Chapter 7

In the morning, I woke up and went into the kitchen for coffee. For the first time, I had nothing to do for the day.

I was meeting Beth in the evening but would be a man of leisure today. Mark was gone to work and no one else was in the apartment. That suited me. I really didn’t want to deal with Helen at any time though it seemed that she had moved on. At lunchtime, I was a little stir crazy and left to buy some lunch. I tried a Chinese buffet that had been good for supper in the past. It was good for lunch, too. The selection wasn’t quite as good but it was okay and the sushi was plentiful. I tried not to be a glutton with moderate success. I went back to the apartment and made some clothing choices which I packed. On a whim, I packed my laptop and the various chargers that I used regularly. I carried that out to my car and loaded it in the trunk. There was plenty of room for more. All I had to do was load my shaving kit and dress in the morning.

Beth called and I headed her way. I parked and knocked. She came to the door, pulled me in, and kissed me thoroughly. I kissed her back. She backed away far enough for us to talk and asked, “Are you taking me out or should I cook?”

“Is Susan here?”

“Not yet but she will be.”

“Let’s go out.” Beth looked at me quizzically. I continued, “She looks at me like she wants to remove my clothes. That doesn’t work when I’m around you. Susan is not bad looking but just doesn’t compare. Actually, I have only found one female who compare to you and Cindy isn’t available.

We kissed again with considerable body rubbing. I had had her close enough to know already that she had a great body. However, that wasn’t her only allure. I enjoyed looking at her face and hearing her voice. I thought, “I’ve got it bad.”

“What have you got bad?”

“I was talking to myself about you. You are a delightful person. While I enjoyed being with Cindy and Ron last night, I wouldn’t enjoy us being with Susan much. She wants something I can’t give her.” Beth looked at me questioningly. “She wants a relationship. The only thing I might offer her is sex. Beyond that, she’s not there for me and my attention is already centered elsewhere.”

Beth hugged me. “Let’s go then. I’ll leave her a quick note while I change.”

“I could help.”

“Then, we might never go out and Susan would sense an invitation that neither of us plan to send.” She gave me a light kiss as she left my embrace for her room. She came out wearing a skirt and blouse outfit that was flirty. It was just that bit too short for business and the scoop neck blouse showed just that tiny bit too much cleavage. It wasn’t quite right for the office but, in my mind, worked for a date with a girl’s guy. I hoped that’s what I was in her mind.

She wrote a note and we left. It was, however, early. We got in my car and I pulled out. I said, “We have time. Is there a movie you would like to see?” I was leaving her complex.

“Do you have any in mind, X?”

“Something lighthearted. I want our time to be fun. We will have to be serious this weekend to help you make your decisions.” She nodded. “Look something up, Beth.”

She did and gave me directions to the theater. We made it with five minutes to spare. Once inside, I bought us cokes and a medium popcorn. We ate and drank enjoying the movie. It was a romantic comedy which perfectly fit what I had in mind for us to see. We kissed when it was over to give the stars some competition. We left holding hands and I drove us to a nice place for supper. It was one of the nicer chains. We enjoyed our meals and had good service. We finally headed back to Beth’s apartment to spend a bit more time since we both could “sleep in.” Our plan was still to leave at nine and return Sunday afternoon or early evening depending upon what we found and how our time worked out.

We pulled in and walked to the door. Upon entering, I could see Susan was there since she came out of the bathroom wearing a towel. She dropped the towel in a poorly acted surprise. She was a good looking girl and was, of course, on display. I turned my head and part of my body away. Beth wasn’t happy. “Susan, get covered!”

Susan whined, “You surprised me. I’m sorry.” I kept my head averted for two reasons. One was that I had already seen everything. The other was to keep Beth’s ire on her roommate and not let it get transferred to me.

I heard movement and a door close. Beth said, “She’s in her room.” I turned to face Beth who wasn’t happy though she wasn’t really mad. “The worse thing about that was you sort of warned me it would happen.” She shrugged. “Money does do strange things to people.”

I looked at her and then grinned. “If you come out of a bathroom in a towel and drop it, I won’t look away.” I chuckled.

Beth looked scandalized. “I may do that some day to find out your reaction.”

I grinned more. “I look forward to that day.”

“Let’s sit down on the couch, X.” We sat down and she snuggled in under my arm.

“I like you to be where you are, Beth.”

“I find this to be a comfortable place, X.” She paused. “It just worries me sometimes that you will expect more than I will give you.”

I said, “That depends upon your definition of more and the circumstances of those possible expectations.”

“That’s deep.”

“Beth, I’ve been thinking about you and being with you. I finally decided to just enjoy things and let any relationship develop naturally which means at its own speed. I also decided that any relationship with you needs to be mutual. All I ask is that you neither push me away nor pull me to you too abruptly as we make this exploration. There’s time.”

“I think I can do that, X. I know I don’t want to push you away. I plan to hang on to you.”

We spent some time kissing and holding each other. Beth said, “X, I guess you’re packed but I have two items that I would like for you to bring if they’re not loaded.” I looked at her. “Bring a swim suit or two.” I nodded. “The other thing is to bring a nice shirt and sports coat. You can go to a suit if you want. A tie is optional. My new direct boss wants us to have dinner Saturday night. His AA warned me that it will be somewhat formal.” I nodded. “If you’ll do that, I’ll make it worth your while.” She grinned.

“Beth, you don’t have to bribe me to be with you. I will wear a suit and tie. I’ve not done it often but have never minded. I have two swim suits, one is a normal pair of trunks and the other pair is skimpy.”

“Bring both.” I nodded.

I asked, “You’ve made reservations. I guess I should bring a little money. I have a new credit card from the bank that is itching to be used.”