Requiem for a Heavyweight Ch. 05

She shrugged him her answer.

"I fell in love with the orange color they had that year. Besides, just as you see a lot of white, black, and silver ones, you see a lot of blue Mustangs on dealers' lots and you don't see many orange ones. Orange is a special-order color and I had to wait eight weeks for them to build the car. Definitely, orange with black stripes is different and gets more attention than a blue one with white stripes or a white one with blue stripes."

Appreciative of her knowledge of cars, especially Mustangs, he gave her a sexy smile.

"Yeah, especially if they look inside and see a sexy, blonde bombshell driving it," he said with a chuckle.

She gave him a sexy smile.

"Thank you, Kenny," she said giving him a peck on the lips.

He pulled her closer and kisser her deeper.

"Whew! We still have the tour to finish and then I have to shower and change. At this rate, we'll never get out of here."

She pulled away from him.

"Is that so bad?"

He looked in her eyes as if he wanted to make love to her.

"Yeah, it is when you are hungry and don't have any food in the house," she said.

Ken patted his stomach to show her that he was hungry and could eat too. Only what he'd more like to eat wasn't food but her.

"Okay, you have a point there."

* * * * *

Across from the living room was the dining room. Boasting a floor-to-ceiling hutch built in the wall, its shelves held china, crystal, and collectible figurines. A cherry wood dining room table surrounded by six Queen Anne chairs stood upon an oriental rug of blue, beige, and rose. Though all the colors matched and/or complemented one another, the pattern of the wallpaper together with the rug gave the room a busy appearance, but not unlike you'd find in any old Victorian house of that period.

The kitchen was original and tired looking. If anyone invested the time and money to remodel the kitchen and bath, the house would have tremendous, investment, resale potential. With its porcelain over cast-iron, deep double sinks, and large dimensions housing a pantry containing room enough to stock supplies for a year, the kitchen could be transformed into a chef's dream. Contradicting the house's period, Roxanne installed the latest in appliances. Accustomed to efficient condo living, Ken had never seen a kitchen as big. Although he preferred modern to Victorian, he appreciated the charm and character of her apartment.

As in many older homes of the period, saving on plumbing costs, the kitchen was across from the only bathroom. An antique collector's paradise, the bathroom with its original pull-chair toilet, pedestal sink, and heavy cast iron tub, looked as if they were props from an old movie. Leading to the reception area, brightened by track lighting and decorated with gilded framed paintings, the hallway in front of the bathroom was long and narrow. The large foyer contained a bar, a roll top desk, bookcases, and an antique grandfather's clock.

"Did I ask you or have you told me already?" Eager to know, he looked at her with curiosity. "What do you do for a living?"

"I work as a commercial artist. I paint scenes that they make into billboards or logos for companies," she said.

Satisfied with the amount of living space available to him in his condo, Ken assessed that her apartment was easily twice as big. The rooms were so big that the furnishings didn't appear sufficient. After touring her apartment, he couldn't help wondering how much a commercial artist made. To afford this place and furnish it, as well as being able to buy a new car, she must be doing quite well.

"Well, what do you think?" She straightened an imagined crooked picture on the wall. "I received most of this furniture as hand-me-downs from my relatives."

He looked around her apartment in awe.

"I think that you could open a shelter and sleep twenty."

She shrugged.

"Unfortunately, I only have the one bathroom," she said laughing. "When this house was built, land was plentiful, families were bigger, and heat and related expenses were sufficiently inexpensive that consideration wasn't given to efficiency or cost. This place needs all new windows, central air, and there's no insulation in the walls. You should see my heating bill," she said with sadness.

He nodded his agreement.

"Except for needing some updating," he said while admiring the woodwork and knocking his knuckles against the plaster walls, "it's a solid and well-maintained house. They don't make them like this anymore. The quality of construction is apparent."

She delivered Ken back to the living room.

"Excuse me while I get ready," she said leaving him standing in the hall. "Do you need to use the bathroom before I shower?"

He shook his head no.

"No, I'm good," he said.

She escorted him back to the living room.

"Then, make yourself comfortable. There may be a basketball game on TV," said Roxanne.

She gave him a peck on the lips.

"Okay," he said positioning a pillow on the couch to make him more comfortable. "Usually too bored watching just one station, I enjoy flipping stations. It's a guy thing. Do you have a remote? Do you have cable?"

She laughed.

"Yes, here's the remote and yes, I have cable," she said handing him the remote control. She gave him another peck on the lips and left the living room.

Ken looked around the living room. He couldn't believe he was with Roxanne in her apartment.

'I can't believe all that has happened in one day. I have a new, albeit used car, and a hot girlfriend,' he thought to himself as soon as she left the room. 'Life is good. Life is definitely much better.'

He muted the TV to hear her bathwater running. He wondered what she looked like in her bra and panties. He wondered what she looked like topless. He couldn't help but wonder what she looked like naked.

He returned his attention to the TV. Repeatedly flipping through station after station, he finally stopped flipping when he saw an insert of the heavyweight boxing champion, George Williams was on the news. He turned up the sound and became caught up in the excitement of the sportscaster's report.

"Police today arrested heavyweight boxing champion, George Williams, charging him with felony assault with a deadly weapon, his fists."

The news station showed a video of the champ being helped in a police car and switched to show pictures of Hank Johnson, the former, retired, ex-champion, leaving the emergency room with his arm in a sling. Ken wondered what had happened.

"Ken," said Roxanne.

The news switched back to live coverage showing a crowd of people jostling the cameraman while the reporter tried interviewing an uncooperative Hank Johnson.

"I have Hank Johnson with me. Tell everyone what happened, Mr. Johnson. Why did George Williams hurt you?"

Ken couldn't believe that Williams and Johnson were in a physical altercation.

"Oh, please don't call me Mr. Johnson. That was my father's name. Call me Hank," said Hank with a laugh. "This," he raised his arm in a sling. "It's just a sprain."

The reporter stuck a microphone in his face.

"Okay, Hank—"

Roxanne stepped in the living room from the hall.

"Kenny!" Roxanne said louder.

The news coverage switched to show the Mayor and the boxing commissioner about to be interviewed by the commentator at an impromptu press conference.

"What are you views on oral sex?" Roxanne said loud enough for Ken to hear over the television.

He muted the TV and turned surprised to see Roxanne standing in the archway wrapped only in a towel.

"Oh, Roxanne, I, ah, um, I didn't know you were there. You wouldn't believe, I mean, I don't know what happened but, wait, what did you say? What about oral sex? Did you ask me for my views on oral sex?"

She turned to leave the living room.

"Obviously, you're having a good time with the television. I just wanted to tell you that I'll only be a few more minutes," she said about to leave the living room for her bedroom.

With both Williams and Johnson in attendance, the announcer came back on with the press conference.

"This could be the start of something big," he said. "This could be—"

Even with her naked body wrapped in only a towel, Roxanne seemed peeved that she couldn't get Ken's attention.

"Oh, okay. Sorry," he said waving a hand at her. "I could have sworn you said something about, never mind. It's just my dirty mind," he said returning his focused attention back to the TV.

Waving a hand of acknowledgment that she was leaving him to get dressed, Ken increased the volume and glued his eyes back to the television before Roxanne finished speaking.

"The Mayor voiced his displeasure against the bad behavior and public spectacle of the two professional athletes fighting in the street. Here ready to explain what action his commission would take against George Williams, the commissioner said—

Roxanne looked angry that he rebuffed her for the TV.

"Kenneth Lunderry!" Roxanne screamed above the volume of the television.

Just as Ken turned his head and looked over at her, Roxanne opened her towel and held it open for a brief second with two hands. With widened eyes of surprise, seeing her spectacular rounded breasts and her neatly trimmed patch of blonde, pubic hair, he continued staring even after she made a hasty exit from the room.

'Naked. Roxanne was naked. I just saw Roxanne's naked body,' he thought to himself.

Unable to her understand her flashing him her naked body, he continued to stare at the TV.

"Shit!"

He refocused on the television screen in time to see a commercial.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! I miss what happened. I have no idea what they said," he said mumbling to himself.

Envisioning her standing before him naked, he got up from the couch to see what she was up to, just as they came back from commercial. He was torn.

"Well, that was unbelievable," said the sports announcer. "I wonder if they'll be a rematch."

He looked at the TV stunned.

"What? What was unbelievable? God damn it! Fuck," he said flipping channels. "What happened?"

He flipped to other stations determined to find out what had happened. Every channel either had a commercial, a talk show, a cartoon or a weatherman giving a forecast.

"Great! I missed it. If I wanted to see the weather, they'd be showing the sports."

He turned the TV off and left the room walking to Roxanne's bedroom door. About to knock, she opened it and emerged fully dressed. She brushed by him on her way to the bathroom.

"Sorry, but you missed your chance," she said with a sexy laugh.

To be continued...

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