Summer Swing

by Delia Delaney

  Dawn didn’t hesitate when she waved to gain his attention. “Oh, he’s coming over. Man, Ellie, your date for the Christmas party couldn’t have timed it any better…”

  I rolled my eyes just as Harlan and Felix approached our table.

  “Hello,” Harlan smiled. “Small world seeing the two of you here.”

  “Hey guys,” I greeted. “What’re you up to?”

  “Have a seat,” Dawn offered, and while they sat, Harlan introduced her to his brother.

  “Well, we’re shopping for mum at the moment,” he smiled. “Any ideas?”

  “Mum,” Dawn giggled. “How cute. Ellie’s better at ‘mum’ gifts than I am. Ask her.”

  Harlan smiled and turned his attention to me. “Well?”

  “Well I hardly know your mom, Harlan.”

  Suddenly Felix partially stood as he looked across the mall. “Uh, it was nice to see you, Ellie. Dawn, nice to meet you… I gotta go,” he smiled.

  We all watched him walk speedily toward a group of girls that were walking by.

  Harlan chuckled and very slightly pointed. “That one right there,” he told us, “in the red with the long blonde hair…”

  We watched until Felix met up with the girls and casually began talking to them. I noticed their body language right away, and all four of them seemed pleased by his presence. But the one girl, the blonde in the red sweater, seemed to be the one that Felix focused on right away.

  “So he likes the blonde one, huh?” I asked. “What’s her name?”

  “Eh, Madeline I believe. She attends university with Felix.”

  “Hm, she’s cute. What do you think?” I asked my sister.

  “Mmm, I think he has a chance.”

  “Yeah, me too. She likes him.”

  “Really?” Harlan chuckled. “My brother seems to think she’s only interested in being friends with him.”

  I looked at the group again. Two of the girls were talking to each other, and the other two were conversing with Felix. However, Madeline was closer to Felix and I could just tell by the way she was hanging on every word.

  “Nope, she likes him more than just a friend. If he were to ask her out, she would say yes.”

  “Ah, now that’s where you’re wrong,” Harlan smiled, shaking his head. “He did ask her out.”

  “She turned him down?”

  “Mm, pretty much.”

  “Wait, what does ‘pretty much’ mean?”

  “Well she told him she could only be friends with him.”

  “Then she has a boyfriend already.”

  “Felix didn’t think so.”

  I looked at my sister and she nodded her head. I turned to Harlan and said, “She’s either interested in someone else and she’s just waiting for something to happen with that person, or she’s just playing hard to get.”

  “Or both,” added Dawn.

  “Or both,” I agreed.

  “So wait,” Harlan chuckled. “A girl would really turn a guy down because she wants him to pursue her harder?”

  I shrugged. “Mm, or to prove to herself that she’s more special than just any girl, and if a guy made the extra effort to show her that…”

  “So let me get this straight… You turned me down about three times, so does that mean I should have tried a fourth and fifth?”

  Dawn coughed as she took a sip of her smoothie. “You asked her out?” my sister wanted to know.

  “I did,” he admitted.

  “When?” she wanted to know. She was intent on an answer, and I could tell she was dying to know the details. I had to groan to myself because if she didn’t find out right then, she was never going to stop pestering me about it.

  “Well,” Harlan began, seeming to think back. “The first time was in the ER…”

  “Wait, which time in the ER?” Dawn asked, trying to remember.

  “The very first time I met her,” Harlan clarified.

  “With Gage?” Dawn chuckled.

  Harlan nodded. “I was rejected. Well, I was pretty much shut down entirely. And the second time was at the first game I saw you at?” he asked me.

  “Well technically you didn’t ask me out…”

  “Well I think the implication was very strong, and I said some very forward things to you.”

  “Yes,” I agreed.

  “But she did take her knickers off for me,” he told Dawn.

  “What?” Dawn laughed with astonishment.

  Harlan was very amused with this, and I had to roll my eyes.

  “You still say ‘knickers,’ ” I had to say.

  “ ‘Pants’ just can’t come out of my mouth naturally. You know what we consider pants to be?”

  “Panties,” Dawn laughed out loud, and the lady at the table next to us stared for a moment.

  “Right, underwear,” Harlan replied quieter. “So you can see why it seems inappropriate for me to tell people you’ve taken your pants off for me.”

  Dawn was still laughing when she said, “Oh, please tell me the story.”

  I was the one that quickly explained the story, just so Harlan couldn’t draw out the amusement any longer.

  “And when was the third time?” Dawn wanted to know.

  “Ah, my final plea…”

  Dawn was about to go into preterm labor just waiting for the details.

  Finally Harlan said, “The last time I saw Ellie.” He looked at me for dramatic effect and slowly smiled. “And…she broke my heart.”

  “Awww, Ellie,” Dawn frowned.

  I rolled my eyes again. “I think you’re totally missing the point here,” I told her.

  “And what’s the point?”

  “I was with Gage.”

  She acknowledged that and then to Harlan said, “You’re bold.”

  Harlan shrugged nonchalantly as if to say, “What can I say?”

  “But she’s not with Gage anymore, so maybe you should go for that fourth try,” she added.

  I looked at my sister’s smug smile with disbelief, and all she did was shrug and take a final drink of her smoothie as she stood.

  “I’m heading to Macy’s… Find me there or call.”

  And then she left us alone.

  We were both silent for a few seconds, and just looking at Harlan’s smile made me want to laugh. But I asked, “Are you happy now? She’s already planning our wedding.”

  He nodded very casually. “Yes, that’s what I was hoping for. So I might as well get on with plea number four…”

  I really had missed my run-ins with Harlan, and I was glad to see him again. But I wasn’t so sure about going out with him.

  “Before you turn me down again,” he began, “let me remind you that you once said you’d consider a date with me if you and Gage weren’t together. Do you not remember that?”

  “Yes,” I slowly nodded. “I do recall saying something like that.”

  “And it was all just to let me down easy?”

  “No, I really did mean it,” I told him honestly. “I do like you, Harlan, I just…”

  “So you really are going to turn me down?” he asked solemnly. “Do I really need to pursue you harder?”

  “No, it’s… It’s the other reason. I’m…kind of interested in someone right now, and I just… I don’t know where I stand with this person.”

  He slowly nodded his head. “Is it Gage? Are you sort of off and on—”

  “No, it’s not Gage,” I replied quickly.

  He studied me carefully and said, “I’m sorry if that was uncalled for. Apparently things didn’t end well?”

  I realized that my eyebrows were creased and I’m sure I did look annoyed. With a sigh I said, “Not really. We became off and on because he wanted to see other people, then he wanted to be together, then he wanted to see other people… I just couldn’t handle it anymore. He changed after his dad died, and I don’t know if there was anything I could do about it, but I guess we just weren’t meant to be anymore.”

  “Hmm. I’m sorry
about that.”

  I nodded. “Thanks. But are you really?” I added with a smile.

  He chuckled good-naturedly. “Well, yes I am sorry that you’ve been hurt by it. I truly am. But no I’m not sorry that you’re no longer together. Because now I can take you up on your earlier promise.”

  “Promise, huh?”

  “Yes, you did say it out loud, so a guy has to have hope.”

  That made me think of Tyse, and my heart kind of sank. I took a moment to gather my thoughts, and after I took a drink I said, “There really is someone else, though.”

  He nodded. “I realize that. And I’m even okay with that, Ellie. All I ask is that you be honest about everything, and I can be understanding.”

  I carefully considered that, believing that I really would like to spend time with Harlan again. Maybe I needed something to help pass the wait until Christmas.

  “Okay,” I replied. “I would like to go out with you sometime.”

  “Tonight?”

  I studied him carefully. “Um… Yeah, I guess that would be all right.”

  His smile was pretty cute when he said, “Excellent.”

  “Something simple,” I insisted.

  “Sure,” he nodded. “If you give me your address I’ll pick you up.”

  I grabbed a notepad from my purse as I said, “Actually I live in my sister’s old house now. I’ll give you the address in case—”

  “I remember where that is,” he smiled, standing up from the table. He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek and said, “I’ll pick you up at five.”

  I glanced down at my watch as he was walking away. “Wait! That’s in two hours!”

  He smiled and said, “Wonderful. I can’t wait.”

  It had been a while since I last got nervous about going on a date. It had also been a while since I’d actually gone on an official date. I really didn’t know what to wear because I didn’t know what we’d be doing.

  Since Dawn had picked me up and drove us to the mall, she dropped me off at home and made the decision to hang around while I got ready. I knew she was pretty excited for me because she really liked Harlan, but it kind of hurt that I couldn’t talk to her about the situation I was in. I never mentioned Tyse’s name, but she did know I still talked to him. However, there was no way that I wanted her to know how much I truly missed him.

  “This top would look really cute with those pants,” Dawn said, holding it up to me. “Dressy casual. That way you look chic, but not overdone. And those heels,” she pointed to the floor.

  “You do know that would make me the same height as him, right? Or just about.”

  “He’s about four inches taller than you, Ellie. You guys are so cute together!”

  I agreed with the top she chose, but I stuck with shoes that had a smaller heel.

  When Harlan arrived I was surprise he was in jeans, and under his jacket was just a polo shirt. He told me I looked beautiful, but when I asked if I should change he said, “You might want to make sure you’re comfortable. We won’t even be leaving the car,” he added with a wink.

  My sister laughed out loud.

  So I decided to change and put on a pair of my favorite jeans. I kept the shoes since they were just flats and I loved them, so I grabbed a long sweater jacket and announced that I was ready.

  I was surprised that the little Boxster wasn’t in the driveway waiting for us, but the sleek silver Lexus that replaced it wasn’t too shabby either.

  “What, no Porsche?” I teased.

  “No, not tonight. This car has more room inside,” he smiled.

  Okay, I knew he liked to tease me, but I was starting to get really worried. He opened the door for me and waited while I sat down, but I could tell he was chuckling as he walked around the front of the car to his side. When he sat down I asked, “What’s so funny?”

  “What?” he asked, feigning innocence.

  “You’re making me feel very uncomfortable,” I admitted.

  I could tell he wasn’t okay with that and he immediately said, “Ellie, I’m very sorry. I was just…” He sighed, and then he seemed a little embarrassed. “If you must know, I was just thinking about how happy I am that you’ve finally agreed to go out with me. I know, I’m a fool, but I’ve been smiling like a bloody idiot for the past two hours.”

  That made me smile, and it also made me feel really good. Yeah, I knew that he liked me, but I guess I really liked his giddy, boyish honesty.

  I guess I could say that Harlan’s choice of a date really surprised me. We drove to the Portland International Raceway to see Winter Wonderland. I was very excited to see all of the Christmas lights, and the displays really were phenomenal.

  We’d stopped at a restaurant before we got there, and Harlan picked up an order than he’d apparently called ahead for. We ate dinner in the car—his posh, fancy Lexus—and he didn’t even care when I dropped an olive on the seat. Dessert was strawberry cheesecake, and it was probably the best cheesecake I’d ever eaten. It was definitely going into one of my restaurant reviews.

  Other than a quick trip to the bathroom after the light display, we really did stay in the car for our entire date. It was a beautiful night, so when we were headed back for home, I asked if we could make one little detour.

  “I’ll do anything you want,” Harlan assured me.

  So we drove to the zoo, and barely caught the last hour of Zoo Lights.

  “My family used to come here every year,” I explained. “But I guess as we got older and everyone kind of started doing their own thing, it became a forgotten tradition. Well maybe not forgotten, but just not doable anymore.”

  “I’ve never been here before,” he replied, looking around at all the colorful holiday lights that lit the park. “It’s beautiful.”

  I nodded my agreement as we walked. “You should suggest to Felix that he bring Madeline here,” I said with a teasing tone. “I guarantee she would love it.”

  “Hmm, sounds like a good idea.”

  “But make sure they dress warm,” I shivered with a laugh.

  He put his arm around me and rubbed some heat into me. I refused to take his jacket, but it helped when we got hot chocolate. When the park announced closing time, we began heading back to the parking lot. I liked it when Harlan took my hand, especially because it was warm. It almost felt like we were a couple, and I wondered why I was so comfortable with that.

  However, when he dropped me off at my house, he stuck with the friendly kiss on the cheek and told me goodnight. There was no awkward silence, no waiting to be invited in, and I was very happy with how smooth and effortless it was.

  It was a very good night.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  December 15th started off to be a good day. We had our on-air Christmas party at the station and it was a huge success. I couldn’t remember a work event that was more fun.

  I was exhausted when I got home that night. It was a Friday and I was so thankful I could sleep in the next morning. Harlan came over and we ordered Chinese food. It was basically our second date since Saturday. He’d asked me out by sending me flowers at work (with his phone number for a reply), and because the arrangement was beautiful, and I was impressed by his efforts, I said yes. Thursday and Friday were his days off that week, so I agreed to Friday—with the warning that I’d probably be pretty tired.

  I had a good time, though. We basically just ate and watched TV, talked, and made fun of our fortunes. Kailey came home with a few friends about an hour later, and it kind of evolved into a group date of playing cards. Socially Harlan was a pleasure, and everyone seemed to like him. He was friendly and witty, and he adapted well to any conversation. He was intelligent, but I loved the fact that he didn’t flaunt it endlessly. He could add to any topic with ease, but unless he was asked something specifically, he really didn’t choose to awe anyone with his intellect. His sense of humor was probably admired more than anything, and I think our group that night highly approved of him.

&nbs
p; Harlan left around ten, gave me the kiss on the cheek, and said goodnight. I wasn’t sure if it was a routine he was comfortable with, or if he was doing it for my benefit, but I was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to really kiss me.

  “Do I want him to kiss me?” I asked myself out loud. I was lying on my bed with the lights on that night, too wired to go to sleep.

  I thought about it for a several minutes, even laying out the pros and cons. Right now I was pretty comfortable with Harlan. We were good friends, mutually attracted to each other, and things were really simple. If he kissed me, things would change. Our relationship would become more affectionate, maybe even more serious on an emotional level… Would I really fall for him that way? I did like him, but was he really the type of guy that I could see myself being with?

  Then I began to think about Tyse and I became depressed. Since returning from California, it didn’t seem like we talked as much. Yeah we talked about twice a week, but it just didn’t feel the same for some reason. After visiting him I missed him more than before, and I wondered if it was going to be like that every time. Obviously that meant I needed to be around him, right? I knew I felt that way, but did he?

  I was too scared to find out, so every time we talked on the phone, it was the same type of conversation: I miss you, wish we could hang out, sorry I didn’t call back but I was busy, hey maybe we should be roomies some day… We didn’t always say those same things, but you get the picture. Very platonic. I almost felt like I was his little sister or something, and that really bothered me.

  He actually called the next morning, while I was still asleep with all the lights on in my room. I couldn’t find my phone at first, and barely caught it on the last ring.

  “Hey, Tyse.”

  There was a pause on the other end. “Uh, you’re not hung over again, are you?”

  “No,” I chuckled groggily. “I just woke up.”

  “It’s almost eleven.”

  “It is? Holy cow…”

  “You sure you didn’t party a little too much last night? Drink a little too much eggnog at the Christmas thing? Maybe someone added a little something special, you know?”