“Ah yes now I know, I recognize your voice“
There was a moment of silence, and when she was about to speak he continued.
“I promised you coffee or tea, but I screwed up and didn’t call you.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about” thought Carol, but again responded politely:
“Screwed up? No, you didn’t screw up anything”, but the truth was that she couldn’t even remember or simply didn’t care since it was one of those polite “let’s have coffee sometimes” agreements. These kinds of small talks are when both sides were well aware that it will never happen. That is in most cases, but obviously this wasn’t one of those cases and already she stated to like his candidness.
“Are you up for coffee right now?” asked Chris, “so it’s not only words”, he added.
“Hmm, I can’t right now but you’re in luck because I am just visiting my parents so OK. Obviously you are also back home and not living somewhere out of the country.” Carol remembered.
“Yes, I am home, on vacation. I have some time to spare and I thought of you. When are you free?” he asked gently with an added false respect that men give to women to show that they are gentlemen. Those things where a man gives an extra effort to make the lady fee that she has a choice so that she feels that she can have what she wants but in essence the man has pictured in his head how he is planning to seduce her without she being aware. The goal is for her to willingly get caught in the net. Carol knew all of that very well, she had human psychology in her little finger- not just because of her Masters in Psychology, but also from experiences previously collected in working with people for the last 10 years. Carol was a very intelligent young woman. She definitely considered herself to be a very young woman, although she was slowly entering her thirty-fifth year not because she felt like she is young but most of all she looked way younger than her age.
“Friday night would suit me just fine” she answered short and clear and thought “I was bored anyway”, but she kept that part for herself. She could almost feel his relief when she said yes, although he was just pretending to be cool.
“Around eight o’clock? Should I pick you up or are you coming to get me?” Chris asked.
Carol saw that Natalie already made a turn for her front yard so she said “we will settle the details on Friday afternoon, ok”
“Ok. Talk to you soon”, he agreed, “Bye!” he said and she replied with a long “Ciao” and hung up.
Natalie raised her perfectly plucked eyebrow in a “What the fuck?” gesture. Carol just shrugged her shoulders.
“You know that guy who always walked around town with that mean looking dog? The one who moved from I don’t know where. Anyway he is not one of us, that Chris.” Carol smiled sweetly.
“Oh! The cute one, I remember very girl was crazy about him and then he fattened up a bit. What does he want?” asked Natalie curiously.
“He wants to go to coffee”, Carol continued to laugh and Natalie just said, “Whatever girlfriend, just don’t let another hundred years go by before we see each other again.”
“I will be staying for a few weeks since my mom is sick, nothing serious, but I would like to be with them. I was gone for years, and I missed out a lot. I haven’t even seen my niece and she’s already five years old. I have to make up for lost family time now that I have a chance, and that’s why I am here. Get it?”
Carol never married. She didn’t have kids because she was always chasing after her career. She wasn’t exactly a fan of kids. However it seemed that the kids really liked her. ”Strange” she thought and other always commented that it was because the kids felt she was a good person
“What bullshit” was Carol’s expert opinion about this topic.
“I get it, but they will get on your nerves soon, I know you. So will we be seeing each other on the weekend and go out like the old days?” asked Natalie.
“And will your husband let you go out?” Carol said back.
“Of course he will and he is not my husband. We live together for only a week”, Natalie laughed “it is still early for him to give me crap about something, since he knows I would tell him to fuck off”, she said.
“Ok, ok, we will talk soon and I already have a date on Friday. Remember?” Carol laughed and gave Natalie a kiss in the cheek. She got out of the car with a sweet wave, and ran into the house to avoid getting wet from the rain.
Chapter 3: Friday night
Friday came too soon. Carol wasn’t at all excited about tonight’s date. To her all that mattered is that she had something planned, she won’t get bored, and of course it is something new. She wanted to relax, because the last two days she spent with her parents who were slowly coming to those years where they started to behave like really demanding children. She burned from the desire for a drink. The process of getting ready was quick, and while applying on make-up she thought how good it was that he was the one who called first today, just as she had expected. It did sound a bit odd when he suggested they meet at his place first. She wanted to avoid embarrassing situations; technically she didn’t know the guy! Their first reunion after many years is at a gasoline station for crying out loud! To be safe she set up a meeting in the nearby cafe. They were hanging out in the same circle of friend a few times, and yes as she remembered later he was a one night stand from one of her friends. Well, fuck it, he was handsome and she was really bored.