Late Wednesday afternoon Robert made a phone call to Dr. Maier from his home in Thunder Bay. Although he was sure that Annie was completely past her emotional problems, he decided to seek confirmation from her doctor.
"This is Dr. Maier."
"Hello, this is Robert Porter calling. I know that Annie had an appointment earlier this afternoon, and I'm wondering if I could speak to you about her."
He could hear a sharp intake of breath, even over the phone. "What is this about? Has this to do with what we discussed a while ago? Surely you aren't..."
Robert interrupted with, "Oh, no! I'm not thinking of breaking it off with Annie; I'm even more in love with her! I just wanted to know, if you can tell me, what you think about her... her mental state... now that we've been active sexually. I just wanted to know if you think we've gone too far, too fast."
Dr. Maier quickly answered, "Absolutely not! I'm so glad that Annie gave me permission to speak with you. I can assure you that she is doing fine, even better than I could have ever hoped. She is the happiest I've seen her in all the time that she has been my patient."
Dr. Maier had given Robert exactly what he was hoping to hear; complete reassurance. The two of them spoke for a couple of minutes before ending their call. It was Robert's turn to smile broadly after a telephone conversation with the doctor.
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A few minutes later Robert was on the phone to his friend Fred. Annie had told him the night before during their longest telephone conversation ever that she was planning on coming up to spend the weekend with him in 10 days. She had suggested that perhaps Fred and Sherry might like to get together for supper again.
After they had exchanged greetings Robert said, "Hey, Fred. Annie is coming up the weekend after next. We wondered whether you and Sherry might like to join us for supper, I'm thinking Saturday night here at my condo."
His invitation was accepted, and when Robert suggested that maybe he should phone and talk to Sherry first, Fred just laughed, saying that she was right there beside him; she had moved in with him two weeks before.
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It was Friday and Robert was nervously waiting for Annie's arrival, anxious to be with her in the flesh, rather than by phone. When his intercom finally buzzed, announcing that someone was trying to contact him from the building entrance he was very quick to get to the speaker. The moment he heard Annie's voice he quickly pressed the door release to let her enter the building.
Annie must have hurried, because she was at his door in what seemed like just a few seconds. Robert managed to say, "Hi Annie," before she was in his arms and her lips were on his.
When their kiss ended, and they had exchanged more traditional verbal greetings, Robert picked up her suitcase and started carrying it down the hall towards the bedrooms.
He didn't want to appear that he was taking Annie for granted, and when he got to his bedroom door he stopped. "Did you...."
That was as far as he got before Annie said, "Of course, silly. You don't want to have to wash two sets of sheets, do you?"
They had set their course now, as in no time they had Annie's suitcase empty, her clothing in his closet and a couple of the dresser drawers, mixed together with his.
Robert had made a simple casserole for supper, something that he was able to leave heating in the oven while he waited for Annie to arrive. After their simple meal, followed by dessert and a leisurely half-hour spent in the living room enjoying an after dinner liqueur, Annie excused herself to have a shower and freshen up.
Half an hour later she called him to his bedroom where she met him dressed only in the lingerie that he had bought for her. She had dimmed the lights, and except for that one concession to her demons, she was as relaxed and open as she had been on their last day together in Duluth.
An hour later Robert emerged naked from the bedroom and quickly made the rounds of his condo to shut off the lights. He seemed to be in a hurry to get back to his bedroom.
The next day they emerged late from the bedroom and spent the first part of the day relaxing around the condominium. Later in the day they started preparing the meal they intended to share with Fred and Sherry that evening. Annie would make lasagna, and Robert would handle the Caesar salad, garlic bread and dessert.
Their tasks kept them occupied for several hours after which they changed for supper and then spent a pleasant half-hour with a glass of wine each while they waited for their company.
Their shared supper with Fred and Sherry had been enjoyable, and Robert sent the two ladies to the living room with a glass of wine each while he cleared the table under the watchful supervision of Fred. He had convinced the two women that since it was his condo, he knew where everything had to go. It hadn't taken too much convincing to get them to go and relax with their drinks in hand.
Robert was busy loading the dishwasher when Fred said, "I guess you're not going to argue about Annie being your girlfriend, now are you? While I was telling you about how Sherry and I had decided to move in together, I heard her whispering to Sherry that the two of you were practicing being a... couple."
Robert looked up sharply when he heard Fred's words, because he had missed the conversation that Fred was referring to. "Annie said that, did she? I wasn't sure if I should mention she and I were getting that close. Obviously I didn't need to worry about what she would think if I said something."
He laughed and glanced towards the living room before continuing, "You probably realize I've never had a girlfriend before; that's pretty common knowledge, I think. I can't tell you how much it means to me that Annie and I have hit it off so well."
Fred smiled back and replied, "All I can say is that we are blessed with two very good looking women, Lip." He smiled conspiratorially and quietly added, "I'm seriously thinking of popping the question to Sherry very soon. I've never met anyone else that I've felt this way about."
