L.A. Affairs: Our night together reminded me of what I'd been missing this entire time

On the mode home, I halt by 1 of my watering holes for cocktails and a airy meal. At this one, blessed hr is frequented by section folks — a fewer of them salty dogs from the marina nearby. Once the bartender spots me, she starts preparing a margarita — with tons of love, arsenic she likes to picture it.

Scanning the barroom for a seat, I spot a young pistillate engaging with the regulars. She is attractive: blond, bluish eyes, brushed facial features, petite and successful bully carnal shape, and smartly dressed, a rarity astatine this Marina del Rey joint. She has a captivating grin and, arsenic I soon find out, she’s comic and a bully storyteller.

I beryllium adjacent to her, and successful betwixt sips and bites, I larn a fewer things. She grew up successful Los Angeles, and present lives overseas and is connected a visit, checking up connected her mom. She had plans for a ladies’ nighttime retired but that changed erstwhile her person had to be to a last-minute emergency.

“Well, how’s the ceviche?” she asks.

“So-so. The abbreviated rib tacos are tastier,” I say, taking a bite.

“How astir the margarita?”

“Boozy. I marque them better,” I say.

“Hmm.”

Observing her casual chat with the bartender astir drinks is fun, arsenic I admit radical who are funny astir options and details.

Soon a margarita arrives. “Boozy is good,” she says.

I laugh.

We proceed chatting and dilatory scope a infinitesimal wherever our stories are casual and playful. She is funny astir my accent. I archer her astir my formative years successful Lima, Peru, and my family’s adventures relocating to the U.S. We besides speech astir places we’ve been and favourite destinations we’d similar to explore.

After I decorativeness my 2nd drink, the cheque arrives.

“Well, it’s been fun, and present I’m taking the amusement connected the road!” I archer her.

She looks astatine maine flirtatiously and asks: “Can I travel along?”

“I’m conscionable going home.”

With a wink, she says, “I perceive the margaritas are killers.”

Giggling, we get into our cars, and she follows maine home.

In my loft, everything catches her eye: books, art, pictures, CDs, liquor cabinet, furniture, the colors of the walls. She is having fun, but the thought that possibly she is scoping the spot for robbery crosses my mind.

As I hole our drinks, she asks astir my life.

A fortunate man, I had a fulfilling and challenging vocation arsenic an audio engineer. I traveled the satellite signaling music, supported sum of quality events and assorted taste and technological expeditions. I learned on the mode and contributed to a amended knowing of the quality acquisition with reports and stories aired connected nationalist radio.

These days I bask “full-time living” (my moniker for retirement): golfing, tennis, hiking, travel, reading, writing, cooking, euphony and blessed hour.

With drinks astatine the ready, we toast to our accidental meeting.

“Yummy. This is the tastiest margarita,” she says aft her archetypal sip.

We determination to the surviving area, and looking implicit my eclectic CD collection, we speech astir euphony we like. For fun, we commencement playing DJ, listening to handpicked selections connected the couch. When Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It” plays, she holds my manus and asks: “Would you articulation maine for a dance?”

We get up and sway to the groove, and arsenic we get closer, our eyes meet. Then she says: “Be saccharine to me.”

We buss agelong and hard, and erstwhile my manus touches her back, I perceive a sigh.

“Wakey wakey, sailor,” she says, caressing my tummy.

“Wow! You’re delicious trouble,” I say, half-awaken.

“I deliberation we broke a record,” she tells me, smiling and playing with her hair.

Pulling her closer, we embrace, her caput resting connected my chest, and successful silence, we respire our scent and perceive the beating of our hearts.

It’s the mediate of the night, and she has to go. We get up, and I commencement connected an omelet arsenic she gets ready.

She joins maine successful the kitchen, and arsenic we eat, she talks astir her life: astir her mom, enactment and a emotion narration needing contemplation. “A enactment successful progress,” she says astir sorting done immoderate difficulties with her partner.

Looking astatine her, I’m listening, loving the moment, thankful we are surviving it and confiding comfortably.

Now it’s clip to go, and giggling implicit nothing, we locomotion to her car.

I inquire her to substance maine erstwhile she gets to her mom’s. She gives maine a thumbs up, and with a buss and a lukewarm hug, we accidental goodbye. Then I ticker her thrust up the exit ramp into the night.

I crook astir and consciousness alive! So overmuch truthful that I skip backmost to my place.

Now, sitting connected the sofa with eyes closed, my thoughts instrumentality maine backmost 45 years erstwhile I was astatine Georgetown University and met the pistillate who became my wife.

How magical it each had been: the mode we smiled astatine each other, the coquettish tiny talk, and the tender dependable of our voices. It led to lovemaking, courtship, falling successful love, matrimony and galore years of increasing up and gathering a beingness together. Unfortunately, we grew apart, and aft 16 years, it ended successful divorce. And I person remained azygous since.

Tonight, retired of the blue, that magic feeling from agelong agone returns with this enchanting woman! A gift: from my fortunate stars and Father Time.

My compartment dings: “Delicious Trouble checking in. Home safe.”

“So amusive and peculiar to person met you xo,” I reply.

The writer is simply a retired audio technologist who lives successful Los Angeles.

L.A. Affairs chronicles the hunt for romanticist emotion successful each its glorious expressions successful the L.A. area, and we privation to perceive your existent story. We wage $400 for a published essay. Email [email protected]. You tin find submission guidelines here. You tin find past columns here.