by Mia Ford
Like all the other social media sites, Kurt’s presence on there was an unenthusiastic one. He had done nothing with the account, to keep him in touch with ex-colleagues and fellow professionals or otherwise, but he did have one. A curious mugshot of Darlene also answered to his search and so there was his means of contact.
After punching the air, he spent a few moments wondering why she had chosen such a furtive looking pic. She looked more like the Darlene who had jetted off to the East Coast three years back; plain and not even showing off her best feature in that she was not smiling. It looked very much like she was reticent about the picture being taken at all… but no matter. He would be able to say he had made a use of LinkedIn at last, as he clicked on the friend’s request feature and typed in the message box: ‘Good to see you again Darlene! You still up for that date? Kurt.’
He had to wait an hour for a response, during which time he did wonder whether Darlene still had an email connected to the site. The truth is that there are so many disconnected and half-hearted accounts littering the online world that is supposed to be running our lives, but he was to get lucky. His fascination was not completely unreachable after all and so her response came back:
‘I am if you are. What do you have in mind?’
‘There are some nice restaurants with sea views here,’ he replied. ‘I could pick you up one evening and choose one of them. I was just wondering how to prize you away from your parents without them knowing.’
‘There are some old friends I can claim to be meeting up with,’ she replied. ‘If you can pick me up from town instead?’
Awesome, he thought, not only had she not changed her mind, she’s already been thinking of the logistics. It all boded well for what kind of date they would have. Plus, going behind their parents’ backs was proving more of a turn-on than he had realized it would.
‘How about this Friday?’ he then asked.
‘Thursday would be better. Less obvious,’ she replied. ‘Also, is there something more casual than a restaurant? I’ve met a few more of dad’s clients since I got back and some of them might be hanging around near the harbor.’
Well, this is a first, thought Kurt, a girl asking me to think less extravagantly when I’m trying to get her into bed. Everything about the scenario was suggesting that dating Darlene was going to be very different to anyone he had dated before – and he was all for embracing the draw of mysterious waters.
‘How about the bowling alley? As long as you don’t expect me to be any good at it,’ he then suggested.
‘That sounds like a better option. Though I’d be nervous of doing it.’
Nervous of doing what? he thought. Had she seriously been so held back from youthful pursuits that she had never been in a bowling alley?
This girl was reserved; seriously so. And yet she was still saying ‘Yes’ and allowing him to lead with the suggestions, giving him the impression that he had come along at exactly the right time for what he most desired: a quest of mutual discovery.
‘As I say, it’s not something I’m great at,’ he replied. ‘Will just be nice to have your company without the parents. I didn’t really feel I could ask you about college with them there.’
He realized that response eluded to wild times she was supposed to have had that she possibly hadn’t, but it would still serve as a convenient conversation topic. The fascination as to whether Darlene was a dark horse with a more expansive lifestyle or else someone who had hardly known a man’s touch had not lessened since the dinner.
The correspondence drew to a close then. Having agreed a date, Darlene asked for his mobile number and only told him to head to the centre of Portland at 6pm on Thursday. It was clear that she was intending on giving someone the slip before seeking him out and probably because her parents would insist on dropping her off in town. All of which only made Kurt more excited.
They were playing with fire in a way, even though it was not obvious how fierce the flames were. Was Mr Furse an overprotective parent whose amiable outer shell would crack if he heard of a bad boy carting his little girl off, or would he suck it all up and carry on as normal? It was hard to read because it was hard to imagine him in a state of fury but, either way, he was not one for conducting relationships in a ‘proper’ fashion. Kurt was not about to trot up to the man’s door and ask for permission to take his daughter out to dinner. Rather he’d have as much fun as he could before be deciding whether or not it was in his interests to involve parents at all (and almost certainly not). So, sneaking around was going to be in order – if, that is, she did not turn out to be one of those girls who demanded his hand in marriage before hands were allowed below the neck and above the knee.
Anything was possible, but that was exactly how Kurt preferred life to be. Like an ocean voyage, it was all about embracing mystery and allowing fate and destiny to seek you out if it so chose.
Thursday evening came and Kurt sat parked up in the Pearl District of Portland, thrumming his fingers on his steering wheel and wondering whether to go and get a coffee somewhere.
It was 5:15 and he was early – mostly through not wanting to be late, but the traffic had been kind. There was only 45 minutes to wait, by which time Darlene should have called him and let him know where she could be picked up from. The older he got, however, the more Kurt found that he became bored very easily and so he sat in his car feeling tetchy and uncertain.
Why that might be was something of a puzzle, being the laid-back type. But it was almost as if some outside force was telling him that time was precious and not to sit idle.
As it turned out, he had nothing to worry about, because something uncanny then happened.
There he was looking out over Columbia Square when who should turn the corner but none other than Darlene heading his way.
Have I completely underestimated this girl, he thought, wondering how she could possibly know where he was? That was his first thought anyway; his second was how staggeringly dazzling she looked. If he had thought meeting her in the company of their parents and in homely surroundings had been an eye opener then seeing her out and about, with the wind in her hair, made him see that he had booked a date with a real bombshell.
She was dressed in a lilac one-piece that hung from one shoulder only and ended just above the knee. Fitting her curves perfectly, for someone of her background it probably amounted to being that dress she had always wondered if she would have the nerve to wear. Kurt thought that she looked like pure class and immediately saw that he would have to act quickly to show that she was with him. Eyes were turning her way, scanning her up and down as the male gaze does and, if he wasn’t swift enough, he might have to end up fighting several rivals off.
Getting out of the car and trying not to look like he was rushing in closing the gap between them, Kurt fixed her with his best John Travolta grin.
‘You never told me you worked in intelligence, Darlene,’ he said.
‘What do you mean?’ she asked, returning his smile though seeming a bit shyer of him than her appearance suggested.
‘How would you know I was here otherwise?’ he asked.
‘Oh! This is where everyone comes,’ she replied.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘It’s just an observation people have always made. Anyone who arrives in Portland from the west always chooses to stop in the Pearl District.’
‘No kidding.’
‘No one knows why, but I thought I’d come here and then call if you were elsewhere.’
‘Well, it was a good call,’ he told her, ‘here I am – and here we are.’
‘Yes,’ she replied, sounding a little giddy as she failed to sound casual – a response he could not help but love.
‘I hope it wasn’t too difficult getting around your parents?’ he asked.
‘Not so hard,’ Darlene replied, with a shrug.
‘Did you have to give someone the slip to get here?’
‘No, a trusted friend dropped me off,�
� she revealed. ‘She owes me a few favors.’
‘Well, good! That’s come in handy,’ he said. ‘Means we can enjoy a nice evening together. Shall we?’
Darlene accepted his invitation and they were soon in the front seat of his Toyota, heading back to the freeway and the coast. Kurt had always avoided going for the flashiest cars. In part, it was unnecessary when you had access to a fleet of luxury yachts, but he also thought it a good move in showing that he did not feel the need to be really flash (even though the truth was he would have preferred a Jag). His date did appear impressed enough by his motor, however, though he did wonder if that was more because she had never gotten into the front seat of some guy’s car and been whisked away in this fashion before.
With his anticipation for a fabulous evening stirred, Kurt simply had to find out the truth about her, but knew that patience was a virtue (so they say). Hopefully there would come a time for more interesting questions later. For the time being he just had to make sure she was comfortable enough in his company and set about helping her to relax and trust him.
‘So, we didn’t really get the chance to talk the other day,’ he began. ‘I guess we can make up for that this evening.’
‘Without our parents listening in,’ she agreed, still looking unsure of herself.
‘Absolutely! Are you really pleased to be back? I know people can feel a little lost after finishing education.’
‘Oh, I know what you mean,’ she agreed, responding well to his hint of compassion. ‘There are a lot of decisions to take and my dad’s talking of a job in his office, but…’
‘But you’re not sure about accepting an easy route via your parents.’
‘Yes, but–’
‘Ha! It’s OK,’ he said, reading her mind. ‘You can’t offend me. I love life on the ocean so joining the family business was an easy decision for me. But each to their own, if you want to follow your own path I’d say go for it.’
‘You’re right. The problem is I’m not completely sure about what I want to do, it’s just that…’
‘That you don’t want to be railroaded by your parents.’
‘I worry if I make the wrong decision I’ll be stuck there, or else I would have accepted by now. What do you think?’
‘No one should feel trapped. Do you have any idea what else you’d prefer?’
‘Only vaguely. I think I’d prefer something more expansive. More… adventurous, I guess. Like what you do – but I’m not sure my parents will be very supportive about that.’
Kurt loved that she had used the word ‘adventurous’, suggesting there was something inside her yearning to break free. The evening was getting better by the minute, as his earlier summations of her character were being proven sound (he had been guilty of imagining such things before).
‘Are they a little overprotective of you?’ he asked.
‘In a sense,’ she admitted. ‘They’ve never been outwardly strict but I get a lot of silent pressure from them.’
‘Because they know you can read their minds?’
‘They’re pretty good at that,’ she nodded, acknowledging the weight of expectation upon her never to do anything that brought shame upon their orthodox ways. Presumably sneaking off with a young gentleman without getting their approval for whom he was came under that banner, but Kurt resisted saying anything to cause her further dilemma. Darlene was rebelling against her parents later than most but he was not about to be playing Devil’s advocate. He might be the temptation, but the risk was all hers to take.
There was something he was dying to ask about though and, feeling he could not do so directly, he used the context of her parents to give her the opportunity.
‘Were they supportive when you were with that guy at college?’ he asked, wondering if she would reveal more about why that had not worked out.
‘Erm… well, that was a little funny,’ was her curious reply and he sensed both a reticence to discuss the subject and also a need to explain something.
‘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 p
ick 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.
