The Devil's Bargain Ch. 08

It was my turn to ask the questions.

- "You're already sure that you want to do a PhD?"

- "Yeah. I like classes, and I actually enjoy doing research and writing papers. I already know what my thesis will be based on. And I'm really lucky, because my parents are still willing to help me out. I won't be racking up a huge mountain of student debt."

- "Just a small mountain?"

- "A hill. But I also know that very few people want to hire a 22 year old with no experience. And I'm not all that worried about money, but it's pretty clear that my earning potential increases dramatically, the longer I stay in school. Thankfully, I'm not in a hurry."

- "Smart." I said. Lisa had been thinking. "So you mentioned three possible choices?"

- "Mmm. It's acceptable to do a Masters at the same place you finished your undergraduate work. But you really have to do a Doctorate somewhere else."

I knew this. Things hadn't changed that much since I'd been an undergrad. Of course, post-graduate studies had only been a dream for me. I'd had no choice but to get a job right away.

- "Like U of T?" The University of Toronto was huge, with nearly 100,000 students.

- "I'm pretty sure that it won't be U of T." she said. "There are some big name profs there, and it's not all that far... but I really don't want to be a small fish in a big sea, you know?"

That made sense. I could relate, having grown up in a small town. But I had the feeling that Lisa would attract attention wherever she chose to go - and hopefully for her brains and her work ethic as much as for her looks and her social skills. I said so.

"Thank you, Dan. That's nice to hear, even if it is coming from you."

- "What? Am I that unreliable?"

- "Not at all. Maybe a bit biased, though."

- "So... U Vic? Dalhousie?"

Lisa told me about her two top choices, which were situated at opposite ends of the country. They were much smaller (around 20,000 students), and both enjoyed very good reputations. On top of that, Victoria and Halifax were modestly-sized cities.

I was mildly jealous. What would it have been like to spend a few years on Vancouver Island, studying, making friends, and perhaps meeting someone special? Lisa was going to have that opportunity. I was simultaneously genuinely pleased and slightly envious.

- "Very sneaky, Mr. Pilgrim." she said.

- "How's that?"

- "I see your clever scheme - get me talking about myself, so that I can't ask you any more questions."

- "If I recall correctly, our first two dates involved you getting me to do most of the talking. I'm just returning the favour. Actually... I am very interested in the answers. That's why I asked."

Lisa picked up the tab, despite my protests. She showed me the very modest bill: enchiladas, a plate of nachos, and coffees (who knew that coffee went so well with nachos?) didn't cost all that much.

- "It's still early." she said. It wasn't quite 9:00. "Can I buy you a beer?"

- "Only if you let me pay. Call it my contribution to your scholarship fund."

- "I can afford a couple of drinks. My invite, my treat."

I gave in. We walked a couple of blocks to another student haunt, the Richardson Pub. With exams over, most of the students had gone home, and the place was nearly empty.

"It'll get busier later." she predicted. The Richardson had a reasonable selection of beers on tap, both domestic and imported. I ordered a Stella Artois, while Lisa chose a Duchesse de Bourgogne.

- "A what? Have you had it before?" I asked.

- "I have no idea. It sounds interesting, though. Won't hurt to try one."

- "Wow. You're more adventurous than I ever was."

- "Cautiously adventurous." she said.

I envied her again. I'd never been anywhere before going to the Bahamas with Aarti. Do New York City and Florida even count? I'd never had the money to indulge myself; I was careful, and Connie always had better ideas about what we needed to spend on (a car for her, home improvements or renovations, usually).             

"I won't ask you a ton of questions tonight." she said. "But I do want to talk about you, if you don't mind too much."

- "Umm..."

- "I thought you might like to know why I asked you on a date." she said.

The waitress arrived with our beers. My Stella was nothing special, but I was pleasantly surprised that they had the correct glass to pour it in. I'm not sure to what extent the shape and thickness of glass makes a difference, but the people who make it must know, right?

Lisa's beer was reddish (almost a ruby red), with a creamy head like a pint of Guinness. The glass was tulip-shaped.

- "Oh, my." she said, after taking a quick smell. She passed her glass to me.

I held it up under my nose. 'Oh, my' was right. "Wow."

- "Go ahead." she said. "Taste it. Please."

I did. Cherries. Then sour cherries. The finish was weird; almost like a tart (mild) vinegar. I'd never tasted anything like this. The waitress was smiling as I looked up.

- "Wicked, right?" she said.

I pushed the glass back to Lisa. "You're going to enjoy this." Then I turned to the waitress. "Could I have one of these, too, please? I'll drink the Stella, but I'll have one of these as soon as I'm done."

- "You got it."

- "Ohh..." said Lisa, who had just taken her first sip.

- "I'm so glad that you're 'cautiously adventurous'." I said.

- "Me too." she said. "I'm happy that we discovered it together."

That was a sweet thing to say. "Thank you." was all I could think of to answer.

- "Ah - I was going to tell you why I asked you out." she said. "Forgive me if I get a little... nostalgic. But I have so many childhood memories." Lisa looked me in the eyes, and smiled. "You were always so kind. When you and your wife were at our house, you always smiled at me. You seemed pleased to see me, and you asked how I was. It was... so odd."

- "Odd?"

- "You didn't talk down to me. You spoke to me as if I was person. It made me feel... important." Lisa sighed. "You have to understand, Dan. To my Aunt, and my father's brothers, I was just a kid. They would say hello, and mess up my hair, or pinch my cheek. They'd ask me how old I was, or what grade I was in, just like they had the year before. I didn't... I didn't really matter to them. But you - you even remembered my bunny's name."

- "Fluffy BigTeeth?"

Lisa smiled. "See?" The damn bunny had escaped when Lisa was only nine or ten years old. She was heartbroken, so we organized a neighbourhood search party. Of course, we never found it. I don't know if it made it into the woods, or if a coyote got it. Lisa was devastated, but she never forgot how hard I tried to find her rabbit.

"And when Grandma got sick?" she said.

George and Anna had an emergency when Anna's mother had to go into the hospital. They had to drive several hours, and stay a couple of days. My wife agreed to look after Lisa for as long as they needed us to. Of course, Connie had 'commitments', so it was up to me to entertain the 10 year-old.

"You played 'restaurant' with me. Do you remember?"

- "Yes." It was a simple trick for potentially fussy eaters. I offered three meal choices: hamburgers on the barbecue, macaroni and cheese, or fried frog fingers.

Even at 10, Lisa was wise to me. "Frog fingers?" she said.

- "Absolutely. I hunted them myself."

That earned me a giggle. "I'll have the macaroni and cheese."

- "Excellent choice. Would you prefer apple juice with that, or eau de la tap?"

- "You mean tap water?"

- "May-be."

- "Apple juice, please."

I fed her, and then we watched a movie. When I discovered that she had never seen 'Princess Bride', I decided to close that gap in her education. Who doesn't like 'Princess Bride'?

Lisa stayed with us for a couple of days. She swam in our pool, and sat quietly for hours, reading her book. I remembered it (though obviously not to the level of detail that she did). For her, it was a landmark of her childhood.

When she was 14, she had trouble with Grade 9 math. George and Anna asked if I could tutor her. It wasn't all that difficult, and Lisa only needed three sessions. In the first, I just tried to ascertain the problem. I already knew that she was a bright kid, so I wondered what was creating a stumbling block. I gave her a few sample questions to try.

In the second session, we went over the work she'd done. She had no trouble with the simple problems, struggled a bit with the medium difficulty questions, and was completely stymied by the harder ones. After some coaching, I sent her home with some more to do.

In our final session, Lisa began to realize that she could do it. With the medium questions, all she needed was a hint, and if I walked her through the most difficult problems, she could understand what I'd done.

- "You told me that I probably wouldn't become a mathematician, but I knew that I could pass that class. You gave me confidence. And you never made me feel stupid."

- "You weren't!"

- "You know what I remember most? Your baseball analogy."

- "Oh, that." At the time, Lisa was watching baseball games with her Dad, so I couched my advice in terms that I thought she might appreciate. She could still rattle them off.

1st - you don't have to swing at every pitch. It's okay to take one every now and then.

2nd - if you make contact, run it out. Always hustle. In other words, effort does count.             

3rd - Everybody experiences a slump now & again. Just keep working, and try to make contact.

4th - Yes, they keep individual stats, but it's a team game. Be a good teammate, and don't be afraid to ask for help.

- "You know what I liked best about that advice?" she said. "The fact that you tailored it for me. Dad told me later that you had never played baseball, and rarely watched it."

- "Hey, everybody watched the Blue Jays in the early 90s. I could probably name you most of the players from those teams."

I guess I never realized how many memories of me Lisa had stored away from her childhood and adolescence, such as swimming in our pool, backyard barbecues, or simple neighbourly acts like borrowing eggs or sugar. She'd been remarkably observant and insightful as a kid.

When I looked at her, I could sometimes still see the little girl I'd tutored. More often, though, I saw the responsible dog-walker I'd relied on for so long, or the extremely bright grad student. And it was growing increasingly difficult not to notice the attractive young woman who'd somehow gotten to a third date with me. And I was enjoying this one, just as I had the first two.

I drove us home, and once again she rose on tiptoe to give me a kiss on the cheek. This time, though, she also wrapped her arms around me and gave me a hug. She wasn't shy: Lisa squeezed me like she meant it. But it wasn't winter, anymore; I felt the warmth of her lithe young body, and the pressure of breasts and hips. Just for a moment - and then she pulled back.

- "Thanks, Dan." she said.

- "Goodnight, Lisa."

***

I'm only human; I thought about her. She was very clever: she gave me space and let me think about her. No pressure. Right.

If I had still been with Aarti... or if I'd been with Holly and Monica, I would not be in this spot. But I couldn't just go out looking for the next woman or women to use the phrases on, because I had to solve the dilemma of Lisa. Maybe I shouldn't have been thinking about my neighbours' daughter, a girl half my age - but I was.

Cradle-robber, dirty old man, perv... yes. I had come to terms with that. I had also come to agree with the point Lisa made: if I passed up the opportunity to have a relationship with her, how would I feel about that? And how would she feel about it?

It was quite clear that she wanted to go out again, but she was willing to wait for me to make the next move. The first three dates had been on her initiative - now it was time for me to commit.

But to what? A close friendship? Or a full relationship, with... physical intimacy?

Yes, I was trying to figure out if I was ready to have sex with the girl next door. And if I was leaning that way... could I risk disappointing her?

Let's get one thing straight: I wasn't going to initiate that. It would have to come from her. But if it did... I wasn't sure that my 'A' game would be good enough. I wasn't even sure that I had an 'A' game - which was why I'd had Tansa include it in our bargain, so that any woman I was intimate with would think it was the best sex of her life.

One thing at a time - the next date. I took Lisa to the Oak, a pub that had special events through the week. While other places dabbled in karaoke, the Oak still had trivia quizzes every Tuesday night.

- "I thought we might make a good team." I said. "I've got math and science covered. You're a genius, so you've got everything else."

- "Sure." she laughed. "Sounds like fun."

It was. The questions came up on TV screens spread around the pub, and we had special cards to write our answers on. I was downplaying my own ability; I do have a sizeable store of general knowledge. But Lisa was a revelation: she knew books, and films, sports and world events, and music... oh my goodness did she know music! I don't mean today's top forty - Lisa knew songs and artists from the 60s and the 70s, and she knew the 80s better than I did.

- How is this even possible?' I asked her, between rounds.

- "I have a turntable in my room." she said. "Grandpa gave me his record collection, and I've listened to all of it. I like to study while listening to music."

- "Isn't it distracting?"

- "The opposite. I put on headphones, and it shuts out everything else. Plus I listen to only one album while I'm studying for a test, or an exam. On the day I'm writing it, I can practically hear the music - and in my head, it's thoroughly connected to the material. Intro to Psych - Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here. Behavioural Psych - Tool, Lateralus. Child Development - Aerosmith, Toys in the Attic. Whenever I hear 'Walk This Way', I think of children."

- "That's amazing."

- "Well, it is a bit weird. But it works for me."

Lisa was certainly bemused when I rocked the astrology questions.

- "Don't ask." I said.

No, we didn't win the trivia challenge. Neither of us watched much TV, so we drew a near-blank on reality shows and B-List celebrities. I had no idea who the Kardashians were married to or dating, or that so many people watched Talent shows.

But Lisa seemed to enjoy the quiz quite a bit. If the goal of the evening was to have fun and to learn a little more about each other, then it was a total success.

- "That was great." she said. "Thanks for suggesting it."

- "Glad you enjoyed it. I did, too."

- "So is it my turn to plan the next date?"

- "Are you taking me for granted already?"

- "Sorry." she said. "Dan: will you go out with me again?"

That first word was said with a smile, and a look of mock humility. But the question she asked was completely earnest. I didn't have to think before I answered her.

- "I'd like that."

Once again, I dropped her at her door. She kissed me a little longer, this time, and then hugged me tightly.

***

Lisa took me to a fort. I won't name it, because that would give away our location, but let's just say that it was a relic of the late 1700s-early 1800s. I don't know how she knew about it, but they were holding some sort of special event, with hundreds of re-enactors in period uniforms, each with their own musket.

People in costumes gave tours of the barracks, the kitchens, or the smithy and workshops. It was a beautiful summer afternoon, and Lisa looked fantastic in her light t-shirt and shorts. We browsed the craft booths, but both of us were more interested in the demonstrations of how to load and fire a musket versus a rifle, and the lecture on battlefield medicine in 1812.

On our way home we stopped at a local craft brewery, where Lisa had signed us up for a tour. One of the beers, a pale ale, was excellent. I bought a dozen big bottles.

We had walked Freya before leaving, and Anna had agreed to go over and feed her while we were away. When Lisa and I got home, it was just about time for Freya's evening walk.

- "Just let me shower and change, and I'll join you." said Lisa.

- "You don't have to do that."

- "Course I do. Our date isn't over yet. Put a couple of those pale ales in the fridge - or maybe the freezer, and we'll have them when we get back."

No - it didn't escape my notice that Lisa was basically inviting herself to my house. But I was curious to know what she expected from me. Given how much effort she'd put into our date, she deserved at least a pizza (which I ordered before the walk) and a beer or two.

Freya was obviously delighted to be walking with both of us again. Lisa was smiling, too. Their enjoyment was infectious.

- "That was a wonderful day." I said. "Thank you."

- "Thank you. The company made it special."

Epiphanies are supposed to be rare, but I was having them all of the time with Lisa. Why was I resisting her? I enjoyed her company, admired her many qualities, and couldn't deny that I was attracted to her. Stop over-thinking everything, I told myself.

The pizza arrived ten minutes after we got home. Freya was settled with her toys, and we had just cracked open two of the beers.

"You really enjoyed the day?" she asked.

- "Pretty near perfect." I admitted. "Food for thought, a feast for the eyes, a taste experience, and your company throughout. I don't remember many dates that could match that." I hadn't meant to be quite so honest... but didn't she deserve to know?

Her smile was genuine. "Thank you, Dan. It was a wonderful day for me, too. I've enjoyed all of the time we've spent together. But today was particularly good."

We were halfway through the pizza, and on our second beers when she asked the question. "Dan, would it be okay with you if I... if I stayed over tonight?"

I hadn't expected her to say that. "Here?"

- "Yes. In your bed. With you." She looked me in the eye as she said it. I couldn't believe her courage - I could never have said something like that.

I had to take a sip of beer, to lubricate my suddenly dry mouth.

- "Are you sure?"

- "I've been sure for years." she said. "I just didn't want to throw myself at you, or shock you. I'm still not sure how you'll react. That's why I'm asking."

Courage. Brains. Beauty. I'd never admired her more.

- "I want you - One." I said. If we were going to end up in bed, I wanted Lisa to remember it as something truly wonderful.

- "I want you, Dan. But more than once." she said, with a smile. Had she misheard me, just a bit?

- "I want you - Two."

- "That's better." she said. She brushed away a tear. "You don't know how long I've wished that I could hear you say that."

- "I want you - Three." I said. Done. I was committed to her.

Lisa came around the kitchen island. I had just enough time to stand up before she wrapped her arms around me. It was my turn to hold her tight.

- "Oh, I want you four..." she murmured.

I put a finger under her chin, and tilted her head back so that I could kiss her. That was when I discovered that Lisa had been holding back on all of our dates to this point. Her lips were soft, and mobile. Her eyes were closed, but she held me close, and kissed me as if it was the greatest moment of her life.

My knees almost buckled.

I was humbled by her intensity, by her single-minded concentration. I was suddenly very glad that I'd used Tansa's magic phrases, because I wanted Lisa to experience a night that she would never forget. She deserved no less.

But I was also completely befuddled by her kissing. My head was swimming. I'm pretty sure that I had a firm grip on both globes of her lovely ass, through her shorts. But Lisa recovered her senses first, and took my hand. She led me to my bedroom.