In Chapter 1, Pete, a 55 year old middle aged man started a relationship with a 25 year old woman named Nickie who had been mentored for years by him and his wife, Diana, who died after a long illness. This picks up right were the first story ends. As always, I appreciate the feedback and most importantly, I am sincerely thankful that you would take the time to read my story, and I hope it brings you enjoyment.
The rest of the day was actually pretty routine after that. Nickie and I went out to do some last minute Christmas shopping which, being a Saturday and the day before Christmas Eve made it insane. She asked me what I wanted and I told her nothing, and then changed my mind as we passed the Fredericks of Hollywood store.
"If I bought you something from there would you wear it?" I asked.
"You really are a dirty old man," she laughed. "But would that be a present for me or for you?"
"Good question. Stay right there for a minute," I said motioning to a bench. I walked into the store and bought a gift card. After making sure it was activated, I came back out and handed it to her.
"What's this?" she asked.
"Christmas present for both of us. Get whatever you want. I'm going to go look in the cigar store for a while."
"Cool, thanks!" she exclaimed and kissed me on the cheek before bouncing into the store.
Gee, I really do feel like a pervert, buying lingerie for a woman young enough to be my daughter.
I went into the cigar store and looked around picking out a few Romeo y Juliettas, and some Montecristos. I had given up cigar smoking while my wife was sick but now, I figured I could indulge myself a little bit and figured I could always smoke around the fire pit in the backyard. I walked outside, and didn't see Nickie, so I grabbed a coffee and sat on a bench watching everyone go by.
All of a sudden, I hear someone yelling my name and I look up and it's my next door neighbors, John and Michelle.
"Hey Pete, how are you?"
"Doing fine," I said as I stood up and shook John's hand and gave Michelle a hug."
"Doing some last minute shopping?" she asked, "You're not shopping at Fredericks of Hollywood are you?" and she winked.
"Ha ha, no, this just happened to be the closest place to sit."
"Well, you're welcome to stop by during the Holidays if you want, are you going away?"
"I was but the storm that's coming has shot that idea so no I'll be home."
"Well, "Michelle said, "We'll be home so feel free to stop by. We have some relatives coming by but one more won't hurt."
"Thanks, I appreciate that," I said shaking John's hand, "Have a Merry Christmas."
They walked off just as Nickie came up from behind me holding up a couple of bags from Fredericks with a big smile on her face.
"I think you'll like some of this and by the way, that was a very generous gift card."
"Glad you had a good time," I said, "Well I've had enough, how about you?"
"Yeah it's crazy, let's get out of here," she said.
We left the mall, and headed back to my place, stopping off to grab something to eat. We got to the house just as the first flakes starting falling.
"So, what's the plan for you and your family?"
"Well we're getting together for Christmas Eve and then I planned on staying over for Christmas Day," she said."
"That sounds like fun," I said.
"Yeah, but I wish I could spend it with you."
"Yeah me too, but I don't think the timing is right," I said. "I mean, what would your parents think?"
"Yeah I hadn't thought about that."
The problem of course was that I and my wife had been friends with Nickie's parents which is how Nickie first got introduced to us. I was pretty sure that they were not going to be very happy with this latest turn of events, and certainly, for that matter, would anyone else. I wasn't sure what the official waiting or mourning time was for moving onto another relationship. I was pretty sure Nickie hadn't thought of the consequences either.
"I guess this is something we need to think about, Nickie," I said.
"I know, but I really don't want to at this point. Why can't we just enjoy the newness of everything?"
She sat down on the couch and put her chin in her hand. I walked over and sat down next to her.
"We can, NIckie, but these are things that eventually we will need to deal with. Your parents and others may feel that I am taking advantage of you, and some others will think that I've lost my marbles, trying to figure out how to make sense of it all in their own minds."
"But it's our lives," she said, raising her voice, "Screw them."
I put my arm around her, as I said in a calm tone, "I agree, hon. it is our decision."
"Do you care what they think?" she said.
"I do and I don't," I said, "I mean I've always been someone who lived my own life but at the same time, I think we should both care from the standpoint that we don't want to ruin our relationships with our families and that we need to be sensitive to it. Your parents love you a lot and want only the best for you. And you feel the same way about them. I think time can also be our friend here."
"So are you saying you don't want to be seen with me?" she asked.
"That is not what I am saying at all. If I felt that way, would I have taken you out to a fancy restaurant or out shopping today?"
After a pause, she shook her head no.
All of a sudden, she stood up and began gathering her stuff.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm sorry but I need to go, "she said, "I need some time to myself, Pete. All of a sudden things seem to be moving so fast."
"No, don't go, we can talk about this. I know how this..."
"No, "she said emphatically," I need some time to be alone and digest all this. I'll call you." She came up, kissed me on the cheek, and grabbing her coat, carried her bags to her car and drove off, leaving me sitting there wondering what the hell had just happened.
I knew that this would eventually become an issue that we would have to deal with. Certainly everyone has different ideas of how long you should grieve after losing a spouse, but that is so minor compared to the fact that there is a huge age difference between us, not to mention we had been in a mentor type relationship.
Also, I got a reminder of the fact that no matter how mature she is or in possession of "an old soul", she is still only 25 years old. She flipped pretty quickly on me. When you're young, you don't necessarily want to confront things or be reminded of practical matters like we just talked about. However, here I am the day before Christmas Eve, alone with no real plans. The only good thing is that even though the snow will be falling, I have plenty of booze, plenty of food, and nothing really to do.
I pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels and made a drink and sat back watching TV. The first one went down kind of fast so I made another one. As I sat alone in the house, I began to think about my wife. Why the hell did she have to leave me? It just didn't seem fair and I wouldn't be left with these problems that I have now. I wondered what she would think about all of this if she were here. I figured she probably would be shaking her head at me. I really wasn't sure myself what to think, other than to know that I was still too young to be alone.
Anyway, it was now around 7 and it had been snowing for a few hours but not really too heavily. I had a guy who plowed my driveway and he would get it in the morning or as it came down, and I would just wait until tomorrow to go out and use the snow blower on the walkways. An unexpected knock at the door, brought me back to reality and broke my chain of thought.
I went to the side door and saw my neighbor, Michelle, standing there.
"Hey neighbor, what can I do for you? Come on in."
"Hi Pete. I just wanted to stop by I hope I'm not disturbing you," she said.
"Where's John?"
"Oh, he went out for poker night with the boys and he isn't coming home until tomorrow. When I saw you today, I thought bad about not having come over to see you and figured this was as good a time as any," she said as she took off her hat, coat, and scarf. She then held on to my shoulder as she pulled off her boots and then her ski pants, and left them all at the door.
"Well come on in, at least now I don't have to drink alone," I said.
Michelle was wearing black leggings and a long red turtleneck which clung to her pretty nicely and fell just below her ass. Michelle was about 5'5", with short red hair, and a nice athletic build, due to her being a runner. Her boobs were a little on the smallish side and firm, but she had a great ass, legs and a flat stomach. Her and her husband John were about ten years younger than me and didn't have any kids either. We had been friendly but not especially close, and once Diana had gotten sick, we hardly saw them at all. They had always struck us as a little stuck on themselves.
"So what are you drinking?" she asked.
"Jack with Coke," I said.