The Girl                         Written by: Jem Aura ©
Chps 31-32
 
----> THIRTY ONE <----
A few days later we sat at the galley table, me having just returned from inspecting some damage to a boat fifty miles down the coast. "Polly, Your mother is back in Evansboro. Here's the letter she promised to write. The prosecutor called this morning. We need to decide when to start the cruise. We have to leave the same day they release her."
She sat and read the letter carefully. As a sure sign of Polly's intelligence, she sat in thought for several long moments before speaking. "How much notice do you have to give them?"  She asked.
"Huh? Hmm. That's a good question. I didn't think to ask. I'll have to find out."
"The reason I ask is that I talked to Ryan. He says Mandy has to go visit her mom for the rest of the summer. She only has two more weekends here before she leaves, and she has to work during the week. Ryan and his dad are going to a football game in Georgia the second weekend, so this weekend is the only time all four of us can go." Polly said, as serious as a heart attack.
I held her eyes for a long while. She could read me. She knew I would weasel out if she showed any signs of weakness in her resolve. And her resolve was very firm. But I decided to test her anyway. "Don't you think she's too young for me? I mean, it's a hell of a blind date taking off on an overnight cruise. She might not even like me."
"Mitch, first of all I know you want to. You are just messing with me to see if I really want you to sleep with her. Well, I do. So quit messing with me. And if you don't go through with this, I will tell Tony and Frank and anyone else I can think of that you passed up having sex with an 18 year old goddess. And yes she is too young for you... to marry! But not to have sex with. And she already adores you - I mean, she loves everything about you. She's seen your picture and she is still bugging Ryan all the time to see if we are going to go for it."
"Polly!"
"What?"
"You know what!"
"What difference does it make? She would have seen you eventually anyway."
"You should not give out someone's picture without asking them. You know that."
"Well this is a special situation. We are talking about your emotional health here. You need this."
"Hmm. Well - you're right about that." We sat there facing off at each other. "Okay, you win. But we aren't going down to the Manatee strand again. We'll have to find something closer - a couple of hours away at the most." I added, then tilting my head I indicated a change of subject, "Is she going to have to make up a story to her dad about where she's going? God, I feel like I'm in high school."
"Nope. She already has her own apartment near the university - and a job too."
"Wow. Sounds like she's very ambitious."
"She is amazing Mitch. Would you like her cell phone number?" Polly slid a slip of paper across the table to me.
"You know, I think I should be afraid of you. Very afraid." I said, putting the slip into my wallet and getting up to go topside. I stopped at the door and turned back to her, "Polly?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you...  I've never had anyone care for me the way you do. You are my true-one."
"And you are mine."
----> THIRTY TWO <----
"Hello?"
"Hi. Is this Mandy?"
"Yes."
"Hi Mandy, this is Mitchell Wilkes. Polly's dad. Am I interrupting you?"
"Not at all. And I am honored to meet you."
I paused a little longer than usual, taken aback by the "honored" part.
"Hmm. Maybe Ryan talked me up more than I deserve."
"I doubt it. Ryan is a really good guy."
"Yes, he is... and you approve of my... involvement with him?"
"Absolutely. When he first started talking about Polly, I knew there was something wrong with his story. So I got him away from the other kids and pulled the whole story out of him. This whole thing has had a big affect on him."
"It's been a hell of a ride for me too."
Mandy didn't respond, hoping I would expand on that. But I decided to punt the ball back. "You know, even though Polly has never really lied to me, it is very hard to believe that you are for real. I mean, you sound perfectly charming, you seem to have everything going for you... you got it all going on... So why me? Why this heartbroken, lonely, mid-thirties man?"
"Is that how you see yourself? Middle-aged, and heartbroken? I got news for you Mitch: You are a whole lot more than that. I know Ryan like he is my brother, and I have never heard him talk about someone with such wonder-struck adoration."
"Really. I haven't spent that much time with him. Just sailing a couple of times, and the big talk that one time."
"He does not adore you directly. He's doing it through Polly. You saved that girl from hell. You risked everything for her. You sacrificed yourself for her, and you still are. You've been without a lover because of your devotion to her. And you shoulder the burden of her attempts to seduce you, even though you are intensely attracted to her. You are a man who suffers for someone else. That is true selflessness." She paused, letting her words sink in a little. "Ryan's madly in love with her you know. They have shared everything about each other. We know about you Mitch. It's no mystery that I want to go sailing with you."
I slumped back on the couch, holding the phone to my ear, as if in a dream. I could feel it in her words, an inevitability, a promise of reward for deeds well done, for Karma well deserved. And I marveled at "The-Powers-That-Be" having plotted to bring these three young persons into my life - three young persons that all display intelligence and virtues that most adults could only hope to have a small slice of. After hearing Mandy explain herself, I knew that she was another one of those mysterious coincidences sent by those mysterious beings from that mysterious dimension of existence where they plot fateful events for us, that she would prove to be intensely meaningful and impact my life in a very significant way. It was very improbable that the events, circumstances, and feelings that defined my existence with Polly could be translated so exactly from Polly to Ryan, and then from Ryan to Mandy, and then expressed back to me over the phone from someone I had never met, as if she had been inside my mind poking around for years. I have learned to love the feeling that comes over me when the winds of fate and coincidence begin blowing, because if I had to define my religion, I guess it would consist of a strong faith that no matter how things might appear on the surface, that following my nose with regard to these glaring improbabilities would always bring me onto the path of fulfillment, or at least be preparing me for it. Of course there is always the possibility that the role I'm playing at any given moment is for the benifit of someone else rather than myself. You must always reserve that as a possibility.  But regardless, it is still fulfilling.
"Are you still there?" asked Mandy.
"Yeah, Sorry, I was just trying to make some sense out of..." I stopped myself, realizing how strange it might sound to dive into such a subject."
"Make sense out of what?" she asked, concern now in her voice.
"Oh, it's no big deal, I just notice things that other people usually don't. Things that mean my life is about to change. it's always a good thing."
"Really. Well, tell me. It sounds very interesting."
I chuckled into the receiver. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into asking an open ended question like that."
"Hey, I have three hours before I have to get in the shower and get ready for work. So enlighten me."
I sat there, slowly realizing that this was not the time nor the place to jump into such a deep conversation. "Well, I would Mandy, I mean I will. But I hate talking on the phone. It's a deep subject, and I'm imagining it would be really nice to tell you all about it, at night, under the stars, out in the Gulf of Mexico."
"Mmm. that does sound nice." 
"When do you get off work on Friday?" I asked hopefully. 
"Not until 2:00 am." 
"Oh, well shit. I was hoping we might squeeze two nights out of the cruise." I said, truly disappointed. This young lady's young sounding voice had me fantasizing and electrified already, and the difference between one and two nights for the cruise seemed incredibly significant to me all of a sudden.
"What about Sunday night." Mandy suggested, "I don't have to be back to work until 6:00 Monday evening." 
"Hey! All right. That will work." I said excitedly.  "Why don't you plan on coming aboard right after work on Friday - I mean Saturday morning. That way I can sail us out somewhere early in the morning while you and Polly get your beauty sleep." 
"This is going to be so cool." she said softly. "What should I bring?" 
"Two things: Your bikini top and your bikini bottoms." 
Mandy laughed and then said, "C'mon, seriously." 
"I am being serious. You won't need anything else. We have everything you could possibly need. And if Polly is your size, she has more clothes than should be allowed on a ship." 
"Well, I'll pack a few things just in case. I can't wait."
I gave directions how to find the Princess, and after a bit of small talk, we hung up.
 
Where the story is headed:
First cruise with Mandy lights up Mitch with incredible sex, Polly not handling things as well as she thought she would. But it ended well
Aunt Cecilia comes down and just before the rehab cuise, they sail for one more overnight, just the four. During an evening of quiet kissing and making out, the four of them on the rear deck cushions, Mitch catches Cecilia watching Polly and Ryan, Polly had playfully been grinding herself onto him as they kissed, and when she sat back, Ryans erection was evident through his flannel pajama bottoms. Mitch could see the strong reaction Cecilia had, blushing and staring intently trying, obviously very aroused. Later Mitch began slowly sliding his erection into Cecilia, and whispered into her ear a short description of Ryan, setting up images in her mind of the young boy, stiff and looming over her, and it lit her up in a very meaningful way. He had guessed correctly, Cecilia immediately persued a long conversation trying to understand the implications of Mitch knowing about her secret desires regarding young teenage boys. Whether it would blow up or not. But when Mitch told her about his own challenges with Polly, she immediately understood that they were meant for each other, Mitch saw the coincidence of course. And they made love again, Cecilia doing her best to make Mitch believe she was 12 years old. 

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