The Wish

"Swim on down here. I'll hold onto the canoe. Let the water take you down." Jodi yelled to Anne. Anne did as Jodi said and moments later she too was holding onto the side of the canoe. Anne looked at Jodi. Anne had a very serious look on her face. Then, unable to hold herself back, she broke into laughter and apologized to Jodi for "screwing things up."

"Don't worry about it. I was all hot and sweaty anyway. The water was just what I needed. We have one small problem though."

"Oh," Anne said with concern, "what?"

"Well, the river's current is too fast for me to overcome right here so we're going to have to hold onto the canoe until it slows down. Will you be all right"

"I'll be fine," Anne replied.

"Are you ladies all right?" Both Anne and Jodi heard the man's voice coming from behind them. Jodi turned around and saw two older men paddling along side them. "Are you okay?" He asked again.

"Yes, we're fine," Jodi replied. "Our boat was swamped and we were just riding it down the river a bit."

"Here, give me your hand and you can get into our canoe and then right yours," the man said. The second man said nothing but looked at them urging them in.

"I don't think we should," Anne said in her always reliable conservative way. "After all, we don't know you. For all we know you might be ax murderers or something." Anne couldn't believe she had just said that. She realized how dumb it sounded.

The man who had been talking turned to the other man and asked, "George, you ax murdered anyone lately?"

"Not that I can remember," he replied chidingly.

"Sorry ladies, no ax murderers in this boat. Now, why don't you let us help you out of that water. You'll be much safer in the boat."

"I'm not so sure of that," Anne replied.

"Anne!" Jodi exclaimed, "cut that out! These two gentlemen are just trying to help us," Jodi turned her head to the men and then said, "right?"

"That's correct," the first man said.

"Absolutely," George answered as well.

"Come on Anne," Jodi said looking at her, "it'll be fine. They look harmless to me."

"I'm not so sure," Anne said, "but, well, all right." Anne gave in contrary to her feelings. She looked at them and thought, "They must be at least ten years older than us." She wasn't sure what difference that made but somehow it did. "Wait a minute," Anne said.

"What?" Jodi replied showing a little impatience.

"What's your name?" Anne asked pointing to the man who had done most of the talking.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Andy and this is my friend George." He replied very politely.

"One more thing," Anne said. Jodi looked at her very impatiently now. "Are you guys married?"

"Are we married?" They looked at each other, "Do we look like we're married?" Andy asked.

"I don't know," Anne said, "I don't know what a married man looks like."

"Come on Anne," Jodi said showing her impatience, "it's all right, don't be such a worry wart."

"Well, all right," Anne said finally giving in.

They climb into the men's canoe and then righted their own canoe. They then climbed slowly back into their own canoe while the two men held onto the sides. "Now that wasn't so bad was it?" Jodi said to Anne.

"No, I guess not. I'm sorry."

The men stayed with Anne and Jodi the rest of the way down the river. The conversation was light. Just before they reached the boat house Andy asked, "May we take you ladies out for a drink?"

"What?" Jodi said, "Now? No, I don't think so but thank you. We need to get home and get into some drier clothes." Jodi looked to Anne and Anne looked at Jodi approvingly.

"How about this evening? Are you doing anything this evening?" Andy asked.

"No," Jodi replied and then thought better of her quick answer.

"Well good, then we can meet you at the place of your choice."

"No, I don't think we should," Anne replied.

"Aw come on, we'll have fun." Andy persisted.

"What do you think?" Jodi asked Anne.

"You know what I think Jo."

"Okay, we'll meet you at 'The Inside Out.' You know where it is?" Jodi asked. Anne glared at Jodi.

"Sure, we know," Andy replied. "How about meeting us there at 8?"

"Okay," Jodi said.

"Jodi," Anne said gritting her teeth tightly and staring at Jodi.

"What?' Jodi knew what Anne meant, she didn't have to ask. "It's all right Jodi. They seem to be decent. You are decent honest men aren't you?" Jodi asked them.

"Of course we are," Andy replied and George bobbed his head in agreement.

"You see there Anne, nothing to worry about. We'll see you then," Jodi said to the men as she finished throwing the oars and lift vests on the dock. One of the boathouse personnel collect the items up. Anne grabbed Jodi's hand and pulled her up the steps and to the parking lot.

"Jodi, what are you doing?" Anne asked in obvious concern.

"All right, so maybe I was a bit quick to agree but we'll be all right, you'll see. Hey, we're going to a club where there'll be lots of other people. If we don't like them we can just dump them."

"Just dump them!" Anne echoed. "Jodi, you are unbelievable! Do you know how old those guys are?"

"No," Jodi replied, "how old?"

"Well, I don't know but I'll bet they're both at least 45! They're way too old for us!"

"Since when did you get picky about age?"

"That wasn't fair Jodi. You know I'm picky about everything."

"I'm sorry," Jodi said, "I was wrong to say that but their age doesn't really matter anyway. Hey, it's not like we're going to marry them or anything is it?"

"Yeah, that's another thing I wanted to talk to you about." Anne said in a very disgruntled voice.

"What?" Jodi asked.

"Never mind," Anne said giving in, "I suppose it doesn't matter anyway."

"Right, it doesn't and we'll have a great time, you'll see."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Anne said cryptically.

"What?" Jodi asked showing her confusion.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter."

"Okay, let's go in your car this time." Jodi said excitedly. "It's been a long time since I've had a ride in 'The Bird.'"

"You better be careful Jodi or 'The Bird' will bite you good."

"Pick me up at 7:30?" Jodi asked.

"Sure, sounds good," Anne replied resigning herself to the evening. Anne say the two men coming towards them. She jumped in her car and made a hasty retreat. She didn't desire to talk anymore about the coming evening. She looked in her rear-view mirror as she readied herself to turn out of the parking lot and saw Jodi standing talking with the men. Anne wondered what sort of trouble Jodi was getting them into. She decided it was beyond her control now and she wasn't going to worry about it, at least for the time being.

VII

Anne got into the shower about 6:30 to prepare for the evening. She showered quickly and then stood before her bedroom closet trying to decide what she should wear. She considered the evening's possibilities and decided she was going to dress as conservatively as she possibly could. She found an old pure white cotton dress that was one piece, top and bottom. The back of the dress dipped only slightly more down than the front and the front dipped only down a few inches from here neck. The dress was made for summer; it was billowy and hung half way down her calves. Even with her new bra on its effect was totally lost and this made Anne very happy. She didn't put any make up on and tied her hair back with a bow. Anne felt secure that she had definitely made a very conservative statement with her dress.

Anne arrived at Jodi's house right at 7:30. Jodi was already waiting outside and immediately got into the car. Jodi looked at Anne's dress and said nothing. They were unusually quiet all the way to the club although they did talk a little from time to time. They arrived at the club and found their way quickly inside and sat down. Jodi looked around for Andy and George but didn't see either of them.

"We've been stood up haven't we?" Anne asked.

"No, it's early yet. It's only just eight now and men are never on time, you know that." A half hour later they were still sitting there alone nursing a couple of drinks that they had ordered. In the interim they had turned down several offers to dance.

"Why don't we dance with the next nice guys who ask us," Anne said breaking the unnerving silence that had been going between them that evening.

"Sounds good to me," Jodi relented. It wasn't long before a couple of men about their age asked them to dance and they accepted. They danced for almost three quarters of an hour before Jodi saw Andy trying to get her eye. Jodi moved over to where Anne was dancing and whispered to her, "They here."

"Who?" Jodi asked.

"Andy and George, of course."

"Oh," Anne sighed in obvious disappointment. She had begun to believe that they were not going to come and that suited her quite well.

Jodi said in a slightly loud voice to the man she was dancing with, enough so that the man Anne was dancing with would hear as well, "Listen, we've gotta go. Our dates are here now, so, well, you know." Jodi said not knowing quite what she should say. There was no immediate response and Jodi took this as a sign of resignment from them. She quickly took Anne by the hand and led her over to where Andy and George were standing. They then went back to a larger table more to the rear of the club and sat down.

"We thought you weren't going to come," Anne said in a slightly nasty tone, "we thought you had stood us up."

"We're just a little late," Andy said.

"Yeah, an hour and a half late, just a little." Anne said in obvious annoyment. Jodi looked at Anne showing her displeasure with Anne's comments. Anne figured that out and continued, "Well they were that late Jodi. I think that's rather rude."

Realizing he was quickly losing control of the situation Andy said, "Ladies, I'm really very sorry we're late. You see, we had to . . ." Andy hesitated, "we had to wait for the Triple A to bring us some gas. We ran out on the Interstate."

"Oh, I had that happen once," Jodi piped in, "it's so embarrassing. I know how you must feel."

"I don't think you do," Anne said in disbelief. Anne did not believe the story at all.

"Here," George offered, "look, here's the receipt from the Triple A for the gas." George held out a piece of official looking paper for them. Anne went to reach for it when Jodi said, "There, you see, they ran out of gas. So let's forget about it and enjoy the evening."

George retrieved the paper before Anne could see it and tucked it in his rear pocket. Anne wasn't sure whether to believe him or not now. She decided she'd stay with them at the club and then go home, alone. The night did pass quickly. George had warmed up to Anne. He told her he was an accountant for a prestigious law firm. He was very convincing and he was actually quite interesting in many other ways as well. Anne forgot herself in the conversation and managed to have a good time the rest of the evening.

VIII

Anne felt herself being nudged from her sleep. Then she heard a voice saying, "Hey, it's late and I've gotta be going."

"What?" Anne said trying to see through the cobwebs in her mind.

"I've gotta go. I had a great time this evening. You're really nice." It was then Anne remembered, Jodi had left with Andy and when she went to take George home he talked her into going back to her place for a drink. The rest was history and now she realized so was George.

"Yeah, okay, whatever," Anne said in obvious annoyment. She watched him as he got dressed and then she saw it! How could she have been such a fool! Anne got very angry very quickly and yelled, "You bastard!"

"What?" George said surprised.

"You're married. You cheating lying bastard you! How could you do it! You had the balls to do this to me and you didn't even take your wedding band off! How could I have been so stupid to miss it!" Anne was about as angry with herself as she was with him. "Get out of here you son-of-a-bitch! Go home to your wife and pray to God that I don't call her."

"You wouldn't do that would you?" George asked in fear of being found out.

"I just might, it'd serve you right you bastard! You'd better hope I don't now get your lying cheating ass out of here!" By this time Anne had thrown all the pillows at him and was getting ready to throw a shoe at him. George grabbed the shoe from her hand and quickly scooped up the other beating a hasty retreat to the door. As he went through the door he saw Anne was right on his heels. Just as he got out the door she slammed it as hard as she could. Anne went quickly back to her bedroom, picked up the phone and dialed Jodi's number.

A groggy voice on the other end answered, "Hello?" It was Jodi.

"Jodi! You wake up! The bastard's married do you hear me! He's married! Another one! You've done it to me again and that bastard you're with is probably married too."

"Yeah, he is, I know," Jodi replied.

"You know?" Anne yelled in disbelief. "You know? How come you didn't tell me?" Anne didn't wait for an answer. She was so angry she slammed the phone down on the receiver. Anne lay in bed simmering for the next hour before she fell back to sleep.

IX

Anne was awakened by the ringing of her phone. She rolled over and looked at the clock, 9:35 Sunday morning. She wondered who was calling. She picked up the phone and said, "Hello?"

"Anne, it's me," Jodi answered. "Anne, don't hang up!"

Jodi had perfectly figured Anne's response to her as Anne was about to do just that. "All right but this had better be good." Anne said he voice telling Jodi she was very sincere.

"Anne, I'm really sorry. I had no idea they were married until we got home. Well by that time, well, you know me, and, well," Jodi stammered trying to find the words to say.

"You're a slut!" Anne answered for her.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Jodi said in a resigned voice. Anne had never heard Jodi quite so apologetic sounding as she was just then. Had anyone else at any other time called her a slut and Jodi would have jumped on them with both feet. Anne knew by this that Jodi was willing to take whatever was given her.

"You're not a slut Jodi. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. You're just impetuous and you just don't know how to say no."

"I know, you're right," Jodi agreed again in the same apologetic voice.

"Well, I'm to blame as much this time as you are. He was wearing a wedding ring and I completely missed it! I can't believe I did that. But, are you ready for this?" Anne asked.

"Sure, what?"

"That piece of paper they showed us," Anne started.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I took it from his pants when he wasn't looking just before I kicked him out. Do you want to know what it really is?"

"No." Jodi said.

"It's a student loan form for his daughter! The bastard showed us a piece of paper about his goddam daughter!"

"I guess it figures," Jodi said resigning herself to the facts. "Anne, I know you probably hate me now but would you go with me to the beach today? I just want someone to go with. I want to be left alone but I don't want to go alone, do you know what I mean.?" Jodi asked and waiting for the negative response she expected from Anne.

"I shouldn't ever trust you again you know Jodi," Anne said, some vehemence still in her voice.

"I know," Jodi said, "and I really am sorry."

"Jodi, you know something," Anne paused waiting for a reply.

"What?" Jodi asked sheepishly.

"If I didn't know you so well and if I didn't love you I'd hate your guts! Jodi, you're your own worst enemy, you know that?"

"I know. I get myself in these fixes all the time."

"Okay, I'll go to the beach with you," Anne replied.

"What?" Jodi asked somewhat in disbelief.

"I'll go to the beach with you today. We'll take my car. What time do you want me to pick you up?"

"How about in an hour?" Jodi asked.

"An hour?" Anne railed back, "Jodi, don't you ever take two hours to do anything?" Anne considered he question for a minute and quickly injected, "Never mind, don't answer that. I'm afraid of what I might hear." Anne heard Jodi laugh on the other end. Now they both felt better. "All right, give me a little over an hour and I'll be over there. I still have to get my coffee, I'll bring the Sunday paper with me and read it on the beach."

"Great," Jodi replied, "Don't forget your sunscreen. You blondes burn so easily and I don't want to have to take you to the hospital because you fry yourself."

"You just worry about you. I'll be fine," Anne said in a motherly fashion.

"Okay, see you in a while. You're the greatest Anne!" Jodi said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, sure," Anne said not believing a word of it.

X

Anne picked up Jodi just before eleven and they were at the beach by 11:45. They found a spot away from the main crowd an up towards the dunes. It was semi-secluded although there were a few people who were sunning themselves not too far away. Anne applied a liberal amount of sun block to her skin. Even though she hadn't been a blonde before she wasn't sure how her skin would react now that she had gotten her wish. "Oh that wish," Anne thought. She wondered how much it had affected her. Once she felt sufficiently covered in sun screen Anne lay down on her stomach. She fell asleep and woke up a little over an hour later. She looked around and saw that more people were lying on the beach in front of them now.

"Good, you're awake," Jodi said.

"Why, what's wrong?" Anne asked.

"Nothing, I'd just like to take a walk down the beach and I'd like you to go with me."

As much as she tried Anne could find nothing wrong with Jodi's suggestion. "All right. We need to talk anyway."

"I know," Jodi replied, "there are some things I want to ask you about."

Anne found her sandals and slipped them on and started walking down towards the surf. Jodi followed quickly behind. They headed down the beach where the largest portion of the crowd was. It was then that Anne thought of what was wrong with Jodi's plan. Just ahead she realized there would be lots of single men and she didn't want to have to deal with them today. "Jodi, I know what you're up to." Anne said accusingly.

"What?" Jodi replied innocently.

"You want to go for a walk because you know there'll be lots of men down here right?"

"Well, actually I hadn't thought of that but now that you mention it, yes, you're right, there will be!" Jodi said this with a bit of glee in her voice.

"Jodi, calm down your hormones. I don't need another repeat of last night."

"I know and that is one of the things I wanted to talk to you about," Jodi replied.

"Oh?"

"Yes, right after you called this morning I tossed Andy out the door too. I couldn't get back to sleep so I thought a lot about how I have been acting. I've really been very immature and I can't afford to be that way any more."

"That's for sure," Anne said sarcastically.

"I know, I deserved that. Anyway, from now on if either of us even suspects a man might be married we'll walk a country mile around him. But the other thing is Anne, and I don't want you to take this wrong, I still think you need to get out and enjoy the company of some good men."

"I plan to Jodi, just as I can find one."

"I know what you mean but you will. You're so pretty you're going to attract lots of single men, just wait and see."

"I think I can wait."

"Anne, if you put it off you might put off a guy who is perfect for you and that would really be a shame."

"Jodi, I just don't want to jump right into a relationship. I'm not ready for that yet. Can you understand that?"

"I do understand what you are saying but I'm saying you should at least date single guys, get out for a change."

"I will, I will Jodi, just don't push me."

"All right. Next time you go out with someone you will be the one who does the choosing, deal?" Jodi said this and stuck her hand out to Anne to shake.