Bill had followed her instructions to the letter. It was Friday, and he had checked into the hotel, getting a room with the best view possible. The clerk had a questioning look when he asked for the highest floor possible, and Bill found it necessary to explain it was for the view.
Once he got to the room, he got a large bucket of ice and put the wine in to chill. Then he unpacked, and put on the purple polo shirt she had requested. With everything set, except his nerves, he went down to the bar.
Sally had not given much of a description of herself. She said she was average height, slightly overweight, brown hair. There were at least a half dozen women in the bar fitting that description. Bill knew the purple shirt was meant so that she could check him out without him knowing who she was. He hated that, but if this woman was half as fantastic as she sounded in her emails, then it was definitely worth the discomfort.
Bill walked over to the bar, and took a seat, being sure to leave an empty one on both sides. He ordered a Bloody Mary, and when it came he finished it in to large gulps and ordered another one. Then he started scanning the room, looking at the women there. Of course, he ruled out the blonds immediately, as two of the brunettes were with other men, and 3 were with groups. The only one sitting alone was too hidden in a shadow to see details, but she certainly fit the few details he had. Still, he knew that approaching her could be disastrous. If it was her, he broke one of her rules. If it wasn't her, he would be very embarrassed. So, he sat there nursing his drink, and let his mind wander to the multitude of emails that they had shared.
He knew she had a great sense of humor. He also knew that, like him, she was way outside of her comfort zone in arranging this rendezvous. Yet, there seemed to be an attraction, much like the attraction in "You've Got Mail," though when he mentioned it, she said she preferred the Jimmy Stewart version. She was almost a decade younger than he was, but that didn't seem to bother her. In fact, she said she liked it when Bill jokingly said he was robbing the cradle.
Bill was startled when he felt the touch on his hand. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that the brunette from the shadows had sat down next to him.
"Buy me a drink, sailor?" she asked once she had his attention.
That wasn't the code-phrase she had said she would use.
"Sorry, but I am waiting for someone," Bill replied.
"Me, too. But I thought maybe we could wait together,"
Bill thought for a moment, but then said, "I would love to, but I'm not sure I should. My date is quite jealous," he lied.
"You don't know what you are missing," she said as she went back to her table in the shadows.
Bill called the bartender over and asked for a ginger ale and sent a drink to the brunette. He felt bad that he had to brush her off like that, especially because he didn't get too many women interested in him.
With that, Bill resumed his mental review of the emails he had shared with Sally for the last 6 months. He was attracted to her wit, sarcasm and obvious intelligence. He found it interesting that she had called herself a naturist, but when he asked if that was the same as being a nudist, she didn't respond.
And she said that she hated condoms, but when she had to use them, she preferred the Orange ones. Bill wasn't sure what that meant. Maybe it was some type of code; maybe a brand; or of course the obvious would be a color. He couldn't find anything on the internet about it being a slang term, though that search did turn up orange flavored condoms along with the orange colored ones. Still, that was such a puzzlement. He wasn't sure if tonight would be anything more than drinks and conversation, but just in case he did find some orange colored condoms on the internet, and bought a box. That, too, was in the hotel room several floors above him.
The brunette he had sent the drink to touched him on the shoulder. "Just wanted to thank you for the drink," she said.
"No problem."
"Looks like we have both been stood up."
Bill looked at his watch. "Mine still have 15 minutes. She said if she wasn't here by 8:00, she wasn't coming."
"Well, I'm leaving. Thanks again," the brunette replied as she slipped a business card under Bill's arm. Then she walked out of the bar.
Bill looked at the card. There was a name, but no company on the card. The name caught his eye, however. Sally Thorndike. He didn't know his Sally's last name, but he was thinking this was too much of a coincidence. The cell phone number was circled. He turned the card over, and read, "If your friend doesn't show, I will be in the restaurant. Feel free to join me. S." Not quite knowing what to do, he waited.
"Anyone here named Bill Sally," the bartender called out?
Bill wondered if that could be for him. Sally didn't know his last name, either.
"That's probably for me," Bill called, and the bartender set a phone down in front of him.
"Hello?"
"So, what did you take from that brunette?"
"I didn't take anything. She gave me her card," Bill said as he scanned the bar to see if anyone was on a cell phone.
"What did it say?"
"It has a name, address and phone number on it," Bill replied, thinking it best to not mention the note on the back.
"You know who this is?"
"Yes, I recognize your voice from our phone calls. Where are you?"
"You don't need to know that yet. I will tell you that I like what I see, but I'm still a little nervous. I've only done this twice before, and both time it turned out to be men so fat they couldn't see their dicks much less use them."
"Blunt as usual," Bill replied. He knew that Sally's bluntness increased with her nervousness, confirming what she had said.
Sally knew that Bill was getting a little agitated. "Tell you what, go up to your room, and I will be there in 30 minutes, okay?"
"Sure."
"Bye then."
Sally had hung up before he realized he didn't give her his room number. He waited a couple of minutes to see if she called back, then headed to his room, assuming that she somehow knew the number.
Still feeling guilty about giving the brunette the brush-off, Bill stepped into the restaurant to see if he could see her. She was sitting along the windows, and was having a drink and small talk with a gray-haired gent. Bill turned and left the restaurant, but was stopped just outside the door. The brunette.
"So, you were stood up after all."
"Not exactly, just a change of plans. I just wanted to apologize for being rude earlier. Not my usual style. But I see you weren't stood up after all."
"No, he was just very, very late. Still, I can't say much. He is my boss after all," Sally replied. "Did you keep my card?"
"Yes, I did," Bill said as he patted his pocket to be sure he had picked it up.
"Well, if you ever want to have drinks, give me a call. You're cute." And with that the brunette turned and walked back to the table.