Delayed

It was surprisingly painless to get back through security, and they were among the first to get there and found another pair of seats. In spite of what Diana had just told herself she was glad to have him there to talk to no matter the reason.

Jason didn't say much, and Diana was suddenly very tired. She closed her eyes and woke up an hour later to find her head on Jason's shoulder as she became aware that he was calling her name.

"Time to board sleepyhead."

"Oh, my gosh. I'm sorry. Did I drool on you?"

She looked but Jason just laughed.

"No, and it was actually kind of nice."

Still sleepy, his words made her feel warm inside, and now she was hoping they might be able to sit together. Unfortunately they were eight rows apart, and there were only a couple of empty seats on the entire plane.

Jason put his earbuds back in and Diana fell back asleep before they departed. Jason looked to see if she was awake several times, but the beautiful older woman was out like a light. He didn't have a chance to talk to her again until they got to the baggage claim area.

"Hey," he said as he walked up beside her.

"Jason. Hi."

"Do you need any help with anything?"

"Um, no. I actually have someone meeting me here."

"Oh, right. Your doctor friend."

"Yes. But thank you."

"Sure," he said as his bag got closer.

"Diana?"

"Yes?"

"I uh, I'd like to see you again. Back in Seattle. As friends, of course."

She'd returned to reality and while his offer was interesting her hope was to have more than a working relationship with her 'doctor friend' as he was a reasonably attractive man with a well-paying job. Money wasn't that important to her, but it was certainly another reason to at least consider him. And while he was a few years older than her there wasn't some kind of unbridgeable age gap between them. Not like there was with Jason.

"Oh. That...that sounds nice. It's just that I'm really busy, and...."

Jason knew where that was going and gave up except to fish out a business card and hope.

"If you ever change your mind," he said as he held it out.

She took it, gave it a look then thanked him and promised she would. Jason had very little hope that would ever happen, and as she put the card in her purse, a man of about 45-50 walked up.

"Diana!" Jason heard him call out as he approached.

"Edward! Hi!"

Jason watched them hug but had to turn away. It was ridiculous, but he felt jealous and for the first time in his adult life he wanted to smack a doctor in the face. The pang only lasted a moment as he reached for his bag.

"Take care," he said to Diana as he walked by.

"Oh, thanks! You too, Jason!"

"Who's that?" he heard the doctor ask.

Jason didn't hear her reply and really didn't want to. He stopped for a moment then gave his parents a buzz and let them know he was in. His adoptive dad told him the main roads were clear but a lot of side streets were still un-drivable.

"But no worries. I found you a room in a motel near the airport. It took a lot of phone calls, but we did get one for you."

Jason memorized the name of the place then went to stand in another line to get a taxi.

It was late when he finally got settled in. There was no room service, so he settled for some junk food out of a vending machine and set down to see if there was a game on TV.

It was just before midnight Seattle time when his phone rang.

"Jason? Hi. It's Diana. From the airport?"

"Is everything okay?"

He could tell by her voice that it wasn't.

"No. I need a place to stay. My doctor fr...the guy at the airport. He...he's really, really drunk and he's...aggressive, and I'm scared."

"Can you leave? Can you get out?"

"Yes. I'm in the lobby of a nearby hotel, but there are no rooms. Anywhere."

He gave her the address of his motel and told her to come directly there.

"I'm so sorry. I knew he used to drink, but he told me he quit, and things got crazy so fast and...."

He heard her voice break and reassured her everything would be okay.

"Just call a taxi and come over here."

"You don't mind?"

"Of course not. Please. Just get away from there as soon as you can."

"Okay. Thank you. Thanks you SO much."

It took nearly an hour for her to get to the motel, and Jason was waiting for her in the lobby.

She dropped her things and fell into his arms. He felt her start to cry and pulled closer.

"It's okay. You're safe."

She cried for a few seconds then slowly regained control.

"I'm really terribly sorry to do this to you."

"Diana, you're not doing anything to me. I'm more than happy to help. I'm just glad you were able to call me."

"The police told me I could go with them, but...."

"The police got involved? Oh my god. Did he hurt you?"

Jason had his hands on her upper arms as he stepped back to take a look at her.

"No. He didn't hit me. He...it was what he said. I...it was so awful."

He saw tears welling up again and moved closer and put his arms back around her.

"Shhh. It'll be all right. I promise."

"I feel like such a fool."

"Don't. Don't say that. You're amazing. He's the fool."

She pulled back a little and looked at him.

"No. You're amazing. And I can't thank you enough."

She then kissed him on the cheek then bravely told him she was ready.

He grabbed everything but her purse and carried them to the room.

"It's not much but it's warm."

"It's fine. Anywhere is fine."

There was only one double bed so Jason told her he'd sleep on the floor.

"No. You can't do that. This is your room and...."

"Diana? I'm a traditional kind of guy, remember? There is no way any woman--especially a beautiful woman--is sleeping on the floor. End of discussion."

She hugged him again then quietly whispered, "Okay. Thank you."

"Of course. The bathroom is yours, too, whenever you want to get ready."

She took less than ten minutes to change and brush her teeth. She was wearing a long nightie but Jason had to force himself not to stare as she looked even more beautiful in a plain gown than she had before in a pair of jeans.

"You're sure," she asked as she walked over to the bed.

"Positive."

He grabbed a pillow then got the one spare blanket that was over by the sink. He laid it out, laid on it, then pulled it around over himself. Diana was watching and felt terrible.

"Why don't you take the comforter, too?" she suggested.

"Because then you'd only have a sheet."

"I could use the blanket."

The comforter was nearly twice as big and provided a tiny amount of cushion whereas the blanket provided none.

"That works. If you're sure."

He got up and pulled the comforter off then waited for her to get in. Once she did he placed the blanket over her. As it fluttered down he was just a foot or so away from her face.

"Thank you. You're my savior."

"Nah. Just a guy who's a sucker for a beautiful woman."

Diana stared up into his eyes and felt what she'd been feeling earlier.

"Says the very handsome man. My knight in..."

She laughed then said, "Underwear."

"Sexy, huh?" he teased as he stood up.

"Actually...."

He felt a slight stirring. Being within arms reach he knew she would see any movement 'down there' and turned away.

"I'm glad you're okay," he told her as he raised the comforter to smooth it out.

"I'm glad you were here for me," she quietly replied.

"Me, too. Very much so."

With that they said goodnight and tried to fall asleep with varying levels of success. Diana was out by 2am, but Jason needed to hear her breathing change before he could relax.

It was just before 6am when he woke up. The room was pitch black. There were no lights in the parking lot, and even the digital clock was out. And it was cold. Freezing cold. He got up and groped around and found his phone and turned on the flashlight then quietly made his way to his suitcase where he grabbed a hoodie and some sweat pants as his body began to shiver.

"Jason?" he heard, stopping immediately.

"Hey."

"Is the power out? It's freezing."

"Yes. I have some sweats if you'd like them."

"Me, too. Well, I have a sweater and some sweat pants. Let me get them."

It took her a minute to find them, and by the time she had them on she was shaking.

"That blanket won't be enough. You take the comforter, too," he told her.

"No. Jason, you'll freeze. I'll be okay."

There was enough light for him to see her shivering.

"You're already freezing. You take it."

He led her back to the bed and made her lay down. He pulled her covers up then grabbed the comforter and pulled it over her. Then he reached across the bed and folded it in half over her body.

He went to find something else to put on when she called his name.

"Yes?"

"You can...we can share the bed."

He was no wimp, but he was extremely cold already.

"You don't mind?" he asked, blowing on his hands and moving his body to generate heat.

"It's too cold. You need to be under the blankets. Come on."

He asked her again if she was sure. She raised the blankets then slid over and he slid in beside her.

"Thanks. It's colder than a witch's t...."

"Tit?" she said with a laugh. "My dad used to say that."

He laughed, too, then pulled his side of the covers over himself.

"I think maybe we should, you know, be close to each other. To preserve warmth."

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"I'm so cold I can't get any more uncomfortable. Just move closer."

Jason could smell the shampoo in her hair and a little bit of her perfume, and as luck would have it, he felt himself getting hard. Diana was facing away from him, so if he spooned with her, his manhood would be jabbing her, and that wasn't going to happen.

"I uh, I don't do well on my left side. Can we turn over? Will that work?"

"Oh, sure. No problem."

Diana rolled over at the same time he did then pulled herself right up to him as close as she could.

"I've never been so cold in all my life," she said as her body continued to shake. "You?"

"Once. I was a Cub Scout. We went camping one weekend, and it got so cold I couldn't sleep. My teeth were chattering, and the sleeping bag I was in wasn't nearly enough."

"You poor thing," she said before asking if she could put her arm around him.

"Oh. Sure. Good idea."

As she did, one of her nails got stuck on the sheet. She pushed then pulled, and when her hand came off, it went...to the worst possible place. Jason was fully erect, and although Diana only touched 'him' for the briefest of moments, it startled her to the point that she yelped. Not loudly but still enough to cause Jason to flinch.

"I'm so sorry, Jason! I wasn't trying to...I didn't mean. It was totally an acc...."

"Wow. How embarrassing is that?" he said as she struggled for words to express her own embarrassment.

In just those few seconds, Diana stopped being embarrassed. She even smiled in spite of the cold.

"Is that because of me?" she asked sweetly and rather gingerly.

Jason let out a long sigh then said, "Um...yeah. You're uh, you're...rather attractive. Even when it's freezing-ass cold."

"Then I'm flattered, so don't feel bad, okay?"

"I'll try not to, but when the power comes back on and I have to look at you, that may not be so easy."

"It's okay. Really. I think you're...rather attractive, too."

She pulled herself as close as she possibly could and used her whole arm to pull him to her. She almost felt warm when he put his hand on her forearm and pushed it into his body.

Neither knew the other's thoughts, of course, but neither was worried about what the other was thinking as they were too busy trying to stay warm. Even so, both of them did kind of wonder what it would it be like to...be with the other person. Those thoughts didn't last long as exhaustion and newly found warmth put them both to sleep in just minutes.

They were so tired that neither of them noticed when the power came back on an hour or so later. It was another four hours after than when Jason finally woke up. He was extremely groggy and so warm that it was nearly unbearable.

"What the hell?" he thought as his brain made sense of the situation.

The sweats. The blankets. Diana.

He woke up facing her. She was still sound asleep and just inches from his face. He was warm enough that he was beginning to perspire a little, but she was so beautiful he couldn't move. The only light in the room was from a street lamp about 50 feet from the room, but it was just enough to let him see the outline of her face. He gave himself a few seconds to stare at her then began feeling a little creepy, so he carefully lifted up the bedding and slid out.

When he stood up he reached back and unfolded the comfortable then headed to the bathroom to pee. Done, he stripped off the sweats then his underwear. The tee-shirt was damp, so he tiptoed over to grab a hanger and hung it up to dry. The light from the bathroom let him see what he was doing, and while he was there he grabbed a new pair of underwear then shut the bathroom door and turned on the water.

Mercifully, it was not only warm but hot. He stepped in and kept it on as hot as he could stand it, and let the water beat down on him for several minutes before shampooing his hair. Just as he was rinsing it out he heard a knock.

"Jason?"

"Hey. I'll be right out."

"I'm sorry. I don't think I can wait any longer. I have to pee right now!" she called out over the noise of the water.

"Um...okay. I'm in the shower so...come on in!"

The door opened slowly as Diana peeked inside. She could see the outline of his body in the tub and felt like she was doing something wrong.

"I'm gonna turn the light out, okay?" she asked, her hand on the switch and her eyes on the tile floor.

"Um, yeah. Sure. That's fine."

She looked at the toilet, made a mental image, then turned off the light and made her way to it. She knew it was ridiculous, but she was still embarrassed to pee with him in the bathroom with her, but she'd been holding it for about ten minutes, and that was after waking up and needing to go in the worst way.

She finished up then flushed the toilet, got up, flipped the light back on, apologized again as she left the room and closed the door before washing her hands in the sink. The room was warm, but not as warm as she'd like, but with her sweater and sweat pants, she was comfortable.

There was a small coffee pot which she filled with water then dropped the coffee pack into it and turned it on. Just as Jason slowly opened the door, it was gurgling. He then peeked around the door to see where she was which was on the bed.

Covered with only a towel, he walked the three steps to the sink area to get dressed. Diana only saw him for a second or two, but in that short amount of time she saw the body that she'd expected to see. Not that she'd spent a lot of time thinking about that, but she was pretty sure that he would be muscular and well built, and his bare chest and arms proved she was correct.

"Did you get any sleep?" she asked as his towel hit the floor.

"I did. How about you?"

"Yes. Lots. I fell right to sleep and was absolutely out of it. Very nice."

"Good. You warm enough now?"

"I'm okay. How about you?"

Jason thought the temperature was perfect and told her he was just fine as he stepped into a pair of shorts before pulling on a tee-shirt. He found some workout shorts but didn't need a shirt. He did, however put on some socks as he didn't own slippers and wouldn't wear them if someone gave them to him.

"Your turn," he said with a smile as he glanced over at her.

She'd seen him appear and looked away and pretended to look for the first time when he spoke.

He was carrying two styrofoam cups of coffee and offered her one.

"Oh, crap. I didn't ask if you take cream or sugar."

"That's fine. I like mine black."

"Me, too," he said as she took a cup. "It's awful, but it is coffee. Sort of."

She laughed, thanked him then took a sip.

"I've had worse."

"You didn't grow up rich, did you?" Jason teased.

"Hardly. Gravel road. Small house. Clean and tidy but not a lot of money. How did you know?"

"You don't complain. And my sense is you don't need a lot to be happy."

"No, I don't suppose I do. How about you?"

"On money or needing stuff?" he asked with a laugh as he sat down in the only chair in the cheap motel room.

"Either, both or...none of my business," she replied with a little laugh of her own.

"I told you about how I lucked out in the biggest way with my last foster home. I owe them everything."

"I remember. I'd love to meet them someday."

She realized how that sounded and also that she'd meant that, so she quickly moved on, but Jason wasn't going to forget that she'd said that.

She told him, "My dad worked in a sawmill, and my mom worked in an assisted living facility. Her generation called them rest homes."

"Right. My grandparents used a lot of words we're not supposed to say anymore."

"For me it was my dad mostly. Like...oriental."

"Exactly! Or...Indians."

Diana laughed and agreed.

"Different times, right?"

Jason smiled and said she was definitely correct.

"And don't get me started on my grandparents!" he told her with a laugh.

"Mine, too! I still get embarrassed when my 92-year old grandfather gets on a roll!"

"So...maybe I could introduce you to my parents sometime while we're here. I mean, if you're not leaving today," he said, almost out of the blue but soon enough after her comment that it wasn't completely outlandish.

"Oh. I...that would be...."

"Sorry. I think maybe I got a little out in front of my skis with that."

Diana wanted to tell him she'd like that, but that almost implied some kind of date, and she was nearly certain that a guy his age wouldn't want to be seen with a woman who was...forty. He had to be saying that out of politeness or a sense of pity, so instead of responding to that she changed the subject completely.

"Is the water hot?" she asked even though there'd been a whole lot of steam in the room.

"Very."

Jason didn't look at her when he answered. It was pretty obvious she'd just blown him off as politely as a woman could, and he felt like a total ass for having said it to a woman he barely even knew. "Meet my parents. Nice job--dumbass."

She set her cup down then went to grab some clothes and disappeared into the bathroom where the mirror was still mostly fogged up.

As she stood under the water she thought about the reason for her trip and how it had all gone so badly so quickly. She had no way of knowing this doctor had started drinking again let alone that it would embolden him to try and force himself on her. She shivered in spite of the warm water and wondered how and why this had happened. It was still too raw and fresh in her mind to sort through, but there was one thing she was sure of. This wasn't her fault. She also realized she didn't deserve to be treated like that by anyone.

It had been so long she'd truly felt loved, and it was times like this that she missed her late husband so badly she could almost feel his presence comforting her. But the truth was he was gone and couldn't comfort her. Work had been enough, but after getting her hopes up so high about a new job in a new place, and maybe a new relationship with a good, decent man, one more thing hit her. Work wasn't enough to fill the emptiness she felt inside.

What didn't occur to her, at least not in any meaningful way, was that perhaps fate had brought her to this place at this time with someone who could fill that void. Jason was quite possibly the nicest man she'd met since losing her husband. And he was definitely handsome. But Diana was a realist, and these May-December romances only ever worked out in movies, and life wasn't a movie.