Here We Go Again

I would have to say (others might not agree) that my life was fairly normal for the first twenty-five years of it. A 'middle of the roader' would be a pretty accurate description.

In school I never made the honor role, but I never failed a class. In the sports I went out for I usually made the team, but I was never a stand out star. My extra curricular activities were the Chess Club and the Thespian Society. I won seventy percent of my chess matches (which of course meant the I lost thirty percent of them) and in the plays the Thespian Society put on I almost always got a part, but never the lead.

I did all right in the dating department, but that was mostly because I had a car courtesy of doting grandparents. They gave it to me the day I got my driver's license.

Well to do doting grandparents also got me into college via a college fund that they set up the day I came into the world.

College was similar to high school in that I got decent, but not stellar grades and that was not because I lacked smarts, but because of the party atmosphere that came with the fraternity that I joined.

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College was significant in that besides the education that it gave me it also gave me a distrust of women. It didn't start in high school because in high school I never got serious with any of the girls I dated. That changed when I started college. Changed quickly.

The first day of freshman orientation I met Ann Spaulding and felt all warm and tingly inside when she looked into my eyes and said hello. I wasn't at all shy and I asked her out after talking to her for only five minutes. She said that she would love to go out with me. We had a great first date and seemed to click. The first date led to several more and by the holiday break we were an acknowledged couple on campus and were actually talking marriage.

The first time we made love Ann was worried that I might be upset because she wasn't a virgin, but I assured her that it didn't matter. Why should it since I wasn't one either. Bev Holbrook saw to that at my eighteenth birthday party.

When the holiday break came she went back to Michigan and before she left we discussed going shopping for a ring when she came back. The day after Christmas I was missing her something awful so I dipped into my college fund and caught a flight to Michigan. I landed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport; rented a car from Avis and the GPS system in the car took me right to 411 Campbell Ave in Ypsilanti. I rang the doorbell and a woman I assumed was Ann's mother answered the door and I asked for Ann.

"Ann isn't here right now. She and Charlie are out on a date. I think they are shopping for the ring."

"Charlie?"

"Charlie Ferguson; her fiancée."

"Ann has a fiancée?"

"For two years now."

"She never told me. Well, if she isn't here I guess I'd better get along" and I turned to leave.

"Who should I say dropped by?"

I gave her a made up name and headed back to the airport. I turned in the rental and caught the next flight out.

Ann came back on January second. I was in my room at the frat house when Bill Neubert told me that Ann was there to see me. I went downstairs and she was all smiles when she saw me. She ran to me and put her arms around me and kissed me and then asked:

"Are we going ring shopping today?"

"Why? Didn't you like the one you got from Charlie?"

"Charlie?"

"You know; Charlie Ferguson. Your fiancée."

"That was you that came to the house?"

"It was."

"I can explain that honey."

"No you can't. You could talk to me if I was willing to listen, but I'm not" and I turned and went back up to my room.

When I next saw her a week later she was on the arm of a sophomore basketball player.

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It wasn't until spring break that I was willing to try dating again. I didn't go anywhere on the break because the money I could have used to go was spent on my trip to Michigan.

I was at the mall and I had just come out of Sears when the woman in front of me tripped and fell. When I helped her up I saw that it was a girl who was in my Introduction to Business Law class. I couldn't remember her name. When I helped her up I noticed that she seemed in pain. I asked her if she was all right and she told me that she thought that she had twisted her ankle.

We were close to the center court so I picked up the packages she had dropped and helped her to one of the center court benches. She had been wearing high heels and somehow the heel on the right shoe had snapped off and that is what caused her to go down. She was worried about how she was going to get around with one broken shoe and when I mentioned that she could go barefoot she said:

"Maybe here inside, but not out in the parking lot."

I noticed that there was a Footlocker close by and I asked her for her shoe size and then I went and bought her the cheapest pair of tennis shoes that they had in her size. I took the shoes back to Becky (we had exchanged names when I helped her to the bench) and she put them on. Then leaning on me I helped her out to her car in the parking lot. As she got in the car she told me that she owed me for my help and she invited me over to her place for dinner and I accepted.

When I got to the address she had given me I was surprised to see that it was an apartment. I don't know why, but I had assumed that she was living with her parents. She answered my knock and let me in. It was a pretty nice two bedroom apartment and she had set up the second bedroom as a study complete with desk, desktop computer and loaded book shelves.

She handed me a glass of red wine and we sat and talked while dinner finished cooking. I found out that she was like me in that she had a trust fund paying for her college and she had decided to live off campus instead of living in the dorms or joining a sorority.

Dinner was baked pork chops, mashed potatoes and green beans and before dinner was over I had asked her out and she had accepted. By summer vacation we were a steady couple. She wasn't going to go home for the summer. She was going to stay in school and take some summer classes. I had a summer job working for my uncle doing landscaping and lawn maintenance so we were able to date over the summer.

By the time school started back up for the fall term I was pretty serious where Becky was concerned and I thought she felt the same about me. Right up until a frat mixer during the third week of classes. I introduced Becky to some of my frat brothers and we proceeded to party. A couple of hours into the affair I looked around and couldn't see Becky and so I went looking for her.

I found her in a bedroom being fucked by some guy I had never seen before. I assumed that Becky knew him from the way she was crying out:

"Fuck me Tommy; oh god baby, fuck me."

I walked up to where I could look down into Becky's face. Her eyes were closed until the guy said, "Hey dude; how about some privacy here" and I said, "I'm leaving. I just wanted to tell Becky that she is going to have to find another ride home. I don't want her cunt leaking on my car seat."

At the sound of my voice Becky's eyes shot open and she started trying to push the guy off of her. I turned and left the room. The only saving grace – at least for me – was that the guy wasn't a frat brother; just the guest of one.

I drove out to Steven's Point and looked out over the water and napped off and on until the party was over. At least Becky spared me the "It wasn't what it looked like" or the "I can explain Honey" or the ever popular "It didn't mean a thing baby." I never spoke to her again. The real outcome was that I was soured on girls so I went the rest of my sophomore year without even trying to date.

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Summer vacation was spent working for my uncle again and I was still working part time for him on the weekends after school started in the fall. Three weeks after school started we were putting in a koi pond at an upscale house in the Pinewood Estates. I'd just finished laying the liner when an absolutely stunningly beautiful girl came out on the patio, sat down and watched me work as I rocked the edges of the liner.

She watched me for maybe five minutes and then she got up and went back into the house only to come back out five minutes later with a pitcher and two glasses. She filled one of the glasses from the pitcher and brought it over and handed it to me.

"Here" she said as she handed it to me, "You need to take a break."

"What is it?"

"Poison of course. Can't waste the good stuff on the hired help."

"Oh well, if I'm going to die it might as well be by the hand of a beautiful woman."

I took a sip and found that it was sweetened iced tea. I nodded an okay and said:

"And who does Bobby have to thank for this?"

"Fiona. You don't look like a Bobby."

"Bobby is how I refer to myself. Most other people call me Rob although I have been known to answer to "Hey You."

"Well then Hey You, come and join me at the table. I want to pick your brain."

I joined her at the patio table and she said, "I saw you when I took a tour of the campus just before summer break so tell me some of the things you found out the hard way when you were a freshman."

I took a sip of my tea and then spent ten minutes telling her about some of the pitfalls to avoid and then I told her I had to get back to work.

"I've got to have the water and some of the plants in the hole by the end of the day."

"What time do you get off?"

"When the sun starts to go down."

"That will be about eightish. Doesn't give us much time."

"Time for what?"

"I've just appointed you my campus guide. In order for you to be able to do the job correctly we will need to get to know each other. To do that we need to date. The first one will be tonight when you get off work."

I couldn't help it; I just had to tweak her and even though I didn't have one I said, "And just what am I supposed to tell my girlfriend?"

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye?"

"Yes. You tell your ex-girlfriend goodbye."

I was intrigued. I wasn't used to a girl of her age being so self assured.

"I'm filthy and I'll need to go home to shower and change clothes. It would be nine or nine-thirty before we could even start. I have to be up by six so I need to be in bed by eleven-thirty if I'm going to be worth spit on the job tomorrow. An hour and a half isn't going to be much of a date."

"You can shower here and you are about the same size as my dad so clothes won't be a problem."

I chuckled and said, "Do I at least get to pick my own best man?"

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it." She topped off my drink and told me to get back to work. "The sooner you get done the sooner we can start our date."

I just shook my head and got back to work. As I worked I wondered about Fiona. It wasn't likely that I would have ever asked her out and for a bunch of reasons. One was you don't hit on your customers. Another of course was that I hadn't dated since Becky and was still in an "I don't need this shit!" kind of mood where girls were concerned. Also it wasn't likely that I would have ever run into her on campus what with me being a junior and her being a freshman. The two of us dating could only have happened the way it did and who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I finished up about six and Fiona showed me where to shower and when I came out I found that she had brought in a shirt, a pair of slacks, a pair of socks and a pair of penny loafers. Everything fit and when I was dressed I found her waiting.

"We will take my car. I'm not interested in showing up at Adolpho's in a pickup truck. Especially one with a cement mixer and a wheelbarrow in the back."

"I hate to burst your bubble Fiona, but Bobby can't afford Adolpho's."

"Doesn't matter since we won't be paying anyway. My Uncle Stan owns the place and my dates and I get a free ride."

I have to admit that I was a little put off by her take charge attitude, but at the same time I was intrigued by it. And also in the back of my mind I was wondering about why this girl was behaving with me like she was. She was drop dead gorgeous, from money, and no doubt had a list of suitors a mile long so why had she pulled a landscape laborer out of the hole he was working in and set up a date?

I didn't believe for one minute that it was because she needed a guide around campus. True, she probably had seen me when she toured the campus and had recognized me, but there was no doubt in my mind that she knew dozens of guys who went to State and who would have leapt at the chance of being her guide.

We had a very nice dinner and talked as we ate. I learned that she was twenty and the reason that she was a twenty year old freshman was because her grandmother had taken her on a lengthy world tour. She was actually six days older than I was. She hadn't yet decided what she was going to major in, but was leaning toward Business Management.

When we got back to her house she told me that she rarely ever kissed on the first date.

"I like the guy to have something to look forward to. Some get it on the second date, but most don't get it until the third. I hope you like classical music because that is where we are going tomorrow. Pick me up at six."

I told her that it might not be possible because I still had plenty of work to do on the koi pond and landscaping and I might not finish in time to go home and change.

"Bring your clothes and you can shower and change here" and she headed on into the house.

My initial thought as the door closed behind her was to ignore what she wanted and go home to shower and change and if we missed the symphony tough shit, but there were two reasons why I couldn't do that. One was that it might have an adverse effect on my uncle's business. A lot of his work came from word of mouth advertising from satisfied customers. I had no idea of how much influence Fiona had with her parents so I couldn't chance it. The other reason of course was that I just had to see where things were going to go.

When I picked her up she damned near took my breath away. She was gorgeous and she dressed to show it off. I was wearing a dark blue suit with a red silk tie, but along side Fiona I looked like a bum. I was sure that people were going to look at us and wonder why she was with a guy like me and of course I was wondering it too.

It was an enjoyable evening. The program was Mendelssohn's Symphony's No.3 and No.4. The "Scottish" and the "Italian" both in A major and both favorites of mine. After it was over I took her to Denny's for pie and coffee and she told me about her world tour with her grandmother and told me that someday she would like to live in Spain.

When I got her home she gave me a scorcher of a kiss, told me that she would let me decide what to do on our next date:

"Which will be tomorrow. Give me a call and let me know what time you will pick me up and how I should dress."

The next day was a Monday and a school day and I had planned on spending the evening working on my car, but Fiona fascinated me and I decided to go along with her program even though I didn't have a clue as to what her program was.

I decided to see how a girl into world tours and symphonies would handle more plebian pursuits. I called her at eight in the morning and told her that I would pick her up at five and to dress in jeans. When she asked what we would be doing I told her it was a surprise.

"I don't do surprises well" she told me and the tone of her voice when she said it did not set well with me so I decided to show a little backbone where "Miss I'm in Charge" was concerned and so I said:

"Too bad. It would have been fun. Take care and maybe I'll see you around campus."

"Whoa! What do you mean by that?"

"You don't want my surprise so I'll just go by myself and since you don't seem to like the way I do things I don't see much sense in trying to do things with you."

"Don't be silly Rob. That's not what I meant. I'm just a girl who likes to be prepared when I do things. I didn't say I wasn't going to go. Its little things like how to dress. For example; you said jeans, but I have dressy jeans and I have jeans for bumming around in so which do I wear?"

That sounded reasonable so I backed off a little and told her to wear her bumming around jeans.

I picked her up at five and we went to the miniature golf place on North Wilcox and played. There were several kids there that I knew and I introduced them to Fiona. After we finished there I took her to the Burger Barn for dinner and then it was over to Skate City. I don't know if she enjoyed the evening, but I sure did.

When we got in my car to take her home she slid over next to me, kissed me on the cheek and then sat next to me all the way to her house. When I pulled into her driveway and put the car in park she said:

"Kiss me Rob."

I did and we sat there for the next half hour and engaged in a steamy make out session. It ended when my hand went under her top and fondled her breasts. She pulled away from me and said:

"Not yet Rob' it is too soon for that."

She kissed me again and started to get out of the car. I got out and walked over to her side of the car and walked her to her door where she kissed me again and said:

"I'm free all week except for Wednesday. Call me."

As I drove home I was still wondering what was gong on. What was Fiona playing at? She was a steak and caviar girl and I was a burger and fries guy. Her interest in me made no sense at all. At least it didn't to me. That said I was going to hang in there. Our being together didn't compute although I wished it did.

We dated for the next two weeks and our make out sessions got hotter and hotter and we had reached the point that I was finger fucking her and she was giving me hand jobs. I kept pushing her for 'the full ride' and she kept saying "Not yet" or "It's too soon."

The Saturday at the end of the second week was her twenty-first birthday and we were on for dinner and a movie. I picked her up and gave her a card and the present I'd bought for her. She read the card and said, "That's just so sweet Rob" and then she opened her present and exclaimed, "I love them honey" and she took off the earrings she was wearing and put on the gold hoop earrings I'd given her.

In the car she moved to her usual spot – right next to me leg touching leg – and I drove us to Duke's Steak House. Over dinner she told me that she didn't want to go to the movies.

"I want to celebrate my twenty-first birthday with drinks and dancing. Take me to The Black Mushroom."

"I can't do that. You might be twenty-one, but I won't be twenty-one until next week."

"I've got that covered" she said and she handed me a driver's license in the name of Ronald Cummings and it said that he was twenty-two. In his picture he had a beard and Fiona said:

"It is my Cousin Ron's license. All you have to do is say that you shaved since getting the license."

I shrugged and thought, "What the hell; all they can do is refuse it so I might as well go for it."

They didn't refuse it. They never even saw it. They carded Fiona and then assumed that her date would be as old as she was or older and they waved us in. The guy at the door gave Fiona a piece of paper to give to the waitress.

"We give everyone who comes in here on their twenty-first birthday a drink on the house."

I don't know about Fiona, but I was no stranger to alcohol. I'd been drinking wine with dinner (one glass only) since I turned sixteen and beer since becoming eighteen. I ordered a beer and Fiona asked for a Cosmo and then we drank and danced for the next three hours. I limited myself to two beers which I nursed because I was driving, but Fiona had half dozen drinks before we left.