"Vegas Flyer" Chapter 2

by Aha

Margaret came home around eight o'clock Friday night. She was surprised when she found that James was not at home. After picking up around the house and feeding Jasper, it was past nine and she was beginning to become concerned. It was not like him to be late on Friday. They usually started off with a pitcher of martinis, followed by an intimate dinner and then straight up to the bedroom. Only sickness ever interfered with this sacred tradition. She was about to call Shirley at home when she saw the note by the telephone. She was mad at first, then disappointed. She thought about calling Mr. Boardman or Shirley to ask at what time Sunday James would return. Maybe she could plan a special surprise for him if she knew when he was to be home. She might meet him at the door wearing the teddy she had bought at Megan’s that afternoon from the lingerie rep. Reaching for the phone she hesitated. She didn't want James or Mr. Boardman to think that she was checking on him. That was bad form. He enjoyed his independence; after all that was one of the reasons they had agreed not to have children. She hung up the phone.

When she had met James fifteen years ago she was looking for someone to depend on. After the death of her parents she had been taken in and raised by her grandmother who lived in Essex and who had also passed away not five years after her parents demise. With no brothers or sisters she was adrift until she met James. He had been the most handsome airline pilot she had ever seen, with his dark hair, dark eyes and six-foot slender build. And he had been so confident. Something she was not. No problem had seemed too large for him during their years together and she had come to rely on that kind of strength. She should have never told him about Willie and what he had done to her she thought. Now he was honor bound to do something about it and she knew James well enough to know that he would do something about it eventually. It had put him between a rock and hard place with his job...a job she had talked him into taking and she was not sure exactly how it was going to all work out. One thing was for sure...she was going to have to spend her time in more creative ways than going to lingerie sales at friends houses, but for now she turned on the television and resigned herself to spending the weekend with Jasper. Who lay down in front of her and looked up at her with grateful eyes.