Lisa walked over and sat down on the stool next to Mark.
"So which one are you?" Lisa asked.
Mark looked around to see if she was talking to him.
"Which what am I?" Mark asked.
"We're at a singles bar and you have a wedding ring tan-line. There are 3 possibilities for what you are. You could be a married man out looking for some action on the side. You could be recently divorced or in the process of getting a divorce and you're feeling lonely. Or the rarest of the three you could be a widower that has been missing his beloved for so long that he finally took off his ring and came to a place like this in the hopes of finding some companionship. From the way you're crying into your beer you can't be a guy that's looking for something on the side. So which is it...divorced...or widower?" Lisa asked.
"Um...widower." Mark said.
"Hi widower...I'm divorced. Do you mind if I join you?" Lisa asked.
"No...please do." Mark said.
"I'm Lisa by the way." Lisa said.
"Mark." Mark said.
"It's nice to meet you Mark. How long has it been since she died?" Lisa asked.
"Two years, four months, and eleven days." Mark said.
"I'm sorry. I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must be. It's been rough on me and I stopped loving the bastard. You had yours taken from you." Lisa said.
She saw Mark on the verge of tears.
"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean any..." Lisa said.
"No, it's okay. I guess I just wasn't fully ready for this." Mark said.
"Then why are you here?" Lisa asked.
"Some of the guys at work have been encouraging me to come here. They think it's high time I move on with my life and find someone new." Mark said.
"That's stupid of them. If she hadn't died you'd be somewhere with your wife right now instead of sitting here talking to me." Lisa said.
"They don't seem to get that. To them I'm single...not a widower." Mark said.
"Well...if you aren't here looking to move on then what are you looking for?" Lisa asked.
Mark shrugged sheepishly.
"It's been more than two years, four months, and eleven days since...well..." Mark said.
"Oh. You aren't here looking for love...you're just looking for some lovin'." Lisa said.
Mark shrugged.
"Yeah...I know that's terrible, but..." Mark said.
"It's not as terrible as you might think Mark. A lot of people come to places like this for just that reason. In fact, that's what I'm here looking for tonight." Lisa said.
"Really?" Mark asked.
"Yeah. I don't know if you'd be interested or not, but since we both know that we're after the same thing we could get out of here now without waiting around all night and there wouldn't need to be any entanglements later." Lisa said.
Mark turned towards Lisa and looked at her.
"I've...I've never been with..." Mark said.
"Oh the race thing is an issue for you...no big deal. Good luck." Lisa said.
Lisa turned to get off the stool, but Mark touched her arm.
"No please wait. I wasn't going to say that." Mark said.
"Then what were you going to say?" Lisa asked.
"I've never been with anyone but Emily." Mark said.
"Nobody? Were you high school sweethearts or something?" Lisa asked.
"More like sweethearts since birth. Our parents were best friends...we grew up next door to each other. We were together all our lives. I wouldn't even begin to know how to please you." Mark said.
"Mark, my bastard husband hadn't touched me for 5 months before I filed for divorce and it's been nearly 8 months since then so it's been over a year. What I want right now is for a man to make me feel like a woman again. It doesn't have to be some kind of romance novel kind of thing. I just want a man to kiss me and touch me. I want a man to hold me to look at me...to make me feel beautiful and sexy. I want to feel a man's weight on my body. I want to feel him inside me as our bodies couple together. If you can do that then you can give me everything I'm looking for tonight." Lisa said.
Mark looked at Lisa. He smiled for the first time.
"Well...I think I can handle that." Mark said.
"It seems as if we could help each other out then." Lisa said.
"I think you're right. Should we go find out?" Mark asked.
Lisa smiled.
"I came in a cab...do you have a car?" Lisa asked.
"My truck is outside." Mark said.
"Then let's settle up for our drinks and head to my apartment." Lisa said.
Mark paid for their drinks then he and Lisa got in his truck and drove over to her apartment. They went straight to the bedroom, but then they both froze up.
"I guess saying it and doing it are two different things huh?" Lisa asked.
"Yeah. I've never done anything even close to this. I'd known Emily all my life so everything was so easy so natural with her." Mark said.
"Well...if we're going to have sex we should get undressed. We can start with that." Lisa said.
"Okay." Mark said.
Mark unbuttoned his shirt and took it off as Lisa took off her blouse. Mark took off his pants as Lisa took off her short skirt. Lisa reached back to unhook her bra.
"Wait." Mark said.
Lisa stopped and looked at him.
"Did you change your mind about doing this?" Lisa asked.
"No. I'm more comfortable with the idea now. I was wondering if you might indulge me a little." Mark said.
"Indulge you how?" Lisa asked.