As they enjoyed their Italian style dinner and wine, Marie found out a lot about the kind of person Lucas was.
He lost his father in a car accident when he was only a teenager. It forced him to become the man of the house when he was only thirteen. Not even old enough to drive, Lucas was in charge of his two younger siblings who were only three and five years old at the time.
His responsibilities at home forced him to delay college for nearly four years. During that time of helping his mother, he learned how to be an electrician and also did part-time work at the nearby state-parks since he had a love for nature and animals.
He lived at home during that whole time, until he was twenty-four, and at that point he had a hefty amount of savings.
“I’ve only been out of the house for about a year now, but I’ve been the man of the house for a long time. It forced me to grow up much quicker than my friends did. I looked at life through different eyes,” Lucas commented.
“Oh, believe me I can already tell,” Marie said with a sly grin.
“Why are you giving me that look?” Lucas asked.
Marie was taken off guard as she was caught staring at Lucas with lust in her eyes.
Lucas easily picked up on her gaze and returned a lustful look of his own staring into her eyes once again.
“Stop it,” Marie said giggling like an adolescent school-girl with a crush on classmate.
“Alright, fine. I’ll leave you alone. I don’t want you getting too giddy,” Lucas laughed as he noticed half the wine bottle was gone. “So Marie, tell me about your life. Tell me everything.”
Marie described her marriage in vast detail, opening up on how things went from sky high all the way to rock bottom. She told him about living in New York City after college, her wild times hitting the dance clubs, the romance that swept her off her feet, and the world adventures she went on with her ex-husband.
She talked about the beautiful places in the world she had visited and how romantic the scenery was.
It might have been the wine talking, but Marie went on to describe more intimate details of her travels with her ex. She opened up to Lucas about her wildest sex stories during their travels. Marie spilled details about her love life that she had never told anyone before.
“It sounds like you two had one crazy marriage,” Lucas commented. “What happened?”
Marie’s mood did a complete hundred eighty degrees turn when Lucas asked that.
“I could not get pregnant. Douglas turned into a complete dick,” Marie bluntly put it. “We tried and tried and tried, but nothing ever worked. We tried everything we could think of. Well, at least everything he was comfortable with. Nothing, though. After nearly ten years of marriage, he just threw me away,” Marie said as she buried her face into her hands.
The tears streamed down her face as she reminisced on the love she once had.
“I’m sorry about throwing this on you, Lucas. It’s only been two years since we split and I haven’t dated since. Well, until now,” she chuckled wiping the tears off her face. “You’re my first date since the divorce.”
“I’m honored,” Lucas said with glee. “It’s crazy that you got married so young, while you were still in college. You must have been twenty? Twenty-one?” Lucas asked her.
“What are you talking about? I met my ex-husband when I moved to New York City after college,” Marie explained.
With a confused look on his face Lucas replied, “That makes no sense. You’re thirty-one and you said your marriage lasted about ten years. You had to have been married while going to college. Unless…”
The look on Marie’s face said it all. Her little fib from earlier was exposed. Again, it’s safe to say the terrible way she kept her age a secret could be blamed on the wine.
At this point, Marie and Lucas (mostly Marie) had nearly drunk the entire bottle that Lucas brought on their date.
“Damn, I’ve always been a terrible liar,” Marie sighed. “No, I’m not really thirty-one.”
“Okay, so how old are you then?”
“Don’t say anything, but I turn forty-four in a few days,” she replied.
“You’re forty-four! I never would’ve guessed,” Lucas exclaimed in disbelief.
“Hey, I’m forty-three. It is still three more days until I turn forty-four,” said Marie. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“And what could that possibly be,” Lucas chuckled still in disbelief of Marie’s true age.
“That I’m an old hag, should be going out with men my own age, and I’m a cougar on the prowl scoping out hot, young guys, young enough to be my son,” Marie proclaimed.
“Stop it, Marie.”
“I know that’s what you’re thinking. I know it just by your reaction.”
“My only reaction was that you are sexy as hell,” as he inched closer to her.
“Yeah right, you only think I look good for my age. That’s all.”
“That’s it!” Lucas plunged toward Marie, locking his lips firmly on hers. Lucas aggressively kissed Marie wrapping both arms around her waist. He pulled her as close to his body as he possibly could so he could feel the warmth of her body.
Marie returned his passionate kiss and ran both her hands through Lucas’s hair. The pair intertwined their tongues for what seemed like an eternity with neither tuning down the aggression.
With Marie firmly pressed against him, Lucas ran one hand up her dress and softly squeezed her toned ass. He ran his fingers along the lining of Marie’s G-string slightly popping it against her.
Marie took Lucas’s other hand and placed it on one of her breasts, and she let out a slight moan while Lucas fondled her. She ran her hands down his torso, feeling the definition of his pecs underneath his shirt. She caressed his waist and pulled him on top of her sending them flailing onto the sand. With Lucas firmly on top of her, she squeezed his ass which she could not keep her eyes off of earlier.
Finally unlocking lips, Lucas kissed and glided his tongue on her neck, while simultaneously massaging both her breasts. Marie’s moans increased in volume. She hadn’t been this intimate with a man in nearly two years.
“Aww Lucas, your touch feels so good,” she said softly. “I haven’t felt a man’s touch in so long.”
“It’s actually been a little while for me too, Marie,” he said while kissing her neck. “You drive me crazy though, I’ve been dying to kiss you all week.”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you either, especially your ass. You have the best ass I’ve ever seen,” she chuckled.
“You like it?” he asked.
“Oh yeah!” she replied emphatically. “I just want to squeeze it and bite it.”
“I love yours too. I can tell you work on it. A tone, athletic ass is exactly what I like,” Lucas told her.
Lucas stared at Marie once again with lust in his eyes and he lunged in to kiss her. She let out another soft moan as he ran his hands up beneath her dress massaging her slender legs. As he ran his hands up to her waist, he grabbed the G-string she was wearing, attempting to slide it off her waist. Marie looked as if she was in sheer ecstasy, but she placed her hands over his, stopping him in his tracks from sliding her G-string off.
“I’m not ready. I’m sorry. This is amazing, but I’m just not ready for that. Please understand,” she said with a look of concern perhaps fearing what Lucas’s reaction might be.
Lucas just looked at her while on his knees and softly smiled at her.
“It’s okay. No pressure,” he replied as he leaned in and kissed her on the lips.
“I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”
“Besides, it’s late and you have to be up early to work the festival tomorrow,” Marie told him.
They cleaned up the mess that their passionate make-out session had caused, and he drove her home after the most intimate and romantic night she had experienced in a long time.
After dropping her off at her house, Lucas called out
to Marie asking,
“When will I see you again?”
“Soon, you can count on it,” she said with a sly grin as she opened the door to go inside.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The day came for Marie to celebrate her forty-fourth birthday. She usually carried a somber feeling getting another year older, but this year she seemed to have a different attitude. She looked happier, seemed more relaxed, and at times looked almost giddy while she was at work with her students. Some of her students who knew her best easily picked up on this.
“Ms. Gilman, what has gotten into you today? I’ve never seen you smile this much,” said one of her students.
“I just had a good week, that’s all. Stay focused on your work,” Marie replied to her student, not wanting to explain the details of her romance life with a middle schooler.
School was getting ready to be out for summer and Marie wouldn’t have to worry about explaining anything to her students for the next few months as they enjoyed their summer vacation.
When Marie arrived home from work, she came home to a big surprise. There was a bouquet of roses on her doorstep with a small note inside.
Marie was shocked by the romantic gesture left waiting for her arrival.
The note read, A beautiful bouquet of flowers for a beautiful lady. Turn around.”
Marie turned around and there stood Lucas sneaking up her driveway to greet her.
“I have been waiting here for hours! I didn’t know what time you got home,” Lucas told her.
“Sometimes I get home earlier, but I usually have to stay a couple hours after school to tutor some of my students. Anyways, don’t you have to work today or something?” she asked him.
Lucas smiled saying, “I know today is your birthday so I took the day off so I can take you out on our second date.”
“Really? I can’t believe you actually remembered. You just keep on impressing, young man,” Marie joked.
“Are you coming or what? We need to beat the dinner rush,” Lucas told her.
Marie rushed inside and changed into more comfortable clothes and met Lucas by the car. They drove to a local diner to celebrate her birthday. Lucas, like a perfect gentleman, opened all doors for Marie and pulled out her chair at the diner.
“I like diners. They just seem so cozy and relaxing,” Lucas told her.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Marie replied with a big smile. “We have quite a bit in common, you and I.”
The waitress walked over to the table to take their orders and she started with Marie’s order. “What can I get you ma’am?” the waitress said.
“I’ll take a chicken salad, light dressing, and water,” Marie told her.
Turning her attention to Lucas she said, “What’s your order, kid?”
With a perplexed look Lucas replied, “Rueben on Rye with deep fried pickles, please.”
“Coming right up,” the waitress said.
“Why’d she call me kid? I’m certainly no kid,” Lucas annoyingly said where only Marie could hear him.
“Pay it no mind,” Marie told him.
“It’s no big deal. I just know I’m not a kid,” he said.
After enjoying dinner together, Lucas excused himself from the table so he could walk up to the waitress to order Marie something special.
Lucas couldn’t hide the gigantic grin on his face as he walked back to the table to sit down next to Marie.
“What did you do?” Marie asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Lucas said still grinning ear to ear.
To her surprise, out came a double layer chocolate cake with candles lit on top.
“Oh my gosh!” Marie exclaimed as she noticed the chocolate cake presented in front of her at the table. “You are too sweet.”
Lucas leaned over the table and kissed Marie on the lips and took her by surprise.
“What are you doing? We’re in public,” she whispered to him.
At the same time Marie was saying that to Lucas, she noticed that the waitress had a disgusted, disapproving look on her face. The waitress was looking in their direction and was whispering to her co-worker, shaking her head.
Lucas was oblivious to all of it because he couldn’t take his eyes off Marie. She was the only one in the world at the time.
“What’s the big deal if we kiss? I figured after our steamy session at the beach that it’d be okay,” Lucas said while winking at Marie.
“Nothing, I guess,” Marie said visibly concerned.
Marie continuously looked over her shoulder to see if their waitress was looking at them every time Lucas made any kind of intimate contact with her.
The waitress walked over to the table to hand Marie and Lucas the bill. The waitress looked directly at Marie while holding the bill.
“I believe this is for you ma’am.”
Lucas let go of Marie’s hand and snatched the bill from the waitress commenting,
“Actually, the bill is mine. Today is this lovely lady’s birthday and this dinner is my treat to her.”
“Hmm, I thought it was the other way around. I didn’t know adults had surprise birthday parties, only kids. I guess times have changed,” the waitress rudely commented.
There were two distinct reactions that Marie and Lucas displayed after the waitress made her comment. Marie looked concerned and embarrassed, whereas Lucas just looked amused by the whole situation.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The summer months waned. Since Marie was on summer break, she and Lucas spent more and more time together.
Lucas still had a lot of tasks to do as the summer was busier for him as an electrician, and the state parks were busier in the summer. Lucas had to pick up a couple extra shifts per week throughout the parks in his rotation to keep up with the steady flow of visitors throughout the beautiful New England summer. Even though he was busy, he still managed to spend a great deal of quality time with Marie.
The months of summer for Marie and Lucas were filled with beach days, movies, nature hikes, and many “intimate” times together.
It became obvious to Lucas, as the summer strolled by, that they only did activities where there was likely to be no one, or very few people, around.
It concerned Lucas because he felt like Marie may not be comfortable in their romance.
During a movie break at Marie’s house one night, they went into the kitchen to get more wine.
“You know, the SeaBats are playing on Sunday. Wanna go? Baseball season is almost over and we haven’t caught one single game.”
“Eh, I’m not much of a baseball fan. Can’t we just go to the beach? Or hang out here and order delivery?” Lucas paused and chose his next words carefully.
“Let me ask you something,” Lucas said to her.
“What’s on your mind?” Marie replied with a slight tremble in her voice.
“Why do you never want to do anything where we might be around a lot of people?” he asked.
“I just like avoiding crowds. Quieter and more secluded things are more my style. Plus, if the setting is right, we can fool around,” Marie said to Lucas, winking at him.
“I think it’s more than that. I haven’t said anything, but I think what that waitress said a couple months ago really bothered you. I think it’s still with you. Well, not her in particular, but the feeling she planted,” Lucas told her. “I knew she threw a jab at our age difference, but I didn’t want to cause a scene at the diner. Why do you care what she said?”
“Ugh, why are you asking me this? Can’t we just spend time together just the two of us and have fun?” she asked him.
“I need to know Marie. I really like you. You’re beautiful, have a warm heart, smart, we have a ton in common, and I have a blast with you.”
“I like you a lot too. You’ve made me happier than I’ve been in a really long time.”
“We haven’t been exclusive, but you’re the only woman I’ve dated, or even wanted to date, since the day I saw you at the festival. I want you to be m
y girlfriend. For real and openly,” he told her.
“I don’t know if I can,” she sighed. “It’s just…”
“Just what!” Lucas exclaimed while interrupting her. “Don’t tell me it’s because of the age difference.”
The silence and eyes to the floor from Marie told Lucas everything he needed to know.
“Why is it such a big deal Marie? We’re, what nineteen years apart? Other people do it. Why does it matter?”
“Because you’re not the one who looks like a predator scoping out young guys to be used as a sex toy. You’re not the one who feels old, shriveled up, and clinging on to your youth! And you are definitely not desperate and unable to get someone your own age. I feel all those things.”
“Look, I know there are prejudiced idiots out there who judge you for the smallest, most inconsequential reasons. Don’t let that stop you from being with who you want to be with. I’m hoping that’s me.” Lucas said.
“You just don’t know what I’ll have to go through if we’re in a serious relationship,” she explained.
“Just let me help you through it. I want to be together for real, instead of just hanging out in secret.”
“You don’t understand the dirty looks I get. The gossip that goes on when a woman my age dates a man your age. You’re too young to get it,” she explained to Lucas.
Standing up in frustration, he walked towards the door.
“I’m going to convince you one day that the age difference is no big deal. At all. I like you too much, Marie. And I know you feel the same way.”
Lucas slammed the door behind himself and walked out to head home.
Marie wiped a tear slowly trickling down her face. Gathering herself together, she called the only person she knew could help her through this, Sonja. Sonja was always there for her through thick and thin. If there was anyone who could talk some sense into Marie, it would most certainly be Sonja.
“Hey Lady! How are things going with your young one?” Sonja said as she answered the phone.
“Well, they are going great, and not so great,” said Marie.
“Oh no, Honey. What’s wrong?”
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