"Elise," Chapter 20 (no sex)
Sandy
After our session in the shower, and all cleaned up, we walked hand-in-hand back into my bedroom, where we dressed as companionably as if we'd been doing it in front of each other for years. I offered to fix Elise something to eat for dinner, teasing her about the circumstances that caused her not to stay long enough to sample my culinary prowess the weekend before. She laughed along with that, agreeing to stay, and we just chit-chatted while we ate some of my leftovers.
During that discussion, I mentioned that though I loved to see her play volleyball, it might be a good idea to curtail my attendance, or at least my being seen so much with her at the school, lest we arouse some kind of suspicion that could backfire on us. Though Elise wasn't happy with that idea, me being the only fan she had at those games, she allowed that it might make sense to change the ways in which we saw one another. In the end, we agreed on a way I could still come to the games, but where we wouldn't be seen together near the school. There was one home game this week, on Thursday, and we were going to try out our plan at that time.
With a final kiss, I saw Elise out the door after supper, but with some daylight still left. Almost immediately after she drove away, I missed her. Truly, I hadn't spent that fabulous a day with a woman since before Beth got sick. The way we improbably connected so well on an emotional and sexual level was nothing short of a miracle. Extended time with her was something I definitely wanted to repeat if possible in the coming months, before she graduated from high school and then, I assumed, left Blanksville for who-knew-where.
That night, I reflected on where we were. I had a little concern that Elise might be seeing too much in our relationship, that she might be thinking that a more permanent relationship was possible. We hadn't really talked about that much, and I knew I was going to have to gently but firmly disabuse her of that as soon as I could, but I thought I had some time. As it turned out, I did not. Things were unexpectedly coming to a head.
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Tuesday night well after dinner, I was sitting on my porch, winding down another day of leisurely retirement, when my phone rang. I saw that it was Elise. I answered, "Hey, babygirl. How are you?"
She sounded very agitated, replying, "I've been better. Sandy, we've got a problem."
"What is it, dear?"
"Mom knows about us."
I sat up and took notice at that, although it was not the most surprising bit of news I'd ever heard. "OK, baby," I said calmly, "tell me all about it."
Still in a shaky voice, she started, "Well, one of my teammates, Julie Betz, her mother works with my mother at the hospital. They're not always on the same shift, but when they are, sometimes they eat lunch together and discuss their daughters." It sounded like Elise was breathless, trying to keep it together, but losing the battle. I cut in, "Baby, take a moment. Breathe. Calm down. Take all the time you want to calm yourself."
I could hear her taking deep breaths on the other side of the line, and after maybe ten seconds, she continued, noticeably calmer but still concerned. "Well, Julie was the one who had questioned me about who you were and why I was spending time with you. Julie's a good teammate, I wouldn't call her a friend, but she and I have never had any issues. I guess, like everyone else at that school, she wasn't used to seeing me associating much with anyone, and it probably looked strange to her. Anyway, as you know I concocted that 'Uncle Sandy' story for her, and then repeated it for anyone else who happened to get nosy about it.
"Well, she goes home and happens to repeat my story to her mother, whose name is Gilda, by the way. So, beginning yesterday, her mother and my mother got back on the same shift after a few weeks of Ms. Betz being on night shift, and today they're eating lunch and comparing notes. My mother gets home about an hour ago, and immediately summons me down from my room. She wants to know who this 'Uncle Sandy' is, demands that I give her the whole story, tell her everything."
"And did you?", I ask.
"Not all of it, no. At least not at first. I told her that you were an older man who started coming to our games, becoming interested in our team, and introducing yourself to me after a match. I tried to convince her we were just friends, but she didn't seem to go for that, I think because of a couple of things. First, everybody on the team, including Julie, noticed me spending all my time between matches at that tournament, up in the bleachers talking with you. They weren't used to seeing me doing anything but keeping to myself when we weren't playing or practicing. So she just noticed is all, and I guess it stuck in her mind enough, that she felt like repeating it to her mother.
"Second, I'd been away from the house for an entire afternoon, for two straight weekends. That is pretty strange for me, as I only might go out to see a movie, shopping, or something, very occasionally on weekends. I mostly stay home. Had my mother not talked with Ms. Betz, I don't think she would have even noticed that. But after they talked, I think she thought back and realized how unusual that was. So tonight, she also wanted a rundown on where I'd been those two afternoons."
All this time, Elise had been talking continuously; the poor girl had to stop to get a breath. After she did, she continued, "Now Sandy, I'm not going to lie to my mother about anything. She doesn't deserve that. She's been very upfront about giving me whatever I needed, making sure I was prepared to become an adult, always being totally honest with me. It's the least I can do to be the same with her."
I was quick to insert, "Babygirl, I would NEVER want you to do anything else. We're not doing anything wrong or illegal. We have nothing to hide."
