Taking the Town

by Ford Murphy

  He asked her about it a couple of times. Each time she replied that she was fine but her eyes and overall demeanor gave the impression that she was hiding something.

  He asked Paul about it one night when they were sitting in the bar enjoying a beer.

  “I think she’s playing you, man.”

  “You don’t think Morgan could be hurting her do you?”

  Paul shook his head. “No way in hell, he’s doing that to the Snow Queen.” This was Paul’s favorite nickname for Whitney. “That chick has ice water in her veins and she could chew you up and spit you out without moving her mouth.”

  Finn wasn’t sure what to think. Morgan certainly never gave the impression that he could be violent towards Whitney. But there was definitely something going on with her. Even her appearance had changed recently. Her clothes were more demure and conservative, much to the ongoing disappointment of the men in the chemistry department. Still, there was little he could do. She didn’t display any bruises or cuts and she reassured him she was fine each time he asked. He would just have to keep an eye on her.

  The opportunity to do just that came when he was halfway through his fourth month. Whitney arrived in the lab one morning, slapped a ticket on his desk and asked Finn if he’d like to go to a Bruce Springsteen concert with her.

  Finn was a huge Springsteen fan and he’d told Whitney he hoped to see him live before his time at KenTech was up.

  “Wow. When? Where?” He was completely taken aback.

  “Next Saturday in Lexington. I managed to snag two tickets. We’ll drive there, stay overnight and head back the next day.”

  So there it was. Finn’s excitement faded rapidly. An overnight trip for just the two of them. If that was the price of admission it was beyond his budget.

  Whitney clearly read the change in his demeanor. “It’s not what you think, honest. First, Morgan is cool with this. That’s Mother’s Day weekend and his Beaver Cleaver family will all assemble to pay homage to the matriarch. Second, I know you love Springsteen and this is your only opportunity to see him live. Third, you can strap on your chastity belt. I promise there’ll be no hanky-panky. Come on, what do you say? I know you want to.” She waved the ticket in front of his face, teasing him.

  Finn was torn. He definitely wanted to go but he knew, despite Whitney’s protestations to the contrary, this was a trip that was laden with minefields. He made a decision.

  “I’ll go on one condition.”

  “Which is?” Whitney asked, a little annoyed.

  “My condition is that I ask Morgan if he really is okay with this. If he is as you say, then thank you, I’ll be delighted to go. If he’s even the slightest bit uncomfortable, then I’m going to have to turn down this very kind offer.”

  To his surprise, she smiled broadly and said, “Then it’s a date. You go ask Morgan. I’ll be here with the tickets.”

  “Okay. I’ll go ask him.”

  Again Finn was surprised. While Morgan wasn’t exactly dancing a jig for joy at the prospect of his totally hot fiancée overnighting alone with the handsome Irish scientist, he seem totally relaxed about the whole thing.

  “To be honest, I’m glad you’re going with her. These concerts can get quite messy and I’d be worried if she was there with just one of her girlfriends. She’s not exactly invisible as you know and attention does follow her around. I’ll be a lot more comfortable knowing you’re there to look after her.”

  If there was any lack of sincerity behind those surprising words, Finn could not discern it. Morgan had looked him calmly in the eye, shook his hand and told him to have a good time.

  Finn left Morgan’s lab and headed back to his own, completely perplexed. He wasn’t sure he’d be as copacetic about this as Morgan was, but despite Finn’s misgivings, his condition had been met and he was definitely looking forward to seeing Springsteen. He would have to remain vigilant but he could handle that.

  “Well?” Whitney asked when he returned to the lab.

  “It looks like we’re on.”

  “See, I told you so. Now, let’s make plans for our road trip.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Saturday, July 19, 1986

  Week Four: Day Six

  “Do we actually have any sort of a plan here?” Finn asked as they set off that morning.

  “Oh yes, we do. I have it all mapped out. See, it’s not just you who thinks ahead. You drive and I’ll give you instructions. That’s the way it should be anyway.”

  Finn pretended to groan in frustration. “I can already tell this is going to be a fun day.”

  Which is exactly what the day turned out to be. Julia had put a lot of effort into the trip and had mapped out a route that took them to several small villages and towns where they stopped to look at beautiful old churches, castles, monuments and other works of art as well as just the local scenery itself. Finn was very impressed with the thoroughness of her preparation and ended up being fascinated by many of the intriguing sites she took them to.

  They sat outside for lunch in a tiny little village, which seemed to have only one street and one restaurant. The views, however, were spectacular. Mountains in one direction and a deep valley in another. Finn couldn’t be happier as he sipped a double espresso whilst Julia liberally sampled the local wine.

  “Magnifico,” she proclaimed happily.

  “You know, this whole driving thing is getting rather old,” Finn grumbled just to annoy her a little.

  Julia, unfazed, smiled brightly at him and sampled yet another Chianti. “Those are the breaks, my friend. Don’t worry, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of wine left for you after we stop for the night.”

  “Speaking of which, do you have any idea where we’ll stop?”

  Julia shook her head. “None at all.”

  Finn knew that wasn’t true. He was certain she had every detail planned but he left it at that anyway.

  After lunch, and yet another Chianti for Julia, they set off again. It was after three in the afternoon and the weather was absolutely perfect.

  “Don’t you fall asleep now after all that wine,” Finn warned her.

  “I won’t,” she promised but did anyway within twenty minutes.

  Finn pulled over, gently prised the map from her hands and studied the route she had mapped out. As best he could figure, she had planned for them to spend the night in a little town called Chiavenna, which would leave them with a three hour drive back to Lugano tomorrow. They had a two o’clock connection to Zurich and a four o’clock onward flight to Dublin which should put them back in Lissadown before eight that evening.

  Julia slept the remainder of the two hour journey to Chiavenna and Finn only woke her up as they drove down the tree-lined main street. He gently shook her shoulder. “Wakey, wakey sleepy head.”

  She awoke with a start, looked at her watch then out the window. “Oh my God, look at the time. You let me sleep the whole way. You are a good man, Finn Lane.”

  “Don’t I know it. Did you research any hotels or is it just pot luck?”

  “I didn’t get that far, but I’m sure there are several to choose from.”

  “Well there’s one right there.” Finn pointed in the direction of a small, compact building with a neon hotel sign running down the outer wall. “Let’s try it.”

  They parked the car and walked to the hotel. The main street of Chiavenna was extremely picturesque and the town itself had a very sleepy feel to it.

  Julia glanced around. “I’m not sure this is the liveliest town in all of Italy.”

  “But we live in Lissadown, so who are we to judge?”

  Julia laughed and readjusted her grip on her suitcase.

  “Here, let me carry that for you.” Finn took the bag from her then pretended to drop under the weight of her suitcase.

  She arched a brow at him. “It’s still not funny and it’s never going to be.”

  He chuckled. “It is to me.”

  They climbed four steps and walked t
hrough the revolving door into the lobby of the hotel. There was a fire burning in the corner, lots of old pictures on the walls and the overall effect was warm and welcoming.

  “I like it so far,” Finn whispered.

  He walked over to the reception desk, behind which stood a middle-aged man. “Do you speak English, please?”

  The man nodded.

  “Good, then we’d like—”

  “One double room, please,” Julia finished his sentence.

  He spun around in amazement to look at her but she ignored him and repeated her request. “One double room, please.”

  Finn turned back to the desk clerk, who now had a big smile plastered across his face. “I think the lady has a better idea, yes?” He laughed delightedly.

  “I guess so.” Finn’s mind raced at this wholly unexpected development.

  They took the key, left the still smiling clerk and took the elevator to their room on the third floor in silence. The room itself was clean and airy with a balcony that overlooked the main street along with a big double bed in the center.

  Julia walked over to Finn and took his face in her hands. “Look, I hope I haven’t done something wrong here. Nothing is going to happen tonight, you need to understand that upfront. But I’ve had such a lovely time that I thought it would be nice to spend the night with you and have you hold me. I’m sorry if that’s selfish and I’ll understand if you want to get your own room.”

  She looked at him worriedly as Finn processed her words. He smiled reassuringly at her. “That works. Honest. I’ve had a great time too and, yes, I’d like nothing better than to hold you tonight.”

  “You sure? For real?”

  “For real.”

  “Okay.” The relief in her voice was palpable. “Now you get yourself down to the bar and have a couple of drinks, I’m going to take a nap. I’m really tired.”

  Finn looked at her askance. “You’re not serious.”

  She laughed. “No I’m not. It was a joke. I want to take a shower and get changed. I’ll join you in the bar later and we can go for dinner afterwards. You deserve a drink on so many levels, so scoot.”

  When he passed by the reception desk on the way to the bar, the clerk winked at him and gave him the thumbs up sign. “You’re enjoying this way too much,” Finn grumbled.

  The bar was quaint and quiet. It had dark wood paneling all round, comfortable, well-worn leather seats and a great selection of Italian wines. After a little bit of a challenging discussion with the waiter, whose English was as bad as Finn’s Italian, he decided on a glass of Brunello Montalcino. He wasn’t familiar with it but the waiter said “bella” enough times to convince him.

  Finn sat at a table in the corner and slowly sipped the wine, which was indeed very pleasant. His thoughts wandered to the weekend so far and Julia’s insistence on sharing a room tonight. Steady on, he warned himself, don’t mess this up by being stupid. He knew he could totally blow his whole relationship with Julia if he made an unwelcome move tonight.

  At the back of his mind, he wondered if this was some kind of a test but he knew she wasn’t that devious. He had no sooner finished his glass when the waiter arrived at the table with a refill.

  This is the life. He sat back and relaxed. He was feeling good. His body was almost completely healed and he was going back to his usual workout routine on Monday. After about fifteen minutes, Julia appeared at the door of the bar looking radiant. She was wearing a long, purplish sundress that reached her ankles with flip flops on her feet. Her dark hair nestled gently on her shoulder.

  Finn stood up to greet her. “You look very nice. Now I see the benefits of bringing your whole wardrobe with you. What can I get you? I’m drinking Brunello, which is very nice but since you’ve already had lots of wine, maybe a coffee.”

  “First, thank you for the compliment. Second, fuck you for your comment about my luggage and third, yes, I’d love a Brunello. The Chianti was hours ago.” All this was said with a sweet, innocent smile on her face. After the waiter brought her drink, they sat there, relaxed and content. Over the last few days, it became clear that, happy in each other’s company, neither of them needed constant conversation.

  After one more glass of wine each, they asked for a recommendation for dinner. Their choices were apparently limited but the smiling clerk assured them that the restaurant at the bottom of the street was top class.

  “His smug smirk is beginning to annoy me,” Finn muttered under his breath as they walked out of the hotel.

  “Oh relax, you grouchy old goat.” She slipped her hand into his. “He’s just having fun. You have to admit, it was funny and that look on your face, priceless. Totally priceless.”

  “Well I’m glad I’m such a source of amusement to you all.” He wanted to sound affronted, but as thrilled as he was that she’d taken his hand, he just couldn’t pull it off.

  They wandered slowly down the old street towards the restaurant, admiring buildings and trees along the way. It was a warm night. Julia had brought a cardigan but Finn felt comfortable in his shirt sleeves. The restaurant looked like it was several hundred years old. The interior was sparsely furnished and the lighting dim.

  “Nice ambience,” he whispered to Julia, who ignored him completely. That’s another thing he’d noticed about her; she only responded when she felt like it.

  It was cooler inside and Julia put on her cardigan once they were seated.

  They then encountered a major challenge in that the menus were all in Italian and none of the staff spoke any English. Eventually, they figured out that the staff would select their meal for them. Finn asked for a bottle of Brunello, feeling confident that the wine would at least be good.

  The waiter-tut tutted and shook his head while spewing out a long stream of Italian. Clearly they intended to select the wine too. Finn and Julia both shrugged. “Ah well,” said Finn, “might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb. Do your worst.”

  After a few minutes, the waiter brought a large plate of antipasti and some bruschetta. This was paired with a very light red, almost rose wine. Their second course was a pasta dish with wild mushrooms that was absolutely delicious. This time the wine chosen for them was a heavier, drier wine that complimented the dish perfectly. The fish course consisted of branzino lightly grilled in olive oil and served with the freshest tasting tomatoes either of them had ever encountered. For this dish, the waiter chose a crisp white which also worked perfectly.

  Just when Finn thought he couldn’t possibly eat another bite, the waiter appeared with large portions of homemade tiramisu. “No way.” Finn started to wave him off. “I’m so full that I won’t be able to eat until Monday.”

  Julia’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “If you share it with me, I’ll kiss you when we get outside.”

  “Shame on you,” Finn responded in mock horror, “trying to bribe like that. Unconscionable.”

  Julia laughed. “I take it that’s a ‘yes’?”

  “Is the bear a Catholic? Where’s my spoon.”

  After dinner, they wandered over to the restaurant bar where the shelves were stocked with rows and rows of all sorts of weird and wonderful alcoholic drinks. They sampled several grappas and sambucas and neither of them were perfectly sober when they left.

  Outside, Julia drew him towards her and kissed him passionately. “I hate to be a buzz kill but remember this is as far as it goes. I hope you don’t think I’m leading you on.”

  “No,” agreed Finn, “we have a deal.”

  Thankfully, there was a new clerk behind the reception desk when they asked for their key. Once they reached the room, Julia went to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. At that moment Finn realized something and shouted to Julia through the door. “Uh…Julia. I don’t have pajamas. I normally sleep in my jocks.”

  “Then that will have to do. Unless you want to borrow a pair of mine.”

  “Funny girl.”

  Just then, the bathroom door opened and Julia, wearin
g a long tee-shirt and pajama bottoms, stood there. She shrugged, a little apologetically. “Not very sexy but under the circumstances, probably for the best.”

  She started to edge past him towards the bed, but he stopped her. “Julia, you are beautiful no matter what you wear.”

  She blushed, flustered but clearly pleased by his words. “Go on. The bathroom’s yours now.”

  By the time Finn came out of the bathroom, the room was in darkness. He climbed into bed wanting to pull her into his arms but knowing he had to leave it in her hands.

  Almost instantly she scooted towards him, then turned her back once she was lying against him. “Can you put your arm around me, please?”

  Finn did and felt the warmth of her body snug against him.

  A few hours later, he woke up and he was completely hard. Julia was still pressed against him and he could feel her backside tight against his erection. He lay there for a moment unsure what to do when he felt Julia’s hand reach into his underwear. She took his length in her hand and began to slowly stroke him up and down. She never moved her body, nor made a sound. She gave no sign that she was even awake but she kept stroking him with a slow, steady rhythm until Finn could feel the desire to come building up in him. Finally, he could take it no more. He moaned loudly as he came.

  “Shh,” whispered Julia, “you’ll disturb the neighbors.” This was all she said. Then she took his hand and placed it on her breast. They fell fast asleep almost immediately.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Sunday, July 20, 1986

  Week Four: Day Seven

  Julia was already in the shower when Finn woke up on Sunday morning. He lay there, hands behind his head, trying to figure what the hell was going on. It’s like being on a frigging roller coaster. On the one hand, Julia was adamant that she wasn’t ready for a relationship nor was she prepared to be sexually intimate with him. On the other hand, she flirted with him madly and just last night had given him one of the most intense sexual experiences of his life.