All characters in this story are 18 or older.
*
Richard closed the window, but not fast enough. Louisa had seen both the headline and photograph over his shoulder.
Woman Attacked at Conference
, it read. Mark Wolfe, the man who had followed Louisa around at that same gathering, grinned from the right side of the screen. It was the picture in the conference materials she had given to the police.
His lover was looking kind of green around the gills.
"I'm sorry..." Although Richard wasn't sure what he was apologizing for.
"It's not your fault." Louisa sat down. She didn't look so good.
Richard put his hands on her knees. "Sweetie, I have an idea, and I hope you'll say yes."
That distracted her. She focused more on him than on the events of the past few days. "Okay, provisionally, yes. What have you got in mind?"
* * *
"Let's line
UP!"
bellowed one of the black belts. He clapped his hands sharply, twice, and took his place at the head of the line. Richard and Louisa looked lost as children on the first day of school. Someone wearing a yellow belt caught Richard's eye and pointed to her right. The coupled fumbled their way into place.
When the line was formed, the black belt swept his eye down the ranks, then faced the Korean flag at the front of the room. Everyone else did, too. Richard and Louisa followed along.
"Charyot!
Pbaro
. Kyuki-yeh da-hyo kyung-yeh." That was what the foreign language sounded like. The black belt bowed to the flag, then continued: "Sabum nem, kyung-yeh." He bowed to the old man who stood front and center, facing the class.
The old man returned the lead student's bow. Then he issued warm-up instructions with the energy and authority of a military instructor. The newcomers broke a sweat faster than the other students, but the old man worked them hard; soon everyone's upper lip was damp.
Halfway through the warm-up, a late student approached the edge of the classroom, bowed, and stepped onto the mat. Richard's mouth fell open in shock. It was his father!
The instructor slotted his eyes toward the latecomer, but otherwise gave no acknowledgement. Evan West took his place at the end of the front row with the other black belts.
After the warm-up, the instructor clapped his hands twice and called for the class to practice their forms. Richard and Louisa did not have much time to waver in confusion; the teacher pointed to one of the black belts.
"Miss Crane, teach the white belts to fall," he instructed.
The young woman jogged over to them and led them to the back of the room. She bowed and shook hands with each of them in turn.
"My name is Stephanie." She proceeded to demonstrate falling and slapping the mat. When the couple had progressed to her satisfaction, she introduced them to simple throwing techniques.
This kept them busy for the remainder of the hour. Richard did not have even a few minutes to look around and see what his father was doing. The class ended as it had begun, with a line-up and expressions of respect.
Evan approached his son. "Richard. Louisa," he greeted them. He shook hands and made a slight bow. The physical greeting seemed to be customary in this place.
"So how are things working out?" he asked politely.
Richard had told his parents that he was going to move out and get a job when he left college. He had briefly mentioned his living arrangements with Louisa, but nothing else. Typical of many young adults, he hadn't kept in touch with his folks.
"Fine," he said.
Louisa sensed the tension between the two men. "I'm going to get cleaned up. See you in a few." She lifted a hand to her former PTA colleague. "Good to see you."
"Nice to see you," he replied and bussed her on the cheek.
Richard frowned at his dad's familiarity with his date. He didn't especially like the reminder that his girlfriend and his father were peers.
As Louisa left the mats, Evan mentioned to his son that his mom would really like to see him.
"Aw, you know. Been busy."
"So why don't you come to dinner?" Evan pressed.
Richard couldn't think of a reason to say no, especially when his dad said Louisa was invited, too. They kicked around a couple of dates. All the while, Richard was thinking,
This is going to be one awkward evening
.
* * *
Louisa didn't look especially pleased when Richard mentioned the invitation.
"You look unhappy."
"I know. I know, I'm sorry," she wrung her hands.
"Is it the difference in our ages?" he asked gently.
She sighed. "You know it is. Here you've got your whole life ahead of you and I'm just some old babe who..."
He cut her off with a kiss. She yielded to the fiery tingle that never seemed to go away with him — with them. His lips breezed over her cheek while his hands lifted over her ribs toward her breasts. He pressed her backwards until she was literally against a wall.
"I can't think when you do that." Her complaint was a coo of pleasure.
"I know what you're thinking."
"Oh yeah, what am I thinking."
"What all women think about. You're thinking about what to wear for the party."