Susan played with the brake pedal, tapping it gently several times to minimize the loud squeaking sound her brakes made when stopping. Her most recent ex-boyfriend had told her that her brake pads were worn down to the metal and needed replaced; but short of cash, she was putting the much needed brake repair off as long as possible. She slowed to a stop in the parking area just across from the rear entrance to the Properties of the Villages Real Estate Office and killed the engine. She hoped that the squeak was quiet enough so that Dr. Joe Stone couldn’t hear it inside. She was sure he was there because his Mercedes was already parked in its usual spot. She rustled around in her purse and pulled out a tube of lipstick and carefully applied a fresh coat. She dropped the lipstick back in her purse, pulled out a small bottle of Shalimar and applied a couple of quick squirts behind each ear and another squirt or two on her shirt to give her a lasting scent. She wanted to look good and smell good for Dr. Joe. She lifted her cleaning supplies off the passenger side seat, shouldered the driver’s side door open and headed for the entrance. Surprisingly, she was greeted at the open door by a smiling Joe Stone.
“Good evening, Mrs. Harris.”
“Good evening, Dr. Stone, and please, it’s Susan. Mrs. Harris makes me sound so old, if you know what I mean.” She smiled warmly, tossing him a sexy wink.
“Oh certainly. Susan it is. While we’re playing the name change game, please call me Joe. Dr. Stone makes me sound so boring.” He gave her a friendly smile.
“Okay. Joe it is.”
“I must say, Susan, you certainly look different today.”
Emboldened by the bevy of compliments from her fellow workers at the golf course earlier, Susan paused on her way through the door, “Good or just different?”
Holding the door open with his backside, Joe and Susan’s faces were only inches apart, “Why, you look wonderfully different.”
“You’re such a deary.” She gave him a longer than appropriate kiss to the cheek, brushed against him and continued inside.
Dumbfounded by the kiss, Joe stared straight ahead and didn’t budge.
“Are you coming in, Joe? We have work to do, you know.” Susan had a sly grin on her face.
“Why…yes, yes, coming right in.” Joe stepped away from the door and let if fall shut. He took a deep breath, straightened his shirt collar nervously, and turned toward Susan. “I’ve reviewed the instructions left by Mrs. Anderson and we are to wax the main corridor tonight. She said they had a lot of people through the office today because of the rainy weather and the floor got pretty scuffed up.”
“Well, we’d better get busy. We still have all of the other cleaning to do too.”
“Okay, then why don’t we do the other stuff first and then do the corridor.”
“Do you want me to start dusting?”
“Yes, and I will start mopping the floors in the restrooms.”
“Okay, see you at break time.”
“Alright.”
* * *
Still reeling from the unexpected kiss, Joe hurried toward the janitor’s room at the end of the hallway to find the mop bucket. His heart was racing. He had never seen such a change in a person. The drab rather unappealing co-worker he had been working with for several weeks had suddenly became this knock-down, drag-out, gorgeous lady. And he was amazed at how much younger she looked than her age. My goodness she could pass for fifty. Then the little kiss. For a man in Joe’s life situation, that was a knee buckler. He hadn’t even thought of being with a woman since his wife passed away. To have this now stunning creature give him a kiss, and a pretty long one at that, really got his attention. He was feeling things he hadn’t felt for a long time.
As Joe approached the janitor’s room, his legs were shaking. All sorts of scenarios were running through his mind. He had to get himself under control. Working so closely together in this empty office in the middle of the night, why the whole situation was fraught with possibilities. Any woman who would just kiss him like that was a very aggressive woman. Who knows how she would react if he showed some interest in her. The very thought of it was exciting to this lonely man. He had to calm down, his wonderful Adele had only been gone for two years. It wouldn’t be fair to her--or would it be? Two years isn’t bad, I mean, he had known men who had gone out and found another companion just months after their wife had passed. He certainly wasn’t jumping the gun or being inappropriate by thinking about another woman two years later. Or was he? It was all so confusing; and to think that just a few moments ago he was just preparing for another long night at work. Women!