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  The waitress produced it immediately and Henry picked it up just as quickly. “I guess I’m more comfortable playing the role of the man in this relationship after all,” Henry said after the waitress walked away, referring to their previous conversation about who would be paying for dinner.

  They gathered their things and started out of the restaurant. Henry noticed the blonde woman in the black dress hovering at a newsstand across the concourse. She had obviously followed them.

  “It looks like your friend is keeping an eye on us,” Henry said.

  It seemed to catch Tammy by surprise. “Oh Sam,” she mumbled to herself. “I told her everything was OK. Give me a second.”

  Tammy crossed the concourse and spoke to her friend. Again, they both looked over at Henry smiling, but her friend’s smile couldn’t mask the concern on her face.

  “So, your friend Sam looked a little concerned,” Henry said when she returned.

  Tammy stopped. “How did you…” she started to say, but then caught herself.

  “You mentioned her name when we were coming out of the restaurant. I’m assuming that’s short for Samantha and that it’s her real name.”

  “It doesn’t matter. We won’t be running into her again.”

  Greg had made a reservation for Henry at the hotel that was connected to the airport, so Henry and Tammy could easily walk to it using the airport concourse. When they reached the hotel lobby, Henry went to the reception desk to check-in while Tammy wandered into the small store that sold magazines, newspapers and drinks.

  “Do you have a reservation?” asked the clerk as he saw Henry approaching.

  “Yes, it’s under the name of Shaw.”

  “Here it is,” said the clerk. “One night - Executive Suite - Party of one.” He said the last part more as a question than a statement because he had noticed Tammy watching them while pretending to browse through the magazine stand across the lobby.

  “Yes, just myself,” Henry said. The female clerk at the next station shot Henry a dirty look, but then turned away as one of the lights on the phone started flashing.

  “Excellent,” said the male clerk. “Check-out time is noon, although we can store luggage in our back room if your flight isn’t until later in the day.”

  “That won’t be necessary. Thanks.”

  Henry turned towards the magazine store where Tammy had been waiting. He didn’t see her so he started walking toward the elevators scanning the lobby looking for her as he went. When he got to the bank of elevators, Tammy peered out from one of them.

  “Going up, sir?”

  “Absolutely.”

  When they got to the room, Henry inserted his key-card and was surprised at how large the room was when they walked in. The room had a huge king-sized bed and a separate area with a desk, a couch and a big-screen TV. He wasn’t used to this type of extravagance. He’d have to remember to thank Greg again for the upgrade when he got back to Toronto.

  “Give me a few minutes to freshen up,” Tammy said as she headed towards the bathroom.

  “Take your time.”

  When he saw the door close, Henry started turning on and off various lights in the room trying to find the right balance for romantic lighting. He started to take off his clothes, but then wasn’t sure if he should, so started to put them back on again. He had no idea whether Tammy was going to emerge from the bathroom fully clothed or totally naked. He decided he’d go half-way. He took off his shirt but kept his pants on and lay on the bed on top of the covers. He still felt awkward and felt like he was trying to impersonate Bert Reynolds from an old movie he once saw. He took off his pants and slid under the covers wearing just his boxers. He turned down the covers half-way on the other side of the bed trying to create an inviting look. The room suddenly seemed way too bright so he jumped out of bed again and started turning off more and more lights so that the only remaining one was the overhead light way over by the door. He could hear the knob on the bathroom door start to turn so he raced back and dove into the bed covering the lower part of his body with the sheet.

  Tammy emerged from the bathroom, fully clothed. Awkward, he thought. This reminded him of the first time he tried to seduce a girl back in high school. It didn’t end well. In that case, he had suggested a midnight swim with a girl he was interested in at a summer camp. They had both gone behind some bushes to take off their clothes. He had emerged from the bushes totally naked thinking they were going skinny-dipping and she had emerged wearing a one-piece bathing suit. She called him a pervert and had raced off. It had taken him years to recover from that embarrassment, or maybe he still hadn’t fully recovered from it.

  Tammy didn’t seem fazed or surprised at all. “It’s awfully dark in here,” she said. “Mind if I turn on some lights?” She didn’t wait for a response and proceeded to turn on a reading light over her side of the bed and a floor lamp near the desk.

  She hiked up her red dress almost to her waist which revealed the top of her stockings. Henry wondered how they stayed up without a garter belt, although he wasn’t up to speed on the engineering of women’s lingerie. She put one leg up on the desk chair and slowly rolled the stocking down until it loosened and then removed it completely and draped it over the back of the chair. She repeated the procedure with the other stocking. Tammy walked over and sat on the edge of the bed with her back towards Henry. “Could you be a sweetie and unzip me?”

  Henry could hardly feel his fingers but did manage to unzip her dress down to the small of her back. Her bare back revealed that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Tammy stood and faced Henry. She raised her arms above her head and the red dress slowly fell to the floor.

  “It must be a little cold in here,” she said as she cupped her breasts. They were enormous and stood at full attention. She paused and let Henry enjoy the view. Henry reached up to fondle her breasts and she seemed to enjoy this as much as he did as she guided his hands over every inch of them.

  She turned her back to him and removed her panties and let them slide down to the floor. She then grabbed them with the toes of her right leg and flicked them perfectly so they landed on the chair with her stockings. She turned and faced Henry and ran her fingers through her hair. Henry was sure he was going to lose it. Tammy approached the bed and threw back the sheet that was covering Henry’s lower half, revealing the boxer shorts. “That won’t do,” Tammy said. She proceeded to remove Henry’s shorts like a magician who pulls a table-cloth from a table without moving any of the dishes.

  “Impressive,” Tammy said as she observed her newly discovered toy which was reaching to the sky to meet her. She climbed onto the bed straddling Henry as she did so and slowly slid down on top of him.

  “Oh God, Oh God,” Henry moaned as he came almost immediately. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” Henry said. “I’m so sorry,” he kept repeating.

  “No you’re not,” Tammy said, looking down at him. Rather than looking disappointed, she looked totally pleased with herself. “But you owe me and you’ll have to make it up to me.”

  And he did. Three more times that night.

  * * *

  Henry awoke the next morning to the sound of the shower coming from the bathroom. He could hear Tammy singing, but he couldn’t quite make out the tune. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such a night of passion. He heard the shower stop and sat up in bed anticipating Tammy’s return. He glanced over at the clock on the table beside the bed and saw that it was just after 11AM.

  Tammy emerged from the bathroom wearing just a towel. Her hair was still wet but she looked just as great as she had the previous night, maybe better. Henry had noticed a gradual change in Tammy over their brief time together. At first, she seemed to be playing the role of a hooker and although she had played the role very well, he sensed that wasn’t her real self. He much preferred the woman who stood in front of him now.

  “It’s about time you woke up,” Tammy said. “I thought I was going to have to hold a mirror to yo
ur face to find out if you were still breathing. You better get cracking. Check-out time is noon.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Henry said. “Give me a few minutes to take a shower. Interested in getting some breakfast?”

  “Sure, although it’s probably closer to lunch by now.”

  “Let’s just call it brunch,” Henry said as headed into the bathroom to take a shower. Henry took a quick shower and decided he also needed to shave as he was looking a bit scruffy. It seemed more important to him than usual that he try to look his best.

  “I think the hotel has a pretty good restaurant,” Henry shouted through the bathroom door, but didn’t get a response. He figured she probably couldn’t hear him over the noise of the ceiling fan in the bathroom which seemed to have a bit of squeak to it. He opened the door a crack. “I think the restaurant downstairs has a brunch buffet and my flight is not for a few more hours.” Again, there was no response.

  He opened the door fully, but Tammy was nowhere to be seen. He saw his pants lying on the floor with his wallet opened beside them. His heart stopped. How could he have been so stupid? He raced over and picked up his wallet, expecting to see his cash and credit cards gone. But the cash seemed to be all there, and all of his credit cards seemed to be there as well. The only thing missing were a few business cards that he kept in his wallet. He scanned the room looking for anything else missing. Then he saw one of his business cards propped up on a pillow. A small heart had been drawn on the front. He turned the business card over and read.

  “Thank you. You were exactly what I needed.”

  *** Chapter 3 ***

  Henry flew back to Toronto almost in a trance. He didn’t remember checking out of the hotel or going through security at the airport, but he obviously had as the stewardess was now passing through the cabin advising the passengers to return their seats to the upright position as they would be landing in Toronto shortly.

  Henry grabbed a cab and slumped into the back seat. He lived in a new neighbourhood west of Toronto located between Oakville and Burlington. He probably should have taken a shuttle as it would have been cheaper, but he had negotiated a flat fee with the cab driver rather than letting the meter run. This was against the rules but the cabbie had relented because he lived near Oakville himself and his work-day was almost over. He planned to head home after dropping off his last fare of the day.

  As the cab approached his house, Henry could see his son David kicking a soccer ball from the green space alongside their property into a hockey net that was situated beside the garage to catch any errant shots. There weren’t many errant shots. David was 17 years old and a very good soccer player. He played on his high school soccer team which was one of the top ranked teams in the province. Rumour was that he was on the radar of Canada’s National Team, although no one would confirm or deny that speculation.

  “Hi David,” Henry yelled as he got out of the taxi and started to walk towards the house.

  “Hi Dad,” David said as he kicked the soccer ball which appeared to be headed directly towards Henry’s head. Henry started to duck but the ball suddenly curved sharply and landed in the centre of the hockey net. David looked at him and grinned. Henry knew he had done it on purpose. That kid was getting a little too cocky for his own good.

  Henry continued into the house and headed down the hallway towards his bedroom. He passed by his oldest son’s bedroom on the way. “Hi Robert,” he yelled, but only got a grunt as an acknowledgement. He was concentrating on some online video game. Robert was 19 years old and finished high school, but not really sure what he wanted to do with his life. He was good with computers and had worked as a day-trader over the summer and done quite well. For Robert, day-trading was almost like a video game as he bought and sold shares within seconds, making his money on the up or down ticks of the market.

  Henry headed to the kitchen and grabbed himself a granola bar from the cupboard. He hadn’t bothered to eat at the hotel. He looked out the kitchen window and could see Jenny working in the garden, so headed outside.

  “Hi Sis,” Henry said as he approached. “Thanks for watching the boys for me.”

  “No problem,” Jenny said, looking over her shoulder at him. “You know those boys are old enough that they don’t really need a sitter anymore.”

  “I know,” Henry said, although he still didn’t feel comfortable leaving them alone since his wife had passed away over two years ago. They used to live in the heart of Toronto, but Henry found he couldn’t continue to live in the same house after his wife had died. There were too many memories so he had used the life insurance money to purchase this new house. When he purchased it, it was out in the middle of nowhere although the neighbourhood had filled in quickly since then. His sons hadn’t wanted to move, but they had adapted quickly and now seemed quite at home.

  Jenny stood up from her gardening and looked at Henry. “Is everything OK?” she asked. “You look different somehow.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Where’s Mom?” Henry asked, changing the subject.

  “She went to the Seniors Centre.” Henry’s mother spent half of the year in Florida, but spent the rest of the year staying with either Henry or his sister.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Jenny said. “Alan called earlier in the week. He said he set aside a suit for you that he thinks you’ll like.”

  Alan was Henry’s younger brother. He worked at a store in downtown Toronto that specialized in men’s suits and Alan seemed to call him about twice a year with an amazing deal on a new suit. However, Henry didn’t wear suits as much as he used to so these great deals were just accumulating in the back of his closet. He wasn’t even sure he had worn the last suit that he had purchased from Alan.

  “I’ll pop in to see him next week when I’m back in the office,” Henry said. Henry walked back into the kitchen and caught David standing in front of the open fridge chugging down juice directly from the carton.

  “How many times have I asked you to use a glass?” scolded Henry.

  “It’s OK, I’m planning to finish it,” David said, which he did with one last gulp. “Hey Dad, we play for the high school regional championship up in Vaughan next Thursday afternoon. Do you think you’ll be able to get off work to come watch us?”

  “Probably, but I won’t be able to say for sure until I see my schedule at the office next week. I’ll do my best.”

  * * *

  As Henry rode the train into Toronto on the following Monday morning, he found his thoughts wandering back to his night with Tammy. He could feel his heart beat faster and his body take on a warm glow. He thought about the note she had left on his business card, but had no idea what it meant.

  “Mind if I sit here?” someone asked as they sat down without waiting for an answer. The train had stopped in Oakville to pick up more passengers. Henry nodded his acknowledgement to the business man who had just sat down, and proceeded to scan the faces of the other people on the train who had recently boarded. The train was now almost full, even though it was still rather early. Henry liked to catch an early train to avoid the crowds, but it seemed like the train was always busy these days, regardless of the time of day. Even though everyone was packed in beside each other, they all seemed to have an invisible wall between them. Some had their eyes closed listening to music or whatever was being piped into their ear-buds. Others were intently reading their newspapers, oblivious to the person doing the same thing standing mere inches away. It seemed every second person had their cell phone out with their thumbs gyrating back and forth as they sent text messages. And a few who were lucky enough to have found seats had their laptops open and getting an early start going through their emails.

  Henry thought about the mountain of emails that were likely waiting for him when he arrived at the office. He had kept up with his email when they were working in Chicago last week, but he hadn’t even thought about touching his laptop on Friday or over the weekend.

  He stopped at the Tim Horton’s located on the
main floor of his office building and joined the long line of people who had the same addiction. The line, as always, moved quite quickly. Timmie’s had mastered the process of getting people their morning fix with alarming efficiency.

  “Medium double-double” said the girl behind the counter before Henry could even open his mouth. It amazed him how they remembered all of their regular customer’s orders like they were stamped on their foreheads. Henry swiped his Timmie’s card to pay for the coffee and headed up to his office on the 7th floor.

  Henry spent all morning going through his email and updating his calendar. It was about 11:30 and his first scheduled meeting was at 1PM, so Henry decided he would take this opportunity to walk over to the menswear store where his brother worked. He wasn’t sure when he would get another opportunity this week.

  When Henry walked into the store, he saw Alan on one knee on the floor as he marked the hem on a customer’s pair of pants. When that was completed, the customer returned to the change room and Alan turned his focus to another customer who was eyeing himself in a mirror sporting a new suit jacket he was considering.

  “I think you’ll have to go one size larger,” Alan said, grabbing one quickly off of the rack.

  “But I’ve always been a 42-regular,” protested the customer.

  “You haven’t been a size 42 for ten years,” countered Alan, which was quickly confirmed when the customer tried on the larger size.

  “Hi Alan,” Henry said, trying to let Alan know he was there without interrupting his work with his current customers.

  “Hey Bro,” Alan said. “I’ll be with you in two shakes.”

  Alan was working with several customers at once whereas there were other clerks at the store who seemed to be doing busy work or waiting for customers to show up. Alan quickly grabbed a shirt and tie from the hundreds that were scattered on various displays in the store and quickly slid them into the suit jacket that was sitting on the check-out counter, just as the customer that had been trying on the pants emerged from the change-room.