Chapter 40: A New Semester

January, 1982, Chicago, Illinois

On Monday, I woke up early to do my exercises and karate kata, then showered and made breakfast. Elyse showered while I exercised, and Stephie showered while I made breakfast.

“You two had a good time yesterday!” Elyse whispered as I put the food on the table.

“Yep!” I smirked.

Stephie came out of my room and sat down at the table. The three of us ate and then Stephie and I headed to IIT. We stopped at her dorm so she could drop her overnight bag, then walked to calculus class. We’d set up our schedules so that we would be in calculus together. I was done with chemistry, so other than electives, I wouldn’t have any classes in common with Stephie unless she decided on a Computer Science minor, which she was thinking about.

My schedule was similar to the previous semester, but I now had Thursdays completely free because I didn’t have lab. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I had calculus and assembly language programming before lunch and C programming and European history after lunch. My English class, ‘History of the English Language’, was on Tuesday morning. The best part was that I wouldn’t be using punch cards for anything. I’d have an account on the DEC VAX system and would be able to enter everything on the VT-100 terminals.

Stephie and I sat together in calculus, and Mike, the guy from Theta Xi, sat on the other side of me. I had hoped he wasn’t too upset over the party, and he seemed like he wasn’t holding it against me by the way he greeted me. He told me that Steve Krastev wanted to talk to me about working in the computer lab this semester. He said if I stopped by the house that evening after class, Steve would be there.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened the rest of the day. At lunch, Stephie and I went to The Bog and ate quickly, then went to the bookstore to buy our books for the semester. Once again, I was unhappy with the cost, though I was pleased that we were using the same Calculus textbook. The real shock was Stephie’s Chemistry book, which cost nearly $200.

At the end of the day, I walked over to the Theta Xi house on the fraternity quadrangle and met with Steve Krastev. He asked me a few questions, we talked about the lab assistant role and when he offered me the job, I took it. It paid $4.25 an hour, and he mentioned it was a stepping stone to being an actual TA, which paid $9.00 an hour. That job was usually limited to Seniors, though occasionally they hired a Junior. I told him that I’d be ready as a Sophomore and he laughed and said he didn’t believe that Doctor Bauer would ever do that, but he’d be happy to have me apply if I worked out as a lab assistant.

When we were done talking, I walked over to the dorms to see Stephie. We spent about fifteen minutes cuddling in her room before I headed home. I had wanted to make sure she was doing OK and, except for being sore and feeling a bit odd ‘back there’ as she put it, she was happy. We agreed that we’d have lunch every day, because even though I didn’t have class on Thursday I would be on campus and in the computer lab all day — in the morning for four hours as lab assistant and in the afternoon to work on projects.

At home I fixed dinner for Elyse and me, and after we ate and cleaned up, we sat on the couch with mugs of hot chocolate.

“How was your first day of classes?” I asked.

“Pretty good. Not much different from last semester, really. Micro econ instead of macro, but otherwise, pretty much the same classes, only second semester. Same for you?”

“Only calculus is the same. I have two programming classes, English, and history. Stephie and I are in calculus together. She’s probably going to spend the weekends here, and maybe one night during the week.”

“Kathy called before you arrived home. She and Kurt are planning to come this weekend. I told her it was OK.”

“Of course it is! They’ll use the sleeper sofa and Stephie and I will be in my room. You can have Warren stay if you want.”

“I’ll ask him tomorrow,” Elyse said. “I didn’t see him today. What’s up with you and Stephie?”

“The same as before, except we’re sleeping together. She was pretty clear last night that she knows this is just fooling around, nothing more.”

“Bullshit, Steve. That little girl is in love with you. She just knows she can’t have you, so she tries to hide it. I could tell by the way she looks at you. You’re going to break her heart, you know that, right?”

“How can that even be possible?” I asked. “She knows the score, Elyse. We talked about it all last semester. We even talked about it last night.”

“Stop and think for a minute. You’ve told me your history. I’m going to name some names — Becky, Jennifer, Katt, Stephie.”

Shit. Girls who thought it was just going to be sex, and it turned out that they fell in love with me. And they hid it from me in some way, at least at first. Or, in Becky’s case, took it far more seriously than it was intended, at least at the time.

“And she didn’t tell me?” I asked, exasperated. “Why?”

“For the same reason, Jennifer didn’t tell you. Or Katt. They were afraid of how you would react. I guess with Katt you were already having sex with her and she fell in love with you, but Jennifer was in love with you before you made love and didn’t tell you until after. Becky told you at first it was OK to see other girls, then wanted you for herself alone.”

I sighed, “You know, if people would just be honest and forthright, life would be a hell of a lot easier.”

“Yes, it would, but don’t count on that happening anytime soon. You’re guilty of it yourself, you know.”

I sighed again. She had me there.

“Tatyana,” I said.

“Yes. Bethany told me that you had fallen hard for her. What happened in DC?”

“What do you think happened? You know me well enough.”

“Jesus, Steve,” Elyse said, shaking her head. “You’re creating the conditions for a major blow up here — Kara, Tatyana, and Stephie. This is going to end very badly; I can feel it.”

“Slow down a second, Elyse!” I replied. “In Tatyana’s case, she knew the score, and raised the points herself. And we spoke in detail before we did anything. She’s on a very different timetable and acknowledged all the potential challenges. She knows that so many things have to happen in certain ways for us to be together. She’s even more practical and pragmatic than you are. Her father even went out of his way to point out the difficulty that we’d encounter. So in that case, I think there’s no issue.

“That said, I agree Stephie might be a concern, but I can say with complete certainty and with no reservation that I was completely honest and forthright with her. She knows Kara is coming to live with me. She even talked about being able to hang out with me and Kara when Kara moves in,” I said.

“You better hide all the knives, that’s all I’m saying. And I do have a question now about your Russian friend. You met her in Austria?”

“That’s right, skiing. We were in the same beginner’s class. She knew how to cross-country but not downhill.”

“And she’s kept in touch with you by writing letters, correct?”

“Sure. What point are you trying to make?”

“Just a moment. And you said her dad was OK with you guys being together, but warned you how difficult it would be.”

“Yes. Again, what’s your point?”

“And you say she’s a cool customer, very practical and pragmatic.”

“Yes. Come on; what are you getting at?”

“You don’t see the connection? Come on, Steve. You’re a huge James Bond fan.”

I started laughing, “Yes, yes, her name is Tatyana, but her last name is Voronin, not Romanova! And Colonel Anisimova is NOT Rosa Klebb! We even joked about that movie. Be serious! The Soviets send a girl to me in Austria? For what purpose? I was a stupid sixteen-year-old kid.”

“No, that was an accidental contact. The rest might be intentional.”

“I don’t have a ‘Lektor’, or any other damn thing they could possibly want!” I protested.

“Your computer skills, perhaps?”

“I have other skills!” I grinned. “But maybe I killed John F. Kennedy, too!”

“Oswald was a Soviet agent!” Elyse said mirthfully.

“Sure, sure. But are you serious? This is a honeypot trap? The guy is pimping his daughter? I don’t buy it.”

“Are you sure she’s his daughter?” Elyse asked with a smirk.

“OK. Now you’ve seen too many spy movies or read too many Ian Fleming novels! Come on Elyse, seriously?”

She started laughing, “I got you going pretty good! I was teasing, mostly, but it is possible.”

“Yes, and it’s possible the Moon landings were faked. And it’s possible that Pamela Sue Martin is going to come to the door in that trench coat she wore in Playboy and ask me to fuck her silly!”

“She won’t, but I will!” Elyse replied sexily. “You and Stephie can’t be exclusive!”

“No, but what about you and Warren?”

“He’s not my boyfriend just yet. I’m sure he’ll want to make it that way soon, but after listening to you and Stephie go at it for hours yesterday, Ah needs some attention from ya’, ya’ damnyankee! Kin ah’ sleep with ya’ tonight?”

I laughed hard, “OK, OK. So we were a bit loud. I warned you! You said you were going to get headphones. Or were you listening with your hand in your panties?” I asked with an arched eyebrow and a silly smile. “Or maybe you weren’t wearing any?”

“I’ll never tell!” she giggled.

“So long as you and Warren aren’t exclusive, you’re welcome in my bed if nobody else is there. Heck, even if somebody else is there, but that’s not your thing.”

“Nope. It’s not. One person at a time. I have zero interest in multiple partners at the same time.”

“I know,” I said, then remembered. “I need to call Kara and Jennifer.”

I went to my room to make the calls. I called Kara first. We talked about when I’d visit and I suggested Valentine’s Day weekend as my first visit, then Spring Break, and then one week later for her birthday.

“I like it, Steve. Valentine’s Day and my Birthday! It’s a long drive for just a weekend, and I really appreciate it!”

“I love you, Kara, and I want you to be happy. I haven’t been putting you first all the time like I should be.”

“No, you haven’t. But the fact that you realize it is a good thing. You’re learning, Steve. You’re growing. And that’s what’s important to me. The path is an odd one, but I know where it leads, and it leads where I want it to, even if there are some detours along the way.”

“Have I told you recently how amazing you are?” I asked.

“Not recently enough!” she said brightly.

We talked for a few more minutes and I told her I’d call her again soon. We expressed our love and then hung up.

I dialed Jennifer’s number in Seattle, as she wasn’t heading to Stanford until Thursday. As soon as she answered, I knew something was wrong.

“What’s wrong, Jen?” I asked.

“I talked to Jocelyn. She really laid into me about letting you brainwash me.”

“Well, if you ask me, I’d say I undid the brainwashing. What happened?”

“She broke up with me. I knew it was going to happen, but it still bugs me.”

“That’s because you cared for her. It’s no surprise. But did you really want to turn into a man-hating harpy like her?”

“No. I talked to my mom about it before I called Jocelyn and my mom agreed mostly with you. She thinks you overreacted to the whole thing with our moving here, but, on the other hand, she told me I was damned lucky you had friends who basically forced you to call me after the whole Stanford thing. She was really surprised that you forgave me for that and are working on being a close friend again.”

“And that’s how you explained it? Not your goal of marrying me?” I asked gently.

“Oh, she knows all about that. But she agrees with you on that, too. She’s told me in no uncertain terms that I blew it so badly that it’s just unlikely to ever happen, and that it would be nothing short of a miracle if it does! Remember, you made me promise to tell my mom everything.”

“I did. And I’m glad you’re sticking to that. Are you going to be OK?”

“Yes, it’ll just take some time to get over it. But with good friends, I’ll do it.”

“That’s good to hear.”

We talked for a few more minutes and she promised to call me if she needed anything at all.

I made one more call, to Kathy, to check that she and Kurt were indeed coming for the weekend and she confirmed they were. I let her know that Stephie would be here for sure and that Warren might. If so, we’d have a nice dinner on Saturday.

I rejoined Elyse, and we did some homework and then went to bed. We made love vigorously and fell asleep spooned together.

On Tuesday morning, I went to IIT early to see if Jackie might be there. She arrived, bringing two coffees with her. She handed me one and sat down.

“How was your break?” Jackie asked.

“Good. I was busy. I was in my old hometown for a couple of weeks, back here for a few days, then in DC.”

“DC? What were you doing there?”

“Attending a dinner reception at the Soviet Embassy.”

“What?! Wow! How?!”

“A girl I met in Austria years ago is the daughter of a Russian diplomat. She invited me as her escort. I did that once for her here in Chicago, too.”

“That’s so cool! I didn’t do anything that exciting on my break. I just went home to DeKalb. That’s west of here, about 60 miles. Nothing ever really happens there. I wasn’t sure you would be here because you don’t have a computer class this morning.”

“No, but I have an English class. I wasn’t sure you would be here either, but I came early, just in case.”

“I’m glad you did. I like talking to you,” she paused. “Do you think we could get together sometime? I mean, just as friends. You know, do something together?”

I wondered about that. Back in the Fall she’d told me she wanted to fool around because of the report she got from Papiya. It wasn’t that she wasn’t attractive or even interesting, but the association with Papiya just really turned me off. Having another friend would be good, but I didn’t want to start another relationship. Elyse’s warning about Stephie still rang in my ears. I’d need to address that soon.

“If it’s just as friends, yes. I’m not really interested in getting involved with anyone at this point.”

“Some days I regret having her as a friend,” Jackie said, half under her breath.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” I replied. “She’s not the only reason.”

“No, but if she hadn’t done that, and told me, I wouldn’t have said what I did to you, which messed things up.”