Located on the bottom floor of the library at the midwestern university I attended was an excellent bathroom to meet for some quick sex. It had a single stall and a single urinal and sink. It also had two entrance doors, separated by about 4 feet, at its entrance—so there was always a warning when someone was coming in, because the first door would bang open seconds before the second door. This bathroom was located along a dark corridor at the very back, south wall of the bottom floor. It was surrounded by stacks and stacks of books and a few random tables for studying, one of which sat about 15 feet away from the entrance to the bathroom.
The summer between my senior and junior year I was working on a paper for a summer class I had taken to make up for some lost credits when I transferred in as a sophomore. I found the library basement to be quiet (especially in the summer) and, most important, cool, since July and August in the Midwest is both hot and humid and the one-bedroom apartment I rented didn't have air conditioning.
Working at the table close to the bathroom also afforded me a great vantage point to monitor comings and goings of the small bathroom—although in the summer, there wasn't really any activity to speak about. For the most part, I spent my time at the table working, uninterrupted for hours on end.
On the last Tuesday in July I set up my books and papers at my table at around 10 and began working. Around noon, I left my table unattended and went off to eat lunch. When I came back my first stop was the bathroom. I walked in and used the urinal. Turning around to wash my hands, I noticed a note written on toilet paper hanging off the hook on the back of the stall door, which stood partly open. The note said: "August 1 at 3. Meet me here."
"Interesting," I thought, as I rolled the tissue paper up and tossed it into the toilet. I was pretty sure I had probably missed the author of the note by minutes and I didn't want anyone else to see it.
It was July 30. Two days to August 1. I somehow managed to get my head back into my notes and went back to work for a few hours that afternoon. I'd be lying if I said I didn't often think of that note that night, wondering who the author was and hoping it would be someone interesting. The next day I set myself at my table again. I packed a lunch and was determined to stay all day—in case my note-writer came back earlier than promised. But the only other person I saw that day was the librarian, a junior I had talked with before who was cute, with brown hair and glasses—but that's a story for another day.
On Thursday, August 1, I set to work at my table at around 2. I had worked at my job at a local restaurant earlier in the day and run home, showered and trotted up to the library as soon as I got off. I didn't want to miss my note-maker if he decided to show up early.
I tried to concentrate on my work but my mind kept wandering. Would he be a college student like me? Would he be someone I knew (and what would I do then)? Would he be a local from the college town in which I lived? Would he be attractive? Had he shown up earlier and I missed him? Would he even show? This cycle of questions rattled through my brain. Every 30 minutes or so I would get up and walk around, always keeping within sight of the bathroom's doorway or the aisles leading to it.
At around 2:30 I finally settled down and started to get some work done. I looked up at around 10 minutes to 3 to see a young guy quietly and quickly slip into the bathroom. I waited a beat and then got up from my chair, moving slowly over to the bathroom door. My heart was pounding—I'd had very little experience with this sort of thing and didn't know how it would play out.
Just as I reached the door it opened. Standing in front of me was a guy who was about my age, maybe a year or two younger, but definitely college age. He froze when he opened the door. I felt a little electricity pass between us—faint but definitely there.
"Hi," I whispered, though I didn't think there was anyone around us. "Hey," he whispered back, gulping as he did so.
"Did you leave the note," I asked.
"Y-yes," he stammered.
"Cool, but do we really want to play in a bathroom? I have an apartment a 3 minute walk from here."
He looked nervous. I could tell he was thinking it over but I just stayed quiet. "Ok," he said, if it really is that close." "Yes, it is," I said.
I walked to my table and he followed me. I gathered up my stuff and put it all in my book bag. I told him that he should go up first and walk out the front entrance and wait for me at the end of the sidewalk. I would follow behind. This was the 80's and there was no way either of us wanted to announce our intentions to the world.
He walked off and then I had a moment of panic: what if he gets cold feet and disappears? But I finished packing up my books and notebooks, leaving the library books I was working from at the corner of the desk, as I always did. On my way out I caught the eye of the brown-haired librarian. He smiled at me and for the first time I think it dawned on me that he might know more about me than I thought he knew. But, again, that's for another day.
I walked outside and was immediately blasted by the 90-degree heat. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt with sandals, but it only helped so much. Standing at the end of the sidewalk was my note-maker. I walked up beside him and said "follow me" as I walked past. Within thirty seconds we were on the tree lined street that I lived on. The air got about 10 degrees cooler in the shade and I slowed to let him get close to me. I told him my apartment was about 2 minutes away with a private entrance. I also told him my name was Paul and he said his name was Greg. We walked on in silence, both of us I'm sure feeling that wonderful and exquisite uneasy feeling that is always there with these chance encounters.
My apartment was on the second floor of a two-story house. Downstairs was rented by two girls who I knew from living above them for about a year, but we didn't really hang out. I also knew that they were both out of town.
The street was quiet except for the buzzing of the insects, a far-off lawnmower and the chirping of various birds in the large oak and elm trees that lined the street on both sides.
I opened the door and he followed me up the steps to my apartment. I offered him some water, which he gladly took, and then we sat down at the two top that served as my kitchen table. I had a fan in the window that was blowing the air around, and the whole apartment was in the shade of the trees that surrounded it, so it was a bit cooler inside than out.
Greg told me that he had just finished his freshman year and had stayed the summer because he was on the tennis team and wanted to work with the coach, in a special program. He was staying in the dorms, which was air conditioned, which was nice, he said, but he had a roommate. His dorm was only about a 5- or 7-minute walk from my apartment.
Greg was about an inch taller than my 5'8". He had sandy blonde hair and was deeply tanned—he obviously spent a lot of time outside, on the tennis court. He had on a blue t-shirt which covered a thin body and he was wearing tan tennis shorts. Like me, his feet were clad in sandals. He had strong arms and roped tendons and his calves and thighs were pretty solid.
And he was cute. His blonde hair fell to his shoulders and was parted slightly to the left side, like Bjorn Borg. He wasn't as blonde as Borg but his hair was as full. He had a short, upturned nose and clear blue eyes. His skin was soft with only the slightest hint of needing to be shaved. His teeth were straight and white. They'd obviously cost his parents some money with the orthodontist.
I was about an inch shorter. I had curly brown hair that was not as long as his but was thick and fell around my face. Our bodies were similar. We were both thin but not overly muscled, except for his legs and arms.
We talked for a little bit. It became clear that we ran in very different circles, which was not surprising since there were about 10,000 students at the school. At times that seemed small but in reality it meant that there was a greater chance you didn't know someone than you did. I'm sure if we got into "who you know" we'd find someone we both knew, but we left that alone. We were content that we didn't seem to run in the same circles, so for us that was good for a start.
I told him that I was glad he left his note. He said he was, too, but he almost didn't show. He arrived early and was planning to sit in the stall, he said, but then he realize that there was someone working at the table he had passed and was concerned that the student at the table would think it was odd that he was in there for so long (assuming someone else had shown up). I laughed at that and told him how I'd always worked there and had basically staked out the bathroom. I asked him when he left the note and it turned out that I found it within minutes of when he left it. I didn't admit to him that I threw his note away almost within minutes of him leaving it.