Although I am not officially associated with the school system, I am well known and well respected within the school district. The teachers knew that I was providing a necessary service and valued my contribution to the educational system. Beyond tutoring the students that needed help, I was also involved with several charity operations in town and volunteered with the PTO as well.
Through these activities I have kept a rather active social life. I got to see the families of those students I have tutored in the past, finding out how well they are doing as functioning adults now, and got to know other families that have never hired me for my services.
There was one family that I had gotten to know through these groups, but never had the privilege to work for them, the Levine's. The mom, Emily, was the president of the PTO and very active in the community. Never saw much of her husband, but her kids were bright and were top in their respective classes. Emily always looked, just so, hair done perfectly, never dressing too provocatively and never a hint of controversy around her or her family. Tonight she was dressed in a stunning black dress that seemed to cling to her body while not making her look slutty at all, in fact the exact opposite. She looked very sophisticated, she seemed to exude charm and class from her immaculately pedicured and painted toe nails, up to her very stylish hair. She had a take charge personality as well, something that always intrigued me with women. I have always been attracted to strong intelligent women and Emily was no exception.
Emily and I have always gotten along well, just never more than a professional relationship.
This changed one night in a way I would have never thought possible. This event was at the end of what seemed like a very long school year. It took place at a local restaurant that served nice food that wasn't overly priced. The drinks were flowing as usual and people all around were enjoying themselves. What didn't strike me as odd to begin with was that Emily had a drink.
I have seen her drink before, but very sparingly, rarely more than one, and certainly never to excess. This time was a little different, she seemed to be a little more chatty than usual and she was obviously on her second drink with an empty infront of her.
I made my way over to her to strike up a conversation and we started talking about everything and anything. As she finished her drink I offered to get her another which she readily accepted to my astonishment. I brought her another Long Island Ice Tea and we continued our conversation. Throughout the conversation some subtle changes had come about her. Several hairs had come undone from her normally pristine hair do. Her normally reserved manner had cracked some as well, while not overly loud, she was definitely louder than normal for her. She also seemed to be touching me more and more to emphasize points while talking. She was obviously enjoying herself immensely, and who was I to tell her she couldn't, especially since I was the focus of her attention.
We continued our conversation, probably the longest we have ever talked one on one ever. The rest of the get-together seemed to fizzle out after a while and we found ourselves alone as the rest of the group had left for their respective families and homes.
We were both a little buzzed at this point and we both found this actually amusing that we had lost track of time so much. While it wasn't late, only about 9 pm, we were now alone after the rest of our party had left. We continued to talk and learn more about each other and found we had a lot more in common than originally thought. We were both in long term marriages, all kids were at least of an age they could take care of themselves and we were both done having kids.