Chuck and Sammi

Owen jumped up and grabbed his robe before sprinting toward the house. Kevin's mother simply turned and followed her husband. Sammi retied her top and slowly walked through the patio door, cautious because she didn't know what might be behind the door waiting for her. Would Dana be there waiting?

It occurred to Sammi how in control the woman seemed. Here she finds her husband naked playing with her son's girlfriend's breasts and all she said was, "what the hell" and not even with a raised voice. Sammi always thought Dana was a bit cold -- but this is 'ice water in the veins' frigid.

Sammi didn't see anyone lurking in the room. She did see Kevin passed out on the couch with a glass of some liquor spilled on the floor below him. Sammi left him there, ran up the stairs to their room and locked herself in. "What a mess! Damn you Kevin."

Sammi woke up the next morning to the sound of Kevin's light tapping on the bedroom door. Sammi got out of bed and cautiously opened the door, looking past Kevin to make certain the hallway was empty.

"What happened last night? I woke up this morning on the couch, my head's splitting and Mother is screaming at Father in the master bedroom. Wait, before you answer that, do you have any aspirin?"

Sammi went to her travel bag and pulled out a bottle of Excedrin. She handed two pills to Kevin, who signaled with his hand to give him one more. Sammi waited as Kevin washed the three pills down in the ensuite bathroom and came back to the bedroom.

Sammi took a big breath. "I was in the hot tub waiting for you. You must have fallen asleep, drunk, on the couch. Your father, and I thought it was you, began rubbing my shoulders before untying my top, then he started playing with my bare breasts. My eyes were closed, enjoying the moment when I heard your mother asking what was going on. Imagine my surprise and humiliation to turn and find your naked father, with a hard on no less, sitting behind me."

Kevin stood there, a stupid look on his face. He finally seemed to wake out of the stupor. "Maybe we should head back to town and let my parents work this out."

Sammi didn't know which course of action would be best but went with Kevin's suggestion. They showered, dressed and packed before heading to the car. There was no sign of Kevin's parents as they walked out of the house.

In retrospect, it was the worst move they could have made. Kevin's father blamed the incident on "that Siren Samantha" who supposedly teased and taunted the poor man all weekend. Once again, Sammi's relationship with a man was crushed by her lover's parents. Slowly, Kevin drifted away from Sammi until they barely saw each other. The relationship ended with a sputter rather than a bang.

Which is why, two years later, an older and wiser Sammi waited before making any deep commitment to the gorgeous young man she was now dating. One thing was clear, she'd need to find out if Chuck came from a well-to-do family or, heaven forbid, Dutch Christians.

Chapter Three -- Getting To Know Her

I was waiting for Sammi to pick me up for our second date when my phone rang.

"Chuck, I can't find a parking space anywhere within two blocks of your apartment. Would you mind coming down and I'll pick you up in front of your building?"

I almost told Sammi to park and come to my door like a proper date but thought better of it -- we hadn't known each other long enough for her to understand my dry humor (or as my friends claim, my utter lack of humor).

"I'll be right down."

I walked to the street to find Sammi double parked. She drove a copper colored Mazda RX-7, it was my first time riding in a Mazda. Sammi turned onto Aurora Avenue and headed south across the bridge. The snow had melted already and the roads were dry.

"Nice car. Does this have the rotary engine?"

"Yeah." That's all she said as she stumped on the gas. The acceleration knocked me back in my seat. I looked over at Sammi and she had that same impish smile she gave me the previous night when she caught me leering at the cello player. I could learn to enjoy that smile.

Sammi shifted into third, smooth as silk. I complimented her. "A stick shift. I'm impressed."

"That's how I learned to drive. I've never owned an automatic."

"And it's all I've ever owned, except for my bike. Think you could teach me?"

There was that smile again, she kept her eyes on the road, but I knew she had me in her peripheral vision. "That would assume we make this a regular thing Mr. Pirelli."

"I was hoping, that's why I asked. Figured if you were committed to teaching me how to drive this thing, it would require lots of lessons. I'm a slow learner."

She chuckled, "Somehow I doubt that's true."

Our second date was as nice as the first. We spent most of the evening except during the movie with more 'getting to know you' back and forth. I thought it strange, but Sammi seemed visibly relieved when I told her how I grew up in a middle class neighborhood with a father who worked as an airplane mechanic and a mother who worked in my Catholic high school administration. Sammi's smile lit up her entire face. I made a mental note to ask her about the reaction some day soon.

*********************

The Name Game

When I was ten years old I found a stack of vinyl records and a small phonograph in the basement of our Chicago suburban home. The '45' records were seven inches in diameter with a large one-inch hole in the middle for the extra sized spindle. Dad couldn't explain why the center hole was so much larger than his LPs, my guess is it's where you put your thumb to carry the records over to your friend's house.

Dad did explain that kids in the 50's and 60's bought the 'singles' after hearing a song on the radio. Each record had an 'A' and 'B' side, the 'A' side being the song the record company thought would be more popular. Kids today download singles off the Internet, so in a way, some things haven't changed.

I spent hours in the basement listening to Dad's old singles. My favorites were the Beach Boys. They had these ultra-perky tunes with names like 'Fun, Fun, Fun' and 'Dance, Dance, Dance'.

I was working my way through the stack when I came upon a record by Shirley Ellis titled, 'The Name Game'. It was a silly song, you replaced the first letter of each syllable in a person's name with the letters 'B', 'F' and 'M' and sang the rhyme, for example:

Let's do Don

Don, Don, Bo-Bon

Bo-nana-nana, fo Fon

Fee, fi mo-mon, Don!

Yeah stupid, but if you search online for the song and listen to Ms. Ellis' happy voice, you'll understand why some people thought it was fun.

Well, some of you might already guess where this is heading -- given my name is Chuck. I played the record for my eight year old sister and we started to do the names of different friends. When we got upstairs, I told Anne to tell our mom what she learned. She did our older brother Bill's name first, then mine. She sung with glee.

"Let's do Chuck

Chuck, Chuck Bo-Buck

Bo-nana-nana, fo Fuck"

"Anne!" our mom screamed. "Don't ever say that word!"

Anne looked at her with wide eyes. "What word Mom?"

I've rarely seen Mom so flustered, no one ever used a four-letter word in our house. Mom couldn't say the word, so I shouted out, "You can't say the word 'fuck', Anne!"

That got me in more hot water than I'd ever been in. When Dad got home I was punished by losing my TV privileges for a month. Which turned out to be a good thing because I spent the month on my PC teaching myself C++ programming instead of watching 'Friends' and 'That 70's Show'.

Which is one big reason why I was worth five million dollars before my thirtieth birthday, which I'll explain later.

******************************

Our second date ended like the first. I received a nice kiss at the end of the night when Sammi dropped me off at my building. I waited twenty minutes and called her phone. "Sammi, I already made plans with friends for tomorrow and next week will be a bear at work. Can we make plans for next weekend?"

"What day next weekend?"

"Next weekend -- the entire weekend."

"I'm not ready to sleep with you Chuck."

"Sorry, that's not what I meant." Although in the back of my mind, I was hoping. "Just the waking hours. If we go somewhere I'll reserve two rooms. I'm not trying to rush you into bed."

"Tell you what Chuck, let's spend Saturday together. I'll pick you up Saturday morning, we can hit the Market, have breakfast at the Athenian, shop for dinner and end the day at my place making a meal together."

And that's what we did.

Chapter Four -- The Relationship Builds

"This may work out" Sammi thought to herself after Chuck dropped her off. After Chuck learned Sammi enjoyed skiing, he borrowed a friend's SUV and they drove up to Crystal Mountain for their fourth date. They spent the entire drive discussing politics, religion and all the other 'third rail' topics. Although they shared many values and interests, including the most important ones, there were enough differences to keep the relationship stimulating.

Besides the emotional aspects, Sammi was becoming more and more physically attracted to Chuck. Sure, he's good looking with his sandy-blonde hair and deep blue eyes -- and the guy could kiss! She found out today he has strength and grace. No man ever stayed with her on the slopes, especially on the double-black diamond runs -- Chuck did it today with ease.

Then, on the drive down the mountain, Chuck stopped where two women were on the side of the road with a flat tire, struggling to get the full sized spare out of the back of their huge SUV. Chuck lifted it out like it was a sheet of paper. Effortless! He had the tire changed out in twenty minutes and the women were on their way, both profusely thanking Chuck with a kiss on the cheek. Sammi was surprised how jealous she felt about those two kisses.

Another thing in Chuck's favor - he wasn't pressing her for sex. So far he was happy with the kisses. During the drive home today Sammi explained her reluctance, she's only been with three men. Chuck didn't say anything in response to this revelation, he didn't have to because the shocked look on his face said it all -- how could a single twenty-five year old woman only have three men? She answered his un-asked question -- no, never a woman.

Sammi knew there was one more bump needed to get over before their relationship could get serious -- her mother. Faith Miller never got over Sammi's breakup with Kevin Moss. How many times has Mom brought it up? "Call him Samantha. He probably misses you as much as you miss him."

When Sammi introduced her parents to Robert last year her mother spent the next three phone calls telling Sammi all the reasons why Robert wasn't the one. Faith seemed relieved when Sammi and Robert broke up. Sammi decided to bite the bullet. Next weekend she'll ask Chuck to drive over to meet her parents. Might as well get this over with.

Chapter Five - Falling In Love

What does it mean to be 'Falling In Love'? The term implies there's a continuum, a scale, that on one point of the scale you are, 'Not In Love' and on another you are 'In Love'.

The word 'Love' was not bandied about in my household growing up. I don't recall hearing my mother or father ever exchanging the term with each other. They must have loved each other, after all, they married and had three kids. But the only person who used the word was my grandmother; Granny P would kiss the top of my head and say, "I love you Charlie" whenever she left our house after a visit. She did the same to my brother and sister, then head out the door with a tear running down her cheek.

I didn't tell my high school classmate who took my virginity that I loved her -- and she didn't pretend to love me. The same goes for any of the women I dated and/or bedded in college. Was I waiting for something special - a knock on the head? "Hey Chuck -- tell that girl you just screwed that you love her already!"

There's a reason this comes up now. I think I love Sammi and I'm ready to tell her. It's a scary thought because I never told anyone I loved them before and what if Sammi doesn't feel the same way? What if I take the leap, tell her I love her and she doesn't reciprocate, will I be left standing with my proverbial dick in my hand?

Sammi and I spend a warm Spring afternoon on the Burke Gilman Trail, an old railroad line now paved for joggers, bicyclists and anything non-motorized, which includes our rollerblades. We blade from Fremont to Kenmore and back before sitting on a park bench at Gasworks Park, sharing a bottle of water. I'm watching a floatplane land on Lake Union, skirting the canoes, sailboats and motorboats that never seem to be in the plane's path as it touches down. I take a giant breath and let it out.

"I love you Sammi."

Her response is unexpected. Sammi stands up, starts sobbing and falls into my lap. Her arms wrap around my neck as she kisses me then whispers in my ear, "I love you Charles."

I've learned to love it when she calls me Charles. I also understand at that moment what it means to 'Be In Love'.

**********************

Even after exchanging "I love you" we waited another month before consummating the relationship. I admit it wasn't easy. When we did make love for the first time, it was during a romantic weekend in the San Juan's, it wasn't a wild sex-a-thon. We rented a two-bedroom cabin on Orcas Island and spent the day hiking up Mt. Constitution and the evening having a nice dinner in the resort's dining room. We walked hand in hand to the cabin and I felt as if this might be the night.

The event was obviously not planned, Sammi walked into my bedroom wearing some flannel whatever. Our first attempt at intercourse reminded me of two virgins: lights off, practically fumbling in the dark to remove the nightshirt she had on. Sammi was the most inhibited woman I bedded since college. We made love missionary, no oral, no talking.

But we did make love and she did fall asleep with her head on my shoulder, her arm across my chest. I fell asleep much later, wide awake looking up at the ceiling until midnight, a smile on my face. It wasn't until the next morning that I saw her naked body. Sammi woke up with the sun shining through the sheer curtains lighting up the room. Before she made her way to the bathroom, she reached for her nightshirt. I stopped her hand.

"Please don't." I asked. "We're lovers now and there's no need to hide."

Sammi seemed reluctant, but she did as I asked. I watched her beautiful body as she made her way to the bathroom.

Our physical relationship improved dramatically from then on. Sammi learned to trust me and our love, opening herself up to me. It never became crazy-monkey sex, but our love-making was satisfying both emotionally and physically. It took months, but she slowly allowed me to introduce new positions and new ways to get each other aroused. Oral sex was no longer off the table and we rarely finished any encounter before both of us achieved at least one orgasm.

**************

Labor Day weekend was spent at a resort in Coeur d'Alene. I rented a small sailboat and talked Sammi into wearing a tiny bikini. She agreed to the suit because it was just the two of us on the boat. She looked fantastic in the suit, although with her body Sammi always looked great in her one-piece.

We anchored in a small cove to swim when a motorboat pulled in, stopped, and tied up to our boat. The only occupant of the boat was a young man dressed in traditional waiter's garb: white shirt, bow tie, black slacks, black half apron.

Sammi was treading water. "Chuck, what is he doing?"

I swam over to our boat, pulled myself in and reached my hand out to Sammi. She was reluctant to get out of the water in front of the young man because of her suit. When she did get up and in, she saw he was holding two flutes of champagne. At the bottom of one flute was a diamond ring. I dropped to one knee. "Samantha, will you marry me?"

Sammi didn't hesitate. "Yes!"

While the waiter took photos using a waterproof camera I bought for the occasion, we drank the champagne, Sammi retrieved the ring from the glass and I slipped it on her finger. Sammi looked at the ring, then wrapped her arms around me, giving me a kiss. The waiter climbed back into the motorboat and left, his arm in the air giving us a thumbs up. A year later I teased Sammi by having one of those photos framed and mounted on the wall in our front entry. After Sammi made me take it down, it hangs in our bedroom.

I needed to resolve one big issue now that Sammi said 'yes', how to ask her to sign a pre-nup. I needn't worry because Sammi beat me to it the week after our engagement.

"Chuck, I hate to bring this up, but Dad insists we sign a pre-nuptial."

Sammi misunderstood the strange look on my face, she immediately began to ramble. "Mom and Dad gave me the money for the down payment on my townhouse when they didn't have to pay for college, my scholarship paid all my expenses. Since then the townhouse has appreciated in value and Dad wants to protect our investment. I hate having to ask this because I know we'll never divorce -- and Dad even offered to talk to you about it -- but I thought I should ask. Please don't be upset."

I had to hold back my smile, otherwise Sammi would think I was making fun of her concern. "Don't worry Sammi. We can ask an attorney to draw up the pre-nup." Pausing, I thought this was a good time to bring it up. "Sammi, you need to know something. I own a patent that might be worth some money soon. The pre-nup will apply to your townhouse and my patent. Is that fair?"

"Of course Chuck. I think Dad is going to be relieved that this didn't cause any issues." Sammi emphasized her own relief by giving me a kiss.

The patent turned out to be more valuable than even my attorney's high estimate. Amazon bought it outright and I cleared just under five million, even after paying my attorney and the taxes.

**********************

We planned for an April wedding. Sammi did most of the planning, which surprised me because I always thought it was the bride's mother who got all excited about these things. Faith never gave me a reason to believe she didn't like me, but she wasn't particularly warm either. Glenn Miller just went along with whatever. He showed the same blasé attitude when I asked for his daughter's hand in marriage. I thought he'd appreciate the traditional gesture, maybe show some emotion, but -- nothing, Glenn just said 'yes' and shook my hand.

It would be a small wedding, fifty or sixty guests since my extended family lived in Chicago. My parents, siblings and their spouses would make it, but none of my aunts, uncles or cousins. Sammi's family consisted of her parents, brother, an aunt and her two children. Our friends made up the balance. Sammi and I were footing the bill, it wouldn't set us back more than twenty-five thousand.

When it came to choosing the music, I proposed we hire a string quartet. They could play Pachelbel's 'Canon' during the procession and more up-tempo pieces during the reception. Sammi took one look at the cello player and vetoed the idea. We went with a DJ.

My brother Bill was my best man and her brother Paul a groomsman. Jess was Sammi's maid of honor. A woman Sammi worked with, Yasmine, was the other bridesmaid. It turned out to be a great party. And it turned out to be a great honeymoon in Maui, the specifics of which I won't share, but it was great.

We came home from the honeymoon and started our life together. I moved into Sammi's townhouse while we searched for a home to buy. We found the perfect house on the top of Queen Anne Hill, an upscale Seattle neighborhood. Four bedrooms, two stories, a beautiful curving staircase to the second floor with an open hallway. The master bedroom had a bath. The two other upstairs bedrooms shared a bath. The fourth bedroom was downstairs behind the kitchen pantry, probably where the maid slept when the house was built in the 1910's. Sammi sold her townhouse and used most of the equity to pay half of the down payment on the new house. She insisted on paying for half of all our expenses while she was employed.