Well - Part XIX

The kiss had the effect of killing my story in mid sentence. It also awoke within me a floodgate of feelings. Maybe I was actually suppressing my desire for this woman who was still “protected” by my notion of her being unattainable from our high school years.

It wasn’t a really passionate kiss but it seemed to signal a change in our relationship. I toyed with the notion of changing our destination from the Green Bo Restaurant to my apartment but, squelched that notion internally.

We had a nice meal. We ordered (at my behest) yellow fish with dried seaweed and rice cakes. I continued throughout the meal to try and read in Cheryl’s eyes any clue as to what her expectations were for the remainder of our day together. The original plan was to have her back on the road by 7:00pm to head north out of the city.

I did a mental tour of my apartment and decided that I didn’t really want us to head over there anyway. I decided that perhaps I drive up with her, stay with sister and have them take to a train in Brewster for the trip back to the city. I casually (or as casually as I could muster) brought up this notion and was very encouraged with Cheryl’s positive reaction.

We decided to head back to where her car was parked and go directly north earlier than we had planned. I said that I could call my sister once we got up to Danbury.

The ride north was a blur in my memory. I know that there was a number of conflicting emotions and fears that ruled my thoughts during the two-hour drive. I tried to relax thinking that it was best not to push or have any kind of expectation at all but, that was a foolish notion. I had already envisioned a number of move scene scenarios that had us falling into bed having passionate sex for hours (in various rooms throughout her apartment). I had to keep reminding myself that this was crazy and wanted to continue with our current slow pace for fear of ruining the really comfortable relationship we had.

If this was going to happen, it would happen as an extension of the closeness we had garnered over the previous weeks. I didn’t want to try and force anything despite the fact that since the kiss, I was lusting after this woman more so than I ever lusted after anyone in my life.

When we arrived, Cheryl asked if I wanted any coffee. I really didn’t but it seemed to be a good move to answer in the positive. While she moved into the kitchen area to prepare the brew, I called my sister to inquire about the change in plans. Unfortunately no one was home at her house (which didn’t upset me all that much) so I left a message and hung up.

We settled into the couch with the evening news on the tube. We comically clinked our coffee mugs before setting them down onto the coffee table. We hadn’t touched since our kiss (that Cheryl had instigated) in the cab earlier in the day.

“Cheryl, would you mind terribly if I kissed you right now…?”

“Jim, I’d mind terribly if you didn’t…”