0 comments/ 154941 views/ 6 favorites Road Warrior By: WakingDreamer Bonnie hung up the phone with a slam, exasperated that her dinner companions had begged off at the last minute. She was in Des Moines, Iowa of all places on a business trip, and now left with the prospect of a boring evening in a hotel room. To top that off, she had called home to try and hear some comforting words from her husband, only to find he hadn't gotten home from work yet. "Probably at a bar with his buddies, half sloshed and ogling the young things" she thought angrily to herself. Bonnie was 46, attractive but middle aged, and she was beginning to experience doubts about herself. She had been married for 23 years to the same man, most of them good ones, and they had a stable if not terrifically exciting marriage. Like most couples, they had a decent sex life, but Bonnie had found that when she turned 40 her libido had begun to skyrocket. Her husband, on the other hand, seemed more and more attracted to 20 something blonde bimbos he was always pointing out on the streets, or looking at in the trashy magazines he subscribed to. They still made love, but it was almost a mechanical sort of sex, not the breathless, sweaty variety she found herself fantasizing about more and more. She looked at herself in the mirror, appraising her figure. She was 5'5', 145 pounds, and built in a manner that could be described as Reubenesque. Her hips flared in an Earth Mother sort of way, and one could not escape noticing her 40D bust. Bonnie had always enjoyed the attention her breasts had brought from men, but she worried that time and gravity were making her unattractive to men. Uncertain and frustrated, she decided to go and drown her sorrows a bit. She dressed herself quickly, choosing a black knee length skirt, white silk blouse, and black jacket. Hose and 3" heels completed her ensemble'. Not the sexiest outfit in the world, but the best she could do with the business attire she normally took on these trips. Again she checked the mirror, and had to admit to herself that she was still sexy, in a classy sort of way. She quickly went down to the lobby of the hotel, and out the front door. Looking left and right, unsure of where to go in this one horse town, she chose at random and walked down the block, just looking for somewhere to hide. As she walked and thought, she heard strains of some smoky jazz wafting out of a tiny club. On a whim, she opened the door and headed in. It was a place reminiscent of an old Bogart movie, small and smoky, with a single musician tinkling away on a weathered piano, but nonetheless playing terrific jazz. She sat at a table near the piano, and ordered a Scotch and soda. She was not normally much of a drinker, and rarely used hard liquor, but was just in a mood this evening. She sat and smoked a cigarette contemplatively, listening to the piano and trying to shake the feelings of frustration she was having. About an hour passed, and she had two more drinks. She had removed her jacket as the bar was a bit warm, and sat there unconsciously seductively posed, her blouse parted slightly to reveal just a hint of her generous cleavage, her legs crossed showing her hose off, puffing her cigarette, lost in thought. Her reverie was broken by a man's voice. It was the bartender, with a drink in his hand. "I didn't order this." she said questioningly. " Those gentlemen over there sent it to you, ma'am," he said, pointing to a table with two men seated at it across the bar, unsure if he had erred by suggesting to the men that she seemed to be alone. Bonnie thought for a second, a little mad at being hit on so blatantly, but also a little flattered that two well dressed businessmen who appeared to be in their late twenties seemed attracted to her. She accepted the drink, tipped the bartender to ease his concerns, and smiled and mouthed a silent "Thank you" in the direction of the two men. They sat at their respective tables, looking each other over, until finally she heaved an internal sigh, and got up and walked over to their table. She walked with a wiggle in her step which was uncharacteristic for her, but this night she just seemed to be another woman altogether. She had decided that a little flattery was just what she needed to regain her self-respect, and these two guys seemed ready and willing to provide it. She sat down and introduced herself, and thanked them again for the drink. They returned the introductions, explaining that they were on a business trip as well, attempting to sell some heavy machinery to a local manufacturer. The three chatted for a while about the hassles of selling, business travel, and the like. Safe, harmless topics. All the while she noticed their eyes almost caressing her body appraisingly. She worried that once they saw her up close, they would be turned off by her age, but instead found that both men were almost drooling in appreciation. She got a kind of high from the feeling of sexiness this gave her. The piano began a slow, sensual number, and Bonnie decided to have some fun. She stood, and took the hand of the man closest to her, Dave. She lad him to the center of the tiny dance floor, and they began a slow waltz. He was a good dancer, and she smiled as she enjoyed the moment. They moved in time with the music, and she felt herself letting her angers and fears go. A new feeling began to take over, a surprising one. She felt her nipples stiffen against her silky bra as the drinks, the music, and the attention of the two men worked on her always active imagination. Dave noticed it too, apparently, because she saw him look her right in the chest and stifle a quiet gasp as he saw the evidence of her arousal. She felt their rhythm interrupted as James, the other young man, tapped Dave on the shoulder intending to cut in. Dave reluctantly but politely stepped aside, and Bonnie and James resumed the dance. She felt him move closer to her, til they were chest to chest. His hands encircled her waist tightly, and she could feel his groin pressed against hers. She started to push him back, angry at the liberties he was taking, when she felt him throb against her. She stopped, frozen, realizing that her little game of teasing was escalating into something more. She had not gone out with the intention of anything other than having a few drinks and maybe finding some interesting conversation, but now found herself in the arms of a man who obviously had other intentions. She had to make a decision, and she had to do it quickly. Bonnie had been a good wife over the years, with the exception of one brief ill-advised affair some 15 years ago. She had an active imagination, and was worldly enough to be aware that her sex life could only be described as "vanilla" up to this point, but had always held herself back from doing anything more than fantasizing about such things. With a deep breath, she made her decision, and felt a strange flush wash over her. She led James back to the table, and said to both men "How about we go back to my hotel for a nightcap?" Her voice sounded nervous, but the look on her face told the two men that she meant much more. They quickly paid the bar tab, and the three walked out of the bar. They strolled down the few blocks to her hotel, Bonnie in between them with an arm through each of theirs. They walked through the hotel lobby in silence, each almost to afraid to say anything that might shatter the mood of arousal that was in the air. They reached the elevator and went in, the three of them the only occupants. As it began to rise, Bonnie found herself sandwiched between the two men as they feverishly kissed her neck and groped her body. Here she was, a middle-aged businesswoman and wife, about to take two men twenty years her younger to her hotel room. The oddest thing that occurred to her as she thought about this was the fact that not only was she not ashamed, she was incredibly aroused. The prospect of having sex with two men was one she had often fantasized about while masturbating, but one she never thought she'd live out. Now here she was about to do just that, and she was as ready as a woman could be for the experience. To all of their disappointment, the elevator reached her floor and they had to hurriedly attempt to straighten their mussed clothing and hair in order to walk down the hotel hall to her room without attracting undue notice. They managed this, and the three quietly slipped into her room. One of the perks her company gave her as a result of her terrific sales record was the ability to stay at first class hotels when on business so her room was actually a suite, with a small living room area as well as a king sized bed. The two guys were a bit nervous now that the moment was upon them. Bonnie sort of sensed this, and not wanting to let the moment pass, told them to have seats in the armchairs in the living area. They did, sitting there in what was now a strained silence, so she quickly went to the stocked bar in the room and fixed them all another drink. She brought them their drinks, and as she reached each man she purposely leaned over at the waist to hand them the glasses in order to expose more of her cleavage to them. Both men perked up visibly at the sight, so smiling she told them to hang on just a second as she changed clothes. With a sexy wink over her shoulder at them, she went into the bathroom. She looked herself in the eye and mentally told herself "It's now or never, lady…..." With a mental nod, she quickly undid her skirt and slipped out of it. Her nervous fingers undid the buttons of her blouse and it joined the skirt on the bathroom floor. A bit of hesitation, and her panties joined the other discarded clothing. She stood there looking at herself in the large mirror, and was astonished to see a sexy woman clad in only thigh high hose, heels, and a lacy bra staring back at her with a hungry look in her eyes. She took a deep breath, threw her shoulders back and pushed her chest out, and walked out of the bathroom. "Oh my God!" was the reaction she had been hoping for and the one she got from her young friends as they saw her standing there half nude. Her pussy was exposed to them, the small strip of hair she kept there glistening with her arousal. Her breasts strained at the under wire bra attempting to hold them, her nipples poking out like small erasers. Both men just stared at her agape, drinking in the fact that this sexy older woman was about to ravish them both. With a smile of conquest, she looked form one to the other as she reached behind herself and undid the bra. She slipped it over her shoulders and off, revealing her breasts to them in all their glory. No silicone creations here, but the pendulous, full breasts of a mature woman. She simply stood there expectantly, until the guys finally got the idea and stood up. They moved in to sandwich her once more, and resumed what they had started in the elevator, only this time their hands roamed her naked body freely. All three were making low animal moaning sounds as they groped each other. Bonnie's hands soon got busy as well, first cupping each man's buttocks and then straying over their crotches. She gasped as she felt steely hardness in each, the ultimate proof of just how sexy they thought she was. Then the prim and proper lady surprised even herself by kneeling suddenly in front of them and reaching up with both hands, undoing the zippers of their slacks. She reached in and pulled both erect cocks out, stopping for a second to admire them. Both men were normal sized men, around 7 or 7 ½ inches erect, but both were hard as rock as well. Her hands each grasped a cock firmly, and couldn't resist stroking them up and down a bit as she contemplated the treat in front of her. She looked up at them coyly, licker her lips, then leaned forward to lightly kiss the silky head of each man's cock. Both groaned in unison as they felt her lips flicker over them. She took their manhood and rubbed each over her cheeks, losing herself in the joy of two men so aroused by her. Her tongue snaked out to swirl around each, her hands still slowly stroking the shafts. She opened her lips and swallowed Dave, just the head, her lips closing tightly just under the ridge, and sucked him in earnest. She felt his knees buckle with pleasure and inwardly smiled at the power she felt, her womanhood in full flower now. She pulled of Dave as he almost whimpered, and offered James the same favor. His eyes almost rolled back in his head as she twisted her head side to side with her lips clamped tightly around his now dripping cock. Then, with a flip of her head, she stood and walked over to the bed and lay on it, reclining back on one side like Greta Garbo. The guys took the hint, and clothes flew so fast it seemed to be raining garments. Soon, two nude and very very erect men joined her on the bed, one sidling up to each side of her. In unison, they leaned down and each suckled one of her marvelous breasts. She leaned her head back, reveling in the pleasure of feeling each of her nipples being sucked on sensuously. Their hands caressed the rest of her body…..her legs, her stomach, her shoulders, slowly driving her to higher and higher heights of arousal. Her body seemed on fire, each and every nerve ending begging for attention. Just as Dave screwed up his courage and parted her legs with the obvious intention of going down on her, the phone rang. The noise made them all jump, the men quickly taking their hands away from her body. "Believe me, I don't want to answer this, but it could be my client, and if I blow this sale I could be out of a job" Bonnie said in an almost begging tone. She was just sure that she had blown it, and that her fantasy, so close to being realized, was about to crumble to pieces. With shaking hands, she reached over to grab the phone, and said "Hello" in a mournful voice. "Hi sweetie" came the reply. It was her husband, and he was obviously several drinks past sloshed! Anger flared in her as she realized that not only had he been out all night drinking and ogling younger women, but now he had managed to spoil her fun too. She said "Hi" back in a curt one, and looked at Dave and James as they backed away, realizing it was her spouse on the phone and not wanting a scene. Bonnie was in a tight spot, caught between a man she loved but was very mad at, and two sexy naked men who she would never get another chance at. A thought came over her, and she said into the phone "hold on a sec, honey." She put the phone down, and rolled over, grabbing both men by the hands, holding them back from leaving her. " I know it has to be weird for you with my husband calling and all, but please, please don't leave" she begged. The men looked at her, trying to decide if they were more horny or worried, obviously hanging on the edge of indecision. " He is the one who put me in a place where I even considered cheating on him, guys. I need this, just for me. He'll never be the wiser, and I'll make sure you were glad you decided to stay." With that, she lay back on the bed, her back propped up on the pillows, and waved the men to her as she picked the phone back up. Dave lay on her right, and James on her left as she began making the small talk with her husband that all married couples do. They talked about mundane things, leaky sinks and car repairs, and while they did, Bonnie reached out and took each man's hand, one at a time, and place them back on her breasts. She lay there, talking in to the phone to her unsuspecting husband, as two younger men massaged her nipples back to erectness. Her back arched a bit as they did, a flush coming over her whole body. It aroused her to an even newer height to know she was not only cheating with two men, but while her husband was right on the phone. She took the phone and wedged it between her cheek and neck, so her hands were free. Knowing she had to really get the guys' attention now, she parted her legs and reached a hand down to tease her own pussy. They stared in fascination as she parted her outer lips and slid a finger down her slit, coating it with womanly dew. She reached that finger up and slid it between Dave's lips, watching him intently. He looked as if a jolt of electricity had run through his body as he tasted her, his cock instantly springing back to full hardness. She suppressed a giggle as she repeated the process for James, eliciting a very similar result. Both men were now definitely not going anywhere. "So, what did you do for dinner, hon?" she heard her drunken husband say. With a twinkle in her eye, she replied " I haven't eaten yet, my plans fell through, so I decided to order room service." "I'll let you go so you can eat then, he mumbled" "Oh no, that is ok, I can eat while we talk" she said. Bonnie realized it turned her on to be acting slutty while he was on the phone and didn't know, it turned her on so much she was in a zone she had never been in before. With a sly grin, she leaned over to take Dave's throbbing member back in her mouth as she held the phone to her ear. Her hand wrapped around James' shaft and pumped slowly. "So, are you in for the evening?" her husband asked. "Ummm hmmmm" Bonnie grunted in to the phone, her mouth full of cock. Her pussy was gushing now as the realization of what she was doing overcame her. James reached down and slid a finger in her, making her moan involuntarily. "You ok?" her husband asked. She took Dave out of her mouth long enough to whisper "Yes, I just had a twinge in my gut, hon. Must have been something I ate. Hang on a sec, ok?" With that, she put the phone down, and sat up. She whispered in a low, throaty voice "I need a cock in me, now!" James was first to take the hint, and lay on his back, his manhood sticking straight up in the air as he did. She hitched her leg up and straddled him, reaching down to guide his cock into her sopping pussy. She reached down and put her hand over James' mouth to stifle the moans he was making as her hungry cunt wrapped itself around his member. She reached out and picked the phone back up, throwing caution to the wind as desire overcame her. Bonnie began to move her hips up and down, humping James slowly as she said into the phone "Ok, hon, I am better now." The two adulterers found a rhythm, and moved together slowly. Her pussy was leaking wetness like a faucet now, "You still sound a little funny" her husband said, but she could tell he was succumbing to the alcohol he had drunk. His words were badly slurred, and Bonnie knew he would soon be asleep. She kept talking to him quietly as she rode James cock, the idea of her actions getting her closer and closer to climax. "So you are just going to stay in your room tonight then?" her husband said. "You bet I am, hon" Bonnie replied, as she motioned for Dave to come closer. He knelt at the head of the bed, his cock dangling directly in front of her lips as she spoke into the phone. He grasped his shaft and brought it to her lips, her tongue flying all over it, all caution forsaken now. Bonnie could hear her husband snoring on the other end of the phone. The drunken idiot had passed out! She was angry that he had let himself get so smashed, and decided to teach him a lesson in her own way. She put the phone down on her pillow so it was level with her mouth, moved her hand up to Dave's cock, and began to suck him in earnest. Her lips and tongue danced over him as she worked, driving him close to the edge she was already standing on. Meanwhile, her hips moved faster and faster, her cunt milking James with it's inner muscles. She purposely let her lips make loud smacking noises as she sucked the cock in her mouth, knowing that all her husband had to do was be conscious to know what she was up to. She moaned in pleasure, the stimulation of her situation and the two men making her whole body burn. With a twitch all over, she fell over the edge into the abyss of a monumental orgasm. She gave out a muffled scream as her eyes rolled back in her head and she lost all of her senses as the climax took over her. All of her muscles convulsed, and she felt herself lifted in the air as James came in her pussy, his body lifting hers as he emptied himself in her. Dave felt them both spasm, and the sight of Bonnie surrendering herself to pleasure, moaning into the phone, drove him over the brink too. Hot spurts of cum jetted from his cock, filling her mouth to overflowing. She sucked on him like a madwoman, swallowing as she did, but huge gobs of his cum dripped down her chin and fell onto the handset of the phone connecting them all to her husband. Moans and grunts filled the air as all three finished climaxing, until at last the rolled apart, lying on their backs breathlessly, reflecting on what they had just done. Road Warrior: Barcelona Author's Note: This is the first is a series of stories of those fabled people that travel constantly on their jobs, the Road Warriors. Each story is unique, with different characters, locales and plots. I will consider opening this series up to other authors on request. An explanatory note: in much of the story the dialog mostly takes place in Spanish. I have attempted to make the English of some of the speakers have the rhythm and words of a person fluent in English, but not necessarily colloquial. So in places it looks like there are grammatical errors but to my ear (fading fast though it is) it represents a lot of what I hear in an extended multicultural family. Mea culpa, please don't shoot me! Maybe some day I'll be brave enough to try a story in Spanish. Thanks as always to Techsan for his great editing talents and LadyCibelle for her ongoing support. Enjoy! CASTLE ROCK, COLORADO The sticky note was on the outside of one of those disposable file folders you can get for practically nothing at Wal-Mart. We both traveled so much that we might go weeks at a time without seeing each other. I was Charles Castillo – yeah, I know, I was getting tired of the Mr. Castle living in Castle Rock jokes – but everyone universally called me Charlie. My wife was Candy ... that almost kept us from getting married; she was afraid everyone was going to call her Candy Castle of Castle Rock. We had worked out that whichever one of us came by the house when the other was gone would take care of the mail: dump the junk, pay the bills, etc. Stuff that needed personal handling we would put in one of the folders and leave it on the hallway table. Sometimes we would include little love notes but lately it seemed that I was doing that a lot more than she was. Charlie, Please look at the large manila envelope as soon as possible. There is a letter from me explaining everything and some papers that need to be signed and mailed in the enclosed prepaid envelope. Candy Damn! She used to always sign at least 'Love, Candy' if not something friskier, depending on her mood. Lately it had just been, 'Candy.' I looked in the large folder and saw the envelope. It was sealed so I put off looking at it for a while. It was already dark and I'd just gotten home from Mexico City. While I was at the airport waiting for my luggage I got a call from one of the senior partners at the law firm I worked at telling me of an emergency in Barcelona and I need to be there soonest. I figured I'd grab a shower and send out for a pizza. I was mostly sent to Spanish speaking countries, so sometimes nothing in the world sounded better than a pizza and a couple of beers. I wasn't going to have time to look at the stuff Candy left me until I got on the plane. United had a flight that left Denver at seven a.m. through Philadelphia and then an overnighter to Barcelona getting there at seven the next morning. I started thinking what time I would have to get up to catch the early morning flight and felt sleepy already. I called in the order for a small supreme and figured the thirty minutes they told me for delivery would be more like forty-five. I took a shower and finished my first beer before the delivery guy showed up. I took my time with the pizza and repacked my clothes. I did this so much that I had enough extra of everything so that I could do a quick turnaround if I had to and not worry about washing clothes. I figured I'd get five or six hours of sleep if I were lucky. I lay there in the dark after I went to bed trying to relax. I just had a general outline of the problem so there wasn't much I could do until I got to the hotel. When I went to Barcelona they always put me up at the Grand Marina Hotel. It was right next to a trade center and convention center and on the waterfront. The meeting I would be in would be at a conference room at the trade center. The hotel was the closest one to the cruise terminal so there was always an eclectic group of people around the hotel: passengers going to or returning from cruises, trade conventions, groups for meetings. There were people from all over the world at the hotel which made it a fascinating place. As I drifted off I wondered what was so important in that manila envelope ... it couldn't have been more important than pizza and beer. I slept better than expected and check-in for business class was a whiz. I really didn't feel like looking through the folder in the mail; I left it in my briefcase in the overhead rack. I usually sat by the aisle but there was no one next to me so I moved over to the window. As I looked at the ground moving steadily below I mused about how I'd gotten into this business. My mom and dad were from Perú and dad had come to Colorado to attend school at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. He liked the teaching environment and stayed on as a professor and did a lot of research. After he graduated, he had gone back to Lima and married his long time sweetheart. They were the most compatible couple I'd ever seen. Both of them had always spoken Spanish to me and I had spent every summer in Perú with one or another relative, so I spoke Spanish like a native, even though I'd been born in the US. I had consistently been a good scholar athlete. The grades came easy to me. The fast times less so but still, I was all state in cross-country, and in track in the mile and half-mile. That got me a free ride at Stanford where I did a double major in Spanish and International Relations. On the advice of my faculty advisor I went on to The Fisher Graduate School of International Business at the Monterrey Institute of International Studies. I did a double specialization in International Negotiation/Conflict Resolution and Translation and Interpretation with a minor in Portuguese. What I was interested in – and this came from a paper I'd done at Stanford – was International Conflict Resolution. I found the topic fascinating and spent a lot of time drinking beer with students from all around the world. We would argue until no one had money left for beer and resume a couple of days later. It was fun and I learned a lot – I was motivated so I soaked it up like a sponge. I met Candy a couple of months before I was to graduate. I wound up two courses short to graduate in the spring after two years so I had to stay for the summer. I was playing golf at the course at Pacific Grove. Their fourth hole was 259 yards from the white tees. I could hit the ball pretty good but I was inconsistent as hell. I'd never come within thirty yards of the green even with the wind. This time I was hitting into a light breeze but somehow everything went just right and I really hammered one. It hit right at the edge of the green, took one bounce and hit the blonde leaning over sighting her putt in exactly the right place for her to get to her maximum level of being pissed off very quickly. Her shorts were stretched tight as she bent over and the ball bounced off her butt like it was coming off a trampoline! I remember thinking, "Damn, that had to sting!" I ran up to see if she was hurt. I was dazzled by her beauty and was as close to speechless as I've ever been. She was quite short, maybe five-one, with a round, firm body. I figured she was carrying about ten pounds more than ideal for her, but she looked sexy as hell. I stood there staring at her while she ranted and raved at what an idiot I was. This went on for a couple of minutes before she finally figured out I wasn't listening ... I was admiring. Her feminine instincts took over and she gave me a smile that would have done Marilyn Monroe proud. "I'm Candy Allard. Where are you taking me to dinner?" I finally woke up and quickly suggested a fine Hungarian place in Carmel. She was in a twosome with a girl friend of hers and I was playing was a friend that was a good professor but a duffer at golf, so we made it a foursome and finished the best of friends. Later that night she showed me her bruise – it was nasty – and she made me rub it. I did a really good job! She had just finished her law degree at Santa Clara and was taking a cram course in Carmel to prepare for the bar exam. Her specialty, of course, was International Law. Six months later we were married and she was working with a law firm in Denver that did a lot of legal work in petroleum exploration in all the appropriate places around the world. I took a job with a New York firm doing Conflict Resolution. Most of my work was in Spanish speaking countries, mostly Spain and South America. In addition to actually helping resolve disputes I would sometimes do training to help companies - or once in Madrid a union and a government organization - to work together to resolve conflicts. With all the travel I did I could live anywhere. When I hired on they actually wanted me to live in Madrid; that, of course, was a non-starter with my new wife, Candy. Not to mention the bonus of being able to see my parents anytime I wanted. I changed planes in Philadelphia and fell asleep quickly on the overnight leg to Barcelona. When I got checked in at the hotel I was rested and wide awake so I picked up the faxes and after a light breakfast I prepared for the two days of meetings the next day. As I was putting the material back in my briefcase I saw the folder that Candy had left me. I figured I'd better get to it so I went down by the pool. I figured I might as well enjoy myself. It was such a lovely day I ordered a glass of cava, a sparkling wine, from one of the local producers. As I took the glass from the waiter a woman was getting out of the pool and she immediately captured my attention. She had on a bikini – not much material as was the European style, and as she pulled herself up the weight of the water made the top part of her suit sag. I could see her breasts, not large but certainly enough for most men, with the nipples erect over the dark pink areolas. She looked up and saw where I was staring and gave me a megawatt smile as she climbed on out of the pool. She walked over to a nearby lounge under an umbrella. I was always amazed at the more relaxed view women in Europe - especially in the Mediterranean countries – have about showing their bodies. I guess this woman took my interest as a compliment. She wasn't what I would call pretty; she had a handsome face with strong bone structure, long dark red hair and a body that was close to being all I could ask for – not that I was asking! Her breasts were slightly small and her hips were slightly wide. But somehow the overall package exuded sex appeal. She was the woman that once seen led to erotic dreams for a lifetime. I nodded to myself: the man that wins her (I'd seen no rings) was better off than if he'd won the lottery. I shook my head as the woman lay down because she folded her swimsuit bra down to get the sun, barely showing her still erect nipple. Focus, Charlie! I sipped the slightly sweet cava as I looked through all the stuff in the folder Candy had left me, saving the manila folder for last. I was, finally, getting curious about it. Mostly it was routine: a letter from my tax guy about IRS questions about my expenses, a bonus check for a good result in Santiago, Chile, and several letters from my investment broker. I took out the envelope and slid my finger under the edge to open it up. There was something from our lawyers and a letter from Candy. I figured I'd better read the letter first to see what it was all about. Dear Charlie, I'm sure this is no surprise to you, as we almost never see each other. I wasn't looking for it but over the last few visits to London I've fallen in love with one of the lawyers there. At this point I dropped my cava with pieces of glass shards flying everywhere. The well-trained staff immediately cleaned it up and brought me a new glass. The woman with the long dark red hair and the perky nipples looked over at me with at first curiosity, then concern, as she slowly unwound her long legs from the lounge and walked over to me. She asked me in Spanish (all of our subsequent conversations were in Spanish), "Are you okay?" I mumbled, stuttered, "My wife, she ... oh, shit!" I took the new glass of cava and downed it like it was the cheapest rye. She looked at me in a sad way - I think she kind of figured it out. It was only after the left, giving me one of those lingering, curious but non-intrusive looks that women seem to know how to do from birth. Maybe it was some atavistic instinct having to do with survival of the species. It wasn't until she had walked away that it dawned on me that her accent was not from Spain, but from Chile. I waggled my empty glass and started reading again. I don't see any problems. I'm moving to London right away; the transfer is already approved. I never liked Denver ... it was just too provincial for me. Except for me you would have been working out of Madrid anyway. I guess you will miss your parents, but – well, I don't know what to say. I didn't exactly fall out of love with you; it's that we were apart so much that you were no longer a habit. Please sign the papers as soon as possible since Llewellyn and I want to get married at Christmas. You remember him, don't you? We met him last year when he was in town for a meeting. Yeah, I remembered him. Damn, I thought he was gay! Do be a dear and don't ruffle any feathers. I mean, Charlie, what good is it to be civilized if we don't act that way. I felt very uncivilized right then. Please do take care of the money things. Llewellyn is such a darling and his family has so much money that there is no rush for you to clean up the details, but, dear Charlie, we do need to keep things tidy, don't we? I'm sorry to do it this way but we just never seemed to see each other. Do take care of yourself, dear. Candy Why, that bitch! Why, that goddamned bitch! I didn't know which I was more of, pissed off or supremely embarrassed. I grabbed my stuff and headed to my room. As I passed the woman, as I was now thinking of her, she gave me such a serious look that I could swear she had read the letter. I got to the room and threw the folder full of shit against the wall and picked up the phone to order a bottle of fine Spanish brandy. I looked in the mirror and shook my head. No, that was the easy route - I wasn't going to go that way. Instead I took a small bottle of Lustau Amontillado from the mini-bar and poured it in a glass ... slowly sipping it, enjoying the nutty character as my frustration made me feel like hitting something – or someone. There was no one to yell at. No one to hit up the side of the head. No one to explain what the hell had happened. I didn't even know what country Candy was in. We both had international cell phones that operated in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Rim including Australia, plus with the added GSM 1900 frequency, the United States, Canada and a growing part of South America. I called her cell and to my amazement it rang and she immediately answered it. "Candy, it that you?" "Charlie! I was hoping to talk to you. You were a dear and signed the papers, didn't you?" "Uh, well, no. I had to immediately come to Barcelona. I've just had a chance to read your letter. I haven't had a chance to look at the papers as yet." "Oh, Charlie, you have to sign them. It is just so important. Llewellyn's family is crazy ready for the wedding. His dad is the sweetest man ... he is an Earl or Duke or one of those things. I can't keep it straight, but he seems totally important and everyone calls him sir!" I held the phone away from me, giving it a strange look. Had this small piece of plastic and its embedded electronics somehow captured the brilliant lawyer I'd married not so long ago and made her an airhead Valley Girl? Maybe Llewellyn was gay! I couldn't see how that could really help, but the thought made me feel better. "Unh, Candy, look, I gotta go. A meeting. Look, I'll read the papers and see what's going on." "Oh, Charlie, you are so sweet. Thanks, ever so much. Toodle-oo." 'Toodle-oo?' Who the hell was that? Damn, maybe she was gay too? I took a shower, shaved, and just for the hell of it, took another shower. I felt depressed ... depressed and wet and as red as a lobster. I went down to the restaurant, the Aire de Mar, which was as highly rated as the hotel was. The maitre d' knew me well and led me back to a quiet corner. As we approached the table I usually sat at, a woman with long dark red hair, the woman, stood up. "Señor, please sit with me." The maitre d' looked at me and I shrugged, so he pulled out the chair for me. The woman gave me a generous smile that turned her somewhat plain face into something enchanting. I smiled back, "I have something to confess, Señorita - not knowing your name I have come to think of you as the woman. I am Charlie Castillo and I can't just call you that. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" "Of course ... Charlie? I'm Ana Gálvez but please call me Ana." "Ana, I have to say that you have the loveliest," here I paused and glanced helplessly at her low cut dress that showed more than enough of the cleavage of her breasts delicately hidden behind the décolletage of her dress to keep me interested, "the loveliest hair that I can ever remember seeing." She blushed, faintly – she was after all a woman of the world – but in a manner that made her immediately endearing to me. I continued, "That dark red color, the color of the tiles at Montserrat, aged by the sun and wind over the centuries. That color makes the light green of the new pastures in Ireland each spring captured in your eyes look even more lovely." I was in this strange mood of despair and freedom - from what? - mixed together with the sudden appearance of this charming woman. The hell with Candy! I was going to flirt with this woman, Ana. I felt a release ... almost like a drug taking effect and making me as open and easy with this woman as I had ever been with any I'd ever met. I was playing a part and I would play it to the hilt. "Your Spanish, Charlie, I can't place it. Where are you from, Charlie?" I rapidly answered in Castilian Spanish, then the noticeably different Argentine accent, and quickly finishing in the Peruvian Limeño and of the barrio in Santiago. "I'm here tonight to bring a smile to an expatriate woman from Santiago." "You ... you're not from Chile, no?" "No," I laughed. "My parents are from Lima, I was born in Colorado, but I have an ear for language, for the nuances of place, for the talk of the people. "I have spoken Spanish all my life but I have also trained hard at it as both a translator and as an interpreter. My friends from college were from most of the Spanish speaking countries. I have, many times, been to Santiago on business." Looking at her fingers, still no rings to see - not even white lines showing on her well tanned ring finger - I continued, "And I have to say, Señorita, that the loveliest of all women are from Chile." She laughed, then responded, "And how much Irish do you have in you ... you seem to have more than your fair share of blarney." I smiled at that, and then she continued, in a more serious mien. "Charlie, I ... I couldn't help but notice this afternoon when you dropped the glass. You were fine, flirting with me like you should, then ... you changed. What happened, Charlie?" It was like she had dumped a pitcher of ice water over me. The false gaiety one sometimes assumes in the face of perceived danger was gone as fast as the betting stub of a favored horse finishing ten lengths behind the field. I stood up too suddenly, knocking my chair over backward with a resounding crash, and with a murmured 'excuse me' made my way unsteadily to the restroom.