“It’s the least I could do.” I replied. “I am sorry about the cloud of smoke too. I didn’t know my friend’s truck would do that. I’m more used to cars.”
“No, I’m sorry. My ex husband loves to ‘roll coal'” she said, using air quotes. “It just made me think you were like him. I felt so bad when I saw how sorry you were, but I was just so mad at him and took it out on you.”
“I get it, I sometimes see my ex wife in other people and judge them based on that.” I chuckled. It was nice to clear the air, but I was worried about bringing up her daughter. She was starting to warm-up to me, and I didn’t want to remind her of catching me being a pervert. I took a deep breath and decided to jump in anyways. “And I’m sorry about perving on your daughter. I know it doesn’t make it any better, but I thought she was one of the college girls that lived here. I didn’t mean to stare, but I was really caught off guard.”
“Ha!” Angela laughed. “Are you going to apologize for every slight you think you’ve caused me?” She laughed again. “Hayley is a terrible flirt, she knows she looks good and loves to tease guys. She probably did it on purpose.” She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the edges. “I wasn’t very mad at you, I just had to make sure you knew she wasn’t 18. Hayley thrives on attention, she gets that from her father.” She put her hand on my arm. It was the first physical contact I’d had with a woman in nearly six months, it was amazingly comforting. “Anything else you want to apologize for, or can we just try and start fresh from today?”
I acted as if I was deep in thought. “Hmmmm… nope, I think that’s it. Thank you.” I said.
“You’re welcome. And thank you for your help.” She said, removing her hand from my arm and holding it out. “Hi, I’m Angela. I’m your upstairs neighbor.”
“Hi Angela, my name’s Ken. Nice to meet you.” We shook hands and laughed.
I looked at my watch, it was already 6:30pm. “We’ll, I’d better go, let you get on with your evening.”
“Oh? Ok.” Angela said. “Do you have to? I haven’t thanked you for changing the lights and leaving me some extras.” She added.
“You don’t have to thank me, I’m just being neighborly.” I replied.
“We’ll, let me be neighborly as well. Can I make you supper?” She offered. “It’s been nice talking to you, and I feel bad for being so bitchy before.”
“I guess.” I replied. “I don’t want to intrude on you and your daughter.”
Her expression darkened a little when I mentioned Hayley. “She won’t be here. She decided to stay with her father for the summer, he’s got a pool.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” I said. Angela cocked an eyebrow at me, possibly questioning my intent. “I just mean that although I don’t have kids, I know I’d want to spend time with them if I did.” I said hurriedly.
Angela laughed lightly. “You’re sweet.” She said. “I do wish she’d spend at least part of the summer with me, but her dad is the fun one, and with everything that’s going on in the world, I can’t blame her for wanting to stay with him.”
“I guess.” I replied, not knowing what else to say.
“We’ll, you might as well come in.” Angela said. “Do you think we can get rid of our masks? I haven’t been anywhere with people, just out for walks.”
“I’ve only been to the grocery store in the last two weeks, are you ok with that?” I asked.
Angela pulled off her mask, giving me a warm smile. “I guess I’ll take the chance.”
I smiled as I removed my mask as well. Everything felt more intimate once our masks were off, almost like it had just turned into a date. I dismissed the thought almost as quickly as I had it, chalking it up to the lack of female, or human for that matter, contact in so long.
I realized I had been staring at her face blankly for a few moments longer than I should have. “So, what’s for supper?” I asked. “I can help in any way you need, just give me very clear directions. My skills in the kitchen are very limited.”
“I was thinking about a chicken stir fry.” She said, heading towards the kitchen. “You can help by keeping me company while I make it.”
She poured us each a glass of wine and asked me about myself while she got started. I told her about my job, my parents, my sister, and Dan’s family. She told me about her family, then gave me a summary of her marriage; married young, pregnant with Hayley shortly after, he was a self-centred ass, they had bought this condo as an income property, but when she’d had enough of his lying and (probably) cheating, she left him three years ago. She got the condo and he kept the house. She told me about her job. She was the business manager for a small chain of pharmacies, it wasn’t glamorous, but it paid well and she enjoyed it.
We continued to talk easily over supper, she asked about my tattoos, admitting that she’d never watched Star Wars. I feigned disgust at her revelation, but then I admitted that I had never watched Titanic (the only major ‘chick flick’ I could think of that I’d never seen), to her mock disgust.
After dinner, I insisted on helping with the dishes. I washed while she dried and put things away. I don’t know if it was the wine or what, but I was really starting to feel some sexual energy between the two of us. Angela brushed her breasts against my arm as she was reaching for the wok from the drying rack, our hips touched several times, and her fingers slid across mine as I was handing her washed items.
Once the dishes were done, we sat on her couch, each with our third glass of wine.
“I’ve told you about my divorce, how come you haven’t told me about yours?” Angela asked.
“I guess I’m still hurt and angry about it.” I said quietly. “I’m not as distanced from it as you are from yours.”
Angela reached out and put her hand on mine. “It’s ok. I understand if you don’t want to talk about it.”
Her hand on mine was so soothing and comforting. I had to fight the sudden urge to pull her to me and kiss her. I forced my mind back to conversation and decided to tell her about my divorce.
“We got married at 25, I wasn’t totally heads over heels for Trina, but I loved her, and I thought she loved me too. We started trying to have kids when we turned 31,Trina was ready and I thought it was something I had to do to make her happy. After almost two years of trying, Trina wanted to get some tests done. Her results came back first, and it turned out she was already a month pregnant, we were both so excited. Two days later, my doctor called me while I was at work with the results from my tests. I had a sperm count of zero.” I took a calming breath.
“My doctor was surprised that Trina was pregnant, but he wanted to run more tests before he would comment further. I assumed that the test was wrong or I did something wrong when I took the test, so I didn’t say anything to Trina. After the second round of tests came back and the doctor did a more thorough physical exam, he was certain. I had a blockage that meant there was no way I could have gotten Trina pregnant for at least the past three years.” I sighed.
Angela squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” I replied, squeezing back. “Anyways, I confronted her, telling her what the doctor said. She barely tried to deny it, Trina was a nurse and she had been having an affair with one of the doctors at the clinic for a few months. I went to Dan’s that night, saw a lawyer in the morning, and less than a month later moved in here.”
Angela looked at me with sad eyes. “Now I feel even worse about how I treated you when we first met. I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had just gone through that.”
“It’s ok. How were you supposed to know?” I asked. “Besides, I thought we put all of that behind us.” I said, giving her a big smile.
“Thank you.” She said. “So what happened after you left? Did she tell the doctor?”
“We’ve talked a few times, she’s due next month. She told the doctor, but he didn’t want to leave his wife. I don’t really know anything else. Whenever she calls me, I always make sure that she and the baby are ok then let her go.” I sighed. “I still care about her well being and don’t wish her or the baby any harm, but I really don’t want anything to do with her anymore. I’d never be able to trust her again.”
“I can see why you’re still a little raw about that.” She squeezed my hand again. “Thank you for telling me.”
“Thank you for listening.” I replied.
“You’re welcoOOOOOOOOme.” Angela said, yawning. “Oh my! I’m sorry. What time is it?”
I looked at my phone for the first time in a long while. “Wow! It’s almost 11.” I told her, stifling a yawn myself.
“I think I should be going to bed. I’m not used to staying up this late or drinking this much on a work night, but I really liked it.” She said, squeezing my hand again.
“Me too.” I said, starting to stand. I was still holding her hand, helping her to rise as well. When she stood, she was standing in front of me, looking up at me. I reached out and brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face. “Thanks for tonight, it was the best night I’ve had in a long time.” I said softly.
“Me too.” She replied, licking her lips.
I had the urge to kiss her again and this time I didn’t force it away. I leaned down, closing the one foot height gap slowly, staring into her eyes, giving her time to pull away if she didn’t feel the same way. As I closed in, Angela tilted her chin up. My lips made contact with hers, they were soft yet firm. At first it was a soft tentative kiss, as if neither of us were sure what we were doing, but we quickly figured it out. Angela pressed her body against mine, and I wrapped my free hand around the small of her back, pulling her tighter to me. Our lips mashed together harder. I felt Angela’s tongue probing at my lips and I parted them enough to let my tongue dance with hers.