2005-08-16 - 8:47 a.m.
I was working a part time job at a Texaco gas station.
I often worked part time jobs during my military career, because Uncle Sam didn't pay much and my wife (at the time) went through our money with reckless abandon. I worked as the station attendant and spent my shifts alone, unless I was training someone. There were a few exciting moments, but nothing of great significance happened, generally speaking.
At the end of each shift there was a hand-off to the on-coming attendant; each of us would conduct an inventory of certain items and do a cash drawer hand-off. During shift change we would lock the door, but leave the gas pumps on self-pay mode, so folks with credit sales could still get gas.
One evening I was doing shift change with a girl named Jennifer. Jennifer was friendly, good for conversation and mildly attractive. On this particular evening she said to me, "I've got a Christmas present for you - don't let me forget to give it to you before you leave." I was a little surprised; Jennifer and I had talked a number of times, but we were really just acquaintances and though it was Christmas time, I would never have expected a gift from her.
I had finished up and was walking out of the back office just as she was walking in - we both paused in front of the drink cooler door and faced one another, "So, can I give you your present now?" she asked.
"Sure," I said.
Jennifer stepped in close, put her arms around my neck and stepped in for a kiss.
I'm a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
As her lips touched mine and her hand gently caressed the back of my head...I turned the tables on her. Not only did I kiss her back, but I usurped her kiss. I took it from her as if snatching a toy from a child and then turned it back on her with the force of a bull rush. I pulled her in closer and kissed her with all the passion of a man still in his youth, desperate to feel something new, desperate to burn with the fire of young lust...a man buried beneath the weight of a failing marriage and all the stress that comes with it.
I decimated her in that kiss.
When it finally ended she stumbled back, catching her balance she breathed, "Me-erry CHRISTMAS!" She backed up, sort of unsteady, and walked to the door, glancing back many times before leaving.
That's where it ended. I was married, after all.
