Replay
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

She knew that it was him even as his back was turned. He was wearing the blue track suit – the one without his name across the back of it, so as be in comfort and not be noticed. She knew the back underneath it – broad and black, like polished ebony and just as hard.

“Well, this is a surprise,” she said, “After last night.”

When he turned she could see that he was holding a large bunch of roses. He pushed them slightly towards her.

“I didn’t thing that one would be enough, so I got a whole bunch,” he said. “It looks like I got the color just right … the same color as your hair.”

He had stroked that hair, so soft and sweet-smelling. It had all seemed so perfect, until she had hit him with a baseball bat … or at least that was what it felt like.

“Look, Rose, I owe you an apology, and probably a lot more than that,” he said.

“I understand, Leroy,” she said. “It was my fault for taking it too far. It is always difficult to know when, because there really is no right time to say it. At the beginning means that neither of us will get to know one another, and I don’t apologize for doing that. I thought you were a great guy, and I guess you have proved that by turning up here today – the flowers are an unexpected bonus. I will have to take them out to the kitchen to put them in some water. I may even let them sit on the bar tonight, but I am definitely taking them home. They are gorgeous.”

“You are gorgeous,” said Leroy. “You deserve better. I was the one who pressed you too quickly. I knew you wanted to tell me something, but whatever it was, I wasn’t interested.” He added in a whisper – “I just wanted to get inside you, baby.”

He looked flustered, as he had the night before, as if he was reliving it. She could not help but to sneak a quick look at his crotch. There was room in that tracksuit, but did she glimpse movement?

“Leroy, I wanted you inside me too,” she whispered back. “It was just that I needed explain my … my shortcomings. I wanted to give you what you wanted, but nature has been cruel, in my case.”

”I was hoping that we could have a replay,” he said. “You know, take it a few yards back and start over … maybe even tonight? The truth of it is that I can stop thinking about you. I barely slept last night. Woman, you are messing with my head."

She liked being called “woman”. She liked him. She had from the moment he started chatting her up even with his teammates all around him.

“The manageress is a fox, don’t you think?” he had said to them. “I would sure like a piece of that ass.”

They had gone and he had stayed behind, after paying for everybody and leaving a big tip. He said that he needed a nightcap, but he had just wanted to talk to the sexy lady in charge. She pretended to be more busy than she was, but he was persistent. He stayed until the end, offering to walk her home.

But that was the day before. She would soon be very busy. The restaurant had a few customers from the morning trade but lunch and dinner were her responsibility.

“A replay? Do the rules allow that, Leroy?” she said.

“You make the rules, baby. I just play the game,” he said.

“You’ll just distract me if you stand around looking at me with those huge dark eyes,” she said. “Okay, we back up and start again from the moment your friends left the premises last night. Come back the same time tonight and walk me home. We’ll replay it from there.

“I’ll be here,” he said. “I will help you to carry this bunch home, all the roses.”

The End

© Maryanne Peters 2025

Author's Note: I find the whole AI image thing slightly creepy, but that does not stop it from being inspiring. Take this random scene that I found on Deviant Art - the machine must have taken from millions of images to produce a random interaction between two humans. It seemed to invite me to tell the story - in my case with a TG theme. What do others think about this "art"? Where will it lead us?