Encounter on the Southwest Chief (closed for wideeyedone)

Alexa walked back to her bedroom. She had three and a half hours. She wasn't much of a primper, so it wouldn't take her more than a few minutes to get ready. She stretched out on the bed with her book. She set the alarm on her phone. She read for a bit. And then when she felt good and relaxed, she closed her eyes and drifted off into a nice nap.

She awakened to the soft music of the alarm on her phone. Alexa flipped through the clothes in her suitcase. She didn't like any of her clothes at the moment. She looked at herself in the mirror and decided to start with her hair and makeup. She brushed out her long dark hair and decided to wear it down. She brushed on just a little makeup and applied some lipstick.

Then she was back to clothes. She found a pair of slim fitting black pants and a cobalt blue blouse that she always felt pretty in. She slipped into a pair of black heels. She looked in the mirror, she didn't hate it. She actually thought she looked pretty nice.

She slid her key into her pocket and headed for the dining car.

Brian gave Alexa a long head start before heading to his room. As he walked down the corridor of the sleeping car next to his and then onto his car where is room was at the far end, he couldn't help but wonder which room was Alexa's. What would she do if he just knocked on her door? He stifled that fantasy, though, and settled into his own room.

Brian decided that he could shower, shave and dress in no more than 20 minutes. That left him with a whole three hours to just relax - exactly what he had hoped to do on this trip. He pulled out a book and began to read, but after just a short while the temptation to stretch out on the seat was too great. Fortunately, he had anticipated this possibility and set his alarm for 6:45 pm. It didn't take long for Brian to fall sound asleep. That didn't surprise him, but what did was that, upon awakening, he realized that he had had several dreams in which he and Alexa were involved in various erotic activities.

Brian showered and shaved quickly. Because the wedding was going to be in a very fancy hotel and given his boss' habit of dressing very well, Brian had packed his best suit to wear to the affair, but he had also packed a sport coat on the possibility that he would be invited to the pre-wedding groom's dinner. Given that Alexa had said that she was going to dress up "a bit", Brian donned his gray sport coat over an open-collar, blue cotton shirt and his dress wool slacks. Looking in the mirror he was pleased. "Not bad for an old guy," he told himself, "perhaps Alexa will be pleased."

Arriving a bit early for his reservation, Brian took a seat facing the entry door so that he could see Alexa when she entered. He gave himself a symbolic pat on the back for being prepared. The self-congratulation was premature, for he was not prepared to see Alexa in her tight-fitting black pants, blouse that nicely outlined her breasts, and those damn black heels. Brian actually sucked in his breath to avoid a gasp as he stood and beckoned Alexa to join him. "Fuck," he warned himself, "how am I going to be able to keep my hands to myself."

Alexa was feeling beautiful as she walked in to the dining car. And seeing Brian's face when she walked in, only boosted her more. He looked really happy to see her.

She took her seat opposite him. She smiled at him, "you clean up very nicely. " she offered with her grin.

She hadn't felt this type of attraction for someone in a very long time. The chemistry between them felt good. But she warned herself that he might not really be interested and she might never see him again. She just needed to enjoy it for what it was. It wasn't like this was garunteed that this would be the meet cute of her love story.

you clean up very nicely

Alexa's flirtatious quip, accompanied by her grin, shot through Brian like a lightning strike. With some embarrassment as he sat waiting for her, Brian had realized that he was slowly getting an erection in anticipation of her arrival. A small flame had been building within him since they first met. Alexa's quip, even if not a come-on, threw gas on that flame, and blew much of his inhibition right out of the water.

Returning her grin and laying his hand lightly over Alexa's hand that lay on the table, Brian replied, "I clean up nice? Look at you! If you continue to look this attractive, I'm likely to forget that we only just met about four hours ago."

Alexa grinned. She laid her hand across his and leaned in as if she were telling him a secret. "I think it is rather exciting that we have only known each other for four hours. You don't know that I sneeze really loudly, and that I usually spend Sundays in my yoga pants." She laughed just a little.

She had planned on pulling her hand back after she spoke. But she leaned back and left her hand in place. She liked his hands. They were elegant but strong. She thought they looked very classically masculine. And then she found herself thinking about his hand caressing her face and brushing back her hair.

Brian was pleasantly surprised that Alexa responded to his gesture by placing her hand over his, but he was astonished that she left their hands in that position when she leaned back. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, but he didn't have to because at just that moment the waiter arrived to take their order.

Not wanting to spend too much time ordering dinner, which now seemed almost trivial by comparison to the handholding and flirting that was now in full gear between Alexa and him, Brian quickly ordered the herb-roasted half chicken and a glass of merlot for himself. So focused was he on what else was going on that Alexa's order to the waiter barely registered with him at all. The interruption did, however, give him a chance to ponder briefly what to say next.

Leaving their hands in place and reconnecting their gaze Brian quipped, "Well, I've learned two very interesting things about you just now. First, I've learned that I'll have to grip my chair if you sneeze. And, second, I now have an image to hold in my mind should I ever happen to call you on a Sunday. So, at the moment, I have the advantage. So, tell me what you would like to know about me.

Alexa ordered the creamy tortellini with pesto and vegetables and a glass of Merlot. She thought about his question.

"What do your Sundays look like?" She asked. "Do you have a childhood best friend? Do you have siblings?" Her imagination was already filling in details about him and she wanted to see what his real life was like.

Brian had surprised himself. Although rather good-looking and certainly not shy, he wasn't much of an aggressive flirt, and virtually never hit on women in a bar or at a party. Yet, here he was flirting with this woman whom he had just met a few hours ago. Brian realized that he was experiencing some thrill, and he liked it.

What do your Sundays look like? Do you have a childhood best friend? Do you have siblings?

Brian was a little disappointed at the tame questions that came back from Alexa, but he was simultaneously chagrined at his own reaction. "What did I expect", he asked himself, "that she would ask me whether I wear boxers or briefs?" He smiled briefly at his own foolishness, before speaking. He left their hands in place, though. It would be a while before their food came. He decided to let Alexa decide when to break off their hand-holding.

"Ok. Here's the easy one first. I have one sibling, a sister, Anna, who is 3 years younger than I. She also lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two children.

Second. I do have a childhood best friend, Joshua. We met in first grade in public school. It wasn't a match that one would have thought of. Here I was a second-generation, Polish-American from a putative Catholic family, and I became best friends with Joshua Rosenbloom, the only Jewish kid in my class. Alas, Joshua moved to New York so that he and his wife could be close to her family. Josh and I talk or text a couple of times per year, but I don't see him more than once a year or so.

Per your first question, on Sunday mornings I don't set the alarm. I start my day, usually, by going for a run, which does involve wearing something like yoga pants when it's chilly. Then, I shower, put on something casual, grab the front section and the sports section of the Sunday Trib, and walk around the corner to a neighborhood deli for coffee and a bagel or two."

Brian smiled, made sure to catch Alexa's gaze, and added, "Of course, if I had some reason to stay in bed longer or lounge around my apartment in my tee and sweats, I guess I could change my routine occasionally."

Alexa sipped in a long breath. She was picturing being in bed with him on Sunday, tangled in the sheets, cuddled to his bare chest.

"I would love to have a reason to linger in bed on a Sunday." She whispered. She bit her lip. She didn't want to be too bold. She didn't want him to think she was slutty, she didn't want to chance him rejecting her. But she wanted him. And she hadn't wanted to be with someone in a very long time.

So what if they never saw each other again? So what if he may or may not want to ever see her again? Maybe just for this trip she could feel sexy and desired and wanted.

I would love to have a reason to linger in bed on a Sunday.

Brian was on fire. He couldn't imagine that Alexa would respond with a barely disguised statement that she would like to sleep with him, or at least that she was entertaining the thought. He realized the danger of pushing on, of going too far, but he couldn't back away from this level of intensity.

"Hmm. Sounds like we have some interests very much in common", Brian whispered in return. "Too bad we'll be arriving in LA on Friday and will be going our separate ways." He stopped, unsure whether to push on, then decided to take a leap. "Have you ever considered lingering in bed on any days other than a Sunday?"

She met his gaze. And she nodded. She found herself struggling to find words. She didn't pull her hand away.

"I thought about lingering in bed here on the train. Sleeping in. Luxuriating." She lowered her eyes and wet her lips with the tip of her tongue.

She thought she might even have felt her own hand shaking.

I thought about lingering in bed here on the train.

Brian would never know exactly what his next line might have been, had the server not brought their food almost exactly as Alexa stopped speaking. Before the server had arrived he had briefly toyed with the idea of taking Alexa by the hand, leaving the table, and escorting her to his sleeper car. Perhaps it was good that the waiter had interrupted this rapid, upward spiral.

Brian had to release Alexa's hand in order for the server to place their food on the table. Picking up the glass of merlot that had just arrived, he raised his glass in a toast to click it on Alexa's wine glass. "Let's enjoy the food and wine. It seems like we have some after-dinner discussion that will require all of our concentration."

Alexa agreed. She took a sip of her wine and tasted her pasta. She was worried that her cheeks were flushed a burning pink.

"My food is actually even better than I expected." She offered with a smile, but she was a little less confident. She was worried she had pushed things too far.

Brian joined Alexa in beginning to eat his food. And, indeed, it wasn't that bad - not the gourmet food from his grandfather's era, but not bad. They both ate for a few minutes with little conversation.

Alexa's editorial comment about the food, though, gave Brian an opportunity to resume their intense flirting once they began to converse again. "You're right, Alexa. The food is better than I would have expected also. I can't say quite as much for the wine. It seems mediocre at best, not something that they would serve at your hotel."

He continued, "Indulging one of my few luxuries I brought a bottle of top-shelf, Bookers bourbon with me. I have it in my compartment, and am willing to share." Brian paused and took in a short breath, "Of course, you may not like what I have to offer. I don't know."

Alexa smiled at his invitation. "I don't have much experience drinking bourbon. But I would like to try it. I brought some Dutch chocolates a client gave me. I thought they might make for a good dessert."

Alexa found herself tucking her hair behind her ear.

Brian smiled broadly as Alexa accepted his invitation. He just happened to be holding his empty wine glass in his hand when she tucked her hair behind her ear. Her unintentionally seductive move had such a strong effect on him, that Brian feared that his hand would break the damn thing.

Brian offered his hand to Alexa as he rose from his seat. "OK. Since my room is at the far end of the sleeping car closest to the front of the train, we must have to pass by your room on the way. So, let's swing by your room, pick up those Dutch chocolates, and find us some great bourbon."

Brian was in the lead, but he stopped after a few steps, turned to face Alexa, and said, "You know, the gourmets are always talking about how this food or that food "pairs well" with this or that wine. So, let's see if what we are each bringing to this after-dinner party pairs well. I'm betting they will. What do you think?"

Alexa grinned at Brian. "I am sure that we can google to see if dutch chocolates pair with bourbon. "

She liked the feel of her hand in his. She liked the way it felt to be lead by him. She followed him as he walked towards the Superliner bedrooms. Her compartment was just one down from his. She let herself into hers and was relieved that she had kept it neat.

She pulled the box of chocolates out of her tote bag. The box read Puccini Bomboni on the lid. They were hand crafted in Amsterdam. She showed him the box and then stepped out into the hallway.

Alexa's grin warmed Brian. He noted that she either didn't get or decided to ignore his double entendre regarding what would "pair well". He wasn't sure how to interpret that, but decided to just wait and see. No matter how you looked at it, they were having fun.

Brian and Alexa proceeded to his bedroom. Opening the door he was pleased to see that the porter had reconfigured the room to it's nighttime configuration. With the bed stretching from the front to the back of the room where the two seats would have been in their daytime formation. Of course there was also the pull-down upper bunk that spanned the room in the other direction. Since they clearly had no use for that one Brian folded the upper bunk back into the wall without comment.

The Bookers bourbon was already out as the result of the small sip that Brian had had at the very beginning of the trip. Realizing that they needed ice, he excused himself, grabbed the one plastic glass in the room, and hurriedly filled the glass with ice from the ice chest in the hall and returned to his room, where he found Alexa still standing holding the box of chocolates. Brian put a couple of ice cubes in each of two paper cups and poured a generous shot of bourbon into each. "Would you like yours with water?," he asked Alexa.

Their drinks prepared Brian took Alexa's hand and sat them down side-by-side on the bed. He took a pillow for himself and offered one to her so that they could stuff them behind their backs and sit comfortably leaning against the outside wall of the car. Again raising his glass - well, this time his paper cup - as if giving a toast and grinning broadly he said, "OK..we've got our chocolates, we've got our bourbon and ice, and we've settled in. So, let's see how the pairing goes."

Alexa did ask for a little water in her bourbon and after he fixed her drink, he took her hand and lead her to sit on the edge of the bed beside him. He raised his glass and offered a toast.

Alexa raised her paper cup and touched it to his. But before she could take a sip, she leaned in and kissed him softly. It was a gentle kiss but as she broke the kiss, she made a soft, happy murmur like sound. It wasn't on purpose, but it just slipped out. She opened her eyes and looked up to him, hoping she hadn't jumped the gun.

Alexa's unexpected kiss posed a remarkable challenge for Brian. He was already on fire with lust for her, as well as being thrilled by the anticipation and the excitement of the flirtatious game they were playing. His impulse was simply to just jump passionately on her, starting heavy foreplay that would rapidly lead to sex. He was pretty sure that such an advance would not be unwelcome, but it would be coarse and would spoil the fun of the build up of sexual tension between them.

Instead of lunging after her Brian returned her kiss with only slightly more force than she had given to him, smiling and holding her gaze as she murmured. He spoke softly. "How nice. I think our kiss will pair well with the bourbon and chocolates. I suggest that we each savor one of your chocolates, take a sip of this excellent booze, and see if we think that another kiss would enhance our pairings."

She smiled and opened the box of chocolates. She chose a heart shaped one and offered him the box. She took a bite of her decadent chocolate and then took a sip of the bourbon. She let the bourbon roll over her tongue.

"I think the oaky flavor fits the chocolate well." She said softly. "And I liked your kiss very much."

Alexa's choice of one of the two heart-shaped chocolates was almost too much of a cliche', Brian thought, but he decided to play along with her tease. Choosing the remaining chocolate of the same shape, he slowly slipped it into his mouth, savoring the chocolate flavor. Without taking his eyes off of Alexa he slowly raised his paper cup and took a small sip of bourbon. The outstanding fine taste of the Bookers almost took his mind momentarily off of the rest of the situation.

"I agree with your assessment completely," he said, then paused for a moment. "But, wait, Alexa. I think that you have a bit of that chocolate off to the left side of your mouth. Here, let me get that for you."

Leaning in, still holding his bourbon, Brian kissed Alexa on her lower left cheek just on the edge of her lips. He flicked his tongue out and teasingly brushed her cheek with his tongue. "There. I think that take care of that", he said, withdrawing slowly back to his former position.

Alexa looked up at him and now she was really blushing. She laid her hand over his again and took another sip of her bourbon.

"Did you have a great first kiss?"
Her voice was soft and wistful. "Were you in love or nervously in like?"

She found herself looking at his lips as she waited for his response.

Did you have a great first kiss?...Were you in love or nervously in like?

Brian was taken a bit aback by her question. He wasn't sure if she was referring to the kisses that they had just had, or the first kiss that he ever had. Given the rest of her question, he presumed that she meant his first-ever kiss.

"If you mean my first-ever kiss, well that was when I was in the 7th grade and Jenny Granger and I went to a dance at our school. I had never really asked a girl to go on a date before, so I was pretty nervous the whole time. At one point we were standing by the open side door of the multipurpose room where the dance was held. We stepped outside into the cool April air, and I kissed her quickly. I was definitely nervously in like at that moment. But, she surprised me. When our quick kiss was over, she put her arms around my neck and drew us into a slower kiss. At that point I was definitely in love with Jenny."

Brian had never broken his gaze with Alexa as he told her his story. He paused, then said, "It didn't last long. Jenny's family moved away at the end of the school year, and the next year I went out a few times with other girls. But, you know, I never really forgot Jenny."

"So, what's your story? Your first kiss?"

Alexa smiled warmly as he told his story. When he asked about her first kiss, she set her cup down and slipped off her shoes so she could tuck her feet up underneath her.

"I was a late bloomer. I was a sophomore in high school. I was quite embarrassed about having never been kissed. We were having a Christmas Party. I was dressed in a pretty red dress and I felt so pretty. But then Jenna my sister and her friends were teasing me about having never been kissed. And my confidence was shaken." She looked at him with a wry grin. "I haven't always been the sexpot I am now. But my older brother's friend , who was very popular and good looking, asked me to dance and kissed me on the dance floor." Alexa looked up at Brian. "I wasn't in love, but I was flattered and for a long time he was my hero."