A New Begining. (Closed for Sweetp4u)

Monica

She didn't bat a lash but she did quirk a brow up as he spoke of work and travel. Nodding her head in understanding herself, she did not miss corporate... not at all!

"um.." Her attention went to the girl as Moni flashed a wide smile, "Double cheese burger, american. Hold the tomato and light on the mustard. Regular fries with a side of dip, a strawberry shake.. Extra thick," She turned her smiling eyes on Dave as she spoke and paused, thought it over and gave a nod. "Yeah that will do nicely." Handing over her menu. Damned if she was going to make pretenses and eat rabbit food because he was having lunch with her! Hell no.

"Sounds similar, oddly.. To my own journey there and back." A flush crept into her cheeks but her eyes were on fire with a clear distaste for those memories. Well regarding her ex anyway. "Traveled a bit, not a ton but enough to become wearisome with it. Spent a whole lot of time editing for others and making other writers rich. I kept on and kept on, went right up the top but was always for someone else's work, someone else's dreams. Wrote a couple of small housewife romances and published them through a smaller house as the company I worked for had a policy against that." She paused to take a drink and shifted in her seat.

"As for my spouse, or rather ex.. He just never had enough.. Nothing was ever really enough for him. Had to have more. Bigger, better, and younger." Her mind flashed to that whole fiasco. "No one enjoys second fiddle but it was my son who found out what his father was doing and with whom. So we settled agreeably enough and parted ways. I grew tired of cities and huge companies and of course, making others rich. SO ..." Her eyes found his , "Here I am." Idly her fingers drew circles on the table top as she sat hunched at ease and a bit sideways on the bench seat. "And for once, after a long spell, I feel good and happy. Maybe we just had to leave to see how good it was here?"
 
He wasn’t really surprised at the similar tone of their stories. Back in Highschool, and even through College they both had big dreams and the smarts to achieve them on some level. Funny how the thing you think you want most turns out to be the thing you need least. With her insight about having to leave before they could realize how good they had it here, he cocked his head in reflection. She was right, and in a simple phrase managed to sum up a whole lot of life and emotions in very few words. She always had a knack at doing that.

He gave her a small smile, “Let’s hope this time around we both make better use of our good fortune here.” He raised his water glass in toast. Her coke rang duly as she met him in the middle of the table, their hands touching briefly when her touch sent a small tingle up his arm.

He took in the way her hair shimmered in the light coming through the window and how her cheeks were flushed with life. “So now that you’ve been back for a bit, what are you doing for fun?” He smiled playfully, “Besides letting Rebecca rope you into going to parties that is.”
 
Monica

"Fun?" That question caught her off guard completely. So much so that she gave him a real blank look as she sat silent across from him. Knitted brows must've given away some clues, but still she had to think on that question. Such a mundane question too.. and yet she couldn't answer it! Oi!

"Uhh.." She paused as their plates were delivered, inhaling deeply to let out a sigh of contentment. "I do know what I am NOT doing, and that is dieting! This smells delicious..." She practically purred at the scent of one greasy heavily pickled cheese burger. Fork in hand, she kicked off the bun top and smothered it in ketchup, made a smiley face with her mustard and stuffed a fry into her mouth while piling that hamburger back into one nice tower of cardiac arrest!

Butter knife in hand, tongue poking out the side of her lips just enough to be noticed, she managed to saw her heavenly scented lunch tower into to pieces. "What?" She asked, peeking up at him through a fringe of bangs. Was he watching her mangle her plate? Eyes dropping to one particular discolored fry a bit darker than the rest, grabbing it to smother it into the provided sauce before shoving it in to chew thoughtfully.

"Oh yes.. Fun.." She said between chewing and suckling her finger tip clean of sauce and ketchup. "I think ..... No, no I know, I haven't a clue what fun is any more.. Some days after work, my idea was fun was just to sit on the back porch and stare off into space, pondering what life was like back home." She smiled with a wide sheepish grin, "Big ol' city and I was sitting at home, hating the idea of going back into it after just escaping out from the traffic and work commute." She drown another fry and ate quickly before grabbing up half her double cheeseburger into two sets of eager finger tips. "You?" She added back with little effort just so she could finally get a bite of it.
 
He watched with a smile, slowly dipping a fry of his own into some ketchup as she built and tore into her burger. He rearranged the bacon, added the sliced onion, lettuce and tomato all while watching her and laughing about not dieting.

When her eyes met his, he shook his head at her question and grabbed the burger with both hands. “Nothing, absolutely nothing, dieting is way overrated in my book.” He took a big bite and the juice ran down his hand. He understood about how work and life could get in the way of actually enjoying yourself. He nodded in agreement as he licked the side of his hand, quite inelegantly, and chewed as she finally got her own bite in.

With a swallow, he let the burger drip onto his plate knowing that drippings made fries so much better. “I’m slowly finding, or re-finding some hobbies. The pursuit of Hi-Definition is always good for a few hours research and hunting down the next ‘big thing,’ and I’ve discovered that I actually like working in the yard. I started working on a new patio last spring and being outside and seeing actual progress after every afternoon was really satisfying.” He shifted the burger to get ready for another bite when he started to laugh. “You know, it just hit me, after all these years I still like the stuff I liked as a kid, loud music and playing in the dirt. Maybe you could try doing some of the things you used to like to do, see if they still click for you.”
 
Monica

Brow quirked up as she swallowed and chuckled at his suggestion, "Let's see.." She sat back a moment and thought as she used her straw to stab about in her shake. "Riding in trucks with boys." A single finger popped up, "Going to the movies with boys." Another finger popped up. "Soccer." A third, "Fishing, hiking, swimming, sun tanning.. " She ran out of fingers on her one hand. "I'm not too sure, but I am beginning to think I was a lazy kid." Her lips twitched at that, "The drive in is shut down, the parents must've had a collective sigh of relief after that happened.." A suggestive wink came and went, her smile growing.

".. To be young and care free..." And not marry in the first place. "I did spend a lot of time writing.. Well.." She laughed softly, "What free time there was with all the fun we all used to get in to." A shrug lifted as she tried to find some of her old self in that list. "I guess I am settled down too much these days. A stroll in the park is nice, I go dancing more than hiking any more. I read more than write and I gave up smelly fish for tanning. The old swim hole for a pool and all this is making me miss summer." Another fry was murdered but tastefully so. "Movies are still a safe bet for a good time." Not that she had even checked the theater in town or any rental online, but it wasn't far off her list. After unpacking and settling in to the rental. "A deck?" She had thought about improvements at her new residence but was not savvy at such things herself. Luckily for her, winter was still a few months and then spring before any heavy duty plans could be made or projects started.

"I am renting the house, so I suppose I don't have leeway to make adjustments of my own. I'd be interested to see what it is you've done to your backyard.." A flash of wicked crossed her face and smile, "Can't be hiring just any body.."
 
He slowly, exaggeratedly, shook his head in agreement, “No, you most certainly can’t be too careful, you never know what shenanigans a middle aged might have lurking in his past.” He smiled and popped the last of his burger in his mouth, wiped his mouth with a fresh paper napkin and made ready to tackle the juice dripped fries.

“Though,” a twinkle entered his eye, “I do have an old Dodge Ram in the garage. I could pick you up to go dancing or or we could watch a movie after you’ve finished your ‘research.’ So, you see, some of your hobbies are still out there.”

His hand covered hers casually on the table. Her soft skin made his hand tingle and he absently let his fingers gently stroke the top of her hand. “Of course there’s always the option of making new experiences as well.”
 
Monica

She had heard him but her heart had skipped a hard beat, her senses almost instantly distracted to that tender tingle of caress. Pin points of light shimmered in her gaze as she sucked in a soft breath and let it go without thought of whom might be watching or if David would hear.

"New experiences?" Rushed past numb lips, her face flushing a bit as her body seemed to awaken and take notice a man was touching her! Hell, could she even recall the last time a man had touched her in such a way to cause her stomach to flop over and her body to tingle? Embarrassing to think of, almost scary at the same time, her legs crossed almost as if to deny her libido from responding.

Was he hitting on her or was her starved senses hoping so? Her thoughts cut off from that old self destructive route, a mental door locking that beastie away from ruining her perfectly nice lunch. There really was no denying how he touched her, and when she met his gaze once more, she had some control over herself.

Her eyes narrowed as her face shift a little to her right to peer at him further, "Are you, by chance, trying to lead me astray good Sir?" A haunty tone teased the man, but she did not move her hand away, but turned her palm up. "It's a little cold to go out and sit in an old truck, but..." She wet her lips, glancing up a moment to check whom was listening, if any were before she finished her invitation, "What about dinner? My place."
 
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