Chapter 3

I woke the next morning after a good sleep that featured a technicolor dream replaying my massage with Lisa. I felt great! I noticed no pulling in my back, lil John was immensely proud of himself, and I had a shit eating grin on my face. I whistled through my shower, stopped and grabbed a coffee and flirted with Maggie at the store, then pulled into the job site parking lot just as Tom was stepping out of his Dodge Ram. I pulled in beside him, grabbed my coffe and fell into line for the walk onto the job site.

"Morning Tom."

Tom nodded, "John ... how did the massage go?"

"It was fantastic Tom, and I feel great ... no more pulling in my back."

"Huh ... by the looks of that stupid grin on your face, more than your back is feeling better."

I chuckled, "Well ... yeah ... Lisa and I sort of hit it off and I have the pleasure of escorting her to dinner tonight."

Tom turned and looked at me and raised his eyebrows,"Lisa? ... you mean Lisa Williams ... the massage lady?" "Well, Damn Son! ... that gal is beautiful ... no wonder you got a shit eating grin on that ugly mug." He reached over and slapped my shoulder. "Good for you John, I hope it works out..."

"Thanks Bud, she sure is amazing." I winked and grinned as I turned right and climbed the three steps into the Project Manager trailer. I fumbled with the key momentarily, then opened the door to step in as Tom called over his shoulder, on his way to his crew,

"I should be able to wrap up the windows in the north wing top floor by noon, John ... come on over and give 'em a look see, before I move my boys down a flight."

I nodded in agreement, gave him the thumbs up, and walked inside to the project desk where a stack of blue prints were spread out haphazardly. I knew today was going to be a challenge for me, I needed to focus, but I kept playing the massage and Lisa over in my mind. Grinning, I forced myself to concentrate on my work, and before I knew it, the clock showed 10:30. I grabbed my clipboard of notes and headed out for a walk thru of the job site. Once on the site, I knew the time would fly ... I would be going from once section to another, talking to the crew leaders of all the tradesmen and subcontractors ... carpenters, electricians, tilesmen, plumbers, masons, landscapers, cleaners, and the annoying "manufacturers represenatives", or as I referred to them..."fucking sales buzzards". Trying to keep everyone on task and pull the job together in some sort of symmetry, pointing out work that needed to be redone correctly, ... in essence, making all the pieces fit together. It was challenging, but I liked it, and I found I was pretty good at it. It did make the time fly by, and it seemed like nano-seconds before the 4:00 whistle blew indicating it was time for the crews to take a ½ hour to clean up, pack up, and stow away their materials and tools for another day ... everyone had to be off the job site, no later than 5:00 pm, and most were gone by 4:30. I realized I hadnt even stopped for lunch. My belly was growling, and I was anxious to see Lisa. Watching a electrical subcontractors van pull out of the parking lot ... the last vehicle except mine, I locked up the trailer and headed for the truck, then home for a quick shower, before going to pick up Lisa.

I arrived at Lisa's at 6:00, right on time, and noticed her sign was turned off. I saw her peeking through the window, smiling, waving me towards the door. She unlocked, and I stepped in. She looked amazing! Wearing a mid thigh length, form fitting, soft violet sleeveless summer dress, her hair was falling around her shoulders, her make up showcased her high cheekbones, pouty lips, and large beautiful brown eyes, accessorized with a gold necklace featuring a small turquoise pendant, made me stop and catch my breath. I took a moment to drink in this vision of loveliness, then she smiled, and my heart melted. My God!, this woman was absolutely stunning!. She stepped into my arms and we melted together in a long deep kiss. Lil John was instantly awake, and she giggled as she felt me stiffen against her.

"Someone is happy to see me."

"Yes" I drawled, "We both are."

She flashed that mega watt smile as I looked into her eyes, then she pushed me back to shut the door.

"C'mon upstairs John and let me offer you a drink while I finish making myself up, then we can go, ok?"

I followed her dutifully, watching a most incredible ass as it climbed the stairs in front of me, and I wondered, "Finish making herself up??? ... How could she possibly make anything any more beautiful than it already was?" ... I knew better than to verbalize that thought so I followed her into her upstairs apartment and perched on a stool at the eat-in kitchen bar and accepted a cold beer. She assured me she would be no longer than five minutes and I could hear her humming in her bedroom as she did what ladies do when they are "dolling themselves up." I drank my beer and gazed about her apartment, taking in her knick-knacks, pictures, a few pieces of art work on the walls, noticed a wide screen HDTV, and grinned, looked over a very eclectic mix of music in the form of CD's sitting in a four shelf rack beside the entertainment center holding a receiver and CD player.

She appeared from her bedroom just as I was finishing my beer, and once again I stopped and just drank her in. She looked at me with eyes that said she was excited to be with me. My heart skipped a beat and I smiled, "Lisa, you look so lovely, I hope I dont make a fool out of myself by staring at you all night."

She stepped in and gave me a quick peck on the cheek, "Thank you John, I am really looking forward to tonight, and I am famished ... let's go eat!"

We walked to my truck, I opened her door and took her hand as she climbed into the seat. I shut her door and walked around to the drivers side and jumped in, looked at her and smiled,

"I have reservations for us at Chez Micheal, I hope you like French cuisine."

She smiled, "Oh John, I love Chez Michael, the food there is outstanding, thank you for choosing it."

I was glad she approved, because I had arraigned earlier to have a dozen roses, adorned with baby's breath, in a white porcelain vase, delivered to our table while we had a pre-dinner cocktail. We arrived a few minutes later and I again walked around and opened her door and took her hand to assist her in climbing out of my truck. Walking hand in hand to the resturant, we were greeted by the hostess, who checked her list, smiled knowingly when she saw my name on it, and said

"Follow me please, we have selected a special table for you two this evening."

The table was the very last one in the back, away from the crowd of the main dining room, and featured a large bow window overlooking the bay and the two little islands about a ½ mile out.

"Very nice, thank you." I told the smiling hostess.

I held Lisa's chair as she seated her self, then sat dowm across her. The hostess waited while we made ourselves comfortable and then asked if we would like a cocktail. Being the gentleman, I let Lisa order a glass of Chardonnay before I asked for a glass of house red. The hostess assured us that the drinks would arrive momentarily, by our server for the evening, "Lucy".

Lisa and I gazed out the window across the bay, watching the slanting sun spotlight the little islands, noticing the white of the sails of a mish-mash pattern of boats enjoying a summer evening sail.

"This is so wonderful John, and so romantic, I feel really special, I've had little else on my mind today." She looked into my eyes and smiled happily.

Timing, they say, is everything. Just as I was about to tell her that I was the one who should feel special, because she agreed to dinner with me, Lucy arrived with our glasses of wine, and carrying a vase with the roses. She sat the glass of Chardonnay in front of Lisa, then my red in front of me, then with a flourish, presented the roses to Lisa.

Her eyes widened as she accepted the roses and then looked at me, "Oh John, these are so beautiful, I feel like a princess ... thank you so much." She gleemed as she bent forward to smell the roses and then held them to me so I could. Lucy was smiling a knowing smile,

"I'll let you two enjoy your wine, then come back to take your order in a few, ok?"

We chatted and sipped our wine, looked over the menu, I decided on Coquille St Jacques, which is a scallop in wine dish, and Lori decided on Steak Au Poivre ... the girl WAS hungry.

Lucy returned to take our order and leave us a loaf of warm bread and cinnamon sliced butter.

We both swooned with pleasure eating the warm bread, gazed into each others eyes, smiled and looked for every opportunity to touch each other ... holding hands across the table, or leaning towards each other to kiss. It was silly, and fun. I was happy as I can remember, and Lori was giggling and her eyes were shining with happiness. When the food arrived we both asked for a large glass of ice water and another wine, and told Lucy that we would want fresh coffee after the meal. We dug in, the scallops were perfect. Succulent, with a hint of garlic, Parmesan, and wine. Lori's steak was a perfectly sauteed pepper-corned Rib-eye with the delicious creamy shallots and mushrooms sauce dribbled copiously over it. We ate with gusto, both of us hungry. I told Lori that after dinner we could take a drive, or if she preferred we could take a stroll along the waterfront. She smiled at me,