Laura and Bill's Story

I had a very normal high school and launch into college, if such a thing is possible. I had the occasional girlfriend, with plenty of guy friends, but nothing serious until Tracy Schele. She was shy, unassuming, mostly choosing to be a wallflower at classes in high school. That is, until I showed up at a mixer and she agreed to dance with me.

I was a senior, she was a junior. There was a mixer of upper class students where juniors and seniors could both attend stag or bring dates. For this dance, I had no partner. I noticed Tracy sitting alone, during a slow dance. I asked her to dance. Her eyes lit up like the Eiffel Tower at night. I suppose at the time, having a senior ask her to dance was the equivalent of having her ticket punched by all her girlfriends that she had street cred with the gang. Although I saw no posse hanging with her to validate her ticket.

The feel of her in my arms during a slow dance was something I can't quite describe nor could I repeat, even in my college years. She was hot to the touch, as I held her in my arms. Her lips glistened in the subdued halogen lighting of our musty gym. Her body seemed almost perfectly molded into me as we slowly moved around the dance floor. I kissed her cheek as the song finished. She had a surprised, but longing look in her eye, like she would have preferred I had kissed her lips.

I was at least infatuated I admitted, if not more. I had never been in love, so had nothing to compare it against. We were a couple throughout the summer, frequently going out to movies or burger joints. We laughed all summer until about two weeks prior to school starting.

I felt like I could be myself around Tracy. There was no pretentiousness with her. She would call a spade a shovel. She was about 5'4", dark red hair, dark green greyish eyes, but solid in all her womanly charms. While she played volleyball, it was clear she would never be a standout due to her size. That seemed less important than just enjoying herself and having fun while playing. She gave her heart and soul in practically everything she pursued, from school to sports. While we never made love or really got beyond heavy petting, she seemed to be holding back with me, even though I could feel fire dwelling closely underneath her surface. It certainly wasn't for lack of trying on my part. She seemed like she was protecting something besides her virginity.

I was off to State for college in the fall. She knew it as I did, so I suspect she didn't put as much of herself into the relationship as I had. She was probably protecting herself from the inevitable. She was fun to hang with for the summer. I had bigger dreams to pursue.

I left her with a promise that I believed I would fulfill, one of the few I ever made to anyone that, I would return to her in the future. She graciously accepted it for what it was -- the end of a summer romance it was at the time. It was my lame attempt to lesson her disappointment by making a promise. She didn't cry. It was, I suppose, as we both expected it to be -- bittersweet. Maybe that's the feeling I got; Tracy was holding herself back from completely falling in love. I'm was almost sure, I was. We parted company as friends never expecting to rekindle the fun or romance we had at the time.

Tracy remained in my thoughts from time to time, throughout my freshman year. I didn't dwell on her. I was busy with school. She was finishing her senior year in high school participating in all the activities that entailed. I pondered the 'what ifs' occasionally after too many beers. We were headed in different directions after our summer fling.

I knew, that Boise State wasn't a school that impressed potential law schools. After my freshman year that summer, I began searching for schools that had an accompanying law school. I assumed if I graduated with an undergraduate degree from their school that would tick a mark on their law school admissions program to make acceptance a little easier.

UCLA had both a pre-law program and a law school. I saw it as my ticket to law school, provided I maintained my grades, while scoring decent on the LSATs. I set my sights on UCLA. I hadn't decided when I would make my jump, since I hadn't shared my plans with my parents yet. I had no idea, if they had any money for advanced studies like law school. I had just finished my freshman year but as yet hadn't declared a major.

I tried contacting Tracy over the summer. Her mother said she had taken the summer to volunteer for the Peace Corp, prior to starting college in the fall. She was going to attend the local community college for a year, then apply to Boise State. At the end of our conversation, her mom let me know how she really felt about me. "You know you broke her heart when you left?"

"But..." I never finished my explanation.

"Don't bother, I know you didn't lead her on. You were at least adult enough not to string her along just to have sex, or so she says anyway. She put on a brave face after you left, but I could tell. She was really hurting. I'm just glad in some ways, she's not here for the summer, to have to go through that heartache again. I'll tell her you called next time I speak with her, but that's all I plan to say. Good Luck in college Bill." She hung up the phone.

Needless to say, I knew where I stood in that family. If her mother felt the need to put me in my place, what did that say about Tracy or for that matter her father. He would probably shoot me on sight. Tracy's mom was probably right in some respects. It would have been unfair to Tracy to come home, re-establish the relationship, only to have me leave again. Like ripping a scab off a wound that had started to heal causing it bleed again. Better left bandaged, to completely heal.

My father sold insurance for a living. My mother's job was the household. The house, my sister and I, and my father were her career. As I went off to college, she ventured into retail. She flourished in it. She worked in a little knick-knack store that sold all things nautical. How the shop made any money in a land locked state was beyond me. She was happy. She and my father had taken to having a date night Friday evenings. He would stop by, pick her up from the store where she worked, then they would have dinner together. They both seemed very happy as I observed them over the summer.

I returned in the fall for my sophomore year. I had decided to declare at Christmas break and inform my parents of my plan to switch schools at some point in the future. My discussion with my parents was merely a formality. They had seen my grades and knew I had a level head on my shoulders. I had prepared my notes to argue my case on all the details of my decision, but from the opening conversation they simply smiled and told me, the decision was up to me. They trusted I had done my homework. And yes, there was some money available for going to law school. What a relief. It was the best Christmas present I could have ever received.

My grades up to that point, were excellent. I was just shy of a 4.0 average with one B+ that cost me my perfect GPA. During Christmas break, I prepared my research to talk to my parents about transferring. I was going to try and do it between my sophomore and junior years. As it turns out, I couldn't get accepted into UCLA until my senior year. I still had more than enough credits to graduate on-time. With my strong GPA, being accepted didn't prove any real challenge except for the fact there were no openings heading into my junior year in pre-law, which is why I had to wait until the following year.

Junior year, came and went like lightening. I was packing for summer, when Tracy popped into my mind unbidden. I don't recall thinking about her at all my junior year. Why now did she enter my thoughts? Perhaps it was the finality of going off to UCLA, pursuing my dream of becoming a lawyer that punctuated the fact that I likely wouldn't be back home again after this summer. Such is life I suppose. One door opens, while another closes.

My last summer home, I worked at my father's insurance firm, mostly clerical work, to earn some cash for my upcoming senior year at UCLA. I was a real help in the office to my father and his business. He even went out of his way to throw me a going away luncheon with the office staff which was very out of character for him. He knew too that I likely wouldn't be back again.

Right before I left for California, my father revealed his plans to take a vacation in New York with my mother and I was invited of course. I didn't think much of it at the time, but it might be our last family vacation together. Jana was invited but said she wouldn't be able to make it. She had one more semester of nursing school to get through and was looking forward to taking care of her son and resting over the Christmas holidays. I was happy for her in a way to be that close to her nursing degree, but sad in others. I missed spending time with my childhood hero wishing she would change her mind, and we could all have one last hurrah in New York.

I didn't count on falling in love almost immediately upon my return to school in the fall. I knew no one of course, but classes began just the same a week before Labor Day. I had managed to find some inexpensive off-campus housing that I shared with two other guys which I had never met. They seemed nice enough. I hadn't planned to be in my apartment that much. Just showers and sleep. I was studying hard for my LSATs to ensure entrance into law school, so I spent most of my time at the library or in class.

My only guilty pleasure was watching Dallas and Dynasty on Thursday evenings with a few beers. I always cleared my decks to ensure I could spend the two hours every week catching up on the antics of Ewings. So it was quite a shock when I walked into my senior contracts law class that I spotted what looked like a young version of Linda Gray before she became an actress. I literally did a double take. I was so confused, I almost asked her for her autograph, before I remembered where I was.

I watched her from afar for a week before we got selected to partner in a three-person work group with another student named Steve Jenkins. Steve was pretty unassuming and shy. He did know constitutional law better than anyone I had ever met. I had hoped to pick his brain a little to bone up on my LSAT preparation.

It was the third person in our little workgroup that had all of my attention however. Laura Greenstein captured my heart immediately. Perhaps it was her uncanny likeness to the actress on the TV show Dallas, or the fact she oozed sex appeal whenever she entered the room, but I was clearly infatuated and most of the way towards love instantly. Luckily for me, contracts was a topic I was fairly well versed having spent the summer reviewing insurance claims, judgements, settlements, and policies.

We got our assignments the following week. I quickly spotted an error early on in my section of the contract in the definitions section that when I read the rest of the contract, made it seem almost too simple. If I changed the definition in the declarations section of this fifty page real estate contract, everything seemed to flow nicely with only a few relatively minor changes throughout the rest. I couldn't believe it could be that simple, so I spent the rest of the next week going back over it, line by line. I couldn't spot any other major errors.

I felt pretty good heading to class next week to let the group know I thought I was finished. It really seemed to upset Laura that both Steve and I were ahead of her on the assignment. She requested another week, before we compared notes. I quickly agreed, mostly because I was second guessing myself that it couldn't be this easy.

We did compare notes the following week and Laura almost demanded she go first. I suppose she thought she found every little detail or nuance that needed correcting. I was starting to feel stupid like maybe I really did miss the boat after her review of the contract. But when I shared my analysis, the light bulb went on for Steve as he looked over his notes as well as a dejected Laura across the table. She was so damn cute, I almost couldn't stand to take the wind out her sails if I was right. She was so adorable, full of pent up zeal for her version of the contract.

I tried not to be pompous or arrogant in my analysis. I decided to stay with my 'hypothesis', that if correct, made the entire contract read true to the intent of the parties as we were taught in class. After Steve and Laura reviewed my points, Steve readily agreed. Laura reluctantly agreed. She was dismissive in her tone. I asked the group out for drinks. Thankfully Steve declined, which left me with Laura, which was my hope from the beginning.

I'm not sure what was going through her mind, as we sipped our drinks, but for sure I knew I was 'in love' when we finished. We finished the class, earning an 'A' in the class with a smirk from the professor that said, "Finally someone figured it out." Our little workgroup felt pretty good about our efforts, even if Laura was still stinging from not catching the easy correction.

Laura and I didn't really date or get involved the rest of that semester, even though I wanted to. I knew she was going home for the holidays, and decided to do a little investigating. We had phone numbers for each other's apartment at school, but I had no way to contact her at her parent's house in New York. A quick check of the white pages, was no help.

A plan was starting to form in my mind based on my father's vacation trip he had announced for the week after Christmas, but I had to be able to contact Laura to make it work. I guess you could call it luck or serendipity, but I saw Laura drinking coffee with someone one day after class at the student union. I skipped a class to hang around and wait until they left, hoping to catch her friend. The person she was talking to looked to be a good friend. She was animated in her discussion with Laura. I was hoping maybe she had Laura's number in New York.

As they finished their coffee, I followed Laura's friend at a distance, until she was almost to her car. I called out, not knowing her name, "Excuse me, can I talk to you for a second?"

She turned around, a little startled probably, clutching her purse close to her, car keys in her hand with what looked like a pepper spray canister dangling off the key-chain. She must have believed I was a threat. I couldn't really blame her I suppose.

"Hi, I'm Bill Davenport. I just want to ask you a question."

As soon as I said my name, she relaxed. I was still about ten feet away from her. That struck me as a little odd. I had never seen this woman before, but the mention of my name caused her to relax and smile. "Hi, I'm Sheila. So you're Bill huh? She didn't do you justice you know?"

It took me about two beats to understand. "Laura... talked about me?" I replied haltingly.

"Sugar, you were about all she talked about. And from the look on your face, it looks like you have it as bad as she does. So what did you want to ask me?"

I had recovered enough to ask her, "Would you have Laura's number in New York?"

"I do." She stopped, abruptly, apparently not willing to make this easy on me.

"Would you give it to me?"

"I suppose." Her lips were slightly upturned. But she made no move for an address book in her purse.

It dawned on me, she was going to make me beg for it. I decided to revert into lawyer mode and negotiate. "And under what circumstances would you supposedly give me her phone number?"

"Not sure actually." Her eyes were looking up as if she were thinking.

"Not sure? What does that mean? You must know what it would take to convince you to give me her phone number."

"Oh, I'm sure I know what it would take, just not sure which restaurant I want to go to first." Her upturned lips turned into a broad smile showing perfect white teeth. She had me, and she knew it.

I was getting a little nervous at this point. I'm sure she saw me blush even from our distance which hadn't changed, since I first called out to her. It sounded like this cute little southern girl, was about to set the terms and conditions for a date.

"I'm not from here, and don't know many restaurants. But if you pick one, I'll take you. My treat."

"Oh sweetie, I know it will certainly be a treat, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Dinner first, then we'll see about your treat. Have you got a pen and paper?"

I think I blushed a little harder still. She gave me her address and told me pick her up at seven that evening. She would decide which restaurant she wanted to go to by then. What had I just gotten myself into I thought. Although she was cute, I was interested in Laura. I had no intention of doing anything with Sheila that had the chance to get back to Laura.

Promptly at seven that evening, I was knocking on her apartment door. She must have been waiting for me, because it opened, as I finished knocking. I was dressed in a blue button down, with gray slacks and chose to wear a blue blazer not knowing where we would go to dinner. She was dressed in a black skirt a few inches above her knees and a bright red blouse. She was wearing black knee high boots with a fairly significant heel, because she was only a couple inches shorter than I was. She licked her lips invitingly with her tongue showing very kissable red lips.

If Sheila, was trying to seduce me, she was doing a damn find job. I couldn't not notice her. She had applied makeup which really made her face even cuter than she was earlier today without it. Her blonde hair earlier was in a ponytail. She had brushed and curled it tonight so it hung down to her shoulders. Overall, she was very attractive. She directed me to a restaurant while I drove.

Once in the parking lot, I stepped around to help her out of the car. I couldn't be sure, but it seemed like she purposely flashed me a look at red panties while getting out of the car. Now my face was the same color as her blouse. She smiled a huge smile, which let me know she knew I'd be looking and she was happy to oblige. I mentally kicked myself to get back to the reason I was here.

The restaurant seemed like a family run Italian place complete with red checkered tablecloths and waiters wearing tuxedo shirts. She must have made reservations, because the hostess immediately showed us to a secluded small table in the back.

Once seated and drink orders placed, she handed me a folded piece of paper. "Regardless of what happens, here is Sheila's number."

I relaxed. "Thanks Sheila. I appreciate it." I said honestly.

"I hope you realize I was just messin' with you earlier. Although you are so handsome, I might change my mind after dinner." She was flashing me her best smile with uplifted eyebrows hoping, perhaps.

I gave her a dose of her own medicine, "Thanks for the compliment. But seriously, you probably couldn't handle me." I said it with a straight face so she couldn't tell I was kidding.

"Sugar, somehow, I don't doubt that, but do you really want to find out? Cause I guarantee you, I would die trying."

How quickly the tables just flipped back to her favor again. "Tell you what, let's call it a draw and enjoy dinner. Deal?"

"Gotcha, didn't I? Okay, I'll accept your peace offering. The food really is quite good here."

We settled into pleasant conversation over dinner finishing with coffee, before I took Sheila back to her apartment. I reached to shake hands, but Sheila took my hand into hers pulling me in for what would have been a scorcher of a kiss, which I barely dodged by turning my head so she kissed my cheek instead.

"You really do have it bad don't you? Cause I know it's not me."

"Sheila, I had a nice time tonight. You're fun and very attractive. Under different circumstances... well who knows?" I just let the thought linger without finishing it. The implication was clear, I thought she was attractive and certainly fun to with, but the only reason I was with her was to get Laura's number.