Chapter 7
I Never Got Her Name
I was that fall of my sophomore year in high school. I was trying to adjust my life without Audry. I learned there weren't too many women, unlike Audry, that we're satisfied with having sex with no commitment or at least the chance of being "the One."
I received another shock in my sheltered life in middle-class America. My dad started a new job. He wasn't making as much money as he had with his former employer. None of the reasons for this change were explained to me at the time. Later I would learn that my parents almost divorced, but I'll get to that part of the story when I learned about it.
The impact on me was they couldn't afford to send me to the private Catholic school. There I was, one warm early fall day, walking into the Public School building where they taught Catholics how not to love God. Of course, I no longer believe any of that crap they fed us when we were in grade school.
I went to my classes and met some of my school mates. It was understandable that they held me at a distance for a while. They didn't know me. Many of them had been going to school together since kindergarten. There were a fair amount of boys and girls going steady or exclusively not dating others, as we said in those days. Chatting up girls was like going through a minefield. You never knew who was already taken at what kind of reaction you'd get from you mild flirtations. I didn't even have a wingman to steer me away from the girls spoke for.
Besides these problems, I was working more at the supper club, so I didn't get to participate in normal afterschool activities. I didn't go to football and basketball games. Nor was I invited to the "Sadie Hawkins Dance." This was a girl asks boy tradition. As far as Prom was concerned, I was clearing the tables, some of the classmates used when they entertained their dates with a pre-prom dinner. To be fair, while my day to day wasn't typical of most teenagers, it wasn't terrible.
I'm a pretty outgoing guy at this point in my life. I think my experience in working with adults in a place where adults go to relax made me behave older than my years. I saw people at their best and their worst. Adults that drank to much. Men on the prowl for a woman. Women who were looking for the comfort of a man's embrace. I observed greedy people, nasty people, and outstanding people. However, to the men and women that I worked with, to the regular customers that knew me by name, I was still just a kid.
It was late on a Wednesday evening. A regular customer requested a table, so I was working past the standard kitchen closing time. The waiters had left for the evening. The kitchen help was down to the dishwasher, and the guy that took out the garbage and mopped the floors.
One of my jobs was to separate the bar glassware from the dishware. I would collect the bar glasses on a designated tray and take them to the bar to be washed and shelved by the bartender. On my trip to the bar, I came upon a rather nice-looking woman sitting at the bar by herself. I took my tray behind the bar. The bartender asked me if I would watch the bar while he used the bathroom. I agreed and began washing the glassware. The scrubber and rinse tank happened to be where the woman was sitting.
"Good evening," I said.
She looked up from her drink and smiled.
"Indeed, it is. How are you this evening?" she said.
"Excellent. Thank you for asking. And you?"
"Okay. Long day, but a good one."
I nodded.
"Noisy crowd in there..." she gestured with her head toward the dining room, "...earlier this evening. For a Wednesday evening particularly."
"Yes, they were celebrating some kind of sales goal they met."
"I see."
"May I ask what you do that made your day so long."
"I travel. I represent various shoe companies. Sales."
She nodded her head as if she had to let me know that she was finished.
"Sounds interesting."
"It is. I like it. But the drawback is not feeling at home anywhere. Even when I'm home, it feels just like another stop on the circuit."
"Hmm, I can relate a little bit to that. I just started at a new school. I have trouble fitting in. Partially because I work, so I'm not a typical student. Maybe it's not the same as your situation, but I do feel somewhat adrift."
"No, I think it is similar. My advice is to make the best of it. Keep yourself aware of what's going on. You never know what you might happen."
At that point, the bartender came back from his bathroom break.
"You have a good evening," I said to the woman.
"What's your name?"
"Richard."
"It was nice talking to you, Richard."
It took me another half hour to finish my chores. I got my jacket, cap, and gloves from the locker room and went out the back door into the frigid night. At the end of the ally, I took a right-hand turn to go to the bus stop.
The woman from the bar was standing in the street next to a car. She has her hands on both hips, and she looking about in frustration.
"Hi. Are you in trouble?"
"Yes, I had the car washed today. The locks are frozen. I can't get the key turning to open them."
"Hold on a moment I can help you."
I went back into the supper club and picked up a box of matches off of the bar. When I got back to her, she was stomping her feet with her arms wrapped around her body, fighting the bitter cold.
"Can I use your key?"
She handed the set of keys to me with the door lock key between her fingers. I put the key in the lock. She was right. It wouldn't budge. I struck two of the matches I took out of the box and put their flame below the extended part of the key. I did that twice, holding the matches until they started to be uncomfortably hot in my fingers. I tried the key again, and the lock clicked. I stepped back and opened her door for her.
"There you go."
"Thank you. She extended her hand. In her hand was some money."
"You don't have to…"
"I insist," she said.
"I have a favor to ask."
She said as I pocketed what turned out to be a ten-dollar bill.
"I think I've had too much to drink. If you drive me to the hotel. I'll get a cab to take you home. Deal?"
"Sure."
I wasn't about to tell her I only had a temporary license, and according to the law, I shouldn't be driving at that hour of the night.
She was quiet on the way to the hotel. The only thing she said on the trip was that she was embarrassed.
When we got to the hotel, she turned in the seat.
"I've got to eat something. Do you want to join me?"
"Sure."
Thinking back on this point in our meeting, I'm not sure if she was intent on seducing me. If she was, it was subtle. There was no physical contact. There was no flirtatious behavior.
We went to the cafe in the hotel. She ordered a sandwich, chips, and a coke. I went for eggs, bacon, toast, and milk.
"Do you travel at all?" she said.
"No, I've never stayed in a hotel."
We had both finished our meal and gathering our coats to leave.
"Come on upstairs. I'll show you what one looks like."
I didn't say anything, and she didn't wait for my reply. She put her arm in mine and walked me to the elevator.
When we got to her room, she opened the door and motioned me in. When the door closed, she locked it and put the chain in place. Dropping her coat in a chair, she walked up to me, looked in the eye.
"Do you know what could happen next?"
"Yes."
"Are you okay with this."
"Yes."
She put her arms around me. And laid her head on my chest.
"I have needs, Richard. Don't worry. I'll help you. We'll both have fun."
And so it began.
She wanted our experience to be slow and, as she put it, sensual. I guess my experience with her framed my definition of what sensual means for me. It seemed like it took hours. Not to get overly dramatic, but it was a lot like I would imagine it might feel if we were floating on clouds. She whispered her "Needs" in my ear and showed me how to satisfy them.
I realized her being drunk was an act. She was sober and alert. When I thought we were through, she rolled off of me, laid her head on my chest, and looped her leg over mine.
"So, what are you studying?" She breathed into my chest. Her fingers were slowly running up ad down from my chest to my sex and back.
"College entry courses."
Her head snapped up. She was looking at me inches from my face.
"Don't you take those in High school?"
"Yes. I'm a sophomore."
She peeled back off of me and laid flat on her back next to me.
"Jesus H, Christ! You're in high school?"
I nodded.
"I could be in huge trouble if this got out, you know?"
"I guess you could, but I'm not going to tell if you don't."
"Yeah. What do you want for that?"
I rolled toward her and propped my head on my left arm.
"What the hell do you think I am? When you invited me to your room. I knew what would happen. You're a beautiful woman. I was thinking about how fortunate I was that you might want to have sex with me. I don't expect or want anything else."
"Okay, I'm sorry."
It was quiet for a time.
"How are you?" she said.
"Fine, I'm sorry if I snapped, but…"
"I get it. Forget, I challenged you. It's just that I thought you were older."
"I guess I should be flattered."
"What you should be proud of is what a considerate lover you are."
I rolled toward her.
"You liked that, huh," I said.
"I liked it a lot."
"You want more?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
I was far more afraid I'd never see her again. She was the one who could be in trouble. In this state, she could be charged with rape even if I said I wanted to have sex with her. I never saw her again. I suspect that she might be concerned that I might tell someone, and the situation might blow up in both of our faces.
Looking back, I'd say I was conflicted. I know I didn't daydream about living with her and thinking how wonderful that might be. But it was mostly about sex. Since our entire time together was mainly about sex, what else could I think of? Realistically, a young guy my age and a woman like her couldn't live together day today?
Then, I was still young and pretty naive. I thought in stereotypes and midwestern mores. My thinking put limits on love and relationships. The nameless one, Rebecka and Dedra were too old. Lisa and Audrey were out of my league. There were reasons and limits. I got over most of what I felt about the nameless one, but honestly, I can't forget her."
I Never Got Her Name
I was that fall of my sophomore year in high school. I was trying to adjust my life without Audry. I learned there weren't too many women, unlike Audry, that we're satisfied with having sex with no commitment or at least the chance of being "the One."
I received another shock in my sheltered life in middle-class America. My dad started a new job. He wasn't making as much money as he had with his former employer. None of the reasons for this change were explained to me at the time. Later I would learn that my parents almost divorced, but I'll get to that part of the story when I learned about it.
The impact on me was they couldn't afford to send me to the private Catholic school. There I was, one warm early fall day, walking into the Public School building where they taught Catholics how not to love God. Of course, I no longer believe any of that crap they fed us when we were in grade school.
I went to my classes and met some of my school mates. It was understandable that they held me at a distance for a while. They didn't know me. Many of them had been going to school together since kindergarten. There were a fair amount of boys and girls going steady or exclusively not dating others, as we said in those days. Chatting up girls was like going through a minefield. You never knew who was already taken at what kind of reaction you'd get from you mild flirtations. I didn't even have a wingman to steer me away from the girls spoke for.
Besides these problems, I was working more at the supper club, so I didn't get to participate in normal afterschool activities. I didn't go to football and basketball games. Nor was I invited to the "Sadie Hawkins Dance." This was a girl asks boy tradition. As far as Prom was concerned, I was clearing the tables, some of the classmates used when they entertained their dates with a pre-prom dinner. To be fair, while my day to day wasn't typical of most teenagers, it wasn't terrible.
I'm a pretty outgoing guy at this point in my life. I think my experience in working with adults in a place where adults go to relax made me behave older than my years. I saw people at their best and their worst. Adults that drank to much. Men on the prowl for a woman. Women who were looking for the comfort of a man's embrace. I observed greedy people, nasty people, and outstanding people. However, to the men and women that I worked with, to the regular customers that knew me by name, I was still just a kid.
It was late on a Wednesday evening. A regular customer requested a table, so I was working past the standard kitchen closing time. The waiters had left for the evening. The kitchen help was down to the dishwasher, and the guy that took out the garbage and mopped the floors.
One of my jobs was to separate the bar glassware from the dishware. I would collect the bar glasses on a designated tray and take them to the bar to be washed and shelved by the bartender. On my trip to the bar, I came upon a rather nice-looking woman sitting at the bar by herself. I took my tray behind the bar. The bartender asked me if I would watch the bar while he used the bathroom. I agreed and began washing the glassware. The scrubber and rinse tank happened to be where the woman was sitting.
"Good evening," I said.
She looked up from her drink and smiled.
"Indeed, it is. How are you this evening?" she said.
"Excellent. Thank you for asking. And you?"
"Okay. Long day, but a good one."
I nodded.
"Noisy crowd in there..." she gestured with her head toward the dining room, "...earlier this evening. For a Wednesday evening particularly."
"Yes, they were celebrating some kind of sales goal they met."
"I see."
"May I ask what you do that made your day so long."
"I travel. I represent various shoe companies. Sales."
She nodded her head as if she had to let me know that she was finished.
"Sounds interesting."
"It is. I like it. But the drawback is not feeling at home anywhere. Even when I'm home, it feels just like another stop on the circuit."
"Hmm, I can relate a little bit to that. I just started at a new school. I have trouble fitting in. Partially because I work, so I'm not a typical student. Maybe it's not the same as your situation, but I do feel somewhat adrift."
"No, I think it is similar. My advice is to make the best of it. Keep yourself aware of what's going on. You never know what you might happen."
At that point, the bartender came back from his bathroom break.
"You have a good evening," I said to the woman.
"What's your name?"
"Richard."
"It was nice talking to you, Richard."
It took me another half hour to finish my chores. I got my jacket, cap, and gloves from the locker room and went out the back door into the frigid night. At the end of the ally, I took a right-hand turn to go to the bus stop.
The woman from the bar was standing in the street next to a car. She has her hands on both hips, and she looking about in frustration.
"Hi. Are you in trouble?"
"Yes, I had the car washed today. The locks are frozen. I can't get the key turning to open them."
"Hold on a moment I can help you."
I went back into the supper club and picked up a box of matches off of the bar. When I got back to her, she was stomping her feet with her arms wrapped around her body, fighting the bitter cold.
"Can I use your key?"
She handed the set of keys to me with the door lock key between her fingers. I put the key in the lock. She was right. It wouldn't budge. I struck two of the matches I took out of the box and put their flame below the extended part of the key. I did that twice, holding the matches until they started to be uncomfortably hot in my fingers. I tried the key again, and the lock clicked. I stepped back and opened her door for her.
"There you go."
"Thank you. She extended her hand. In her hand was some money."
"You don't have to…"
"I insist," she said.
"I have a favor to ask."
She said as I pocketed what turned out to be a ten-dollar bill.
"I think I've had too much to drink. If you drive me to the hotel. I'll get a cab to take you home. Deal?"
"Sure."
I wasn't about to tell her I only had a temporary license, and according to the law, I shouldn't be driving at that hour of the night.
She was quiet on the way to the hotel. The only thing she said on the trip was that she was embarrassed.
When we got to the hotel, she turned in the seat.
"I've got to eat something. Do you want to join me?"
"Sure."
Thinking back on this point in our meeting, I'm not sure if she was intent on seducing me. If she was, it was subtle. There was no physical contact. There was no flirtatious behavior.
We went to the cafe in the hotel. She ordered a sandwich, chips, and a coke. I went for eggs, bacon, toast, and milk.
"Do you travel at all?" she said.
"No, I've never stayed in a hotel."
We had both finished our meal and gathering our coats to leave.
"Come on upstairs. I'll show you what one looks like."
I didn't say anything, and she didn't wait for my reply. She put her arm in mine and walked me to the elevator.
When we got to her room, she opened the door and motioned me in. When the door closed, she locked it and put the chain in place. Dropping her coat in a chair, she walked up to me, looked in the eye.
"Do you know what could happen next?"
"Yes."
"Are you okay with this."
"Yes."
She put her arms around me. And laid her head on my chest.
"I have needs, Richard. Don't worry. I'll help you. We'll both have fun."
And so it began.
She wanted our experience to be slow and, as she put it, sensual. I guess my experience with her framed my definition of what sensual means for me. It seemed like it took hours. Not to get overly dramatic, but it was a lot like I would imagine it might feel if we were floating on clouds. She whispered her "Needs" in my ear and showed me how to satisfy them.
I realized her being drunk was an act. She was sober and alert. When I thought we were through, she rolled off of me, laid her head on my chest, and looped her leg over mine.
"So, what are you studying?" She breathed into my chest. Her fingers were slowly running up ad down from my chest to my sex and back.
"College entry courses."
Her head snapped up. She was looking at me inches from my face.
"Don't you take those in High school?"
"Yes. I'm a sophomore."
She peeled back off of me and laid flat on her back next to me.
"Jesus H, Christ! You're in high school?"
I nodded.
"I could be in huge trouble if this got out, you know?"
"I guess you could, but I'm not going to tell if you don't."
"Yeah. What do you want for that?"
I rolled toward her and propped my head on my left arm.
"What the hell do you think I am? When you invited me to your room. I knew what would happen. You're a beautiful woman. I was thinking about how fortunate I was that you might want to have sex with me. I don't expect or want anything else."
"Okay, I'm sorry."
It was quiet for a time.
"How are you?" she said.
"Fine, I'm sorry if I snapped, but…"
"I get it. Forget, I challenged you. It's just that I thought you were older."
"I guess I should be flattered."
"What you should be proud of is what a considerate lover you are."
I rolled toward her.
"You liked that, huh," I said.
"I liked it a lot."
"You want more?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
I was far more afraid I'd never see her again. She was the one who could be in trouble. In this state, she could be charged with rape even if I said I wanted to have sex with her. I never saw her again. I suspect that she might be concerned that I might tell someone, and the situation might blow up in both of our faces.
Looking back, I'd say I was conflicted. I know I didn't daydream about living with her and thinking how wonderful that might be. But it was mostly about sex. Since our entire time together was mainly about sex, what else could I think of? Realistically, a young guy my age and a woman like her couldn't live together day today?
Then, I was still young and pretty naive. I thought in stereotypes and midwestern mores. My thinking put limits on love and relationships. The nameless one, Rebecka and Dedra were too old. Lisa and Audrey were out of my league. There were reasons and limits. I got over most of what I felt about the nameless one, but honestly, I can't forget her."
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