It Could Happen to You

She looked surprised. She recovered quickly though and replied, "Yeah and Gerry too, but he only felt me up."

I shrugged, "I'm so reassured," I had to hit home with her or I knew everything else, if there ever was going to be an everything else would be a waste of time, "See here Celine. You know how I feel about you. I've been with other girls..."

She cut me off, "Yeah like that Marge Vogel..."

Then I cut her off, "Yeah her and others too. But! I say but I've always loved you, and I didn't see Marge until after you decided you wanted to run around. You remember that?"

She wanted to fight, "Yeah what about those tutor..."

I held up my hand to keep her from interrupting, "Listen Celine I'm doing very well in school. I'm way ahead of the curve with the tech stuff right now. I've got a good foundation from my classes on business management. When I get out of college I think I'll do pretty well. But I've got to stay in school. If you want me you're going to have to stand beside me. Not behind me. Not hiding someplace around the corner, and you've got to be there for me. Just me! I've got to be able to trust you. Right now I don't."

She sat back, "OK. I understand. So Michael I have an idea."

I was slightly incredulous, "You do?"

She got up and went to the sink. She got a glass, filled it with water, and drank it down, "Let's start over. I'm still only nineteen. I've only been out of high school a few months. So I've been stupid. I've been immature. I know I'm spoiled. So I'm guilty. I've been a bad person, but I'm still the same girl you fell in love with. You're the same boy."

I got up then too, "You mean start over, like from scratch?"

"Yes," she said, "Go home. Wait a few days and call me up. Ask me out. It'll be a brand new start. Michael I promise you won't be sorry."

I smirked. I took my right index finger and pushed it back and forth between my left thumb and left index finger, "And what about..."

She didn't move. She watched my finger action and then said, "A first date's a first date. I won't be easy, but I promise you Michael Sullivan I'll give you everything you want."

"Everything?" I asked.

She looked at me, and I could tell she was dead on serious, "I mean it. Don't push it, but you'll get everything you want...and more."

I wondered what that meant. I started toward her to give her a kiss. She backed away. She put her hands up, palms out, "No. You haven't even asked me out yet."

I stopped, "OK. I'm going home. Starting tomorrow it's a fresh start."

She nodded, "Fresh start."

I walked out of their kitchen, through their dining room, into their living room, through the foyer to the front door. I looked back at the Campanaris's. I waved and said, "See you soon."

They looked back and forth at each other. Mrs. Campanaris said, "See you soon Michael."

I opened the door and left.

~~V~~

I went home and waited a week before I called for our 'first' date. I had some things on my mind.

First, we'd known each other for nearly four years. Oh we'd been acquaintances earlier, but direct first hand intercourse only dropped us back to my junior year in high school; she'd been a sophomore. I was halfway through my sophomore year of college now. We'd had our share of arguments, make ups, and day to day good and bad times. I wanted to pack all that away in a mental folder and leave it. If we were going to make a go of this we sure couldn't dig up or dig at old wounds. I sure wouldn't.

Second, we both had our ghosts. Celine had already brought up Marge, and there were other girls she could've mentioned too. I had my ghosts to contend with also. Guys like Tommy Sheldon and Gerry 'Asshole' Myers had been hanging around her like two buzzards the last few months, and I had to put them out of my mind. Of course, the real ghost wasn't any of her current crop of suitors; it was my brother. His past presence haunted me like a dark shade. I loved my brother, but honestly, I hoped he'd never come home.

Then last there was the big question; did I love her enough to try to make a new start work? The answer to that was easy; yes I did love her. I loved her with all my heart, but I was still a man. I'd work to make things good, but this was a two way street; she had to pull her weight too, and that meant for me no competition. We were two about to become one; there wouldn't be any room for anybody else.

~~V~~

I called her up, and set a date. I kept it as light as possible. I said, "Hi, is this Celine Campanaris?"

She answered, "Yes, is this Michael Sullivan?"

I said, "Yes it is. I thought I'd give you a call. I have these three twenty dollar bills, and they're burning a hole in my pocket. I was wondering if you'd like to help me spend them."

Celine answered, "I can spend money Michael. That's one of my favorite hobbies. How would you like to waste it?"

"I thought maybe a light dinner, and perhaps a spin around the ice rink?" Celine liked ice skating. She was good at it.

"I'd like that a lot. Did you have a day or time in mind?"

I replied, "This Friday night, say I pick you around 6:00."

She exuded, "Sounds great, see you then."

I hung up and thought, 'Well that went well.'

And so began my second courtship of Ms. Celine Campanaris. We did all the things I knew she liked. We went skating. I took her to the movies. We stopped in at the college student union for snacks and talk. We went for long drives in the country. We spotted an owl once and made regular trips back to keep tabs on him. We both kept everything light and airy.

Long about the time spring semester began we were moving into phase two; the more intimate stage of our second courtship. I was careful. I didn't want to push her. She was good with this, and didn't fight me off when I did get a little intimate.

Along with the increased physical intimacy came other things. We talk about the future. We talked about what we both wanted, what we wanted to see happen. We talked about kids, and family, and God. Celine was deeply religious. She confided once she'd even thought about becoming a nun and going to some distant land and doing good deeds. To me that was mildly disconcerting since Celine's always been someone who's easy to read.

Like I said I could always tell when she was dissembling; she hadn't been fabricating anything when she talked about becoming a nun. I realized she was a lot more complicated than I thought; the comments she'd made about Tommy and her being sexual and then her later retraction. I could believe her. Celine was more than just another pretty girl. No she wasn't just some cute little coquette; there was substance there. But the David thing; that had been real too, and I still worried about that.

Celine had changed in other ways too. Over the last year she'd filled out more. Her boobs were more fulsome, and her thighs more meaty. I loved it. She'd grown an inch too; I figured she was closer to 5'5" maybe 5'6" now. I loved her hair, that she'd continue to let it grow, and what she did with it. Her complexion was liked melted butter. By that I mean she had a soft yellowish olive glow, no freckles, no pimples, just that perfect clear complexion only girls who could trace their ancestry to southern Italy had. Physically she was perfect.

Personality had always been her strongest point. The sweet bubbly Celine I'd fallen in love with in high school never left, but now there was a polished maturity. If I made a misstatement or said something crass, stupid, or brash she seemed to find a way to take a bad thing and refine it, add a level of feminine gentility to things she'd never done before. Oh the fiery temper burst through frequently, but the flames didn't smolder and stink up the environment. She'd blow up at something, and then just as quickly burst into gales of laughter about her, or my, silliness. She'd always been fun to be around; now more than ever I found her more than just fun, she was warm and sensitive. My Celine was becoming a true woman. I only hoped I was keeping pace. By then I realized she was the more mature one.

She'd kept her job at Lowes, but now instead of spending her money as fast as she made it she was putting some aside. Me, I was in school studying all the time; she gave me my space. She supported me in my school work. I found her more than just a girlfriend; she'd buy me supplies, new electronic equipment, and she was doing as much studying about the newest technologies as I was.

She was more than a girlfriend; she was a help-mate. Together we were becoming a real team. Near the end of my sophomore year I decided we were ready for the next step. There'd been no real sex. Sure there'd been some petting, and we'd put the 'friends with partial benefits' idea to good use.

We learned we could make each other happy without risking a baby. I loved diving down into her black furry forest. Sliding my tongue up and down her pink velvety crease was reward enough for me. I nearly suffocated with rapturous delight when I plunged my face between her breasts. Talk about ecstasy; holding her in my arms, nesting my face in her thick luscious black hair, having her soft lips wrapped around my manhood, what could've been better?

It could be unpleasant too. One time something happened that I found pretty stressful. I dwelt on it far longer than I should have. We'd been out. I'd had my wallet out and had inadvertently left it on her mom's kitchen counter. It was late and her parents were in bed.

Celine scooped up my wallet and laughingly asked, "What have we here?"

I chuckled, held out my hand and said, "OK, hand it back."

She said, "Not yet,"

Next I knew she was going through my wallet. She had all my cards out. There wasn't anything unusual, Triple A, Visa, driver's license, library card, the usual. Then she flipped to the sections where I kept my pictures. Sure there was mom and dad, an old picture of me and David. What threw her off was a whole bunch of pictures of her. I guess maybe six of them from times and places she never knew I was around.

She handed me my wallet back and quietly went on to talk about something else. Not me though. I reached over and grabbed her purse. I found her wallet and went to work. I didn't fool around with the cards. I went straight for the pictures. There were the usual mom and dad things, pictures of some cousins, and a set of grandparents. But when it came to me I didn't see anything. I remembered I'd given her one of my graduation pictures, but it wasn't there. There was one somebody's picture there. Yeah, she had David's and it looked well used, like somebody'd held quite a lot. There was something written on the back, but I never got a chance to read it because she yanked it out of my hand.

Then something occurred to me. She'd been to our house a lot. She'd been in my room; she'd seen all the stupid shit I had, the magazines, the model planes, the stacks of cds. and stuff, but I'd never been in her room, not once.

I didn't think. I reacted. I jumped up and went straight for the stairs. I took each step two at a time. Celine was right behind me. I pushed right into her room. It was like someone had stabbed me, stabbed me right in the stomach. It was pretty much the way I thought a girl's room should look; dolls, trim, doilies, lots of feminine things. There was a picture by her bed on her bedstead too; it was an old picture from years past, it was a picture of her and David. I made a brief look around; not a single picture of me, not one anywhere.

I turned. She was standing behind me. I saw the look. I recognized it. Nothing had changed; it was David, it had been David all the time. I sidestepped her and made my way downstairs, out the door, out to my car, and then home. It was over.

~~V~~

I couldn't have been in my parent's house more than five minutes before I heard a car pull up. I was in full almost cry, depths of despair mode when I looked out the front window. Celine had followed me home. She clamored up my parent's front, across the wooden porch, into the front room and right in front of me.

She was crying, "No," she said, "you're wrong. It's not him." She had a bunch of pictures in her hands. She threw them at my feet. They were all of David, "OK, it was stupid. I never thought."

I didn't get a chance to respond. She rushed into my arms. She pulled my arms so they were wrapped around her waist. I tried to back away. I really tried. She wouldn't let me. She pulled my face down to hers and started kissing me. She pushed and marched and back-pedaled me into my parent's living room and together we fell on their sofa. As we fell backwards I glanced at the clock; it was quite late.

Celine had my shirt open and over my head before I realized what was happening. My belt buckle was unhitched and my pants were being pulled down. I went for her blouse.

Two minutes later we were naked on my parent's couch. She started out on top, but pretty quickly she had me on top. We were face to face. I never saw her eyes quite like that; all I saw were pupils.

Three seconds later I was inside her. She was so incredibly tight! I had to push really hard to get in. As I went in I heard her; it wasn't a gasp, or a cry out, it was more a powerful intake of breath, like a bunch of big deep breathy whooshes in and out. It must have hurt; I saw the tears, but she never cried, at least not right away.

It was over almost as fast as it started. I had no control. I didn't know if she did anything or not. I never asked, not then, and not later. For several minutes I lay on top while she held me. She had her arms wrapped around me so tight I found it hard to breathe; it was as though she was afraid to let me go.

Eventually she loosened her grasp. I sat up and she rolled over next to me. I was a nervous wreck, and though she looked the most disheveled I'd ever seen her she seemed in total control. She was deathly quiet when she said, "You're mine. Understand?"

I nodded.

She got up, got dressed, and left.

We never discussed that little interlude. In fact nothing like that happened again for months. Over the following days and weeks she was just as determined to keep me at bay as ever. It was like it never happened.

I remember after she left I spent several minute trying to clean up the mess on the sofa. A normal person I suppose would have been convinced. I wasn't a normal person. Her behavior didn't make me feel more secure. I felt less secure.

But we moved on.

~~V~~

At last in June, right after sophomore classes ended I managed to arrange a full clan meeting. I got my mom and dad, Celine's parents, and hers altogether one afternoon at the local diner. It was my treat. I think everyone but Celine knew what the real reason for the food was. We were just finishing dessert and having a coffee when I reached in my pocket and pulled out the tiny box that held the ring. I was seated between her mom and mine. Celine was across the table.

I didn't get up and do the big 'on the knee' thing, not yet anyway. I just quietly, and I like to think nonchalantly, placed the little box on the table and slowly used my index finger to slide it toward Celine.

At first she didn't realize what it was; then she did. She didn't jump up and down. No one heard a lot of oohs and ahs. There weren't any mushy tears. She recognized the box for what it was and just smiled this beautiful sweet gracious smile at me. She reached across the table and, ignoring the box, placed her tiny hand on mine. She emitted a barely audible whisper, "Yes."

It was then that I got up and walked around the table. I knelt on the floor beside her, opened the box she now held in her hand, took out the ring and placed it on her finger. My mom started clapping. Celine's mother had her handkerchief out and was crying.

Celine, well Celine, looked at the minuscule quarter carat solitaire, turned, and smiled and kissed me on the cheek. She murmured, "I love you."

I kissed her back, but on the lips. I said it then, "You'll make me happy and marry me?"

She smiled some more and said, "You know I will."

Then her father hailed the waitress, got a bottle of some kind of red wine, and we all had a toast. By then her mother and my mom were chattering away about the wedding. Her mother said they'd probably have to let her wedding dress out since Celine was a little more buxom than she'd been.

I'd never thought of that, but it seemed to be a foregone conclusion; Celine would be wearing her mother's wedding dress, it had been her grandmother's years before. Celine's grandparents on her mother's side were both dead. Her grandfather had fought in Vietnam. He'd married Celine's grandmother just before he'd gone away. Celine's mom had worn the same dress; now it was Celine's turn.

My mom said she had some jewelry that had been in her family a long time, and that Celine would get it. I thought of David. He was the older brother, but he wasn't around. Maybe I was being selfish, but I wanted my mom's jewelry for Celine-fuck David.

The afternoon dinner broke up. Celine and I drifted off to my car. We went for a ride. We talked about my college, buying a house someday, how many kids we'd have, none of it was new.

Celine was an only child; she said she wanted a big family. I didn't care. I told her we'd have as many as she wanted. I felt so good. We held hands in the car. I hated the modern motor companies; I hated their bucket seats.

That summer was stupendous! I found a great job that made a lot more than minimum wage. Celine was a supervisor in the tool department. Lowes was promoting women, and Celine was at the right place at the right time. She was starting to make pretty good money. Junior year loomed ahead. We seemed to be on our way.

~~V~~

What's that old saw? 'We make plans and...

We got pregnant.

Celine had a problem with birth control pills so we relied on her diaphragm and spermicide, and it worked. We got married the very end of July. We went on a short honeymoon to Niagara Falls, and we came back home. Her parents and mine got together, bought us some used and some new furniture. Mr. and Mrs. Campanaris had a small apartment above their stand-alone garage. When we got home we were all set up to play house; it was wonderful. Celine went back to work, I had another decent summer job. We started saving for my fall tuition; everything was great.

Fall came and Celine and I were like the perfect team. I was back in classes with and, thanks to Mr. Campanaris, a good paying part-time job in the evenings that required few real 'on the job' hours. I was at a job site just fifteen minutes from home. I had so much free time I was able to get most of my studying in before getting home. The teachers assigned a lot of research for several projects, but Celine was right there on the Internet day and night filling in the gaps and helping me out.

At Lowes Celine's top supervisors had fallen in love with her, and she was soon in line for another promotion and more responsibility. Her supervisors were good people; one an older man, the other a youngish woman so I wasn't worried about any job site coercion or any of that other hanky-panky husbands sometimes have to contend with.

Yes things looked rosy for the young Sullivan family. Things looked so good that one evening we all decided to get together for another one of those warm and friendly family dinners at the local diner. Celine and I were so excited we thought we'd have a 'quickie' before her mother and father came for us. We were just finishing up when we heard them downstairs outside the garage. Celine did her thing with the diaphragm and off we went. Of what a night, what a beautiful April night! I ordered Haddock and Celine got Lobster. Life was good!

Shortly thereafter we finished my spring semester; grades were excellent. Celine got a raise, and I, again with Mr. Campanaris's help, got a really good summer job. One more year and I'd have my diploma. Companies in the area were already talking to me!