A Younger Man

Friday , Rebecca mentioned while she had been at work, a guy she knows with the company had IM'd her. I casually teased her about being hit on, and she said there was no way he was interested because of how old he was. I immediately assumed he was too old to be interested, thinking he was an older (60+) man in her company. She went on to say that he couldn't be interested since she's almost forty (she's 38) and and he's in his twenties. What??? She had my attention.

Apparently, they IM'd about his upcoming trip to Vegas, where he'll be staying at the same hotel as she did. He asked her if she had ever been there, and she told him about her recent trip. He asked her if she got hit on, and she asked him if having drinks bought for her counted, she then told him she was directly propositioned as well.

I told her he was definitely flirting with her. She doesn't believe me. She's a little oblivious about this sort of thing, but later on she reminded me that he had taken her for lunch awhile back as a thank you for helping him get a position with the company. She also mentioned that he has asked her to play squash sometime with him.

I had some time to think about this and I wasn't sure how to finish the conversation with her. In the past, I have openly encouraged her to enjoy herself, but she has always shut herself down, saying she isn't interested in anyone but me. This time, I knew I wanted to leave it with her, but I wanted to emphasize that I'm okay with her going with the flow.

We talked Friday night in bed, and I told her that if talking to him her makes her feel good, she should keep doing it.(I'll always be the one to reap the benefits) He's located at a branch of the company literally a thousand miles away, so it's not like there's anything imminent. In my mind, this takes a lot of pressure off her, she can be free to talk to him as much or as little as she wants. I made it clear that I'm okay with her having a little fun boosting her ego. In fact as always, I'm more than okay with it. We'll see where it leads.

Edit:
I hadn't had chance to post this, and Saturday night, while we were getting the kids ready for bed, she saw that he was "online" on Facebook. I told her to go ahead, and she chatted with him some more. The content had to do with his ideal woman, etc. I noticed that many of Rebecca's qualities were on the list. Subtle.

What made an impression on me is that typically, when we put the kids to bed, we both go up and help them brush teeth, etc. This time however, after brushing, I put the girl to bed, and went to the boy's room to make sure he was getting ready, expecting to find Rebecca having her usual battle with him. She wasn't there. Instead, I found she had gone back downstairs to wrap up her chat with him. This could get interesting.

Many readers, (including my wife) may wonder why I would encourage this. I've thought about it a lot, and I think I have the answer. It's pretty comprehensive, so it will have to wait for another post. For now, I'll just say I love her more than anything, and I trust her implicitly.