Juicy Lucy

Lucy couldn't believe she'd lost the bet. Sure, she was aware of the tradition among all the cross-country senior girls to have a big sleepover after the end of the season with no one else allowed. And she'd heard that in the past groups had played a game where the loser had to do something embarrassing. But Lucy hadn't even expected to be invited to the slumber party.

Although she was a senior and one of the faster girls on the team, she'd never been particularly close with her teammates. With her petite stature, glasses, smattering of freckles, and bright red hair, she looked younger than her age. Even though she was slightly older than the other girls, she wasn't as social and certainly didn't go to parties, a lifestyle motivated in part by her Catholic faith. While they'd never displayed particular animosity towards her, she was surprised when they gave her the invite, but the entire senior class was going—8 girls in total.

It turned out that the game this year was just a high-stakes Uno match. While that was innocent enough, the punishment for the year was announced beforehand. In past years the losing girl was made to do something like wear an embarrassing outfit to school or posting a singing video on social media, this year the unluckiest girl would have to go on a blind date set up by the other girls. While this didn't sound as overtly embarrassing as some years, Lucy had never even gotten close to dating and certainly wanted to avoid the punishment.

Unfortunately after a wild game, she found herself with several cards still in her hand as the last girl gratefully played her final card. The other girls teased her a bit and said they'd find someone fun for her "coffee date." Lucy felt her cheeks go red but did not say anything that would reveal how nervous she was about the whole idea.

All Lucy had to go on was that her date, John, was going to meet her in the coffee shop at 2pm that Saturday. He knew that her name was Lucy and that she'd be wearing a blue dress. Lucy wasn't sure what else her friends had told him about her, let alone who he was or where they'd found him.

Saturday came and Lucy sat nervously at a seat near the back of the shop, anxiously tapping her foot and looking around as 2 pm approached.

"Hi, are you Lucy?" a male voice from the side asked. She looked to her left to see a pudgy man old enough to be her grandfather, his gray hair and wrinkles placing him around 60 at least. "Your friends were right; you are beautiful."

"Oh! Um, hi, John," Lucy said politely, internally in near disbelief that the other girls would have set her up with this man. "Yes, I'm Lucy, and thank you," she managed to squeak out.

With a sense of casual confidence, John sat down at the table across from her. "I know I may be a bit older than you're used to dating, and I don't know what your friends told you about me, but they think you're a really mature woman, Lucy. And they said you were kind of cute, but you just look so smart and sexy to me."

John's flattery caught Lucy off guard. She has never been spoken to so like this, let alone by a man his age. While she had turned 18 a few months ago, she'd never been close to being in a relationship.

Still, John's age and easy confidence made it easy to just go along with what he was saying. He engaged her in conversation and got her to open up like none of the guys at school had been able to. After a little while, Lucy even forgot that they were on a date, and she found herself telling John about herself like she was catching up with an old friend.

She also learned about him—he was 62 years old, retired, and had been divorced for seven years. John had spent most of his career as a mailman, and while it obviously hadn't made him a ton of money, it afforded him a comfortable enough retirement for himself. He had two children with his ex-wife, both of whom were in their 30s now. Lucy had a brief moment of shock when she realized how much older even they were than her.

The age difference sunk to the back of her mind. The conversation continued to flow, although it was only after a while that it actually started to feel like a date. John continued to pepper in compliments on her appearance and her maturity, and receiving such attention started to make her feel good, even from such an unexpected source. Lucy didn't expect to see him again after today, but he was pleasant to spend some time with for the afternoon.

"It's been great meeting you, Lucy. Hopefully this doesn't have to be the last time we see each other. Oh, I've been meaning to ask you, do you enjoy wine?"

"Umm, I've never had it before, actually, you know, since I'm like not old enough to drink yet."

Well, in my opinion, you're more than old enough. And it could be just a taste. I have quite the extensive collection and would love to show you and teach you to develop a sophisticated palette. Trust me, these types of things come in handy as you grow into adulthood and are looking for ways to connect with others."

"Oh, well, I guess that does sound nice, John. But I'm not sure I should."

"It's ok, Lucy; I only live a few blocks from here, and it's my understanding you walked here as well. It would just be a short little stroll and would be a fun thing to try."