Bert and Angie - in the Beginning

Looking for a fast-action stoke story? This isn't it. If you enjoy a slowly developing character study. I hope you'll enjoy this short story. I'm an amateur storyteller who enjoys weaving the occasional romantic tale that runs off into other areas found here at Lit. Everyone here is over the age of consent.

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Popping into my favorite neighborhood bodega, "Hey Sanjay, gunna be a bitch of a wintry night out there tonight, damm well could freeze the balls off a brass monkey. Hell, before you get off in the morning bet, we could have some more snow."

"Looks, you like might be right, Cheffy."

Looking at my old friend, I could plainly see he was upset. "Who pissed in your rice bowl?"

"Some babe has been trying my patience holding the walls up around the beer cave. If she doesn't move on, I hate to, but I'm gunna have to call the Cops and have them trespass her."

"Yeah, that'll suck, anyway; let me go grab a beer take my fat ass across the street."

As I went to the back of the store, I saw the woman Sanjay mentioned leaning against one of the beer cave doors. "Excuse me, miss, could I reach in there to get something?" She nodded her head and shuffled away. "Hey, I know you. Aren't you a friend of Little Kim? We saw each other last week at the commune."

She looked up with this thousand-yard stare, "how do you know Little Kim?"

"We live in the same place, the commune down the street a block or so. It's gunna a hell of a night out there tonight. You wanta come with me, and we can see if Kim's around."

"Yeah, I guess, I ain't got nowhere else to go. My boyfriend, my ex-boyfriend aka Mister Assshole, and I split up tonight, and I'm out here thanks to him and his stupid freak friends."

I reached into the cave, grabbed two beers and looked towards the sad girl hanging there; she nodded her head. Together we walked up to the front of the store, where I paid for our beers. Then we headed out into the cold, windy night together. Dashing down the street, we ducked into the alley that led to the back entrance of the building and the commune. The commune, that's what those of us who lived in the basement called our community. The basement was storage lockers for the swells upstairs; now, it's a rabbit's warren of small apartments. The people who lived here work in the theater either on stage in a dance or a chorus line; or backstage, working with scenery, props and costumes, etc. Being a chef, I was one of the few that had no connection with the theater. Little Kim did the wardrobe for the Ballet Co, I think. Without a doubt, she's one of the most outgoing and friendly people I've met. Her old man, Amir, was one lucky son of a bitch to be with that lovely lady.

As we walked into the basement, the two of us met a blast of warm air that chased away the winter chill. "I'm going to swing by Little Kim and Amir's apartment and see if they are home." Of course, they weren't; if turned out they were at Amir's mom's place across the river. After we finished our beers, I suggested that my guest sleep in the bed and I'd fall out in my recliner which, I often did. Besides being a friend of Kim's, I still did not know anything about her; who was she?

Early in the morning, or what's early for me, I heard someone tapping on the door to the apartment. Going over, I opened the door and saw Kim standing there. "God, you are a sight for sore eyes. There's a girl asleep in my bed who says she is a friend of yours. She's skinny as a rail, and when I met her at first, I thought she was either stoned or drunk or something else. I don't even know the girl's name."

"Cheffy sounds like you hooked up with some babe who is a dancer with some company. Is she still asleep? Let me look and see if I know her." Kim looked around the corner to where the bed was. Then she let a godless scream, "ANNIE, are you OK? OH MY GOD, baby, what happened?" That answered two questions, yeah Kim knew her, and her name's Annie. They came around the corner from where the bed was and towards me arm in arm. "Cheffy, this is my dearest friend, Annie. She's a member of the Corps de Ballet of the Ballet Co. and an amazingly talented dancer."

We talked for a while, "ladies, how does this sound to you two? Annie, there ain't no way you are going back with your ex from hell. You need a safe place to stay until you see what's up and where you want to go. You are more welcome to stay here. I can dash across the street to the bodega and get a key for you. Kim, can you get Al and Amir together and hop in Amir's cab and go to where Annie was staying? Get her stuff from there and bring it back here. Annie, be sure you leave the key and take only your shit. I'll be at work and won't be back until after midnight when you get back here. Kim? Annie? If you need to move things around to make space for Annie, that's fine. OH? Annie? You want me to grab you a beer from across the street when I come home after work tonight?"

I finally got home after the restaurant closed, carrying a pair of beers and two steak sandwiches. Annie and Kim were sitting on the apartment floor when I walked in, but Annie looked a thousand percent better. As I walked in, Kim slipped out the door. Annie didn't look like the girl I saw the night before; this girl is a for a real serious hottie who is way outside of my league. She jumped up and ran over to me, giving me one of the warmest, most amazing hugs I have ever gotten. "Cheffy, thank you. You are a good man. Thank you for everything you've done for me." All I could do at that moment was wrap my arms around her and hold her.

"Hey, you. Ya want a steak sandwich and a cold beer?"

"YESSS!!! The only thing I've had all day was a bagel with a smear and a coffee regular. My belly button is pressing against my backbone." Handing Annie, a sandwich her eyes popped out. "This is huge; it's enough for two people. But I'm not complaining at all." I had to chuckle. As we worked on our sandwiches, Annie looked up as she wiped her face. "This is like the most amazing sandwich I have ever had. Where did you get it?"

I had to laugh at her question. "Girl, you know I work in a restaurant, right? OK, so we don't hold anything holdover from one day to the next as most restaurants do. The cooks and stewards get to take whatever the carryover is from one day to the next home. These were leftovers."

"Shit, I want your leftovers any day of the week. This is the best."

After our nosh, Annie fell into my bed, and I collapsed into the recliner. The next thing I was aware of was someone pounding my door and yelling out, "Police, open the door." I called out, "give me a moment; I need to get some clothes on." As I opened the door for the cops, Annie slipped in beside me. It turned out that Annie's ex had called the cops with a bunch of bullshit. They looked around and did not find any dead bodies hidden away, so the Cops left to do their thing.

Two minutes after the cops left, Kim flew into the apartment. "Annie, you fucking slut, that was amazing. How many times have you had the cops called on your skinny ass? You're not here even two days, and the fucking cops are here looking for you already."

"Fuck you, Kim, you're a bitch." As Annie melted into my arms, she flipped Kim off." Turns out my shithead ex called the cops."

The three of us were laughing when Amir came staggering in, "thanks for the wake-up call. Annie, your friends, had to stop by our place first, looking for you."

"You guys want some coffee; I'm gunna kick the pot." We stood around waiting for the coffee pot to finish its daily exercise. And we all dived into our coffee lost, lost in what - who knows. But for sure, we were in a haze, lost, dazed and primarily confused. As I slowly gained normalcy, I asked Annie what she had going for today.

"I'm thinking that Kim and I will hang out together. I need to get into the therapist, not a head shrinker. Being a dancer, my feet, ankles, knees and all get the shit beaten out of them, and this downtime is when we go in and get the kinks worked out. I'll see what trouble Kim has lined up. Hey? You sure it's OK for me to crash here for a while?"

"Annie, you are the most delightful person that has been here in the two-plus years I've lived here. You are welcome to stay as long you need or want to. I know what it's like coming out of a shitty relationship; you need time to clear your head in a safe place. This can be your safe place. Hey you, tomorrow's Sunday. And I'm off Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. While I'm off at work and making smoke think about what you'd like to do then. See ya tonight, roomie."

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"Hey, roomie, sorry I'm running late tonight, but we got stacked up at work. Anyway, I got us leftovers, and I have borrowed a bottle of wine too." With that said, I took out two white Styrofoam to-go boxes, a large zip lock baggie and three cups from a sting bag. First, I put a generous handful of Arugula in the open top which, would be our salad plate. I dressed the salad with a lemon balsamic dressing and topped it with parmesan cheese curls. The other side of the box held a fanned breast of duck that was sauced with an orange sauce. Putting dinner in front of Annie, her eyes popped out as I poured us a glass of wine.

"Wait a minute, this is leftovers from where you work? Right? So? Like where, do you work?"

As I took a sip of wine and softly smiled, "it's a little diner over on Riverview. A couple of blocks from here. Why?"

"OK??? And does this little diner have a name?"

"Yeah, the Palisades Diner."

"I know of that place. That's one of the hardest reservations to get in the city. My dad, who knows everyone, tried to get in and have dinner there when he was in town a couple of months ago was told the first available reservation was like four months out."

"That sounds right; hell, the president wanted to get in and was turned down. So, your dad's in good company. Anyway, how do you like the duck a' la orange?"

"Are you telling me this is diner food?"

"Well, Annie. It's our take on diner food."

"What do you do there? You're a cook?"

"Well, not exactly. How do you like the wine, by the way?"

"The wine is excellent but quit trying to duck the question. Even with orange sauce. What do you do at this quaint diner?"

"The kitchen is divided into three sections. There's a pastry kitchen run by the exec pastry chef, then there's the cold kitchen and the hot kitchen. The Garde Manager runs the cold kitchen, and she is a true artist in her own right. I'm the Chef de Partie for the hot kitchen, and when the Executive Chef is gone, I run the show. Does that somewhat answer your question?"

"OK? Mister Chef de Partie. Do you have a name besides Cheffy?"

"Well, that depends on who you ask and when you ask them. Take my mom, who is a second-generation Italian. If you heard her call my name when I'd managed to get her upset with me, which was kinda normal. Well, my name was, 'ALBERT!!!' In the same situation, if you asked my dad. My name became, 'GODDAMIT ALBERT.' So ya see, I was never really sure if Albert was my first name or my middle name. But most of my friends call me Bert."

That answer got a set of giggles. "All right, Mister Bert, the diner cook, puzzle me this. Why haven't you made a pass at me? Hell, I've been here almost a week or so. What gives with that?"

"Annie? Can I answer that question in the morning? It's late, and I'm tired, that OK?"

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"Well, good morning, Miss Long Legs, and how does the day find you?"

"Albert! Is it your intention to sleep all day? Besides, I'm hungry, and I want something good to eat and Albert! You owe me an answer to my question."

"All right, let me shake my bones and jump in and out of the shower, then we can get bagel and coffee. While we're out and about, I'll take a swing at answering your questions."

Twenty minutes later, found us at J&J Bagel on Riverview. Over the sea of noise came the voice of my old friend, who owned the place, telling me to grab a seat and a volley of friendly insults. As we sat down, up popped the owner's younger daughter bitching that she had me at her table. "Jassie, for once, try and be nice. I'd like my usual, an everything split but not toasted and double cream cheese. For the young lady, get her a fresh egg bagel, not one of the bagels lying around the back of the shop for a week. She'll need a small container of cream cheese, sliced red onion and tomato, and a triple order of lox. And Jassie, please get the young lady and me a coffee regular and a large egg cream to go."

First, the coffee mugs arrived, followed quickly by our breakfast. "Bert? When I've had lox before. Well, it's been kinda uck. It was pretty oily and tasted funny."

"Annie, please try it. If you don't like it, fine, I'll be happy to devour it all with a smile. But please do try it? OK?"

She tasted the smallest crumb of the lox, then looked about and picked up another small piece. "Albert, if you think you will get any of my lox, you are woefully mistaken. I bet I can get Jassie to help me out if I need reinforcements."

That got a laugh from me, "Annie, the one ya wanta to call on is Jassie's husband, Irv. See if you can guess who he is?"

As we got ready to leave, I got Jassie's attention, "hey, lovely lady? Can I get two rye rolls, a medium sauerkraut, and a pound and half of pastrami?"

After I settled the bill, I yelled out. "Hey, Irv? You, good if Jassie and I hit the town one Friday night?"

"Why you wanta do that? She no good in bed. I get you a babe fresh off the beach in Tel Aviv." With that comment floating in the air, I ran out the door before my blood was shed all over the floor.

"Bert? What was that all about?"

"I might be wrong here. But I don't think that Jassie is 30 years old. She and Irv have had seven kids. And they are very observant Jews, so they are at temple on Friday night. With Irv, Jassie and her dad being observant, I doubt all those kids were an immaculate conception."

As we walked outside and started down the street, that comment earned me a sharp punch in the arm. "Albert! You're a pig. It's no wonder that Jassie will have nothing to do with you. But for me? I love a whole BBQ pig, chopped and topped with coleslaw on a toasted bun."

"Annie, let me try to answer your question from last night. OK, first off, I am not gay. While I was in school and when I first got out of school, I wanted to jump any babe that I happened to see. Hell, I was a member of the Four F Club, you know what that is, right?"

"Nooo, but I feel it will have something to do with oinking and you being a pig."

"The four f's are, find 'em, feel 'em, fuck 'em, and forget 'em."

"Well, I was right; that is pure oinking. Are all you guys alike? Do you always oink?"

"Annie, let me keep going on towards answering your question. Anyway, I got to a point where I recognized that, while this was fun, it wasn't taking me where I wanted to be. I wanted a relationship that would continue to grow and blossom over the years. Annie, I don't want a girlfriend. I want to be with a woman who also looks out down the road, not six months or a year. I want to be with a woman who has a look term outlook, say twenty or thirty years. A woman who gets a pleasant shock when we hold hands, be it in public or, better yet, at home, with just the two of us. Annie, neither one of us is a blushing virgin. Yeah, sex is nice, but isn't there more to it than that? Real simple, I want the whole thing and not a quick one-night stand. Does that make any sense?"

"Bert, you are a throwback to a previous century." And as we strolled along, she slipped her hand in mine and softly smiled as we walked along aimlessly. "When I was oh? Six or seven years old, I asked my mom how she knew dad was the right man. She smiled warmly and patted me on the head as she said, 'you'll know.' Little Kim and I ran together like two lost bitches in heat. One night she got in Amir's cab, and well, they have been together ever since. My mom was right; Kim knew that she had found the man. The two of us, Kim and I, spent every moment together while you were at work. Bert, you were what we talked about. You're a mystery to the folks there at the commune; folks don't know are why you haven't spent time with any of the girls or guys that live there. Do you know there is a bounty on your head to see who gets it on with you first? But you just keep walking on by. Now I understand why you did that. Anyway, Kim made a telling comment. I always wanted a boyfriend; hell, he might be a playboy or a bad boy or whatever. The keyword was always a boy. Bert, you are no boy. You are a man, and mister, I would love to say that you are my man."

The two of us kept walking with no place in mind. Just walking along hand in hand enjoying the early spring late winter afternoon in the city. Was it five minutes later? Or was it a couple of hours later when Annie chimed in? "Hey, Mister Bert? Let's head back to our apartment and nosh on what's in the go bag." I had no idea of time, as I wrestled with the question was, she the one? Could she be real? And when did the apartment become 'our' apartment? We wandered along and, in time, found ourselves slipping in the door of 'our' apartment; after putting everything down, we fell into a magic hug. "Bert, I guess you know that I was yours from the moment you rescued me at the bodega. Please be careful with me; I've been bumped and bruised along the way. Like you, I am in this for the long haul. Now my man, please take your woman to bed and let us make love with each other."

"Annie? I can't believe what you have done to me since we met that snowy night. Now, now it is spring, and the world is awaking, and the new world has taken root. Our worlds will change, but what will not change is how electric it is when we hold hands. Baby, I look forward to seeing what tomorrow will bring us." We met each other in a long, slow kiss that was a spark to the fire where our souls became one. "Lady? Have I told you today how beautiful you are?" She answered my question with a shake of her head. "Then, I have been remiss. For you are truly the most beautiful of women." Somehow, we ended up on the rickety bed holding each other close.

"Bert, I make you promise here and now. I will be your woman. I pray God you will be my man. Mister Man, this is something I've not said to any of the boys I've known before. Albert Stewart, Angelina Lambert loves you, and it is her wish and promise that she will lie with you until the sun does not rise. Until then, we will walk together hand in hand."

"Angelina? That's a beautiful name. It fits you, baby; you are not an Annie. You are an angel, my angel, my woman."

"Oh. Sometimes I'm called Angie." She leaned back on the back on our bed and openly gave herself to me to discover and savor. I held her head in my hands and slowly kissed every place I could find on her face and head. As I ran my fingers in and out of her flaming red hair. What was especially fun was discovering how vocal she became when I nibbled on her ear lobes. "Bert, you will make me do it with just a few kisses. You pig, you will be making me cum if you keep that up. How did you know that's one of my secret places?" I propped myself in our bed and slowly drank in the beautiful woman beside me as I thought of the fun it will be for the both of us to discover her other 'secret places.' Sweeping my eyes over her and smiling as I discovered the charms, she was giving to me. MMM, she is a natural redhead; I do so love redheads. I will definitely be exploring that neatly trimmed patch. Oh, and those adorable small breasts look like I could swallow them. "Baby? I hope you like what you see. I'm not like so many other girls; I don't have larger breasts."