The Cubs were up 6 to 4 in the 6th. Not a lead on which the team could bank. Still Charge left the game early to meet an old friend. Jinny was in town and staying at a hotel in the Loop. She was here for a busy work trip and only had an hour between calls. Meeting at her hotel was the only option even though she had married since they last saw each other years ago. As he entered the lobby, Charge noticed a lump in his stomach unusual for a simple visit with a friend. He made his way to the elevator and headed up to 12.
As he approached her hotel room, her door opened, and she greeted him in the hall. The years had faded his memory, and the girl before him was a surprise. She had dark hair and eyes, a bright smile, and smooth light skin. She was beautiful. They looked at each other for a moment recharging their recollections with fresh images before she invited him in. As he crossed the threshold, they embraced as friends and then locked gazes. Their faces came together in a short uncertain kiss before they ventured into the room.
The hotel room was standard - small, with floral prints, end tables, and thick yellowing drapes. She preferred natural light and only that which bounced off the building next door made it through the narrow window. There wasn't anywhere to sit other than the bed, so Charge made himself comfortable there and politely took off his shoes. The conversation started easily for both of them. They talked of time past, of lives up to now, of how her job was going and his.
"Do you remember," Charge began changing the subject, "that time we made out under a statue?" She did. "Do you remember that you took my hand and you placed it on your breast?" She did not. "Well, I do."
It was long ago. They had been on a friendly walking date, enjoying the sights and each other's company. They had stopped to rest behind a statue which also shielded them from the masses passing by. There they had kissed. At first maybe just to communicate the pleasure of being together but as can happen, the embrace deepened. They sat there wrapped around each other, barely protected by a marble representation of who knows whom, faces locked together for some time. It was an inconvenient and uncomfortable spot. There was nowhere it could go except back over the line which had probably already been crossed. And then as if blind to the park, the statue, the people, and the sun - blind to everything except Charge's gaze, Jinny unbuttoned the second button of her shirt, took Charge's hand and gently slid it under her shirt to her breast. There was no bra, and he found her nipple easily. She sighed lightly and they kissed again.
That had been it. Then the day ended and they went their separate ways. Now years later here they lay - on a hotel room bed talking about the past.
"I got to first base with you," Charge said with a boyish bravado and baseball still on the brain.
"You think that's first base?" she asked. "I think kissing is first base."
"No, no. kissing just means you get a chance to bat. It means you are in the line-up."
"In the line-up? I don't like the way that sounds. It's not like if you strike out there are eight other guys waiting to take a swing."
