Her first walk down the hallway to her bedroom she noticed that someone had cut out the picture of her and Beau dancing from the Atlanta newspaper and taped it on Shelley's door. The culprit had drawn an arrow to her and added the caption "Mystery Date??" Trisha thought it was a mean trick to play on Shelley but she was a little relieved that her identity seemed secure, at least for now. Seeing the photo on the door stirred up some emotion in Trisha. She had had such a good time with Beau and she wondered if he'd ever call her again and if he'd return her missing mule form the party at the coach's home.
Trisha walked to the mailroom and found a stack of catalogs, magazines and a medium-sized box, which seemed puzzling, since she had not ordered anything she was expecting. Once back at the room she opened the odd package and discovered her missing Paco Gil black mule and an attached note:
Dear Trisha,
Beau Rodgers asked me to mail this to you at your sorority house. I hope that was okay. We looked all over the garden to no avail, then Mark decided to go up to the balcony and look over the roof in daylight. He found your shoe in the gutter and he had our son, Jon, climb up and rescue it. Had it rained, your shoe might have been ruined, which would have been a shame. It is such a pretty pair of shoes.
Sincerely,
Katharyn Richt
Trisha was a little disappointed that Beau had not returned the shoe himself, but she realized how busy he had been with going to New York and New Orleans over the Christmas Break. She figured their evening together was a one night thing and she needed to not give him another thought.
In the sorority dining room that evening, Trisha sat at a table with Shelley, Jeannie, Stacy and Brittany and the conversation centered on the photo on Shelley's door.
"So Shelley, what did you think about that picture of Beau in the newspaper?" Stacy asked, hoping to get a reaction.
"I guess he can date whoever he wants. He broke things off with me completely."
Brittany added, "But aren't you curious who that is on the dancefloor?" Trisha stayed silent and focused on eating her peas and mashed potatoes.
"It could be just about anyone. It I really wanted to find out, I could probably ask around and figure it out. But why bother? He didn't want to date me any more so why should I care?"
Trisha was surprised at how well Shelley was taking this. 'But it could have been a facade,' she thought. After dinner, Trisha approached Shelley and asked her, "Hey do you want to take a walk? I'd like to talk with you about something.
Shelley quickly agreed and soon both had donned sweatshirts and clogs and they walked toward campus.
After a little bit of small talk, Trisha began. "You know how I dated Doug a little bit this past semester?"
"Sure, you were gone part of every weekend it seemed."
'Well, did you know that I did not tell Amber and I felt really guilty about that."
"But you said at dinner that you told her over Christmas break."
"Right, but I waited several months too long. So that's why I wanted to talk with you tonight."
"Okay, what's up?"
The girls came to a brick wall that stood about 3 feet high. Trisha took a seat and Shelley in turn did the same. Within seconds, Shelley had dumped her clogs with a clack on the sidewalk and Trisha was swinging her legs back and forth and dangling both of her clogs.
"That photo that was on your door. I didn't put it there, but I'm the girl he was dancing with."
Shelley stopped suddenly and was totally shocked. "He asked you to be is date to the senior dinner at the coach's house (Shelley knew about it ahead of time, it seemed) and you said 'yes.' What about Doug?"
"Well in my mind, I was just Beau's date for that night. I go out with Jay under the same pretense all the time. Beau was on short notice and needed someone to take and he remembered me from that Valentines Party last year."
"It would be easy to be angry with you, Trisha, but for some reason, your honesty is refreshing. Did he ask you out again, by any chance?"
"No, but of course I left to go home to Atlanta the next day."
"Would you go out with him again if he asked?"
Trisha suspected that this was a loaded question. Both of her clogs fell off a few feet in front of where they sat, exposing the garnet red socks Trisha was wearing. "I don't know; he hasn't called me since we went out and I don't know if he will. How would you feel about it?" Trisha wished she had had this conversation with Amber before dating Doug. It felt better to open up to Shelley and not keep things secretive."
Shelley seemed a little releived that Beau had not called Trisha since their date so figuring there was little risk, she swallowed her pride - a new taste indeed for her - and replied, "If you want to date him, go right ahead. He rejected me. There must be someone out there better for me."
Trisha and Shelley then hugged, put their clogs back on and returned to the AOPi house. After 3 1/2 years of being sorority sisters, the competition was apparently over and they were on the road to developing a real friendship - not just a sorority facade. Unfortunately, they had little time together to cultivate the friendship too much. Shelley began working every weekend in Atlanta at WAGA as a sports reporter and was in the sorority house only during the week when Trisha was gone a lot of the time working on her senior database design project.
Jay and Shawn went out to grab some chicken fingers at Guthrie's that night to catch up on things. Shawn told him about breaking up with Donna...again...over Christmas and they discussed his progress with Trisha.
"So Jay, what's your magic number down to now?"
"It's 124 - 17 weeks and 5 days"
"So what's your plan?"
I don't know, Shawn. I need to call her and get together. Maybe if I just stay close, I'll be in the right place at the right time when she's ready.
"What about her and Doug?"
"I don't know, really. They don't seem too serious, but he's certainly in a better position than I am right now."
"You need to come up with something to stand out above all the rest, but I don't know exactly what."
Jay and Shawn finished their meal and headed back to the Beta house with nothing concrete really decided. He decided to give Trisha a call and he just happened to catch her a few minutes after getting back from her walk and talk with Shelley.
"Happy 2002, Trisha! How are you?"
"I'm doing well. Getting ready to start my last semester. It's sort of sad."
Jay certainly seconded that opinion. He'd spend every day with Trisha if he could. She was such a great girl, but he tried to make his reply more casual. "Yeah, things around here won't be the same around here without you. Hey, you up to having dinner tomorrow after chapter meeting? That's become one of our little traditions, the first week of the semester, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, we certainly need to not miss out on the last one. How 'bout I pick you up at the Beta house and go to the Broad Stret Cafe?"
Trisha had not offered to drive in a long time, Jay was taken back a little. "Sure, just give me a ring before you leave and I'll be outside waiting on you.
The next day, Trisha finished up her AOPi chapter meeting and picked up Jay to go to eat. As always, Trisha was well dressed, having just attended her weekly chapter meeting. She wore a maroon business suit with a cream-colored blouse and a pair of low cut maroon "Rox" mules by Caslon worn with a pair of nude sheer hose to better handle the cold weather. These were some of Trisha's lowest-cut low-heeled mules and also some of Jay's favorites. Nylons made wearing them even more interesting for Jay to watch.
When they got in the car, Trisha immediately removed her right shoe and laid it on the console between the driver and passenger seats so she could drive a bit more safely. Jay looked down and took a mental photograph of the shoe. He saw how little of her foot was covered by the upper. He then looked down at her nyloned foot managing the accelerator and break. She had a pretty dark red polish on her toes underneath her nylons. After a little bit of small talk in the car, Trisha put her shoe back on once they arived at the restaurant.
"Wow it's crowded today," Trisha noted as they entered the restaurant to the sweet sound of her mules slapping her feet and the floor with every step.
Soon the hostess asked, "Would you mind taking one of the high tables, all the booths are taken and there will be a wait."
Jay, wanting to not make it look like he was manipulating for more time with Trisha - like he really wanted to do - said, "Sure, that will be okay."
Trisha actually preferred booths to high tables and stools, but she also did not want to be out too late since she had an 8:00AM class the next day. Soon they were seated and Trisha crossed one leg and soon her shoe was barely hanging onto ther toes. Jay loved the sight, but he loved the sight of Trisha being in his company much more.
After swapping stories about their Christmas breaks and Jay taking in Trisha's shoeplay gymnastics that defied gravity as she kept her mule from falling off despite her efforts to the contrary, they came to a more serious topic.
"So Trisha, how are things going with you and Doug?"
"To be honest, we're still going out on occasion, but we're not 'going steady' or 'in a relationship'. (Trisha used hand gesture quotes on each of these cliched phrases.)
Jay took the high road. "I'm sorry, I know you like him a lot."
"Yeah, it's looking like I'll still be unattached when I leave Athens in 4 months. How about you, anyone new in your life?"
"I've been out a few times with this Phi Mu from one of my classes named, Shelia, but we're not steady or exclusive." Of course, Jay had not been out with Shelia since November and was not in a hurry to go out with her again, neccessarily. But, he wanted to give Trisha a better answer to her question.
"Yeah, dating's hard. You put a lot of energy into it and rarely get back your fair share in return, it seems" Her mule finally escaped and landed on the wood floor with a loud noise, embarrassing her slightly.
Jay leaned down and replaced her shoe on her foot, taking the opportunity to rub the insole and tickle her foot slightly, and added, "I know what you mean." He couldn't agree with her more, but was amazed at how blind Trisha was to the fact that she had completely ignored the possibility that a relationship worth while was right under her nose all along. Soon, they finished their meal and Trisha drove Jay back to the Beta house.
A couple of days later, Trisha got a call from Beau. She tried to hide being a little hurt that it took him so long to call.
"Hello Trisha, It's Beau."
"Hi Beau, nice to hear form you."
"I'm sorry for not calling you sooner; I assume you got your shoe back."
"Yes, I got it in the mail from your coach, thanks."
"I haven't been on campus much and I probably won't be the rest of the semester. I'd like to see you though."
"Okay, what did you have in mind?" They agreed to meet at the Oglethorpe Dining Hall at noon the next day which was convenient for Trisha since it was between the center of campus and the AOPi house.
With great anticipation and curiosity, Trisha left her 11AM class en-route to meet Beau for lunch. She was smartly dressed in a warm red sweater, a pair of Khaki slacks and a pair of red Studio Delman "Odyssey" mules barefoot, despite the cool January weather. She wore her long brown hair in a bouncy pony tail which was adorned with a matching red ribbon.
Beau was aiting just inside the dining hall entrance when Trisha arrived. He took her hand briefly as she entered and led her toward the line as they exchanged 'hellos'. They said little to each other as they went through the food line cafeteria-style and got their lunch. Once seated, Beau began, "Trisha, I just had to see you again after our night at the Richts'."
"I have to admit that I felt that way too, but I wondered if you felt the same." Trisha postered herself in a defensive mode with one leg crossed and dangling one of her red mules off the end of her toes.
"Trisha, since I'm going to be gone in a little over 3 months and even then, I've made arrangements to take all my classes between Monday morning and midday Wednesday. I'm not going to be in town the rest of the time. I'll be do a lot of physical training. We have the NFL Combines in late February."
"Beau, what's a 'combine'?"
"The NFL invites college seniors who have a good chance of being drafted for a week of tryouts in front of the NFL scouts. It can make or break your draft position and therefore gain or lose you a lot of money."
"It sounds important. I'm impressed that you are still in school this semester."
"I was so close to graduation that I just had to try to finish up."
"What is your major? I don't think we ever talked about it and Shelley never mentioned it."
"I majored in Physical Education. I figured that I'd want to coach someday and maybe even at the high school level. What about you, Trisha."
Trisha became less nervous and more confident as she leaned forward in her seat, uncrossed her legs and slipped both feet out of her shoes and began to press and flex her dark red painted toes on the backs of her heels under the table. "I'm majoring in Management Information Systems and minoring in Accounting."
Beau and Trisha talked a little more about their majors then Beau returned to the main topic at hand. "Trisha, I wanted to meet you today to talk about what happened at the party. We almost kissed and when you lost your shoe on the roof, we never did recover. I did not intend to get feelings for you. I knew you were Shelley's friend and that more importantly I'd be gone and unable to develop any type of relationship with you." Beau gently touched Trisha's hand with his.
"Beau, I felt conflicted as well. I was still dating someone else at the time, but that relationship has cooled a bit, now. I'll admit that before we went out, I expected you to be different, maybe a bit more like Shelley. Instead I find you charming and a perfect gentleman. You are nice company."
"I guess, Trisha, what I wanted to tell you is that I really can't see you any more, but it's not because I wouldn't like to. I just can't give you the time that you deserve. Your're so pretty and so sweet and friendly to everyone. If we had met earlier, who knows, but now, there's no way."
Trisha felt a little sad, but a the same time, it encouraged her to hear Beau say such kind words. "Beau, I want you to train like you never have before and knock 'em dead at that combine. I'll be rooting for you."
Soon Trisha and Beau finished their lunches and they walked out of the dning hall onto the sidewalk. "I'm catching a plane this afternoon to visit a few NFL team scouts over the next few days. I guess this is goodbye."
"Have a safe and successful trip."
Beau acknowledged her comment and added, "Thanks, Trisha. I hope your semester goes well also. It was nice getting to know you - even if it was for a brief time." Then Beau surprised Trisha with the completion of the kiss that they started back in January. Trisha subconsciously lifted her right leg and her red mule fell off and bounced on the brick sidewalk. A single tear began to fall down her face. Trisha watched Beau get on the campus shuttle bus and ride off before she broke her concentration enough to replace her shoe on her cool bare foot.
The next weekend Trisha went home to Atlanta and went out with Doug on Saturday night. Things seemed to be going well, but neither talked about making any change to their relationship. Unbeknownst to Trisha, Doug had been in regular contact with Amber, calling each other and sending email back and forth. However the subject of Amber was not breathed during their entire date. The weekend after that, Trisha went to New York for her usual shoe modeling session. Doug secretly drove to Savannah and spent the weekend with Amber in her Aunt's guestroom. They enjoyed touring the city and they even spent a cool evening on the beach at nearby Hilton Head Island watching the waves and the stars in the sky as they talked about a lot of things.
Yet another week later, Trisha stayed in Athens for a sorority function on Friday night and a fraternity function Saturday night - both with a very happy Jay. The sorority function had an African Safari theme and Trisha wore a cute pair of zebra stripe mules. The fraternity function was a winter formal and Trisha enjoyed wearing a new pair of cream-colored high heel mules by Stuart Weitzman and a matching below the knee length ivory-colored dress. On Jay's suggestion, Shawn asked Jeannie to be his date to the formal and they had a good time as well.
Trisha and Jay had a good time. He had improved his dancing ability and they spent a lot of the time on the dancefloor. Trisha manuvered well in her white mules but came out of one or the other a few times during some of the faster dances.
Go to PART TWO
