Chapter 73: An Early Meeting

Sunday, March 28, 1982

I took my car to church — not a very common thing. Once church finished, I took off for the DoubleTree. I’d gone with a nice forest green button-down and khakis, not a suit.

Fortunately, my choice matched theirs. I spotted Megan first, wearing a dark red dress and low heels. Her parents were obvious, from context. Both were quite tall. Her dad was wearing a polo shirt and khakis, and her mom was wearing a pretty, deep blue dress.

Megan spotted me, waved, and headed right for me, greeting me in a hug. In her heels she had at least an inch on me. Didn’t bother me at all. Her dad had close to a foot on me, and her mom at least four or five inches.

“Mom, dad, this is Steve! Steve, meet my parents!”

“Hello, Sir,” I smiled, “and hello, Ma’am, and thank you for letting your daughter borrow me for a dance.”

That seemed to break the ice, as both of them laughed. “Pleasure to meet you, Steve. I’m Jeffrey — call me Jeff...”

“ ... and I’m Judy. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Believe me, we’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Not true! Not true!”

Megan squealed. Cutely. “Steve! It’s all true. I’d never tell all the other stuff.” She giggled quite a bit. Ice thoroughly smashed.

“Let’s grab something to eat,” her dad said, leading the way into the restaurant. “I’m famished!”

I offered my arm to Megan, getting a definite look of approval from her mom and a blush from Megan. She took it, and I walked her in, the hostess leading us to a table.

As with most such things, the DoubleTree buffet was set up with several serving stations, including a carving station and an omelet station, and lots of fairly well-spaced tables. Our hostess took drink orders — Mimosas for the parents, orange juice for Megan and me, along with water — and then we went right to the buffet. I stuck with Megan the entire time, trying to pick favorites, and not too much of each. And nothing that was likely to make a mess.

Megan picked at least as much as I did, maybe more — but then, she was likely bigger than I was overall, and quite athletic. Basketball burns lots of calories, I’m sure. We had similar tastes but also a few noticeable disagreements.

We went back and I held her chair, getting approving looks from both parents, then seated myself.

Judy went first. “When Megan told me she was going to ask a popular sophomore who already had a girlfriend, I thought she was a bit crazy. But she assured me you were a gentleman and polite and that your sister loved you. Your sister loving you gets lots of points with me,” she grinned. “Then we heard you’d made her ask twice, which again sounded horrible. But she corrected my opinion of that, too. You’re a bit of a legend, now.”

I laughed. “It’s been quite the roller-coaster really, Ma’am.” “Judy” “As you wish, Judy.” She smiled at that, and raised an eyebrow. I figured she’d caught the reference from the book. It seemed unlikely the she was also having a second trip. Though, there was still the never-solved mystery of Megan turning up a year early.

I went on, “I’m sure Megan explained, but I just couldn’t, in good conscience, have her thinking I was doing her a giant favor accompanying her to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Megan’s someone I’d be more than happy to accompany. She always has been...”

Megan blushed considerably at that.

“ ... and it was important to me that she understood that. Otherwise, well ... it’d just be awkward. Also, Angie would not be pleased.” That got Judy laughing.

Jeff smiled. “And you really, truly, turned down the prettiest girl in the school in favor of Megan?” Another blush, but a smile, too.

“There’s some dispute over that.” More raised eyebrows. “It’s my contention that my sister Angie is the prettiest blonde at Memorial and, therefore, Jessica can’t be the prettiest girl in the school.” Grins appeared. “I seem to be the only one with that opinion — Angie, in particular, thinks I’m crazy — but I’m sticking to it.” Laughter. “In any case, yes, Jessica asked me out after I’d told Megan that, if she asked again, I’d say yes, and that, to me, was a promise. Betraying Megan and breaking a promise is hardly a good way to behave.”

“I told you, I’d have let you out of it, no question!” Megan said.

“Yes, but I’d be a cad if I asked you to. And Jessica wasn’t upset. We’ll go out, sometime. Just not for the Sadie Hawkins dance.”

Judy smiled. “The entire episode made an enormous impression on us, I’ll say. We always thought Megan was gorgeous...”

“Mom!” Megan exclaimed, blushing.

“ ... but she didn’t agree. And, honestly, the sequence of events was a big thing. You’d already proven yourself to be honorable before doing something that’d be overwhelmingly romantic.”

Jeff nodded. “That was a big thing for me, too. I’m a lawyer, and people think we’re sharks and such, but being ethical and honorable is important. I don’t know if you’re considering that path, but it’s something many people in Debate wind up pursuing.”

Judy added, “It’s somewhat the family business. I’m a paralegal — that’s how we met — and our older daughter Michele is just starting UT with a pre-law plan.”

“And I’m definitely considering it,” Megan said with a smile.

“Whatever I do, I think it’s important that I conduct myself that way. Promises, ethics, and respect are a very big thing with me. Always have been.”

“So, tell me about your girlfriend, since I know you have one. How does she feel about you taking another girl to a dance, and apparently taking Jessica out as well?”

I glanced to Megan, who blushed slightly but nodded.

“Trying to read your daughter’s cues...” That got Megan a bit more red. “I’ll give the more complete answer. Jasmine and I have been dating since October, when Angie set us up. It’s actually the longest I’ve dated anyone. Jasmine and I have a relationship where we’re both open to seeing other people, but not at each other’s expense. She approves of both dates.”

Judy smiled. “That matches what Megan said, if a bit more directly. I find that ... interesting. Not bad, not at all, if you can handle it.” I was pretty sure there was an implied ‘Can you?’ tacked on.

“Can you tell us about your previous girlfriends? I’m just asking because you mentioned it being the longest you’ve dated,” Jeff said.

“Sure. And I should clarify — strictly speaking, I’ve only been allowed to ‘date’ for a few months, so technically I never ‘dated’ Candice or Nancy.” Both parents looked amused; Megan blushed. I was pretty sure we weren’t exactly dating either. “Candice and I were together from August to December of 1980. She had some serious medical issues in January and was forced to withdraw. She started at another school last fall. I hasten to add that I was not the cause of any of those issues.” They smiled at that.

“Following that, and after a casual date with a long-time friend that let us both go to the Valentine’s dance, Nancy asked me to Sadie Hawkins. We were together from early April to mid-June, when her father, who is with the U.S. Attorney’s office, was transferred from Houston to Southern California. I’m still good friends with Candice and Nancy, but we’re not rekindling anything, either. Distance is a pretty solid hurdle.”

Judy smiled, warmly. “Unfortunate circumstances, but it seems to have worked out.”

“Thankfully, yes. And, going back to what you said, I think you were wondering if I could handle it. And if Jasmine could.” She smiled, I think pleased that I was picking it up. “And the answer is, we’re both fifteen, so, who knows?” Laughter. “But I believe we can. Part of it is that we’re not treating it as a secret. Either of us cheating, or appearing to, would really upset our friends, so we’ve had to be open about it. If either of us start acting like jerks, we have lots of people who would call us on it.”

She nodded. “An interesting, and positive, use of peer pressure. I’d have to say, the way you handled things with Megan makes it clear you’re not just talking a good game. That was an easy way to lose two girls, if it’d gone wrong.”

I shrugged. “I’d rather Megan had gone with someone else rather than take her in a way that had me taking advantage of her, and I’d certainly rather not go out with Jessica than hurt a friend, which Megan is. I know who Jessica is, but we’re not close, though we’re getting a bit closer. I know Megan fairly well. She’s a friend and a teammate and a colleague. I hope we’ll be competing together for the next two years.” I had Megan blushing again, but she was smiling quite a bit, too. “Plus, I’m already dating Jasmine, and she’s wonderful. Jessica might be a friend, maybe a good friend, but I don’t need to date her for that to happen.”

Jeff smiled. “You said you and Jessica are getting closer?”