Remembering Becky Ch. 02

In Chapter One, we got to know each other and then proceeded to have a very unusual and intimate encounter. The story continues.....

After I spent the weekend worrying about Becky's abrupt departure Friday evening, I arrived at work Monday morning to find a package about the size of a shoe box on my desk, wrapped in foil.

I opened it up to find a smaller box inside, also wrapped. Unwrapping that box I found a bag inside. Inside the bag, another wrapped box. I looked around to see if anyone was in the area chuckling at this gag, but the entire area was deserted. I opened that next box and finally got to the apparent end of the line. A ring box, the kind you would get from a jewelry store.

My heart skipped a beat from shock, and then confusion. I opened the box very cautiously, while looking around for likely suspects. Inside the box was... a Hershey's kiss. Under the kiss was a note written on lime green paper.

Dave, Looking forward to dinner Saturday night. Beast wishes, Becky

I laughed out loud, from the humor and from relief. I apparently did not scare her off as I had feared, and we were still on for our date. With that load off my mind, the week went by much better for me.

Becky and I had lunch together Wednesday as was our usual custom, and she made no mention of our initial ... what would you call that anyway?... when she arrived in the cafeteria.

"Thanks for the kiss" I said. "I think that I worked off whatever calories it contained by opening it up."

"Liked that huh?" Becky asked while winking at me. "You seemed like you were the type that might enjoy an activity that both engaged your curiousity and rewarded it afterward" she added mischieviously.

"Quite right", I offered cautiously, "although sometimes you aren't sure whether you make someone nervous when your curiousity leads to actions that some might consider... odd."

Becky's smile grew wider, that dazzling smile combining with those sparkling eyes making my heart explode with emotion.

"Well, I think that if a person encourages someone's curiousity, they are probably not only prepared for a reaction, they're probably hoping for one" Becky said.

"Then I assume that there was no one offended by someone's actions last week?" I asked while continuing the cat and mouse session we were both enjoying.

"We can discuss this in greater detail over dinner Saturday night" Becky offered. "You can safely say in this case that offended is not a proper description, but closer to an antonym."

I smiled the smile of a condemmed man getting the call from the Govenor. With all that out of the way we enjoyed lunch, that is Becky ate while I drank a soda and watched her eat as we talked about other things. When lunch ended, we left the cafeteria and I walked Becky to the elevator.

"I guess I will see you around five on Saturday" I said while we waited for the elevator. "Do you remember the way to my place?"

"Oh I remember alright" Becky said. "I'm really looking forward to it too. It's going to be great to be the one being waited on for once. I'm so used to being the galley slave and bottle washer at home, and besides, no guy has ever made me dinner before."

The elevator arrived and as Becky disappeared behind the sliding door, I suddenly had a change of plans. While I had planned on making a nice dinner and all that, I thought that I would go all out. Instead of using the dinner as a way to get into Becky's pants, for want of better terminology, I would try to get into her heart instead.

Saturday I spent running around like a madman, running being an apt term since I had no car. Walking the close to a mile to the supermarket for the groceries, and then on to the liquor store and the florist for everything I needed. The walk back was brutal, and I regretted not getting a taxi for the trip home, as the plastic bags cut off the circulation in my hands during the long hike back home.

I unpacked the groceries and cleaned up the house, changing the sheets (just in case) and scrubbing the floors. I set up the music selections, programming them into the CD changer for the cocktail hour and dinner. I wasn't exactly sure of what she liked so I made it as eclectic as possible while keeping it light.

Dinner would not take long to prepare. We were having shrimp cocktail as an appetizer, with the main course being chicken breast marinated in wine and garlic and served over fresh angel hair pasta. Fairly simple and quick too, so I didn't have to spend any more time with it than necessary.

I maranated the chicken, cut the baguette and got the shrimp cocktails made and put on ice. The bottle of Pindar chardonnay was chilling as well, along with another bottle as backup in case we were thirsty. I had also gotten a bottle of this blue gin, Bombay Sapphire, that she had ordered at the bar last week. Nasty stuff that gin, I thought, but at least that was something I knew she liked.

What if she didn't like chicken or something like that? I began thinking of everything that could go wrong. This made me even more nauseous than I had already been. It was 3:30 so I decided to take a shower.

At four o'clock it was plain to see that the shower didn't take. I was sweating like a horse, my clothes drenched like Albert Brooks in the movie Broadcast News. I hopped back into the shower for a cold one and tried to calm myself down.

The clock was ticking as I got dressed yet again, not dressed up but close to it. I was trying to look good but not trying to look like I was trying, if that makes any sense. I looked around as five o'clock neared. The chicken was cooked, the flowers in the vase and hidden, the stereo ready to go. I had not made the table but would do so right before dinner whenever Becky would happen to leave the room.

Everything was ready. 4:55. Looking out the window occasionally, I'm trying not to sweat through another shirt. I opened the inside door to the patio to let in fresh air. It was a nice May day, and we could probably have a cocktail outside before dinner if she wanted. The chardonnay comes out of the refrigerator and into the ice bucket.

4:58. The phone rings. My heart sinks. It's off, something came up.

"Hello?" The most defensive and quivering hello imaginable.

"Hello Mr. Watts how are you today? I'm Juanita from JC Penney calling to tell you about a great new travel..."

Sorry, no time for that bullshit now Juanita. Suddenly the doorbell rings. I click on the stereo and as Dave Brubeck goes into Take Five, I open the door.

It's Becky and she's beautiful. Wearing a sharp lime green pant suit that matches those amazing twinkling eyes and carrying a bottle of wine.

"Hey Dave!" Becky exclaims as she hands me the wine and kisses me on the cheek. Our first kiss, on the face at least, and I wasn't ready for it. Becky has nice full lips though, and I have a hunch she is a hell of a kisser when she gets serious.

"I either smell garlic or it's you and in that case I'm either going eat you or leave" she cackled while following me around into the kitchen. "Smells fantastic! What is it we're having tonight anyway, oh chef of the future?"

"I probably should have asked you what you liked first" I said meekly.

"I'm not picky Dave, as long as it isn't garlic" Becky chortled while enjoying the look of horror that filled my face. "Just kidding!" she added to my relief.

"Well, we'll be having shrimp cocktail for starters, followed by chicken breast served over angel hair pasta in a wine and garlic sauce" I said.

"Oh god, I died and went to heaven!" Becky said while inhailing deeply. "That sounds incredible. I can't believe you went through all this trouble for me Dave" Becky said while shaking her head. "I see you have wine already, just as well because I brought a red."

"Maybe we'll need it if the food is bad" I suggested. "Would you care for a cocktail before dinner, my dear?" I asked while reaching for the bottle of Bombay Sapphire and tonic water.

Becky looked over at the bottle and arched her eyebrow at me while slowly shaking her head in disbelief.

"David, man you don't miss a thing do you?" Becky said. "Although I guess I should have already figured that out already though" she added wryly.

I made the drinks and after I got water heating for the pasta we walked out to the patio and watched a robin hopping around from branch to branch. Spring was finally here, even though there were some tiny patches of snow still visible deep in the woods.

"This is nice and quiet back here David" Becky said. "Especially considering how close you are to the main road. Oh look, company!" Becky said abruptly.

Hopping onto the patio was this neighborhood cat, a morbidly obese cat that had befriended me when I had moved in. He must have gotten chummy with everyone because he looked like he ate a lot. He would usually just barge into your place when you opened the door and make himself comfy, I explained to Becky as she petted him.

"This place doesn't allow pets so I don't know where he lives," I said,"but he stops by here a lot and spends the night. Up until recently he was my closest friend" I offered cryptically.

"He's so cute, you ought to adopt him" Becky suggested.

"I like it better this way, him stopping by from time to time. No cat box this way. I think he likes to play the field anyway. Not tonight buddy" I informed my now offended chum, as we went inside, leaving him to scowl at us from the other side of the door.

When we got back inside Becky excused herself and went into the bathroom. As the door closed I sprang into action. I threw the tablecloth on the table and set the vase of roses at the center of the table with the wine bucket at the end. I turned off the lights and set the plates and silverware and put the napkins in place. I was just lighting the candles on the table when the bathroom door opened and Becky emerged.

The second candle ignited after acting a little stubborn, leaving me wishing I had just another couple of seconds to get everything just right. I braced myself for a barb from Becky, because the whole scene probably looked way over the top.

I looked up and saw Becky staring at this production, but instead of a wisecrack she stood there motionless. She moved her mouth as if to say something but nothing came out. Even in the dim light of the flickering candle I could see her eyes welling up and as a solitary tear began to trickle down her cheek she spun around and went back into the bathroom.

Oops. That wasn't what I was looking for. I had either gone absurdly overboard or had rekindled a bad memory. So while I waited for Becky to hopefully reappear, I brought out the shrimp cocktails and straightened up the kitchen, idly watching the water boil.

Becky came out of the bathroom and acted like nothing had happened. So did I. I popped open the wine and poured a little into Becky's glass. She tasted it and pronounced it "a nifty bit of grape stompin'" and so I proceeded to fill our glasses.

We ate our shrimp and after we finished I returned to the kitchen and tossed the angel hair in the cauldron while briefly nuke-ing the chicken in the microwave. The angel hair was done in seconds and I prepared the large dishes as professionally as I could, laying the chicken breasts over the angel hair as centered as possible.

I brought the toasty warm baguette directly from the oven to the table, and then came out with the entrees, elicting two oooh's and one ahhhh from Becky. I came around behind Becky and placed the dish in front of her before assuming my place opposite her.

I looked across the table at Becky who was staring at the table with what might have been shock or bewilderment.

"I... I can't get over this David" Becky said. This is... is.." Her eyes began to fill up again.

"Getting cold?" I offered with a smile.

Becky nodded with a smile and while Erik Satie's "Gymnopedies" played softly in the background, we dug in.

As for the actual dinner, I give it a B, maybe a B plus, although Becky claimed it to be the best meal she had eaten in years. The shrimp cocktail was good, although I had little to do with that. The chicken was indeed excellent, even I had to admit, tender and exploding with flavor. The angel hair was in a couple of seconds too long. Angel hair is tricky, especially fresh angel hair, but still I had to deduct points for that.

Atmosphere was also a B plus. The surroundings and setting were great but I committed a minor faux pas in the music programming. Tony Bennett singing "I Concentrate On You" was supposed to be followed by Pavarotti performing "E lucevan le stelle" and Elton John with "Your Song". Somehow, Barry McGuire's "Eve Of Destruction" worked into the mix, causing me to leap up for the remote as Becky howled with laughter.

"I think that might have been a mistake, but the chance that it was a subconscious thing exists as well" Becky chuckled to her amusement while I growled at her and skipped to the next selection.

Becky proved herself to possess a hearty appetite, and pretty much killed off the entire serving before tossing in the fork.

"How about dessert?" I offered. "Hot fudge sundae? Chocolate Moouse? Hot Apple Pie?"

"No way Dave" Becky said. "That was so good, but I'm stuffed."

"Good" I admitted, "because I don't have anything except a couple of fudgesicles that have been in the fridge since last summer."

We conversed at the dining table around the roses as the afternoon slipped away and night began to fall. The aroma of the flowers filled the air and made me pleased that I had chosen them.

"Are the flowers bothering you Becky?" I asked, not thinking she might be allergic to them.

"No, the roses are absolutely gorgeous David. I'm sorry, my eyes are still burning from the chlorine" Becky said while dabbing at them with her napkin.

"Chlorine?"

"I swim at the Y a few times each week and somebody went nuts with the stuff today, or whatever chemical it is they put in the water" Becky said. "That's about my only recreation these days. I used to be on the swim team back in high school and college, and used to be halfway decent at one point, believe it or not."

"Oh really" I said with interest. "I guess that explains... uh how well developed uh.. your shoulders and arms are" I added, sounding like an idiot. That sounded great. "I didn't mean anything negative by that" I said quickly.

Luckily Becky didn't take it as an insult.

"No offense taken Dave" Becky said. "It does do that to you, build up your shoulders and back too. I mean, I'm never going to be taken for a model or anything one way or the other anyway and it scares off some of the predators too."

I laughed and countered with, "not all of them though. Some of those weirdos think it's incredibly sexy."

Becky chuckled and said "I hope it just spooks the ones I want to scare off."

"I'm glad it was the chlorine that was bothering you before and not me" I said.

"Oh, my little weepy thing before? That had nothing at all to do with the chlorine David. That was caused by you buddy. I can get very emotional, especially when people do very nice things for me that I don't expect. I'm not used to this kind of surprise from guys" she said with such uncharacteristically somber sincerity that I was rendered speechless.

During a rare moment of silence I looked at Becky from across the table. For the first time I noticed that Becky was wearing a little eye shadow as well as some lipgloss, but so delicately applied I hadn't even noticed it up until now. Her lime green outfit had a jacket over a matching blouse that kept her covered up pretty well, except for a tiny opening at the neck. That was probably a good thing, as it kept my mind on business thus far.

We had already gotten into the second bottle of wine and I asked Becky if she wanted another glass, acknowledging that she was driving.

"Go ahead and pour away David" Becky stated confidently. "I'll know when I've had enough."

We had a wonderful conversation, wide ranging and free-wheeling, as Alfred Brendel and Beethoven provided a piano sonata as background. An unintended insult to Ludwig perhaps, but I had my priorities. We talked about a whole lot of different things, everything but the "other guy".

I was dying to know this guy that I was sort of competing with, but refrained from asking about him because I did not want to ruin the mood. Becky drained her glass and looked as if she was ready to leave. It was after eight already. How fast the time always flew when I was with her, I thought with amazement.

"David, I have something out in the car that I want to show you, to get your opinion on, is that okay?" Becky asked while getting up and heading toward the door.

"Sure" I said as the door closed behind her. Hey, I thought anything that kept Becky around me longer was fine with me. She probably bought some picture or clothes or something, I imagined. I would be sure whatever it was, I would like it.

The doorbell rang, as I had forgotten that my door locked behind you when you left. I jumped up fast, hoping Becky didn't think I had locked her out, and flew to the door.

"Sorry Becky. I forgot to tell you that the door locked automatically" I said as I threw it open.

"What do you think of this Dave?" Becky asked almost shyly.

This time it was my turn to get emotionally overwhelmed, as I looked with surprise at Becky's hand which was holding a small beige overnight bag.

"I... like it" I managed to croak very weakly, as I stepped aside to let Becky back in. "I really like it."

in the next chapter, the evening continues...