Staring at the card in hand, John reflected on what had just happened... She is so natural and easy to talk to... and why.. she was beautiful... For a moment, he fantasized about her.
He was almost oblivious of such a beauty sitting away from him when he entered the bus on his way to Canberra. A few minutes later, she came and sat beside him.
But he heard her talk on the phone initially; her eyes, her smile, her voice were magnetic.
Little wonder they started up a conversation once she put down the phone; she was a fashion designer and was heading over for a wedding where she designed the dresses.
For three hours, they had really fun conversations, she laughed at all his jokes, and she made interesting jokes too.
Giving him the card clearly meant that she wanted more than just sitting together on a bus.

Back in his hotel room, John wondered if he should call her or not. After all, it would not be nice if he didn't write... But the look in her eyes showed he had a choice.
His mind went to Linda, his wife.... they had a little beef this morning before he left for the trip.

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Their marriage was getting strained these days and he couldn't place his finger on why... Suddenly, he thought of Tina. He felt maybe she was somewhere to relax a little.

His wife called, he looked at his phone for a while and allowed the call to ring till it went off.
He casually dropped a text that he had arrived at his location and needed to rest.
Then he held the card and stared at the characters on it, then in a split second he dialed it.
It rang for quite a while before she picked up

"Hi, pretty, it's John, " He said
"Oh yes... I figured you would call, " Tina replied
Her voice laced with a tinge of sweetness that seemed to melt John's heart.
"Uhm... why would you guess that?, remember I'm married" He said

"It's almost impossible to resist my charm, John, and you looked like you needed a little getaway from home... how about dinner tomorrow... I'll drop the location"
She said and cut the call.

John stared at the phone and wondered what had just happened. A few minutes later, his phone rang with a notification.
It was the address of the place they would meet tomorrow evening.

He looked it up, and it was a hotel.
"A hotel, she surely has other plans... or is it I that actually has other plans." He thought.
He slept with a double heart, thinking about his encounters for the day.

The next day was a very long one; relatively he couldn't concentrate at work, and he thought about what would happen if he went to that meetup.

But by 7 pm, he dressed and went to the hotel, and she was there looking as sexy and tempting as ever.
Two wine glasses half filled with wine, with a center plate with a snack she was slightly munching on...
The atmosphere was romantic and he could feel it... like a strange connection he was feeling.

"You kept me waiting, John, " she smiled.

He sat down, soon they casually began talking, first about random things as they ate... then they delved more into John's life... before he knew it, he was complaining about his wife.

"She seems to lack the initial spark we first had, it's tiring," he said
"Well, it's just up to you to make it right"
Tina looked closely at him, "Well, I booked a room upstairs... wanna talk about it?" As soon as she said that, a huge tinge of guilt hit him, and he realized something he hadn't before.

"Uhm, I'm sorry, Tina, I have to go," He suddenly said. He stood up as Tina looked at him, confused

"It's obvious you want to get away from issues. Why are you denying yourself what you really want? " Tina said

"True, I did, but only for a moment. Now I realize that what I need to do is bring back the spark in my marriage," he said and left immediately.

He called his wife and apologized and said really nice things to her.... he went back the next day and they had a heart-to-heart talk, they promised to mend their relationship.

"I realized I've not really been putting the effort... I'm sorry," He said
"Me too," Linda said
John never really told his wife about the encounter.... how close he was to something he'd have regretted!!!

I invite @wizzyboy3, @ngoenyi and @okereblessing