfy its physical and emotional desires.
I had met Sandy online by chance, through a friend, and we had struck up a connection. Although she was younger than me by half, we enjoyed discovering each other's likes and turnoffs, laughing at the way of the world and turning lonely evenings into enjoyable nocturnal fun. Our chats had progressed from discovering each other to sexual innuendo that had stirred the embers of my lust and we had gone as far as exchanging photos that only helped to fuel my desire.
Today I was going to meet my online friend.
I fired up the trustworthy Yamaha, slipped my helmet and gloves on and as I headed off I wondered what the day would bring. The sun shone down and warmed me as I rode, and the butterflies settled as I became one with the bike and the road. As I hit the highway I cruised contentedly with the whine of the engine singing in my ears.
We had arranged to meet in Geelong to ensure our privacy and to keep away from the prying eyes of the "locals". I had booked a room in the Nireeda Apartments and had arranged to meet Sandy at the railway station.
I arrived at the station early, entered through its arched doorways and ordered a coffee as I sat at the café. I sat and sipped the bitter brew watching the commuters walking to and from the platforms, waiting nervously for Sandy to arrive.
The butterflies returned with a vengeance, smashing against the inside of my stomach, as if trying to batter their way out of this ridiculous situation, or maybe just be free of the poorly made coffee. My doubts returned - here I was, arranging not just a date with a woman I'd never met, but a night with a beautiful young woman who I had only ever met online and one who could have her pick of men in her home town. What was I thinking?
In the midst of my doubts, I looked up to see her ambling from the platform. My heart pounded in my chest as I watched her searching, walking towards me with an easy confidence. Wearing RM Williams jeans, a buttoned shirt and open coat with suede boots, she looked relaxed, her hair catching the afternoon sun streaming in from the platform behind her which only added to her beauty.
