My emotions were all over the map the rest of the evening. I felt like I was a schoolgirl again, desperately waiting for her boyfriend to call her back. I tried to do some reading, but I just couldn't focus and found myself mindlessly scanning Netflix for something to watch. A few episodes of Seinfeld managed to distract me and then it was off to bed.
As soon as my alarm went off, I was reaching for my phone. There was his email.
"OMG, that was incredible, even better than I'd imagined. Can't wait to see you again."
With a sigh of relief, I flopped back on the bed, and savored my victory for a few minutes. Then it was time to get ready for work.
It was an uneventful day, and I left a bit early to pick up my daughter from the airport. She was planning to spend the rest of her Christmas break with me. We stopped for dinner on the way home and she told me all about her cruise. She'd had a wonderful time, despite her misgivings about the whole idea. The next few days were wonderful, even if Oliver couldn't drop by, as we caught up on what was going on in her life. She had plans for New Year's Eve with some of her friends from school, and I'd promised to attend my best friend's gathering. Oliver was similarly locked into a prior engagement, and we had to make do with flirty texts.
My daughter and I had an early dinner and went our separate ways.
I drove over to my friend Pam's house. Pam was my oldest and dearest friend. She was also recently divorced and when she decided to have a New Year's Party I couldn't not come. I helped her with a few last-minute preparations, and finally met Lisa, her roommate. Lisa was also a divorcee, although a solid decade younger than Pam and I. Her's was only finalized a few weeks ago, although she'd moved out several months prior. She was a co-worker of Pam's, and she had initially offered her a place to crash, but they got along so well they decided to become roomies.
Chatting with her as we prepared, I quickly understood why. She had an effervescent personality, and was smart and witty to boot. As beautiful as she was, I was dead certain her ex had made the biggest mistake of his life letting her get away.
Guests started arriving, and soon there were 20 people in the house. It was a mix of Pam and Lisa's friends, and despite the age differences everyone was getting along famously. I ended up spending most of the night talking to Lisa, her friend Mary and Mary's husband Phillip. As it turned out they were quite the music afficionados and we had a wide-ranging discussion on rock and roll ranging from Elvis to Taylor Swift.
After the ball dropped people started to head home, but the four of us remained engrossed in our conversation, with the occasional interruption as someone bid us a farewell. Finally, I looked around and realized everyone else was gone. Pam was in the kitchen and I excused myself to go offer to help clean up.
Pam chuckled at my offer, "I'm already done."
I looked around and realized that things were pretty tidy.
"You know it's almost 3 am, right?"
I glanced at the clock, and was more than a little surprised.
"I'm sorry I didn't realize in time to help, time flies?" I offered as a lame excuse.
"It's fine, Lisa seems to be having a great time, and she needs it. She's been up and down on things. You remember what that was like."
I nodded in agreement, remembering the turmoil of my own divorce.
"Well, we probably need to wrap it up anyway. Are you still good with me using the spare bedroom?"
The plan had been for me to stay over, that way I didn't have to worry about having a few drinks, or the drunks out on the road.
"Of course, fresh sheets and everything. I'm headed to bed, see you in the morning."
"Good night," I replied then returned to my little group.
"It's 3am," I announced as I arrived.
Philip instinctively looked at his watch.
"Wow, it is," he acknowledged, "we better get going dear."
We exchanged goodbyes and Lisa walked the married couple out, while I took a seat on the couch. Lisa returned with two fresh wine glasses.
"Oh, darling, you shouldn't have."
I'd completely lost track of how much I'd drunk. It was the first time in a long time I didn't have to worry about getting home, and had been enjoying myself this much.
"Just one more, don't make me drink alone," the younger woman pleaded.
I took the glass from her hand, and she sat next to me.
She looked at me for a long minute, took a sip of her wine, then said, "You know Pam always talks about how great you are."
"We've been friends a long time, I think she's contractually obligated to say nice things about me. I know where all the bodies are buried."
She giggled a bit, "Maybe, but I think it's just because you are kind of awesome. I've had a great time tonight."
"Me too," I acknowledged.
Lisa took a long drink, almost draining her glass.
"You want to get into the hot tub?" she finally asked.
I hesitated, taking a sip of my wine, before responding, "I didn't bring a swimsuit or anything. Wasn't really planning on that."
"I could loan you something," she offered.
"Oh, dear, I don't think any of your clothes will fit me, let alone a swimsuit."
She finished the wine in her glass, "Well, we could go skinny dipping, no one can see into the backyard. Have you ever done that?"
"Yeah, once, a long time ago." My mind drifted back to a hot spring in Idaho many years ago.
Lisa looked glum, "I've never done that, never really gotten to..."
Her voice trailed off and there was a melancholy tone to her voice as she slumped on the couch.
What the hell I thought, it wouldn't be the first time.
"Sure, let's do it."
She immediately perked up.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really."
"I need to get my stuff out of my car first," I said as I got to my feet.
"I've got a spare robe you can use," Lisa offered, "I'll bring it to your room."
I retrieved my overnight bag and had just made it to the guest room when Lisa arrived. She'd put her long black hair up in a pony tail and was wearing a robe, with another robe hanging over her arm. She stood watching me intently and I realized she wasn't planning to drop off the robe and leave. Well, I was going to be naked sooner or later, might as well get it over with. I started to undress and Lisa broke the awkward silence.
