BLIND DATE
(a fiction by Cella)
“Who?” Maggie asked.
“It's Faye Parker's son, Clayton. He's 19 and goes to school. He's a really nice guy – I bet the two of you would hit it off.”
“I don't know, Debbie. A blind date? I mean...”
“Oh, come on hun – take a chance! You've got to stop being so scared and get out and meet people – meet some guys – get a little practice in.”
“But I...”
“But nothing – I'll call Faye and get it arranged.”
She reaches for her chest as her heart starts to pound. “God, I'm already nervous.”
Debbie puts her arm around her and gives a reassuring squeeze. “It'll be alright. I wouldn't set you up with a lousy guy. Nobody says you have to marry him – just go and have some fun. He's very nice and hard working. You need this.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Clayton?” Faye says as she knocks on his bedroom door.
“Yeah, come on in.”
“Clayton, I know you've always got something going on, but I'd like to ask you a favor.”
“Uh oh. I know that tone in your voice. What is it?”
“My friend Debbie at work would like to know if you'd be interested in going out with one of her co-workers.”
“Debbie who?”
“You know Debbie – she works in the front office. They hired a part-time clerk – her name's Maggie and she's 19. She thinks the two of you would have a nice time.”
“Oh, I get it – DEBBIE AT WORK wants me to go out with this girl. Why do I have the feeling CERTAIN OTHER PEOPLE have something to do with this?”
“Clayton – it's one date. Debbie says she's very shy, but very sweet.”
“Why are they always shy, Mom? Do I look like the man with the magic mallet to crack girls out of their shells or something?”
“Honey, you never know what's hidden behind the shyness. I remember a certain boy who blossomed not all that long ago, and what a difference it's made in his life.”
“Mom – boys don't 'blossom' – they...mature.”
“Ok, fine Clayton. They mature. I won't argue with you, honey.”
She won't argue? She really wants me to do this. He sighed. “You're going to bug me until I say yes.”
“No, Clayton – it's up to you. Really.”
“I know that tone, too. You don't lie well, Mom.”
She chuckled. “So can I tell Debbie yes?”
He grumbled under his breath then answered. “Alright, fine. I'll meet her. Just please don't start on any wedding invitations, ok?”
“Ok, I won't. Would you do me one more favor, son?”
“Well, while I'm being generous here, I might as well.”
“Treat her nice, ok? I know you feel like I'm twisting your arm to do this, but please don't take it out on her. You might actually find out she's a nice girl to hang around with.”
Clay's eyes soften and he lets out a cleansing sigh. “Ok, Mom. I promise.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Hello?”
“Hello, is this Maggie?”
“Yes it is.”
“Hey Maggie, this is Clayton Aiken. Debbie said you'd be expecting my call?”
Her heart begins palpitating. “Hi. Yes Clayton, she said you'd be calling.”
“I hope I'm not disturbing you right now.”
“Oh no. You caught me at a good time. I was just taking it easy now that classes are done for the day.”
“Oh, well that's good. Anyway, I understand from Debbie that you don't have work on Thursdays and Fridays? I was thinking we could have lunch and then maybe we can do something afterward.”
“Yeah, either day is ok. I have classes until Noon both days then I'll be home.”
“Well, how does one o'clock Thursday sound?”
“That's fine.”
“Ok, how about we have lunch, then we play it by ear whatever we do afterward.”
“Ok, sounds good. Let me give you my address.”
Clay jots it down. “Got it. Ok, well I'll see you Thursday then.”
“Ok, see you then. Thanks for calling.”
She didn't know whether she wanted to faint or jump with delight. Oh man...I have an actual DATE!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On Thursday the clock shows five after one. Her nerves get twice as bad when she hears the doorbell ring.
“Hi,” she says rather meekly as she opens the door.
“Hi Maggie? I'm Clayton.”
“Hi. C'mon in.”
God, I'm so glad nobody else is home right now. Take it easy, Maggie. It's just having lunch.
“I uh, hope you didn't have trouble finding the house.”
“No, not at all. Actually, I only live about a mile from here.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, near the high school.”
“Leesville High? Ok – yeah, that's not far at all from here.”
The brief silence turns a bit awkward.
“Well, shall we go?”
“Oh, yeah sure,” she says as she grabs her purse. Where are my brains? I'm standing around like an idiot. Clay waits on the porch as Maggie locks the door, then they walk down the steps to the driveway together. He opens the passenger door of his blue late model Accord and helps her in.
God, I can't believe this is happening, she thinks as Clay gets in and turns over the engine. My second date ever and I don't even know this guy. He didn't even go to my school!
Debbie wasn't kidding about her being shy. I can already see that talking to her is gonna be like pulling teeth. “It's a nice day outside,” Clay starts.
“Yeah, it is. Finally we get some nice, warm days.”
“It has been a while with all the rain lately. Um...so, do you like barbeque? I was thinking we could go to City Barbeque over on Broad Street.”
“That sounds good. I've heard of it, but I haven't been there.”
“Well, it's really good. My favorite is the pulled pork sandwich, but they have great ribs and chicken there, too. They have a patio so we can sit outside and soak up the sun.”
She smiled a bit. “Ok. I'm getting hungrier just thinking about it.” Stomach, don't grumble too much, ok? How embarrassing would THAT be.
Even with his blurry peripheral vision out of the sides of his glasses, he can see she's sitting pretty stiff. About ten minutes later, after a few starts at conversation, they pull into the lot and park in a spot behind the restaurant near the smoker. If I don't say something now, the whole afternoon's going to be one big awkward silence. I hope she doesn't get mad at me. Here goes nothing.
He opens his door and Maggie also starts opening her door. “Hold on a minute, let me get that for you,” he says, then walks around to her door.
“Oh, ok. I'm sorry,” she says as she's still seated. Oh my God, how sweet – he's getting the door for me. Clay opens the door but then crouches down to her level. She's not sure what's going on.
“Maggie...” he starts very softly. “I really hope I don't sound conceited here, but...you don't have to impress me, ok? I don't want you to feel like this is a job interview where you have to say all the right things and be on your best behavior.”
She looked at her lap while a little blush came over her face. Oh no – so much for trying to not look nervous.
“Debbie said you were a bit on the shy side? I just want to let you know that I'm a 'go with the flow' kind of guy, and even though we just met, I hope that we can take it easy and have a nice afternoon like a couple of school friends just hanging out. Does that sound ok?”
Clay could see her eyes soften and her shoulders relax. She let out a sigh and a little smile broke through. “Ok, I'll try.”
Clay stands up, opens the door the rest of the way and puts out his hand.
“Cool. Now let's eat some barbeque and get sauce all over our fingers!”
She chuckled and her smile grew bigger as she took his hand and got out of the car.
She's got a pretty smile. This may turn out ok after all.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Holy moly, I'm not going to be able to eat all this chicken!”
Clay giggled. “I'm sorry, I should've warned you – the portions here are HUGE. I'll get you a to-go box later.”
“Maybe you can help me eat some of this.”
“I don't know...” he said, shaking his head with his eyebrows raised. “I'm a big eater, but heck, look at MY plate. The sides alone make a meal!”
“Looks like I'll have plenty to eat for lunch tomorrow, which is good because I love cold chicken. Goodness, how am I supposed to eat this?”
Clay smiled from one corner of his mouth and made a breaking gesture with his hands. “Just get in there, pick it up and pull it apart. Barbeque ain't meant to be pretty.” She giggled a little and grasped the chicken firmly with her fingertips. “Ok, here I go. I hope we have enough wet-naps.”
“I'll get you more if you need them,” he says as he enjoys watching her pull the chicken apart. “If they don't have enough of 'em, I'll just hose 'ya down.”
She chuckled at his joke. “You want a wing?” she asks as it falls off the bone.
“You sure you don't want it?”
“I've got a five-pound chicken on my plate – please take some!”
He giggled. Oh good, she made a joke – that's a good sign. “Alright, sure.” She puts the huge wing on his plate. “So, where do you take classes, Maggie?”
“Over at Wake Tech.”
He profusely squirts the vinegar on his sandwich. “Oh really? What are you taking?”
“Well, right now, I'm carrying a full load, but it's mostly administrative courses – Advanced Microsoft Access and Excel; shorthand; clerical simulations; and then there's a couple of upper-level classes I'm taking to fulfill the Associate Degree requirements.”
“How much longer 'til you get your Associate Degree?”
“If I'm lucky and they don't tell me a month before that I'm one credit short...” she says as she daintily licks her fingers, “...I'll graduate in June.”
“Wow, you're that close? I still have a year to go.” Clay takes a big bite of his sandwich and the slaw and vinegar drip onto the plate.
“Well, I took advantage of the Summer Sessions to get rid of a few of the more difficult core classes.”
“But still it seems so soon. What year did you graduate?”
“'96.”
“Oh ok, you graduated a year before me. What high school did you go to?”
“It's a parochial school – Durham Christian Academy?”
“No, I haven't heard of it.”
“Well, it's a pretty small school.”
“Was it strict? Did you have to wear uniforms and everything?” All of a sudden, he pictured her in a white cotton blouse and short grey skirt.
“Actually no, we lucked out, but there were a couple times where they were considering it. We had a dress code – like the guys had to wear collared shirts and the girls couldn't wear anything that went above the knees. So, uh – you said you went to Leesville High? What was that like?”
“Oh, the classes were fine. It's a good school. I had fun going there – I was in some school plays and recitals. But you know how it goes, though – you get picked on every once in a while by the idiots, then as you get to be an upperclassman, things get better.”
“Man, I can't even imagine going to a public high school – just so many people. How many people were in your class?”
“Oh, I think three or four hundred.”
“Wow. There were only 250 in my whole school! I just can't imagine...I mean, how do you get to know everybody?”
“Well, you really don't. You get to know people in your classes and you have your own circle of friends. Some of them you remember from middle school or they live near you.”
“I guess I'm glad I was able to get to know everybody. We had very little of that clique crap and people picking on other people. I guess it's just a different...”
“...culture?”
“Yeah. I mean, you have your own friends, but when there's only 12 teachers in the whole school, everyone has classes together and you get to know people better than just a face. My girlfriend and I hung around with freshman girls our senior year and nobody thought that was weird or bothered us about it.”
Maggie notices Clay's crooky smile.
“What is it? Do I have sauce on me or something?”
“No, no. It's just...I'm glad you're getting more comfortable talking with me.”
She can't help her blushing, but she smiles in reply. “I'm hogging the conversation. Tell me more about your school.”
Clay snickers.
“What?”
He holds up his second pulled pork sandwich. “Hogging the conversation? Very punny.”
“Oh goodness, how funny,” she giggled. “I didn't even notice saying that.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Clay comes back with a couple to-go containers.
“So, what would you like to do after this?”
“Um...I'm not sure. It's such a nice day out. Do you have any ideas?”
“Well, we could go to a park, or go bowling or putt-putting...”
“Putt-putting?” Is there a miniature golf course around here?”
“Yeah, it's about five miles down the road. I guess you don't come over to this side of town very often?”
“Well, we lived in Durham up until a couple years ago, and it seems like the only places I've seen since moving to Raleigh are what's on the route between home, school and work.”
Oh man, I shouldn't have said that. That sounded like I have no life – which is true, but he doesn't have to know that.
“So, do you want to go putt-putting?”
“Yeah, if that's ok.”
“Oh sure, that's fine.” Clay pauses then smiles. “You any good?”
“What? Are you?”
“Oh...I'm an ok player.”
There was something about the tone in his voice that made her sense he was better than he was letting on.
“What – you didn't like, win a tournament or something, did you?”
“No no, nothing like that. I'm pretty good.”
“Oh, ok. It's been ages since I've played, but I was pretty good. Hey, what are we going to do about the chicken?”
“We can swing by your house to drop it off and then we can head over to the golf course.”
Her eyes grew a little concerned. “Gee, I'd hate for you to have to...”
“Maggie, it's no trouble.”
There was something so nice in the way he said those four words. It was fantastic and tremendously scary all at the same time.
“Ok.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Clay pulls into the driveway and leaves the engine running.
“I'll be right back..”
“Oh no, I'll come in with you.”
“Well, I'll only be a minute.” She gets a little nervous, knowing that nobody else is home to help her if he turns out to not be as nice as he appears.
“No, it's alright.” He opens his door and comes around to help her out of the car.
Well, at least he left the car running. I guess he's just being polite.
Inside, she walks to the kitchen as he stands just inside the living room. She puts the containers in the refrigerator and notices the soda bottles on the top shelf. She takes out one Caffeine-Free Pepsi and one Sprite, then walks back into the living room.
“I, uh, thought this'll save us a couple bucks if we get thirsty later. I hope these are ok.”
Clay smiles, amazed that only 90 minutes ago, she was a shy stranger. “Thanks. That's very thoughtful, Maggie. I'll take the Sprite if that's ok.”
Another blush and smile. “You're welcome, Clayton.”
“You know...Clayton is so formal. Why don't you call me Clay.”
She smiled a little. “Ok...Clay.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Two, please.”
“That'll be eight dollars,” says the man as he sets two clubs and two balls on the counter – one orange and one green. Clay holds them out for her.
“Here you go – pick one.” Maggie reaches for the green ball.
“No, not that one!” Clay exclaims.
She flinches and looks at him with nervous eyes, then Clay lets out a big giggle. “Just kidding.”
She snatches the green ball from his hand then gives him playful smack on the arm. “Now don't be mean,” she snickers.
“Me? Mean! I'm never mean!”
“Uh huh.” she says as they walk over to the courses.
“I'm never, EVER mean.”
“Oh, I believe you, alright.”
Clay stops in his tracks and fakes a childlike pout. “Well, I'm not.”
She stops to look at him and has to smile. “Ok really, I believe you! You're not mean!”
Instantly his pout turned into a huge toothy grin and he jumped up and down a little bit where he stood. She couldn't help but laugh at his adorable display.
“You may not be mean, but you sure are silly. So which one of these courses should we play? Is one better or more difficult than the other?”
“Well, they have a Mountain Course and a River Course. I usually do the Mountain Course because...
...because I'm afraid of the water...
...because I don't like having to fish the ball out of the water hazards.”
“Ooh, water hazards? When we were kids, my dad would take my sister and I to an old mini golf course in Durham that had a bunch of cool water hazards. They tore it down six or seven years ago and it's a strip mall now. I sure miss it. Tell you what – if any go into the drink, I'll pull them out. There's usually a long pole with a basket on the end around to use.”
They have long poles for that? I always thought you had to... Well, how dumb do I feel right now.
“Ok, sure. We'll do the River Course.”
“Thanks, Clay.”
“No problem. Ladies first!”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Ooh, good setup!”
Clay taps the orange ball into the cup. “Two!”
Maggie scribbles a two for him on the scorecard. “And this is hole number...six. Ok – two on six for you. Very good – this hole is a Par Three.”
Clay joins her on the small bench and she hands the pencil and scorecard over to him. “Your turn.”
She sets her ball down and begins to hold her club when she catches something on the wind and looks around.
“Wow, do you smell that? I think that's jasmine. There must be a whole bush of it somewhere. Boy, does it smell nice.”
“I think that's it over there,” Clay says as he points toward the pond.
“Oh, I think you're right. I'll be just a minute, ok?”
“Sure, go ahead.” Clay watches her walk to the bush and smell all the small white blossoms. He then sees her lean farther toward the edge of the pond to look at something, then makes a motion to him.
“Clay, come here – look at this.”
Oh, did she have to ask me to go near the water? She wouldn't push me in for that little practical joke earlier, would she? But, not wanting to be rude, he picked up the purse and went over to her.
“Look here – look how pretty the fish are.”
He stood behind her and leaned over her petite frame to look, at the same time trying be gentlemanly and not touch her. “Oh yeah, they're quite colorful.”
“Aren't they? I've never seen a miniature golf course actually have koi and king goldfish in its pond. I wonder if the owners are Asian...or into feng shui.”
“The fish are for good luck, right?”
“Good fortune – close enough.”
“You into feng shui?”
“No, not really. One of my girlfriends is Chinese and her mom does feng shui consulting for a living, so I've picked up some things here and there about it.”
“You don't hear about chi so much at a Southern Baptist church.”
She chuckled. “No, I guess you wouldn't. They're pretty strict, aren't they?”
“Well, I don't know if 'strict' is the word, but their beliefs are strong and evangelical.”
“Oh. Well, my school was non-denominational, so I suppose you could just say I'm a garden-variety Protestant. I guess in some denominations, though, that would still make me a 'heathen.'”
Clay chuckled. “Well, there are some really strict denominations out there – the Pentecostals for one – but you're fine, really.”
She smiled then looked at the edge of the pond again where she noticed a rock – a funny-colored rock...
No, wait...
“Clay, look – there's a frog right there. He's a big one.”
He leaned over her once more to see. “Oh yeah. My goodness, he's huge!” Clay took a small step forward to see better, but somehow stumbled a little onto Maggie. He panicked from being close to the water and grabbed at her to keep from falling. They both let out a little squeal in the pandemonium, but Maggie managed to keep them both standing.
“You ok, Clay? Did you twist your ankle or anything?”
“No, I think I'm alright. I'm so sorry, Maggie. I think I stepped on a loose brick.”
They both started chuckling, then suddenly they realized they were still holding onto each other. Clay let go first while Maggie blushed.
“I...guess we'd better get back to the game. It's still your turn.”
“Ok. Here, I'll take my purse back. I probably should've left it in the car.”
“No, it's ok. It's a good place to keep the pop. You go ahead and play. I'll keep an eye on it.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Oh my goodness,” Clay says as he sees the next hole. Maggie's following behind.
“What the?”
“It looks...challenging.”
“Challenging. NOT the word I would've used. What's the par on this hole?”
“Let me look at the card. Uh...three.”
“Oh, they have GOT to be kidding. Do you see the...”
“Yeah, I see.”
“I mean, just getting the ball past the water will take three!”
“And then the...what is that, a volcano?”
“Oh man. I think they made this Hole 13 because THAT's the par.”
Clay giggles, then he puffs out his chest and looks at her. “Maggie! My Sprite, please!”
What the heck is he doing now? She takes his half-empty soda bottle out of her purse.
Clay opens the bottle with exaggerated motions, then swigs down the rest of the bottle. When he finishes he lets out a gasp, turns around, belches, then dramatically swings back around to her. “Ok, stand aside! I'm ready to take on The Hole from Heck!”
Maggie's laughter doubles her over so much that she's nearly sitting on the ground. “You...are truly nuts.”
“What? About the hole?”
She wipes her eyes as she continues to laugh. “Uh...no. Not about the hole. Are you putting on a show for me or are you silly like this all the time?”
He belches one more time. “Silly? Why whatever do you mean?!?”
“Well, at least you covered your mouth.”
“Of course I did – I'm always a gentleman.” Another little belch spills out of him.
She starts laughing again. “Just putt. You want to jot a six onto the scorecard to save time?”
“No, let's put the card away for now,” he says as he slips it into his back pocket. “We've been taking turns playing the entire hole, let's play this hole together. Misery loves company.”
She smiled. “Ok, we can do that.”
“In the meantime, you may want to find that long pole with the basket thingy on the end. I may not be psychic, but I'm pretty confident in predicting my ball's going to land in the water.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Maggie taps the ball and sinks it into the eighteenth hole. “Four. Darnet, I was doing so well up until 14. I don't know what happened.”
“Let's see,” Clay says as he starts adding up the final scores. “You got...54...and...I got...” He suddenly grimaced. “64.” He looked at her with a smile and suspicion in his eyes. “I still think you cheated on 13.”
“Good grief, how in the world could I have cheated – you were right there watching! You only think I cheated 'cause...” She didn't want to finish the sentence.
“Go ahead and say it – because I got a 15.”
She still felt a little bad at how difficult the hole was for him, although at times, it was funny to watch. “You can still change that score to a six – we didn't have to write down our actual scores on that one.”
He looked away dramatically. “No no – no, I said actuals. I'll...I'll take the 15.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Well pity poor you. PLEASE just put down a six.”
“Hmmm...that would give me a...55.”
“Yes! I would only win by one. Wow, that was a close game, then.”
“Oh, ok. You twisted my arm. I'll change it to a six.”
“Thank God.”
“I still don't know...a FIVE?!? That last shot you made was just AMAZING.”
“That shot was just dumb luck, trust me.”
“TIGER WOODS would've been impressed with that shot!”
“Yeah, well...” A little smile tried to break out of the corner of her mouth.
“Stop being so modest. When you sank that ball I was waiting for you to start jumping up and down and yelling 'I'm going to Disney World!' Even now I can see you still want to do it.”
Maggie snickered. “Well, it's not very nice to do that when...you know...others...uh, didn't quite...score the same.”
“Oh, go ahead – get it out of your system. You know you want to.”
“Well...”
“It's ok – you deserve the glory.” She can see that Clay was being sincere. A big, bright smile appeared and she started to giggle.
“Is that the best you can do?” He feigned frustration and sighed. “Ok, I guess this isn't going to happen unless I help you. Set your club down.”
Maggie looks a little confused when Clay stands in front of her, takes her hands and looks her square in the eyes.
“Ok, on the count of three – I'm going to Disney World.” She smiles and nods. “One...two...THREE!”
They both start screeching and jumping up and down like two little kids. “I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!! I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!”
They stop jumping but can't stop giggling. Maggie looks around at the course. “Oh no, people are watching us!”
“Maggie, it's ok! They're smiling. We amused them. It's fun to amuse people.”
Again, they find themselves still holding onto each other. Maggie gets a little nervous and lets go first.
She's come such a long way today, but it's going to take some time for her to really come out of that shell. There's a little pride in Clay's smile.
“Come on. Let's go to 19 and see if we can win a free game.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“That shot was so close,” Maggie says as she hands her club and ball to Clay.
“I still think it's rigged. I've only seen someone win that hole once.” Clay sets the clubs and balls up on the counter. “Would you like to go inside the arcade for a while?”
“Sure. It is getting a little warm out.”
Clay opens the nearby door and they both take a couple steps inside. As the door closes, they let their eyes adjust to the dark then start walking around, looking at the games. Clay spies the large table ahead.
“The good ole' air hockey table is still here. My brother and I always play this when we come here.” Clay pulls 50 cents out of his pocket.
“Oh really?” she says as she takes hold of the paddle. “Who usually wins?”
“Well...I really hate to admit it, but he usually wins.”
“Why would you hate to admit that?”
“It's because...well...Brett is...Brett's 12.”
She cringed. “Ooh. Yeah, I can see why you wouldn't want that spread around town.”
“In my defense – he wins because he's at the point where it's all power and no control. He hits the puck so hard that nobody should play against him without wearing a goalie's mask. You're so busy protecting yourself from flying pucks that he manages to win.”
Maggie giggled. “That can be a little scary. I see what you mean. That's one thing you won't have to worry about with me. I prefer to keep the puck on the table.”
Clay grabs his paddle as the machine starts up. Maggie just for fun takes the floating puck and gives it a good smack. It ricochets off the right wall and slides into Clay's goal. The scoreboard shows 0-1.
“Woops! Sorry about that.” Boy, there's that dumb luck again.
As Clay retrieves the puck he scowls at Maggie, hunches over and prepares to hit the puck, sliding the paddle back and forth over the field in a fairly intimidating manner.
“Oh, so we're playing like THAT, huh?”
“Uh oh.” Maggie's eyes go wide, but she readies herself for his onslaught. “Just don't make it fly off the table, ok?”
“You just worry about the puck ON the table, sweetheart.”
Her heart races as her eyes set square on the puck. “Bring it on, boy!”
Clay moves his paddle back for the last time, then a large smack is heard throughout the arcade, quickly followed by a series of lesser cracks, then the sound of the puck sliding fast into a goal.
“Aw shoot!” someone yells.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The puck whizzes into the goal. “Woohoo! I won!”
“Yeah, but not by much,” says Clay as he straightens up.
“Hey, you won the first game by a landslide, let me have a little glory here.” Maggie starts jumping up and down a little bit. “I'm going to Disney World! I'm going to Disney World!”
Clay's so happy and proud at her display that he's bouncing a little bit himself. Neither can stop giggling as Clay comes to the other side of the table and gives her a little congratulatory hug. “That was fan-tastic, Maggie.”
“Thanks, Clay.”
“Shall we play something else now? They have a two-player car race over on the back wall.”
“Sure, that sounds like fun.”
As they walk around the corner to the back, Maggie spots something interesting.
“Oh, a photo booth! You wanna, Clay? My treat.”
“You don't have to...”
“You've paid for so much, it's the least I can do.”
“Ok sure.”
“Thanks. Ok, it's four dollars. Eek, it only takes ones.” Maggie roots through her purse for her money. “I don't have anything less than a five. Is there a change machine around here?”
“Here, I'll go get some ones from the counter.”
“Thanks, Clay,” she says as she hands him the bill. She takes a few steps around the corner and watches him walk over to the gentleman at the counter on the far side of the arcade.
Boy, I'll have to thank Debbie on Monday. He is just so sweet. Maggie quickly moves back to the photo booth when she sees him finish the transaction.
“Ok, here you go. Five ones.”
“Thanks. Let's hope this machine doesn't keep spitting the bills out.”
Maggie inserts the dollar bills as Clay waits. “Ok, it's ready.”
“After you!” Clay suddenly gets a slightly evil smirk on his face as an idea crosses his mind.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Maggie gasps then starts laughing when she sees the pictures. “Oh, my God!”
“Lemme see. Hey, when did you do bunny ears?!?”
“While you were busy laughing your head off.”
“Well, look at how surprised you are – it was classic! I couldn't help laughing.”
She points at the second picture. “Well, I didn't expect you to do THAT!”
“What? It was just a little hug and peck on the cheek!”
“Yeah, but you should've warned me, Clay!” she said through a chuckle.
“Now why would I do that! Surprising you was much more fun.”
“You're really are nuts.”
“Yeah, but you know...you are, too. You've put up with ME all afternoon.”
“Yes, and it's been complete torture. I'll have to yell at Debbie on Monday for setting me up with such a crazy guy.”
They both study the four little pictures again. “That's a nice shot,” Clay says as he points to the first picture of them, smiling for the camera.
“Yeah...it is.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
At about 5:15, Clay pulls into Maggie's driveway.
“Why don't you come inside a minute and I'll cut these in two.”
“You don't have to do that, Maggie. You paid for them – you keep the pictures.”
“No really, I...you should have two of them.”
Clay opens her door and puts out his hand to help her out. “Well ok, but you keep the ones you want.”
They both step inside her house and walk into the kitchen. “Would you like something to drink or anything?”
“No thanks, I'm fine. I...should probably get home soon.”
“Oh, ok.” Maggie opens the junk drawer, gets the scissors and snips the strip in half, then writes her name and the date on the back of his half.
“Here you go.”
He looks at the pictures and smiles. “Oh good, you're letting me have the bunny ears. Thanks. Oh, I almost forgot!” He takes the scorecard out of his back pocket. “You keep this, since you're giving me the pictures.”
“Oh, you don't have...”
“It's ok really, you keep it.”
“Well, ok. Thanks.” She looked up and gave him a little smile. I sure wish this didn't have to end.
“Um...well...”
“Well...”
Boy, I didn't think it would be this difficult to leave her.
“I... guess I'd better head home.”
Her heart sank a little at the thought. “Oh ok. Um, let me walk you out.” They go outside to the front porch.
“I...had a really nice time, Clay.” As a matter of fact, it's the best time I've had in years.
“Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I...still think you cheated.”
Maggie's eyes rolled while she chuckled. “Whatever.”
Clay starts giggling a little as they reach out to each other for a hug. She can feel Clay give her a little extra squeeze and she gives him one in return. They let go and look at each other, then Maggie's insecurity suddenly took over.
What if he wants to...
Clay saw nervousness appear in her eyes at what could come next. As much as I'd like to, she's not ready. I'll save it for another day. He smiles softly and leans to her right. “Can I call you again, Maggie?” he whispers.
“Sure. I'd like that,” she softly replies.
Clay gives her a kiss on the cheek, straightens back up and smiles. He can see the nervousness drain from her as she smiles back.
Yeah, that was the right thing to do.
“Bye Maggie.”
“Bye Clay.”
She stands on the porch and watches Clay walk to his car. He waves just before he gets in and she returns one. Once he's backed into the street, Clay flashes his headlights twice, then moves forward down the road, waving out the window. She gives a last wave back to him, then goes into the house.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Dear Clay,
I don't know if you remember me. I'm sure you get a lot of people coming out of the woodwork saying they're a long-lost friend or relative. We had a blind date about five years ago – my former coworker, Debbie, set us up? We had lunch at City Barbeque, then we went putt-putting.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I still remember having a real fun time and how nice you were to me – I was so shy back then, but you gave me the first steps to breaking free from it, and for that I'll be forever grateful.
How I wish the timing could've been better back then for us to go on a second date. At least we managed to have a couple phone conversations afterward. Those were great, too. I've never laughed so much as when I was talking and being with you. But, you started at the Y, so both of us had work and school – our schedules always clashed, and I guess after a while, all the other priorities won out. Life can sure get in the way of...things. I guess “things” are meant to be, or not meant to be, in this world. Just know that I did miss you and thought of you.
I seem to remember you mentioning being in school plays, but I had no idea about your singing. I watched the first American Idol and was sucked into the second one, like everyone else, to watch Simon rag on the really bad singers. You have no idea how surprised I was when I saw you on tv. You looked different with your hair so much darker and combed all up and you had those little glasses, but it wasn't hard to see that 19 year-old strawberry blonde underneath it all. All the memories of our date came back when I saw you smile and heard you talk - THEN I heard your beautiful voice. Just, wow. I'm so sorry you didn't win, but you seem to be doing ok despite it, ha ha.
I just heard that you're going to perform at the Miss America pageant – WRAL sure likes letting everyone in the Triangle know your every move – anyway, congrats on getting that. I know you'll do great.
Well, I'm not trying to get an autograph or hook up or anything. I just wanted to let you know that I'm so happy for you. You gave me a very happy memory and then some – maybe I gave you a happy memory, too.
All the success and happiness in the world to you, Clay.
Sincerely,
Maggie
She read what she wrote and a tear came to her eye. Oh, what the hell.
P.S. Well – just in case you DO want to get in touch, I'm still living at home in Raleigh, just a mile away. We're listed.
She smiled as she looked at the little photographs and the scorecard one more time; then she folded the paper, stuck it all back in her diary and put it away in her hope chest.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“I still can't believe I was on Saturday Night Live, Mom – that week was amazing and they treated me so nice,” Clay said to Faye after they finished watching the tape she made of his recent television performances.
“And knowing they want you back is wonderful, too.”
“Yeah, I know! I just can't believe it sometimes that little ole' me is going to HOST SNL next season.” He began to yawn. “Oh, goodness. I think I'd better get some sleep.”
“It's only 9 o'clock, but you have had a big day.” They gave each other a big hug. “Clayton sweetie, it's so good to have you home for a while.”
“It's good to be home, Mom. I miss it so much sometimes.”
“I know you do, son.”
He starts walking up the stairs then stops midway. “Oh, and by the way, thanks for all the boxes in my room.”
Faye chuckled. “Honey, I can't help it. I was running out of space in the garage so I had to move some of them up to your bedroom.”
“Well, at least you made sure I could get to the bed,” Clay giggled.
“Don't exaggerate, now. There's not THAT many boxes in your room.”
Clay smiled. “'Night, Mom.”
“Goodnight, honey.”
He went into his room and sat on the bed. As he took off his socks and shoes, he looked at the six boxes stacked three-high next to his nightstand. Some of them had Faye's handwriting and some had Suzanne's, all marked “Clay Fan Items” with a number and a brief description. But one of the boxes he noticed was different – it was dirtier and had his writing on it, marked “Clay's Stuff.” His curiosity took control; he moved the other boxes around and set the one on the bed.
The moment he opened it and saw the items inside, he remembered. Oh, I put this stuff away before going off to UNCC. He pulled out items from years ago, studied them one-by-one then set them lovingly on the bed. Programs from recitals and plays; awards and ribbons from school; trinkets picked up along the way that held special memories.
Before he knew it, he had spent an hour floating down Memory Lane. Reminiscing made him feel so warm and content inside, like his old life really wasn't as far away as he thought. He picked up the box and looked in it one last time to see if it was empty and spotted a small slip of paper lodged against the side of the box. On it was scribbled “Maggie” and a date from nearly six years ago. His eyes widened when he suddenly remembered that the slip was no ordinary little paper.
“Oh my God, Maggie,” he whispered as a flood of memories from that day hit him. He turned it over and saw the two little pictures taken from the photo booth that day.
“I still can't believe I grabbed her and gave her that kiss on the cheek,” he snickered quietly when he saw the picture of her surprised face. “But, she let me get away with it. Any more, though, and I think she would've panicked.” He could still remember how warm the sun felt and how blue the sky was that day – and Maggie's smile – and her laugh – and him taking forever on that one awful hole. Then he suddenly heard his Mom's voice in his head.
Honey, you never know what's hidden behind the shyness.
I hate it when she's right. Maggie really was a lot of fun once she got comfortable with me. Lord, it's too bad that school and work got in the way...the timing was just so bad then.
“Another time, maybe, who knows what could've...” He set the picture on the bed and went downstairs.
“Mom?”
“Clayton? I thought you went to bed.”
“Yeah, I thought so, too. Hey, do you and Debbie still talk?”
“Debbie from the office? Yes, we still keep in touch about once a month. Why are you asking, honey?”
“Well...there's someone whom I've waited way too long to reconnect with, and it's about time I did.”
~THE END~
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~Posted 4.26.2004~
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-Cella