Chapter 2

Time passed and, before Sid knew it, his shift in the library was over. He returned to his house, showered, shaved, and dressed in preparation for his dinner with Cynthia. Knowing that he would be accompanying a woman to a public place, he chose to wear dress pants, a light blue shirt, and a sports coat. The restaurant wasn't formal enough to demand that he wear a suit. As it was, he'd probably be the most formally dressed person at the place.

Exiting the house, he looked over his pickup truck. It was old, but he kept it in good mechanical condition and the interior clean. Although the exterior could use a wash, he didn't have time for it. He debated the matter for a moment and decided to go straight to pick up Cynthia. After all, this wasn't a date, but a meeting between friends.

It was a short drive to her house and he made it in good time. Stepping up to the front door, he rang the doorbell. He could hear the bell from his side of the door. It was only a few seconds before Cynthia answered the door and he wondered if she had been waiting on the other side.

Cynthia had gone all out when dressing. She was wearing a very nice blue dress that hugged her body in all the right places. The neckline was low enough to show off the gentle swell of her breasts without being obscene. The hemline was to just below the knee. The quality of her hose was good enough to make a man wonder if she was wearing stockings. Her heels matched the color of her dress and gave a nice shape to her calves.

Sid pleased to see that she was ready to leave. Although many women felt they were obliged to make a man wait, he felt that it was rudeness on their part. It was as though a date started with an explicit statement that the man wasn't important enough for her to assure that she would be on time. Cynthia had never made him wait even though he had never mentioned his view on the matter.

He gave her his arm and led her to the truck. As she walked, the material of her dress swished and swayed accentuating the swing of her hips. The next door neighbor, a middle aged man who had known her since she was a young girl, paused to watch her walk past and wondered when she had grown into such a lovely young woman. He shook his head at how fast life moved and returned to what he had been doing.

Once they reached the truck, Sid held the door open for her. She slipped into her seat with what looked like natural grace, but was actually the result of many hours of drill by Mrs. Wilson. In a way, it was much easier to enter the truck in a graceful manner than the typical sedan. Stepping up to the seat was a little easier than lowering herself to a seat. He closed the door once she was comfortably settled in the car.

When he slipped into his seat, she asked, "Are you sure that you want to go out and eat?"

"Yes," answered Sid thinking that she was concerned that he was spending too much money on this evening.

Cynthia was quiet for a moment as she considered some way to get the whole Hero thing out in the open. She said, "I don't think I will make a very good Hero's Companion."

"You're probably right," replied Sid glancing over in her direction to see the effect of his agreement. He wondered if this was one of those types of questions in which no answer a man gave was the right one.

"Yes," she agreed hoping that he was taking this as a means to come clean about the whole matter.

"The only reason we discussed you becoming a Hero Companion was so that you could meet Sally. I don't think either of us really thought about you trooping through the wilderness and facing villains," said Sid.

"I guess I was kind of thinking about what we'd do with each other while on Chaos," said Cynthia as a short little fantasy of the two of them making love next to a waterfall flashed through her mind in a fraction of a second.

"I can imagine," Sid said in a voice that suggested he was bothered by that prospect. He couldn't see a single positive reason for her to travel to Chaos. He was convinced that everything about the time spent on Chaos would be torture. The idea that his sexuality would contribute to that torture bothered him.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Cynthia feeling as if she'd been insulted. From the way he had answered, it sounded like he was sure that she couldn't keep her hands off him because of his heroic manner. She couldn't believe that he would start with the macho bullshit that all women would want to sleep with him.

"I'm sure that you were dreading that even more than camping," Sid answered as he started the car. He looked over at Cynthia and saw the expression on her face. Wondering what he had said that was so wrong, he turned off the engine and asked, "What?"

"That was the only reason I was still considering the idea," said Cynthia blurting out more information than intended.

"Oh," said Sid feeling foolish. It took a moment for the full implications of what she said to sink into his brain. Realizing that she was actually looking forward to serving his needs, he asked, "Really?"

Biting her lower lip, Cynthia stared at Sid unable to believe that he was totally unaware of her feelings for him. She wondered if he was so caught up in his fantasy world that he wasn't looking for a way to put it behind them. Trying to look casual, she said, "Uh, let's get to the restaurant."

Sid stared at Cynthia for a couple of seconds before starting the car. As he drove to the restaurant, his mind was racing a thousand miles per hour. He wondered if she would care to have a relationship with him knowing that he would disappear to have adventures in Chaos. Shaking his head, he wondered what she would think about him sleeping with Sally and the Damsels he rescued. He decided that it wasn't something that could be decided then and there, but would have to be the subject of future discussions.

The Texas House of Steak was a steak house that attempted to have a Texan atmosphere. Rough unfinished planks decorated the walls in an attempt to look rustic. Sid recalled the places in Chaos and knew what rustic really looked like. Rustic was dirt floors and often included major gaps in the walls that were filled with dried mud.

The décor was tacky. On the walls hung items associated with cowboys, including hats, spurs, ropes, and tack. Filling in large spaces around the cowboy paraphernalia were pictures of cowboys and movie posters of westerns. John Wayne was the most frequent actor represented on the movie posters.

Cynthia looked around the room impressed by the atmosphere. The only time she had ever been to a place as nice as this was with her parents and that had been for her high school graduation. She said, "Isn't this a nice place?"

"Yes, it is," Sid said without the same level of enthusiasm she demonstrated. He'd been stationed for a while in Fort Hood and didn't recall Texas looking quite this bad. Considering the location of Fort Hood that was saying a lot.

A hostess wearing blue jeans, a western style shirt, and a straw cowboy hat led them to a table. She wore tennis shoes rather than boots and the hat sat too high on her head giving her the appearance of a rodeo clown rather than a cowgirl. After handing out menus, the woman said, "Your waitress will be right over."

They spent a few minutes in silence examining the menu. Sid picked out the large T-bone steak and set the menu to the side. He watched as Cynthia debated different items. Several minutes passed before she finally said, "I think I'd like the Grilled Tuna."

"What about side dishes?" Sid asked so that he would know what to order.

"I guess I'll go with the salad bar rather than the soup. The rice pilaf and vegetables would be good with the tuna," she answered.

"Care for a nice Cabernet with your dinner?"

"That would be wonderful," she answered without mentioning that she wasn't old enough to legally drink wine.

It was a few minutes later when the waitress, also wearing a straw cowboy hat and sneakers, arrived to take their drink orders. Sid ordered a glass of Cabernet for Cynthia and a beer for himself. The waitress took the fact that he ordered for the both of them in stride. After she left to turn in their drink order, Sid said, "I have come to the decision that it isn't necessary for you to meet Sally. I would have to say that you have transformed yourself into a woman that any man would desire."

"Oh, thank you. However, I was looking forward to meeting Sally," Cynthia said wanting to make him sweat a little. She smiled at the thought that he had finally given up his whole fantasy world.

Sid frowned and thought about it. He had thought that a conversation with Sally would teach Cynthia a little about how to turn on the sex appeal and how to behave with a man in a more private encounter. He said, "I suppose we could start training if you really want to go. My next adventure is in three weeks."

"Three weeks? I thought you said it would be in a week."

"I received a call from another hero yesterday. All adventures are postponed. Apparently there is going to be a war there and I'm needed to lead an army."

Cynthia rolled her eyes at the statement about leading an army. He wasn't giving up his fantasy world. Disappointed, she said, "That's nice."

Her answer was so out of step with the discussion that it confused Sid for a moment. Rather than respond, he said, "Well, as I was about to say. It is probably for the best if you don't go there. You might want to consider it sometime in the future when you're better prepared."

"Okay," Cynthia said.

"I hope you aren't disappointed."

Cynthia smiled despite his continued insistence that his world was real. Happy that he was dropping it as a fiction that she had to buy into, she said, "Only that you aren't interested in taking me there so that I can relieve your sexual tensions after a hard day of thrashing villains to an inch of their lives."

Sid laughed at the obvious joke. Shaking his head, he said, "Good one."

She was going to say more, but the waitress arrived with their drinks. She was now entirely convinced that Chaos and Crossroads was a fiction and he was trying to weasel out of the suggestion that he take her there. She hoped it meant that they could start having a real relationship in which the fiction didn't interfere with honest discussion.

After the waitress placed their drinks in front of them, she then asked for their dinner orders. Having discussed the matter with Cynthia, Sid ordered for the both of them. The waitress didn't comment, apparently used to that kind of behavior. It was clear to Sid that a sufficient number of her customers were elderly.

Once the meals had been ordered and the waitress had departed, the couple went to the salad bar and prepared small dinner salads. They carried their plates back to the table and took their places. Sid felt that salad bars were one of the symptoms of a world that had forgotten romance. It was hard to maintain an intimate conversation when you had to leave the table to get your own food.

Once they were seated, Cynthia asked, "So is there more that you want to tell me?"

"Oh, yes. Well," answered Sid trying to collect his thoughts. After taking a sip of his beer, he said, "You asked me to help you become more like the ideal woman I described in class. Judging by the way you dress, walk, talk, and carry yourself, I would have to say that you have gotten as close to the ideal woman as I can imagine."

"Thank you." She was touched by his obvious compliment, although the reminder of the basis for their relationship was a sore spot.

"With your decision not to go to Crossroads, there is nothing more I can do for you."

Cynthia looked surprised at the direction of the conversation. She wondered if he was about to drop her. Hesitating, she said, "I suppose so."

"Now that my part in this is done, I'd like to ask you for a date," Sid said.

Frowning, Cynthia asked, "Isn't this a date?"

Surprised by her answer, he said, "No. I asked you to dinner so that we could discuss your visit to meet Sally."

"Oh, I guess I misunderstood."

"If this had been a date, we'd have never done anything so crass as to go to a restaurant. I would have prepared a much better way for us to spend our time together. I believe that a date requires much more planning than just a simple, 'Let's go out to eat.' That is particularly true of a first date," Sid said.