Caroline's Karma

A small smile crossed her lips. She just couldn't let it go. "So you like your women sweaty?"

"No, I prefer my women naked, but this is a public place and I figure, not even you're that brave."

At least she laughed, much to my relief. We walked to Charlie's all thought of our morning jog now over with. It was clear Caroline wanted one of those clear-the-air meetings. I'm still trying to figure out what started all this in the first place. Marco watched us enter and take a table towards the back of the diner, we both nodded and he disappeared out back, coming out moments later with our drinks.

This time I thought it best if I started the conversation. "Do you mind if I ask, what has brought all this on?"

She didn't even pause. "You have never asked me out, and I want to know why. You have already said you find me attractive, so either I'm not your type, whatever that means or you're gay." Her face was neutral she just waited for me to answer. My own mind was still processing the fact that I had just been asked if I was gay. She started to fidget in her seat, even more so as the seconds passed by. Marco brought out our breakfast and went to serve two guys that had just come in. Caroline watched them for a moment and then went back to looking at me, her breakfast still untouched. "Jeff. Do you believe in karma?"

I shrugged my shoulders not even sure which way this conversation was going anymore and asking myself if it could get any weirder. "Karma, what will be, will be?" I said.

Caroline smiled and reminded me that was its most basic translation but it went much deeper than that. Its real meaning is that for every bad thing, their has to be a good thing as well. She went on to tell me about part of her college years and they had a Japanese student in their sorority. She and three other girls took this student under there wing and looked after her. They had a drunken night and the girl let slip that she could read fortunes, that was it, the alcohol now forgotten they all wanted to know their futures.

Marco came to the table and Caroline paused while he took away our unfinished breakfast, returned with two more drinks and left again. She watched another two people enter the diner and sit at the counter where we normally eat, smiled at some thought she must have had and turned back to me to continue. All three girls were told minor bad things that would happen in there lives and then the good things, and then it was Caroline's turn.

The Japanese girl took her hand and closed her eyes. For a moment her brow creased, her eyes shot open and she quickly released her hand, pushing herself away from them all. She was visibly shaking in terror. The girl refused to say anything, but Caroline wouldn't take no for an answer and pressed her further on her behavior. In the end the girl simply asked if she was willing to face a nightmare, which would shake you to your core and have to live with the consequences of it so you can have a life full of happiness? All the girls looked at each other totally confused at her statement. She stayed silent, waiting for her question to be answered.

Caroline needed to know what she saw that would bring her so much terror, so she nodded her head and the girl started to cry. Finally turning her face away from Caroline towards the three girls she simply said that it would be down to them to protect her and know the truth that would never be heard. She then turned to Caroline and told her that she would meet her real love so suddenly that she wouldn't realize it until the roof caved in. The Japanese girl left the room in tears and refused to ever talk of that night again.

"But you must have gotten to the truth, it's not as though sorority sisters keep secrets from each other." I asked.

The shrug of her shoulders told me their was more. "It was summer break the next day. She left for home and never returned. We learned that she was killed in an earthquake a month after her return. I sometimes think it was karma's way of punishing her for telling me what my life would be like."

"All this is nonsense. Until a few days ago at the park I had never even met you."

It was her turn to smile now, even a hint of amusement danced across her eyes. "Oh really, and who did you bump into at the airport. Who dropped the flowers I sent as a peace offering, because my father's security people got a little heavy handed onto my limo while I was sitting in it. Jeff, I have lived across the park from you for a year now and every morning I have watched that same man practically walk around the park never knowing it was you."

A smile danced across her lips and the light in her eyes told me she simply couldn't resist what she was about to say to me. "The speed you jog at is embarrassing by the way." Caroline became serious again and continued. "Mom and Dad can't understand why I would want to live here and it wasn't until the airport and the limo that I've come to realize why I have settled here more than anywhere else. Karma brought me here and watching a man practically walk around the park every morning from my window has kept me here until I was able to connect all the dots myself."

It was my turn to blush. "I like to jog. I make a point of not even wearing a watch while I'm in the park." Was all I could think to say in my defense.

She leaned towards me and patted my hand. "Yes dear."

I desperately needed to get her to move on from the speed I jog. "So this karma states that I'm going to sweep you off your feet and we're going to live happily ever after?" There was just the smallest of nods from her as she sat and watched me. "You're sure reading a lot into this karma thing aren't you? I mean how do you know I'm supposed to be this person that your sorority sister told you about?"

For such a long time Caroline simply sat and watched me, her eyes watered and her bottom lip seemed to quiver. I felt for her but I still didn't give this Karma thing any real credence. "Just as I couldn't escape what happened to me, you can't. You've never known the twists and turns your life has taken you so far. That scar on your arm for instance, gives you away for who you are."

My cheeks warmed, instinctively my arm moved away from her sight. This conversation was becoming to painful for me. I simply didn't want to relive that time, yet the longer I watched her the more she seemed to grow in stature until she spoke again. As she talked my fingers instinctively rubbed the scar.

"Eighteen months ago you were in Boston. At nine forty you left the Glamburge Restaurant and crossed the road, you witnessed a woman being mugged and you intervened. In the scuffle you were cut on the arm and received twelve stitches." All I could do was shrug my shoulders. It was all on record anyway. I almost didn't hear what she said next, my own mind still reliving parts of that evening. "The woman that was being mugged is called Katharine Marshall. She was one of the four who sat and listened as my future was foretold. She's one of my sorority sisters Jeff."

The diner felt cold for a moment. Any doubts I may have had that she was lying were dispelled simply by looking into those blue eyes of hers. But that uneasy feeling came washing back over me like a wave about to drown me. "A year ago, you were in San Diego, The Crescent Art Gallery. You talked to and decided to buy a painting by an artist called Sarah-Jane Atkins, at a time she was considering closing the gallery for good, despite all her sisters telling her that she was a great artist. Yet you came in, talked to her for thirty minutes and bought one of her paintings. She was also one of the four that listened as I was told my life would turn to shit. Again Jeff, she is one of my sorority sisters."

I was becoming uneasy with what I was being told. Shifting in my seat, trying anything I could to get comfortable and now regretting ever starting this conversation. "Life, coincidence, karma, call it what you will. Something has been gently pushing us all to this point Jeff. I accepted my fate, my sisters have kept me sane through so many difficult times for me and I love them dearly and all the time you have touched one after another of us to the point you are here now, listening to this."

So much was going through my head at the moment. Could a series of seemingly innocent incidents have been so pre-ordained that it was all too actually lead to this? My mind was spinning I needed to think some more on what she was telling me so I changed the topic. Little did I know then, just how much it would bite me on the ass.

"But Caroline I don't know you and you sure don't know me." That was a statement I was going to regret making as she fed me my life history and past girlfriends, even how much our company was worth and named all of our employees. She then went on to tell me where I went on my business trip and who my meeting was with, even what flight number I returned on. I just felt cold as my history was handed to me from a person I had met less than a week ago.

"I'm sorry Jeff but Daddy's security people are very thorough." Yet try as I might I simply couldn't be angry with her. It was my life she had just told me about and all I could do was wonder at everything I had listened to so far. Strangely my heart went out to her as I watched her eyes mist, it was obvious she was waiting for me to say something and fearing the worst when I did.

"I know that in this electronic age, all this information is out there, but you know that what you have done is so wrong on so many levels I couldn't even begin to give you chapter and verse. All you had to do was ask me and I would have told you, it's called communication Caroline, you remember that bit don't you? When you sit down and talk to the person you like."

She nodded her head choosing not to say anything, she knew this was perhaps the make or break part of this. This what, this relationship, courtship even friendship perhaps. I suppose in her own way Caroline had placed her heart on the table. In her own way, she had given more of herself than I suspect she had done for so long now. I did wonder if she was just a little afraid at how vulnerable she had made herself.

It was her eyes that held me. I should be so angry, yet my heart held me there. I should be leaning over the table screaming at her, yet my own values kept me on my seat. Her eyes misted and a tear left her eye and trickled slowly down her cheek, quickly she wiped it away before trying to stare back at me. Her body started to shake as the seconds ticked by.

"Did Daddy's security team tell you I like the opera?" I asked. She nodded her head. "Then they must have told you I have two tickets for tonight and the reservations for dinner afterwards." This time she shook her head, at least her body had calmed now that I was talking to her, although she still looked so very brittle. "Shall I pick you up at six thirty? I hate to be late."

The table was now something that was in the way, rather than something to eat off of. Caroline lept across it and hugged me, whispered in my ear that she would need the rest of the day to find a dress and walked out the door. That ass of hers seemed to sway with even more grace, all the way to the door of the diner. As I sat and smiled, then reflected on what had been said between us this morning. Well, if nothing else, Caroline had paid for breakfast I suppose.

*******

At six thirty on the dot I pulled up outside her apartment block and if truth be told I was expecting a wait. How wrong was I. Moments later I watched through the doors as the elevator opened and out she stepped. You could have slapped me across the face at that moment and I wouldn't have felt a thing. Quickly leaving the car seat, I opened the passenger side door just as Caroline exited her apartment block.

Her black evening dress showed more skin than even I thought possible. The neck line seemed to do a free fall down her body, stopping in time to show off the shape of her breasts. As she twisted to sit first into the car I could see just how backless it was as well. I was in awe of whoever created this evening gown. The support needed to hold Caroline's tits in never made themselves known yet did their job ever so well.

"In how many states is that dress legal?" I asked, feeling rather hot under the collar. Caroline flushed and smiled at the same time, I could hear her laugh as she waited for me to get behind the wheel again, then leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. She pulled a tissue out of her purse and dabbed away the lipstick mark. Moments later we pulled away from the curb heading to the opera.

"Just be grateful for the invention of double sided tape or I may have had to wear some thing slightly less revealing. I want everyone to know I'm your date tonight, not the other way around."

I was just thankful no police were following us at that moment. I'm afraid my driving skills took a knock with that sort of information being processed in my mind. I came close to bouncing the car off of the curb. Caroline laughed as I frantically took back control of the car before I got us both killed. We did make it to the opera, but everyone had already started to take their seats, so we walked in with the crowds.

I didn't notice the general murmur of conversation as we sat, my mind still playing in a loop, reliving the walk from Caroline's elevator to the car. It was at the interval that I felt like the realities of this world were never that far behind us. Caroline had found us a quiet corner while I got us both drinks, when I joined her she was speaking to an elderly couple. All three noticed me at once; it was the look the woman gave me that left me uneasy. One of those up and down looks that women use when they blatantly don't care, either for you or having to talk to you.

Her husband introduced themselves and then promptly ignored me. I watched them both for a few moments, they obviously knew Caroline and her family. It was when he mentioned last summer at the Hamptons that she blushed and looked at me again. She knew I had heard it but chose to say nothing. The bell rang to let everyone know the second half would begin shortly, cutting off anything I may have said and I'm glad it did. Why spoil a good evening on a bunch of wooden people who spend most of there lives with there heads planted up there asses?

The cast deserved their standing ovation. I know it sure put us both in high spirits and a very chatty Caroline held my hand into the restaurant. I got many odd looks from some of the patrons when they compared me to who was with me, holding onto my arm. Thankfully an old friend of mine owned what I considered to be one of the best restaurants in town and that is a real advantage when you want a table in a quiet corner. This whole day and indeed, evening for me had been a steep learning curve, at one stage I was glad it all came out, although I suspect Caroline would have wanted it to be under different circumstances.

I was so busy talking to her that it took me a good hour before I recognized the two men I knew to be part of her security team. The women with them, ostensibly there to look like couples, really did look like they could handle themselves if needed. Caroline noticed my expression change and felt the need to say something. "Since I explained myself to you they thought there's no point in hiding in bushes anymore. I'm sorry Jeff but I agreed."

"I understand that Caroline, but when did I agree to date them as well as you?"

She paused before answering. "Please Jeff, it's not personal. I've read enough and know enough about you to trust you more than I could trust any man since college. That says a lot about me and my feelings towards you. Give me time Jeff."

Some minutes later my friend wandered over to make sure things were okay. I whispered into my friend's ear and a grin as he passed our table again ten minutes later told me he had sent dinner out to the sedan parked across the road. A small peace offering I suppose, one that didn't escape my date's notice either. We stayed until the restaurant closed, having coffees and liqueurs with odd sounding names. My friend even stopped by for a few moments to meet Caroline, who of course complimented him on his fantastic restaurant and for the evening.

We both knew how this evening would end. It wasn't anything other than special for us both on many levels but our night cap at the restaurant told her that I would be leaving her at the door to her apartment tonight. Mind you, the kiss I got as a farewell sure tempted me to change my mind. Caroline's kiss held my lips and she damn near pulled me out through the passenger side of the car with me still attached to her.

******* "You got laid. Well it's about time."

It still took me a second or two to look up from the program I was working on. Janice stood in the doorway with one hand wrapped around a coffee mug and the other around the morning mail.

"Is that anyway to talk to the guy who can fire your ass out this building in a New York minute, lady?" The snort that came from her as she approached and then dropped into the chair in front of me let me know she knew that our banter with each other would continue for a while longer.

"Do that buster and I have two little girls at home who would beat you to death with the story books you read to them when you come round for dinner." Janice placed the mail on my table, followed seconds later by the coffee, the smile still there, expecting an answer to her original statement. I relaxed back into my chair the warmth of my cup spreading onto the palms of my hands. My mind was already playing this morning's jog around the park with Caroline; no halting words or hesitant sentences or any regrets about the evening before. Just meeting for the warm up, a tender kiss and our jog around the park, simply following that great ass of hers as she blatantly tries to both tease and make me go faster.

Even breakfast at Charlie's Diner, watching Marco pretending to gag with his fingers down his throat when he watched us both for a few moment share food and feed each other. It was then the sound of clicking fingers brought me back to the present. Janice was just in the motion of clicking them again when she realized I was back.

"Are you okay? You zoned out for a moment then, that memorable was it?" My smile must have given me away although, for all the wrong reasons. "Well I hate to burst your bubble stud." With that Janice pulled a file out from under the stack of letters on her side, tossed it across the desk and watched it slide across the desk skidding to stop just in front of me. A big red sticker graced the front of it and I groaned. The smile on Janice's face wasn't missed by me as I did.

"Sorry stud, tomorrow you're off to San Diego for three days, want me to book one ticket or two?"

I just leaned over my desk to the phone and dialed, watching Janice wander out of my office singing 'I'm Getting Married in the Morning.' Seconds before she closed the door, I'm sure she heard the thud of the San Diego file hit it.

"Hello?"

"Hello Caroline."

"Wow, hello gorgeous, don't tell me you miss looking at this ass of mine so soon, I've barely had a chance to shower after that epic work out in the park?"

"This is me not listening to you Caroline." The sound of her laughing down the phone made me smile, so I continued.

"I have to go to San Diego for three days, how would you feel about coming with me, I will be working during the day so the evenings I'm all yours. At least you will have a chance to see your sorority sister. I assume she still lives out there."

The silence was deafening. "I'll call you back," she said.

So now I'm sat in the office holding the phone in my hand and wondering what the heck just happened. Janice came back in, picking up the San Diego file and its contents that were now spread around the floor. For the rest of the morning we talked about the itinerary and the problems with the program that couldn't be fixed from here. Both of us agreed that me going there was a necessity. Tomorrow morning was the latest I could leave and I was still left wondering if I was going alone.