Courtship by Proxy

Kyle entered the conversation for the first time, "It's hard to make it through life without having some regrets. Every decision we made presented an alternative, and it's human nature to sometimes question whether the right choices were made, which can lead to regrets over 'what might have been' in so many aspects of our lives."

"I'm not talking about regretting the choice of a red car over a blue car," said Linda. "I'm talking about people in our lives and how much we do or don't value them while we have the chance. A number of people I've spoken with have said that they won't be attending the reunion because there is no one that they are interested in seeing there. I believe most of them will eventually come to regret their decision."

"I hadn't planned on going for pretty much the same reason," said Kyle. "For the most part, everyone I had an interest in maintaining a relationship with after high school, I am still in contact with, such as you, Cliff, and Gary."

Linda looked Kyle in the eyes and asked, "You mean to tell me that there is no one else that you went to school with that you regret not staying in contact with?"

Kyle chuckled, "Sure, and I regret not being able to flap my arms and fly too, but sometimes regretting something doesn't change its reality.

"There's reality, and then there's 'reality'," said Linda. "As people, we control our reality where relationships are concerned."

"Linda, your premise ignores the fact that any relationship with another person must consider that other person's 'reality' as well as your own," said Kyle. "As a case in point, I regret not staying in contact with Karen Mayes, but she's the one who defined the reality of our relationship and gave me no choice in the matter."

Linda nodded and asked, "So if you knew that Karen Mayes was planning to attend our reunion, would you come?"

"I doubt it," said Kyle. "I would be comforted to know that she was okay and doing well in her life, but I would have to get that information from someone other than Karen because she would never share anything about herself with me. Based upon her last comments to me before she left for college, my presence would likely make her uncomfortable, and I still care for her too much to let my selfish desire to see her over-ride her desire for me to stay away."

Cliff made the next contribution to the subject being discussed, "It sounds like Kyle may want to table his regrets over not staying in contact with Karen and focus more on regrets over whatever he did to piss her off so much. What did you do to her?"

"I asked her to be my friend," Kyle said.

"Is there anything more you need to know in order to launch your plan?" asked Linda. She had just finished relaying the requested information on Kyle Mason to her friend.

"I can't think of anything," she said. "Once I get things started all the real-time intel will be provided by the Sister involved at each step of the plan."

"And you're still intending on the high school reunion as the finale?" asked Linda.

"Kyle Mason made my high school years a living hell, so the reunion seems the appropriate time to finally get him," she replied.

"Okay," said Linda. "I'll keep Cliff working with me to make sure that Kyle changes his mind and decides to attend."

"Nothing more you can add about Kyle's regrets?" she asked?

Linda replayed the earlier conversation between her, Cliff and Kyle. "Only that it might be a challenge to clearly define some of Kyle's feelings as regrets rather than simply guilt. He clearly regrets losing contact with Karen Mayes, but while he may claim to regret whatever he did to contribute to the situation, I think he feels guilty for not being bright enough to figure out what he did to cause it."

"The guilt could be counter-productive, so I'll have to work on alleviating that as soon as possible so I can get him focused on the regrets," she said. "I need to get going if I hope to make travel arrangements that will get me to Orange County in time for Gary's service on Tuesday."

"Are you going to be at the service?" Linda asked.

"I hope to make it, but if I do, you won't see me," she said. "I want to be in close proximity to Kyle Mason prior to launching my plan to make certain that his presence doesn't affect my conviction. I'm only going to get one chance and I don't want to blow it."

"Sisters together forever," Linda said.

"Sisters together forever," was the reply.

The mid-week trips between Orange County and San Jose were bearable. Kyle had made the trip enough times over the years to know that a Wednesday morning flight would be filled mostly with account managers and tech specialists heading to a one-day project or meeting instead of the commuters who frequented the early Monday flights, just to return on the late flights on Friday.

As expected, the twelve first class seats were full, presumably with elite passenger upgrades, except for Kyle's seat, which was reserved under a full-fare first class ticket to insure that he would have the spot he wanted. The first row in the section might have more leg room, but the space was filled for most of the flight by people waiting to use the lavatories. The last row had the bulkhead behind it, and while the airline denied it, the seats never reclined as far as they should have. The middle row afforded the most comfortable seats, and Kyle always reserved an aisle seat in this row.

The window seat next to his was already occupied when Kyle placed his briefcase under the seat in front of his and settled in for the flight. His traveling companion was an attractive blonde woman dressed in a conservative business suit that did little to hide her sensuous curves. She was reading the in-flight magazine as Kyle sat beside her. As he fastened his seatbelt, she turned to him and said, "Good morning Kyle Mason. My name is Cammy and I'll be your companion for today."

Chapter Two - Cammy

"It's a pleasure to be travelling with you Cammy," replied Kyle.

He didn't think twice about her knowing his name. Between luggage tags, airline ticket jackets, and any number of identifiers that might be visible to the casual observer, it was not surprising that a stranger would know his name.

"I'm sorry," Cammy said. "I think you misunderstood me. I am not merely your traveling companion, I am your companion for the day. When we arrive in San Jose, your rental car reservation will have been canceled. I will transport you to your meeting with Ellison Lawrence, and accompany you through your lunch meeting. We will be seated together on your 4 p.m. return flight to Orange County, and hopefully by the time we land, you will have a clear picture of what awaits you over the next several weeks."

Kyle stared at the woman next to him for several seconds before responding, "Who are you?"

Cammy smiled warmly at Kyle and replied, "My name is Cammy – short for Cameron – Bellinger. I am a member or a Sisterhood, or sorority if you like, and I am honored to be the first of your companions."

"Why would I need, or for that matter want a companion?" asked Kyle.

Cammy tried to explain, "One of our Sisters has developed an interest in you, Kyle. I am here as her proxy to express this interest, explain her plans, and report back to her with my assessment of you as a potential companion for her."

The pre-flight announcements over the intercom system delayed Kyle's response. Once the cabin was quiet again he spoke to Cammy, "You can thank your 'Sister' for her interest, but I'm not available for a relationship right now, especially a blind date with some stranger with a 'nice personality', or however you choose to describe her."

Cammy didn't hesitate in her response, "Kyle, we all know that you are more than available. You have never had a relationship with a woman that has lasted longer than two weeks, and while that concerns us, our Sister's interest is piqued by this very fact. Furthermore, while my Sister does in fact have a nice personality, she also has physical attributes that few men would reject."

Kyle snorted but didn't otherwise respond.

"Kyle, me and all other companions that you may meet in the near future will speak to you as our Sister would. We will not lie to you or deceive you, so here is the truth... A beautiful woman, who you know, is deeply in love with you but is just as deeply afraid of being hurt by you. Myself and her other Sisters will spend time with you as her proxy. Kyle, we will test you, teach you, tempt you and treat you as if you were with our Sister herself."

They were airborne for thirty minutes before Kyle spoke again, "How does this "Sister" know me? This sounds like some sort of stalker nightmare, or a sequel to 'Fatal Attraction' at the very least. I think I'll respectfully decline your offer."

"Have you ever had a broken heart Kyle?" asked Cammy.

Kyle had a sudden vision of Karen Mayes rejecting him as a friend but dismissed that experience as not meeting the criteria for what Cammy was asking. "No, I can't say that I have."

"How does a person reach the age of 28 without having at least one broken heart? You should write a book documenting your secret Kyle."

"I'll consider it," said Kyle. "But my past relationships aside, the idea of getting to know a woman through 'clones', 'proxies', or 'companions' isn't something that interests me. I'm sorry."

Cammy smiled at him, "Kyle, you already know each other. The purpose of this adventure is to see if you could trust each other enough to really love one other. Are you willing to say here and now that you won't trust a woman who professes her love for you and is only asking for you to provide her a safe haven for expressing that love so that you have a chance to discover if you have similar feelings for her?"

"Unilateral trust doesn't seem to be a good foundation for a relationship," Kyle said. "She wants me to trust her plan to have her 'Sisters' evaluate me, but she doesn't trust me enough to face me herself."

"Kyle, you have valid concerns, and I can assure you that you are not the first to voice them. Relationships are seldom a clean fifty-fifty split. One party generally has to shoulder a larger percentage of the responsibility at times than the other, and in this case, you will require greater patience and trust in order for the both of you to have a chance. My 'Sister' is taking a chance here too. You have admitted that your own history of relationships has been one of non-commitment and always temporary, yet you make no excuses for this. Is her insecurity so much of a deal-breaker for you?"

Kyle thought about Cammy's comments and then said, "You say I know her, right? I am going to assume she is not married, so that will help me narrow down the potential candidates..."

"Do you think trying to determine her identity will help you accept her fears?" asked Cammy.

"It would be one less unknown for me to deal with," said Kyle.

"I can appreciate that Kyle," said Cammy, "but you need to consider how her anonymity has allowed her to present herself to you in the first place. You risk losing a woman who loves you for the sake of gratifying your curiosity too early. We're going to be landing soon, and you have to be focused on your work for the next few hours. Think about things when you have a chance, and we'll pick this up again on our return flight."

Cammy's words were prophetic as the Captain announced over the intercom their final approach into San Jose and the flight attendants began preparing the cabin for landing. Kyle noticed the tattoo on Cammy's left leg for the first time as she uncrossed her legs and brought her seatback forward.

It was placed just above the outside of her left ankle and showed a detailed picture of a dolphin, although Kyle knew the correct term for this animal was a Porpoise. He had seen a similar tattoo somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. The image made him think of the television show "Flipper", which in turn made him think back to...

After getting permission from Karen Mayes' mom and aunt, Kyle had bought her a kitten for her 17th birthday. It was a silver Russian Blue, and it had the most amazing tendency to make squealing noises like it was trying to talk to you. In the two days that Kyle kept the kitten at his house prior to giving it to Karen, he was entranced by the way the kitten would stare into his eyes and squeal or squeak as if it was genuinely trying to communicate with him. The kitten was a virtual chatterbox anytime it could find a person sitting still enough for it to try communicating with.

Karen appeared to be making a concerted effort to avoid Kyle on the day of her birthday, so he finally gave the kitten to her mom and asked that she tell Karen that he wished her a happy birthday. It wasn't until the following Monday that Karen approached Kyle and said, "Thank you for Flipper."

"Who's 'Flipper'?" asked Kyle.

"That little chatterbox of a kitten you gave me," said Karen. "He reminds me of that dolphin from the TV show who would start chattering as soon as his head broke the water, so I named the kitten 'Flipper'.

Before Kyle could respond, Karen had turned and walked away.

Kyle regained his focus as the plane arrived at the gate and the 'Fasten Seatbelt' sign was turned off. As he stood so that Cammy could move into the aisle, he noticed for the first time just how truly beautiful she was. She looked to be about five foot eight inches, with blonde hair that reached just to the bottom of her shoulders, worn in a barrette in the back. She had green eyes, wore glasses that hinted of naughty librarian fantasies, and even through the conservative business suit, he saw a body intended for swimsuit pictorials.

As he collected his briefcase, Kyle said, "It's been a pleasure Cammy. Maybe we can meet up again sometime on another flight."

Cammy smiled and said, "It looks like my first lesson with you will be explaining exactly what the word 'companion' means. Kyle, right now it may seem more like a punishment to you than the pleasure we intended it to be, but I will be with you for the rest of the day. You have no means of getting to your scheduled lunch meeting on time other than the transportation that I will provide for us. Ellison Lawrence is already expecting me to accompany you as an associate. I will be a fly on the wall observing you and evaluating your professional presence."

"And what if I don't want my professional presence evaluated by someone who should not be knowledgeable about the topics being discussed?" asked Kyle.

"Do you believe that your work and what it means to you wouldn't be of interest to the woman who loves you?" Cammy asked.

"It might be," accepted Kyle. "But that wouldn't lead me to have her attend business meetings with me."

"Even if she had something constructive to contribute?" asked Cammy. "Or simply wanted to see you in action to admire your skills?"

"That is where trust between two people plays such a vital role in a relationship," said Kyle. "I should be able to trust my companion to accept what I chose to tell her about my work, and she should be able to trust me to share with her all that I was able to share."

"How would you define 'trust', Kyle?"

They began deplaning and the walk out of the airport terminal was too noisy for their conversation to continue. Cammy took Kyle's hand as they walked towards baggage claim where the limo drivers were waiting with signs identifying their charges. Her hand was warm and Kyle was surprised at how natural her hand felt in his. Cammy saw a driver holding a sign with her name and led Kyle to him.

"I'm Ms. Bellinger," Cammy announced as they reached the driver.

"Do you have any bags to claim?" asked the driver.

"No, we're just in town for a short meeting and we have everything with us," she replied.

"Okay," the driver said. "Please follow me."

He led them to the limo parking area and opened the door for them to enter the car. Cammy entered first and slid across the back seat to allow Kyle to follow behind her. She took Kyle's left hand into her right as they settled into the seat and the car exited the airport.

The intimacy of her touch was again accepted by Kyle as he asked her, "Does the driver know where to take us, and if so, I'd like to know how you knew where to tell him we were headed."

Cammy squeezed her hand in his and said, "No, he doesn't know where to take us. Would you please do the honor of directing him before we exit the airport?"

Kyle spoke to the driver and asked, "Do you know where the Spaghetti Warehouse is in downtown San Jose?"

The driver looked at Kyle in the rearview mirror and said, "Yes sir. I can have you there in ten minutes."

Kyle returned his attention to Cammy and continued their conversation from the plane, "To answer your question about 'trust', I believe it is defined by honesty between people. The more proactive the honesty, the better, but I accept that people just starting out in a relationship or just getting to know one another may find themselves reacting to questions until they feel comfortable with the other person and can take a more proactive approach. As bizarre as this whole trip has been so far, I will honestly tell you Cammy that I feel surprisingly comfortable with you, even though we just met. I think a lot of that is due to your openness about your agenda, and your tolerance of my skepticism about it. I'm not willing to buy into the whole 'proxy' concept, but I am willing to – no, I am interested in spending more time with you to discuss it. I would be honored to have you join me at my lunch meeting."

Cammy leaned over and kissed Kyle on the cheek, "I'll be a perfect companion for you Kyle. I promise."

As his thumb caressed the back of Cammy's hand he asked, "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Personal about me or personal about my Sister?"

"You," said Kyle.

Cammy caressed Kyle's hand back as she said, "As long as my response doesn't reflect upon my Sister, then I will answer anything you ask me."

"I was just curious about the tattoo on your ankle and if there was any significance to it. I think I've seen one like it before on someone else so I was just seeking enlightenment," he said.

"I'm not surprised by your question Kyle," she replied. "You probably have seen the same tattoo before, and I hope you see it a great deal more in the future. It is a tattoo shared by every one of my Sisters – sort of like our own sorority pin."

"Okay," Kyle said, "but why a Porpoise?"

"Bubbles suggested it, and everyone agreed. By the way, that's what my Sister is called by her friends; 'Bubbles'."

Kyle chuckled, "Now I've got to know why you all call her 'Bubbles'."

Cammy smiled back at him, "It was before I met her, but I can assure you that it has nothing to do with any of her physical attributes. Can I ask you a personal question now?"

"Sure," said Kyle.

Cammy squeezed his hand and asked, "You felt it too, didn't you?"

Kyle suspected that he knew what Cammy was referring to, but how could the absence of feeling something translate into feeling so much more? He simply nodded to her and let her continue.

"We fit Kyle. That's what we both felt. There was no trial and error, no fumbling or awkward positioning of our fingers; our hands just melted together as naturally as if they were made for each other. Can we try something else?"

Without answering, Kyle turned his head to face hers and their lips met in a tentative kiss. As he and he now knew Cammy suspected, their movements and joining of lips was of two people who seemed to know exactly where the other was going to be, and their actions aligned them perfectly. The kiss was not very passionate and didn't last but a second, but it was the most sensuous kiss that Kyle had ever experienced.