Revenge of the Nerd Ch. 16

I checked the local events and found something I knew he would like: a concert called "The Fifths." Beethoven's Fifth Symphony for the first half, and Tchaikovsky's Fifth for the second.

He hadn't seemed all that enthused when I suggested we get together on Friday, but when I told him about the tickets he sounded like a little boy going to the circus.

He stopped by for me after dinner.

We shared a lovely kiss.

"Thank you so much for finding this concert. I know everybody knows Beethoven's Fifth, but I love the Tchaikovsky." He bubbled with excitement.

"I know how you can thank me."

A nice long kiss.

"Dinner at the dorm was vile tonight, but itis paid for."

"That's the curse of the food pass," I said

"I think they must have a special school to learn how to make food that bad. I've royally screwed up recipes that wound up tasting better than that."

"Well tomorrow we'll get you a respite."

"You sure know how to take care of a guy."

Yes, I did. I had no idea how I knew because I'd never gone out of my way to do it before. Maybe it's just instinct. Maybe I was finding a part of myself I never knew existed.

I got the tickets for Jeff. I knew he would love it, so I could endure it. I would be more inclined to go to a concert that featured metal instead of brass.

The Beethoven was familiar. I think it was made into some popular song a while ago. But the Tchaikovsky really got to me. It was passionate and energetic and every time I thought it was over, it kept on going. I hadn't the remotest idea I would like classical music.

Jeff was humming along and bouncing up and down in his seat. My friends, I gave in and used the closest word, would have found it worthy of ridicule. I found it endearing. I found it arousing. I took him home and had my way with him.

For the first time in my life, I had a man stay the night. I awoke to find him sleeping peacefully. I was assaulted by the intensity of the feelings I had for him.

This had to be infatuation. It was far too intense to be love.

I snuggled up against him and waited for him to wake up.

It didn't take long and I had my first encounter with what I had only been told about by the girls - early morning tumescence. I put it to good use.

I made us eggs and bacon. Wasn't I the little homemaker?

Jeff told me he had to go so he could study. He seemed uneasy, but I couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was I was feeling from him.

"See you later," I said.

"Yeah."

Enough with the "Yeah."

I picked him up at his dorm Saturday evening. God, he looked good.

No, he didn't. He didn't look bad but, objectively, he wasn't going to blow anyone away. But he looked good to me, and that was more than enough. Then again, maybe he did look good but suffered by comparison to the museum-quality specimens I had dated before.

We had reservations at The Brass Rail. It would have been quite expensive for Jeff. For me, it was cheaper than McDonald's.

"Nice place."

He was looking around as if he was a little surprised that a place like this existed in a college town and a little uncomfortable to be in it.

"Probably not what I would have picked" he said in a charming bit of understatement.

"That's the advantage of having different backgrounds. We get to share each other's knowledge and experience."

A waiter approached.

"Nice to see you, Miss Fine."

He put down a small Caesar Salad in front of each of us.

"Thank you, Arnault." He retreated.

"Do they give everybody a Caesar no matter what they order?"

"No. I took the liberty. I know your tastes so I would like you to give me the opportunity to take you through this experience the way you have taken me through, other experiences."

He smiled.

I smiled.

Arnault would have smiled had he still been here.

Most of the men, boys, I knew would not have smiled. They would not be content to let a woman take charge like that.

"It's very good Caesar Salad," said Jeff.

Arnault cleared and came back with orange sorbet.

Jeff giggled. This was clearly one of those times when no words were necessary. We just sat there and ate and enjoyed being together.

A busgirl cleared and Arnault returned with a soup.

"Roasted acorn squash soup with duck rillette and fried sage."

Jeff leaned in and whispered. "Do you think his name is really Arnault? His accent does sound French."

"I think his name is Harry and he went to French accent school."

Jeff didn't seem to realize I was joking.

"Do you really think so?"

I laughed.

"I have no idea."

"Aaaaah," Jeff said as he took his first spoonful.

"It's a good thing we're sitting across from each other or people would think I'm fondling you."

"You have a wicked sense of humor. I love it," he said.

I loveyou would have been better, but I was too happy to quibble.

"This is so good. I'm going to have to leave myself in your hands more often."

He bowed ever so slightly and lowered his head in a gesture of appreciation.

One busgirl later, Arnault returned with lemon sorbet.

Jeff didn't giggle this time, he laughed. People looked. I didn't care.

"You have to savor a good meal," I said. "You wouldn't want to rush through the appetizers so you could slam down the burger."

"Is that what I'm having, a burger?"

"Patience, young sir. Each course is to be savored. Fine dining is a journey, not a destination."

"I bow to your wisdom."

"Ashley knows a thing or two about foreplay."

"I've never heard anyone refer to herself in the third person in such a charming way," he said.

"Geeze, if anybody is listening to us this must be sickening," I said.

I suspect he was as uncomfortable and inexperienced at this as I was.

Arnault appeared with Filet Mignon with Bernaise sauce on the side for Jeff with broccoli and baby carrots, lightly buttered. Fine dining tends to be expensive in calories as well as money. He placed sesame crusted salmon with garlic couscous in front of me.

"I know how to make that. Sam taught me."

God, I loved his boyish enthusiasm, among other things. He cut into the filet.

"Just to the rare side of medium rare."

He put down his fork, reached across the table and squeezed my hand.

"Ashley, this is so amazingly thoughtful. Thank you."

Ashley, you're so beautiful. Ashley, you're so incredibly hot. What can I get you? Where can I take you? Ashley, you're amazing.That's what I was used to hearing. That had been the reward I reaped for playing my role and being my beautiful self.

Compared to what Jeff had just said, it was the emotional equivalent of, "Please pass the salt."

I got chills. I almost got dizzy. I might even have swooned, if I were sure exactly what a swoon was. I was so giddy I was unable to form a response. I just smiled stupidly. Well, it felt stupid. I'm sure he interpreted it as something else.

Jeff ate and he looked at me. It wasn't the look I was used to. It wasn't the she's-so-gorgeous-I-have-to-take-in-all-I-can look. It was a she's-wonderful look. I hadn't seen it before, but I recognized it. This dinner was the absolute best moment of my life to this point. I seemed to be having a lot of those.

Dessert for me was raspberries, kiwi, blueberries, cantaloupe and cherries with whipped cream. Arnault brought Jeff a chocolate mousse. He tasted it and simply said, "Oh, my," and closed his eyes.

Arnault brought me the check and I paid with my credit card. This portion of the foreplay was over. I drove us back to my place.

I led Jeff to the living room by the hand and started kissing him. I slipped off his jacket. I resumed kissing and loosened his tie. He reached for the zipper on my dress. I slapped his hand away.

"Patience, young sir. Each course is to be savored. Fine dining is a journey, not a destination."

I pulled off his tie and tossed it somewhere. My arms moved over his shoulders and behind his neck. I caught his upper lip between my teeth and squeezed too lightly to cause any damage.

I unbuttoned his shirt, his white, dress shirt with a button down collar. He had learned a lot from Sunny, but it clearly did not include how to dress. It didn't matter to me. I wasn't putting together a spread for GQ.

I pushed his arms down and let his shirt slip to the floor. He wore no undershirt. I lightly scratched his pecs. He was pressing against me to get me to move, almost like he was leading a dance stop. His destination seemed to be the bedroom.

"What's the hurry?" I asked. "Do you have somewhere to go?"

I caressed his face as I kissed him. My hands ran down his back and past the belt. I squeezed those adorable cheeks through his pants.

He pushed again. I resisted.

He laughed. How sexy was that?

I grabbed the front of his belt with my hand, as if to lead him away to the bedroom.

"When is your first final?" I asked.

"Uh, a week from Monday. Can we talk about that later?"

"Intermezzo." But my tone was seductive.

"You're a remarkable woman."

"That I am." Then I led him to the bedroom.

I unzipped my basic black dress and brushed the spaghetti straps from my shoulders. It floated to the floor. I stepped out of my heels, took his hands and sat him down on the bed. I got behind him and started to massage his shoulders.

"Oh, my."

Oh, my indeed. Soon the massage turned in to a caress. I kissed him between his shoulder blades and skimmed my hands down his arms.

"Oh, my." He moaned.

I removed my pantyhose and walked around in front of him. I took his head in my hands and drew it in against my stomach and held him there, savoring his aroma, feeling his heat.

Finally, I tilted his head up to face me and he stood. We kissed and our hands started to roam. At last his pace matched mine. There was no rush, no urgency. What was important was the journey.

Clothing came off at a leisurely pace. Caresses lingered and teased. Even the kiss had no urgency. It was both gentle and transcendent.

We settled on the bed and explored. There was no technique, no planning, just expressions of our emotions. He moved on top of me, inside me until we both achieved ecstatic release. And then every muscle in my body relaxed.

I had not been promiscuous, but I'd had my share of college sex. This was the first time I had made love. It astonished me how different they were.

I smiled. Every cell in my body was at peace. And I slept.

We had shifted during the night. The covers were gone. My first sight in the morning was that adorable ass. I wanted to bite it, but I wasn't sure he would understand.

I tossed on a silk robe, to the extent that you can toss on silk, and went into the kitchen for some Cheerios and milk. Jeff followed shortly and he had some too.

He glanced at the clock. "God, I have to leave. I have a tutoring session."

I kissed him and gave him a dreamy, "Bye."

His was more perfunctory.