Chapter 57: Getting Medieval

Friday, December 6, 1985

Over breakfast, we checked with Candice and Sherry. They were fine with whatever house-sitter we picked. Their apartment would be locked, and they weren’t particularly worried about theft or damage. If we were happy, they were happy.

After some discussion, the girls decided Cammie and I would make the decision. Cammie, because houses were her thing. Me, because of the Reality Distortion Field.

I called the Bryan police at lunch and made an appointment for us to meet with Al Cooper Monday afternoon at five. If he didn’t work out, we had four other recommendations, but we both felt like he was the obvious first choice. We already knew he was available, so that was settled, at least. Apparently, he had been planning to do resident house-sitting somewhere else, but that had fallen through a week ago. We would have missed him if we’d tried too early!

My last class of the day was Legal and Social Environment of Business. I turned in my last paper of the semester there, then headed home. We had review sessions in each class next week but, besides that, nothing to look forward to class-wise except final exams.

I stopped briefly at Hullabaloo Cafe on my way. Amy had clearly learned to expect it and was happy to see me. On the strength of it having worked this week, we planned another Thursday date next week. I wanted to keep Friday free for Darla and Saturday for the girls. We could shuffle later, but it was better to pin things down. Amy very quickly agreed, and didn’t even attempt to hide how much she was looking forward to it.

Although, if you didn’t know Amethyst, rather than just Amy, you might miss it. There were ample signs, but only relative to her. For most people, she might as well have been agreeing to have me come over and do her laundry in terms of visible excitement. Heck, most people would look more excited about the laundry.

Once home, my thoughts turned toward my date with Darla. Jas and I brainstormed clothing ideas, but kept running into things that didn’t work.

Jas and I considered ties, but rejected them. The kilt was too over the top for either of us, as was a tux. Other things fizzled, too.

After some thought, I wound up with a red short-sleeved dress shirt, khaki pants, and dark shoes. Then Jas found my old trilby hat. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d worn it, but it was black, with a gold hatband and (perhaps more importantly) a red feather that went well with the shirt.

Jas had me put it on. She pondered, adjusted the angle, then said, “Roguish charm, definitely! It suits the Wolf.”

I chuckled at that.

She unbuttoned an extra button on my shirt, saying I looked sexier showing that extra inch of upper chest. It did seem a bit wolfish.

That was as far as we got. I didn’t have any jewelry that really worked with any of this. Jas thought I needed a gold necklace for times like this, and I couldn’t really argue. It would work. Aside from that, my jewelry options were cuff links and tie-tacks. A wedding ring would eventually be an option, but that was, at best, a mixed bag when one is on a date with a woman who isn’t their wife.

Ah, well. Darla would love what I had, I thought. This wasn’t a fancy dinner. It was casual, and I would be stunned if she wasn’t in nearly full tomboy attire.

I had my overnight bag ready to go, with casual clothes for tomorrow and some things that worked for tonight.

Condoms, for instance.

The Wolf was on the prowl!

I arrived at Darla’s dorm room just before six. That should get us seated in plenty of time for the dinner and show. We didn’t need the best seats, but it would be worth getting there and settled.

When Darla answered the door, it turned out I was right. She had on a different green blouse, either the same pair of capri jeans or a similar one, low-cut white socks that left a narrow band of ankle, and tennis shoes. Her glasses, too, and a ponytail I could already imagine taking hold of. I could also imagine the look in her eyes when I did.

“Well, hello!” she said, hugging me. “I love the hat! It looks like it might be out of Little Red Riding Hood.”

“Don’t you think?” I said, grinning. “Cunning wolf, disguising himself that way.”

“Sneaky, indeed!” she said.

I had no idea if Louise understood the subtext, but she seemed pretty amused.

“You two have a good time!” she called. “And ... I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”

“Right!” Darla said, picking up an overnight bag.

“Have a really good time,” she said, winking.

“I’ll do my best!” Darla said. She blushed a bit, but it wasn’t too bad.

I moved to take her bag, which resulted in an argument I found predictable as soon as it happened.

“I can get that,” she said.

“But I’m happy to.”

“I can carry my own bags.”

“But I’m bigger and stronger,” I said.

“Hrmph! You just think I can’t because I’m a girl!”

“You can do anything you want,” I said. “Because you’re a girl.”

That made her blush. It also made her hand me the bag.

“Fine! You carry it!” she said.

There were two girls in the hall when I turned. They looked confused, and I didn’t blame them at all.

Darla hugged me as soon as I turned and said, “We’re playing. Old friends! It’s a joke.”

“Oh!” one of the girls said. “It seemed like one of the more unusual fights I’ve seen. And I’ve seen some weird stuff.”

“You’ve done some weird stuff, Bren,” the other girl said.

“Fuck you, Sue.”

“You wish!”

“In your dreams!”

The two giggled, and Bren said, “Old friends! Also a joke!”

“She still wants to fuck me,” Sue said.

“Maybe. I’d be better than your boyfriend.”

“You would have been. But I dumped him.”

“You did?!” Bren said.

“Just after my last class. Didn’t get a chance to tell you.”

“Good for you!”

They high-fived as Darla and I headed for the stairs.

“That was fun,” Darla said, giggling.

“It was.”

“Not as much fun as I’m hoping for, but fun.”

“It should be a very enjoyable evening. Jugglers, singing, dancing, wolves...”

Darla shivered and squeezed my hand.

“You’re just taking me to the dinner to torture me with anticipation.”

“Nah. I’m also hungry...”

“‘Like the wolf,’” she said, groaning. “Good one!”

“You?”

“I could eat,” she said. “Tomboy appetite.”

“I have a tomboy appetite, too, as it turns out.”

That made her shiver and groan a little.

“Dammit! Anticipation!”

“It’ll all be for the best,” I said.

“It will,” she said.

She stopped, turned, and hugged me just before we got to the car.

“Thank you, Steve. Yeah, I know, that’s the guy’s line, but this ... this is ... okay, now I’m jinxing it, but this feels really good. In my heart, I mean, not other places I hope to feel really good.”

“I’m glad,” I said. “I want all of you to feel really good.”

“Here’s hoping!” she said, giving me a kiss.

I helped her into the car, and we flirted back and forth on the drive to the Hilton. Most of it was silly teasing about wolves and what sort of prey they prefer. We backed off of anything that hit too close to home. No ‘good girl,’ and no mention of tomboys, ponytails, chases, or many other things.

And definitely no mention of the big question of the evening.

I was fine with that. We would, or we wouldn’t. If we didn’t, there would be other nights, most likely. If we never did, that would also be fine.

I knew which answer I very much wanted. There was no ambivalence. I wanted her, all the way. I wanted the home run. Heck, even if I couldn’t keep her, I wanted to claim her. Perhaps, in a strange, potentially sexist way, to mark her.

She wasn’t mine. She couldn’t be mine. I was just borrowing her from her future Mister Right. But we already had wonderful memories. Hopefully, tonight would add to them.

It should also be another step on the path to Mister Right. Darla wasn’t ready to begin that search. There was unfinished business, including learning the answer to a big question in her life.

The Darla who went on that search would be much more ready than the one who had come back into my life last spring. And that, really, would be the best memory of all.

We arrived at the Hilton’s front desk at almost six-thirty. I hadn’t paid anything extra, so I was surprised when the clerk said, “Enjoy your suite, Mister Marshall!”

My eyebrow probably went up, but that was all of it. I gave them my Amex to put on file unthinkingly, then realized it might raise questions as well. I made sure we had late checkout as well. The more time with Darla, undisturbed, the better.

While waiting for the elevator, Darla said, “Suite?”

“I just booked a regular room, I promise. This was special enough.”

She giggled.

“Only you would deny something that made the night even sexier! I believe you, though, which makes it still more sexy, honestly.”

“I’m glad. It really is all about you.”

“Of course! It’s always all about the girl. Even if she’s a tomboy.”

“Even if,” I said.

We only had to go up a few floors. Our room was all the way at the end of the hall and turned out to simply be a larger corner room. The best part, by far, was the oversized bathtub. No jets, but we didn’t need those.