“I know I said it before, Jim,” Maria said as she changed the subject, “but you really saved my ass today. That was the first real assignment that my boss ever gave me on my own and most of the other uptight bitches in my office who went to schools other than City College would’ve liked nothing better than to see me fall flat on my face. I wouldn’t have put it past any of them to have jumbled the numbers in the first place.”

Jim knew the type of people Maria was talking about all too well. When any of them honored him with their presence down in reproduction they looked at him as if he was some lower form of life. If helping Maria had indeed disappointed one of them, then that alone was worth the effort.

But Maria’s mention of her ass reminded Jim old of why he actually owed the woman sitting across from him. Back in his teens, he discovered one night that Maria’s bedroom was right across from his, separated by only the length of a clothesline.

More importantly, he’d discovered the curvaceous Puerto Rican kept the window open and the shades up on warm summer nights and he could look right into her apartment. And as long as he kept his own lights off, he was practically invisible as he watched her.

This led to his most important advance in sex education since he’d discovered where his Dad hid the Playboys, one that the few close friends he told about it could only envy. Maria was the first woman he had actually seen naked. More so, it wasn’t long before she became his main masturbation fantasy, going so far as to schedule his self-pleasures to coincide with the time he knew she turned in for the evening.

Remembering the many nights he had happily jerked off watching her, Jim was also reminded of the night, shortly before Maria had moved out, that he had the chance to watch her masturbate. That was also the night when he’d been sure that, despite the fact that the lights in his own room were off, she had somehow spotted him watching her. Especially since the next day a new pair of blinds had appeared in her window, obstructing his cherished view. If she had seen him, she’d never said anything about it, but he had worried over it for weeks.

“Jim?” Maria repeated after getting no response from her guest the first two times she had said his name.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Jim said as he snapped back, “I guess my mind drifted for a moment.”

“We all do that sometimes,” Maria said with an understanding smile.

Looking back at Maria, Jim now realized he had a new little problem. No, make that one little problem and one that was getting bigger by the moment. Looking at the well-dressed businesswoman across the table, he no longer saw her as she was. Instead, he couldn’t help but picture her naked, as she had been on those warm summer nights. And with that image came the second problem, an erection that put the one he’d had this afternoon to shame.

Maria didn’t seem to notice his discomfort and went on with her conversation. She asked about the old neighborhood and if he ever went back there.

“Actually,” Jim said almost hesitantly, “I still live there. I took over the apartment after everyone else moved out. I know its not Manhattan but its all I can afford.”

“Manhattan’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Maria offered. “At least it’s not what I thought it would be. The apartment I have now is half the size of the one I had in Brooklyn and I have to share it with two other girls just to make the rent.”

The cost of living in the city was something Jim was all too familiar with. If it wasn’t for the fact that his family had a long-term lease with the building owners, dating back to when it wasn’t such a nice neighborhood, he’d never have been able to afford an apartment as large as his, even in Brooklyn and especially not in Park Slope. His rent was a fraction of what the three bedroom could actually bring in, but the lease was airtight as long as a member of the original family living there when it was signed was an occupant.

The waiter appeared and asked if they wanted anything else. A quick glance between them confirmed the answer was no for both. Maria paid the check with her charge card, but Jim insisted on at least taking care of the tip.

They walked together to the train station, then said their goodnights as Maria was headed uptown and Jim back to Brooklyn. Both agreed that it had been the best non-date that either had ever been on.

Maria started to head for the stairs to her platform then stopped. Jim was watching her go and hadn’t moved yet and was surprised when she turned back around.

“Say no if it’s an imposition, but I was just wondering,” Maria said after walking back to him. “I have to go to Brooklyn tomorrow anyway and I was wondering if you’d mind if I stopped by in the afternoon and took a look at the old building. Just to bring back some old memories you understand. If you have any other plans, just say so, it’s okay.”

“No, I don’t have anything planned,” Jim admitted, having no reason to say otherwise since he’d told Maria earlier that he wasn’t seeing anyone right now. “If you like it, feel free to stop by.”

“I think I want to do that,” Maria replied, “but only if it’s not an imposition.”

“Not at all, stop on by,” Jim repeated.

Maria leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, saying he had turned into a really nice guy. As she then rushed down the stairs to catch the uptown train that was just pulling into the station, Jim wondered what all that had been about. Why be sentimental about an old building? It was different for him, after all, he had grown up there and his family had lived in the building since his grandparent’s day. Maria, on the other hand, had only lived there a few years.

“Oh well,” he thought as he walked down to wait for his own train, “I’ll find out tomorrow I guess.”

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