Chapter 7: Bernie Meets Eddie Boyle

It was a rainy Sunday; Bernie was just sitting around the off-campus apartment, watching The A-Team on NBC with George Peppard, and Chicago-born actor Mr. T. with two other girls, Frannie and Meg. Val was out on a date with Joe, and Bernie was more than a little jealous with the knowledge they were getting very serious about each other.

Eventually, she got hungry, and got up to make herself and the others some spaghetti. As she stirred the sauce, she idly wondered if Eddie Boyle was going to call her again. They had met two weeks earlier at the library, and had had one date. She had allowed him to feel her up, even let him touch her breasts before calling a halt to his fevered hands, by telling him she had to get back to her place and study for a major test the following morning.

Only by promising him further leeway on their next date did she get him to stop. Bernie hadn't intended ever seeing him again, but as time passed, she grew horny, and with Val shying away from any further fooling around, her thoughts had returned to Eddie.

With Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" belting out of the speakers, the phone rang, and Frannie raced to answer it, and in a disappointed tone called Bernie to the phone. It was Eddie.

"Hey, how ya doing?" he asked, his Jersey accent evident to anyone within normal hearing.

"Lower the music!" she yelled, and into the phone breathed, "Doing good, and you?"

"Can't complain ... Say, the reason I'm callin' is I wondered if you'd like to go play some tennis with me and some friends. A couple couples ... ya know?"

"It's raining, Eddie," she told him, careful to keep her voice level and not show that she thought the offer a dumb one.

"It's indoors, Bernie."

She was glad he wasn't there to see how red her face had gotten. How foolish she was to think him a fool.

"All right," she said. "Give me twenty minutes to change and I'll be waiting downstairs."

"Um, it's at three, Bernie ... that gives us; let's see ... two hours before our court time is set."

Bernie made a face, wanting to kick herself for making yet another dumb mistake. But Eddie didn't appear to think anything of her ill-timed remark.

"So, when do you want to pick me up?"

"An hour and a half?"

"Sounds good. I should tell you, I'm a lousy tennis player."

"I'm no world class player either," he replied. "So, I'll see ya then."

Yeah," she said, and tried to kick her behind with the heel of her left foot. Would she ever learn to either say the right thing, or keep her mouth shut?

The tennis went much better than Bernie thought it would. Eddie wasn't a good player, but neither were the others, the guy was named Kenny; the girl, Debbie. Bernie's having played on her high school team, although as an alternate, served her well.

Basking in the accolades of the others on her fine play, Bernie had that one drink to many in the bar that the group had retired to following the match. The weather continued to worsen, but no one seemed to pay much attention, and everyone agreed to grab a taxi and head for Kenny's condo. His affluent parents had purchased it for him.

Debbie turned out to be Eddie's cousin. He had fixed her up with a guy named Buddy, who he knew from a class they had shared the previous semester. It wasn't working out and he was now trying to set her up with Kenny.

It was the cabbies off-hand comment about the weather that clued the group into the fact that a major hurricane was rapidly closing in on their area, and Kenny had him stop outside a Deli while he ran inside and stockpiled some food while the others waited in the cab.

Fifteen minutes later, they were all sitting comfortably in front of a roaring fire in Kenny's new condo while sheets of rain pelted the picture window that looked out over the swimming pool.

"We'll party on through the storm," Kenny said, resisting Bernie's and Debbie's protests that they needed to go home.

"Nonsense," Kenny said. "I insist you all stay here as my guests."

"I have some pajamas if you girls want to relax," Kenny said, telling them more about the girl's in his life then they wanted to know. And while both girls reluctantly accepted his offer, they soon had a pleasant buzz going from some choice marijuana and were soon comfortably relaxed in what they had to admit were snazzy lounge pajamas, sipping wine and eating heartily of the deli goodies Kenny had purchased.

Everyone got along very well, and they played Scrabble, and then Monopoly, listening to Michael Jackson's great new album "Thriller," followed by Sting's, "Every Breath You Take," and "Let's Dance" by David Bowie until the force of the rain against the windows raised their anxiety to a level that they were not able to concentrate on the games or the music.

An hour later, the power went out. Kenny and Debbie went in search of some candles. Eventually the level of excitement generated by the hurricane began to wane; and with the wine and heavy food weighing on each of them; they fell asleep on the carpet in the living room while waiting for the hurricane to pass through.

Only the storm remained in place; and would for the next ten hours. The condo was well built, and perfectly capable of resisting the storm and although each of them awoke at one time or another, they all went back to sleep and slept soundly.

Around five in the morning, with the storm still howling, and heaving torrents of water against the building, Bernie woke with the realization of a body pressing against her. She opened her eyes to find Eddie lying next to her. At first, she forgot where she was, and just kind of snuggled up next to him. But as she came fully awake, she saw Debbie lying on a futon just on the other side of Eddie and freaking out, Bernie shook Eddie's shoulder.

Eddie had been waiting for Bernie to wake up, and whispered something about how cool this was with the hurricane and all. She was about to drift off to sleep again when he kissed her.

Her first thought was, Ewe, morning breath, followed quickly by: Oh, my God, if he starts in, the others will know, and I'll be mortified.

Eddie as usual, didn't seem worried at all, and with Bernie apparently accepting his tongue in her mouth, he started to move his hand inside her pajama top. Bernie pulled the blanket over them so no one could see. She could feel Eddie's fingers sliding up her stomach right to the edge of her bra. It was too tight for him to get under, but somehow he managed to get his arms around to her back and unhooked the bra.

Bernie had to hold back a giggle, he was the first guy to do it and she thought it all a silly game. Then it occurred to her that he was fully capable of getting her naked and then call the others attention to the fact. For some inexplicable reason, she found this thought exhilarating.

He started to undo the buttons on her top, but she motioned for him to wait. She pulled her arms in through the sleeves of her top. Then let him pull the bra from her breasts. She put her arms back through the sleeves while he hid the bra under the futon. Debbie was laying there the same as before, and Bernie guessed she was till asleep.

Listening for any signs of activity from Kenny, all Bernie heard was his snoring from the sofa a few feet away. Eddie began to tease her nipples, and when she felt him he had grown to full size.

Debbie rolled over on her back, and Bernie had a clear view of her face. She held Eddie's arm, told him to be still until they knew with a certainty she was asleep.