About twenty years or so ago I was living and working in Mill Valley, CA, a pretty town not far over the Golden Gate bridge from San Francisco. I lived in a small house on the outskirts of town, alone, having not long ago split after an especially lousy marriage.
I originally came to the area after living further south, in Silicon Valley, but as more people came and I developed a reputation I moved north. I’d built and sold a company and done well financially. While thinking about building another I was working as a consultant with various startups so had a super relaxed schedule.
Each day, Rebecca, the local mail carrier, would bring the mail. I smoked back then and, one day, she saw me outside and asked me for some water. I got her a glass and she sat down to have a smoke with me, taking her break on the stoop of my house and talking. She was cute in a plain way, a hispanic with a little extra meat on her bones; not skinny but definitely not fat either. She had big breasts, dark hair, and brown eyes.