Lynn Exits and Julie Enters

At the West End, we sat at a table facing each other. One of the first things she said to me was, "I haven't had lunch yet. I'd like to order something, okay?"

She knew I was going to pay for that date, and she was asking for my permission to get some food. "So ahead, get whatever you want."

I got a tuna salad for myself; I figured I wouldn't have to chew very much, which would interfere with my ability to talk. Then, instead of getting beer, I ordered a glass of red wine. Julie followed my lead and got one too.

After spending those months hanging around with Lynn, conversing with this new girl seemed like no big deal. Julie seemed to lose some of her nervousness and she relaxed a bit as she opened up to me.

One interesting bit of information I got was where she lived: in lower Riverdale on a street called Corlear Avenue. That was perhaps two miles from my house, and I dropped that fact into the conversation. She picked up on it and said, "Hey, that's only what, a couple of buses away?"

I confirmed that fact but I didn't let on that I was pleased that we lived so close to each other. We were into our second glasses of wine when Julie asked me, "So Paul, do you have a girlfriend out there somewhere?"

I remembered Lynn asking me a similar question. "I do, but we've sort of been on the outs recently if you know what I mean."

She nodded, "I get it." Then she had a follow-up question. "If you don't mind me asking, did you fool around with her?"

I had been caught unaware; I didn't know yet that it was a common question that women might ask. I sipped my wine to give myself a couple of moments to think. It seemed too much to describe our theater exploits at that point. Yet I didn't want to be too vague either. I went with, "Oh yeah, we definitely fooled around, that was for sure."

It must have been a good answer because she immediately had another follow-up. "Really? Where exactly did you go?"

Should I tell her? I tried for honesty that time. "We would borrow my dad's car. He works at night, so I can have it during the daytime."

"Did you know where to go with it?"

She was obviously interested in that topic. I remembered our Van Cortlandt Park hideaway in the bushes. Yet I didn't want to get too specific with Julie just yet. "Yeah, I've found some places to park." The verb "park" seemed to carry some weight beyond merely storing a vehicle somewhere.

Julie seemed to be pondering something. Then she spoke, a bit too fast. She seemed eager to get her question out quickly. "Maybe you could invite me along for a ride?"

A ride? I felt I had to get the initiative back to myself, so on an impulse I put my hands forward and gently removed her glasses, setting them down on the table. She didn't protest, but I could see it was having some effect on her. She looked down at the table and said, "Oh, why did you do that?"

I tried to make it sound like a throwaway line. "I just wanted to see what your face looks like." A moment later I said, "You're blushing, you know."

She put her glasses back on. "Yes I know, I can feel it in my face."

I needed more time to consider the situation and I drank some more wine. This "good girl" may actually be quite a hot number underneath. She's been asking some very pointed questions. Much later, I heard the expression "there are no good girls." They'll all do it if it was with the right guy. I was having a hard time believing that I could be that guy.

Unbidden, a lewd thought came to my mind. Julie, baby, if you want to get your cherry busted, I know exactly how to go about it. Perhaps that was a bit much, so I immediately tempered it by thinking, but don't worry, I'll treat you right, I promise.

She had invited herself on another date with me, but she had done it in the guise of asking my opinion, it seemed. All right, I can handle this, but I should respond with something. I kept my voice level, "I should be able to get the car either this Friday or Saturday."

It seemed she was relieved somewhat, yet she was still a bit nervous. "Here, let me give you my phone number before I forget." She fumbled around in her bag for a pen and a piece of paper.

It was amusing to watch her look for her stuff. I almost wanted to say, hey, calm down a bit , but I knew that would sound patronizing. Then it struck me that if I remained in control of myself then Julie would notice that and she would feel better too. Thanks, Lynn, I did learn some things from you after all.

Yet I knew getting a woman's phone number was a big step, and I hadn't even asked her for it. I took her paper as if it was a routine matter, simply the number for a store or doctor's office.

Then she said, "Would you give me your number too? Just in case." In case of what? That I lost it or deliberately threw it away? I smiled in spite of myself, but at least I didn't chuckle. I had to control myself not to do the latter.

"Sure, let me borrow a sheet of paper from you." Maybe borrow wasn't the best word to use, but I knew it didn't matter.

When the time came for us to leave, I decided that I didn't want the date to end just then. Where would we go next? Just keep it simple.

Just as we were about to leave, I said, "I realized that Riverside Park is just a block away. Let's go over there and look at the Hudson River or something." I wasn't sure why we would be curious about the river, but that wasn't the point. The point was -- well, I didn't know what it was, but I supposed I'd find out.

We walked out and turned into the side street. Julie and I were talking about something, I think it was the term paper that Professor Gelb had assigned us to write. Julie seemed relatively relaxed with me and that was a good sign.

When we reached Riverside Drive, we had to pause for a traffic light. Almost by instinct I put my left hand out and took a hold of her right one. Neither one of us commented on it, and I continued to hold her warm hand as we entered the park.

We found a bench facing west towards the river and we sat together in the sunshine. I was still holding hands with her as we chatted, and then I thought, put your arm around her shoulders and see what happens.

What happened is that she moved closer to me and we cuddled as we talked. After a few minutes, something else occurred to me. Go ahead, kiss her, she probably would like that. I almost told her, I mean ask for her permission about what I was doing to do, but it seemed better not to do that.

I said, "Julie, look at me." When she turned her head, I pushed her glasses to the top of her head. All she said was, "Oh." From her expression, I could see that she knew what was going to happen next.

I gently put my lips on her face, we smooched a bit, and then I moved down to her mouth. She kissed me back, but there was some hesitation on her part. It had nothing to do with me per se, but from her tentativeness I surmised that she had never been kissed before. For a second I was tempted to ask her, but I knew I didn't have to.

That was a lot further than I had expected to go when I had met her outside Wagner. But I knew she liked it, and we spent some time working on each other's faces. At one point, she whispered in my ear, "This is just so nice."

It seemed that I should say something more to her, but I couldn't think of anything. I briefly turned my head and looked at the George Washington Bridge.

Then an unexpected topic came to mind. "I write forThe Salient, you know." It seemed unnecessary to ask her, but I said it anyway, "I assume you've seen it." I think everybody on campus read it. It possibly was the most popular of the five papers published on the third floor of Finley.

When she said yes, I quickly wondered if I made a mistake by mentioning it. The reason The Salient was so well known was because it was so controversial. That winter, in some last fit of counter-cultural weirdness, it has published some very explicit materials that would never be seen in a college paper today.

But we got away with it, and we weren't suspended or shut down. By April, there was disagreement among the staff about whether we would defend ourselves or walk it back a little.

She must have seen those issues, everybody in the school had, but she didn't mention what was in them. Instead, she said, "Now I remember, I've seen your name in it -- I mean, your byline, that's what you'd call it." I think she was trying to spare us some awkward moments if we had talked about the paper's contents at that time.

I couldn't help but ask, "Anything of mine in particular you remember?" As a relatively new staffer, I had been assigned some mind-numbingly boring news stories to write.

Julie had to think a bit, but she came up with the one lengthy article -- more than two paragraphs, anyway -- that I had done. "It was about how the college buys its heating oil, that's what I remember. You know, in the aftermath of the OPEC oil embargo."

She had nailed it. I was surprised that anyone had read that piece, much less recalled it after three months. Rather than complain about my lowly probation period, I impulsively said, "You should join too."

"I don't know what I'd write."

"They'll give you something to do -- I mean, better than fuel oil prices I think."

She was amused by that. "I should hope so! So when should I do this, I mean join?"

"You've got time tomorrow?"

"Yes, around noon."

"Then I'll meet you in front of Finley and I'll introduce you upstairs."

Then I realized what I had just done. The paper would surely accept her -- they'd try out anybody who could string some words together -- and my intuition was that she would be successful there and stay on the staff indefinitely. More than three years would pass before we graduated, and I figured I'd stay with The Salient for that period of time too.

The two of us were about to make a commitment that we would see each other regularly because we'd be in the same office a lot. About two hours earlier, I had asked her for a casual date. Now the situation had changed.

If Lynn had still been around, I probably would have invited her up to the third floor for a visit by now. Julie, however, was a student at my school and she was probably on campus four or five times per week.

I thought for a moment. All right, maybe this is a good thing after all. I had been hoping for a new girlfriend and now perhaps I had found one who would have a common interest with me. It was all working out so neatly.

Of course, I also remembered getting unexpectedly burned by Lynn. I'd perhaps have to be more careful about what I said and did around Julie, but ultimately I couldn't control what she would want in the future. It was possible that she would change her mind by the next day and not even show up.

Don't get ahead of yourself; just relax as you have been doing and take each step as it comes.

After a bit, I felt it was time to end the date and leave the park. I just said, "Hey, let's go now," and she stood up and held my hand again as we walked back to Broadway.

At the 116th Street station, she had to take an uptown train to get home. I could have done that too, but then I'd have to transfer to those two bus lines. Thus I told her that I would go downtown and change in a few stops to a northbound #2 train.

Just as she was about the cross the street, I said, "So I'll see you tomorrow in front of Finley." Maybe it sounded like a question, but I needed to reassure myself.

"Of course, absolutely I'll be there." All right, she sounds enthusiastic about it.

When we were on our platforms, I happened to look across and I saw Julie almost directly opposite from me. Her train was approaching from the south, but before it passed in front of her, she gave me a thumbs-up sign. I had never seen Lynn or any other woman do that before.

She's only about five-foot-three. I just hope she doesn't meet any six-foot-one athletes.

*********

There was a real-life equivalent of The Salient student paper at City College. I've used the same made-up name, but I've written an essay about my experiences there and what the paper published during that time. See, The Past is a Foreign Country.

The movie referred to here is Hitler: The Last Ten Days.