by Mia Ford
‘You mean they didn’t come around to the idea?’
‘No, I mean the circumstances were… untypical.’
‘Untypical?’
‘Yes, because it was his mother who masterminded the whole thing,’ she revealed.
‘Oh, really! How does that work?’
‘It’s weird, but I think she was on the lookout for a good Christian to be wed to her… to her precious son.’
‘That does sound weird.’
‘It was. Looking back, I can see that when he first asked me over to dinner it was at his mother’s suggestion. It was then that she urged me to tell my parents and invited them over – of course they got right on a plane and came around to stay.’
‘No kidding?’
‘Before we had even… before we really knew each other properly, our parents were organizing things.’
Kurt had been aware that she had been about to say something different then and had to bite his lip for want of asking what it was.
‘I guess it’s something to learn from,’ he suggested instead.
‘You got that right! I’m not making that mistake again,’ she insisted, and he could tell there was much more to it. However, he interpreted the discontent that had driven her away from… from whomever it was, to be something to do with religious habits. Though not anti-religious in a passionate sense, Kurt had heard numerous stories about people acting wacky because of their faith – even those who, to an outsider, might appear a bit harmless and boring.
‘Well, you’ve met my mother already,’ he told her. ‘So you know she’s a bit barmy but at least there’s no surprises there.’
Darlene offered him a big smile to acknowledge that and appeared to be relaxing a little as they headed towards the coast. Kurt was a little wary of himself from that point on, however, as eluding to some form of long-term intention so early in a first date was really not his way. Even though he had only mentioned the idea that their parents might one day find out about them in a light-hearted manner, he would have to keep an eye on what he was saying. Having never gotten to know her very well, the fact that they did go years back did clearly mean there was some familiarity there all the same. Which meant that his usual relaxed sweet-talking was subject to a few pitfalls. He would have to be on his guard and look out for them. As hot as Darlene was, thinking on bigger subjects, like long-term relationships, was just not his way.
Fortunately, if he guessed right, she was a little unused to the whole going out on a date scenario to pick up on subtle hiccups. Which meant that he could set the standards, without fear of not measuring up to whatever had come before.
It was all too easy, in fact. Despite that they belonged to very different families and lifestyles, the complicated part – in getting her to step out and meet him – had been achieved. A girl like her would not have been coerced outside of her comfort zone if she was not attracted to him in some way. As long as he did not behave like a complete letch there was no reason the evening could not be a success – though the question remained as to how far Darlene was willing to go. Was she going to slap him around the face and run to daddy the moment he tried to run his hand up her skirt, or was she a secret sex fiend who would teach him a thing or two?
For the rest of the way there he decided not to pry anymore, instead allowing her to pick his brain about some of the places he had been and what he got up to out on the ocean. Again, such a line of questioning made everything seem all very easy, because he knew his responses would inevitably be so impressive. Even a girl who wasn’t into him would have to consider being so in order to put her feet up and sail out on a luxury yacht every weekend.
It was a good job his work / hobby was so impressive because, as he had indeed predicted, his bowling was not. Kurt supposed he would at least beat Darlene – and she was not particularly good – but that was not what happened. Admittedly he had not been on a bowling alley for a while, but when he used to occasionally head there with friends he had been good enough to pick up one or two strikes. Instead almost every ball he sent down there veered off to the right and he was at a loss to say why he had suddenly become so bad.
‘I feel like my right arm must have been knocked out of line and I haven’t noticed,’ he said to Darlene, as they neared the end of their second attempt to build up something like a score.
‘It must be the gentleman within you, letting me win,’ she replied, quite a way off the mark herself though her aim with the bowling ball was better. For sure, watching Darlene go back and forth as she practised her technique was inspiring quite the opposite to gentlemanly thoughts within him. The way her curves approached the task was certainly distracting more fellow bowlers than he alone. So much so that he decided that must be why his aim was so bad – the ten-pins down the end of the lane were not really what his aim was focused on, but another score entirely.
Playing bad was no loss, after all, especially after Darlene changed the subject and said ‘You know, I think I’d love to be out on the open ocean like you someday. Sounds dreamy!’
Picking up a date without an alternative plan was not really something a man like Kurt would ever consider. It was a devious and convenient ploy to have, but he would have thought a guy who failed to take advantage of it a bit dense.
Why else was it so easy to shrug his shoulders and say ‘fine’ when Darlene turned up her nose at a fancy restaurant? The fact that their date kicked off in some dive of a bowling alley did not matter when you had a luxury yacht or two just a short walk away to make up for it. Of-course Kurt had made sure that a vessel was available for his use and that one just happened to be Arial.
‘Why wait for some day?’ Kurt replied to Darlene’s speculation. ‘If it’s something that you’d like then we can make it happen now.’
‘If it’s something you would like’, he had said, as if it could possibly fail in sweeping a girl off her feet. In this, he would have to admit, he had Mr Clive Furse to thank. Though Darlene would have been on numerous ocean voyages when her parents had taken advantage of the fleet themselves and taken her on holiday, the reality was that they had always been family affairs. She had never been out on the ocean with friends, or with a date for that matter – and so the idea was still exotic to her.
‘What do you mean?’ she asked, showing genuine surprise at the idea. ‘You can’t be taking out the company’s yachts.’
‘What do you mean, Darlene?’ he replied. ‘Of course I can.’
‘You… you can’t do that?’
‘I can.’
‘How?’
‘Darlene, if there’s one person who’s able to take the yachts out whenever he likes it’s the guy whose job it is to maintain them. Unless you think there’s someone else around here who would do a better job?’
‘But what about fuel and stuff?’
‘Where are you expecting me to take you? Hawaii?’ he said, laughing as he deliberately misunderstood.
‘No, it’s just… isn’t everything audited?’
In your dad’s world, he nearly found himself replying.
‘Sure, but there’s always a bit of leeway,’ he explained. ‘Part of maintaining the fleet means taking them out for test runs every now and then. If you think you’ll enjoy it why don’t we head on out there now?’
Darlene remained in protest for a bit longer, pulling a face that suggested they would be doing something naughty. That only encouraged him more; there are few things that turn a guy on more than being able to demonstrate to a lady how free his lifestyle is.
‘Come on,’ he said, after she had been wavering for a while and just needed a bit of a push. ‘If we get out there in the next 40 minutes we’ll be able to watch the sunset. Always beautiful to see.’
Sporting a furrowed brow, undoubtedly the whole idea of being out on the ocean remained surreal to Darlene. She allowed her to lead him nevertheless; that was all that mattered.
After getting hold of some takeaway fries and a milkshake, they were soon trotting
off down the harbor, chatting away about some of the memories they had of being at sea. Kurt found that Darlene had become steadily easier to speak to all evening and sensed that she was relaxing in his company. That was probably a significant step considering she had very little experience of coercing with the opposite sex, and the idea that his invitation was helping her to come out of her shell somewhat was a pleasing one. Even though it came via an ulterior motive, it felt good – for some reason.
As usual the harbor was fairly busy. Lots of people licking ice creams and eating donuts while, for a most part, the yachts were largely coming in rather than setting out. Experienced as he was, however, Kurt knew where the best spots were to avoid any incoming traffic. While also knowing that, as long as conditions were favourable, and there were no clusters of islands to look out for, manning a vessel is actually easier at night so long as everyone remembers to turn their lights on. That was only because he knew what he was doing – and he was looking forward to impressing Darlene by showing her how capable he was.
‘Here’s the one for us,’ he announced, much to his date’s surprise as they came upon Arial.
‘This one? You’re joking, aren’t you?’ she asked, genuinely astounded. He could tell what she was thinking; this yacht is far too big and impressive for just the two of us.
Exactly!
‘Or we can go find a bigger one, if you like,’ he feigned, pretending to misunderstand again.
‘What? That’s not what I meant. Surely you’re not going to take this out on your own?’
‘Not on my own – with you,’ he replied, resisting looking up at her to see the look of shock on her face and adding, ‘Come on then, hop on.’
‘With me? I’m of no use, believe me,’ she warned, though accepting his hand and stepping on board.
The next half an hour progressed just as Kurt had envisioned. Him appearing deliberately far too laid back about taking the yacht out to sea, in order to keep Darlene permanently poised between being impressed and alarmed. Watching her shoulder some of the responsibility was also fun, as he casually requested she take over the controls for a couple of minutes on their way out. Of-course he was not giving her any real command, only the illusion of it, but it was enough to make her feel high with having the control of a luxury yacht at her fingertips. At the same time, taking the controls back off her just as the panic was about to become unbearable made him feel heroic.
Soon they had negotiated their way passed all the other vessels, then subsequently the navigational buoy that indicated they were out on the open ocean. Kurt didn’t happen to mention that aiming for the buoy allowed him to be confident that none of the incoming vessels were going to hit them, only saying ‘Trust me, it’s all going textbook’, every time Darlene tried to call for caution in case one of the other yachts suddenly swerved their way.
‘I do this all the time,’ he assured, wondering whether having her put so much trust in him would lead to her letting him man another kind of ship before the night was out.
Eventually he stopped trying to make her nervous and, taking advantage of a calm and open water, shut the engine off so they could float and take in the view.
‘Come on, let’s take in the open ocean,’ he suggested, with Darlene having been hovering over him in the control room up until then, too nervous to throw caution to the wind and stand out on deck. His ruse seemed to have the desired effect. Darlene stooped looking like a frightened bunny the moment they stepped out from cover and took in a wider view. He had yet to meet anyone who didn’t enjoy being at sea once you got them out there. Especially on such a glorious day. The waters around them were taking on many irresistible shades, thanks to the dying light that, for some reason, often makes color appear more vibrant. Kurt had thought of everything, however, taking advantage of his date’s speechless state and disappearing into the cabin, only to reappear with a couple of cocktails.
‘Oh, my!’ was Darlene’s response as she took hold of the beverage, which he handed over without asking whether or not she wanted one. He thought that the best way considering how timid she was, though usually he would have had a hard time getting the girls not to drink. ‘Is this strong?’ she asked.
‘It’s a Sea Breeze,’ he told her. ‘I thought it might be ideal.’
‘What’s in it?’
‘That would be telling,’ he teased, feeling that a bit of mystery would sound more impressive than replying ‘vodka, grapefruit and cranberry juice’.
Watching Darlene take her first sip of the concoction, while holding it with both hands as if it might explode, Kurt tried his best not to laugh. He was liking this girl, he realized, more than most. There was nothing pretentious or fake about her and, though she was nervous of the adventure, she clearly looked determined to defeat whatever intimidation plagued her. Most probably she had been dreaming of stepping out for some time and his free spirit was just what she needed.
‘So does it beat the East Coast skyline?’ he asked.
‘Oh! You bet!’ she replied. ‘Don’t get me wrong, Boston’s impressive, but I didn’t expect this. We’re so close to the water on this vessel; I’ve always felt so up high before and looking down at everything.’
‘This is much better, huh?’
‘Definitely!’
‘That’s why I’m not that keen on the bigger vessels,’ he told her. ‘They’re more for private parties than for the sea, but this is more personal. I feel at one with the ocean a lot more.’
‘I think I understand now, why this can become so addictive – and why you love spending so much time out here.’
‘This is my favorite place,’ he admitted.
‘I think I thought it was something to do with….’
‘With what?’ he asked, seeing that she was unsure of the summation she was about to make of him.
‘Well, with having a big toy to yourself, I guess,’ she said, ‘but I can see now it’s a lot more than that.’
‘Ha! I guess that does come into it,’ he admitted, ‘but everyone who spends time on the water has to take pride in what they’re doing. Negligence leads to accidents, but our parents’ business would sink pretty quickly if anything like that started to happen.’
‘I see now why they have such faith in you,’ she reflected, taking another sip of her cocktail.
‘Oh, but I don’t tell them everything,’ he admitted. ‘They might raise a few eyebrows if they knew you were here for example.’
‘Tell me about it,’ Darlene agreed, looking a little abashed. It was his first subtle move towards taking their date to another level and he liked the fact that she was blushing, even though nothing particularly forward had yet occurred.
‘Darlene, there’s something I’m curious about,’ he then said, before backtracking, ‘but actually I don’t want to ruin a good sunset.’
‘It is beautiful, isn’t it,’ she agreed. ‘But go on, I’m not that secretive – at least I don’t think so.’
‘It was just something we talked about at yours place the other night, but I thought you might not want to go into it with our families there.’
‘You’ve gone to such an effort with all this, ask me what you like,’ she insisted.
‘Oh, this is no effort at all, I’m just delighted to have your company,’ he said, with a shrug.
‘If you say so,’ she replied, showing her first sign of being shrewd enough to compete with whatever wit he offered. He paused a moment, considering her college degree and wondering whether, although she was inexperienced, Darlene might be twice as clever as him. But it was only a temporary detour.
‘I was just wondering if there was more to it?’ he went on. ‘I mean between you and that guy? – but I know it’s none of my business.’
‘Oh, that! If you mean am I heartbroken or something, then don’t worry.’
‘No, actually I was worried you might be scarred by something,’ he replied. ‘That was why I was a little unsure about asking you out, in case there was something
you didn’t want to go through again.’
He was not being entirely sincere on both counts, choosing his words as tactfully as he could in the hope of prying. As it turned out, however, his guess proved fairly close to the mark.
‘You get that impression, huh?’ she said, thoughtfully. ‘And there’s us doing our best to show that everything is normal.’
‘Don’t worry if you don’t want to talk about it,’ he urged, while thinking completely the opposite.
‘No, not at all,’ said Darlene. ‘If I don’t feel secure enough to talk about it out on the open water then where?’
‘Secure?’
‘Yeah! What happened was, the guy turned into a bit of a stalker,’ she revealed.
‘A stalker? Jeez, I thought it was the mother you said was weird.’
‘That’s right, she was. I think that’s why I didn’t clue on that he was a little bit unhinged also, because I was focusing on her too much,’ Darlene explained. ‘The truth is she wasn’t even half the trouble.’
‘Was he aggressive?’
‘You wouldn’t think it to look at him. It all came when I decided we weren’t head over heels for each other, like our parents wanted us to be, and then his nature changed completely.’
‘He didn’t like you having a mind of your own?’
‘The best way of explaining it is that he had a real sense of… entitlement about him. As soon as I called it off he responded as if I was taking away some kind of birth right. At first he started telling me how I had to change my mind and come back to him, egged on by his mother of course, but that soon progressed to calling me all kinds of nasty names.’
‘Sounds like a real psycho.’
‘They were positively medieval. It opened my eyes a bit to some of the wacky religious types my parents still socialize with. Most of them are lovely people, but there’s always one or two at every church that act as if they are the judge of everyone.’
‘He didn’t hurt you, did he?’ Kurt asked and it was as he did so that he stepped closer, sensing his chance. The story was just perfect for making him look the concerned and compassionate type. Whomever the barmy Christian she was talking about was he felt like patting him on the back and saying ‘well played’. Through being weird and unhinged the dude had missed out on the hottest of babes, at the same time as virtually chasing her into his territory.
