All I wanted to do was play football, get ready for the next game, and get better at what I did.
Girls were for the offseason. And tonight was the last night of the offseason. Sorry, ladies, Lance Parker was off limits till after the new year. Come back then and we could work something out.
One of my buddies, Steve, came over to me, his face a question. He leaned into me. “What happened with that smoking hot blonde back there?”
“I dunno, man,” I groused, playing along. “Whatever I said, it didn’t work.”
“Oh man, sorry about that,” my buddy said, all concerned, before he grinned. “Mind if I take a crack at her?” We had known each other for years, since back in high school. Yeah, our lives had gone their separate ways since then, but he knew me before I was cool, before I had endorsement deals, meager as they were still. That was the kind of friendship that lasted forever.
I looked up and over the room, through the crowd, looking for the statuesque blonde. She was there, with her friends, talking amongst themselves, but she kept looking back at me. When we locked eyes in the distance, I gave her a small smile, and she shook her head, shaking me off.
Clearly, she thought I was having second thoughts and wanted to assure me that I had no chance with her anymore.
“Yeah, man,” I said, looking back to my buddy and whispering to him. “She’s all yours, hope you have better luck than I do.”
He patted me on the back of the shoulder. “Thanks, man.” We tapped drinks together and he stepped in the blonde’s direction. I saluted him with my glass as he disappeared into the crowd of people, this time with much more feeling behind it. Good luck, buddy. I hoped she was as forthcoming with him as she was with me.
I lost track of him just after that and I turned to see the rest of my buddies, looking like they had done pretty well for themselves, girl-wise. Occasionally, I had played up my minor fame just to help them meet girls, but that was only when they were really having trouble.
Not tonight. It looked like tonight I would be the only one leaving alone. Not a problem. I was sure I could persuade that blonde to give me a ride home. I laughed to myself.
A few minutes passed, and I watched people meet and talk to each other, such as it was, and it occurred to me that I was short-changing myself a little bit on my last night out. If I was really going to cut out all the partying and drinking and sex from my life for almost half a year, if things went our way, then I really owed it to myself to enjoy my last night as a free man.
Fine, fine, Lance, we’ll find you a girl. But just remember this - it could only be for one night. Make it clear to her that it’ll be a one time thing, and let her decide from there. If she’s not down with it, no harm, no foul. After that, you disappear, you’ve never heard of her, and hopefully she’s never heard of you. Got it?
Got it.
Alright. I relaxed, shaking out all the tension that I had noticed was building up in my neck and shoulders. I took a couple deep breaths and leaned back against the wall, on the lookout.
Then she appeared. No, not the blonde, I had already forgotten about her.
This was another girl. No, this was a woman. The very essence of woman, calling out to me from across the club. It was as if the seas of faceless revelers parted and she stood there on the other side of the murky club, bathed in light.
Tonight, of all nights, I didn’t want to meet anyone that I would want to spend more than one night with. But I couldn’t help but need to meet this woman. I would never be able to forgive myself if I didn’t at least talk to her.
If things didn’t go well, well, talking would have been enough, she was that striking. She had long dark brown hair, almost black in the low light of the club, cascading down her shoulders, and when she turned her head, it flowed around her like a halo.
I was mesmerized. The way she walked, those curves in that dark dress, I had to take another sip of my ginger ale just to make sure I was still awake.
I had to meet her. I downed my drink for strength, because ginger ale is known to impart strength in stressful romantic situations, and dropped my glass on the nearest clear space. My buddies were all occupied with girls or amongst themselves.
She was standing with a drink in her hand, looking around like she was more than a little lost, but when our eyes locked together I felt like the club had suddenly gone silent. I wanted to shake my head, rattle the old ears out to make sure that it really hadn’t, but for the life of me I couldn’t break eye contact with her as I started walking toward her.
When I stopped in front of her all I could do was say the simplest thing I knew.
“Hi.”
CHAPTER 02 - CHARLOTTE