Wish this story had a better ending

Yesterday was a long, stressful, aggravating day on the road and in my new Richmond office. When I got to my hotel I had a drink at the bar, checked in, showered, then headed to an area in the southern end of the city known as "Shokoe Slip", which apparently means "Twilight Zone" in some ancient Richmond language. This is a bar/restaurant area kind of like a small version of Adam's Morgan.

Anyway, I picked a restaurant and took a seat at the bar with my book. Before I could even order a drink this hammered cougar accosted me. It was the usual nonsense "Oh, how old are you...how old do I look...I have kids older than you...where are you from..." She was old as hell but you could tell she was probably pretty cute before electricity. I entertained her for a bit, then she grabbed my hand and said "No ring?" I told her I was married but that I took my ring off and left it at the hotel. She wasn't fazed a bit, she plopped down in the empty seat next to me and threw her arm over my shoulder "Whatcha readin'?".

At this point I hear a young girl yell "Mom!", and the cougar jumped up and said "OK, here I come". Just before she walked away she whispered in my ear "I live in a big house up the street, alone. I have rubbers, I'm clean, I have test results showing that I don't have AIDS. I'll slip you a business card."

I can still hear her saying "RUBBERS". It sounded really dirty, and not in a good way.

So, first thought is that she's a hooker, right? But I don't think so. I really just got the impression that she's lonely old fart looking for someone to give her the high hard one, just to make her feel like she's still a hottie. That someone wasn't going to be me, that's for sure.

The plot thickens.

Turns out she's there with her daughter and a big group of her friends who are all in some medical grad program at one of the local universities. The girls were young, early 20's, and drinking wine by the bottle at a pretty good clip. I ordered some dinner and got back to my book.

While I was reading and eating one of the friends came to the bar and asked the bartender about two bottles of wine. One of the bottles she mentioned happened to be an Argentine wine that I really like, and probably the only bottle of wine I know by name, so I told her she should really try it.

The girl ordered the bottle and then another ten minutes later. While she waited for the second bottle she sat down next to me and we started talking. I noticed she had on a diamond ring, but she was being inappropriately flirty. I expect it from older women, but it was unusual for such a young girl because they are still in that (delusional) honeymoon period. As we talked the cougar came over to me and slid her business card into the side of my book and said "email me later".

Almost right after the cougar walked away her daughter walked over to the two of us and said "Who's this?", pointing at me. The girl said "This is the guy that recommended the wine" and the daughter said, in this really sarcastic tone "Oh, he must know something about wine because he's reading such a big book" then picked up my book and flopped it over to see what the cover was. I'm reading Keith Richard's biography, but she said "Yeah, see, really heavy reading, it's written by that Seinfeld guy". I laughed. She obviously had a very high opinion of herself and thought that she was very bright. I said "Yeah, pretty sure you're thinking of Michael Richards, the actor that plays Kramer. This is Keith Richards, he plays guitar". She waived her hand up into the air and said "Never heard of him, what band?"

I ignored her and kept talking to the friend, who had one hand on my leg and the other permanently attached to the wine glass. The daughter said "WHAT BAND!?!" I said "I'll give you a hint, it's one of your mom's favorites. Oh, and here, you can give her her card back, I'm not going to call her." and I pulled her mom's business card out of my book and handed it to her. She looked at the card for a second then stomped off, literally.

I asked the friend about the ring on her finger and she said that she has been married for 3 years. I could tell by the tone in which she replied, the look on her face, and the hand still on my leg that is hasn't been a happy three years. She said "So how often are you in Richmond?". I said that I will be there off and on for the next few months on a project, and she asked me for my number.

I realize I'm not the poster child for Christian morals, but I did have a moment of pause when she asked me for my number. I've hooked up with married women before but they were all in the process of getting a divorce. This girl was married and living with her husband. The distinction may seem like splitting hairs, I mean married is married, but it made me a little uncomfortable.

Not so uncomfortable that I didn't give her my number, though.

It probably won't be an issue. I'm sure she was hammered and I'll never hear from her again.

The girl invited me to join her and the cougar's daughter to a party nearby, but I had to be at work early in the morning and declined. I took a cab back to my hotel and that was it for the night.