Chapter 23

After eating lunch in the dorm cafeteria, it was time to do some non-bedroom boyfriend / girlfriend stuff. After all, I HAD promised to give Jess the grand tour of Boston, and every second we weren’t out there in the city, we were effectively burning daylight.

We took a potty break, pulled on our full cold weather gear, and set out to brave Boston Common in the snow.

The air temperature was below freezing, but there was a whole lot of fun, lots of laughter and shared experiences – snowballing, sliding, kissing ice-cold lips and rosy cheeks, hot chocolate from a stall, people-watching, more kisses – and a whole lot of holding hands, which felt just right, even with our gloves preventing actual skin contact.

In other words, behaving exactly like a NORMAL boyfriend and girlfriend spending quality time together. Not making out so blatantly that people would actually be staring at us, but a series of definite Public Displays of Affection of the type that would have earned me a visit to the Principal’s Office if I’d done it at high school...

Yeah, like in the bedroom, it WOULD have been so much better if Laura could have been with us, but it was still very special, taking time for just the two of us, me excitedly showing Jess some of the ‘big city’ sights.

Uh, I guess it’s time for another minor confession.

My first six months at college, I hardly ever ventured off what counts as campus. I went where I needed to go and nowhere else. I’ve heard it said that residents of an interesting city often know far less about it than the tourists and visitors who flock there. Yup, that included me. It was only when I deliberately went further afield, so as not to risk bumping into Amy on campus, that I actually first discovered historic Boston. My excursions with Libby had greatly added to my knowledge of the cultural landmarks and piqued my interest in learning more. To be totally truthful, my showing Jess ‘my’ Boston with a proprietary air was a little less genuine than it should have been.

Though I did thoroughly enjoy exploring it with her, and I did come clean where I didn’t have the information to answer her questions.

I also mentioned that there was a whole lot more for us to experience together on future visits, and she was pleasingly enthusiastic about the idea.

The Massachusetts State House is situated at the far end of the Common on Beacon Street. I shared with Jess that while I think the original (National Historic Landmark designated) Bullfinch red brick building is very special, the post-1860 extensions just don’t work for me. ‘Federal’ architecture yes, white marble with regularly spaced unadorned windows, no. They just seemed so out of place, given the loving attention to architectural details of the original building.

Jess loved the historical snippet that the original wooden dome leaked so was covered with copper from Paul Revere and Sons’ Copper Company. Yes, THAT Paul Revere. The gilding on the dome shone brightly in the winter sunshine – apparently it was regilded in 1997 in real 23k gold!

I guess it’s a matter of personal taste, but I was still pleased she shared my view that the ‘modern’ wings don’t really fit. The almost brutal glass-fronted McCormack Building is not the best backdrop, especially in late winter when there are no leaves on the trees to soften the effect...

I promised her we’d come back in the Spring when the trees would have greened up.

As it’s not far away, I walked her up to the Old State House on State and Washington Streets, the colonial-era one, with golden lion, unicorn and clock, dating from 1713 – rightly also designated a National Historic Landmark despite being outrageously overshadowed – though not dominated – by the ugly modern skyscrapers that impatiently crowd around it. It has a timeless understated elegance, and it’s a blessing that the streets and sidewalks are still wide enough for it to be seen as a whole.

We cut back past King’s Chapel, across the Commons and strolled along Newbury St. It’s the upscale shopping and dining street where I’d bought perfumed soap as my first gift for them, and Jess was amazed at the number and variety of stores and eating places in the basements and first and second floors of the old brick buildings.

When we passed the soap store, I had a sudden impulse to treat her again, so I pulled her up the steps and guided her inside.

The wall of fragrance-laden warm air that hit us as we entered was quite the sensory experience – almost overload. It was my fourth or fifth visit, so I knew what was coming, but Jess gasped, and her eyes went very wide.

She didn’t lose that expression of amazement as she exclaimed at the incredible selection on offer, though, when she saw the prices, she pulled my head down for a kiss, explaining to the grinning assistant that she hadn’t known at the time quite how generous my previous gifts had been, and she might not have thanked me enough.

The place is a visual treat as well – the rainbow of colors, the textured and marbled soaps, the specks and shapes. I know nothing about marketing and retail display, but I’d say this place pretty much had it nailed. Plenty of space to reinforce the feeling of exclusivity, yet the little touches like the hand-written labels made it comfortably personal, like buying from a makers’ market.

I spotted a cinnamon-cocoa fragranced soap that looked exactly like a piece of candy, even to the sprinkling of ‘cocoa’ on the top – and it even smelt like candy. The ribbon around it went through a piece of card that warned the soap wasn’t edible – I could see it would have been an easy mistake to make! I mean, it certainly LOOKED and SMELLED good enough to eat.

I grabbed a bar for Jess, and then looked for something for Libby. I found a delicious lemon-scented soap, which I knew she would love, and then asked Jess what she wanted to pick up as a gift for Laura.

She suggested a relaxing floral bath soak mix and added that to the growing pile on the counter.

I noticed her returning to a lavender-and-rosemary body wash sampler for another sniff, so I bought her a bottle of her own.

Which earned me another public display of affection, though the wide smile she gave as I picked the bottle off the display had been reward enough.

Like I said, real boyfriend and girlfriend stuff.

I guessed the assistant must have seen a whole lot of that, and approved, because she applied a ten percent discount and expressed her hope we’d return soon!

I chuckled as I assured her that, judging from my girlfriend’s keen interest in the selection of fragranced products, I most certainly would be back before very long...

(Though I wasn’t tactless enough to half-joke that it would have to wait until my next month’s allowance had hit my bank account ... It’s so not cool to make a thing of having spent more on your girlfriend than you can really afford, especially when, like Jess, she’s worth everything you possess.)

The lady made us both laugh as she retorted with the Biblical Proverb about a good woman being worth more than rubies. I’ve no idea of the current cost of rubies, but the amount on the ‘total due’ line of the receipt was probably enough to at least reserve a ruby at any high-end jeweler...

The main reason I would be returning to the store very soon? I spotted a display of essential oils for massage, but the choice was too vast for a quick decision. Under ‘sensual’, there was sandalwood, patchouli, ylang ylang, lavender, jojoba, jasmine, clary sage ... Sheesh, it almost seems you need a doctorate in botany to create a love potion! I’d need to do some serious research, maybe ask the girls a few informed questions about their preferences, before I made my selection. The oils were way too costly to allow for some speculative or experimental purchases, but if the quality was anything like the fragranced soap, they would be a sound investment. It would be worth asking Libby for advice, and then I could surprise the girls with a sensual massage that would totally blow their minds.

Jess was snuggled up tight under my arm – or at least as tight as we could manage with our thick winter clothes – as we strolled back towards my dorm.

She was bubbling about the amazing choice of fragrances at the soap store, reminding me how much pleasure she and the others had gotten from my previous gifts. Though she didn’t say it, I knew that ‘pampering’ was not something she’d ever experienced from her parents. All the gifts she’d ever had from them came under the ‘everyday necessity’ heading. Like all her underwear was utility rather than decorative – and most certainly not sexy.

Jess declared we were absolutely going back to the store with Laura – and that brought her front and center into the conversation.

We agreed it felt weird us two being together without her. Like it hadn’t seemed quite comfortable the previous evening with just the two of us eating Italian, even though we’d both had a great time.

Yeah, we were both missing our lover. Even doing ‘the boyfriend shows girlfriend the big city’ thing, it just wasn’t right without Sis.