Although some of the content is embellishment, combinations, or outright made up, most of the people, places, and situations in this tale are true. I am therefore telling it in the format of one of THOSE stories that you read here, where the author can only sit down for a little while at a time, releasing the information in multiple short posts.
I'll leave it up to the reader to decide what things did or did not happen.
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Annie
I was twelve when I first met her, the woman that I was certain at the time I would marry. It wasn't my first such proclamation, there had been others. But they had only been girls, those early childhood crushes. First was April, who in 1967 lived just up the street from me, but she only had eyes for Davy Jones, lead singer of the Monkees. Then was Lorri, whose long, silky blonde hair I could gaze at for hours, from my assigned seat behind her in the third grade.
This, however, was to be THE ONE. Straight, tall, and thin, yes, she was that. But it was her smile. As I watched her standing up at the altar, maid of honor at my oldest Missoula cousin's wedding, I would see only that smile. She stood up in the front of the church, next to her very best friend, and I missed most of what was going on as I gazed upon her.
I kept her in sight all through the ceremony, planning out how I would ask her to dance at the reception, sweep her off her feet with my charm. I would convince her to wait for me to grow old enough so that we could run off together. But it turned out that there was a completely separate party for the youngest of us, back at the house. Away from the adults. My family drove back home to eastern Washington the next day, and I didn't see her again for quite some time after that.
Not until nine years later in fact, when in 1980 I was once more back in Missoula at another cousin's wedding. This time I had driven myself three hundred miles from my latest landing place in Gardiner to be there. I had told my parents that I would represent the family for them, but I was wondering on the entire drive if SHE had been invited too, my mind resurrecting those dim memories of another wedding long before. I had never forgotten her.
Sure enough, there she was, sitting all by herself towards the back on the groom's side, with nothing but open seats all around her. She looked absolutely lovely in a long skirt and summer blouse, waves of dark black hair surrounding her face, just as I had remembered her from so many years ago.
I slid into the one on her left, asking "Is this one taken?" She threw me a sharp, questioning look, her eyes narrowed, then glanced at all the empty chairs around us. I ignored all of that, putting out my hand instead, telling her that we had met before and where. It was all true of course, so she relaxed and we started talking while we waited for things to get started.
"I can't believe that I don't remember you." she said at one point.
"That's because we never got to dance the last time." I replied. "If we'd danced then, I would never have let you go again."
Her eyes went wide then, her head turning to look at me more closely. "You look awfully young." she said, searching my face for something.
"I really do." I shrugged. "It's a curse."
I watched her intently as she seemed to think about this for a moment, then come to a decision, leaving that behind. The conversation continued. I can't remember what all we talked about, although her life for the past nine years was part of it.
"Maybe if I'd danced with you first that night, before Greg," she said at one point, "I wouldn't have married him and wasted five years of my life."
We went on and on like this, first just looking at each other, then both feeling the need to touch, then more. As we spoke, I would catch brief, sudden glimpses of her body beneath her blouse, as her movements would sometimes open up the tiny gaps between her buttons, or widen the one at the top where those same buttons stopped.
Before I knew it, I had missed another cousin's wedding vows because of her.
The rest of that event was a blur, although I do remember my Aunt giving me a number of very pointed looks, and one of my cousins taking my new date up a nearby hill for a few minutes of a private talk. With the late afternoon sun just behind the two, that light summer dress became almost invisible, a fact that I took every advantage to observe. After a rather animated discussion, including many looks in my direction, she came back to my side, leaning her mouth down close to my ear, looking directly at my cousin as she did so.
"Take me home." was all that she said.
We took her car, and we didn't speak again for a full half hour, not until she had pulled up in front of a small house. After she turned off the car, she turned and looked straight into my eyes, searching for something.
Then she finally asked her question. "Lynne's not kidding, is she? You're only twenty one?"
I didn't answer her. I only took both of her soft hands in my own, looking once more into her face. We sat like that for a while, each studying the other's eyes for, something.
She spoke again, a question, but not a question. "At least tell me that I won't be your first."
Once again, I did not answer.
Finally, she turned away, reaching over to open her door. "I'm going to hell for this." she whispered, more to herself than to me. As her door began to open, she said, "Come on in. We might as well go there together."
We went into of her house, its darkness a contrast to the bright sunshine outside. I watched her body move under the thin summer outfit, long legs scissoring back and forth, leading up to a rounded ass. She closed the door quickly behind us, then began to nervously pace around the room, running her fingers through her hair as she did so.
As if she suddenly remembered my presence, she stopped and looked up at me, saying "I need a drink. Are you thirsty? Go get me some wine or something." Looking me over once again, she let out a sound of frustration before going into a back room.