In All the Wrong Places

Chapter 2: Roberta

Chapter 2: Roberta

All was quiet in the small house on the corner, home to Sam, Emily, Dax, three cats, and an iguana. Although the two kids were sometimes at their dad’s for a night or a weekend, they were both at home with Sam on this particular fall night, several months after Sam and Barry had started to think of themselves as “a couple.” Sam was waiting for fourteen-year-old Emily to fall asleep so she could call Barry in private. This nightly phone call was always a high point of Sam’s day, but tonight, it was especially urgent because she needed his grounding influence and his humor.

Sam appeared in her daughter’s doorway. “Okay, Missy…lights out in fifteen.”

“But, Mom, I need to finish this chapter of Dracula. I’m just getting to the gross part!

“Twenty minutes…and that’s it. Then ‘eyes closed’.” Sam turned to walk away.

“Mom, wait—come here for a minute.”

“What’s up, Em?” Sam came in and sat in her daughter’s desk chair. “Everything okay?”

Emily sat up in bed, her wavy long hair making a frame of her innocent face. “You really like Barry, don’t you? I mean, he’s like—your boyfriend, right?”

Sam knew she would have this conversation at some point. She gathered her thoughts to reply. “Well, yeah. I guess so. You like him, don’t you?”

Emily pushed her unruly hair away from her face. “Yeah, he’s cool. And you look relaxed and happy when he’s around. Like you might be okay, you know?”

Sam smiled at her daughter’s teenaged summation of the relationship. “I think you’ve got it, sweetie. He does make me feel okay about things. I trust him—and I count on him.”

“I’m glad, Mom. You deserve for somebody to appreciate you. Besides me and Dax.”

Sam smiled again and kissed her daughter on the forehead. Emily sank back into the covers with eyes already half closed. “You can go ahead and turn out my room light, Mom.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Emmy the Pooh.” Sam hadn’t used this baby name for her daughter for quite a while, but it just slipped out. It was heart-warming to realize your kids wanted you to be happy.

After saying goodnight to Emily, Sam fussed around the kitchen, putting away the remains of dinner and wiping down the counter. Tonight, she was anxious to talk to Barry about her infatuation with this woman at the gym—this unknown woman whose smile caught Sam’s attention and made her weak in the knees. Of course, most men wouldn’t want to discuss their girlfriend’s attraction to someone else. But then, Barry wasn’t “men”—he was Barry, and he was her best friend as well as her “boyfriend.” Sam felt as if she might spontaneously combust if she had to keep this to herself another minute!

Finally, Sam saw Emily’s reading light go out, and shortly thereafter heard her snoring gently. Sam poured herself a glass of wine and settled in the corner of the living room loveseat with her link to Barry: the phone.

Thankfully, Barry answered on the second ring. “Hey, Ms. Samantha! How was your day? Did you get to the gym like you planned?”

Sam had one last moment of hesitation about telling Barry what was going on in her head. She took a deep breath. “I did. Barry, she was there again. The pretty woman with the cool haircut and tattoos.” She paused, trying to think of what to say next.

“Well, did you talk to her or anything? There’s no harm done in simply meeting her, you know. Just to see how it feels to flirt a little with a woman.” She could hear the teasing grin in his voice. “You know you want to.”

“Yeah…you think so? What if someone from work is at the gym? And anyway, what would I say?”

“How about, ‘Hi, I’m Sam’?”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious!” Sam laughed nervously. “You know what I mean. What do I…do?

“Sam, take it light. Go one step at a time. Chat with her and see what she’s all about. What’s this mystery woman’s name, anyway?”

“Roberta. I overheard a conversation she had with another woman in the dressing room. Roberta…don’t know the last name…Okay, we’ll see if she’s there again tomorrow.”

And she was. She was coming out of the steam room just as Sam was about to go in. Sam introduced herself and made some comment about the crowded conditions in the dressing room, trying not to appear foolish and nervous. Roberta smiled the crooked smile Sam found irresistible and moved on to the showers.

The next day when Sam came into the gym, Roberta was standing at the dressing room mirror wearing a towel around her waist and nothing else. Sam had a flash of memory of all the times in her dance career when she tried not to look at the breasts of her fellow dancers in the dressing room. She made a huge effort to look at Roberta’s face while smiling a silent greeting. Again, Sam was rewarded with a friendly smile from the other woman—a smile that took her breath away.

Finally, Sam got up the nerve to actually speak to the object of her infatuation. As far as Sam was concerned, any subject was interesting if she could discuss it while watching Roberta’s flashing green eyes and sexy smile.

Roberta. Just the name sent shivers through Sam, involuntary shivers that distracted her thoughts and scared her to death. After a couple of weeks of brief encounters at the gym, things started to move in a new direction. They had some flirtatious moments in the dressing room and the hot tub; Sam actually ended up touching Roberta’s shoulder, tattooed with a large spider web complete with bloody spider.

After that, Sam and Roberta started leaving the gym at the same time. Sam hoped it was intentional. Once, in the parking lot, Roberta started talking about a past relationship she had with a woman, which was almost too much for Sam. Okay, now the subject was opened up—it was “out there”—and Sam felt like it was in the realm of possibility to see Roberta outside of the gym. It was Roberta who suggested lunch, which somehow turned into a picnic. Sam grew dizzy with the possibilities implied.

Bless Barry—he was full of ideas and encouragement. On the appointed day, Sam prepared a lunch—fruit, cheese, crackers, and wine. After some investigation, she had found a park that would offer at least a pretense of privacy, right around the corner from the gym.

In spite of Sam’s nervous stomach and sweaty hands, the lunch was close to perfect. Roberta was different, a little strange, hard to read…but so sexy. It had been more than twenty years since Sam had kissed a woman. When the last grape had been eaten and the lunch was coming to a close, Sam turned to face her new friend on the bench of the picnic table.

“Well, thanks for the picnic lunch,” offered Roberta.

“Of course,” replied Sam, taking the chance of touching Roberta’s hand. “My pleasure.”

A silence fell. While Sam sat still waiting for Roberta’s next move, it came. Only a quick “first date kiss,” as she described it to Barry that night, but an earthshaking development for Sam. And, yes, there was to be a second date.