Written By Brad Harness
Francine enjoyed herself on that first walk with Mark. She suspected that his family might have seen them walking together, so she made sure she ‘accidentally’ ran into Mark Bixby around the corner the next time.
She laughed aloud as he approached her with his little white dog, the picture of suburban bliss.
“That makes it twice in two days” she said, reading his mind.
Mark didn’t know whether he enjoyed chatting with Francine. After all, he was a happily married man, father to a pair of wonderful young children. Yesterday she was funny and chatty, different from his wife Julia. And here today she seemed the same.
“Oh, what a little gem!” she said as she tickled Jocko behind the ears.
Mark considered what to say. “He’s going to get attached if you keep doing that.”
Francine looked up at Mark. Was he talking about the dog getting attached to her, or himself?
She could feel her excitement rising as she dreamed of getting her hooks into Mark. It would mean security and companionship - and maybe love - into the future.
Mark studied this new friend who had suddenly appeared in his morning routine. She was about his age, he guessed late 30s. She was shorter than him, and he had to walk slower lest she fall behind. She was not what he would call a workout girl. She could likely lose 10 pounds and not miss it. He considered his own appearance. Sporty, fit, family man, good citizen. In a word, Respectable. What word would he use to describe Francine Selmers?
He pondered that for a moment, looking down at her playing with Jocko. He noticed she was wearing a shorter skirt that revealed thong underwear above the top of the skirt by her spine. She was, after all, squatting down to reach his dog.
Just then she turned and stood up, giving him an eyeful of her bounty.
He blushed and looked away, as he realized he had stared down her top, unaware of how deliberate her moves had been.
“Umm, we better keep this short this morning - I have to get to the office earlier than usual.”
“Big meeting?” she asked, unaware of his line of work.
“Something like that,” he replied. “I run an import/export business and today is a paperwork morning with all the product coming into the country.”
“Lucrative?” she asked.
Next Week: Part 4
