I took a swig of coke and begin to play a nocturne by Chopin. Part way through, I see a woman I had seen at times and I really like her looks.
She is sitting at the other end of the room, listening to my music. I was so hoping she would come over and after ten minutes she got up and walked over to me.
"Hello, my name is Lois. I want to tell you how much I love listening to you play Chopin's music. That opus ten number three is my favorite piece."
"Mine too Lois, someone wrote a song to that piece, 'So deep is the night."
"May I ask your name?" asked Lois.
"I'm Raymond."
"I'm living at my sister’s place and she has a piano. To frank about it, that is why I want to get back to playing piano. Do you give lessons?"
I'm thinking what a good looking woman she is. I'd give her lessons at no cost.
"Sure Lois, I'd be very pleased to help you get back into it. The lessons will be at my place."
"What do you charge, Raymond?"
"A large regular coffee and a plain cruller will be fine. When can you start?"
"How about ten Saturday morning?"
"Oh that's fine, I'm at 1059 Camelot Road.
"Okay then see you at ten."
I am pleased, what a hot looking woman, nice head of hair, great ass and hips, nothing wrong with her boobs either. She dresses very nice, patent black dress heels, floral skirt with a white ruffled v-neck blouse, and a string of glass beads. No, I won't charge her anything and those gold square bifocals with the half-moons, redolent of the seventies, yeah those look nice on her.
Lois will be at my place Saturday morning, I needed to get the place ship shape. I ran the Hoover around, did some dusting, cleaned the kitchen table and counters, and sprayed some room freshener.
On Saturday morning I dug up some good piano lesson books. Lois arrived five minutes early with a note book and pencil, yup, she was serious.
"Let's sit at the table as we drink our coffee and and tell me what you know about piano."
Lois knows a lot more than the average beginner, probably wants to make sure she is remembering things right.
We went over the one; four; five and five seven chords as well as the keys and did some of Hanon's finger techniques then she asked where the lady's room was and I told her the way. I was doing 'Green Sleeves' when she came back and she admired how nicely I played it.
She looked at the kitchen clock and assumed the lesson was over as the clock read eleven.
"Well, I guess the lesson is over now?"
"Lois, the lesson's over when you decide."
"Really?"
"Yes really, if you want to do more, tell me what you'd like to work on. If you want, I'll spend the day with you."
"All this for just a coffee and a muffin?"
"Well Lois, I see you really want to get back into playing and since I love piano, I know how great it is to sit down and start playing some beautiful music. I want to help you as much as possible to play the music you want.”
We worked another hour and a half on Hanon and keys. Lois was doing a great job and she will be a great pianist.
~~~~~A Few Months Later~~~~~
She arrived five minutes early as usual, with a cinnamon swirl coffee cake. As usual we talk about the way her practice went during the week and what she wanted to work on today.
When we're at the piano she takes from her purse a pair of black half-square glasses with a black beaded neck chain.
"Reading glasses, Lois?" I asked with interest, I mean she's wearing bifocals.
"You seem surprised."
"Sort of, I mean you wear bifocals, with the half-moons even."
"I have to get another pair if someone can see the half-moons, maybe the 'no line' style," she said while giggling.
"Lois, don't get rid of the half-moons, there is something rather romantic about them."
She turned her head to me and asked, "Romantic?"
"Yes, I don't know why but they make you look so serious, mature, that you could deal with just about anything and still come up trumps."
Lois looked at me with real interest, she has to be wondering why I see something romantic about her half-moons.
We are working on chords and she excuses herself to hit the lady's room. Her gold square glasses are sitting on the piano and yes, I try them on and get rid of a few smudges as well. They are where she left them when she came back.
Lois had enough lessons for today and that was fine. Two and a half hours is a long lesson for anyone and it shows me that she is putting in a hundred and ten per cent of effort.
~~~~~Later~~~~~
I woke up one dreary rainy day, a Wednesday it was. My heart was as dreary as the weather. I dreamed about my wife who passed away spring, five years ago. To have her close to me, I dressed in her clothes at times while I did some light housework as she used to do, remembering things we did together. I thought it would pull me out of a black funk.
I know someone came to the door but I have no idea, then I figured it was someone dropping off a phone book. When I went out later, there was no phone book to be found.
I forgot all about it till Saturday. Up to now Lois was always happy to come in for her lesson, today she seemed quite sad.
"Lois, what's the matter? are you ill?"
She said she wasn't.
"Well you don't have to be here today if you don't want to. Did something happen since last week?"
"No," Sshe said nodding her head.
It was a simple word yet the way it was said told me Lois was feeling a lot of sadness.
Then it hit me, I bet Lois dropped by the other day.
"I guess Lois, that over the last three months or so, you got to like me as much as I like you."
"Yes Raymond, I have had warm feelings for you and then Wednesday I began to wonder why I didn't consider you might have a friend already."
"So you saw a woman here, right? Wearing a skirt and blouse, white wig, pumps?"
"Yes Raymond, who is she, a sister, a lady friend?"
As much as I miss my wife, I felt like a horse's ass for dressing up in her clothes where I could be seen. Crap. I really like Lois and she might not want to take lessons from a man who dresses like a woman for any reason.
'This was the acid test,' spilling my guts and hoped she does not walk out of my life.
The lady you saw was me, Lois. My wife passed away five years ago and sometimes to get rid of my sadness I dress in her clothes, just my way of dealing with a deep grief.
The look on her face changed as abruptly as one turning on a lamp.
"Well Raymond, everyone deals with grief in their own way, it's what works that matters. I am sorry you lost your wife, you come across as having been a caring husband."
"Well yeah, I mean it's the whole idea of marriage, to love and care. So anyways, I am the woman you saw and no I am not seeing anyone.
"I feel so much better, Raymond. I was really thinking we could start seeing each other.
"Lois, I would love seeing you, since I saw you that day when you came over to me and told me how much you admire my playing. I have been happier than I have for quite a while. How about joining me for dinner over at the Olive Garden?"
"I love the Olive Garden, being Italian."
"Yeah that chicken over spags with Alfredo sauce is all right."
"So Ray, how about us working on that Chopin etude opus ten, number three?"
"You feel ready for that?"
"I'm ready to take a go at it."
Lois did a great job with that piece, I'm so impressed.
We met later that day over at the Garden and I see how she keeps her sexy figure, a salad and a bowl of pasta fahjool also known as macaroni and beans.
"So Raymond, you really like the looks of me wearing my black half-square glasses and beaded neck chain?"
"Why do you ask that?" I asked Lois with a pleasant smile.
"I see the way you pull back on the bench so you can peer through them."
"True enough Lois, I can't say why but the looks of you in granny glasses is quite fetching."
Lois was wearing a purple skirt with a white blouse and low kitten heels in glossy black along with a glass beaded necklace, in short looking quite hot.
"So what would you like to do after?"
"Come to my house and watch a movie?"
"That sounds good Lois, I'd love to."
So we went to her place and saw a movie, 'A Song to Remember' about Chopin and his woman Aurora Dudevant.