Sitting in a street caf terrace outdoors is quite nice in summer, when the sun is burning down and the pergola above the chairs and little coffee tables offers a retreat in the shadow. The pedestrians haste toward their destination, what ever it may be.

I suddenly caught sight of a person moving slower, very much slower. It was an old lady laboriously limping forward, pushing a walker she held on to. Her nice face was covered in sweat, which was not only due to the summer temperature but due to a sore foot, that was wrapped in bandages and obviously caused her a lot of pain. I stood up and approached her with a friendly smile.

„May I invite you to an iced coffee or something?“

She looked up into my eyes, puzzled, bashful, slightly blushing. Her eyes wandered from me to the pitiless sun, from the sky to the tables laden with ice cream and coffee and back to my eyes. I didn’t wait for an answer and led her by my arm back three or four steps to the table where my coffee was patiently awaiting me. I helped her to sit down on an empty chair and pulled her walker beside us.

„Thank you so much, you’ve saved my life. I couldn’t walk any more. My foot aches so much. When I left home it was quite bearable but I obviously underestimated the distance. I didn’t mean to cause you any inconvenience.“

She looked at me gratefully.

„It’s never an inconvenience drinking coffee with a nice lady. What would you like to drink?“

She blushed again and her bright eyes began to smile.

„An iced coffee would help me to recover a bit.“

I called the waitress and ordered two iced coffees, one for her and one for solidarity.

„How’s your sore foot. Has the pain eased a little.“

„It’s still rather painful. You know, normally I don’t use a walker, but my doctor insisted. I’ve almost broken my ankle but a twisted ankle sometimes hurts more than a fracture. In a few weeks I might get rid of that walker. And replace it with a normal stick.“

She smiled and the iced coffees arrived. We both cooled ourselves from the inside.

„Do you have a long walk home. I hope you live in the vicinity.“

„It’s not too far, only a little over half a mile.“

„Impossible. I’ll call a good friend. He’s not only a helpful character, he’s also a cab driver.“

I smiled cheekilly, took out my cell phone and dialled Ali, who has never forsaken me. He sure won’t complain about the ridiculously short distance. This was done so quickly that she didn’t even have time to refuse. She was taken by surprise.

Ali came a couple of minutes later, so we had time enough to finish our iced coffees and I could pay the bill. When I saw, that she opened her mouth to protest, I raised my index dunningly, so she closed her mouth again and smiled.

„I’ve invited you after all.“

Ali arrived and I helped her into the car, put her walker in the trunk. I explained Ali the situation and her sore foot and Ali understood. Two minutes later we arrived at her home. Everything inverted: I helped her out of the cab and Ali took the walker out of the trunk. I paid the ridiculous fare not forgetting an ample tip for his friendliness.

We hobbled slowly, slowly toward the entrance, she unlocked the door. Inside I saw stairs, not too many, not too high but an obstacle for her after all. I just couldn’t leave her now on her own. I led her through the entrance area to the stairs. When she walked, her back was a little arched, but this was hardly noticeable, because she could conceal it with ease. The walker we left at the entrance and I touched her tenderly around her petite waist and asked her to put her arm around my shoulder and hold on to me.

I relished her closeness and as we slowly began our mountaineering, I looked into her bright eyes and we smiled. She giggled on the way up, when she felt her weight resting in my arm around her waist. She didn’t find the situation funny at all, but the giggling helped her to overcome her timidness towards a foreign man. I smelt a wonderful fragrance coming from her skin although she was sweating by these temperatures and the strain of climbing. I sensed, that she was exuding this seductive odour because she was sweating.

Her gray short cut hair matched wonderfully to her grey shining bright eyes, which gave her a much younger appearance, but she’s twenty years older than me and I’m fifty, and so, technically she could be my mother. I’ve later found out, that she was more than twenty-five years older, but that didn’t show.

When we reached the end of the stairs she sighed and asked me if she could invite me to a cup of coffee.

„I‘m sure, you don’t want to stand in the kitchen to brew coffee with your sore foot. May I enter to get you safely seated on your favorite sofa?“

She happily nodded and opened the appartment. I led her slowly into her living-room, that was equipped with antiques and vintage pieces of furniture. The walls were emblazoned with old and yellowed photographs and pictures and, inevitably, a ticking pendulum clock, that with each tick seemed to whisper: Carpe Diem nam Tempus Fugit!

I carefully seated her in the plush sofa, she obviously liked most. I shoved a nearby leather ottoman closer to the sofa and put her feet on it. She sighed relieved and happily:

„Thank you so much, you’ve saved me from so much pain.

I kneeled down to open her shoelaces. Then I carefully, very carefully, took her shoes off. She sighed with relief.

„You know how we young girls are: We buy our shoes always a full number too tight. I really can’t prepare any coffee now. Please turn to the armoire and open the upper middle shelf.“

I did as she told me and found there a bottle and several small liqueur glasses.

„We should celebrate my homecoming. Please take the bottle and two glasses and put them on the table.“

The booze was Chartreuse Jaune, a herbal liqueur with a stiff fourty volts. Much too strong for an elderly lady. But she liked it. I filled the two small blue and yellow ornate glasses, sat down beside her on the sofa and reached her one of them.

„Let’s drink to our happy first meeting, that did me so miraculously well.“ she said solemnly and we clinked our glasses softly and both had our first sips.

We talked lighthly about unimportant things, about objects, that I discovered in her living room and she seemed rather proud that I had noticed them.

Our second toast was to further possible meetings, wherever they will take place, here or elsewhere, and she invited me to come and visit her again. Vaguely, as required by etiquette.

After the third toast, which was on our (individual) futures in general, I got up, because we left the walker on the ground floor.

„Just keep sitting here, I’ll go get it, I’ll be back in one minute.“ I left the appartment and let the door ajar, so she didn’t need to get up and answer the door for me. It really took me only a minute to carry the walker upstairs. I left it in the corridor and went back into the living room. I’ve noted, that she was getting tired from the strain and also from the liquour. I told her, that I’d like to retreat, because I didnt want to overstretch her hospitality. I kissed her hand and advised her to keep seated here and I would find my way, but she insisted, in spite of her pain, to see me off at the appartment door.

I told her that is was such a pleasure for me to help her in this situation and how much I enjoyed taking her by her tender waist climbing up the stairs and like a fourteen year old naive boy whose heart ran over, I told her that I fell in love with her. To stop my adolescent helpless babble she put a finger on my lips and said:

„Oh, how much I desire to be thirty years younger...“

I asked with a smile: „What for?“ and put both of my hands on her waist, approached slowly my lips to her wrinkled moth and began tenderly, lovingly, to kiss her. Her wilted lips became soaked with blood immediately as if suddenly woken up, softly sucking my lower lip between hers and caressing it with her tongue. My hands, resting on her waist, moved upwards an inch or two and felt suddenly, hidden under her thin flimsy dress, her stiff sweet nipples hanging down to her waist, and the touch of my hands sent waves of shiver through her body that I could feel all the way up to her lips. She sighed deeply and, tenderly ending the wonderful kiss, I opened my eyes and saw hers still closed, enjoying the pure love of my touching hands.

I couldn’t speak a word and tacitly went out of the door, turning around and waving goodbye, I walked down the stairs and left the house.

Outside, my brain slowly began to find back into reality. I walked across the street and looking back to the house I’ve just left, I saw her standing vaguely behind the curtain in a first floor window looking down at me.