Chapter 2: Supper
You might want to read "Kelly," the first part of this series, before reading this. It's not necessary, though. As before, it's all fiction.
Saturday morning. I awoke early, as I always do. Later, the fuzz of sleep hadn't completely evaporated when the phone rang. I recognized her voice.
"Justin?"
"Kelly?"
"Hi."
"Wow, I had the best dream last night."
"What was it?"
"I dreamt I spent the evening with you."
"You did? What happened?"
"A lot. Mostly I fell in love."
"Oh, Justin! I had the same exact dream!"
"You did?"
"Yes! It was wonderful. I fell in love with you, too"
"Kelly, did it really happen, or was it just a dream?"
"I hope it really happened, because I'm awfully happy this morning."
"Me, too."
"Can you come over tonight? I'll cook you dinner."
"Sounds great. What time?"
"Please be here at five," There was a note of pleading in her voice.
"No sooner?" I whined.
"No, five's as early as I can be ready."
"What can I bring?"
"Your toothbrush. Can you stay all night? My folks are gone until tomorrow night."
"Wow. I'll figure out a way. What am I supposed to do between now and five?"
"Try fantasizing, and planning what we'll do tomorrow."
"How 'bout the beach?"
"Will it be warm enough?"
"It will be warm enough to at least walk it."
"Sounds romantic."
"I hope so. See you at five, and I'll be on time."
"Good. I can't wait."
"I love you, Kelly."
"I love you, too."
A chance to spend an entire night with Kelly! More than all my dreams and fantasies come true! How would I ever survive the day? It was early morning, and she didn't want me there until five. It was going to be the longest day of my life. Might was well wash and wax the car, I thought. It was my responsibility to do that β it was the deal I made with my dad to let me use it. A 1971 Olds Cutlass convertible. Burnt orange with black top and interior. A beautiful, wonderful car that got all of 15 miles per gallon, back in 1973 before the oil embargo when gas was cheap and nobody cared. Waxing was a labor of love, and since that's what I was feeling a lot of, might as well take advantage of a warm spring day.
At 4:58 I rang her doorbell, a dozen red roses in hand. Kelly answered the door, and once again my breath left me. Long brown hair, deep, large brown eyes, a beautiful smile, and a 5'2" racehorse body dressed only in a large white men's dress shirt. The shirttails came down almost to her knees. She had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. The collar spread enough to show her neck and collarbones. It was unbuttoned a couple of buttons at the top, enough to display a little cleavage. Barefoot, with nice legs between shirt and ankles. She was, as previously mentioned, breathtaking. She looked at the flowers and her eyes brimmed.
"Justin, they're gorgeous! Thank you! They must have cost you a fortune!"
"Now, now, it's impolite for ladies to inquire about the cost of gifts," I wagged my finger at her, and then held out the flowers. "And you are worth any price, Kelly."
She took them and clutched them to her. "No one's ever given me flowers before. And red roses! I need to get them in water." She went up on tiptoes to kiss my cheek, and then turned and ran into the house. As a prank, I stayed on the front porch. Several minutes later, she called. I answered and she came running to the door. "What are you doing out there? Come in!"
"I haven't been invited," I said glumly.
"I promised I wouldn't call you a jerk, but you're on the edge!" she said in mock anger. "Oh! Hey! I had an idea. Come over here!" She grabbed my hand and led me to the stairs. She stood on one step and took my shoulders, positioning me in front of her.
"See?" she said, looking up only slightly at me. "I'm taller!" On the step she was about 5'11" to my 6'6". Nice. With that, she put her arms around my neck and kissed me. My arms encircled her slim waist. God! She felt good to hold!
"Mmm," I said, "Actually, I'm shorter."
"No, I'm taller."
"No, I'm shorter."
"I'm taller!"
"Look, Kelly, we've been studying Einstein's Relativity Theory in Physics, and I'm here to tell you that relative to you, I'm shorter. Of course, on the other hand relative to me, you are, in fact, taller."
"'I shall shut your mouth with a kiss,'" And she did. When she broke the kiss she said, "Remember that line from Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing'?"