"Hey Trisha! You fall asleep on the couch watching TV again?"
Trisha stuggled to awaken and shift her reality away from her interesting dream to the reality of Shelley getting home from work. David Letterman's Top 10 List of the top uses of SPAM offered surreal background noise.
"Oh hi, Shelley, I guess I nodded off. I didn't see what happened at the end on CSI Miami, but I did tape it for you.
"Thanks a bunch. Hey you look sleepy or confused or something. You headed to bed soon?"
"Yeah, I have an 8 AM class then I have to go into work. Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, whatcha know?"
"Do you ever have strange dreams?"
"Yeah I suppose I do. One of my reoccurring dreams is that I am in the Miss Florida Teen pageant and I am due to go onto stage next and I forgot what I was supposed to do."
"Didn't that really happen?"
"Well, yes, but it's also a dream I have sometimes. I also dream that I can fly or that I need to get somewhere and the door is too small or too high or something. Why do you ask?"
Trisha did not want to tell her 'everything' so she paraphrased, "Well, lately I have been having dreams about Jay."
So are these 'erot..'"
Trisha abruptly stopped her, "No, nothing like that, but in these dreams, he and I are usually sitting together and we can't see the ground below us. Or else we're walking along a ledge or the side of the mountain and I look down and can't see the ground. In each dream I am afraid that I'm going to fall."
"So how are the two of you doing? You seem to be seeing each other just about every weekend. You exchange email and talk on the phone a couple of nights a week, right?"
"Sure, things seem good. And he's moving here in 6 weeks so things will only get better, I suppose."
"I'm no psychologist, but do you have any fears or concerns? Maybe you are afraid something will happen and you will mess things up. Or else you are afraid of the unknown or unseen or else you are not sure what you are getting yourself into."
"It may be some of that, but I guess I just need to see where things go and try not to hyper-analyze everything."
"Have you had a'special' date recently? One where you dressed up and he took you to a nice restaurant and you were both slow-paced and relaxed and you had a chance to talk?"
"Now that you mention it, Shelley, recently things have been a bit rushed and predictable. Should I say something?"
"Maybe, but it might be better to see if he initiates something on his own first." On that note, Trisha and Shelley retired to their individual bedrooms for the evening.
A few days later, Jay got a call from his old roommate Shawn, "Hey man how's things going in Augusta? You tried your first case yet?"
"No, and Reese Witherspoon and her Chihuahua didn't join the firm either. How about you, Shawn? Are you close to finding a job, yet?"
"Maybe. I have a good lead for a Marketing job with Time Warner Cable in Atlanta. But for now, I'm camping out in my old bedroom."
"So, How's the nightlife in Albany?"
"Dull as ever. Hey I'd love to come for a visit sometime. What's you got going on right now. I guess you see Trisha every weekend."
"Yeah, pretty much, but this weekend, I'm not seeing her until Saturday night."
"Hey, would you care if I came down Friday and left Saturday night in time to see Trisha?"
"Sounds great, you can crash in my folk's guest room."
"Alright dude, I'll see you when you get home from work on Friday."
Friday afternoon, Jay got off work and made it home around 5:30PM and opened the door to the smell of Mom's lasagna and fresh bread. Shawn greeted Jay at the door with a hi-five and a hug. Soon they were eating with Jay's folks, Keith and Molly and catching up over old times.
After some small talk, Jay 'cut to the chase', "So Shawn, what's up with you and Jeannie?"
"I don't know, really. We got to be good friends out last year at school as you well know, but her career is really taking off. She's working with one of those traveling Off-Broadway troupes - she's in 2 or 3 different cities a week and living on the road. I get an occasional phone call or email, but it's going to be tough."
"Yeah, long distance relationships can be trying. It's hard living 70 miles away from Trisha. It's almost unfair that we were together for 2 years and only friends and now we're dating, but apart."
"Yeah, but in a couple of months, you'll be in Columbia and all will be well." Keith and Molly sat and listened to their son and friend exchange this interesting banter. They had different thoughts dancing in their heads. Keith was impressed that Jay was dating such a quality young lady while Molly was only slowly warming to the idea and was still skeptical to some extent.
After dinner was over, Jay drove Shawn down to the riverfront to have an after dinner Corona and listen to a live band. They danced with a few pretty young ladies, but Jay kept his senses about him and did nothing to dishonor his relationship with Trisha. with so many of the girls wearing backless shoes, this only made Jay more excited that he was going to see Trisha soon. Shawn did not feel as constrained, but he still did nothing beyond enjoy the dancing.
On the way home, Jay decided to open up to Shawn a bit, "I wanted to get your opinion on something. Do you think that things really will be okay when Trisha and I are living in the same town?"
"Sure, Jay, why wouldn't it. You were great friends at UGA and you have been dating since October - long distance - but still dating. You're a match that's meant to be."
"Maybe so, but our times together seem rushed and somewhat forced. We do the same things each time we get together. I guess I am afraid that I feel less comfortable dating her than being friends."
"I'm not surprised, dude, you feel a lot more pressure now. She's wearing your promise ring, you're about to be living in the same town. You also want to make the most of your time together."
"I guess you're right."
"Have you done anything special together recently? When's the last time you dressed up and went to a nice restaurant and maybe went dancing or something?"
"Oh, it's been awhile. Probably my Spring Banquet or maybe dinner after our graduation."
"You see, neither of those are just you and her. They were events. Why don't you surprise her and take her out somewhere nice tomorrow. Is there any place in Columbia like that?"
"I guess so. When we get home, maybe we can get on the 'Net and look for someplace to go..
Jay and Shawn got back home and, being after midnight, Keith and Molly were in bed. Quietly, Jay got out his laptop
and connected to the web. Soon they discovered this listing:
Andrew's restaurant is considered the finest in Columbia...On Saturday
swing to the tune of Big Band classics and feast on our Prime Rib Buffet.
"That's you dude, I remember how Jeannie taught you to Swing and you and Trisha came in third in the swing contest back our junior year.
"I remember how upset Shelley Sullivan was when Beau Rodgers twisted his ankle."
"So are you going to go there tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'll call her before we go out to lunch tomorrow, so she'll know to dress up a little."
"Sounds great!"
Jay tossed and turned a little bit that night as he drifted off to sleep. Soon he found himself reliving a reoccurring dream, sitting on a couch with Trisha with her feet in his lap. He focused on her cute little backless mules and watched them as she dangled them a little with her feet. He began to tease her by pressing one of her mules farther toward the end of her toes, a little at a time. Soon, she flirtateously flipped the mule off her toes sending it to the floor. He took a moment to look at all 5 of her perfect toes then he began to give her a slow foot and ankle massage. Soon he repeated the same with the other foot. Then Jay found himself painting her toenails a beautiful shade of red. There was no doubt that he looked forward to some day being Trisha's husband and having all the priviledges that allowed.
The next morning, Keith and Molly shared a quick breakfast with the guys then they went to play a round of golf. Jay and Shawn goofed around the house a litte, shot some basketball and talked. Before lunch, Jay went upstairs to call Trisha.
"Hello."
"Trisha, it's me."
"Oh hi, Jay. Are you still coming over tonight?"
"Yes, and in fact I wanted to do something a bit different tonight. I went out on the web and I found a place, Andrew's restaurant. They have a prime rib buffet and swing dancing. I thought we'd dress up, have a slow relaxing dinner then go dancing."
"That sounds great, Jay! That's so sweet for you to come up with
something so nice. What time should I be ready?"
"I'll try to get there by 5:30."
"Great! I'm looking forward to it."
After getting off the phone, Trisha did a couple of twirls in the middle of the living room then crashed on the couch for a monent. Suddenly, she leaped off the couch and ran into the bedroom and picked out an outfit to wear. Looking at her dresses form her sorority days, one in particular stood out - a black sleeveless dress featuring a drape neck and an asymmetrical chiffon hem. She lifted it out of the closet and walked over to her floor-length mirror and held it against her waist The look was to her liking. Trisha laid the dress carefully across her bed, then knelt down facing the floor of her closet to pick out the right pair of heels.
Being it was June, she decided to look for a dressy pair of heeled slides - a pair that Jay would like and show offf her pedicure and fresh red polish. After looking at several pairs, she decided on a black pair of Pella Moda slides. This was an interesting-looking shoe with a square cut-out upper attached to two edge strips of leather on each side. The square area of leather was accented with a sparkly but classy arrangement of silver beads.
By 5:30, Trisha was dressed and ready to go and Jay knocked on the door. Trisha opened it and Jay handed her a simple bouquet of cut flowers. He was wearing a dressy long-sleeve shirt, a pair of dressy blue slacks and a pretty tie attached to his shirt with the gold monogrammed tie clip Trisha had given Jay as a graduation present.
"Oh, thank you for the flower, that's so sweet." Trisha leaned in and met Jay with a nice kiss. She scurried into the kitchen and put the flowers in water and returned to the living room where Jay took her hand and they sat down on the couch.
"Trisha, you look stunning. I'm practically speechless."
"Why thank you. You look quite handsome yourself."
Trisha crossed her leg so that her foot was directly, in front of Jay. "Are those a new pair of shoes? They're very pretty."
Expecting a comment, Trisha reached down and slipped the shoe off and held it a little closer to Jay's face. "They're maybe a year old, but maybe I haven't worn them around you. I like the detail with the strap with the shiny beads."
Jay touched the strap and felt the beads riple under his index finger. Trisha put her shoe back on and they exchanged some light banter before Jay suggested they leave for the restaurant.
Hand-in-hand, Jay led Trisha outside and into his car. Along the way he enjoyed watching Trisha, the way her beautiful brown hair swayed back in forth and her dress lightly hugged her body. He especially liked the sight and sound of her slides slapping against each foot.
Once inside the restaurant, they were immediately seated and they ordered their meals then took a trip to the buffet. The evening was off to a great start.
"So Jay, how's law clerking going this summer? Are you seeing any interesting cases?" "Oh, I've been helping gather information on a Workman's Compensation case at a Savannah River paper mill. How about the database encryption project you're working on?"
Trisha stretched her right leg out and rested the heel of her foot on the booth next to Jay's left leg. "It's going pretty well. We go to beta testing in September."
"Beta testing, what does that mean exactly?"
"I suppose the best way to descibe it is that Wachovia wants to use some fake but typical scenarios to try out the project and see if it works and if not, make the fixes that are needed to make it work."
"Okay that makes sense," Jay replied while noticing that Trisha had slipped her toes part of the way out of her shoe and was wiggling the loose upper form side to side with her toes.
"Jay, did I tell you about Shelley?"
"No, what's she doing these days?"
"She finally got what she wanted, a job in a larger market. In 2 weeks, she's moving to Charlotte to work for the Fox Affiliate over there."
"That's great, is she still going to do sports?"
"Yes, in fact she is going to get to work closely covering the Carolina Panthers and co-host their Sunday Night highlight show. She's also going to be involved with helping cover ACC basketball and a variety of things. She's real happy."
"I guess you're losing a roommate, though."
Trisha allowed her toes to relax and her shoe slipped off and over to the side exposing her bare foot. "Yeah, I might move in with my co-worker Joanna this fall, I'm going to wait and see. She has a condo over in Irmo - that's a suburb a little west of town."<
Jay enjoyed the sight of her foot and her nearby abandoned shoe. "I'm looking forward to moving to Columbia in August and getting settled into law school, but most importantly, I'm looking forward to us living in the same town again." Jay reached across and held Trisha's hand.
"I'm looking forward to you living here too." Trisha responded and pulled her bare foot off the seat and laid it on top of Jay's left foot and begain to fun his ankle with her toes - something that drove Jay absolutely mad in a good kind of way.
Jay and Trisha slowed down their conversation and focused on enjoying their food for a little while. And Jay enjoyed the under the table display of affection even more.
As they continued their meal, Trisha continued to rub Jay's ankle for about 15 minutes, then she tucked her foot under her other thigh. The conversation continued and they talked at length about the fun things they hoped they would be able to do together once they both lived in Columbia.
Trisha did not leave Jay wanting for long. Soon she rested her other foot on the booth next to Jay. This time she played with her shoe a little, rocking it side to side, allowing her toes to go up and down in the shoe but did not allow it to fall off. Jay enjoyed the view of her polished toes and the sparkly strap nevertheless.
Once their meal was over and the music was playing on the dancefloor, Jay extended his right hand to Trisha and took her shoe with his left and asked, "Shall we dance?" As they were ready to leave for the dancefloor, Trisha said nothing about her shoe and stood with Jay, who had her shoe still clutched with his left hand. " I guess you might want this back, huh?" Jay teased Trisha.
"Oh yeah, I hadn't noticed," Trisha pretended for Jay's benefit. Then she lifted her foot and allowed Jay to slip it back on before they walked to the dance floor hand-in-hand.
The music was swinging to the beat of Glenn Miller and Jay and Trisha joined hands and captured a piece of the dance floor. It had been over a year since they danced the swing but the memories of their college days filled their minds. Trisha was amazingly doing pretty well with the fast steps in her slides. The mere acrobatics of watching her dance with those pretty slides - with her toes flashing and her foot slapping around inside the shoe drobe Jay wild.
Several minutes later, Trisha planted her foot to make an abrupt turn and her foot slid to the side and one of the little straps of her shoe snapped. Her ankle twisted as she fell out of the shoe and into a lump on the dance floor.
Jay immediately came to her aid and helped her sit up. Trisha immediately reached for her ankle and began to rub it. ' I think I may have sprained my ankle, Jay."
Before Jay could do or say anything else, except reach out and take her hand for comfort, a fiftyish-looking man came over and knelt down beside Trisha.
"Hi I'm Dr. Reynolds form Columbia Orthapedics, may I check your ankle?" Trisha readily accepted the offer and Jay was relieved to have some help. A small crowd had surrounded the scene including a few of the restaurant management and staff. After a quick examination of Trisha's bare foot and ankle, Dr. Reynolds, continued, "It appears not to be broken but it might be a severe sprain. You need to go to the emergency room for an x-ray and a second opinion. Does your insurance cover Carolina Regional?"
Jay and Dr. Reynolds helped Trisha to her feet and Jay walked Trisha toward the exit. One of the waitreses picked up Trisha's abandoned broken shoe and shuffled over to Jay and handed it to him. "Thanks, he replied," as he stuffed the shoe in his blazer pocket.
Soon they were in Jay's car and speeding toward the hospital. At a stop light,. Jay looked over at Trisha holding ice on the injured ankle and was reminded that not all one shoe situations were fun or interesting. He remembered being appalled at the scenes of one-shod ladies fleeing from the 9/11 disaster, of scenes from seeing women who has lost a shoe in a tornado or traffic accident. This helped to reinforce that only playful and innocent shoe losses were to be enjoyed.
Jay and Trisha were at the hospital until 2:30AM waiting to be seen then waiting to find out the results of the X-ray. Dr. Chou agreed with Dr. Reynolds that she had a severe sprain. She wrapped Trisha's ankle and fitted her with a set of crutches and instructions to use them for 2 weeks. The evening was not a complete loss. At the hospital, Jay did a marvelous job keeping Trisha entertained and their romance was certainly rekindled anew. Jay had a real damsel in distress to take care of so he spent the night on their couch to help her.
Trisha rested on Sunday and Jay brought her a carry-out dinner to share before having to return to Augusta. By Monday she was ready to venture into work. It took Trisha longer that usual, taking care not to put weight on her sprained ankle. As she finished getting dressed she went to her closet to pick out a shoe to wear. The though of intentionally looking for only one shoe to wear was a bit humorous and ironic. Alas, this gave her a brilliant idea. Why not take this opportunity to wear some of her single shoes that were rendered otherwise useless without their missing mates?
Moments later, Trisha carefully knelt in front of her open closet door and reached into the back of her closet where she stashed all her mateless shoes. One by one she pulled them out and deposited them on the floor next to her. With each shoe she thought for a moment about the circumstance that rendered the mate to become lost. Of the 11 shoes she pulled out, 6 of them were for the correct foot so she tossed the other 5 back into their rightful place on the floor in the back of her crowded closet. She looked forward to wearing as many of them as she could during her time on crutches.
Trisha arrived at work only an hour late and hobbled over to her desk and took a seat.
Joanna was concerned, "What happened to you?"
"I twisted my ankle on the dance floor at Andrews' Saturday night. Jay was so sweet he stayed with me at the emergency room until well after midnight."
"How long will you be on crutches?"
Trisha shifted her swivel seat in Joanna's direction and replied, "I go back next Friday for a checkup and if everything is okay I'll be cleared.' She crossed her feet at the ankle and began to dangle her Kenneth Cole white high-heel mule with a wooden spike heel.
"I see that crutches haven't dampened your shoe style. I don't believe I've seen that shoe before."
"You haven't. I haven't worn these shoes since the summer of 2002."
"Why not? They're very pretty. It sort of has a western motif - like a boot with the top cut off."
"Well, I lost the other one in San Antonio when I was there for a sorority convention."
"The partying got a little out of hand, huh?" Joanna teased, knowing that Trisha was not normally the wild party girl type.
"It was an accident, one of the other girls I was sitting with over dinner at a Riverwalk-side cafe accidently kicked my shoe and if fell into the river - I never found it.
Trisha continued to tell her about being in one shoe the rest of the evening and about Jorge. This insight into her past made Joanna appreciate Trisha's character even more.
Each day that week, Trisha wore another mateless shoe and of course Joanna enjoyed hearing the story about each one. One was a backless loafer she had lost underground in the Atlanta subway, another was a white slide she had lost while visiting the USS Arizona in Hawaii. Yet another was not a true loss but an unusual occurance. while mindlessly playing with one of her shoes going up an escalator at the mall, the mate to a low-heeled black slide got trapped in the teeth of the escalator steps and the strap on one side was cut and rendered the shoe unwearable.
Over two weeks, Trisha was able to wear all six shoes once or twice each and on the second Friday after the accident, Trisha went back to see Dr. Chou. Near the end of the exam, the doctor began to unwrap her ankle.
"Well, Trisha, you're doing quite well. You can leave your crutches here and return to normal."
"That's great, thanks for taking such good care of me."
"You can put your other shoe back on and go home. Stop by the desk and they wil ltell you what you owe for this visit. It's probably just a co-pay."
Trisha reached in her purse for her checkbook then looked down at her single white slide the realized her folly. "Dr. Chou, i forgot to bring another shoe."
Dr. Chou laughed a little and replied, "Yeah, that happens every once in awhile. It won't look that unusual to be walking out of an orthapedic clinic in one shoe. People assume you have a swolen foot or something."
"You know what's really funny, I don't have the mate to this shoe anymore. I lost it a couple of years ago when I was in Hawaii. I still had the mate so I took the opportunity to wear it."
Dr. Chou thought this was strange but she did not let on that she felt this way, instead she empathized, "I lost a shoe at the theatre once. I slipped off one of my shoes to get comfortable and it fell under the seat in front of me. My husband and I looked for it for half an hour afterwards and I never did get it back.
Trisha said goodbye and walked past a waiting room full of onlookers as she slapped in one slide outside to her car and drove home. Her white slide rejoined 5 other mateless shoes in the back of her closet - once again rendered unwearable, but it was worth it to be rid of her crutches and the pain that went along with her sprained ankle.
