Janet O'Connolly was mildly excited about her first date in seven months. She hadn't been that busy, she hadn't been shot down or in seclusion. She just hadn't come across anyone interesting for quite some time. There had been one-time dates the year before, but none of them had any spark or sense of fun. Then, at her weekly watering hole, she had noticed somebody. It was Nathan, who had hung out with her and her group for a couple of years every Friday night. He was a tall skinny man, somewhat older than she was, maybe even older than Mattie, the matriarch of the group. They had been seeing each other at the Jazz for all those Fridays without so much as a drunken kiss and suddenly, one night, Janet felt a tug of interest in him. He had always seemed gentlemanly, with his proper shirt and tie, shirt, neat hair and intellectual's glasses. The flirting began slowly and subtly, so Janet thought, with the gentle brush of the knees at the table or a slightly longer look than necessary. She had never been very good at flirting anyway, always wanting to go too fast. This time she would try to go slow and let things build to a more natural climax.
After a couple of months of fruitless Friday nights, Janet and Nathan found themselves alone at the bar. Everybody else had decided to make it an early night, leaving before 11:30. Usually, they closed they place, not going until Martin the bartender shooed them out the door, which varied in time from a slightly respectable 1:30 to a practically debauched 3:45, the standing record. Janet and Nathan were still in the booth, each with half a glass of Killian's Red to finish off. Janet was on number three; Nathan was only beginning to drink the first one in earnest. Somehow, he had the power to make one pint of beer last for three hours. Some of their fellow Friday nighters had bets about how he managed to stretch the glass for so long, some going so far as to suggest he was siphoning liquids from anybody around him who took their eyes of their own glass. That was, of course, ridiculous. The group was heterogeneous in alcohol consumption, and everybody knows it's a bad idea to mix your alcoholic beverages. He had been asked in the past, and Nathan's response was always that he liked to savor his beer. Good enough for Janet. Nathan had lived in the city since childhood, whereas Janet had only moved there five years before, and she was asking him about what it was like. Every once in a while the news had some nostalgic story about things from past years and decades, important buildings and local celebrations, but on the little screen things were kind of removed. Now, talking to Nathan, they could be real and almost tangible. As time flowed on, Nathan was less descriptive and more tactile. Janet thought it was time to call it a night.
As they walked down the street to the taxi stand, Nathan held her hand gently, and Janet felt a mild fluttering in her stomach. There were several waiting at the corner, so Nathan opened the door of the first one and held his arm out to the interior, showing her in. "I'll call you tomorrow," he said softly before closing the door behind her. Janet smiled all the way home that night. Nathan did call the next afternoon, but was brusque and cut the call short. Family matters, he said, and Janet didn't feel like pressing the issue at that point.
On Wednesday night, her phone rang. Not expecting any calls and worn out from a stressful day at work, she let the machine pick up. Nathan's uncertain voice shocked her. She grabbed up the receiver and almost shouted into the phone. Nathan laughed at her enthusiasm and said he was just wondering if Janet would like to have a small, intimate dinner with him the next evening. She sure would. Nathan laughed again and said he would meet her at the bus stop on Prairie and Fountain Road. It sounded like a plan. They said good bye, and Janet smiled gleefully into the lapels of her robe as she sashayed back to the couch and horror movie.
The next afternoon a text appeared on her cell around lunch time: "Sorry, have to postpone the dinner. Think you can stand Saturday crowds?" Janet was a little surprised that she didn't feel disappointed, and sent an agreeable message back.
So then Saturday rolled around. Janet had decided not to go all out in her makeup; a nice, natural look seemed most appropriate. She got off the bus at the appointed stop and hour, and sat down on the bench to take one last look at her hair. She only had about ten seconds before Nathan appeared before her, like a genie out of an invisible lamp. He was noticeably excited that she had arrived on time. Janet found it a little amusing. In his gentlemanly fashion, Nathan offered her his arm and they walked off down the street, chatting about the week. Janet felt comfortable and relaxed, with her hand on a strong, steady bicep, and suddenly they were standing in front of the Jazz. It was perplexing. Sure, the place had food, but it wasn't much of a spot for a quiet dinner for two. Maybe he'd lost the reservation on Thursday and this was the only thing he could get. "Are you OK?" came a slightly worried question from her left. "Yeah, no problem," answered Janet with a grin. And in they went.
They sat down in a booth not far away from their regular spot. Nathan ran up to the bar to get drinks. Janet was feeling a little bemused; why didn't he just get the waiter so they could order the dinner now? He came back with two mugs overflowing with foam, pure white looking as Ivory soap bubbles. The cool brew was refreshing and the gentle prodding of the alcohol made it easier for the conversation to flow at the same pace as the liquid down their throats. There was laughing, joking, gentle poking and pushing at shoulders... and Nathan was gradually closing the gap between them. Before Janet knew it, there were warm, moist lips on hers and a stubbly chin scraping her own. It was nice and it was fun, and Janet felt little fizzies in her chest. It might just be an exciting night. Then Nathan pulled back a little and said breathily, "I'm really not hungry, so why don't we go over to that hotel across the street." Janet thought it might be the beer talking, and she replied, "Why don't we just go to my place?" "I thought you had a roommate. I don't want to make her night uncomfortable." "Your place it is, then." Nathan sat back a little and looked worried, saying, "Oh no, we can't go to my place. My mom lives right around the corner." "So she lives around the corner, so what? Does she keep an eye on your doorway just to see if you walk in with a woman?" Nathan shook his head and said, "I really can't bring any women to my house." The fizzies froze up were they were. "Do...do you actually live with your mom?" Nathan chuckled condescendingly, but didn't answer. The weight of disappointment was starting to make its descent on Janet's shoulders and she said, "I guess I should be getting home." That jerked Nathan out of his complacency. "What do you mean?" he snapped, "Aren't you attracted to me? Isn't that enough to spend a couple of hours together?" So, it was only going to be "a couple of hours" anyway, the cheapskate wasn't even going to spring for a night. "Look, Nathan, I thought we were on the same page with this casual fun thing, but your fun is a lot more casual, and public, than mine. I think it's best if we call it a night right now." Nathan looked almost sad as Janet gathered up her purse and sweater. Then he took her arm again and walked her to the bus stop, as gentlemanly as he had been at the beginning of the night. "I hope this doesn't mean we can't still be friends at Friday Nights Sloshed." Janet had to laugh a little at his term for the gathering. "I don't see why not. But I'll have to act like none of this - tonight, the drawn-out invitation - ever happened. That's just how it needs to be with me." "I think I understand," said Nathan. The bus appeared down the street and he patted Janet's shoulder saying, "Well, see you later then." Janet got on the bus and rode in silence all the way home. Everybody else on the bus looked like they had something to ponder as much as she did, and not even a cell rang all during the trip.
The next morning the stubble burn on her chin almost made Janet forget about not saying anything to anyone in favor of a good hard razzing for Nathan's not knowing how to shave properly.
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