Double Blind Date

A warm hug and another kiss greeted the end of my story. Rusty and I had something in common.

Will was surprised to find out that I was an aunt. He was also surprised to learn that we had been invited to Simon and Ami's for dinner on Thursday night. Ami was anxious to get together with us, and Thursday was Simon's only free night.

Will was apprehensive about the age difference and the whole "trophy wife" idea in general. Ami and I had talked on the phone several times and were getting along famously. Of course, there was that ugly secret that only the two of us shared.

Ami suggested that business-casual might be appropriate for Simon, who had trouble being more casual than that. We did our best to conform. Will wore a tie to work most days while I was casual-casual almost every day.

Will was duly impressed when we pulled into the Lloyds' drive.

"Three-car garage," he said. "I wonder what's inside?"

Today I had no idea.

Simon greeted us, Ami at his shoulder. I received a warm hug from her, as did Will. Simon shook hands heartily with Will, assuring him they'd have much to talk about after dinner.

That dinner was delicious, and everything was going well until Will asked a relatively innocuous question.

"How's Zack doing in Arizona?"

The air in the room suddenly chilled—at least the air around Ami and me.

"Eh, who knows?" Simon glanced at Ami. "I think I screwed up raising him. I'm not sure he respects anyone or anything." He breathed deeply. "He'll screw up there like he's done everywhere else he's been." He took a bite of food and chewed slowly, three sets of eyes locked on him. "The difference this time is he's not coming back here. Right, Ami?"

I tensed. Had she told him?

"He makes me nervous," she said softly, a quick glance in my direction.

Another of those monstrous understatements that seemed so familiar lately.

"He has a thing about women," Simon continued. "Actually, I misspoke. He thinks women are things. That's more accurate. You use her till you get tired of her, then get a new one. If you break one, you just replace it ... newer model with more accessories. You get tired of her, and you toss her out, no big deal." His head turned, and he was looking at me. "I hope I haven't offended you," he said apologetically. "I know you two dated; briefly, I think. Did he tell you about his basketball?"

"Some," I ventured cautiously, not sure where Simon was headed.

"Told you about being all-state and scholarships?"

I nodded.

Did he mention he was all-state in two separate states, neither of them Ohio?"

Now Will's interest was piqued.

"He got in so much fuc ... trouble her we had to send him off to military school, hoping they could straighten him out. He could play basketball, but that's about the only thing he could do correctly. Tossed out of the first school, but managed to survive the second. Ohio State took a chance on him, despite his record."

"He told me about that, the Ohio State thing. Said they got a new coach, and he just didn't 'fit in' anymore."

"I expect he didn't tell you about his screaming at the new coach and telling him what he thought about his coaching."

"Didn't think so," he replied to my abashed expression. Then he looked at me, an unspoken question on his face.

I nodded, waiting for the other shoe to fall.

"Did he ... was he ...?" Simon looked at me helplessly.

"A little," I replied, grabbing Will's hand under the table.

"I'm sorry."

I had to lighten things a little. "I did get to drive that car of his," I added, a distorted smile on my face.

"That car. His 'babe boat.'" He looked at me and chuckled. "Fun?"

"It was," I assured him.

"His mother warned me he was an asshole before we divorced. Pardon me," he added.

"Let's talk about something other than Zack," Ami suggested rather vigorously.

We agreed, the meal finally ended, and Simon and Will went off to discuss banking and real estate development, leaving Ami and me at the table.

"Does he know?" I asked tentatively.

"He only knows that Zack tried something. He pressed me until I had to admit that. He doesn't know the rest. Some day the time may be right. Not yet, though."

We talked some more, and finally, it was Ami's turn to press me.

"You and Will," she said. "Will I get to be a bridesmaid?"

I could feel my heart pounding at her question. "Definitely, if and when."

"No if," she said, "just when."

I was holding tightly to the locket.

"You don't see the way he looks at you when you're talking or just listening. It's spellbinding, Springer. It's just when."

"I hope you're right." I wanted to say, 'I know you're right, but I was too cautious.

"You love him?"

More pounding heart. "Yes." It was the first time I had admitted it to anyone other than myself, and it felt wonderfully fulfilling.

"You told him yet?"

"Ami, so many questions. Guh."

"I remember the first time Simon said he loved me. I thought he was just talking, just saying words so he could ... well ... have me. I didn't believe him; it seemed so weird. I was 24, and he was 50. Things like that didn't happen, weren't true, at least for me. It took a long time, you know. Yes, you know more than you should. But I believe he does love me. If you love Will, tell him."

I could only look at Ami. Telling someone you loved them had to be done, well, appropriately, in the right place at the right time. That's the way I was raised. There's a time and a place for everything. I was just waiting for the right time and place.

"Does he love you?"

"Ami, you're tearing me apart. I know he does."

"Someone has to say it."

"Maybe I'm just too unsure, too timid, too whatever, and I want him to say it, so I don't make a fool of myself."

"You said you know he loves you."

"I told you about what he did when that guy threatened me."

"And you told me how you felt when you saw him lying in that bed, bandaged and hurt because of you."

"I'll do it. I swear, I will."

"Then I accept your request to be a bridesmaid."

We hugged, and I wondered when.

It was a Wednesday evening, and Will was coming by after work. I was struggling to create a dinner, something simple but tasty. As I was washing the lettuce in the sink, I saw his car pull into the lot. I dried my hands, waited a minute, and then opened my door just a crack, ready to surprise him. I heard a small voice.

"Hello." It was Janie.

"Hello there," Will replied, just outside the door now.

"Are you going to visit my Aunt Springer?"

"Your ... Aunt Springer?" Apparent confusion in his voice as he toyed with Janie.

"Yes, she's been my aunt for a while now, and I'm her Aunt Janie."

"Ah, that works well then, doesn't it," Will replied, seemingly catching on.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Will."

"So, if you're with Aunt Springer, will you be my Uncle Will?"

I was working hard to stifle my giggling. Janie had a way of getting to you.

"Um, well ..."

Suppressing my hesitation, I stepped into the hallway.

"He'd be happy to be your Uncle Will," I assured her.

"Aunt Springer," she squealed, running to me and giving me a big hug.

Then she turned to Will and hugged him. "Thank you, Uncle Will."

A soft and wonderfully warm look filled Will's face as he dropped to his knees in front of Janie.

"If I'm going to be your Uncle Will, you have to be my Aunt Janie too."

"Okay," a joyous voice answered.

Alison appeared in the hall, ready to corral Janie, but I wagged my finger to stop her.

"Aunt Springer doesn't have any other aunts or uncles. Do you?" She was eye to eye with Will.

"I do. Two aunts and two uncles, but they're old and not as much fun as you are."

Janie spotted Alison. "Mama, look. I have an Uncle Will now." She had an arm around Will's leg.

I had a sudden idea.

"Alison, Janie needs to get to know her Uncle Will a little better. Could she have dinner with us?"

"Oh, Mama, please. Can I, please?" She was still clinging to Will's leg, and he had his hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, Mama, please," he added and got an adoring look from Janie.

I could see Alison fighting the tears. I'd gotten to know her a little since she'd moved in. A single mom struggling to raise a daughter and get an education, she'd finally achieved her nursing certificate, and they had moved into this building. I waved to her and followed Will and Janie into the apartment. We were in for a fun dinner, I was sure. Thank goodness I'd cooked enough food.

I'd like to be able to tell you that things between Will and me were absolutely perfect, our relationship created in heaven, the two of us being blessed with an excellent understanding of the other. Things like that aren't real, except in some fictional stories.

His hippie background and my very conservative upbringing caused occasional clashes of opinion. But we worked our way through them, understanding that in every case, they were secondary to our relationship and, working together, we could resolve them without getting nasty. We even disagreed politically sometimes, but Will was more involved in that than I was due to his banking work and the discussions he had with Simon about land development issues, zoning, tax abatement, landlord concerns, and the like.

We did get together with Ami and Simon at least once a week, and Simon continually talked about somehow getting Will involved in his development company. Will was reluctant to change his focus but realized that, if he was going to, doing it at a younger age might be appropriate.

I had been selected by the company to travel to California with the Vice President and the Sales Manager to make our presentation about the big project that had involved most of my time the past few months. I was honored ... and a bit terrified as I had never done anything like that before. Will pooh-poohed my reluctance, assuring me I'd do it well because that was my nature.

Closer to home, I was concerned that he was about to dump me for Janie as he had become enthralled with her and had her with us every chance he had. We had never talked about children — we had never even spoken those three magic words yet, my "right time and right place" subduing what I knew needed to be done. I think Will was just waiting for me to say it, still very conscious of treating me like "Waterford and Wedgewood." But seeing him with Janie made me feel very secure. He was a natural with children, and I hoped that, should the day come, I could be the same way.

On one of our evenings with the Lloyds, when the men had retreated for their business discussions, Ami looked at me, biting her lip, and I knew something significant was about to happen.

"I told him," she said so quietly I almost had to ask her to repeat it.

I didn't have to say anything; just my deep inhale told her what I was thinking.

"I had to. Zack messed up at Arizona, of course, and wanted to come home. Simon was going to relent on his determination to keep Zack away and let him stay here while he got established. I couldn't abide that, Springer. So, I told him, expecting to, I don't know, maybe be thrown out."

"And Simon surprised you again."

Ami had started to blink hard, but there were still tears on her cheeks.

"He blamed himself for the way he'd 'NOT' raised Zack. I don't think I ever told you, but Zack threatened to hurt me badly if I didn't go along with what he wanted. He even insisted that I act like I was enjoying it."

That explained a little of what I'd seen through that narrow window.

"Does Will know yet?"

"No, he doesn't."

"Do you think he should?"

Ami was looking to me for help, and I was torn.

"That's not up to me."

"Simon thinks he should know since you do. It would always be something like a wedge between you."

So, the men were invited back in, and Ami, looking from Simon to me, shared what had happened between her and Zack. Will's mouth wasn't hanging open in amazement, but his constant head shaking said he was having trouble comprehending the impact of what Ami was sharing with him. When she finished, he turned to me.

"And I sent him to you," he said, a whipped look on his face.

"Bull shit," Simon spat out. "You didn't know him at all. He's a con-man. And," he continued, looking at me, "I'd say it's all turned out fairly well."

That calmed Will, and I got a hug.

"So, what about Zack?" I asked.

Simon laughed. "I told him no fuc... no way was he coming to this house. He asked me what he was supposed to do. I told him to sell that damn car and get a tricycle. He could live on that for a while. I'm not going to repeat what he said after that. I reminded him that I still had a changeable will. He understood that, of course, and I haven't heard from him since. Ami said I should have suggested he become a gigolo. It fits his character.

It was funny but sad. When I thought of Simon with all his money and how Zack had turned out and compared it to Alison, who had nothing, and the fantastic job she'd done with Janie, it made my heart hurt.

Ami had told me one time about the way Will looked at me. I'd catch a little of it once in a while, but it made me tingle to know that others could see it, even if I missed it most of the time. Tonight, as Ami talked, I watched Simon and was sure I could see the same thing from him. She may have started as a trophy wife, although I doubted it. She certainly wasn't that now — she was a very loved helpmate.

After a very emotional and revealing evening, Will and I headed to my place where he had left his car. He'd never suggested that we move in together, at least not in so many words. He respected where I had come from, where people who did that were just so much low-class trash, even though I knew they weren't since some of them were my friends.

I haven't said much about it here, but we had gotten a little past the hand-holding and one-second kisses that had started our relationship. I was sure some of that would happen later tonight. Our kissing had gotten much more impassioned, mouths, lips, and tongues working hard to satisfy the other. I liked the way my body seemed to heat up the more Will kissed me, the way I had trouble breathing. He had a way of asking me about things without asking. I learned to read that, to understand it ... and had gotten so, I not only yielded to it but encouraged it.

He'd begun touching me in places and in ways that I'd never thought about, except the few times I'd explored the internet. But on the internet, you only watched and weren't a part of it; it didn't cause strange and different feelings to race through your body. And that trouble breathing. It was hard to understand. I wasn't doing anything ... strenuous at least, but I felt like I might pass out, unable to get my breath. I liked it.

We came inside, turned on the TV, as usual, gathered soft drinks, chips, and dip, and settled on the couch to, well, occasionally catch a glimpse of a movie that we'd tuned in. The kissing began, and something seemed different. The feelings, the way my body heated up, the way his touching was making me feel. I was trembling. I sensed the question and thought about my answer. My brain was a mess, hormones and endorphins crashing into each other as they fought for control of my body. I had the answer.

I leaned back, away from Will but still very close. I watched his hands move slowly to my neck, the top button of my blouse. Gradually, it was loose. Then the second and the third, the locket swinging freely now. I was frozen, anxious, but trembling. He put his finger to my lips, and I kissed it. The fourth and fifth buttons followed, then the last. He gently slid the blouse off my shoulders, and it puddled below my waist. I watched him take a deep breath as his eyes dropped to my bra.

It was my turn to give the final answer to his unspoken question. I reached behind me and lightly unclasped the bra, leaning forward slightly. He reached out, took hold of the straps, and pulled it down my arms. Although he had touched them, it was his first look at my breasts. I looked where he was looking. I'd never seen my nipples so hard and long, even though I knew they had been before from Will's fondling them.

I lay back, and he was touching, kissing, licking, even sucking, and I heard myself moaning, wondering where those sounds were coming from. We kissed more and saw less movie than at any time before. Finally, he sat back and looked at me. No more questions tonight, I could tell. I was ready to tell him to forget about Waterford and Wedgewood and just ravage me, surprising the hell out of myself. If I needed to venture outside my box, I felt ready to do it.

"You're fantastic," he said. "Do you want to get dressed again?"

"No," I answered, grinning at him. "You'll be leaving soon, and I'll be going to bed, so why bother." I watched him staring at my breasts, my mind transposing what I'd just said, causing me to take a deep breath.

We cleaned up the mostly uneaten chips and dip, dumped the now-fizzless soft drinks in the sink, and Will was ready to leave. Well, almost ready. I got a great good night kiss, my bare breasts crushed against his chest, and then he bade each of my nipples good night as well. When he was gone, I realized there was something that occasionally happened when I retired for the night, but I was sure it would be happening tonight.

If I had become jealous of Janie, it might have seemed justified. That's an exaggeration, of course, but Will had developed a genuine affection for her that she matched in turn. She would stand in the hall, waiting for him when she knew he was coming to visit me. Sometimes Alison would be there as well, a look of yearning on her face. I wished I could find a Will for her ... and for Janie. I knew Will wanted that too, even though it would lessen his time with her.

She'd gotten so she'd go grocery shopping with us, often had dinner with us, and had the time of her life when we took her to the zoo. She'd never been before and was excited to see animals she'd only seen in books or on TV. I'd never dreamed that being Aunt Springer and Uncle Will could be so rewarding. But Janie made it easy.

My presentation in California had gone wonderfully well; I guess surprising me somewhat as I'd never been comfortable having to "perform" in front of people. I seemed to have a knack for it, though. Will had assured me I'd do well. Did he know things about me that I didn't know about myself? Probably so.

I came home from work some days after that, finding Will sitting on the hall floor playing with Janie. That was not normal as I was almost always home well before he got there. Janie seemed unusually bright and cheerful, and Alison was there as well, talking with Will. He jumped up when I came in and went into the apartment with me. He suggested I go back and play with Janie while he did a couple of things.

Janie was bubbly when I appeared, and I received one of her patented hugs. Alison giggled loudly, and I was happy she seemed so content. Janie went to their door and returned with a large bag, flashing her two-missing-tooth smile at me.

"There's a present in here for you, but you have to find it." She handed me the bag.

I looked from her to Alison ... no clue.

"Go on," Janie encouraged.

I cautiously opened the top and could see lots of tissue paper.

"Be careful," Janie cautioned now. She was involved.

I began pulling out crumpled pieces of tissue paper, handing them to Janie, who deposited them on the floor.

More paper, and I suspected what I was after was on the bottom. I finally removed the last piece of paper.

"It's empty," I teased.

"Reach down."