by Dana Piccoli
An hour later the bandmates showed up. Jackie was freshly showered and Paul was scruffy and sipping on an iced coffee. He plopped himself on the couch while Jackie practically floated into an armchair.
“What’s the situation, Chambers?” Paul asked, his voice gruff from an obvious late night.
“Okay, so… I need to plan the perfect date,” she declared as she smiled hopefully at them.
Jackie and Paul looked at each other, then at Nat.
“Seriously, Chambers?” Paul asked. “You woke me up for that?”
“Well, it’s two in the afternoon…” Nat remarked.
“Aw, I think it’s adorable. She’s helpless Paul, like a baby bird. A horny, gay baby bird,” cooed Jackie.
“It’s not about being horny! Okay, it’s a little about being horny, but Maddy is like… She’s special.” Nat looked at her friends, imploring them to help her.
“Well, shit. Now you’ve tugged at my heartstrings.” Paul cleared his throat and then cracked his knuckles. “Okay first of all, Jackie…get a pen and some paper. Nat, order pizza, extra pepperoni. I need nourishment if I’m going to be on top of my game. Operation Seal the Deal is now in effect.”
After a few hours of pizza, planning, and phone calls, Paul and Jackie headed home, leaving Nat to text Maddy and officially invite her out. Nat kept her plans close to the vest but told Maddy she’d be there to pick her up at eleven a.m. When Nat went to bed that night, it took a good hour for the butterflies in her stomach to join her in slumber.
Chapter Twenty
The next morning, Nat’s hands were sweaty as she fiddled with the air conditioning in the back of the black car.
“Eh, you want it the Arctic in here or what?” asked Gino, her driver, in his gruff but not unkind voice.
“Sorry, Gino. I’m weirdly nervous. Is it too much? Do you think it’s too much? I mean if you were a girl…well, a woman, a lady, would this be too much?”
He laughed and sucked his teeth. “Well, if I were a lady, I think I’d be impressed. But then again I’ve always had a flair for the dramatic.”
They pulled in front of Maddy’s building and Nat shot off a text that she was outside. Moments later Maddy bounded down the steps, her hair down, dusting her shoulders. Nat swallowed hard. Maddy was wearing a short but flowy dress dotted with green and yellow flowers, and a denim jacket. She looked stunning. Nat hopped out of the car to greet her, and Maddy practically leapt into her embrace.
“Hi,” Nat said, her cheeks flushed with excitement and desire.
“Hi yourself,” Maddy replied, taking a piece of Nat’s hair and twirling it in her slender fingers. Maddy gestured to the car. “What’s this?”
She cleared her throat. “Well, this right here is the best black car service in all of Manhattan and our ride for the day.”
“Oh, that’s so nice! The subway is particularly ripe this week, so you get major points for this, Natalia Chambers.”
She slid in beside Maddy. Their legs brushed up against each other, and even through her jeans she could feel the electricity between them.
“Maddy, this is Gino. Gino, the lovely Madeline.” She gestured to the bulky figure behind the glass partition.
“Hello, lovely Madeline,” he said, making sure to emphasize all the syllables in the way that only Italian New Yorkers can.
Maddy smiled widely. “Hi, Gino.”
Nat reached over and grabbed a to-go mug of hot chocolate and small paper box and handed it to her.
“What’s this?”
She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Well, you are not the only person who knows how to use le Google. Open it.”
She cracked open the box to discover a flakey surprise. “Is this a DKA from Dominique Ansel?”
“Yup. I read that feature in New York Magazine’s ‘Thirty Chefs Under Thirty,’ and you said it was your favorite pastry that you didn’t make yourself.”
“It is! How did you get this, though? That line is like three hours long.”
“Oh, I got there at seven a.m.,” she said, taking an exaggerated sip of her latte.
Gino made an “ahem” noise from the front seat.
“Okay, we got there at seven a.m. In all fairness, Gino, you sat in the car and did not have to witness the epic battle between a rat and a pigeon over a slice of pizza.”
“I miss all da good stuff.”
“Well, I am very touched and super impressed, Nat. I don’t think anyone has ever waited in line for pastry for me,” Maddy giggled.
“Well hold on to it because we are moving on to our first location. Gino, let’s get our Central Park on.”
As he put the car into drive, Maddy reached over and took her hand. The car seemed to fly up Broadway, and before long they were at the eastern entrance to the park. The women got out of the car, and he popped the trunk to reveal a picnic basket and plush blankets, which Nat scooped up in her arms. They walked along the pathway to the lush East Green, where there was plenty of space to spread out underneath a nearby black cherry tree. Nat laid down the blankets and offered her hand to Maddy.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever done this,” Maddy said, smoothing her skirt as she settled in.
“Really?” Nat asked as she unpacked the basket’s selection of fruits and cheeses.
“Yeah, I guess I was just so focused on my work—ooh Humboldt Fog cheese, nice—that I kind of forgot to experience the city as much as I could.”
“Well, today you are going to experience the hell out of New York.”
She reached over and tugged on the hem of Nat’s T-shirt. “Come here.”
Nat leaned over and Maddy took her face in her hands and kissed her long and slow. When Nat pulled away, Maddy’s eyes were still closed.
“You make my head spin, Natalia.”
“And I am nothing but butterflies whenever you’re around, Madeline. I can barely form sentences. My tongue is tied.”
“Is that so? Let me see.” Maddy pulled her in for another kiss, this time deeper and more urgent. “Hmm, works just fine from this perspective.” Maddy purred. Nat couldn’t help but laugh, which in turn made Maddy laugh.
“That. That was cheesier than this Humboldt Fog.”
“God, I know.”
“I loved it.” Nat gazed at Maddy’s face. Her eyes seemed to change between green and light brown by the second. The sprinkle of freckles across her nose and cheeks. The way she bit her lip when she was thinking of what to say. Whatever was happening here was special and filled Nat with a warmth and giddiness she hadn’t felt in…well, she couldn’t remember when. Maybe never.
“Okay, speaking of that Humboldt Fog,” Maddy said, breaking Nat from her dreamlike state, “pass that over here.”
“I admit, I’m not the most well-versed in cheeses, but the woman at the shop said it went well with figs, so I got some of those too.” She pulled out a small basket of ripe figs and presented them to Maddy.
“God. I love figs,” Maddy squeaked as she palmed one and raised it to her nose. “What about you?”
She scratched her cheek. “Do Fig Newtons count? I have actually never had a fig all on its own.”
Maddy sat up on her knees. “What? Are you serious? Well, you are in for a treat. Close your eyes.”
Nat opened her mouth as Maddy placed the delicate, sweet flesh on her tongue. She bit down and soon the fruit’s honey-like liqueur filled her mouth. It was tender and crunchy at the same time. She chewed and savored it, and when she opened her eyes, Maddy was looking back at her with hunger.
“Wow, watching you eat that, I am super-hot right now.”
“Join the club, Chef.”
Maddy ran her finger along Nat’s chin, gathering a pearl of fig juice that had settled there. She licked it and Nat moaned softly. “Okay, okay. I think we need a time-out because I really, really want you.”
“Mmm.”
“And as much as I want you, I want to give you an experience in the city. I want to
know you. Tell me everything and let me watch you eat your cronut.” Nat slid the paper box over.
Maddy laughed. “It’s not a cronut. I’m not a tourist from Ohio. It’s different. It’s more refined.”
“Pardon me, I stand corrected.” She reached into the picnic basket and pulled out a bottle of wine and two small jam jars. “Oh, would you like some rosé to go along with your ‘not cronut’?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
They sat and told stories about their first kisses (disastrous) and falling in love with their careers (lifesaving). Once they had their fill of cheese and pastry, Nat sat up on her knees. “So, are you ready for the next adventure?”
Maddy rose to her knees as well. “Always. Where are we heading?”
“To meet some dinosaurs.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“You are full of surprises, Natalia,” Maddy said as they stood at the bottom of the steps of the American Museum of Natural History.
Nat smiled and took Maddy’s hand. They ran up the steps like little kids, giggling the whole way. They stopped at the information desk, where a surly looking, elderly volunteer stood.
“Excuse me, madam, could you please direct us to your finest dinosaurs?” Nat asked, while Maddy covered a smile with her hand.
The old woman was not amused. “The Hall of Fossils is on the fourth floor.”
She handed Nat a map but Nat politely declined. “You see, we are having an adventure, and adventure needs no map, except for maybe the women’s restroom. We had some wine with lunch.”
The volunteer just stared.
“Thank you!” Nat shouted over her shoulder as they headed toward the stairs.
Their heels clicked against the marble floors and the laughter of little kids echoed off the tall ceilings. She couldn’t help but be nostalgic, remembering when her parents would make the annual trip with her to the city and let her take in these massive beasts. They stood in front of a fearsome T-Rex and Maddy gave her hand a squeeze.
“Everyone is always so impressed by the T-Rex, but I have to say I think it’s overrated,” Nat said. “I mean, sure, those teeth, but also, those arms. What a cosmic joke.”
“When I was growing up, we were taught that man and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time,” Maddy added, staring up at the fossil and then turning to meet Nat’s gaze. “Evangelical upbringing. Imagine my surprise when I learned about evolution in my late teens. All that time I thought going out to gather berries meant becoming a potential dinosaur snack.”
Nat tried to hide a laugh. “I’m sorry.”
“Go ahead. I found Jurassic Park to be a very confusing experience.”
Nat wrapped her arm around Maddy’s waist. “Thank god for Laura Dern.”
“Ohhh, you had a crush on her too?”
“I’m pretty sure I’m a lesbian because of Laura Dern.”
“Aren’t we all? Thank heavens for the Dernissance. Okay, well since you think the T-Rex is overrated, which dinosaur is your favorite?”
Nat tilted her head and motioned for Maddy to follow. They stopped in front of the large Apatosaurus on display.
“Look at this goober,” Nat said, motioning to the long and spiny skeleton. “Tiny head, huge body. Vegan. I mean, what more could you ask for? Plus, the best part is that for years the museum had the wrong head on this thing.”
“That must have been awkward for her,” Maddy said, a hint of sympathy in her voice.
They continued through the exhibits and then found a secluded bench to rest for a moment.
“So, you grew up evangelical. What was that like?” Nat asked while pushing a lock of curls out of Maddy’s beautiful face.
“Weird. Wonderful. Confusing. Equal amount of shame and love,” Maddy responded. “My mom died when I was seven, and before that, we were just casual churchgoers. After her death, though, my dad really threw himself into the church. I guess he needed something to believe in.
“It wasn’t always bad with him. When I was young, he did his best. He thought spending our free time in church would help, and in ways it did. There were a lot of wonderful people who helped raise me. But as I got older, I became curious about the big world outside the tiny one my dad had built for me. I had a terrible crush on my bible camp counselor when I was twelve. When I came home, it was pretty obvious I was infatuated with her, and my father wanted to put an end to that immediately. “
“So, what happened?” Nat asked.
“Well, no more bible camp or other female role models, that was for sure. I quickly learned to hide those feelings away and only allowed myself to feel them in my most quiet moments.”
“But at some point, that no longer worked?”
“Exactly. My feelings for my first girlfriend Chelsea were too big to completely hide away. My body reacted when she walked in a room. My mind was so full of thoughts of her and what it felt like to be alive in that way, I got careless. That’s when my dad figured it all out. Also, small towns aren’t so great for keeping secrets.”
Nat took Maddy’s hand in hers and lifted it to her lips. “So now there are no more secrets.”
Maddy smiled as Nat kissed her hand then her wrist. “Yeah, fuck secrets.”
“How long has it been now since you last spoke to your dad?”
The smile dropped from Maddy’s face. She cleared her throat. “Seven years. Do you mind if we talk about something else?”
“Of course not. I’m sorry.”
“No.” Maddy caressed Nat’s cheeks. “It’s good that you care. I want you to know me. I’m just having such an amazing time that I don’t want to think about that right now. I want to think about your warm cheeks and the way you smell like leather and cardamom.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Oh yes, a very good thing.”
Nat leaned in and kissed Maddy. It was getting harder and harder to resist her lips, her hips, and everything else Maddy related.
“Wow, okay, so we have one more place to go,” Nat declared, a little too loudly.
Maddy licked her lips and hooked her finger on the edge of Nat’s T-shirt collar. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Ahem, uh, let me text Gino and tell him to pick us up.” She took a deep breath in and blew it out slowly. Maddy’s skirt exposed her strong and lean legs, and it took everything in Nat to look away. They held hands in silence and made their way to Gino’s car.
“What, no present? I was hoping for one of them dino heads on a stick,” Gino said as they slid across the leather seats.
“Next time, I promise,” Nat said. “So, here’s where we are going next.” She handed him a slip of paper.
“You got it.”
“Where are we headed?”
“Oh, it’s a surprise.”
“You are a woman of endless mystery.”
Nat simply smiled and tried to think of anything besides running her hands along Maddy’s bare legs. Twenty of the longest minutes passed, and they reached their destination: a brick building in the heart of Alphabet City.
“Here we are,” Nat announced. “See you later, Gino.”
They stepped out of the car and up to a rusty metal door. Nat rang a button and soon the sound of a buzzer charged the air around them. She gently took Maddy’s hand and led her down a dark hallway and up a set of stairs. She knocked on a door that was painted black like the rest of the walls. A moment later, it swung open.
“Maddy, this is Hollis. They are the proprietor of this magical little place.”
Hollis was a stunning figure with a shock of blue hair and colorful tattoos decorating their arms. Nat greeted them with a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Nice to meet you, Hollis.” Maddy reached out her hand and Hollis took it and placed a small kiss on it.
“A pleasure,” Hollis responded, their voice warm and soft. They turned to Nat.
“Everything is ready for you, old friend.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Hollis,” Nat gushed. Hollis m
otioned them inside and led them down another hallway lit with small, round floor lights. They pushed back a set of black curtains, and inside was a small, classic movie theatre. Ornate art deco sconces hung from the walls. The chairs were velvet and plush, a deep red burst of nostalgia. The scent of popcorn hung in the air, and in the middle of the section, waiting for them, was a bucket of the fluffy stuff and two glasses of champagne.
“Oh Natalia, it’s like a dream,” Maddy said, as she looked around in awe.
“Hollis has one of the best hidden gems in New York. They have been collecting these authentic pieces for years, and they only show movies on a projector.” Nat took Maddy’s hand again and led her to their seats.
As soon as they settled in, the lights dimmed and the screen lit up a ghostly white. Nat raised her glass of champagne. “To you for spending the day with me and trusting me with this adventure.”
Maddy lifted her glass in response. “To you and the best date of my life.”
They clinked glasses and took a sip as the film began to roll.
Maddy looked up at the screen and gasped. “Oh my god, is this The Umbrellas of Cherbourg?”
“Yes. I asked Hollis for a classic French film, and they promised this would be a hit.”
“It’s one of my favorites,” Maddy confessed, bringing a huge smile to both their faces. Maddy leaned over and kissed her slowly. She could taste the champagne on the tip of her tongue, and the hair on the back of her neck began to rise. She broke the kiss, however, as much as she didn’t want to, motioning to the screen. Maddy smiled contently, and leaned her shoulder into Nat, interlacing their fingers.
Throughout the movie, they ignored their popcorn, choosing to use their hands instead to caress knees, thighs, and the insides of delicate forearms. It was exquisite torture for Nat, whose arousal rose to a fever pitch. As the credits rolled, her skin was flush and her heart was in her throat.
“I want you to take me home,” Maddy said softly, breaking their silence. Nat looked at her, disappointment creeping in.
