by Billy Dering
Kid felt an uncontrollable gravitation between them. He couldn’t help but notice the body language, as they were starting to lean toward each other. Or was he just dizzy? “I’m here with friends skiing, but only the upper-elevation trails are open at this point. Do you ski?”
“Yeah, but I usually have to go myself. My grandparents don’t hit the slopes anymore. Actually, my grandfather is in great shape, so he could ski if he really wanted to, but my grandmother, no chance.”
Kid added, “She should hang with me. I’ve been told I ski like an old lady.”
Sara laughed and ran her fingers through her hair again.
Whenever she did that, Kid felt weak. She was stunning, and her disposition only complimented her physical beauty. “I have to get in some serious skiing today,” he noted. “I have to get back to New Jersey early tomorrow to get some things and then drive back to college in Pennsylvania, all in one day.”
“Where in Jersey?” She seemed interested.
“The shore in Ocean County. A coastal town named Forked River.” Pronounced, ‘Fork-ed’ as opposed to ‘Forkd.’
“Is that near the Joint Base, and Fort Dix?”
“Fort Dix? Do you know someone stationed there?” Kid’s interest was piqued in an instant.
“Yeah, my father. We moved there a couple of years ago from my hometown of Augusta, Georgia.” She squinted her eyes slightly, “Is Fort Dix a long way from Fork-ed River?”
“Not at all. A half an hour or so.” He was starting to wonder if he was dreaming. This gorgeous girl actually lived a half an hour away from him.
“Hey, do you want to go skiing today?” he asked after a few seconds of silence. He really wanted to get to know her and was hoping she would come with him. But the way he was feeling, he could’ve just as well spent the rest of his life with her on that bench.
“I would, but… I can’t.” She seemed conflicted, and even apologetic. “I really have to spend some time with my grandparents today. I have to go back to Jersey tomorrow myself, before I go back to college in Maryland early Monday.”
He wondered if he was getting his feelings mixed up. He felt it was ‘there’ between them, and they were in the zone together, but was she blowing him off? He searched her eyes and found his answer and more. Sara’s alluring hazel eyes perfectly combined sincerity and regret.
“With your friends here, I don’t know if y’all have plans already, but can you meet me tonight after you ski?” She turned to him. “My grandparents go to sleep early. I figure I’ll go out after they go to bed.”
Kid almost jumped off the bench with his arms in the air, but he had to play it cool. He hesitated as if pondering this, but knowing he would run barefoot 100 miles on broken glass to meet her if he had to. “That would be great. By the way, I’m Billy Carlson, but everyone calls me Kid.”
“I’m Sara,” she said and again pulled the hair off her face, running her hands through it in one smooth, sexy motion, “Sara Hyland.”
“Do you want to meet here at this bench tonight at 8:00 p.m. and then we can go from there?” he asked.
“Sure. I’ll see you then.”
As they went to stand up, Kid realized they were now sitting a couple of inches apart. They started a few feet apart, but it was the attraction, the gravitation. He knew they both were feeling it. It was that warm and fuzzy feeling that can only be felt by two people who have meshed. It’s a chemical everyone possesses that is never active until combining with just the right element in someone else, and even then, only if the conditions are right. When it happens, it can be all consuming.
At that second in time, he felt compelled to kiss her. He couldn’t resist even though he had just met her. He closed his eyes, leaned forward, and instantly felt the warmth of her lips. She was more than receptive. He would never forget what he felt at that moment, as a warmth spread throughout his entire body. He pulled back in slow motion, and they just stared into each other’s transparent eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’m never forward like that.” He was shocked by his own behavior.
“Me neither. Never. But I felt the same thing.”
“Then… neither one of us was being forward, since we were at the same point?”
“I’ll buy that.” She smiled.
After standing up, they stared at each other for a moment. Sara was only as high as Kid’s shoulders. She waved and started walking away. Kid also raised his hand. He turned around to search for his friends, but felt compelled to look back at her. She also glanced back and their eyes met again. She smiled and resumed walking.
“Ready?” Jess was zipping up his coat as he came over. He stared for a second, and said loudly, “Earth calling Kid…”
“Oh, didn’t see you there Jess. You ready?”
“That’s what I just asked you. Let’s do it.”
Kid skied with Sara on his mind all day, and he couldn’t wait to meet her later.
At 7:45 p.m., Kid was pacing behind the bench. He was a little nervous, and didn’t want to screw this one up. As long as he befriended the butterflies in his stomach they would not become pterodactyls and eat him from the inside out.
It was much colder than during the day, but it didn’t bother him. The stars were out and he thought he looked pretty good. In his jacket pocket, carefully protected and wrapped was a single red rose. He had some ideas about what they could do that night. The only definite was that they had to spend some time in front of the fireplace in the rustic lodge where he was staying. In his mind, nothing could be more intimate and memorable.
As Kid waited, he kept checking his watch. 7:55 p.m., 8:00, 8:05. He finally sat down on the bench. He kept squirming as he sat, and kept turning around to see if she was coming. 8:10 p.m., 8:15. Sara was nowhere in sight. He checked his watch one last time, 8:30 p.m. Getting up, he tossed the flower into the snow and left.
He shuffled back to the lodge with his hands in his jacket pockets and his heart dragging on the ground. What bothered him most was that he had really felt like there was something special between them. When he stepped into the room back at the lodge, Jess and Brian saw his face and didn’t say a word as Kid grabbed his small suitcase and finished packing.
Jess put his hand on his shoulder, “Didn’t go so well?”
“She didn’t show.”
“Ah, women. Who needs ’em?” Jess patted his back. “Look at you, the long face, garbage stuck to your back,” he said as he ripped a piece of paper off of Kid’s coat, crumpled it up and tossed it in the open suitcase. “Man, you’re a mess.”
Closing his suitcase, Kid confirmed, “I am a mess.” He wasn’t referring to his appearance.
The drive back to Jersey the next day was a long one for Kid. He still couldn’t believe she stood him up. Once back in Jersey, he dropped the other guys off and went home. Later that night, he threw his suitcase in the car and went back to school in Pennsylvania.
Despite Kid feeling sour about how it all ended, the magic of their moment on the bench in Vermont continued to linger.
On February 14, 2044, Kid could not take it anymore. He secured Sara Hyland’s phone number and called her to let her have it. She claimed that she left a note for him taped to the bench in Vermont. He didn’t buy it. The call ended with him hanging up the phone, after telling her that standing him up was a bitchy thing to do.
By spring break a few months later Kid had begrudgingly accepted the fact that Sara was behind him now. It churned his insides when he thought of her, so he tried not to. It helped that the college semester was a tough one, and had kept him busy to that point.
On Friday, April 8, 2044 Kid went back to his dorm room after his final class. He needed to pack for a long spring break trip. Within the hour they would be leaving from eastern Pennsylvania and heading down to Florida. Pulling his suitcase out of his closet, he threw in a handful of shirts and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Where did this come from? Oh yeah, Jess, Vermont.
He took the piece of paper
, struck his best free throw pose, and went to shoot it at the garbage can. It stuck to his hand because it had a piece of tape on it. Stopping dead in his tracks, he thought for a second, and then his heart sank.
The balled-up paper was a small envelope with a piece of tape on each end. He opened it and pulled out a small piece of paper. As he started to read the note, he had to sit on the bed. He was aghast, with his mouth and eyes wide open. Sara really had left him a note. He remembered Jess pulling something off of the back of his coat that night in Vermont, and throwing it into his suitcase. It must have stuck to his back when he sat down on the bench! He fell onto his bed with his arms outstretched.
Sitting up, he smoothed the wrinkled paper on his leg and immediately recognized the phone number. It was same one he had dialed in anger in February. His fingers trembled as he entered the digits and hit talk.
He begged Sara to give him another chance, but she was not interested. After enough of his groveling, she reluctantly agreed to meet him that night at Lakehurst Diner in New Jersey, since she was heading home from college in Maryland. Kid postponed his spring break in Florida just to come back to New Jersey and meet her. He knew he had but one chance to connect with her, or lose her forever.
At ten minutes before 9:00 p.m., the Lakehurst Diner parking lot was all but empty. Kid was desperate in his hope that Sara would show. From the back seat of the car, he snatched the red rose he had picked up on the way.
The inside of the diner was even emptier than the parking lot. The smell of the fresh desserts in the case next to the door permeated the air. A great ploy, Kid thought as he realized he was now craving apple pie. Glancing around, Sara wasn’t there yet.
“Dining alone tonight?” asked a middle-aged waitress with a stained apron and a large mole on her cheek. Her black hair was in a bun and looked ready to unravel at the slightest jolt. A good bit overweight, she appeared worn and tired.
“I hope not. A seat for two please, in the corner preferably.”
She led him to the booth in the back corner. He put the rose down on the table and sat with his back to the door. He couldn’t look. What if she doesn’t show again? His stomach felt hollow at the thought.
The waitress pulled out a little grease stained pad from her apron pocket. She grabbed the pencil resting atop her ear and aimed the point at the flower. “Is that for me handsome?”
“It might be, check back in 15 minutes.” His voice had a nervous edge.
“I guess you’ll wait to order?”
“Yeah, I’ll order when,” he cleared his throat, “if, my party shows.”
“Your party is a young lady?” she guessed, smiling.
“Yes.”
She put a setting of silverware in front of him and the vacant seat across from him.
“Don’t worry,” she said in a more serious tone. “If it was meant to be, it will be,” she stated as she became a little choked up and walked away.
As Kid sat there, he could sense the waitress was referring more to her own life than his.
Sara took a deep breath, and walked into the diner. She peered around and felt a little anxious.
A server came right over to her. “Young… and gorgeous too. This way.” As she led Sara to the booth in the back, the waitress exhaled. “I thought it might finally be my night.”
“Excuse me?” Sara asked.
“Oh, never mind, forget it.”
Walking half way up the aisle, the waitress stopped and pulled Sara close. “The end booth. I’ll be over in a few minutes.”
“Thank you,” Sara answered. “Why are we whispering?” The woman just waved her hands, directing her to the booth.
As Sara walked up the aisle, she hesitated for a moment. She could see Kid spinning a rose with his fingers and checking his watch. She started to smile, but then reminded herself, play it tough.
As she strolled past him, she said softly, “Hi.”
That did not sound tough!
Kid was startled but managed to stand up. “Hi…” he reciprocated, drawing out the word as they sat down across from each other. Her beauty took him aback, just like the first time they met. Only this time she was wearing a pretty black and white striped blouse, rather than a heavy sweater. They sat for several seconds just staring at each other. Finally, Kid gazed deep into her hazel eyes and spoke. “I’m truly sorry for acting the way I did when I called you. At the time, I was hurt and didn’t deal with it very well.” He held out the flower.
“I love roses,” she muttered. As she reached for the stem, Kid gently grabbed her hand.
She pulled her fingers back and her voice was stern. “Listen, we need to set some ground rules right now. Don’t ever,” she slowly shook her head, “ever, call me bitchy and hang up on me, especially when you don’t know all of the facts first. I didn’t deserve that. Agreed?”
“Agreed.” He could tell she was not the kind of girl who would be pushed around or taken advantage of, and he really liked that about her. “I didn’t find your note until today when I went to pack my suitcase. How it got there is a long story, but when I called you in February…”
“On Valentine’s Day,” she pointed out.
He felt like he was shrinking. It never dawned on him that he called her on that holiday.
“But go ahead,” she prompted.
He cleared his throat. “Anyway, when I called, I was upset because I thought you had led me on, and then stood me up. That was hard for me to take. I had already started falling for you.” Kid was holding onto her fingertips for dear life.
“I know, but the way I saw it, I really wanted to meet you that night but had an emergency situation where I had to hurry down to Boston and pick up my father.”
“Boston?” he repeated.
“Yes. But I took the time to write you a note and tape it to the bench where we were supposed to meet. I knew no one else would be sitting on that bench that night in 20-degree temperatures, so I figured you had to get my note, and because I had an emergency and couldn’t meet you, you decided not to call? I felt stood up myself,” she explained.
She slid her hand into his and together they held the flower.
A spike of warmth reverberated throughout his entire body. “I told you it was one big misunderstanding,” he noted.
“Yeah, but I didn’t go out of my way to ring you up and call you bitchy!” She squeezed his hand.
“Point well taken.” As he stared at her, she smiled. He also grinned. That warm feeling was rushing back. The chemicals were combining in a way that only they could feel. Like sinking into warm bath water, their combined essence enveloped them as they sat together.
“It…” both went to say at the same time.
They put their heads down and laughed.
“Go ahead,” Kid said.
“No, really,” she insisted. “What were you going to say?”
“It’s so nice to see you again. I can’t believe we’re sitting together right here, right now.” Her beautiful eyes seemed to open a little wider and became even more bright. He continued, “What were you going to say?”
“Just about the same thing. Since that day we met I couldn’t wait to see you again and get to know you.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” he said. “We kind of got off to a rough start and need to make up for lost time, so why don’t we go somewhere quiet and talk? I know a few good places.”
“Sure.”
“Do you want to eat first?”
“I’m really not hungry,” she answered. “I ate a late lunch.”
“Me too,” he fibbed. He really just wanted to go somewhere and be alone with her. “Let’s get out of here.”
They got up and walked toward the front of the diner. He grabbed Sara’s hand and felt a warmth as she interlocked her fingers with his.
The waitress was behind the counter, wiping it down. Kid handed her a $50 bill. “Sorry, but we have to go. We don’t have time to eat.”
“That’s too much! I’m lu
cky to make that much in a full shift!”
Before she could continue her protest, he closed her hand and patted it.
“I don’t know what to say. Thank you.” She pursed her lips. “Such a good man.”
She leaned to the side and waved Sara down. Holding a hand to block her lips, the waitress whispered, but Kid still heard her.
“Don’t ever let go of his hand. Don’t ever let go.”
After leaving the Lakehurst Diner, Kid and Sara parked their car at the Toms River and walked to a gazebo. His shoulders were relaxed and he felt like he was walking on air. At the diner, Sara’s rigid shell had softened, she had forgiven his blunder and they had finally been able to connect. A smile came to his face. The magic was again ever-present.
“When did we cross into Mississippi?” Sara asked.
“What?”
She pointed across the river, having spotted the River Lady, which was a replica of a 19th century Mississippi River paddle-wheel steamer.
They sat down close together inside the gazebo. While facing the tranquil river, they were accompanied by the sound of gentle waves kissing the bulkhead. The breeze was cool, but not cold. A mass of cumulus clouds had started consuming the nearly full moon.
For hours, they talked, and they talked. They also kissed and touched, often. Kid knew he was falling in love with her.
He learned that Sara’s father graduated from West Point and was now a general in the United States Army. Her father never even dated another woman after the death of Sara’s mother, which happened the day Sara was born 19 years ago. He was also surprised to learn that Sara’s grandmother in Vermont needed to take a rare medication every day to sustain her life.
“So you are primarily Irish with no Italian, yet you have an aunt in Italy?” he asked, looking curious.
Sara chuckled. “Doesn’t add up does it? Actually, she is a family friend and not a blood-relative, but I’ve always called her ‘Aunt’ Adele. What are your nationalities?”