The Bridge Club Ch. 13

Our date at the Library Cafe went well. She dressed casually, and wore very little makeup, but to me she looked phenomenal. I was afraid that we would be awkward together, but Christina was completely natural. We talked about books, our college days, and the best and worst professors we had had. I steered clear of a few topics: sex, old boyfriends or old girlfriends, and bridge.

I found myself repeatedly looking deeply into her dark brown eyes. Christina caught me. She just smiled. "Looking for something?"

- "I'm sorry." I said. "I can't help it. You have beautiful eyes."

Christina shook her head. "You use that line on all the girls?" But she was still smiling.

After that, I carefully avoided anything that sounded even remotely like a pickup line, or a come-on. I wanted Christina to know that I was there to enjoy her company - and nothing more.

A week later, she let me take her to a movie. It was not your average Hollywood fare. Instead, it was an experimental European film, shot in a museum, with actors, but no dialogue. It was being shown in an exclusive art house, where the patrons sat in reclining chairs, with a small table beside them for drinks and a plate of food. We ordered a bottle of wine and a cheese tray, ensconced ourselves in those comfortable recliners, and watched one of the weirdest films I have ever seen.

Afterwards, we went for coffee. "What did you think?" I asked.

- "You first." she insisted.

- "It was pretty bizarre. I'm not sure that I understood any of it." I admitted.

- "That's a relief! I was afraid you were going to explain it to me - at length!" she laughed.

- "It was pretty bad, wasn't it? I'm sorry I picked such a lemon."

- "Don't be." she said. "That was an awesome way to watch a film. Big screen, bottle of wine, cheese - and those seats were wonderful."

We laughed together, and set to work compiling our list of the worst films we had ever seen. It was a bit late when I finally took her home.

Over the next few weeks, I took her kayaking, which she enjoyed, and bowling, which she did not. I also took her to a nice restaurant. For that occasion, she dressed up a bit, in a turquoise dress, with high heels and a bit more makeup. She looked spectacular. We got extra attention from our waiter, the busboy, the sommelier, and some random guy who wanted her autograph because he said she had to be a model or a movie star.

Christina fended them all off with good grace. I was tempted to go after the last idiot - who (other than Massimo) tries to pick up a girl when she's on a date with someone else? But she put her hand on my arm to dissuade me. She changed the subject very quickly.

"Ask me something." she said. "Something you've wanted to know about me."

- "Hmmm." I thought about it for a moment. "Anything?"

She nodded.

"Your sister. You've dropped out of Bridge Club a few times because she needed something. Beth said you take good care of her. But you've never mentioned her otherwise. What's the story?"

For a moment there I thought I had made a major mistake. Christina looked ... sad.

"I'm sorry, Christina. Forget I asked. We can talk about something else."

- "No." she said. "It's not a secret. The girls all know. And ... I know it may sound funny, but I do trust you, Norm. It's just that I wasn't expecting to be telling you this particular story so soon."

"Reem is three years older. And better looking - " Christina shushed me when I tried to dispute that point. "Maybe not now. But when I was a skinny thirteen year-old, Reem had tits and ass. The boys were always buzzing around her. Nobody paid me the least attention.

That was probably a good thing. I got to watch, and listen, as they flirted with her, and tried out their phony flattery and their outrageous pick-up lines. Reem fell for most of them. She would let them kiss her, or feel her up. I tried telling her that these guys were losers, but she just accused me of being jealous.

She gave her virginity to some asshole who bragged about it to his friends, and then dumped her shortly afterwards. Now the boys were swarming around her. They all expected her to put out. I think she would have, too, but my parents expected me to be her chaperone, so I had to pull her out of some potentially sticky situations."

- "That must have been difficult." I said. "Did she hate you for getting in the way?"

- "Sure she did. Reem accused me of interfering in her life, of spoiling her chance for happiness. As if she really believed that one of these guys was going to ask her to marry him. She started actively trying to 'lose' me. One guy brought a friend along, and this friend spent the whole time distracting me, trying to get into my pants while his buddy worked on my sister.

They didn't succeed, but the next one did. Reem ditched me at the movies, and went home with this guy. My parents were incensed when she came home at 2 a.m.. They were furious with me, too. I didn't rat her out, but Reem was pretty upset with me because I didn't lie to protect her.

My parents started watching her much more closely after that. It didn't take long for them to find out what she was. So they married her off, to the son of a family they barely knew. It was all done very quickly, before Reem could have another chance to shame the family."

- "What about you?" I asked.

- "They watched me like a hawk. Picked me up right after school, no more going out unsupervised ... that sort of thing."

- "It must have been tough."

- "It was." she admitted. "But not so bad as what Reem got. Her new husband was abusive. He beat her. She got pregnant, and delivered a girl. That was 'unsatisfactory'. He beat her more often."

- "Did your parents know?" I asked.

- "It wasn't their place to interfere, even if they'd wanted to. And they didn't. I moved out on my own as soon as I got a job. It took me two years to get Reem away from that prick. She had a miscarriage after one bad beating ..." Christina shook her head, as if to clear it.

"But you don't need to know all of that. To make a long story short, Reem came to stay with me. Her husband got to keep their daughter, because she left him. I found her a job."

- "When did all this happen?"

- "Three years ago." said Christina.

- "It must have changed your whole relationship." I said.

Christina smiled sadly. "No, Norm. It didn't. Reem blames me. If I had let her do what she wanted, our parents wouldn't have caught her. She would never have been forced to marry that asshole, and ... and so on. All my fault.

To make matters worse, Reem still has no common sense where men are concerned. She'll fuck anyone who pays her a compliment. Not at my house - because I won't let her bring men home. But she goes out, and stays out late, disappears for weekends ...

In her mind, she's still the attractive one, and I'm her jealous little sister. That's what she's told all of my friends. And when I was dating Jake, that's what she told him. In fact, that's why I dumped him. Reem was coming on to him, and Jake didn't tell me about it. I knew she was doing it, because she tried it with every single guy I dated.

Maybe he thought he could 'do' both sisters. I don't know. Reem lost interest immediately, once he was no longer my boyfriend."

- "Damn." I said. "Does Beth know any of this?"

- "All of it. I don't keep secrets, Norm. You should know that by now. Beth was interested in Jake, even though she knew about Reem. She asked how I would feel if she dated Jake, and I gave her the green light. After all, there would be no Reem to get in the way. Besides, what guy in his right mind would ever cheat on Beth?"

- "Christina, I'm ... I'm so sorry." I got out. I didn't know what else to say. I wanted to get up, and put my arms around her. But from the look on her face, I don't think she would have appreciated that.

- "Don't be." she answered. "It worked out for the best. Jake wasn't right for me - Reem just saved me a lot of time. Turns out he wasn't right for Beth, either. I got Reem an apartment of her own, so now I don't have to meet the guys she fucks."

- "Is she safe?" I asked. "Isn't that a bit dangerous? For her?"

- "She has two roommates. They're fairly slutty, too. It's a party palace over there. I know - I worry about her. But my place was no safer for. She would wait until I was out to bring men over. This way - well, at least there's usually somebody else around."

I was silent for a while, digesting all of this.

"Sorry you asked?" said Christina.

- "No. I wanted to know. Thank you for telling me." Truth be told, I was more in love with her than ever.

*********

Abigail hosted the next bridge game, on Pete's behalf. It was nice to watch them together. He was definitely the one in charge, but he was attentive and protective.

It was also quite pleasant to play cards without any of the weirdness I had caused over the past several months. No Massimo, no Emily, no heavy vibes with Christina. Just good card play with good friends. Darren and Markus made no secret of their relationship, and everybody was happy for them, too.

Christina let me take her to a play the next weekend, and to an auction on Sunday. I neglected to tell her in advance that the items being auctioned were comic books and superhero collectibles. She thought the whole thing was tremendously funny, and enjoyed it very much.

She also wanted to learn how to play squash, and then decided she didn't like it.

"I'm not crazy about competitive sports." she said. "Or maybe it's team sports. I like soccer, though."

- "The game? Or the players' legs?" I asked her.

- "What? I can't like both?"

In retaliation for the squash game, she made me take a yoga class with her. It was worth it just to see her in yellow yoga pants. The t-shirt she wore was short, and left her midriff bare. The contrast between the bright colours of her yoga outfit and her light caramel skin was delicious.

She had slim, shapely legs and a fine ass. Her abs were amazing, and you could have bounced a dime off her stomach. She was perhaps a 34B, if I had to guess. She had incredible muscle tone everywhere, including her shoulders and arms. Normally, I was attracted to the more full-bodied girls, like Carmen and Beth. But I couldn't find a physical feature of Christina that didn't turn me on.

We tried a trendy restaurant, which turned out to be a mistake. The food was fine, if overpriced, but the place was far too noisy. We both wanted to talk, so I took her to a little piano bar she had never been to.

We settled into a corner booth and ordered drinks.

"I'm curious." she said.

- "About?"

- "About you." Christina said. "What made you think that you could sleep with all four of us?" She wasn't smiling.

My mouth was suddenly very dry.

"Don't think, Casanova." she instructed. "Just talk: tell me what you were thinking when you made the bet with Massimo. You had met us once, and figured you could do us all?"

I looked around for the waiter, hoping that our drinks were on the way. I needed the liquid, and the interruption, too.

"Quit stalling." she said.

- "It's complicated." I started. "I'm not sure what to tell you -"

- "The truth, Norm. Get used to telling the truth."

- "I do tell you the truth, Christina. I always have. I'm just trying to ... frame it properly for you."

- "Never mind the frame. Just the facts."

Our waiter arrived with drinks. But my respite was short-lived. She let me have one sip, and then crossed her arms. "Alright, you've had lots of time. Get on with it."

- "It starts with baseball." I told her.

- "Another one of your sports analogies?"

- "Only partly. I learned a lot about Massimo when we were in high school. I saw him play baseball."

- "Didn't he see you play as well?" she asked.

- "Exactly." I said. "Massimo saw me, too, but he didn't learn anything from it. Whereas I did. Massimo is a first-pitch fastball hitter. And a power hitter. He's the same way with women. He goes straight at them. He's big, good-looking, in a way, and outgoing. Confident, and very direct. Some women like that. So Massimo succeeds regularly with a certain type of woman. Still with me?"

Christina nodded.

"Ok." I continued. "Since Massimo hits home runs, and virtually all pitchers rely on their fastball, he never worried much about other pitches. I used to frustrate the shit out of him with curves and off-speed pitches. He knew my fastball wasn't particularly good, so he kept waiting for it, waiting to smash it out of the park."

"He never succeeded with certain types of women. Some saw through his bullshit. Some like a little wooing, some romance. But he never worried about his shortcomings in those areas, because he always scored with others. Massimo is the type of guy who can laugh about getting rejected four times, if he goes home with the fifth girl he hits on."

- "How does this connect to the bet?" she asked.

- "Directly." I said. "I saw Massimo play baseball, and I saw him chase women - including my prom date. I know my own strengths and weaknesses, but I know his, too. If you put us in a room with 100 women, or in a nightclub, say - Massimo would score with more of them than I would."

- "Selling yourself short?" Christina asked. She had uncrossed her arms, and was sitting back.

- "No. Just recognizing that in certain environments, Massimo has the advantage. But not everywhere. When he boasted that he could score with all four of you ... well, first, it ticked me off. But I also made an instinctive leap - a gut call. I knew he was wrong. So I goaded him into a bet. I planned to beat him, and make him pay."

- "Finally." said Christina. "This is what I want to hear: what made you think that you could beat him? You've already admitted that he's better with women than you are."

I shook my head. "Not all the time. Not anywhere. Four women - a limited number. Three, actually, since Beth was off limits."

- "Because she was with Jake?" scoffed Christina. "You think that would have stopped Massimo?"

- "Oh, he would have tried. But if their relationship was solid -"

- "Which it wasn't."

- "I didn't know that at the time. I was hoping that Massimo would make an ass of himself trying to hit on Beth. But if they did break up, for whatever reason, it would still only be four. A limited number. Then, there's the bridge factor."

- "The bridge factor?"

- "Yep. Massimo isn't a very good player. He knows the conventions, but he doesn't love the game the way I do. He saw the bridge club as a place to pick up hot girls."

- "And you didn't?" she asked.

- "Not at first."

- "But you thought that we would fall for you because of your brilliant card play?"

- "Admit it, Christina: it was one thing that originally attracted you to me. We are excellent bridge partners. We play well together."

I had her there. She couldn't deny it, so she settled for rolling her eyes.

"And then there was the time factor. I made him agree to a year, which also favored me. Massimo strikes quickly. I'm more of an acquired taste."

- "Are you, now?" That line won a grudging smile from her.

- "So I've been told."

- "Do go on." she invited.

- "Right. So time and space and bridge were all in my favor. Then there was the fact that you all knew each other. You were clearly friends. And friends talk. The odds said that Massimo would succeed with one or more of you, but he's an asshole. I thought he would treat one or more of you badly. Remember - I saw him dump girls back in high school."

- "Abigail?" said Christina.

- "Unfortunately. I saw that coming, but that doesn't make it any better. Poor Abigail. I think he would have done that to her anyway, bet or no bet."

- "Maybe. What about Carmen?" she asked.

- "Carmen's a big girl. I mean - she can look after herself." I added.

- "I know what you meant. Did you know that Carmen had already slept with Massimo?"

- "Yes. I suspected, and he confirmed it."

- "So you spotted him a lead? He was ahead before you even started the bet?" She seemed incredulous. "How could you do that? How could you be so cocky? OK, mister: enough about Massimo. Let's hear about you. How did you plan on seducing more of us than Massimo could?"

- "Umm ..."

- "You've been very forthcoming so far, Norm. But don't stop now. This is the part I want to hear."

- "Can I get another drink, first?"

She waved at our waiter, and got us served in record time.

- "Why is it that they never come that fast when I call them?" I wondered aloud.

- "No more stalling." she said. "Why did you think that you could 'score' with us?"

- "Carmen was already undressing me with her eyes that first night. I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but ... Carmen seemed like the easiest."

- "She wouldn't deny it." agreed Christina. "Go on."

- "Carmen had to be first, for me. For one thing, if I tried to put her off, she might have been angry enough to reject me later. The only difficulty would be finding a nice way to break off with her."

- "Why couldn't you just dump her?"

- "That's Massimo." I reminded her. "One of my advantages is that I'm not like him. I took Carmen to the Chez Maurice so that she would tell the rest of you about it. I couldn't drop her and hurt her feelings, and not expect her friends to hear about it."

- "We heard about the Chez Maurice. She was very impressed. She was also very pleased with your performance in bed afterwards."

I blushed. I had avoided the topic of sex for a month. I had not tried to kiss Christina, or even to hold her hand. It felt more than a little awkward to be talking about it so frankly.

"That was part of your plan, too?" she asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

- "Yes." I admitted.

- "And Abigail?"

- "Massimo moved on her first. I wasn't going to compete with him. If Abigail chose him, she might never consider me good enough later. And ... well, we already said it: by the time Carmen 'dumped' me, I knew that Massimo would hurt Abigail's feelings. I would pick her up on the rebound. I know that sounds cold. I didn't want to hurt her again, but I did want to sleep with her."

- "Why Abigail next? Why not me?" asked Christina.

I lowered my eyes. I wasn't sure if she was ready for the answer to that question.

"Why not me, Norm?" she repeated.

- "Because ... because I was falling in love with you by that point."

- "With me?"

- "Yes."

- "You were falling in love with me, so you decided to seduce Abigail first?"

- "It sounds really bad when you say it that way." I said.

- "Really? How would you say it?"

I tried my best. "Christina, I'm telling you the unvarnished truth. I needed a way to move on after Carmen, so I got her to dump me. I didn't want to hurt to Abigail again, and I was very lucky. She realized early on that I was more interested in you, even while I was seeing her. She wasn't angry; she was wonderful about it."

- "She was grateful. You rebuilt her confidence. You undid the damage Massimo had done." Christina said. "I know that. But why me last?"

- "Because I had no exit strategy for you, Christina."

She just looked at me. I couldn't read her expression.

- "I had no plan for breaking off with you nicely, or getting you to dump me. Because I didn't want to break off with you. I didn't want you to dump me after a short time. I wanted a long time together, if that was possible."

"I was prepared to wait a while, after Abigail. A long, slow courtship. By that time it wasn't about the bet. It was about you."