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Carli stuffed her book bag full of everything she thought she needed for the day. She was a bit late and the lecture would be starting soon at the University lecture hall. Carli was a good student and wanted to get good grades so she could get into Medical School when she finished her undergraduate courses. This meant studying hard and developing good study habits. She didn't have the luxury of some students that hardly cracked a book, but got good grades anyhow.
Today's lecture dealt with human psychology. Carli wasn't sure just how much she believed in this science. Nonetheless it was a prerequisite and she wanted to do well in the course. She listened carefully, made notes and even taped some of the lecture to study it at her leisure, later. During a short recess in the two hour lecture session, Carli noticed an acquaintance speaking with an older man near the back of the hall. She approached them and called out, "Hi, April, is this your guardian?" she asked.
"Oh no," April said, "This is Gary Harrison. He's a close friend of my guardian, Cedric," April said as she introduced Gary, "Gary, this is my friend, Carli. She's going to be a famous Doctor someday." Carli smiled and shook her head good naturedly.
"I'm pleased to meet you, Carli," Gary said with a smile. "I drove April to school today and she convinced me to stay and hear this lecture," he explained.
"Gary is just like you, Carli. He doesn't much believe in some of the finer points of human psychology," April told her. Carli smiled a lovely young smile, displaying her marvelous white teeth, framed in full deep pink lips, unencumbered with makeup. She tossed her blonde shoulder length hair slightly. April said that she was proud of Gary for restraining his 'dirty old man' tendencies and giggled when Gary feigned annoyance. Carli smiled too, because some time ago, April had told her of Gary's sexual adventures. They returned to their seats and painfully managed to listen to the balance of the lecture.
It was November, when Gary next ventured to the college to go to the big football game against their greatest rival. Cedric had given Gary the tickets when he had been called out of town at the last minute. The seats were near the front, right on the fifty yard line. People would kill for seats like these for any game let alone the biggest game of the year. Since he was alone and had two tickets he went to the stadium early to hang around the box office to give away the other ticket. It was an Indian summer afternoon and he was comfortable in his sweater, but had also brought his coat and gloves. Winter in this state descended quickly to trap the unwary in its cold embrace.
Gary stood patiently near the box office, when someone tugged at his sweater. He turned to see a lovely young woman smiling at him. "Remember me, Mister Harrison?" Carli asked him. Gary's brows furrowed. The young woman looked very familiar, but he could not place her. She grinned and reminded him, "I'm Carli. April introduced us at the lecture hall last month."
"Oh, yes, Carli. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you," Gary said. Carli grinned and replied with the usual small talk as Gary asked her, "Are you going to the big game?"
Carli shook her head and frowned, "No, I forgot my Student Activity Card and I can't even buy a ticket," she said a bit dejected.
"Well, Carli, this might just be your lucky day," Gary said, "Guess who has two tickets and no one to give the other one to."
"You got to be kidding!" Carli exclaimed as he handed her his other ticket. "Oh this is awesome! Wow, fifty yard line seats…are you sure?" she asked, as though perhaps he had misgivings.
"Yes, I'm sure," he smiled, "I came here to the box office to give away this other ticket because it would be a shame to let it go to waste." Carli grinned and hugged him as she accepted the ticket. "You can be an old man's date, Carli, for this game, anyway." Late in the fourth quarter the weather changed, to become foul. It began to snow, the sun disappeared and it was downright cold. Gary noticed that Carli was wearing only a light sweater and was obviously cold. He wrapped his heavy coat around her and placed his finger on her lips when she tried to decline accepting it. Finally, she wrapped the coat tightly around her lithe little body and sheepishly looked up at Gary to say 'thank you'. After the game, Gary asked her if he could drop her off at her dorm or where ever she wanted to go and Carli agreed.
"I'm a bit hungry, Carli, will you join me for dinner?" he asked her. Carli agreed as she explained that her roommate had her boyfriend over for the weekend and she would just be in the way at the dorm. Finishing dinner, Gary bundled Carli in his coat and they walked to his car through the accumulating snow. At the dorm, Carli sighed in desperation. Her roommates' boyfriend's car was still there. The weather was fast closing in and she knew that he was probably going to spend the night. "Damn!" she said, knowing that meant she would spend the night in the dorm lobby. Gary asked what was wrong and she reluctantly told him what was going on.
"Carli," Gary said very deliberately, "please don't get the wrong idea, but if you like you can get a room at the hotel for tonight." Carli thanked him, but said she couldn't afford it and would stay in the dorm lobby. "Ok, Carli, I'll walk you inside so you won't catch cold and then I'll take my coat." Once inside the dorm it was obvious that several students, and others, had also decided to spend the night in the lobby. It was packed with wall to wall people. "Come on Carli, there's no other choice, now," he said. Reluctantly, she accepted the offer and they left.
At the hotel all the rooms were taken. Carli was visibly upset and on the verge of tears as Gary tried to comfort her. "Carli, look…you can stay in my room. I have two beds in the room and I promise I won't bother you…honest," Gary said. Carli sighed deeply and nodded, tears welling in her eyes. "Why are you crying, Carli?" Gary asked, puzzled by her tears.
"I don't know…it's just that I haven't done this before, with…with an older guy," she blubbered.
"Look, Carli, I'm not going to touch you, I promise. This is just an accommodation because of the weather. Surely you understand that, don't you?" Carli nodded, wiped her eyes and blew her cute little nose into a tissue. She took a deep breath and nodded. Gary opened his suitcase and took out a pair of his pajamas. "Here, Carli, you can wear these, if you want, or you can sleep in your clothes…it's your choice." Gary grabbed his robe and headed to the bathroom. Inside he removed his clothes except his underwear. He brushed his teeth, put on the robe and returned to the bedroom.
Carli returned from the bathroom wearing the pajamas with the sleeves and pants rolled up. Gary smiled and jokingly said the pajamas looked much better on her than on him. Carli returned the smile, finally settling down from her concerns to curl up in her bed. "May I watch a movie, Gary?" she asked. Gary nodded and handed her the remote control as he got under the covers. He fell asleep quickly as he was tired from activities of the day, leaving Carli to her movie.