Sounds Good Ch. 06

- "That's fine. That, I can understand."

She leaned over, and kissed me.

On the lips.

It was brief. Fleeting. But her lips were soft, and warm, and my mind went utterly blank.

- "So," she said, "with that out of the way, are we good to go?"

***

The handicapped section at the track was occupied by a rather large family, with several small children. I convinced Patience that I could easily manage a few steps. I folded up the wheelchair, and we found seats in the grandstand.

- "How shall we do this?" she asked. "I'm tempted to bet on every race, but I don't think that either of us can afford that. Plus there's the fact that I know nothing about horses."

- "How about this: we'll bet against each other. Keep score. And by the tenth race, we may have picked up some horse smarts, so we'll bet that one for real."

- "I like it." she said. "What kind of stakes are we talking about?"

I was tempted to say 'a kiss'. "Dollar for whoever's horse finishes ahead. But if you pick the race winner - that's five dollars."

- "High stakes. Sounds good." She held out her hand, and we shook on it.

My choice in the 1st race actually finished second, while hers was well back.

"Rats." she said. "I was suckered by the pretty orange silks."

- "Silks? You have been reading up on racing."

- "Told you I did."

We both chose the same horse in the second race. Neither of us wanted to change.

"Is this your strategy to win by one dollar at the end?" she asked. "Pick the same horse as me every time?"

- "You let me have Norwood Knight, and I promise that I'll let you choose first in every race after this." I had a really good feeling about this horse.

Patience thought long and hard about it. "I think you're taking advantage of me. But I'll allow it - just this once." She chose another horse.

Naturally, Norwood Knight finished dead last. We nearly killed ourselves laughing.

In the 3rd, Patience picked a winner. Her horse won the race.

- "Oh, yeah!" she shouted, waving both arms in the air, doing a little victory dance in her seat. It was really cute - and a bit hot, too. Patience's sundress revealed that she had a tight little body, and some curves.

I didn't pay much attention to the next race. When they rounded the turn, I concentrated on watching her face, in profile. She was smiling, and her eyes were bright with excitement.

That led me to revise my earlier opinion just a little bit. Patience might not win any beauty contests, but she was attractive - to me, at any rate.

It wasn't until just before the finish line that I realized my horse was ahead by a length.

- "Oh, yeah!" I shouted. Then I started my own exaggerated version of her victory dance. It wasn't quite as sexy. Maybe a bit funnier, though.

Patience groaned when my horses finished ahead of hers in the 5th and 6th races. She took the 7th, but I beat her again in the 8th.

In the 9th, though, her horse finished first.

She did the dance again. It was worth the $5.

In the last race, we both placed real bets. "I'm feeling really lucky." she said.

- "So am I." I said - only I wasn't thinking about horses.

We cheered for the first half of the race; then we began to laugh. Patience's choice finished dead last. Mine was third from last.

I liked her good humour. It was pretty funny. We both knew the score: I owed her the staggering sum of two dollars.

- "Doesn't seem fair. You won most of the races."

- "Six to four. You picked two winners. If only we'd bet on the 3rd race - or the 9th."

- "That was so much fun." she said. "I'm really glad you suggested it."

- "I'm really glad that you agreed to come."

She smiled, and made the whole day even more worthwhile. Then she took my hand, and squeezed it.

- "So what now?" she asked. "Should we get something to eat?"

She talked me into going to a Vietnamese restaurant, where she also talked me into ordering the biggest bowl of beef noodle soup I'd ever seen.

Then she shocked me by asking a very strange question.

- "Dan - are you okay with the way I look?"

For a moment, there, I wasn't sure what she was talking about. Then, suddenly, it all fell into place.

- "At lunch, the other day." I said. "You didn't really need to take that call, did you?"

She shook her head, slowly. "No."

- "You did it so that I could look at you - really look at you - without feeling shy, or embarrassed."

- "Yes. You didn't really look me in the eyes at the launch party."

- "And you showed me your driver's licence for the same reason?"

- "Yes."

- "I don't understand. I mean ... thank you for letting me look at you. But ... were you worried? Patience, you're very pretty. Why would you -"

- "You think I'm pretty?"

- "You could have any guy you want. You're seriously attractive."

Patience took a deep breath. "Thank you, Dan. For saying that. I was afraid that my looks might be ... a deal-breaker."

- "What?"

- "I know you like my work, on the game. And my voice. But I was afraid that you might not ... find me appealing."

I was tempted to shout 'Are you serious?'

She was, though. Originally, I'd thought of her as Ronnie, because of her voice. Her body resembled Nalani's. Certain aspects of her personality reminded me of Michelle.

Now, at this moment, she sounded like Heather.

- "No, Patience. I don't like your work on the game: I'm in awe of it. And I don't like your voice - I love it. You have to know: I played for hours just to hear every single word you spoke."

"I understand fears, and insecurity. Please believe me, though: you're a very pretty woman, and I find you ... more than appealing."

She had a tear in her eye.

"I don't understand, Patience. If anything would be a deal-breaker, it would be my looks. I'm surprised that you didn't head for the hills when you saw me at the party."

- "I already knew what you looked like." she said.

- "You knew about my MD, but -"

- "No. I might have ... fibbed a little - earlier, in the car. I knew what you looked like. I made Mike show me your yearbook photos."

- "And that didn't scare you away?" I had the usual accumulation of mug shots and cringe-worthy photographs.

- "I thought that you looked very handsome."

- "You did?" I said. "Well ... okay. Does that mean that I get to see your yearbook photos?"

- "No."

- "Come on - fair is fair."

- "No, Dan." She had tears in both eyes now.

- "I'm sorry, Patience." I said. I didn't know why I was sorry, but I was.

She shook her head, and then made the timeout signal with her hands.

"It's okay." I said.

She used a paper napkin to wipe her eyes, and then blow her nose.

- "I'm sorry." she said. "Old memories."

Then she reached across the table, and took hold of my hands.

"You're a lovely man, and I trust you. I trust you already, because I think you have a noble soul."

"So I'm going to tell you a little story, and get it off my chest. These circles under my eyes? They're not from lack of sleep. It's pigmentation. They've always been dark, and they always will be. I can cover them with makeup, but it looks ... pretty bad."

"Between that, and the shape of my face, I looked pretty strange in elementary school. Kids can be pretty mean - as I'm sure you know. They had a nickname for me."

"They called me Goblin."

My heart sank. How could people be so cruel? I could easily imagine little Patience - little Edna - physically tiny, saddled with a outdated name, and with a physiological condition which wasn't at all her fault.

- "That's just ... wrong."

- "In Grade 8, the class clown called me 'Gollum's girlfriend'. It didn't catch on, though. 'Goblin' was too good. It even followed me to high school."

- "Didn't your parents do anything? Change schools, or -"

- "These are the people who named me 'Edna', remember? My mother said that we all had our crosses to bear. Dad said that adversity would make me stronger."

I didn't know what to say.

"Guys in high school teased me." she continued. "But they hit on me, too. They seemed to think that because I was ugly, I'd be grateful if they let me blow them."

- "You're not ugly."

- "I thought I was. One asshole was persistent. He grabbed my boobs, and tried to push me into the boys' washroom. I kicked him in the nuts, and clawed his face with my nails. I got a week's suspension for that."

Patience took another deep breath. "But I suspect that you know what that was like. Mike told me a bit about your high school experience."

- "It was nothing like yours. Patience, I'm so sorry ..."

She squeezed my hands, and let them go.

- "Not your fault, Dan. You've treated me well, from the very beginning - before you even knew whether I was male or female. I just wanted to know ... that you didn't think I was too ugly -"

- "You're not ugly at all, Patience. You're pretty. Admittedly, this is only the third time we've been together, but ... I think you're ... lovely."

- "That's my Cyrano." she said. "I haven't scared you away, yet?"

I shook my head. "Patience - aren't you scared off? By my MD?"

- "No." she said. "I want another date. If you do ..."

- "You know I do."

- "Movie night? My place?"

This girl made my heart sing.

- "Maybe we should have it at my place. That way you don't have to drive me home afterwards."

- "You're right. That makes sense. Listen: I hope that I didn't spoil our date. I really enjoyed the racetrack."

- "The race track was great. And I'm glad that you ... talked to me."

- "Thank you for listening."

- "Always."

***

People tend to focus on their own issues. It never occurred to me that Patience might be one of the walking wounded, just as I was - although 'walking' might not be the best descriptor for me.

Whenever you think that your situation sucks, life seems to find a way to show you someone who's got it rougher. Kids laughed at me in school, but I was never sexually assaulted. Being called 'gimp' may not be pretty, but it's a hell of a lot better than 'Goblin'.

Patience was coming over for our 3rd date, and I was practically quivering with anticipation. But I was nervous, too. Mom was going to be home.

- "Don't worry." she said. "I'll say hello, and then I'll leave you two alone. I promise that I won't be running up and down the stairs every five minutes to check on you."

- "Thanks, Mom."

- "Just in case ... you know ..."

- "Mom!"

- "I'm just saying that I won't interrupt your movie. Or anything else ..."

- "Mom!"

She put her arm around me, and squeezed. "Come on, Dan. Let me tease you a little. I can't tell you how pleased I am that you have a girlfriend."

- "She's not my girlfriend, Mom. It's just our ... third date."

- "Sounds like a girlfriend to me. Speaking of which ..."

My mother proceeded to hand me a box of condoms.

"You may not need these tonight, but just in case ..."

- "Mom!"

- "It's just like taking an umbrella along when you think it might rain. If it doesn't - no harm done. But if it suddenly starts pouring, you'll be glad you have it."

"You seem to be sweating a lot. Maybe you should take another bath - you'll want to smell fresh for your girlfriend."

***

The moment I'd been dreading passed off without a hitch.

- "Hello." said my Mom.

- "Hi." said Patience. "I'm so pleased to meet you."

- "Me, too. I'd heard that you were bright, but Daniel didn't say anything about how pretty you are."

Patience blushed. "Thank you, Mrs M.. Now I see where Dan gets his good looks - and his charm."

- "Which movie are you two watching tonight?" asked Mom.

- "The Sting." said Patience.

- "Really? Paul Newman? Mmm ... Redford. And Robert Shaw. That is a good film. Long before you were born, though."

- "My cousin is a classic film buff. He made me watch a thousand films. Called it part of my education. I put a reference to 'Cool Hand Luke' in the game, and then found out that your son had never seen it. I have to remedy that with a crash course on Newman."

- "Butch Cassidy." said Mom.

- "The Hustler."

- "Color of Money."

The rattled off the names of a few more movies, smiling at each other as they did. Mom laughed out loud.

- "Listen, Patience: Dan doesn't drink, but if you'd like to, there's wine and beer in the fridge upstairs. Please feel free to help yourself."

- "Thank you, Mrs M.. It really is a pleasure to meet you."

- "The pleasure is all mine." said Mom.

Patience smiled broadly as my mother excused herself, and went back upstairs. The moment she was out of sight, Patience turned to me.

- "She's awesome!"

- "I know. But I'm glad that you think so too."

- "You have the coolest Mom ever! I mean, compared to my parents ..."

- "I don't think there's any comparison, from what you've told me." I said. "Uh - I don't have to meet them, do I? I'm not sure that I could ... keep from saying something ..."

- "No, don't worry. That's not going to happen. Snogg's about the only member of my family that you'll ever have to deal with - and he's a teddy bear. But will I get to meet more of your family?"

- "Not ... really."

- "That spoke volumes." she said. "Want to tell me about it?"

I don't know if family history is a suitable subject for a third date (if it ever is), but I let Patience talk me into sharing mine.

- "I have two older sisters. Jennifer lives in Vancouver. She's married, and has a daughter. Maureen is married to her career."

- "Is your father still ...?"

- "He's not in the picture anymore. He didn't take it well when he found out that his son and heir had MD. Turns out that my Mom inherited it; she's a carrier."

- "You got it ... from your Mother?"

- "Yeah. There's a 50% chance of passing it on to your kids. Dad couldn't handle it, and he just ... left. Jennifer didn't get it. Maureen did, though. She never forgave Mom. She doesn't talk to us anymore."

- "That's a bit ... harsh."

- "Mom changed jobs, so that she could work flexible hours, from home. That way she could be free to take me to see specialists, and to my physio appointments, my Counselling sessions, Occupational Therapy ..."

- "Wow ..." said Patience.

- "Please don't mention any of this to her, though. My mother doesn't think that any of it is a big deal. If life serves you a bowl of steaming shit - you just deal with. And move on. That's her philosophy."

- "She's ... wow."

- "Movie time?"

- "Yes! Let your education begin."

I have to admit: 'The Sting' is a really good movie. At least, the parts that I saw were. I was somewhat distracted by the tiny, but exceedingly warm body next to me.

Within the first five minutes, Patience had moved closer to me. Ten minutes later, she paused the film, and sprang off the couch.

- "I think I will have a glass of wine." she said.

When she returned, Patience sat even closer to me - so much so, that my arm was trapped between our bodies. She looked down at my offending member, and then solved the problem by lifting my hand, and draping my arm over her shoulder.

I had my arm around her.

I might have missed a few key moments of the movie. I'd never had my arm around a girl before. Mom had been right. Patience was my girlfriend.

It was a glorious thought, and a fantastic sensation. She shifted position, then, to move a little closer, to make contact all along our legs, from ankle to thigh.

- "Now I understand how you wrote all those scenes with Michelle, on the couch." I said.

Patience pulled away from me. She immediately paused the film.

Oops.

She was frowning.

- "Dan - I'm only going to say this once: I'm not Michelle. I'm especially not Ronnie, even though I voiced her dialogue. Nor am I Heather."

"Those were characters that I created. You may think that the game was autobiographical. It wasn't. None of those girls was more than 10% of me."

- "I ... I knew that."

- "I hope you did." said Patience. "I just wanted to make it perfectly clear. Mission accomplished ... I think."

- "Patience ... I haven't confused you with the characters you wrote ..."

She reached out to stroke my cheek. "I know."

Next thing I knew, she was pulling me towards her, even as she leaned forwards - and pressed her lips to mine.

Twenty-two years old. My second kiss. My first real kiss. The one in her car I would treasure forever. But she'd kissed me - I was too stunned at the time to kiss her back. This was entirely different.

I nearly passed out.

The feeling of her warm, moist lips against mine was overwhelming. A real kiss. A girl that I admired. Was attracted to. Too many thoughts. Too many sensations. I forgot to breathe.

I had to pull back, and gasp.

Patience just smiled, and reached around to pull me closer. She kissed me again, even as her arm went around me.

Did that mean that I could put my arms around her, too? It had to. It did. When I wrapped my arms around her, Patience snuggled even closer, and kissed me harder.

The I felt the tip of her tongue, gently touching my upper lip. I opened my mouth slightly, and slowly extended my own tongue, searching for hers. She didn't shy away; again, she initiated the contact.

She felt wonderful in my arms. But most of my consciousness was concentrated on my mouth and hers. Tongues.

I don't know how long we kissed. Quite a few minutes, I imagined. We both became more passionate; Patience was breathing harder, and she had inserted most of her tongue into my mouth.

Then she retreated, until I ventured to do the same. She trapped my tongue, and even sucked on it a bit. I kept forgetting to breathe; I was afraid that I was going to lose consciousness.

We paused, and drew back, both of us drawing a deep breath.

- "Wow!" she whispered.

I could only nod.

"You're a great kisser." she said.

- "I don't know about that." I said.

- "Are you questioning my judgment again?"

- "No - I'm ... I'm just a beginner. But I'm willing to practice, and get better."

- "As long as you only practice with me."

For some crazy reason, one of the last lines of The Princess Bride popped into my head: Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.

I wasn't sure about the 'pure' part. Passionate, it most certainly was. I don't know how anyone could judge the top five, but this was a personal best, one of - if not the - greatest moment of my life.

The next time we paused to breathe, Patience rested her head on my shoulder.

- "This feels so right." she said, softly.

I couldn't have agreed more. I just didn't trust myself to answer - I wasn't sure that I could have got the words out.

*****