Forever Yours
©2025 Elder Road Books - Lynnwood WA
Chapter 7: Progress
CAROL’S OFFER proved to have some limitations. They explored some possibilities, but stopped short of consummating a relationship because neither one had a condom. And neither was willing to take a chance on a person they didn’t really know that well.
They slept together, kissed, fondled, and both exploded in orgasm, but woke up in the morning a little embarrassed and hurrying to get to the second day of the tournament.
The short night didn’t seem to do either of them any harm when they stepped on the links. Carol led the women’s team to a first place victory with a team total of 613 for the two-day event. She medaled with a five over par.
While Henry shot a slightly better four over par, the men’s team managed only fourth place among the eleven teams. Still, everyone was happy with the results and relaxed on the hour-and-a-half ride back to campus.
“Um ... So, about last night...” Carol said.
“Yes,” Henry replied. “I would like to date you. But please don’t think that every time we go out, we’ll end up like we were last night. I still live at home with my parents to save up money this year. You live in a residence hall. I don’t think either of us wants to entertain in our homes.”
“Oh, God! Yes. That’s just what I was thinking. I mean, last night was really fun and I’m not upset about it, but it was a lot bolder and faster than I normally am. I mean, I hope we do it again, and that we have a condom or twenty. But it will be hard to have regular dates. We aren’t even on the same part of campus to meet for lunches and stuff, you know?”
“Yeah. But if you have time next weekend, we could do something normal like go to the football game.”
“Football? I hate to say it, but I’ve never actually been to a football game,” Carol said.
“Even in high school?”
“All girls school. I hear, though, they’re going to start girls’ flag football in the spring or something. There’s a big movement to get it established nationwide.”
“Maybe it will be like women’s basketball,” Henry said. “A lot more entertaining to watch than men’s.”
“How about lunch before the game and we can see what we come up with afterward?”
“Deal.”
Henry was both stimulated by his classes and frustrated that they weren’t advanced enough to do more than talk about general theory. He was at a point where he needed someone to test his next batch of code and hadn’t built a trusting enough relationship with others in the department to share it with them. He managed to get an appointment with his advisor on Wednesday that week.
“Professor Jacoby, I’m having a problem,” he said.
“Too rigorous a class schedule? I was concerned about you taking eighteen credits. That’s a pretty heavy load.”
“That’s not the problem. Most of the classes aren’t requiring much more than reading and discussion. I’m sure I’ll need to start working on a couple of papers by the end of the month. It’s more of a professional dilemma.”
“Do tell. What kind of dilemma can you be having at this stage of your career?”
“You know I’ve been working on some software apps and code. We talked about it in my application interview. I have three patent applications and two copyrights. I guess the patents take longer than the copyrights. Those are already issued.”
“You can’t patent software. Are you doing this on your own?”
“No, sir. I have a pretty good patent attorney, I think. The patents are on system and methods,” Henry said, trying to keep too much pride from showing through.
“That’s impressive. All developed on your own?”
“Yes. That’s the problem I’m facing. I have further developments but I really need to test them before I can give them to my attorney.”
“That would be wise.”
“But I don’t have any testers. I was really lucky in high school to have close friends and a teacher who were all over eighteen and could sign non-disclosures. They did a good job of testing, but I know it fell short of what could have been done. But now, I don’t have anyone. I don’t really know how to interview potential testers or how to handle it while I’m here at the university,” Henry said.
“Don’t.”
“Sir?”
“There have been a couple of test cases in which inventions by students who use university resources for development can be claimed to be owned by the university. There have also been cases dismissed. But it’s risky. The university has been probing the computer science department as a place where they might find intellectual property they can claim and license. This conversation, in fact, has probably gone as far as we should take it here on campus. How about we meet someplace this weekend and explore the possibilities?”
“That would be ... fine. If you could meet me at Constitution Links for brunch on Sunday at eleven o’clock, we could launch our discussion then. I’ll bring a non-disclosure,” Henry said.
“I like your decisiveness. I’ll see you there on Sunday.”
Henry picked Carol up at eleven-thirty Saturday morning and drove straight to the stadium parking lot. It was already starting to fill. They managed to get seats at Burgertory for lunch and relaxed. Game time was at two.
“How many people are going to be there?” Carol asked.
“They say the stadium seats over 68,000, but that’s really for the Steelers games. College games can run anywhere from 25,000 to 45,000,” Henry said. He’d looked things up to prepare for the day. It wouldn’t do to arrange a date and then not be able to get in or to be late.
“Would you mind terribly keeping hold of my hand?” she asked. “I don’t want to sound like a baby, but I’m not used to big crowds. Just being on campus sometimes drives me a little crazy.”
“Carol, I don’t ever mind holding your hand. I’d like to keep you close.”
“We’ve been a lot closer than we’ll manage today, I’m sure, but keeping in touch is still high on my list,” she laughed.
They finished lunch and headed to the stadium. Once inside, they stopped at a vendor to get hot chocolate and made their way through the crowds to their seats in the student section.
“This is good, but I’m going to freeze to death out here,” Carol said. “I should have worn a heavier coat, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so chilly today.”
“The mild temps this past week were deceiving. We’re definitely headed into fall weather,” Henry said. “Fortunately, I checked the forecast before I picked you up.”
His clear plastic backpack looked like a grade schooler’s, but that was one of the rules of the stadium. He opened it and extracted a blanket that he shook out and spread over the two of them.
“Oh! This will be good,” Carol said. “When we finish our drinks, we can pull it all the way up over our shoulders and cuddle together!”
“That will be a pretty ideal thing,” Henry said. “Like I said, I want to stay in touch with you. I didn’t mean by email.”
“I think we’re thinking the same thing. Okay. I think we have to stand up for the National Anthem.”
They stood, sang, and sat. Then the game was underway and they soon had to stand up to cheer. It was only three minutes into the game before their team scored and led 7-0. In three more minutes of playing time, they scored again, and again five minutes after that.
“Wow! Is our team that good or does theirs really suck?” Henry asked.
“We probably won’t know until they play someone else,” Carol said. “I saw a poster outside that said we were 5-0 coming into this contest, so I’m guessing the team is really good. Unfortunately, I don’t understand anything that’s going on down there except when one of our team carries the ball into the end zone.”
“Well, look at the bright side,” Henry said.
“Is there a bright side?”
“We’re cuddled together under a blanket keeping warm together and I’m not attempting to explain anything that’s going on.”
“I was going to ask you about that. Not the cuddling thing. I understand that really well. I was wondering about why you weren’t explaining things. Isn’t that what guys are supposed to do at sporting events?”
“I’m a computer geek. The only sport I understand is the one I participate in. Golf is a long way from football!” Henry said.
He turned toward her and she kissed him.
“If we keep this up, we might have to put the blanket over our heads!”
Rather than pull the blanket over their heads, Henry and Carol left the stadium at halftime with the score at 42-10. They hadn’t been that interested in the game anyway. Once they were in Henry’s car and he had the heater running, they kissed over the console. Carol kept the blanket over her and Henry kept his hands busy beneath it.
“We’d better get out of the parking lot before more people start leaving the game,” Henry said, pulling back. “It’s five o’clock.”
“Oh, crap! How long do football games last?” Carol asked.
“Three-and-a-half or four hours, I guess.”
“Let’s go then. I’d rather not be sitting here with my bra around my neck and my shirt and jacket wide open.”
“Mmm. A fond farewell, then,” Henry said, squeezing one of the exposed breasts again.
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