'If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life,
Never make a pretty woman your wife,
So from my personal point of view,
Get an ugly girl to marry you.
A pretty woman makes her husband look small,
And very often causes his downfall.......' Jimmy Soul, 1963.
Todd Lofter III was born far too late to have absorbed he lessons of Jimmy Soul's classic song. He was an average guy in every way, except that he was from a medium sized Pennsylvania town, and his family was among the upper crust there. He was 5'9" tall, weighed 145 pounds, had brown hair, and brown eyes. He was a slightly above average student -- got mostly B's in high school. He was a slightly above average athlete, but never went out for any sport, beyond Little League. He did take judo courses at the YMCA. Despite his diffident attitude, he was good at those courses. He had taken them since he was six years old. It allowed him to carry himself with some physical confidence.
At college -- a small liberal arts school in the middle of the state, he excelled only at poker in his fraternity. He didn't need the money he won, but kept it anyway. He maintained a 3.0 grade average, slightly above average, but nothing special. He didn't have to work very hard to attain that status. In his entire life, he never really was put to the test. He always glided through.
At college, Todd took mostly liberal arts courses. But he had a science requirement that he put off for a while. He decided -- junior year -- that he would take a computer programming course. In high school he had mastered the basics of that, since his school had a computer on-site. But at college, he became quite interested in programming, and computers in general. It was 1975, and the field was fairly new. At computer class in college, Todd met Becky Dawson.
Back in high school Todd dated girls who were in the same social set as he and his family. They were sometimes pretty, sometimes not so much. Some were really hyper-sexual. Most were not. Todd was diffidently interested in women, just as in other things. When he was a senior, he lost his virginity to an older girl, back home from university. As a freshman in college, he had dates, and fumbling sex with two women. As a sophomore, his dating pattern was similar. He stayed with a woman -- Joanne Bagley -- for most of the year, but they broke it off in the spring. They had regular sex for some months, though. So, when Todd met Becky, he wasn't completely inexperienced.
Becky was beautiful. She was tall -- 5' 9" -- and had auburn hair and blue eyes. She had a slim figure, and was quite athletic. She was also very intelligent. She and Todd were about the only two students in the computer class who actually knew what was being taught. They realized this, and formed a type of bond. At the time, Todd was unattached, but Becky -- a woman of stunning beauty -- was living with a senior hot shot soccer player. Bradley Boston stood 6' tall, and was lithe and quick. He was the major player on the university team. At that time, soccer was not a major sport. But the U was one of the top teams in the country. So Bradley got some notice.
Becky invited Todd to her apartment to study their computer programming. Todd was happy to accept. He and Becky had coffee and hit the books. Todd was almost immediately in love with Becky. She was just so intelligent, funny and sexy, too. She really didn't try for sexy. She just was that way. She was aware, to a degree, of her effect upon guys. She took it for granted and adjusted. Many men were tongue-tied around her. Others, like Brad, pursued her overtly. Bradley caught her quickly. She was between men when they met the year before. He was handsome and witty. And she liked that he played soccer. The sex between them was the best that she had experienced. She did have fairly extensive experience. She agreed to move in with Bradley at the start of the year -- his senior year and her junior one.
By the time Todd was invited to the apartment, a month into the semester, Becky was having second thoughts about that move. Sex with Brad was still good, but he was often absent, at practice and at other functions. When Todd came over, for instance, Brad had been out the entire week on a recruiting trip with his coach. Brad was taking an athlete's course at college, and so had no real need to study.
Todd and Becky spent three hours that first visit, pouring over the books they had on programming. While just being around Becky was distracting to Todd, he was so interested in the material that he forgot that he was in love with her. They simply worked at the material, and helped each other with it.
Bradley rolled in at about eleven. Todd and Becky were just finishing up. Todd was walking toward the door when Brad opened it.
Becky said, "Brad, this is Todd from my computer class. We were just studying."
Todd said, "Hi." And reached out his hand to shake.
Brad refused the handshake. "Beck, you know you should not have guys here."
"No, I don't know that. He's here to study. He's the only other person in my class that knows what he's doing. That's it. That's all."
Brad eyed Todd. Todd could see that Brad was all bunched up, ready to spring. Todd crouched just a little, to prepare in case Brad came at him. Brad didn't seem to notice. But he eyed Todd and then seemed to relax.
Brad said, "Sorry. Maybe I overreacted." He pushed the exit door open for Todd, and Todd walked out. The door closed. It didn't slam. Todd waited a while on the stairs, to listen in case there was trouble. He heard some loud arguing, from both Brad and Becky. Then things seemed to settle. He walked out and back to his room.
The next computer class was two days off. Todd was there early, and so was Becky.
Todd said, "I hope things were okay with you after I left." She didn't have any obvious signs of physical conflict.
"Yes. We had an argument, but then it was fine. I saw you waited a while before you went outside. Thanks."
"I just...he seemed so angry at the start. Not to be nosy, but.....does he have a jealousy problem?"
"I have seen him get snippy with guys who try me out when he's around. Nothing extreme....I guess."
"Well, maybe we should just study at the Union. No risk of conflict. That is, if you still want to study."
"Oh, I do. I do. Brad's out on a trip tomorrow through till Sunday. So, we can do it at the apartment. Lots quieter."
"Okay, well, tomorrow after seven?"
"Yep. See you." They sat through class, and again were impressed with each other's participation. After class they walked to the Union snack bar for coffee. It was ten am.