Gold - my snack bar of choice

Gold bars offer a little comfort in times of uncertainty (but only in plural)

(Continued from yesterday....)

The next morning there was an email.
Hi this is Mr X, we met briefly last night. If you would like to continue our conversation, say, over a glass of wine, that would be very pleasant.
I replied:
Thank you for the unexpected email, I would be delighted to meet up for a glass of wine.
A date was set.
I arrived on time to find him already waiting at the bar. We had a drink.
"I've booked a table for lunch is that O.K.?."
"Oh yes, fine!"

As we sat down I looked at him properly for the first time and thought to myself with a wry smile - he ticks all the boxes : (Bearing in mind my check list has diminished significantly over recent years.)
1. Pulse: check
2. Teeth: check
3. Hair: check . Yes, even a full head of wavy, greying hair.
In addition he was tall, slim and .....

I had absolutely no idea if I'd struck gold and this was a date, or if it was a meeting of new friends or an offer to help with some issues at work that I'd mentioned when we first met. But at 3.30 we were still sitting in the restaurant talking.

"I want you to know my situation right from the start"
He then went on to tell me that his wife had been having an affair for several years and led her own life completely, although she had continued to live in the family home - because of their children. She and her man had recently bought a house and she was moving in with him next week.
Having previously taken early retirement, when his marriage disintegrated, he had thrown himself into a number of new business ventures, which included a lot of international travel.
This charming, confident, man seemed broken as he looked at me and said: "The last four years have been the worst of my life. I need you to know that." And then,
"Oh, is that the time? I must go and collect my children from school"
He hurriedly paid the bill and we rushed out to the car park, where he drove off in the type of car I have lusted after for years!

I sat in my car, gathering my thoughts, before I drove home with my stomach doing somersaults. However, as I opened my front door the somersaults turned into something much worse and I spent the next few hours being violently sick - the after effects of some iffy seafood I expect.!!!! As I talked to my friend Hugh on the big white telephone, I was eternally grateful that Mr X had departed and I'd managed to get home before I'd turned green and unsociable.

"Thank you for lunch." I texted. " Hope you weren't too late for the pick-up."

"Just made it. We must do it again sometime - soon. ;-) !"