Where the Wind Takes You
Thomas stretched his arms, leaned back in his chair and exhaled. "Whew. I think that's it!" he said out loud to no one but himself. It was after midnight, but he was excited to be finished with this piece. He had read and re-read his work five or six times in the last two hours and finally felt like it was ready to publish.
Thomas had been dabbling in writing erotic fiction for the last couple of years, and after finally working up the courage to submit some things, he found a warm reception and generally positive feedback. This was just a hobby; an occasional, albeit welcome, distraction from his insurance job and his often lonely nights.
As a widowed 52 year old with grown kids, he was not burning up the dating scene and he needed an outlet for his sexual thoughts. He was 5'10 with a slightly olive skin tone, a healthy head of salt and pepper hair, a similarly seasoned goatee and, unfortunately, a dad bod borne from years with a desk job, a love of cooking and an expense account. Thomas' wife of twenty years died in a car accident several years before, and that lingered over him like a cloud for a long time. He had a couple of relationships in the last 18 months, but both faded and reached their predestined, yet amicable, conclusion.
Thomas doted on his adult daughters when he could. Both were on their own and were able to weather the pandemic with the good fortune of jobs in industries that allowed remote work as well as the nest eggs established as the result of the settlement from their mothers' death. His girls visited him occasionally, but they had lives of their own. Thus Thomas would often work well into the night on his business or on his erotic creative outlet.
Thomas logged into Literotica under his pseudonym, Fourislucky, and submitted his latest story. It was a story called "An Accidental Quarantine" about a man who was ready to go on a trip with an escort when both were forced to stay home because of a COVID exposure. It was a sexy fantasy that was fun to imagine and write. It would likely be a day or two before it would show on line.
After uploading the story, Thomas sipped the last of his glass of Jameson to unwind as he looked out on the quite streets of his Manhattan neighborhood. It's odd how the streets near him, in the city that never sleeps, could be so quiet sometimes. It was Sunday night (well, really Monday morning) which made it extra quiet.
During the next day, Thomas was talking to one of his new clients and they asked him if he would be comfortable coming to visit them in person. It was the end of their annual benefits enrollment period and the client wanted to take the opportunity to meet Thomas in person and do a wrap up of all the work done in the past few months. Thomas was fully vaccinated, and so he jumped at the chance to get out of town.
It was a welcome invitation, since Thomas had wooed and won this account only through Zoom calls and written proposals despite insurance consulting remaining a personal relationship kind of business. It's important to shake hands and connect in person to really bond with a client. Having said that, despite the tech only client management approach so far, he built a nice little relationship with the two key people at this customer.
The senior of the two was a woman, Sue, about Thomas' peer in age based on their conversations. She was head of Human Resources. Her deputy, Natalie, was in her mid-30s Thomas guessed. Both were really good humans; smart, kind, personable and easy to work with.
That Thursday, Thomas headed to Northern Virginia for a few days. He would take care of the business meetings Thursday afternoon and Friday, then enjoy the nation's capital over the weekend. He was excited to meet his client in person, and to see Washington DC.
As expected, it was a very positive meeting Thursday afternoon. Both Sue and Natalie were effusive with praise for the work Thomas' firm had done, and the executive team was happy with the financial results as well. It was late on Thursday afternoon when Thomas, Sue and Natalie agreed to meet on Friday afternoon for happy hour to get the weekend off to a good start.
On Friday afternoon, the three pulled up in their separate cars at a bar near their office and conveniently across the parking lot from Thomas' hotel. The bar had a patio and outside bar on the shores of the Potomac. It was a perfect setting for a May evening. The three talked and laughed like old friends and learned a lot about each other over those few hours.
Sue was 53 and married with two college age children. She carried the look of a serious business woman with a short blond bob haircut, proper business suits and a serious demeanor. She was about 5'3" with a fairly slim build. She was cute more than stunning. She and Thomas bonded over of having older children, and one of Sue's daughters was interested in Architecture; the field Thomas' eldest daughter chose. Thomas offered to introduce his daughter to hers to talk about that business. He knew his daughter would love that, and Sue eagerly agreed.
Thomas learned that Natalie was 35 and recently divorced. She was about 5'7 and had five kids under 14. Natalie joked that after the first was born, she and her husband wanted to try again and were blessed with twins. Then on the try for the fourth, there was another set of twins. Natalie said she couldn't take any more chances, and made a joke about "shutting down the factory" after that.
Natalie was beautiful, and Thomas had a hard time not staring. She had beautiful features; a kind, round face, a brilliant smile, shoulder length dark brunette hair, bright blue eyes, full lips and a soft voice that was soothing and sensual. She was a woman with a perfect blend of the beautiful curves of a woman and mother with the slimness earned through chasing and carting five kids around, managing a home by herself and once weekly yoga sessions.
She carried herself with a confidence that was sexy without effort. She wasn't trying to impress, rather she was comfortable in her own skin and gave off an impression that a distinct sensuality lie just beneath the professional surface. The casual Friday attire of a slightly too large button down shirt over a form fitting camisole and jeans that accentuated her shapely legs and butt was perfect. It defined her form without immodesty.
Thomas liked her from the beginning, but after a few drinks had to really focus on not making it obvious. In addition to having a look that was Thomas' personal kryptonite—a brunette with blue eyes—she was fun to be around.
As the bar filled with patrons on Friday evening, the three thought it best to grab a table so they could continue to speak and have some dinner. They squeezed into a booth with Natalie in between Sue and Thomas. The drinks continued to flow, moderated with some food. Inevitably, as adults will do while drinking, the conversation got personal.
"So what's your story, why are you single?" Natalie asked Thomas with the slightest wobble in her voice.
Thomas gave the short version of his situation—he was married for a long time with two daughters and his wife died tragically a few years ago in an accident. It took a while for him to bounce back into the dating scene, and there hasn't been anyone special in his life. In the end, he said "I have learned to embrace the wind and enjoy the ride, wherever it takes me."
"So Natalie, turnabout is fair play. I know you have five kids and are divorced, but there has to be more!" Thomas said.
Natalie replied "Well, the short story is, I married my high school sweetheart at 20 and we had our first child when I was 21. After that it was those two sets of twins and I'd had enough! I think Alex, my ex, wanted to keep me perpetually knocked up and at home and it caused friction. We started to fight, a lot, and soon came to realize we wanted different things after being married for 15 years."
