She sat at the bar quietly nursing her drink. She felt a tear slowly make its way down her cheek and quickly wiped it away. It had been a rough couple of weeks. Her divorce had finally come through after two long years of fighting. Although it ended well in terms of settlement, it had taken its toll. She would no longer have to work after all was said and done. She had given her notice to her job earlier in the day. It was time to move on.
"Are you okay?" said the voice from behind her.
"Look, if you are looking for a slam bam thank you ma'am fuck, try the red haired girl in the yellow dress at the end of the bar. She'll screw anyone." she snapped. She closed her eyes and couldn't believe the words had come out of her mouth. True or not, it wasn't the type of thing she pictured herself saying to a complete stranger. She didn't look up at the mirror to see who was speaking to her. She had shocked herself with her response. Imagine her surprise when she heard the most comfortable male laugh behind her. She raised her eyes to the mirror.
He was standing behind her shoulder with an adorable grin on his face. He was wearing a blue shirt with two buttons open at the neck. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows showing his muscular forearms. He sported salt and pepper hair cut in a businessman's style. She could see the sparkle in his blue eyes even in the reflection in the mirror.
"Actually," his voice replied. "I was certainly hoping for more than a one hour thing. I'll pass on your suggestion to see the girl at the end of the bar"
She slowly turned in her stool to face him. Her cheeks were crimson with embarrassment. "I am sorry. What I said was uncalled for. Please accept my apology." She stammered.
That is how she and Robert met. They spent the next four hours talking and laughing. He told her that he was divorced (as was she now). He had no children, loved animals and the outdoors. He hated watching sports. They found that they had everything in common from favorite foods to favorite books; favorite places to favorite movies. There was nothing they discovered about one another that they disagreed upon.
"Angie, I have had a wonderful evening tonight." He said. "I need to be going now. I am only in town for tonight on business and leave early tomorrow morning."
She felt herself cringe! Here was the first man she had remotely enjoyed being around in the two years since she left Tim and he was leaving town?
"Oh." she muttered. The disappointment had to have been audible as he looked at her strangely.
He took a napkin from the bar and asked the bartender for a pen. He wrote something on the napkin, handed the pen back to the person behind the bar and turned to her. He held out the napkin and said, "This is my email address. Please feel free to get in touch with me if you decide you would like to know me better."
He rose, smiled, slipped on his jacket and walked toward the door.
She sat for a moment watching him walking out of her life and not knowing exactly what she was feeling. She did know she didn't want him to leave. Suddenly, she heard herself call out, "Robert!" He turned toward her as she hurried to stand in front of him.
"I do." she said.
He looked at her quizzically. "You do??"
Her laugh was a nervous one. "Yes. I do want to get to know you better. You said you were hoping for something longer than an hour. How does company for the night sound?"
She could not believe she was doing this! She was propositioning and stranger she had just met in a bar, for God's sake!
His comfortable laugh came quickly, as did the adorable smile. He held out his arm. She slipped hers through it. They edged through the doorway out into the cold Alaska night air together smiling at one another.
Wow! His hotel room was as large as the apartment she had been living in since her separation. "Nice place you have here." she said trying not to sound as amazed as she felt.
"It's my last taste of luxury for a while." He replied with a smile.
He helped her off with her coat and hung it up as she walked toward the chair by the window.
"Would you like something to drink?" he asked.
