A Friend With Benefits

I've got a new lover. She is 36, a police officer, who has been divorced for several years and has no children. Exactly my height, she has wavy red hair with green eyes -- with all the passion that comes with the red hair.

I'd seen her around town in her patrol car several times in the past, even encountering her a few times when gassing up at my favorite station. I'd casually checked her out, but had never really engaged her in conversation, as I was always pressed for time when I'd see her.

One day a few weeks ago, I ran into her at an apartment complex, after I'd delivered a pizza. She'd just wrapped up a call at a nearby apartment. We began to chat as we walked to the parking lot to our respective cars. After reaching our vehicles, we continued to chat; neither of us were particularly busy at the moment and were in no hurry to leave.

She looked closely at me, then asked, "You used to work at the police department, didn't you?"

"Uh-huh," I said. "I've been gone nearly fifteen years, though."

"I thought so," she said. "I'd noticed you around town several times and thought you looked vaguely familiar. I'd looked at some of the older department photos and had seen someone who looked like you. You look a lot different with long hair, but there's no mistaking those eyes."

The police department has several group department photos taken at various intervals over the years and I'm on two of the photos.

We talked some more before going our separate ways, but exchanged cell phone numbers before we left. A few days later, we got together and it worked out pretty well. She's happy being single and doesn't want a committed relationship -- she's pretty much married to her job -- but wants a friend with benefits to get together with now and then. The fact that I'd been in law enforcement myself was a big plus to her as she'd have someone to talk to about the job who understood how it was.

It should be a convenient relationship for me, as she's available at odd hours, is not likely to make demands on me, and who I probably can sometimes see on the fly when we're both working.