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Cora, Goddess of Spring

The first time I laid eyes on her she was kneeling on the sidewalk and coaxing a skinny little abandoned puppy with a piece of meat.

The poor animal was scared to death and wouldn’t come close so she tossed him some ham from her sandwich. When he ate it, she tossed another piece a little closer. It took almost her entire sandwich before she had him eating from her hand. Her friends were standing behind her complaining that she was going to make them late for class. “You guys go ahead,” she told them. “I’m going to take him to the vet and see if he’s hurt.”

I could see the small mongrel shaking from fear as she gently picked him up, then turned and walked right past me with the furry critter lovingly cradled in her arms. She was stunning, absolutely gorgeous. I was entranced as I watched her walk toward the animal hospital a few streets over.

They say you never hear the shot that hits you; the same is true about arrows. I never heard it or saw it coming, but I felt Cupid’s arrow as soon as it pierced my heart. It had been years since that kind of warm excitement invaded my soul. I didn’t know her name, where she was from, or anything else about her. All I knew for sure was that I would marry her someday.

Since her friend mentioned being late to class, I assumed they were in college. There was only one within walking distance, the one I attended. It wasn’t the biggest, but it was big enough; it sat on sixty-seven acres of land and had more than a couple dozen buildings, including a theater, a cultural arts building, a fine arts center, the school for business and management, the teacher’s college, and two television and radio stations, just to name a few, not to mention a student body of about three thousand. Just thinking about it had me worrying that I might never see her again, but that was not acceptable. All the way back to my dorm room I wondered how I would find her.

Scott, my roommate, was lying down listening to Pandora on his phone when I walked in. “Hey, man, I just saw the woman I’m going to marry,” I told him with excitement.

“You did? Who? I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone,” he replied.

“I don’t know her name yet but she’s kind and compassionate, she loves animals and she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

“But you don’t know her name?” Scott asked with a smile. “I assume you’re going to know it before you marry her,” he chuckled.

“Of course.”

“Okay, I’m curious, how do you know she’s kind and compassionate, and whatever else you said, but don’t know her name?”

I was still in somewhat of a trance as I sat down on my bed and told Scott the whole story.

“So, that’s it? You’re gaga over some broad because she’s pretty and gave some mutt her sandwich? In case you haven’t noticed, this campus is loaded with good-looking girls. Hell, you don’t even know for sure she goes here; just because her friend mentioned being late for a class? It could be a karate class or a Pilates class for all you know.”

“Nah, one of them was carrying books in her arms. I wish I’d thought to look at the subject or follow them or something. Damn, I never even thought of it. I was just so awe-struck.”

“So, you got a plan? I mean it’s a pretty big campus, man. How are you going to find her?”

“I’m not sure ... just start searching, I guess. I’ll start roaming the halls of every building on campus until I find her.”

“And then what?”

“Shit, I don’t know. I’ll ask her out, I guess.”

“What if she says no?”

“I ... I’ll get down on my knees and beg.”

“What if she has a boyfriend?”

“Damn it, Scott, I don’t know. Stop being so fricken pessimistic. I’ll figure something out, that’s all. Nothing is going to stop me from marrying her, you can bet on it.”

“Good luck, buddy.”

As much as I hated to admit it, Scott brought up some valid points. I thought of trying to come up with some kind of plan but decided my first priority had to be simply finding her. From there, I’d just have to play it by ear.

For the next three weeks, I roamed the campus every chance I got. I walked the halls of every building and frequented every college hang-out I knew of ... nothing. I was beginning to think maybe Scott was right, maybe she didn’t go to school here, but I wasn’t about to give up. If she wasn’t on campus, I’d search the whole damn town and keep widening my search until I found her.

Admittedly, I was obsessed. I couldn’t get her out of my mind if I wanted to. She was my first thought when I woke up in the morning and my last before going to sleep at night. I had to find her.

When I first started looking for my dream girl, the weather was hot, the leaves were green and still on the trees. As I was coming from the business building, it dawned on me that was no longer the case. Leaves were starting to fall and turn colors. Autumn, my favorite season, was letting itself be known.

It was such a gorgeous day I decided to shelve my search for a little while and stopped in for some brew at the campus coffee shop. I strolled outside to the inner courtyard and took a seat at one of the picnic tables. I sat there enjoying the weather while daydreaming of what life would be like with my wife-to-be when I heard some laughing and giggling behind me. I thought I recognized one of the voices and looked behind me.

It was them, all three of them. My heart started to pound, and my brain cells were firing like an exposed electrical wire in a rainstorm. Without thinking, I swung my legs around to face them and blurted out, “How’s the dog?”

The female banter immediately stopped and they all turned and looked at me as if I had three heads. I could see from their faces that I had blown it. It was my one chance, but I knew from their expressions they all thought I was some kind of geek. “What dog? What are you talking about?” one of the other girls asked.

Not even realizing I was being rude, I ignored the girl talking and looked at the woman of my dreams. “The little dog you took to the vet a few weeks ago. How’s he doing?”

My question didn’t get the reaction I was hoping for and I was starting to panic. I was trying to show my own compassion, but instead, I made them nervous. My question was met with suspicion and maybe even a little fear. I could hear it in her voice.

“How do you know about that?” she responded.

“I ... I was there. You walked right past me,” I explained.

“Come on, we have to get going,” one of the other girls said.

“Yeah, good idea,” the other agreed.

“Wait for me,” concurred the girl of my dreams.

Before I could think of anything else to say or do, they got up and left, heading toward the teacher’s college building.

I was so pissed at myself. All the effort I put into finding her, I never gave any thought as to how to act or what to say when we met. I realized I must have sounded like some kind of an idiot ... and I still didn’t even know her name! The only thing I did know was that they disappeared into the teacher’s building.

Over the next week, I bought a lot of coffee and spent every free minute I had sitting at that same picnic table where I could keep an eye on the main entrance of that building. After my last debacle, I at least had an idea of what to say the next time I saw her. My problem was getting the nerve to try again. I didn’t want to blow it a second time. I had caught sight of her leaving the building a couple of times, but she was always talking to someone and the timing didn’t seem right.

I had only about two sips of coffee left one day when I heard a voice from behind me. “What are you doing?”

I turned and saw it was one of her friends.

“You really think she doesn’t see you sitting out here day after day? Leave her alone. She’s already had one stalker in her life, she doesn’t need another one.”

“I ... I’m not stalking her.”

“Oh no? What do you call sitting out here every day just so you can spy on her?”

“I’m not spying; I was just trying to find an opportunity to apologize for the other day. I could see I startled all of you and I just wanted to say I was sorry.”

“Fine, you can tell me you’re sorry and I’ll relay it to the others,” she said curtly.

“Look, my name is Grayson Stevens. You can look me up on Facebook. I assure you I’m not a stalker. Can I buy you a cup of coffee? I’d really like a couple minutes of your time if you can spare it.”

She looked right through me for a few seconds, and then said, “Pumpkin Spice Latte.”

“I’ll be right back with it,” I said while standing and heading into the coffee house. I was pleasantly surprised to see she was still there and sitting down when I came out. “Here you go,” I said, setting it down.

She was on her phone. “It says you’re a musician and write your own songs.”

“Wow, you don’t waste any time, do you,” I joked. “Yeah, right now it’s my passion but I want to make it my career.”

“You sing, too?”

“Yeah, although it’s not my strong point.” I couldn’t tell if she was listening or not because she never looked up from her phone and my Facebook page.

“How well do you know Jason Monroe?” She was obviously looking into my friends list.

“Not really well. He’s in a couple of my classes and we’ve hung out a few times.”

“He’s a business major.”

“Yeah, me too.” From the look on her face, I knew what she was thinking even before she said it.

“You said you wanted a music career; why isn’t that your major?”

I felt as if I was being interrogated by CIA. “My dad and mom are very supportive of my music, but they’re also pragmatic. They told me they would always be my number one fan and help me in any way they could, but they also wanted me to have something to fall back on. The music business is still a business, so I’m working towards a BS in general business administration and minoring in entrepreneurship; maybe start my own record label someday.”

She showed no sign of being impressed. She took a sip of her latte without ever taking her eyes off her phone. “You also have Professor Erickson in your friends list.”

“Yeah, I taught guitar in the Community Music Program under him last year. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fit it into my schedule this year but we became good friends. He rarely misses a Friday night at Plato’s; that’s where I perform. They have open mic night every Friday night.”

“So, what’s your interest in my friend?”

I had practiced a little speech over and over. I had hoped to be talking to my dream girl, but it looked like this might be my only opportunity so I took it. “First of all, I’m not a stalker. You obviously know Jason; he’ll tell you that and I’m sure professor Erickson will back me up, as well.

“When I saw your friend kneeling on the sidewalk to feed that little pup, I immediately thought, what a nice person. She was so kind and it was easy to see how much she cared. When she walked past me, I could see the concern on her face.

“I just knew she was someone very special and I wanted to get to know her.” Evidently, I didn’t have her completely convinced.

“It doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous, either ... right?”

I figured she see right through me if I lied. “No, it doesn’t, but I’m betting she’s every bit as gorgeous on the inside as she is on the outside.” I thought I saw a very slight smile, but just then she plunged the knife into my chest.

“She’s got a boyfriend, you know. He’s big, good-looking and rich, so I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”

It felt as if she’d just sucked all the air from my lungs. “I ... I...” I stumbled for something to say. “I hope he knows how special she is?”

She ignored my question. “I won’t make any promises but maybe we can stop in at that place you mentioned, what was it...”

“Plato’s Place,” I interjected. “Here.” I always carried their cards with me for when I wanted to invite people to hear me play. I took one from my wallet and handed it to her. “Open mic night is every Friday from eight till ten. You’ll see a bunch of people from the college there as well. You should all come, bring your boyfriends.”

“Like I said, no promises.” With that, she stood up, grabbed her latte, and started walking away, then turned back to me. “I’d still like it if you found someplace else to sit and drink your coffee every day.”

“Will do,” I agreed reluctantly.

I had gotten used to a coffee break between classes, so in keeping my promise, I did find a quiet place where I could sit under a nice big tree and work on my songs while enjoying a cup of Columbia’s best.

That Friday night I kept an eye on the door of Plato’s, even when I was on stage, but they never showed. I thought the hard part was going to be finding her but that turned out to be the easy part; actually meeting her was the hard part.

It was the middle of the following week when the clouds started to part. I was under my tree with my coffee in one hand and music in the other when I heard her voice.

“Cindy said you wanted to apologize.”

I jumped to my feet, spilling my coffee in the process. It was her. She was standing right in front of me. My brain was screaming at me to calm down, don’t blow it again. “Yes,” I stuttered. “I know I scared you before when I so clumsily asked about the dog. Your girlfriend told me about you being stalked so I don’t blame you for being startled. I just wanted to say I was sorry.”

She gave me a small smile. “Apology accepted, and he’s doing good. The vet took him home and kept him until a few days ago. He knew somebody who would give the little fella a good home and asked me if it would be okay to let them have him. I said it would be great.”

“Wow, that’s really neat. I wonder if that little pup has any idea how lucky he is that you spotted him?”

“I just did what anyone else would have done.”

“That’s not true; even your girlfriends were telling you to hurry or you’d be late for class.” I thought it was a good time to introduce myself. I stuck out my hand. “My name is Grayson, Grayson Stevens, but most people just call me Gray.”

“I know, Cindy showed me your Facebook page.” I thought I’d died and gone to heaven as she put the softest, daintiest hand I ever felt inside mine. “I’m Cora,” she replied. “Nice to meet you. We wanted to go to that place where you sing but my boyfriend, Jack, had already made other plans.”

“Maybe next Friday?” I asked.

“I’m not sure but we’ll try,” she said, not losing that great smile. “Well, I have to get going or I’ll be late for an appointment. I was on my way to the faculty building when I saw you sitting here and thought I’d say hi. It was nice meeting you,” she said before walking away.

I finally knew her name, and what a beautiful name it was. Damn, talk about inspiration. I was tempted to skip my next class so I could go to my room and start composing, but I knew that had to wait. ‘School work comes first,’ was my dad’s mantra, and after all, he was paying the bills.

I raced back to my room after my last class and found it empty. Most of Scott’s classes were in the morning, so he was usually there when I got in, unless he had a date, which wasn’t hard for him. He was a good-looking guy with a smooth line of BS. I was both disappointed with his absence and happy at the same time. I really wanted to boast about finding my dream girl, but then I would have had to listen to his snide remarks as I wrote her song.

I pulled a clean sheet of staff paper from my desk drawer and picked up my guitar ... nothing. My mind was blank. This could not be my usual, not that my usual wasn’t good, but this had to be special. This had to be my crowning achievement worthy of a Harry Chapin or a James Taylor.

I sat for several minutes trying to come up with a hook, a theme, something that expressed how I felt and would lend itself to a melody. After a while I realized my problem: I was in new territory, I’d never felt so strongly for a person before in my life.

I put down my guitar and just sat, thinking. To me, her name was like a concerto, but being honest with myself, it wasn’t very melodic. It certainly wasn’t an Angeline or a Rhiannon, nor was it easy to rhyme. I started to wonder what it meant. Most names have some kind of meaning behind them. I went to my desk and opened my laptop. I wanted to check out the name’s origins.

My God, she was part of Greek mythology. Cora was the daughter of Zeus and the Goddess of Spring. I wondered if she knew that. Okay, I had the title, now all I had to do was write a song that did it, and her, justice.

I was still working on the first verse when Scott came in. I glanced at the clock and was shocked to see it was after midnight. Before we hit the sack, I told him all about meeting the woman I would marry.

The next day it was hard to concentrate on my studies because I kept running lyrics through my head. I was hoping to have the song ready in time for the next open mic night in case she showed up, but no way was that going to happen. The song was too important to rush. I’d take my time and make sure it was perfect before its debut.

Plato’s Place is a bar/coffee house a few blocks down the street from the campus. It was formerly just a bar, but a lot of students aren’t twenty-one yet. The owner, who realized how much business he was missing, did some remodeling and made a portion of the bar into a coffee house with a separate entrance. The bar didn’t open until 6 PM, but since most of the college classes were over at three, they set the coffee shop hours from 3 PM to midnight, and knowing college students aren’t known as early risers, from 10 AM to 10 PM on the weekends. It was an instant success and open mic night drew from all over the neighborhood.

I got there at seven to make sure I got on the agenda for the night. They told me I was fourth in line. That would put me on stage around nine. I grabbed a small table where I could keep an eye on the door and watched as my stress level climbed. I hadn’t been that nervous since I was eleven and sang in front of an audience for the first time.

For almost an hour, I nursed my coffee and took deep breaths. Just before eight, my eyes lit up with excitement as Cora and her two friends walked in with Jason Monroe. I didn’t see any other guys with them, much to my delight.

Once they claimed a table, Jason and Cindy went up to the counter to order their coffees. I figured I’d wait until they were all settled before walking over and saying hi. Unfortunately, I was so preoccupied with what to say I wasn’t watching the time. Just as I was starting to stand, Andy, the MC and manager, got up on stage to introduce the first act. I didn’t know how interested the girls were in the show, but I wasn’t going to be rude and disturb them during a performance, so I sat back down to bide my time.

The first two acts were regulars, neither of whom were all that impressive, but the third act, the one I had to follow, was new. It was a three-piece group, two guys on guitars and a girl singer. They weren’t bad at all, but they only did covers. I was usually the only singer/songwriter who performed, and Andy always made mention of it when he’d introduce me.

I had just popped the latches on my guitar case when I caught sight of two males out of the corner of my eye. I watched as they headed for the three girls. I almost died as the tall guy with sandy-blond hair and glasses bent down and gave Cora a peck on the lips then sat next to her and put his arm possessively across the back of her chair. The other guy sat next to her other friend.

I knew I should have been prepared. After all, she told me she was going with someone and I did tell Cindy to bring their boyfriends along, but actually seeing how comfortable that guy, Jack, was with Cora was almost more than I could take.

I wasn’t sure how it would affect my performance and thought about just leaving, but Andy was already introducing me. I opened my case and quickly tuned up my guitar. Walking up on stage, I couldn’t suppress my emotions so I decided I wouldn’t even try. I knew I was either going to be really good or really bad that night.

I don’t think the audience even realized they were sharing my pain while I was up there, but you could hear a pin drop as I played. Instead of finishing with the song I had intended, I sang a song I wrote in high school after breaking up with my girlfriend. It was a sad song and I was in the right mood to sing it.

I got the biggest ovation I’d ever had. Several stood up as they clapped and whistled. I looked over at Cora’s table and saw she was the only person not clapping. I saw her boyfriend lean over and say something to Jason. He just nodded his head in response.

I thanked everyone and headed back to my table. Andy acknowledged my performance before announcing the next act. I was putting my guitar back into its case when I sensed someone standing behind me. I looked up.

“Hi, Gray,” Jason said with a smile. “Wow, you were great tonight. Hey, I’m with some friends; I think you know Cindy. Why don’t you come over and join us.”

“Ah, yeah, okay. Let me get a fresh coffee and I’ll be there in a minute,” I told him.

“Great, we’re right over there,” he said, pointing in the direction of their table.

I asked one of the baristas if I could stick my guitar behind the bar where it wouldn’t be in the way and got my usual plain black coffee. As I approached, I saw they had borrowed a chair for me to sit next to Jason. “Hi, everyone,” I said with a smile.

Everybody looked up and smiled. Jason spoke up. “Gray, here, have a seat. I understand you know Cindy. This is Jennifer,” he said introducing Cora’s other girlfriend, “Bob,” he said, indicating the guy sitting on the other side of Jennifer, “that’s Cora and...”

He didn’t wait to be introduced. “I’m Jack, Cora’s boyfriend,” he said, sticking out his hand. “She tells me she knows you.”

I instantly disliked the guy but wasn’t going to be rude. “Ah, yeah, we met last week,” I answered as I shook his hand. He had an air of arrogance about him, and even though his words weren’t condescending, his tone was.

“You were really good up there. Cora says you write your own songs. Did you write that last one you did?”

“Yeah, years ago, in high school.” He chuckled at that for some reason.

Cindy seemed to be impressed. “High school, damn, you’ve got talent, Gray.”

I humbly thanked her. Cora was very quiet while everyone else asked questions: How long had I been writing songs? Did I take guitar lessons? Had I ever played in a band? Did I play any other instruments? The usual.

Everything was very nonchalant until Cora finally asked her question. I don’t know about the others, but I saw the look in Jack’s eyes as he caught the concerned inflection in her voice. “Gray, that last song was so sad. What caused you to write it?”

“A broken heart,” I explained. Everyone went silent and stared at me until Jennifer spoke up. “Well, are you going to elaborate?”

“Nah,” I replied, “I got dumped, not much more to it than that.”

That didn’t satisfy Cora. “It’s pretty obvious that you loved her very much.”

I thought about it for a few seconds. “You’re right, I did, but I was young—we were young. At the time, I didn’t think I’d ever love anyone that much again, but since then, I’ve learned what true love really is.”

I saw Cindy shoot me a look as if to say, ‘you poor sap, you’re about to get your heart broken all over again.’ Then she challenged, “So, who is she; your true love?”

“A gentleman never tells,” I responded with a slight smile.

We talked a little more but I got the impression I was making Jack nervous. He’d seemed a little on edge ever since Cora asked about the song. I wasn’t looking for a confrontation, at least not yet; and besides, I didn’t want to say too much and scare Cora off again, so I decided to call it a night and said my goodbyes.

When I got to my dorm room door, I heard noises coming from inside. Through the door, it sounded like someone struggling. I opened it and rushed inside thinking Scott might be in trouble. He and the good-looking girl under him were both naked and going at it like two rabbits in heat. They stopped long enough to look up.

“Shut the door, man, we don’t need the whole place to know what’s going on.”

“What the hell are you doing? In case you haven’t noticed, this is NOT a coed building.”

“I know, I snuck her in,” he said with a grin. He saw my look of disapproval. “Hey, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. We didn’t have time to make other plans.” He looked down at her and then back up at me. “This is Suzanne, by the way. Suzy, say hi to Gray.”

“Hi, Gray,” she said without a hint of embarrassment.

“Hi, Suzy,” I said while trying not to look. “Scott, you’ll have to find someplace else for this, man. Jesus, you could get us into trouble.”

“Oh, bullshit. They don’t care what goes on in the dorm rooms. Hey, I’ve got an idea,” he looked down at his date. “You interested in a threesome?”

“Sure,” she answered, “sounds like fun.”

I wondered where he found girls like this. “Sorry, you’re a beautiful girl but I can’t.”

“Why not?” Scott asked. “Oh, don’t tell me it’s because of that girl, what’s her name, Cora? Don’t be ridiculous, man; don’t turn down grade-A pussy for some fairytale love affair that’ll probably never even happen.”

That really ticked me off but I kept my cool. “Scott, I have studying to do. You and Suzy need to find someplace else.”

“No way, man.”

I thought we were going to get into a fight when Suzy saved the day. “Scott, I know where we can go and not be interrupted, and if you’re lucky, you might get that threesome, only with another girl.”

“Shit, what are we doing here?” He joked as he jumped up and started putting his pants on. They both hurried and got dressed. I couldn’t help but notice she really did have a fine body. “Don’t wait up for me, shithead,” Scott said as they left.

I spent the rest of the weekend studying and working on Cora’s song. Scott didn’t come back until Sunday afternoon. I’ve seen corpses that looked better only without the shit-eaten grin. I had to laugh. “I’m assuming you got your 3-way?”

“Man, we did it every way. That girl is insatiable and her friend, Rita, I think her name is ... she’s almost as bad. I need to go buy some vitamins,” he said as he flopped onto his mattress. He lay there for a couple of minutes, staring at me. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Did she show up?”

“Yeah, she was there ... with her boyfriend,” I replied.

“Ah, oh! So, what’s it going to be, pistols at dawn?”

I laughed. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“What kind of a guy is he? You want me to beat him up for you?” he joked.

“Ah, I can fight my own battles, thank you. We didn’t talk all that much, but he seems like a prick. I finally met her other girlfriend, too. They were both a lot nicer this time.”

“Well, that’s a good thing; if it doesn’t work out with your dream girl maybe you can snare one of them. Are they pretty? I think Brenda’s seeing another guy. If she is, I’ll be in the market for another main squeeze.”

“What about Suzy?”

“She was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. She’s not main attraction type material.”

“Jesus, man—you ever going to settle down and find someone to love?”

“Shit, I don’t even believe in it, not the kind you’re talking about anyway. I mean, I love my mom and dad, I love my two sisters, but to commit to one chick and want to spend the rest of your life with her ... not going to happen, not to this dude.”

“Man, that’s so sad, Scott. What about having a family and raising kids?”

He laughed. “Damn, Gray, can you imagine a bunch of little Scotts running around? Don’t you think the world is fucked up enough as it is?”

“You can scoff at it all you want, pal, but I really hope it happens for you. Maybe it’ll strike you out of the blue like it did me.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” he snickered.

The following Monday, as usual, I was sitting under my favorite tree when I was surprised by someone sitting down next to me ... also with a cup of coffee.

“Hi.”

I got tongue-tied the minute I saw who it was. After stumbling over my words, I finally croaked out a return, “Hi.”

She chuckled at my literary eloquence. “You’re really good. You sure impressed the hell out of Cindy and Jennifer. After you left the other night, they were wondering if they could interest you in a threesome,” she chuckled.

“Yeah, right,” I laughed. “They said it in front of Jason and Bob?”

“Well, they made it sound like they were joking but I’m not so sure they were.”

I smiled. “I’m afraid I’m more of a one-woman kind of guy.” I could see I’d just scored several points with my dream girl.

“I had a hunch you’d say that.”

“Now, I have a good-looking roommate who would jump at it,” I told her.

“I think they had their hearts set on you,” she said with a big grin, “but I can mention it to them.”