A Fresh Coat

A Fresh Coat

By Cuirbouilli

Susan tingled with excitement as she stood outside of the leather shop.  She wanted a leather coat for over ten years and today she was finally going to buy herself one!  

In itself there was nothing special about that day compared to any other day.  It was a cold, dreary Saturday afternoon in January 2005.  She had walked past the leather store in the mall a thousand times.  She occasionally peeked inside and dreamed of walking out in a long, sleek leather coat.  

What stopped her for so many years?  At that moment, she wasn’t quite sure.  The past excuses were too numerous to count.  It didn’t matter now because today she was going to wrap herself in a new leather coat no matter what.

She took a deep breath and stepped into the store.  Her excitement grew as she walked past racks filled with leather jackets.  The acrid smell of leather perfumed the air.  There was something so warm and sensual about the odor of leather coats.  She really loved the aroma of them.

All of the jackets so far were short.  She didn’t want a thigh-length jacket like everyone else was wearing.  She wanted a full-length leather coat.  It would be much warmer for one thing.  Plus she really wanted to indulge herself in something luxurious and sophisticated.  She had certainly waited long enough to do so.  She deserved a fabulous long leather coat.

“Hello there!” the salesperson greeted her.  

“Can I help you find something?”

“Yes.  Do you have any long coats?” she asked.

“We certainly do!  Just follow me,” the salesperson said.  

He was a well-dressed older man in a black shirt and tie.  He had a shaved head and an effeminate tone to his voice.  

Susan wondered if he was gay.

He led her to a small section in the back corner of the store.  

“Here we are,” he announced.  

“Did you have something particular in mind?”

“I’m not sure if I can describe it.  But I’ll know it if I see it,” she said with a small laugh.

The phone rang at the counter.  

“Well we have a nice selection here.  You just take a look and I’ll be back in a moment.  Feel free to try anything on,” he said as he stepped away to answer the phone.

There only seemed to be four styles to choose from; not much of selection at all in her opinion.  

Two of them were barely knee length.  They were too short.  One of the two full-length styles was beige.  That color seemed to be the fad nowadays.  She remembered Jennifer Lopez wearing a leather coat that color in one of her movies recently.  It wasn’t what she was looking for, though.  

Susan just wanted a classic black leather coat.

The last coat was actually black and long.  Unfortunately, she didn’t like the styling at all.  Like most of the leather coats that were popular in the 1990s, it had a shawl collar that was really deep.  The front would be open practically to her waist.  She would always have to wear a scarf with it to keep out the cold air.  That kind of defeated the purpose of the coat in her opinion.  It had three buttons with a prominent seam running even with the first button.  Susan had a long waist and that just wouldn’t look right on her.

Well, darn it!  

There certainly wasn’t much to choose from.  Had she waited too long to try and find a long leather coat?  Full-length leather coats were not as popular the past couple seasons as they had been.  The fashion magazines were filled with pictures of celebrities in long leather coats five years ago, but there were hardly any advertisements for them this fall.  It was becoming rare to see women wearing long leather coats anymore, although Susan always admired women who did.  They looked so classy and elegant.

She remembered seeing photos of the actress Lorraine Bracco belted in an exquisite double-breasted black leather trench coat.  That was the image Susan wanted for herself; a mature, self-assured woman with a sleek exterior.  

She would have never guessed that such a classic coat would ever go out of style.  Maybe it had.  A wave of disappointment washed over her.  Oh well.  Maybe she would just have to try another store.  Everyone said this place was supposed to have the best selection, though.

The salesman was still on the phone.  

Susan started to walk away when she caught a glimpse of a sleeve behind the long black coat that looked different.  She assumed that the coats were all hung in rows of the same thing.  But the cuff had buttons on it unlike the sleeve in front of it.  

She moved the first coat over to the next rack to get a better look.

She gasped out loud.  

There it was!  She had found it!  

The leather coat she had dreamed about for years was hanging right there before her very eyes!  

It was longer than the other coats and it was made of the smoothest black lambskin she had ever seen.  Just look at it shine!  It was semi-fitted, belted, and single breasted.  It buttoned up high to a broad notched collar.  It literally glittered with buttons on the sleeves, pockets, and even the belt loops.  It was fantastic!  It was the only one like it too.  

She nervously checked the size.  The tag was marked S.  Depending on the tailoring, it might fit her!  She giggled with excitement.  She had to try it on!

Wait.  Before she tried it on, she had to look at the price tag.  

She picked up the sleeve.  The leather squeaked softly.  Wow!  It was so supple!  Then she saw the price.  The coat cost $599!  And that was marked down from the original price of $799.  

Her heart sank again with disappointment.  She couldn’t possibly spend that much on a coat.  She had never spent more than $70 on a coat for herself before, and she thought that was a lot of money.

The soft leather sleeve fell from her hand.

Susan was a very careful shopper.  She was a coupon addict and her friends joked that she could smell a good sale from a mile away.  

She had looked through the all women’s fashion catalogs that she got in the mail.  She knew that she could get a long leather coat for $199.  The styling wasn’t nearly as nice as this coat, though, and she was sure that there was a big difference in the quality of the leather.  Even in the catalog pictures, she could tell that the leather was kind of stiff on many of those coats.  The way it crinkled and draped on the models gave it away.

Oh!  She really wanted this beautiful coat!  Could she justify spending so much money on herself?

Rob would have never approved.  He would have told her she was crazy to even think about it and that would have been it.  She wore a belted black leather coat similar to this one back in the early 1980s when she and Rob were first married.  He never paid any attention to how she looked in it.  But then again he never did compliment her on anything.

She really liked her old coat, though.  Leather coats were stylish and popular then and her parents bought it for her when she was a senior in high school.  She could have never afforded to buy it for herself.

Leather coats in those days were different compared to the ones today.  The leather felt thicker and she remembered it having a stronger smell.  Leather back then had much more of the natural organic feel about it than the softer, smoother leather available today.  She got rid of that old leather coat sometime in the late 1980s when it went out of style, something she regretted doing ever since.

When long leather coats became popular again in the 1990s she wished she still had her old leather coat.  Then she discovered that she liked some of the updated styles even better.  That was about the same time she finished her degree and started working.  She thought that a sophisticated leather coat would make a great finishing touch for a career woman’s power suit.

She mentioned to Rob several times that she would really like to have a leather coat.  He told her that she shouldn’t wear leather.  Leather was “too provocative”.  She was a married woman.  If she wore leather, “she may as well be flirting with other men”.  Besides, she was “too old to wear leather” he told her.  He forbade her from buying a leather coat.  Like the obedient little wife she was she followed his command.

She could easily afford the leather coat shining in front of her now.  She rarely ever spent money on herself.  She had been saving up a good-sized bank account for seven years.  Separate bank accounts were something that Rob demanded early on in their marriage.  At first, she was too naive to question why.  She essentially had no income in those days so Rob controlled all of the money.  He gave her a small amount each month that basically took care of the groceries and bills.

After a while, she got tired of only having what her meager allowance would afford her.  Plus she was bored with staying at home.  She knew that a mere high school diploma wouldn’t get her far in finding a good career.  So when their daughter Heather was in her teens and old enough to look after herself Susan decided to go back to school.

She was pretty scared at first.  She was thirty-four at the time so it had been a while since she had been in school.  But she was also very determined.  It was her first big step toward being independent.  Rob didn’t like it of course, but she did it anyway and got her Masters in Business Administration.  Rob refused to come to her graduation.  He always was an ass.

She worked a couple jobs and built up a good resume for herself.  Two years ago she managed to get hired at the huge insurance company she worked at now.  She enjoyed her work, and the pay was extremely good.  In fact, she started making more money than Rob did and that was something he really didn’t like at all.

When she left him a year-and-a-half ago, she was financially secure and self-sufficient.  She asked nothing from him in their divorce settlement.  She was more than happy to let him have their house.  She moved her things out as soon as possible and found herself a nice apartment to live in until she could find a house of her own.

Her divorce was finalized twelve months and eight days ago and she never regretted her decision.  

Since then she was adjusting to being able to do things the way she wanted.  She liked having the freedom to make her own decisions even if it still made her a little nervous sometimes.  She bought a new car.  She went to a salon for the first time ever and had her dowdy long, chestnut hair done in a classic shoulder-length flip.  She started dressing nicer, wearing clothes that she actually liked instead of what Rob limited her to.  For the first time in her life, she bought designer labels.  She waited until they were on sale of course.  Still she felt better about herself in more stylish clothes.  They fit better and lasted longer.

The only garment that she hadn’t allowed herself to splurge on yet was a leather coat.  And there it was hanging right in front of her.  It was exactly the leather coat she was looking for: the supreme finish to her wardrobe.  But, it was so expensive!

Oh!  Even if she didn’t buy it, she had to at least try it on!  

She took off the coat she was wearing.  It was a big, puffy blue parka.  Rob bought it for her for Christmas four years ago.  She never did like the thing, but it was suitable to wear shopping or while running errands.  She hung it over the rack behind her along with her purse.  She was dressed in a thick turtleneck sweater, jeans, and black leather ankle boots.  She wanted to be sure to get a leather coat that would fit over anything she might wear underneath.

Someone else had come into the store and was occupying the salesman.  Susan unbuttoned the coat and slid it from the hanger.  It made a sticky, rustling noise as it peeled away from the leather coat behind it.  

Goodness!  It was a little heavy!  She was careful not to let it drag the floor.  It had a quilted lining of shimmering burgundy satin.  How plush!  It would certainly be warm.

The coat swished dramatically as she slipped it on and settled its weight on her shoulders.  Her hair was up in a ponytail to keep it out of the way.  The coat felt divine!  The lambskin leather was so supple!  She pulled it close about herself and started to button it.  

The coat even sounded luxurious!  The leather squeaked as she fastened all five buttons in their snug holes, and it creaked with every move she made.  The creaking grew louder as she tied the belt around her waist.

It fit her perfectly even in the sweater!  She raised her arms.  There was no restriction to her movement.  She took a deep breath in and thrust her chest forward.  The leather gave off a tense squeak, but her big boobs did not pop a button.  The front didn’t gap at all either.  

The coat fit like it was made for her!  It felt like she was covered in a thick layer of butter!

She looked at herself in the floor-length mirror beside her.  

The long coat certainly flattered her figure.  She was five-feet-six-inches tall and weighed 136 pounds.  Since she turned forty, she really had to work to stay under 140 pounds.  She had always been a size 4 when she was young.  Now she wore a size 6-8 dress.  And if she happened to shop in the wrong store, she was a size 10!  She nearly cried the first time she discovered that.  Ever since then she had been strict about her diet and did aerobics five days a week.  She wasn’t happy about it, but her current weight seemed to be the best she could maintain.

That extra fifteen pounds she couldn’t lose seemed to vanish inside the sleek black leather, though.  Her boobs and thighs were still too big, but even they somehow looked more shapely.  The tie belt made her waist look smaller also.  The maxi length of the coat made her appear surprisingly tall.

She turned and looked over her shoulder at the back.  The coat had a walking vent that fastened shut about halfway up with a button tab.  Such details!  

Then her gaze shifted upwards to the only problem she could find with the coat.  

Oh my!  Look at how much the leather shined on her big, round bottom!  The glare might blind someone!  

She quickly turned back around.  She would just ignore her butt like she usually did.  

Overall, the coat looked great on her.  She ran her hands down the front of it, smoothing the supple leather over her belly and hips as she examined it.  It looked terrific and felt even more sumptuous than she had imagined!  It could easily become her favorite piece of clothing.

Maybe a long leather coat would help her feel more confident as she faced the daunting idea of going out and trying to meet someone.  She realized that as a middle-aged, divorced mother she had little chance of finding the man of her dreams.  She wasn’t exactly what Prince Charming was looking for.  For one thing, she was old enough to be his mother!  But even if she was destined to be single for the rest of her life, she wasn’t going to spend it pouting in some lonely apartment.  There was a wide world to see and she had already spent too much of her life secluded from it.

Buttoned up in the ultra-stylish leather coat she suddenly felt like she could face anything.  It would be her suit of armor to protect her from the harsh world.  She flipped up the collar and laughed with delight at her reflection in the mirror.  

Look at that sophisticated lady!  She was ready for any adventure in this leather coat!

“My!  Don’t you look fabulous!” the salesman called out in a lisping voice as he approached her again.  

He waved his hands like one of her girlfriends would do.  

Yep.  He was definitely gay.  

“Honey, you need to wear that coat home!” he assured her.

“Do you think so?” she asked, still struggling with her own uncertainty.  

“It’s so expensive!”

“That’s because it is a special-made garment by a designer from New York City.  We ordered it specifically for a customer who ended up not buying it at the last minute.  It just so happens that she was about the same size and build as you are.  What a coincidence don’t you think?” he said crossing his arms and tapping a finger on his chin.

“So you’re saying this coat is a one-of-a-kind?” she asked.  

It made her uncomfortable to feel so exclusive.

“That’s right.  And the more I look at you in it, the more I’m convinced it was actually made for you!  It really looks stunning on you!” he told her enthusiastically.

“Oooh!”  Susan cried as she squirmed inside the dream coat.  

She knew he was right, but she was still uncertain.  She really wanted the leather coat!  But she had never spent so much money on herself before.  She had done without the things she wanted for so long that she was still getting used to having the choice.  Spending $60 on a silk blouse was a milestone for her a year ago.  This was a considerably larger amount of money.  

She stared at the price tag hanging from the end of the coat sleeve as she agonized over the decision.  The salesman obviously could see her dilemma.

“Are you afraid your husband will be angry at you for spending the money?” the salesman asked.

“Well, yes,” she said meekly.  

“He would kill me.”

That’s when it hit her.  Rob wouldn’t like the leather coat because it made her look good and feel good about herself.  And that was exactly why she definitely had to buy it!  

It was about time she felt good about herself, darn it!  Rob didn’t control her anymore.  Why did she still care what he would think?  She had promised herself that she would stop doing that!  She would be committing a crime against herself if she didn’t buy the coat.  She worked hard and she deserved it!  

She came in here to buy herself a leather coat and that was what she was going to do!

“Yeah.  He would have killed me for buying a coat like this for myself.  That’s one of the reasons I divorced him!  And you know what?  That’s all the more reason I need to buy it!  I’ll take it!” she announced proudly.  

Her stomach felt queasy and she was a bit lightheaded.

“Good for you girl!  I think you are going to do a lot of things you have never done before in that coat.  You mark my words.  A leather coat like that gives a special kind of power to the woman who wears it,” the salesman said with a rather serious expression.  

At that moment Susan was sure she knew exactly what he was talking about as she stood there beaming.

“Now, I can ring you up right over here!” he said with a sweeping gesture toward the counter.

       

Susan picked up her old coat and purse and followed him.  

She sat her things on the counter.  She was trembling with excitement.  She didn’t know what to do with her hands!  She tightened the belt around her waist and slid her hands into the coat pockets.  The rubbing leather gave off a low, purring rustle.  She felt very secure enclosed within the supple lambskin.

Everything about the leather coat was perfect!  She simply couldn’t bring herself to unbutton it!  She couldn’t disturb the euphoria of wearing it yet.  What if the magical sensation ended when she took it off?  She didn’t want her resolve to weaken before the coat was actually hers.  And she most certainly didn’t want to put that drab parka back on!  It looked like an old rag now.  

“Would you mind if I wore this coat out of the store?” she asked anxiously.

“Girl, I better not catch you taking that coat off!” he told her with a laugh.  

“Hang on and I’ll cut the tags off for you.”

Susan never had so much fun writing a check before.  The salesman convinced her to buy a pair of black leather gloves also.  She slid the gloves onto her hands as she strutted out of the store.

Susan Willoughby was wearing a gorgeous, long leather coat!  It cost $600, but it made her feel like a million!  

She left the collar turned up.  She felt like she was ten feet tall!  Her body was numb with exhilaration.  Were her feet even on the ground?  It was hard to see them because her coat went on forever.  She imagined that she must be floating like a fairy tale princess.  Instead of shimmering satin, she was wrapped in lustrous lambskin.  The leather was so shiny she was sure that she was glowing.  She couldn’t stop smiling.

People noticed her too.  Much to her amazement men turned to watch as she passed by.  Even young men!  For the first time in over twenty years, she actually felt pretty.  She actually felt sexy.  

The leather coat might be the greatest gift she ever bought herself.  

She tossed her ugly old parka into a Goodwill bin outside the mall entrance.  It was just one more vestige of Rob that she had succeeded in shedding.  She had a fresh coat now for her new life.

Three weeks later

John pushed the button to go up and stepped back.  He stuck his hands in his pockets and absently jingled his keys.  The building was twenty stories high so the elevators took a while sometimes.  Everyone joked that you had to get to work early to make up for the time spent waiting on the elevators.  Otherwise, you might be late.  John started to whistle the song he had just heard on the radio.

The clicking of a woman’s heels came from behind him.  He instinctively turned to see who she was.

The most beautiful woman he had ever seen was walking toward him!  She had flowing brunette hair, a radiant complexion, pouty red lips, and a voluptuous figure buttoned up in a long, shiny, black leather coat!  The sight of her jolted him like a bolt of lightning!

Wow!  Look at her!  Was she smiling at him?  His heart began to pound in his chest.  

Wait a minute!  He knew her!  It was Susan!  My God!  She looked fantastic!

Susan always looked great in his opinion.  She had an impeccable sense of style.  But her outfit at that moment couldn’t have been more perfect to him!  He never knew she wore a leather coat!  Of course, that was probably because he never saw her come and go from the office.  

Man!  Had he been missing out!  He would have to start coming in this entrance more often!

She walked right up next to him.  

“Good morning John,” she greeted him with a friendly expression.  

“I never knew you came in this way!”

He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her amazing leather coat.  Look at how it shined on her!  A long row of glistening buttons fastened it all the way down the front.  She shifted her leather purse strap further on her left shoulder as she spoke.  Her hands were encased in glossy black leather gloves that matched her coat!  The purse strap sank into her soft coat, gathering the leather into shiny creases.  And listen to the sounds she made!  It was quiet enough in the lobby that he could hear her leather coat creaking softly as she moved.

“John?  Are you OK?” she asked.  

She waved a gloved hand in front of his face and giggled.  

He snapped out of his trance and realized that he was staring at her coat stupidly.  He purposely redirected his gaze up to her face.  

Her eyes were wide with question.

“Yeah!  Hey Susan!  You caught me by surprise!  I didn’t know you came in this way either,” he stammered.  

He cleared his throat and grinned.  There had to be a guilty expression on his face.  He rocked back on his heels nervously and he struggled to compose himself.

“I always come in this way silly!  I thought you parked in the south garage though,” she said very matter-of-factly.

“No.  Uh, I mean yeah!  I usually do park there but the garage is closed for construction.  I don’t know what they are doing to it.  There’s always some kind of construction going on around here, you know.  We got a memo last week telling us that we have to park in the East garage for the rest of the month.  That must be where you park too.  I didn’t remember that,” he answered.  

He realized that he was talking so fast that he was out of breath.  He was also jingling his keys rather loudly inside his pocket.  He let go of them and balled his hands into fists.  His palms were sweaty.

“Oh.  Is that what’s going on?” she asked rhetorically.  

“I saw that the entrance to the garage was blocked when I drove past this morning.”  

She smiled at him again and her brown eyes twinkled with humor.  

“You must really be thrown off then.  This place is so huge you will have to be careful not to get lost trying to find your office,” she laughed jokingly.  

She averted her eyes and looked away at the elevator.  

Was he still gaping at her?

“Yeah!” he laughed along with her and began staring very intently at the elevator also.  

The floors counted down slowly above the door.

Susan’s leather coat gave off another low, tantalizing creak as she slipped her right hand into her pocket.  

He struggled not to look at her for at least a few seconds.  Standing next to her filled him with a nervous excitement that seemed kind of ridiculous because he knew her well.   

John made Susan’s acquaintance two years ago after he was promoted to a new position at the downtown office location.  The building they worked in had a coffee shop on the first floor.  It just so happened that Susan took her morning break at the same time he did and they often found themselves standing in the same line at the coffee shop.  He might have never met her otherwise because they worked in completely different departments separated by four floors.  Their office building was huge and employed thousands of people.  It was dumb luck that they crossed paths and he was certainly glad they did.

John noticed Susan right away because she was such an attractive woman.  He quickly succeeded in striking up conversation with her.  She forgot to bring her pocketbook to the coffee shop one day and had no money to pay for her drink.  John was in line behind her and offered to pay for her.  It cost $2.50; a small price to pay for the opportunity to meet her.  She thanked him for his generosity and made a point of speaking to him every time she saw him there after that.  Before long, they started sitting at the same table together to chat.

It turned out she also had an equally delightful personality to match her lovely appearance.  They quickly became friends.  He and Susan had much in common.  Both of them were divorced and had children.  They shared many of the same life experiences.

Meeting her for coffee soon became one of the highlights of his day.  She always got a sugar free cappuccino.  Plain coffee with cream and sugar suited him fine.  They took turns paying for each other’s drinks.

If they could not meet for some reason, it was a big disappointment for him.  They were just friends.  But in the past several months John began to hope that someday they might become something more.  Of course, that had been impossible until her divorce a year ago.

John would never understand how Susan’s ex-husband could treat a woman like her the way he did.  Susan talked about her marriage some.  From the sound of it, her ex-husband was a controlling bully.  He never deserved a woman like Susan.  John was amazed that she put up with him for almost twenty years.  It was a testament to how good a woman she was.  She did her best to keep the marriage together for the sake of their daughter, Heather, who was now grown and moved away to college.

It was only when Susan found out that her husband was cheating on her that she finally decided to leave him.  Good for her.  She didn’t have to put up with that for damn sure!  John was happy that she stood up for herself and sent that idiot packing.  Personally, John would have liked to knock the guy’s block off!  How could that asshole cheat on a girl like Susan?

The elevator beeped and the door opened.  Two businessmen stepped out.  They both gave Susan admiring looks as they passed by.  She did not seem to notice.  

John gestured for her to go on ahead of him.

“Oh!  Thank you!” she said, starting forward with a bouncing step.  

She marched playfully ahead of him, clicking her heels loudly on the tile floor.

It was his nature to be a gentleman, but he had an ulterior motive today.  He wanted to get a good look at her in that incredible leather coat.  He followed her onto the elevator.  His eyes took in as much detail as they possibly could.

The wide, pointed collar of her leather coat was rolled up halfway along the back.  He guessed that it turned up like that when she put the coat on and she never noticed it.  He liked the look of a woman’s collar flipped up so it just added to the effect.

She turned to face the elevator door from the inside, folding her gloved hands lightly in front of her.  The stiff collar of a white blouse stood crisp around her neck with only the top button open and the glittering second button centered neatly within the notch of her coat lapels.

Susan always dressed very classy.  She often wore a pressed white blouse to work like she did today.  It went perfect with her leather coat.  She also wore a skirt more often than not, which was something else he really liked.  Her coat was too amazingly long to see if she was wearing a skirt or slacks today.

He tore his eyes away from her long enough to push their floor numbers.  He was on twelve and she was on sixteen.  The elevator was not very big.  He stepped back into the corner diagonal from Susan so he could get a full view of her.  The doors thumped shut and they started to go up.

“How was your weekend John?” she asked him.  

Her cheerful demeanor was the same as always.  The smile on her plump red lips was innocent.  She seemed oblivious to the effect she was having on him.

“It was alright.  Nothing special,” he said without elaborating.  

He was far too distracted to carry on a meaningful conversation at the moment.

“Did you do anything fun?” she asked him further.  

She brushed her gloved fingertips lightly across her conservative bouffant.  The fluorescent lights shined white on every crease and fold of her glossy black leather.  

And listen to her!  The enclosed space of the elevator seemed to magnify the creaking of her coat any time she moved.  That sound was musical to him and sent a rush of endorphins down his spine!

“Nothing much.  I spent Saturday night watching the History Channel.  That was about as wild and crazy as it got at the old bachelor’s pad this weekend!” he answered with light-hearted sarcasm.  

“What about you Susan?  Did you do anything exciting?”

“Yes I did!  I had a great weekend!” she exclaimed.

“Really?  What did you do?” he asked.

“I went shopping of course!  Didn’t you notice that all of the stores had big sales?” she teased him.  

She knew that he never paid any attention to sales.  It was only necessary to buy new clothes every couple of years in his opinion.  And he never went to the mall just to shop.

“I shopped all day Saturday.  You should see the new bed sheets I got at JCPenney for half off!  And I got new curtains for the apartment.  And I got three really cute outfits for the price of one at Lazarus,” she continued.  

She was always very pleased to tell him about her shopping adventures.  It clearly made her happy so he didn’t mind listening.

He continued to cast roaming glances at her leather coat as she talked.  He couldn’t help himself, although he tried to be as casual about it as possible.  Her leather coat attracted his eyes like a super magnet!  He was careful to make frequent eye contact with her to avoid being too obvious.

Five highly polished buttons on a single-breasted placket sealed her coat up.  For some reason the buttons were always the focal point of a woman’s leather coat for him and the more buttons the better the coat.  He loved the way buttons tugged and puckered soft leather about a shapely woman’s torso.  Zippered jackets completely lacked this effect.

The top button of Susan’s coat was centered between the roundness of her breasts.  The second button pulled the supple leather into shiny ripples in the middle of her flat abdomen.  Her tie belt was knotted a little off center.  The third button was fastened in the in the middle of her hips, the fourth button wasn’t completely pushed through its buttonhole, and the fifth button held the placket closed just above her knees.

“Can you believe that?  I got some incredible deals don’t you think?” he heard her voice ask.

He could not have repeated anything she had told him for the past several seconds.  But he nodded and enthusiastically chimed in with, “I’ll say!”   

She started to pull her gloves off, tugging one finger at a time to loosen them.  John noticed the turn-back cuffs with three buttons that detailed her coat sleeves.  She slid both gloves into her right coat pocket.  The pocket was styled with a button flap that she had neatly tucked inside.  The glossy fingertips of her gloves still protruded from the pocket after she removed her slender hand.  Her leather creaked continuously all the while she did this.

John cleared his dry throat.  

“So did you go shopping again yesterday?” he asked, trying to encourage her to keep talking.

“No.  I figured I had done enough damage for one weekend,” she grinned.  

She adjusted her black leather purse on her left shoulder again, which produced a loud, sticky squeak.  Even the way the strap sank into her plush coat was enticing to him because it demonstrated how soft her leather coat must be.

“I spent yesterday morning cleaning.  Then I cooked a nice dinner last night and had Heather over,” she said.

She went on about her daughter’s visit.  John nodded to her words as necessary, but he really wasn’t listening to her.  

He was not ignoring her on purpose, but her leather-coated figure overpowered his senses!  It was driving him absolutely nuts!  The stir of excitement it caused in his brain drowned everything else out.  He always did think Susan was very attractive, but in that sleek leather coat she was absolutely gorgeous!

It was obvious from the way Susan talked about herself that she had absolutely no idea how lovely she was.  For one thing, she operated under the delusion that she should still weigh a hundred-and-twenty pounds like she did in high school.  She saw herself as being overweight even though he laughed at her anytime she brought up the ridiculous notion.  He reassured her often that she “looked really nice”.  

Actually, that was a tremendous understatement.   

John was forty-four.  When he first met Susan, he assumed she was in her early thirties.  He was shocked to learn later that she was actually only four years younger than him!  With her remarkably smooth complexion and knockout figure, it was impossible to guess her age.

John was too nervous to tell her, but he honestly thought that Susan had the most perfect body of any woman he had ever met.  Her legs were shapely and toned.  She usually wore heels that made them look nice and long.  Her butt was small and cute.  The voluptuous curve of her hips was mesmerizing.  Her trim waist gave her a wonderful hourglass form.  The aerobics she did really paid off.  There wasn’t a bit of flab or cellulite on her as far as he could tell, and that was an achievement for a forty year old woman.

All of her other physical attributes aside, though, she had an incredible bosom.  Of course, he had only seen the shape of her breasts molded in her blouse or jacket.  Even so, he could see they were extraordinarily round and positioned high on her chest.  Obviously, she always wore a bra, but her breasts appeared to still be as firm as they had ever been.  They weren’t huge, just naturally plump and proportioned exactly right for the rest of her body.  

He never dared to hint at this in front of her.  She would be absolutely mortified to know that he daydreamed about her boobs, but the good Lord blessed few women with as heavenly a bosom as Susan had.  

To top it all off she had the face of an angel.  Her pretty features reflected her kind, wholesome nature.  He described her to his friends as a combination of Shania Twain and Lori Loughlin.  Her big brown eyes were bright and warm.  There was a hint of vulnerability in them that made his heart ache anytime he saw it.  He often caught himself staring into her eyes as they talked over coffee.  She would smile nervously and demurely look away.

Susan showed no interest whatsoever in trying to be sexy, but her long, dark lashes and full, sensual lips gave her a natural allure that was impossible for her to repress.  She obviously took some pride in her appearance because her thick brunette hair was always perfectly styled and her makeup was flawless everyday.  John had no doubt that she would be just as pretty without any makeup at all.

He could only imagine how beautiful she must have been when she was twenty-five, although he had a feeling that her looks had changed little since then.  He knew she was far too modest and sensible to have any cosmetic procedures done.  Time had barely left its mark on her so far, though.  Her face was completely smooth.  Fine wrinkles traced around the corners of her eyes and across her brow only when she laughed.  The skin around her neck and cheeks was as taut as ever.

All in all mature full-bodied womanhood suited Susan extremely well in his opinion.  Maybe ageless beauty was her reward for being so unappreciated by her ex-husband for so long.  It would certainly be poetic justice that she remained young and pretty until she met a man who loved her the way she deserved.

Take this considerable attraction he had for her and magnify it a hundred times: that was the effect her leather coat exerted on him.  It made Susan stunning beyond belief!  

The gleaming black lambskin molded smoothly over her sensational breasts and gathered in shiny creases that went back and forth across her flat belly as she shifted.  The tightly cinched belt accentuated the feminine curves of her hips.  The flowing, glossy leather covered her almost to her ankles, tapering inward below the bend of her knees and matched the dressy black leather boots on her small feet.  Her boots were polished, but practical with a wide three-inch heel and rounded toes.

Susan had a habit of fidgeting with her clothes as she talked.  He always found it pleasantly entertaining to watch her absently play with her blouse buttons or repeatedly smooth her skirt.  But, to see her doing this in a leather coat made her every movement pure magic!  

She adjusted the collar of her blouse around her throat and pressed her coat lapels flat on her chest.  She tugged her coat sleeves over the white cuffs of her blouse that were sticking out the ends.  Her fingers plucked at her coat buttons and slipped smoothly over the slick surface of her leather-enclosed curves.  It took his breath away to see her touching herself in that leather coat!  She couldn’t have looked sexier to him even if she was wearing the skimpiest lingerie.  

He was completely captivated by her.

She didn’t seem to mind that he was looking right at her the whole time.  She met his gaze and smiled at him.  Then her lips moved again as she said something that he didn’t hear.  

She kept directing her gaze off to the side of him.

“Jooohn…” he heard her voice call to him as if from far away.

“Oh Jooohn.”

Suddenly her expression became anxious and she raised her hands in alarm.  

“John!” she cried out purposefully.  

He jumped to attention as her voice penetrated his dream-like delirium.  

“Hurry!” she cried, pointing behind him.

He looked over his shoulder just in time to see the elevator door slide shut.  They were on the twelfth floor.  That was his stop!

He was so enthralled by Susan in her leather coat that he had completely missed his floor!  

The elevator started upwards again.

Susan started laughing.  She covered her mouth cutely with her hands.

“John!  What in the world has gotten into you?” she asked with her eyebrows raised.

She let her arms drop with a sigh.  Her hands smacked her leather-enclosed thighs with a loud liquid splat.

“I don’t know, Susan,” he chuckled sheepishly.

He was not the slightest bit upset to be trapped in the elevator with her for another few seconds.

“I was just daydreaming, I guess.”