“And what are you up to tonight?” asked Melissa, headed toward the door with her cup of coffee in hand.
“The usual.” I said sitting in my recliner watching T.V. “I might get up with a friend.”
“Really? Who?” She asked. Blast! I didn’t think she’d have the time to ask…Ok, vague, vague, vague. I’m not doing anything wrong, but the vaguer the better here.
“Someone from work. You don’t know them.”
“Oh, what are you guys doing?” Don’t you have to go to work or something?
“They want me to check out their new house.” Improper English I know, but I was betting that if she didn’t know there were 50 states, she probably wouldn’t catch this little bit of word play.
“Ok, be careful and let me know how it goes.” Guess I’ll have to cross this bridge when it comes.
“Will do, have a good night.” I said and she left for work. That was a close one.
After I heard Melissa’s car pull out of the driveway, I started getting ready for my meeting with Stacy. It was about 7:00 pm and I didn’t know what time she would be calling, but I wanted to make sure I was ready to go when she did.
While getting ready and trying on outfits I entertained a possibility of what could happen that night.
When I arrived at her new place, she would already be in the house. I would park my car behind her and she’d meet me at the front door eager to show me around. As we made our way to one of the rooms of the first floor I’d notice the fresh sheet rock on the walls and the little piles of saw dust scattered here and there. Maybe there would be no electricity, so the place would be lit by only the shining of the bright moon light coming in through the windows. She’d lead me into one of the rooms excitingly telling me about the future décor. She’d describe what color and shade of paint she’d have on the walls to create the feel of the room. We’d talk about what types of pictures and artwork she’d have hanging up and together we’d sculpt the house of her dreams right there on the first floor. I’d be giving her ideas and complimenting her exceptional fashion sense in interior decorating. Then I would move to stand behind her to point out a place on the wall where a picture might go and as she turned around to see what I was talking about we’d unintentionally brush against each other’s shoulders. A shock would strike between us pushing a wave of reality rushing through our bodies that would bring to light the true essence of where we were and what we were doing. Neither of us had lied to our significant other and we had planned this meeting with every friendly intention of seeing what a townhouse had to offer. But, the effect of the brush would cause our eyes to meet and we would have no means by which to be distracted from the obvious. It was only her and me. There wouldn’t be a plane taking off, a truck hauling airman to fix jets, or a smoke pit full of people. No stories, no ratios, no Melissa, no Bolllard, only her and I sharing a moment, locked in a glance, keenly aware of the situation we’d put ourselves in. Everything would disappear. What was once my world and her world would become our world. And in our world, the only thing we’d know existed was space between us that was decreasing by the second. Without realizing it, my hand would touch her hand and I would gently motion for her to take one step closer.
The ring of my cell phone broke me from my daze. I quickly grabbed my phone and looked at the caller ID. It was Bobby. I didn’t want to be on the phone when Stacy called so I let it go to voicemail. I shook off my day dream and continued getting dressed.
By the time I was ready to go, it was about 8:00 pm, which was early for us night shifters, but I will admit I thought Stacy would have called by then to at least set up a time to meet. I wasn’t worried though, I had to make a trip to a Wal-Mart that was right by the neighborhood she lived in, so I got in my car and started on the twenty minute drive.
I get a lot of thinking done while I’m in the car, sometimes I’ll get so caught up in my thoughts that I’ll miss an exit or pass a turn. On my drive down to Wal-Mart, thinking about what might happen between me and Stacy; I started getting nervous. One thing my little fantasy hadn’t shown me was how I was going to act around Stacy. I really didn’t want to hurt anyone. I certainly didn’t want to cheat on Melissa and I didn’t want to start a relationship with someone who invites guys from work to her house, loses her inhibitions, and cheats on her boyfriend (assuming Stacy would be playing her part in the story, which the more I thought about it, the more I realized she probably wouldn’t be). Somehow I had turned a simple invitation to take a look at a house and consider some property options into Danielle Steel’s next best seller. How did I let this hap…
“Bollard!” I said aloud letting one thought interrupt another. Bollard would almost definitely be there. Why wouldn’t he be there? What kind of self respecting boyfriend would let his girlfriend meet a guy who she finds “intellectually attractive” (still not sure what that means) alone in the middle of the night. Bollard was way too insecure to let her go alone!
As I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot, I heard the ring of my cell phone. It was Stacy. I took one deep breath and picked up.
“Hey, what’s up?” I said in an upbeat tone.
“Hey Steve. I don’t think we’re going to be able to get together to see the house tonight. Chris and I came up with some last minute plans. Sorry.”
“No problem.” Unsure of how I felt about the cancellation. “ Maybe some other time. See you at work.”
“Ok, have a good night.” She said and hung up the phone. I sat in my car in the Wal-Mart parking lot surprised at how disappointed I felt about the night that could have been.
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