This year was going to be different, I promised myself. This was going to be the third Christmas for me as a “single” man. I had made my list of all the family members who I had to buy presents for over the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each weekend I’d venture to the large outdoor mall in downtown Oak Valley for a few hours and purchase a few gifts.
I had also decided that instead of waiting until December 23rd and wrapping all the gifts myself I would pay the fee to have the department store wrap them professionally. Gift wrapping was not a skill this forty-nine-year-old had ever mastered, no matter how many times my mother or deceased wife tried to teach me. Or maybe it was because I just didn’t care that much.
The first weekend went very successfully as I purchased gifts for my daughter Keely and her family. Macy’s wrapped them beautifully, and I was pleased that they had a selection of sixteen different wrapping papers. The next Saturday I checked off my son Brent and his family, buying the grandkids clothes at Macy’s, some toys at Target, and Brent and Zoe’s at Nordstrom’s.
“Forty-two,” said the woman’s voice from the small PA system. “Forty-two.”
I was sitting with my back to Nordstrom’s Guest Services desk, so I raised my hand as I stood up. As I held up my claim check at the counter, a woman carried my wrapped gifts. She set each one down on the counter and asked, “How do they look?”
Without even looking at the wrapped clothes boxes, I said, “They’re beautiful. Just like your blue eyes.”
Smiling, the woman said, “Oh, thank you. I have my mother’s eyes.”
“Yes, the gifts look wonderful. Thank you,” I told her. I noted that this woman, just younger than me, was not wearing a wedding ring.
She bagged up my gifts into three large bags and I made my way out of the store and headed back home. Once inside, I placed the packages around my eight-foot-tall artificial Christmas tree. I poured myself three fingers of Woodford’s Reserve Kentucky Bourbon, with one giant ice cube, sat down in my leather chair, and reviewed my Christmas shopping list. I still had my youngest daughter’s family, and my two sisters and their husbands.
The next day I decided to go shopping again, not wanting to go the following Saturday due to a friend’s Christmas Open House party in the afternoon. I headed out with my list of ideas for Alison’s family. I ended up back at Nordstrom's and had great success in getting the three gifts I needed. I dropped the items off at the Guest Services wrapping area and was told they were very backed up and it would be sixty to ninety minutes.
The twenty-year-old girl gave me my claim check and then asked for my phone number. “I’ll text you if you’re not here when I announce your number,” she explained. “You can go do some other shopping or grab lunch.”
I took her suggestion and headed over to the food court. It was packed, so I went to the other wing of the mall where I took a seat at the bar at Chili’s. I watched a college football bowl game on TV as I enjoyed a Cobb Salad and an iced tea. Between the game and scrolling through my phone, I had lost track of time when I was brought back to reality by my phone dinging. I saw the caller ID said “Nordstroms.” I quickly read the text stating my gifts were ready to be picked up.
When I arrived, I stood in the pick-up line waiting patiently. I scanned the room and didn’t recognize anyone I knew from town. I then heard a woman’s voice talking to the couple in front of me. It was the lady who helped me last week. The attractive woman with the beautiful blue eyes.
The couple soon left, and I stepped up. I was smiling when our eyes met. “Hi, you helped me last week,” I told her.
“Oh,” she said. “You do look familiar, but we had over 200 customers last weekend.”
I handed her my ticket and noticed that today she had a name badge. Her name was Liz. She said she’d be back in a minute.
She brought my gifts up and placed them on the counter. “They look great. Thanks, Liz,” I said.
Her head snapped toward me as she rang up the wrapping charges on the register. “How do you know my name?” she questioned.
My left eyebrow raised as I gestured toward her nametag. She laughed, “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “I just received this maybe twenty minutes ago. I’m just seasonal help on the weekends. I teach high school math in my real life.”
I smiled as I nodded my head up and down. I studied Liz’s face today. She had nice full lips and natural blonde hair to pair with her blue eyes. There was something about her that I was drawn towards. She put out good energy and karma.
During the past three years, I had not really dated. I went to dinner with several divorced or widowed women that Alyssa and I knew before her passing from breast cancer, but it was just dinner, as friends.
“Liz, would you like to go out sometime?” I asked nervously.
I caught her off guard. She looked around awkwardly. “I’m headed to lunch now, care to join me?” she asked.
“I would. I’d enjoy getting to know you,” I whispered across the counter.
**
Liz and I went to the food court, and we talked and talked while she had lunch. Our conversations jumped from one subject to the next with each of us sharing personal information. Like myself, she had lost her spouse to cancer seven years ago. When her lunch time was up I walked her back to Nordstrom's.
As we left the food court and approached the crowded main section of the mall, I instinctively took Liz by the hand, so we didn’t get separated. After two seconds I realized what I had done, and I looked at her for approval. She smiled and gave my hand a little squeeze.
As we neared the Nordie’s entrance I stopped walking. “I’d enjoy seeing you again, Liz. I have a great vibe about you.”
She smiled, and told me, “David, I have a good feeling about you too. What are you doing tonight? I’m off at six.”
“Ok, I’ll pick you up at Guest Services at six. Maybe we can go to dinner,” said politely.
Liz stepped toward me and kissed me on the cheek. A bolt of lightning shot through my forty-nine-year-old body. She whispered in my ear, “I only want dessert,” as her hand grazed my cock.
“Would you like to come to my house instead? I asked, looking into her eyes.
“Yes,” Liz said.
We quickly exchanged phone numbers and I told her I’d text her my address. She said she’d be there about 6:30 pm. It all went down so quickly that when I sat in my SUV it was a blur.
“She only wants dessert,” I chuckled as I backed out of my parking spot. I then realized all of the things I needed to do before her arrival.
**
The alarm on my phone went off at 6:20 pm and I was thankful I had finished cleaning, prepared a small charcuterie board, and had two bottles of red wine on the kitchen island for her to select, and two whites chilling in the fridge. I had also changed the sheets on my bed, showered, and manscaped.
As I did my personal grooming, I had to think about how long it had been since I had been intimate with a woman. My wife, Alyssa, had passed just over three years ago, and we didn’t have sex for about seven months prior to her death. Wow, one month shy of four years, I thought to myself.
“DING DONG” rang the doorbell, pulling me out of my trance. Liz was here. When I opened the door, she was wearing the same clothes, with just a touch more makeup, which looked great, and carrying a Nordie’s bag.
We hugged and shared our first kiss in the foyer. It started as a single lip kiss, but she instantly opened her mouth, so I followed her lead. Her tongue found mine and we kissed slowly and sensually for almost twenty seconds. “Nice home,” Liz said. “David, where’s your bedroom?”
Her question surprised me. Damn, she is forward, I thought. “Down the hall, last door on the right,” I told her.
“I’m going to change clothes, where should I meet you?” Liz asked.
“I’ll be in the kitchen,” I responded, pointing in the direction.
**
I could hear the sound of high heels on the hardwood floor, “click, click, click, click,” as Liz approached the kitchen. Two glasses of her favorite wine, Merlot, were poured and waiting on the island.
She rounded the corner, our eyes met, and she stopped. She smiled and slowly did a three-sixty spin. “Do you like it?” she asked sheepishly.
“Liz, you look stunning. Like a Goddess,” I calmly said.
Here stood this forty-six-year-old woman in a sexy royal blue and black teddy, a royal thong, black fishnet stockings, and three-inch-tall black stilettos. She was five-seven tall, now five-ten with the heels, a toned size eight body, and ample 36DD tits. The colors looked great with her fake-and-bake tan, blonde hair, and blue eyes.
“I think the term is MILF,” she teased as she walked the remaining twenty feet to where I was sitting.
I picked up a glass of vino and handed it to her, telling Liz, “Your merlot, madam.”
She took a sip, paused, and said, “Mmm, very good. This is a high-end bottle.” After another pause, she continued, “But I didn’t come to your house for wine. Follow me.” She grabbed my hand and led me back to the master bedroom.