Lisa is back, been gone two months. She calls me from the airport.
"Hey"
"Hey, I'm home"
"How'd it go?"
"Pretty well"
"That's an understatement. From what I read, made quite a splash"
"Take me to dinner, I'll tell you all about it"
"Ok, around eight, we'll go to Tony's"
"Sounds great, but make it eight-thirty"
"See ya' then"
B14, I knock. She calls out, "Come in, I'll be just a few more minutes. Fix yourself a drink, you know where things are." I reach for the Scotch, look around, everything very familiar, hadn't changed. She walks in, I stare, almost drop my glass. "Where did you get that dress?" "Chicago" It was black, low slung, draped down her cleavage, thin straps over the shoulders, about knee length, and hung on her curves like a waterfall of desire. The sexiest I'd ever seen her, in clothes. "You'd better have some body guards waiting, you're gonna need 'em." "Oh, it's just a simple thing." We embrace, rather long kiss. "I missed you" "I missed you too" "You ready?" "Yeah, let's go"
We don't talk much in the car. Small talk about how the weather was on the trip, the hotels, the venues where she displayed, small galleries mostly. I still couldn't get over how she looked, she was always the blue jean and t-shirt type. I'm glad I had at least wore a tie and jacket. Her bearing had changed as well, more confident, a little more serious.
We arrived at Tony's, Bridget at the door was glad to see us, we were regulars. She took Lisa aside, asking about the trip, how the shows went, and if she was planning one here. Lisa said, yeah she was still talking to a couple places, either Fountain Square or Mass Ave. Bridget said to be sure and let her know when it was, then whispered, she had saved the back booth for us, knew we probably had a lot to talk about, gave Lisa one of those inscrutable, feminine winks. She took our order, spaghetti and chianti, house selection.
Tony brought out the breadsticks, said the meal was on the house to celebrate the triumphant homecoming, complimented her on the dress. Yeah. I wasn't jealous at all the attention Lisa was getting. She deserved it, had waited a long time, worked hard for it. I guess I just felt my own ego taken down a notch. I had a decent job, downtown in an office, my work was respected, knew I was good at what I did, just not a climber, ambition not a part of my character, not anymore.
The meal was great, we lingered over the wine. I asked about her upcoming exhibit. "Is that one in it?" "You mean the nude?" "Yeah" "Nobody knows that's you, it's unrecognizable" "Yeah, but I know it's me, and it has to be somebody" She reaches across, takes my hand, looks deep into my baby blue eyes. "Let's go"
On the ride back to her place, she's next to me now, clasping my arm, head on my shoulder. We walk in the door, spins around, kisses me with such passion, I've never felt from her before. She says, "You're staying". It was not a question. She was in charge now, I didn't seem to mind. She leads me back to her room, starts undressing me. "Be right back, put on the tape" I lay back in anticipation. It's Bonnie Raitt, Storm Warning. I always told Lisa she was my second choice after Bonnie. Five foot two fist of dynamite, red hair with that grey streak down the middle, and damn, she could play a slide guitar. She comes back in wearing the T-shirt from the concert a couple of years ago. Turns around and shows me her ass, dives into the bed.
We make love like we never had before, nothing held back, totally exposed, complete surrender. She lay in my arms, spent, exhausted, falls asleep. I lie awake for quite a while, soul searching. I've never felt about a woman like this before. Our relationship had always been so comfortable. We kept our independence, could talk about anything, knew the other was always there if we needed them, and good sex. Now things were changing. I want her in my life and I'm afraid of losing her. Her career was taking off. She'd meet new people, run in different circles, and still needed that alone time to feed the creative juices. I didn't want to hold her back. So many conflicting emotions.
7
We slept late the next morning. Doorbell rang, Lisa rose up, "Damn, I forgot Christy and the kids were coming over". We scrambled for our clothes. She found her robe, gave me a quick kiss and went to let them in. I followed in a couple of minutes. Heard the excited cries of Grandma! as I walked in, Mike! They gave me a hug and kiss. I hugged Christy. Lisa said she was gonna take a shower, asked me to start some coffee. Christy and I sat at the table and chatted. "You guys have a good time last night?" "Yeah, we went to Tony's" "That's not what I meant" "None of your business" "When are you going to make an honest woman of her?" I just shrugged, if you only knew. I looked over at Sarah and Brian, and then back at Christy. Pondered for a few minutes, why not. "Christy, you still carry that ring in your purse?". She had gotten divorced a few months ago and hadn't had the heart to hock it yet. "Yeah, why?" She pulls it out, I hold out my hand. "Oh my god, you're gonna do it" Calls the kids over to her and hushes them down.
Lisa walks in with a towel around her head, looks at me, quizzical, brow furrowed, looks at Christy and the kids, "What? What's going on"
I tell her to sit down, bend on one knee, hold out the ring, "Will you marry me?" Her face grows angry, jumps up, stomps off, standing at the window, huffing and puffing. After what had to be five minutes, she takes a deep breath, I hadn't moved, walks back and sits down, her green eyes still fierce. Then they soften, she shakes her head, sighs, says weakly, "Yes". I slip the ring on, we embrace. The kids are released, yelling, hopping around us, no clue as to what just happened, just that Grandma and Mike were kissing. Christy, still at the table, on her cell phone now, already making plans.
I take all this in, look deeply at Lisa, she smiles. What am I doing? What have I got myself into?We have no business getting married. Not the first time for either of us, but I knew it was going to be the last. What business do we have getting married?
Only love.
