The Date

He was interrupted by something that, apparently only he could see and just wandered off up the beach, away from the pavilion, on his own.

James looked back at Vince and Jen and said, "This haps occas'nlly when he gets lie this."

"Yeah, no doubt," Vince said slowly, wondering what he just got himself into.

As James went off after Jessie, he looked at Jen and said softly with an air of skepticism, "Oh, yeah, this is bound to be good."

He took Jen by the hand and they headed off down the beach, navigating carefully around the minefield of partiers stumbling around with drinks and cigarettes or joints in their hands. The air was heavy with the scent of Mary Jane. By the time they reached the pavilion, they were both slightly buzzed from the second hand smoke. Nickelback was blaring from the PA system. Behind the band equipment, there were people milling about. As they walked around the side of the structure, they saw people sitting around tables eating and drinking. At one of the tables at the far end, a buffet was set up. There were some people working the grill and stove down there also.

Jen followed Vince to an empty space at the table closest to them watched him set down their stuff. A slight breeze kicked up making Jen fold her arms around herself. Vince took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Don't mind the beer on the arm."

Jen chuckled, "I won't."

"I wonder where Jessie and James are?" she inquired.

"With the way Jess was staggering around, he could be anywhere between here and out there," Vince said, motioning towards the water, "somewhere."

"Hey," some dude shouted as he walked towards them. "You two are a little overdressed for here, aren't yas?"

"Yeah," Vince responded.

She explained to the fellow how they came about being there.

"Oh, cool," he said. "So you know Jess and James?"

"No. We just met," she answered.

"My name is Glen, by the way," he said, shaking their hands. "I'm one of the only two sober members of the band."

Vince made their introductions.

"I play the keys," Glen continued. "So you sing?"

"Well, I never had any complaints."

"Cool, cool. Who do you sound like?"

"Me? Some people say I can do a good Alice Cooper. But I can never hear it." "Decent. But then anything is better than what we have right now," he said, as he pointed back to a guy, who's head hit the table almost as if Glen's pointing to him pushed it down. He bounced back up and fell off the back of the bench.

Glen winced, "Ouch. That's gonna hurt in the morning."

"Let me guess?" Jen said. "That's Tony?"

"Yeah," said Glen. "He's toasted. Oxies. Lemme go put his ass back on the bench. I'll be right back."

As Glen walked off, Vince turned to Jen. Brushing her hair out of her face, he said, "This isn't quite the way I was expecting the evening to turn out."

"Well, it is certainly becoming an adventure, that's for sure," Jen said with some amusement.

"I'm...kay. I'm...kay," Tony shouted loudly and slowly.

Vince chuckled. "You can say that again."

"God, I hope they get back soon," he continued. "We've got stuff that either needs to be consumed or put on ice."

"What have you got, Vince?" asked Glen.

"A bottle of champagne and a small cheesecake."

"Hey, Andy?" Glen shouted.

"Yo?" a voice shouted back from the other side of the pavilion.

Glen looked back at Vince and Jen and said, "That's our bass player. The other sober one." Then he shouted back to Andy, "Get one of those small Styrofoam coolers and put some ice in it for me."

"Check."

"That'll take care of that."

"You didn't have to do that," Vince said.

"Think nothing of it."

When Andy arrived with the cooler, Glen introduced him to Vince as Jen put the champagne and cheesecake in it.

The longer they waited for Jessie and James to return, the more Vince worried about what he was getting himself into. He hadn't performed with a live band in what seemed like ages. And now, he wasn't only going to be fronting a band that considered his music classic rock, but two of the members were stoned out of their minds. Not exactly the way to make a good impression with Jen. Even though she knew all there was to know about him, she never heard him perform. He wondered if he still had it in him.

"Sweetie?" Jen's voice pulled Vince from his brooding.

"Yeah?"

"You okay?" she asked, rubbing his shoulders.

Vince tried to shake the doubts from his head."I'm sorry."

"What's wrong?"

"Just nerves. Always happens to me when I play."

"Well, you'll be fine. I have faith in you," she said, with a comforting smile.

Oh great, he thought, more pressure.

Vince smiled back at her and thanked her for the vote of confidence.

"Would you like something to drink?" Jen asked.

"Yeah, that would be nice. I don't care what you get me so long as it's strong."

"Okay," she said and off she went.

Vince put his head in his hands and saw four feet stop right at him. He looked up as Andy tossed a notebook down on the bench beside him.

"That's our repertoire," Andy said.

As Vince opened up the notebook, Glen asked if he was okay. Vince explained his reservations about performing. They both assured him that Jessie and James could be puking their guts out between sets but that when they hit the stage you couldn't tell they were fucked up.

Vince found four songs among their stuff he knew cold and picked a fifth one that he messed around with by himself and had always wanted to try. And the lyrics were perfect for him to sing to Jen. He figured that would be a nice touch.

Once Jessie and James returned and Jessie announced his plan to everyone there, Vince hit the stage and sang. He was pleasantly surprised. Jessie and James were on top of it all.

Jen watched in amazement, as Vince performed. He certainly knew how to work a crowd. He had them eating out of the palm of his hand by the time the second song was over.

And God, can he move, she thought. He said he was in a band when he was in his teens and early twenties. She wondered what he must have been like back then. My God, her mind reeled. He still had it in him.

Before she knew it, the fourth song was completed and her throat was a bit sore from the cheering she was doing. He thanked the partiers then looked at her. "My last song I want to dedicate to my beautiful girlfriend. A woman I find myself loving truly, madly and deeply."

She lowered her head to wipe the tears from her eyes as the song started. She never felt as special as she did at that moment. When she looked back up, Vince was smiling at her. She smiled back at him and then he turned and paid the other side of the stage attention. She continued to cheer him on with the rest of the partiers.

Mid-way through the song, Vince stepped off the stage and walked right over to her. He took her by the hand and led her up to the stage area. In front of the crowd, their eyes locked.

As they hit the middle of the song, Vince walked over and stood right in front of Jen. He took her hand and led her up to the stage area during the instrumental break. Their eyes locked. She felt that electrical charge shoot through her again. Though this time she didn't break the connection. She saw deep into his soul and saw that he wanted to give her everything. During a brief instrumental break, he brushed his lips against hers. She felt her lips quiver and her legs tremble.

When their eyes locked, Vince felt that charge of energy course down his spine more intense than the other times. So intense, he didn't think he was going to be able to finish the song. Then Jen started to fall into him. He put an arm around her waist to hold her up and finished the song without much of a problem. As James soloed out of the tune, Vince dropped the mic and helped Jen steady herself. To applause, whistles, and cat calls, he kissed her softly.

"I was wondering when you were going to do that," she stated.

He smiled slightly. "I've been wanting to all evening. Still up for that walk?"

"Please?" she responded softly.

In response, he nodded his head slowly.

They gathered up their gear, said their good-byes, and made their way up the beach. All Jen could think about was Vince and his singing. "You sounded great back there."

"I'm sure you're just saying that but thanks."

"No. I mean it. And that last song, as well as the one at the restaurant, they made me melt," she confessed.

Vince stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed Jen's hand as she stepped by. She turned to face him. The way the moonlight hit her hair, the soft features of her face and the curves of her body made his heart skip a beat. He was speechless. "What?" she asked, sounding self-conscious.

"I'm sorry." He continued reassuringly, "I just want to look at you." He stroked her cheek delicately. Shaking his head slowly, he added, "You are absolutely breathtaking."

She smiled bashfully and lowered her head. With that, Vince slipped his arm around her waist and the walked on silently, arm in arm, enjoying the beautiful night sky and the sound of the water lapping up on the shore.

About a mile up the beach, they found a place that was laid out in such a way as to afford them some privacy. Vince slipped the duffel bag off his shoulder and, with a sigh, Jen followed the bag. Her feet were killing her. She wasn't wearing the proper shoes for a trek along the beach. But she enjoyed the walk.

As she spread the blanket out on the sand near the fire pit, Vince turned on the CD player. The sounds of soft acoustic guitar music filled the air. Jen sat down on the blanket and gently sighed. "Mmmmm, nice."

"Would you mind getting the two cups that are in the bag?" Vince asked as he was trying to pop the top of the champagne bottle.

"These?" she inquired, as she pulled two hard plastic, collapsible cups.

Vince didn't look up from what he was doing. "Those would be it."

"Okay." She stretched the word out, teasingly, as she extended the cups.

"Well, I'm sorry they don't make champagne flutes for emergencies," Vince retorted in a mock apology. With that, the top popped off the bottle and Jen squealed and held the cups out.

Vince sat down, filled both cups, placed the champagne back in the ice, and took one from her. He touched his cup to hers and toasted, "Here's to your beauty. A beauty that outshines that of Aphrodite herself and the the only thing that it's bested by. Your inner beauty."

She felt herself flushing for what must have been the umpteenth million time since the evening started. It had been a long time since she had heard compliments like that. She thanked him and took a sip.

As Vince took a sip from his cup, Jen looked up at the sky. He followed her gaze. "Want to hear a story about a pair of star-crossed lovers?"

Jen nodded her head. He pointed up to the sky. "You see those three bright stars directly above us with the milky white streak going through them? They form a triangle?"

"Yes."

"That's the Summer Triangle or Lover's Triangle."

"I never heard of that constellation before," she remarked.

"Actually, each star is from different ones. You have Vega in Lyra the Harp. The bright star coming down from Vega on the right is Altair in Aquila the Eagle. Then the third one is Deneb in Cygnus the Swan."

She lifted his arm, put it around her shoulder, and cuddled up close to him as he started telling her the story.

"Altair was a shepherd and one day he was tending to his flock by a stream when seven handmaidens decsnded from the heavens to bathe. Altair was struck by the beauty of the youngest one, Vega. And she was quite taken with him too. So much so, that when her companions returned to the heavens, Vega remained behind.

"The two of them eventually got married and had a son and daughter. After a while, the Queen of the Gods called her back because things were running slow in the heavens. She was the only one allowed in, so she had to leave Altair and the kids behind.

"Some time passed, and Altair, beside himself from grief, gathered up the two children and snuck into the heavens to find Vega. They spent a lot of time together and so the productivity started slipping again. Now, when the Queen of the Gods realized what was going on, she grew angered with Vega and decreed that Altair and the kids never again have contact with her. And she drew a line in the heavens.

"Well, through that line, the Celestial River came through. That river is so deep and so treacherous that not even the Gods would dare cross it. Thereby, keeping them forever separated.

"One day, their little girl, in hopes of reuniting them once again, tried to drain the Celestial River with a little ladel. The Gods, upon seeing this, took pity on Altair and vega's plight and issued a decree that they could reunite briefly for one night every year when the big celestial birds bridge the great Celestial River. That night falls sometime in the month of August.

"So the story goes, that all the stars you see in the sky are the wishes of love and promises they have made to each other over the ages.

"And, that if it storms on their night, and they miss their chance of meeting that year, the tears they cry fall to the Earth as a warm rain."

"Oh, my God, that's so sad. The Fates brought them together only to keep them apart."

"Yeap."

He felt her shiver. Removing his jacket, he placed it around her shoulders. "Let me try to get a fire going."

"Try?"

He chuckled at the question.

"Not one of my stronger suits, I must admit," he responded. "But..." He reached into the duffel bag and pulled out a box.

"What's that?" Jen inquired.

"It's called Magic Kindle," he responded, opening the package. "Supposedly, even an idiot can get a roaring fire going in a matter of minutes with this. We shall see."

"Have faith in yourself," she said reassuringly, as he set the contents of the package up in the fire pit. He chuckled and shook his head. He wasn't kidding. He realized he was in over his head just setting the kindle up.

"Princess, I can kill artificial flowers. I know. I have done it," he confessed.

She laughed as he struck a match, dropped it into the pit to have nothing happen. He struck a second match and a breeze came in off the water and extinguished it. "Oh, God," he muttered. "This is my luck."

Jen giggled.

"Yup, laugh it up," he said jokingly. "Unless I have some books of matches in that bag, this is the next to last match that I have."

He heard her rummage around behind him.

"Third time is a charm they say," she volunteered.

He volunteered, " And three strikes you're out."

As he struck the third match, Jen said, "And you've got two more packs here."

Vince lit the book with a match and dropped them both in. The Magic Kindle ignited.

After the fire was going, Vince sat back and grabbed the cheesecake.

"What kind is it?" Jen asked while he was opening the container.

"Strawberry."

Upon opening the box, they saw the cheesecake was covered in strawberries and glaze.

"Do you have any forks?" she asked.

"Um, nope," he replied, pulling a hunk of strawberry off the cake, and sticking it in his mouth.

Jen shook her head. "And you call yourself a boy scout?" she asked, in jest, while Vince licked the glaze off his fingers.

"I got the fire going, didn't I?" he offered in his own defense.

"Yeah," she guffawed. "But you cheated."

"If I recall correctly," Vince said, while pulling off another chunk of strawberry, "I said I was 'a musically inclined' boy scout. Not a good one. And still I got the fire going." He put the piece of strawberry to Jen's lips. She parted them and closed them around the tips of his finger and thumb and sucked on them gently.

"Mmmmm," she said, closing her eyes in delight and slowly licking the glaze off of her lips. "Heavenly."

"Heavenly is right," Vince whimpered softly. He broke off a bite sized piece of the cheesecake and carefully fed it to her.

She did the same. But when he went to take it from her, she pulled it away and asked, "How bad do you want it?"

"I love cheesecake."

Jen smiled wickedly and said, 'That didn't answer my question."

"Bad," Vince replied.

"How bad?" she purred.

"Real bad," he said softly.

"This bad?" She rubbed the cheesecake tauntingly across the top of her right breast. He licked the streak of strawberry glaze it left in it's wake. She moaned slightly.

"This bad?" she asked then ran it across her mouth. He ran his tongue across her lips.

"This bad?" She stuck out her tongue and placed the piece on it.

Vince closed his lips around the cheesecake and sucked on it lightly. He then licked the bit of glaze off that was on her nose. He then brushed his lips lightly across her left eyebrow, down her nose, across her lips, down the left side of her neck, and across her shoulder. He felt her hand run through his hair as she asked softly, "When are you going to bite me?"

He brushed his lips back across her shoulder and gently bit the soft sensitive skin at the juncture of the neck. She caught her breath. "Oh, my God, yes."

Vince traced the curves of her body lightly with the tips of his fingers and said softly:

"Is it the curves of your body

The way that your dress clings"

That spark ran down her back to her pelvis as he pulled down the zipper of her gown and brushed his lips up her neck to her ear, inhaling. He whispered:

"Or the soft sweet scent of your perfume

making my head ring?"

She softly whimpered. He brushed his lips back across hers:

"The passion of this moment

has my head spinning 'round

I want

to be one

with you

tonight."

She rose up to her knees and her gown slipped down over her breasts. Vince gently pulled it down over her hips. He felt the heat emanating from her. He then lightly ran his hands up the outside of her thigh as he lightly traced her navel with his tongue.

"Touch me," she begged, "please."

He reached into the cooler, pulled out a chip of ice, and held it in place between her legs. She winced and let out a slight whimper and put her hand on his shoulder. "Oh, God, baby."

He put the ice chip in his mouth and rose up on his knees. He could clearly see the outline of her nipples through her bra. He teased them with his icy cold mouth as he ran his hands lightly up and down her side. Pulling away from her slightly, he undid the the front clasp of her bra and left it fall to the ground. Jen ran a hand through his hair and pulled his head firmly into her left breast. He curled his chilled tongue around it's erect nipple. Then bit down gently on it and pulled. A soft sigh escaped her lips.

Vince trailed soft kisses up to her collarbone to her neck. As he brushed his lips up her neck, she brushed hers down his cheek. They brushed their lips across each others. Vince ran his fingers through her hair and whispered, breathlessly, "Do you know what you're doing to me?"

Their lips brushed again. "The same thing you're doing to me," she replied just as breathlessly. Their lips brushed together one final time then their tongues clashed and intertwined. As Jen peeled back his shirt and exposed as much as his broad shoulders as she could, Vince reached down between them and tugged up on the waist of her panties, applying pressure to her clitoris.

"Yes," she moaned softly.

She kissed down his neck across his shoulder and back, across his collarbone to his other shoulder and down to a nipple and sucked on it. He held the waist band of her panties in place thus allowing more pressure to be applied to her swollen pink bud.

She brushed her hand across his crotch, feeling the firmness. Vince left out a pleasurable sigh.

Jen didn't know if it was the effects of the alcohol, drug, or the moment or any combination of them, and she really didn't care, but bits of the songs she heard throughout the evening started swimming around in her head. "My wish came true when I met you", "my heart started beating fast", "with every breath truly, madly, deeply do", "til the sky falls down on me", "my head spinning round I want to be one with you tonight", "found true love at last". She looked up at Vince and saw her hunger mirrored in his eyes. He cupped her head in his hands, leaned down and kissed her passionately.