The Bedtime Tales of Be287m

Friends and Benefits, Chapter Twenty-nine

I had trouble falling asleep that night.  Part of it was the unfamiliar room and unfamiliar bed.  Part of it was that I was too keyed up from the evening, and from anticipation of the next day.  I thought about calling Sherri, but it was already past midnight her time.  Eventually I just flipped on the TV and watched a B-movie on Showtime until I was drowsy and bored enough to sleep.  I woke up earlier than I wanted and, after lying in bed for half an hour, got up and went questing for breakfast.

As I sipped my coffee and my head slowly cleared, I realized I had time to kill before I got on the road.  Maybe calling Sherri would be a good thing after all.  After I finished my breakfast, I pulled out my calling card and headed back to the room.

Lisa answered.  “How’s the trip going?” she asked after I’d introduced myself.

“Okay,” I said.  “Tina and I had a good dinner and a good conversation.  I’ll drive up to see her father in a little bit.”

“So are you two getting back together?”

“It’s too early to tell.”

“Oh.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. 

“Well, here’s Sherri,” she said.

Sherri came on the line and I filled her in on what had happened, from Tina’s reaction to the photo album through the hug goodnight.

“So,” she said when I was done, “how do you feel about her dating other guys?”

“Mixed,” I said.  “On the one hand, I don’t like the idea of her choosing another guy over me.  On the other hand, I know that part of the reason I held my heart back was because she was so young and inexperienced.  I wasn’t comfortable being her one and only boyfriend.”

“That doesn’t mean she’ll actually have another boyfriend if she goes out with other guys.”

“True.  But I don’t think that matters as much as knowing she could have, if she wanted.”

“Make sure she knows that.”

“What?” I asked.  “That she should go out with other guys?”

“That exploring her options will be good for your relationship.”

I furrowed my brow as I considered it.  “Hmmm.”

“If she finds a guy she likes better than you,” Sherri continued, “then she needs to know you won’t have any hard feelings.  And if she doesn’t, she needs to know that you won’t mind the fact that she’s looked.”

“I think I can do that.”

“Good.  And you need to think about what you’ll do while she’s looking.”

“Hmm.”  I could look myself, but did I really want to?  “I’ll think about it.”

“Anything else?”

“Are you available Sunday evening?” I asked.  “I have a feeling I’m going to want to get together when I get back.”

“I’ll see what I can do.  When’s your flight arrive?”

I gave her my flight information and then asked her how things were going for her.  We chatted briefly about her classes, but she seemed distracted, so we quickly wound the conversation down and said goodbye.  I could ask her about whatever was going on when I returned.

I looked around the room one last time.  I didn’t seem to be forgetting anything, and I really couldn’t postpone this any further.  It was two hours up and two hours back, which was a lot of driving for one short conversation.  One short, critical conversation.

But I couldn’t back out now.

I grabbed a novel and headed out to the car.  I planned to eat lunch on the way, and I could also find some place to sit and read if I was early.  All that was left to do was make sure I arrived on time.

I pulled up in front of the Delgado house precisely at two.  Mr. Delgado came out on the porch while I was getting out of the car.  He crossed his arms and frowned as I walked up.

“Hello, Mr. Delgado,” I said.

“A convertible?  Are you suddenly made of money?”

I turned and looked at my rental car, a little abashed.  “It wasn’t that expensive.  Although in hindsight, it was a bad idea.”

He looked at me.  “I’m glad you can recognize a bad idea.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Inside,” he said, gesturing with his head.

I followed Mr. Delgado into the living room, where he motioned me toward the couch.  I sat on the edge while he sank into a chair opposite me.  The room was quiet; none of the rest of the family seemed to be home.

“So,” he said, “what do you have to say?”

I gulped.  “I… I messed up badly.”

“You certainly did,” he interjected.

I grimaced but plowed on.  “But I’m trying to fix that.  I’ve apologized to Tina—.”

“She showed me the letter.”

“Uh,” Tina hadn’t been kidding when she said she’d told him everything.  I clenched my fists to avoid trembling.

“I mean it,” I said.  “Your daughter’s an incredible woman, but I was so focused on getting out of Arizona that I didn’t give her all she deserved.”

“Damn right,” he said, his eyes hard and cold.  “But now you’re out.  Why come back?”

“Because I need to fix things, I said in a rush.  “Tina’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I want her in my life.  But even if I can’t have that, I need to fix things.”

Mr. Delgado didn’t interrupt me this time.  He just stared at me, as if I was a bug under his microscope.  I realized I was digging my fingernails into my own flesh, but I couldn’t will myself to relax.

“So,” he finally said, “how do you plan to fix things?”

“I don’t know,” I said.  “One step at a time, starting with this one, talking to you.”

He grunted and continued studying me.

“I told Tina I’d do whatever you asked me to,” I volunteered.

“Even if that meant leaving Arizona and never coming back or trying to contact my daughter again?”

I gulped again.  “If you could explain why that would be best for Tina, then yes, yes I would.”

“Or if I told you to marry her, now that you’ve taken her virginity and almost gotten her pregnant?”

I couldn’t hold the tension any more.  I let out a long breath and sagged forward, bringing my hands up to my chin.  Fine.  Time for nothing but the truth.

“I would like to marry your daughter some day,” I said.  “But getting married now wouldn’t be good for her, and, honestly, I might not be the best guy for her to marry.”

“I’m surprised to hear you admit that,” he said, without the biting edge to his words that he’d had since I walked in the door.

“I want her,” I said, “but I want her to be happy more.”

Mr. Delgado sat silently, his eyes continuing to flick over me.  Considering me.  I willed myself to start breathing more regularly.

“You do,” he finally said.

“I do.  I just don’t know how.”

He let out a low, unsavory chortle.  “You’re not the only one.”  Then he stood.

“You want a beer?” he asked.

I blinked.  “Uh… sure.”

“C’mon.”  He gestured toward the kitchen.

I stood and followed him, and then waited by the counter while he retrieved two bottles from the fridge.  He opened them and passed one to me.

“When Tina first came back from D.C,” he said, leaning back against the opposite counter, “I wanted to….”  He grinned to himself.  “Well, they weren’t very Christian thoughts.”

I started to tense up.

He took a sip of beer.  “But Tina defended you.  She didn’t want me to hurt you, even after all you did.”  He took another sip.  “But she also didn’t want to marry you, when we thought she might be pregnant.”

“I had no idea—”

“I know.  She didn’t tell you.”

I fell silent and took a sip of my own beer.  The bitter taste reminded me why I preferred wine, but I knew better than to say anything.

“Do you think you can make her happy?” Mr. Delgado asked after a few moments.

“I don’t know,” I said.  “I think so.  I certainly know I won’t screw up again.”

He chuckled again.  “Oh, you will,” he said.  “I’ve been married over twenty years.  You’ll make more mistakes.”

“I’ll make different ones.  I won’t repeat this one.”

He lowered his beer and looked at me, his eyes steely once again.  “You’re right.  You won’t.”

I met his eyes and forced myself not to blink.  Finally, with a curt nod, Mr. Delgado broke eye contact and took another swig of beer.

“I’m….” he paused, apparently searching for the right word, “…unhappy that Tina did not wait until her wedding night to go to bed with a man.  But I’ve had a long time to adjust to the idea.  I’ve also prayed about it and talked to my priest.  It’s not like I didn’t do the same when I was in your position.”

“What?”

“Didn’t Tina tell you?” he asked.  “I thought she had figured it out.  She was born seven months after her mother and I were married.”

I set the beer down on the counter and stared at him.

“I know what it’s like to be young and in love and impatient,” he said, not looking at all apologetic.  “That’s why I took precautions when Tina was dating in high school.”

Yeah, those chaperones were effective, I thought.  They just increased her curiosity for later.

“But,” he continued, “as she’s made clear, she’s grown up, whether I like it or not.  I can’t protect her anymore.”  He paused and took another sip of beer.

I just looked at him, seeing him differently than I had before.  As I did so, my muscles relaxed and my breathing settled back into a normal rhythm.  I suppressed a chuckle.  Why had I been so afraid?

Mr. Delgado looked at me, studying me once again.

I took a deep breath.

“So,” I said, “what do you want me to do?”

“I want you to give her room.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“She needs to concentrate on school,” he said, “and graduate.  She says she’s still studying hard, but I know she’s lying to me.”  He paused again.  “She doesn’t tell her mother stories about her classes like she used to.”

“I… I see.”  I took a sip of my own beer.  “And I suppose that change happened when she got back from D.C..”

He nodded.

I grimaced.  “I can do that,” I said.  “Give her room.  And I can tell her that I want her to do well in her classes, too.”

“How will that help?”

I paused, thinking.  “I don’t know if it will,” I finally said.  “But I know she wants to go to medical school, and she won’t be able to do that if her grades drop.  Maybe it’ll help if I encourage her too.”

“You do that.”

I nodded.  Then I paused.  What exactly did ‘give her room’ mean?

I considered just winging it, or figuring it out later, but then I hesitated.  I suspected that Mr. Delgado would not be happy if my definition did not match his.

“Uh,” I said, “just to be on the safe side—what do you mean by ‘give her room’?”

He frowned.  “Don’t call her every day like you were, for one.”

“That’s easy.”

“And don’t push her to get back together with you.”

I let out a deep breath.  “No, I know that won’t work.  She has to decide whether she wants me on her own, without pressure.”

“And you walk away if she doesn’t.”

I nodded, and met his eyes.  They didn’t seem as harsh as I’d perceived them before, but they were still firm.

“I will,” I promised.

“Good.  Because if you don’t….”

“I understand.”

We looked at each other again, before Mr. Delgado started walking back to the living room, gesturing for me to follow.  I returned to my seat on the couch, this time leaning back.

“Also,” he said after he’d gotten settled, “if Tina does choose you, that Sharon woman goes.”

“She’s just a friend.”

“Friends don’t do some of the things she’s done.  No decent woman does.  Only… women of loose morals.  I don’t want Tina associating with her.”

“I think that’s Tina’s decision.”

“No, it’s not,” he said firmly, balling one hand into a fist.  “It’s yours.  That Jezebel has led you both astray and if you insist on keeping her around, then you do not deserve to be with my daughter.”

Thoughts of defending Sharon died before they reached my lips.  I knew it wasn’t all her fault, but arguing with Mr. Delgado gained me nothing.

“I understand, sir.”  I was tense all over again.  I took a measured breath.  “Is there anything else?”

“No,” he said, leaning back in his chair and drinking some more beer.

I realized I’d better be crystal clear about what I’d heard.

“So,” I said, “you wanted me to come out here so you could tell me to give Tina some room and that I needed to end my friendship with Sharon.  Is that correct?”

He chuckled.  “I wanted you to come out here to see if you’d do it.”

He noted my look of confusion, but took another sip of beer before continuing.

“Any boy can make phone calls,” he said.  “But only a man who’s serious about what he wants would travel all the way across the country to get it.”  He paused.  “If you hadn’t come, it would have shown Tina what kind of a man you really were.  It would have been easy for her to move on.”

I couldn’t help a wry smile.  “But I screwed it up by actually coming out.”

He chuckled.  “In a way, you did.  But in a way, you didn’t.”

He checked his watch.  “The rest of the family will be back soon.  You should get going.”

I nodded and stood up.  He walked me to the door.  On the porch, I paused, not quite knowing whether to shake his hand or just walk on to the car.  I turned to him.

“I’ll do my best to make her happy,” I said.

“You succeed and we’ll get along fine.”

We didn’t shake hands, but just nodded at each other.  I turned and walked to the car.  When I looked back, he’d already disappeared inside.

I felt exhilarated as I drove off.  I’d survived!  It actually hadn’t gone that bad at all.  I mused about Mr. Delgado having a shotgun wedding because he’d gotten Tina’s mom pregnant.  They were still together and gave every indication that they were happy, so it had obviously worked, but somehow that small kernel put an entirely different face on the man.

I stopped for gas and leaned against the side of the car while the tank filled.  The warm sun felt great, and I chuckled at how much I was enjoying just standing there.  Yes, the February weather in Arizona was great, but it hadn’t changed since this morning. I’d just been too self-absorbed to notice it.

I paid the cashier and, walking back to the car, decided what the heck.  After some playing around with various knobs, I managed to retract the top of the convertible.  Settling back into the driver’s seat, I basked in the sunlight and the image of me being oh so cool, and headed out to I-10.

It didn’t take long to discover I’d made a mistake.  Despite the sun, the breeze at 70 mph was freezing.  It might be fun to toodle around the neighborhood, but a convertible on the interstate was like driving in a wind tunnel.  After about thirty minutes, I threw in the towel and pulled over to put the top back up.  At least I’d been stupid after seeing Mr. Delgado instead of before.

A little more sober, I pulled into the hotel parking lot a few hours later.  Checking my watch, I had plenty of time to shower and fix my wind-blown hair before meeting Tina. I considered calling Sherri.  Would it be smarter to check in with her now, or better to face the next conversation on my own?

I felt myself tense up.  I wasn’t ready to do this completely on my own.  All of my courage seemed to evaporate now that I had time to spare.  I felt suddenly very tired.  Probably all the adrenaline has drained away.

I decided that caffeine would help and got an overpriced Coke from the vending machine.  I sipped it and considered dinner options—it didn’t make sense to go to The Bluebird two nights in a row.  It didn’t feel right to go out fancy.  What else made sense?  I started to run through every restaurant I knew in Tucson, but my gut was getting tighter and tighter.  I just didn’t know what would make Tina happy.

Enough.  I needed to call Sherri.

Lisa answered the phone.  I identified myself and asked for Sherri.

“She’s not here,” Lisa said.

“Ah.  Will she be back soon?”

“No.  What’s up?”

“Well, I wanted to get her advice.”  I quickly filled her in on the conversation with Mr. Delgado.  “So, I’m not sure what to tell Tina when we get together tonight.  In fact, I’m not sure what restaurant to take her to tonight.”

“So what do you want?” she asked.

I sighed.  “I want things to work out with Tina, but for them to do so, I have to give her room, like her father wants.  I want her to want me, you know?”

Lisa didn’t say anything, so I continued.

“But I think I can just tell her that, and we can discuss it.  The bigger problem is that I don’t want to end my friendship with Sharon just because Mr. Delgado told me to.”

“Well,” she said, “you shouldn’t.  Who is he to tell you who you can and can’t be friends with?”

“Exactly.”

“But that wasn’t my question.  When I asked what you wanted, I was asking what you wanted for dinner.”

I chuckled.  “Really?”

“Look, Joe, I’m not as smart at Sherri, or know what’s good for you the way she does.  I just know it’s hard to have a good conversation if the food’s crap.  Go for what you want.”

I laughed again.  “You know what?  You’re right.”

“Thanks.”

“And I don’t know about Sherri being smarter than you.  You seem to hold your own just fine.”

“Aww.”

I blushed.  I hadn’t intended to come across as flirting.

“Well,” Lisa said, “you go have dinner with Tina.  I’ll tell Sherri you called and we’ll want to hear all about it tomorrow night.”

“Sounds good.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up.  I smiled for a moment, realizing that Lisa’s advice applied to more than the food.  I needed to go for what I wanted in dealing with Tina and Sharon as well.

However, in the short term, what I really needed was to get ready for dinner.

I arrived at Tina’s dorm on time.   Marcy answered when I called from the lobby phone and said Tina’d be right out.

When the door opened, my jaw dropped.  Tina wore a purple blouse and black skirt with heels, and had on her dressy jewelry.  She smiled tentatively, and then more relaxed when she saw my expression.

“Wow,” I said, “you look nice.”

“Thanks.  I didn’t feel like going out in jeans.”

I nodded.  “I wasn’t planning on going out too fancy, though.  I’ve been craving decent Mexican food since I moved to D.C..”

“That’s fine,” she said with a nod.  “You look nice too.”

I bit my tongue to avoid grinning, but I knew my eyes showed it.  “No choice,” I said.  “When I’m going out with a beautiful woman, even if it’s just to talk, I dress up.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t protest.

The drive to the restaurant was surprisingly pleasant.  We chitchatted about minor things, with me conveying the convertible story and her talking about some of her own trips back and forth from Tucson to Phoenix.  She mentioned that she’d thought about trying to buy an old car, but then decided to save her money for medical school.

“I don’t know where I’ll be living,” she said, “and the loans might not be enough.  Besides, I might not need a car wherever I go anyway, and why buy one to drive it for just a year?”

After we’d settled into our seats and placed our order, we smiled at each other.  I took a deep breath.

“So,” I said, “my talk with your father went better than I expected.”

“I know.  He called me.”

“Ah.”  I knew I should have expected that.  After all, he’d closed the loop with Sharon’s mom during our New Mexico trip.

 “So what did he say?” I asked.

“He told me he was pleased that you’d come out, and that whatever happened next was up to me.  He’d support me.”

“Did he tell you what he wants me to do?”

“Not all of it.”

“Ah.”  I paused, taking a moment to sip some water, and using the opportunity to think about what I wanted to say.

“He wants me to do whatever it takes to make you happy,” I said.  “be it by being together or by being apart.”

“Oh.”

I watched her shoulders tense.  “But you don’t have to decide right away,” I said.

She let out a slow breath.  “Good.”

“In fact,” I said, “you can take as long as you like.  I won’t pressure you.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Well,” I said, “I want you to be happy too.”

 “Thanks,” she said with a forced smile.

“And it’s okay if you go out with other people while you’re deciding,” I added.  “I may not be the right guy for you, and there’s really only one way to tell.”

“I already have.”

“What?”

“I’ve already gone out with another guy,” she said.  “From one of my classes, last fall.  He asked me out before you called to invite me to come visit, and, well….”

“You dumped him to come see me.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

She shrugged dismissively.  “You didn’t dump him.  I did.  Besides, I gave him another chance a couple of weeks ago, after… you know.”

“Well, maybe he’s the guy.”

“No way,” she said, shaking her head hard.  “He’s an asshole.  He dumped me two days after he got me in bed.”

I raised my eyebrows but didn’t say anything.  What could I say?  I’d slept with Sherri in the same timeframe, after all.

“He’s an asshole.” she said again.

“Well,” I said, carefully measuring my words.  “All guys can be assholes.  I’m sorry you got two in a row.”

“You weren’t that bad,” she said.  “When you weren’t moaning about leaving Arizona, or, well, the stuff with Sharon was bad.  But otherwise, I liked being with you.”

“I did too,” I said.  “If I hadn’t,  I wouldn’t have come back to Tucson.”

“And if I hadn’t liked being with you, I wouldn’t have seen you when you did.”  There was a edge to her voice, which cut into me and started my insecurities rising.

“I know,” I said.  “And you shouldn’t have.”

She nodded.  The waitress approached to check on whether we needed more water.

“So what now?” she asked when we once again had some relative privacy.

“Well….”  I paused, and then suppressed a chuckle when I caught myself looking for the right words.  “How about if we just write for a while?  We can send letters until you decide what you want.  You know, keep in touch without a bigger commitment.”

She looked past me into space for a moment, thinking.

“It would give us a chance to rebuild the friendship,” I said, though ‘rebuild’ implied it had been there in the first place.  “And if that revived the romance, that’d be great.  If it doesn’t, well, we’d still be friends.”

“I’d like that,” she said.

“It could be fun,” I said.  “Sharing recipes.  Movie recommendations.  Stories about our lives.”

She nodded and then paused.  “Well… would it be okay if I didn’t tell you about going out with other guys?”

“Sure,” I said.  “Unless it gets serious, of course.”  I saw her frown and quickly continued.  “Serious enough for you to know that I’m not the guy, that is.  I don’t think I want to hear the, uh, other details about other guys.”

“Neither do I,” she said.  “That is, I don’t want to hear details about any women you go out with.”

“That’s fair,” I said.  “Though I don’t think that’s likely to be much of a problem.  I know what I want, and it’s you.”

She smiled, almost blushing.

“I do,” I said.  I extended my hand across the table, offering it.  She paused, then nodded, then reached forward and took it.  I squeezed her hand and she returned the squeeze.  We gazed at each other for a long delicious moment.

When the waitress arrived with our order, she slowly pulled her hand back.

“Dad said he told you to end your friendship with Sharon,” she said when we were alone again.

“Ah.  Well.  Not exactly with those words, but yes.”

“I don’t know if I can trust you with her.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I… I don’t want to go through that again,” she said.  “If we get back together, I want to know you’ve not trying to sleep with her.”

“How do I do that?”

She shrugged.  “I don’t know.”

The obvious implication hung silently in the air between us.  My stomach knotted once again.

“I also don’t want to be pushed into a threesome again.”

I nodded vigorously, relieved that there was something I could say.  “Agreed.  Absolutely.”

“Good.  Even though Marcy says they’re a lot of fun… well, I don’t want to be pushed.”

“Not a problem,” I said.  “Besides, we’re going to just be friends for a while, right?”

She smiled.  “Right.”

“And friends don’t push each other into doing anything.”

“True.  And don’t you forget it.”

I couldn’t help my black laughter.

“After this experience,” I said, “I don’t think I can.”

“Good.”

I chuckled at the firmness of her tone.  That evoked a smile from her.  Which triggered more laughter from me.

“What?” she asked, her eyebrows going up.

“God, I love you,” I said, happily shaking my head.  “You’re always so sure about what you want.”

“Not always,” she said, now smiling broadly, her eyes sparkling.

I dismissed her objection with a wave.  “It doesn’t change the fact that you’re an incredible woman.”

This time she did blush.  She also looked a little uneasy.

“Look,” I said, “I could get ridiculous with the compliments, but I won’t.  But the fact that I don’t say them doesn’t mean they aren’t true.”

“Thanks,” she said, her shoulders visibly relaxing.

“Our food’s getting cold,” I said picking up my fork.  “How about if we eat and talk about lighter subjects?”

“Like what?”

“Politics, religion, sex.”  I switched to a mock righteous tone.  “Well, maybe not sex.  We’re too innocent to know anything about sex.”

Tina laughed, a good belly laugh.  She picked up her fork and rolled her eyes at me before taking a bite.

“So…,” I said, “Politics.  Do you think we should return to the gold standard?”

“What?”

“Just trying to talk about politics,” I said with a grin.  “Or maybe that’s history.  I don’t know.”

“How about sticking to something you do know?”

“Hmm,” I said, miming deep thought, “there are so many subjects to choose from.”

Tina laughed again, rolling her eyes.

“How about wine, then?”

She just nodded and took another bite of her dinner.

I proceeded to tell her about my decision to cut down on my drinking—no more drinking alone, and not to the point of being hung over the next morning.  I jokingly said that I’d have to restrict myself to only the really best wine to compensate.  If I was only going to have one glass, it needed to be a really good glass.  She asked me a couple of questions about what would make it ‘really good’ instead of just ‘good’ and we spent the rest of the meal talking about how to judge the quality of various things, with me making small jokes along the way.

After the check arrived and I’d left the right amount of cash on top of it, I turned to Tina.

“So now what?” I asked.

She shrugged.  “I thought we agreed to write.”

I smiled.  “We did, but I was referring to tonight.  Do I take you back to your dorm?”

“Oh.”  She bit her lip for a moment.  “How about if we go walking on campus?”

“Sounds good.”

I drove to the visitor’s lot by the Optical Sciences Center.  We continued talking and laughing, but fell quieter as we walked.  It was a beautiful night, clear and warm.  I couldn’t help shifting back into astronomer mode and pointing out the visible planets to Tina.  Our hands brushed a couple of times as we walked and I itched to take hers in mine, but didn’t quite dare.

Our feet knew the path, though, and once again, as we completed the loop, we found ourselves in front of the Chi O steps.

I grinned.  “This place has a lot of memories.”

“Yeah.  What’s your favorite?”

I looked at her with amusement.  I wondered if she expected me to mention the time we’d had sex in the shadows.

“Our first kiss,” I said.  “When you stood on the steps to even out our height.”

“That was nice,” she said with a smile.  Very languidly, she strolled up to the top and glanced pointedly at the dark corner where we’d made love.  Then she turned and came back to the bottom step, stopping a little in front of me.

“They do even out our height,” she said, still smiling.

“They do.  Very convenient, that.”

“It was.” She smiled and edged a little closer.

My eyes darted to her lips, which appeared wet in the low light.  Her eyes still had their warmth when I returned to them.  Almost unconsciously, I licked my own lips.  Tina’s smile widened but she didn’t say anything.

I started to think about what to do next, but caught myself.  This was no time to be thinking.

Instead, I slowly stepped forward and tilted my head, moving my lips toward hers.  She didn’t pull away, and so I brought my arms up and around her.  I felt her hands on my back in return as we kissed.

Our kiss was sweet and tender and almost chaste.  If it hadn’t been promising the world.

As we pulled back, my heart pounded.  Tina’s face flushed, but her eyes danced.

“Wow,” I said.

Tina nodded firmly, clearly in agreement.

“I….”  I paused.  I knew what I wanted, but I also knew what was best.  “I think we should walk back to your dorm before we do something we probably shouldn’t.”

“Yeah,” Tina said with a sigh.  “We probably should.”

“Some other time,” I said.  “If things work out, of course.”

“It’s a date.”

With great reluctance, we then did turn and slowly stroll back to her dorm, this time holding hands.  We kissed once more in the lobby, but it was brief—almost an echo of the one before than a kiss in its own right.

“I’ll write soon,” I said as we once again parted.

She nodded.  “Good.  Maybe someday….”

“Maybe,” I said.  “We’ve both got some things to think about, and some things to do, before then.”

“True.”

“One day at a time.”

She smiled, and stepped in for one last hug, before turning and walking to the hall.  She looked back, just before she disappeared from sight.  I waved goodbye, and then she was gone.

I turned as well, then, and started the journey back to the hotel.  I hadn’t been kidding—I had some things to think about and then to do.

--Fin--

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Read the next chapter in this story: Chapter Thirty

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