Friday, May 02, 2008

Chapter 33

Long before there was Lily and Alex, the first woman Lily ever kissed was her best friend Gail. They were juniors in college and driving home from a Budweiser-laced frat party, crunched up in Lily’s two seat yellow and white Metropolitan. Both were quite drunk and a reasonable person would have questioned Lily ability to drive, but it was 1977 and drinking and driving wasn’t too much to get excited about.
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Lily saw the red light at the last moment. She thumped to a stop at the corner of Upton and Cardinal and with an unceremonious lack of grace she and Gail landed just about on top of each other. Before she knew it Gail was kissing her and not just a peck.
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Whoa”, Lily said, “Gail, I had no idea”. She tossed her head back and laughed.
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“I had no idea either” Gail slurred, chuckling with obvious satisfaction before she kissed Lily again. This time her tongue slid into and linqered in Lily’s mouth, and Lily panicked and pulled away.
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“Hey!” Lily said, enjoying her own chuckle. “We’re at a streetlight. We could get arrested for making out and obstructing traffic.”
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She laughed again, her words spilling one on top of one another. “Not to mention two women kissing each other. Do you get arrested for that?”.
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“No, Lily, you get aROUSE—sed”. At that, they laughed so hard Lily was forced to pull over, where they and the little yellow and white Metropolitan sat, motionless for the next thirty minutes. Lily reached for Gail’s hand and held it another until Gail remembered her new almost boyfriend was waiting for her at the apartment.
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Lily and Gail never kissed again and Gail went on to marry a Harvard graduate who later served as an undersecretary in the Clinton administration.
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Lily, on the other hand, dated men for another year or so before she reluctantly faced the fact that Gail’s kiss was the best of all. Shortly after she graduated from Northeastern, and just before she started grad school, she answered a personal ad in the Boston Phoenix.
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Woman seeks woman, it read. 25 year old attractive humorous professional .seeks tall bright and also humorous first date, preferably over dinner and definitely including dancing at midnight.
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Lily responded with a one page two paragraph letter in her best handwriting. She noted that she was a bit of an introvert, well groomed and fashionable, 5 foot 7inches, an English Lit PhD student partial to both dinner and dancing, and, she added as an afterthought “new to women”, At the advice of her friend Wendy, who had had limited success dating two men through this method, she included a picture of herself and her phone number. Always level headed, she did not include her last name, and instead simply ended with “Sincerely, Lily”
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A woman named Lorraine called three days later, at 9:30 on a Wednesday night. They agreed to meet on Friday at Grendel’s Den in Cambridge for drinks and dinner. Lorraine said she knew a lesbian bar that was clean, packed, and nearby, and she asked Lily how she felt about sex on a first date.
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“Not good” Lily had said.
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That’s ok” Lorraine said. “Let’s see what happens--if we’re attracted to one another
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What happens if we’re not attracted to one another?”, Lily asked.
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Well then, we’ll still go to the bar but maybe we’ll prowl on our own”.
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When she hung up the phone, Lily was amused. Is this really how it works? she wondered. She couldn’t imagine a guy ever being so blunt so fast. And yet, practically speaking, Lorraine’s approach made some sense. She liked the idea of a back door, and it seemed an easy way for her to foray into her first lesbian bar.
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Lorraine, she thought to herself, If you’re missing teeth or wearing a bowling shirt, I’ll definitely be prowling elsewhere.

31 comments:

  1. That sort of dating would be SCARY! Even with a back door ...

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  2. Clinton administration! I am losing respect.

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  3. i am blessed with the most intelligent thoughtful insightful readers....

    ha!

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  4. oh are you patronizing me?

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  5. I have never been inside one of those bars.

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  6. ahem, hmmmmm, well, ummm:

    why yes!

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  7. What ahemm? Are you calling me a liar?

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  8. I am under the influence of guaiafenesen and phenylephrine...

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  9. OH are you patronizing ME?

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  10. this is exactly the kind of intensity every writer longs for. thank you to my two wonderful friends for your in depth response to my humble efforts

    :)

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  11. I don't like the tone in KJ's voice, Ces. Not talking about tone in Chapter 33! Although, KJ has already noticed that.

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  12. Oh you mean we have to comment on the story? Okay. This chapter is very steamy for my taste. A lot of tongue action. Some readers are the kind who identfy with the characters so I am trying to find someone to identify with in this story. Maybe I should identify with all of them so I can live life on the edge with thoughts such as

    "Lorraine, she thought to herself, If you’re missing teeth or wearing a bowling shirt, I’ll definitely be prowling elsewhere."

    "She thumped to a stop at the corner of Upton and Cardinal and with an unceremonious lack of grace she and Gail landed just about on top of each other. Before she knew it Gail was kissing her and not just a peck"

    I don't know how I would react if a woman kissed me and it is not just a peck and she is missing teeth and wearing a bowling shirt. Wait a minute, what is wrong with a bowling shirt? It couyld not be worse than a Hawaiian shirt or a Mexican dress.

    I seem to find these women so open and upfront and yes, if a man said these things to me prior to my first date:

    “That’s ok” Lorraine said. “Let’s see what happens--if we’re attracted to one another”.
    “What happens if we’re not attracted to one another?”, Lily asked..
    “Well then, we’ll still go to the bar but maybe we’ll prowl on our own”..

    I would pay the top $160.00 for a criminal background check, employment history and even a medical record. They are so open and so liberated!

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  13. Anon, she is dealing us the heavy hand. Hmpf. And to think I told her I love her!

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  14. Ces has covered it all for me too KJ, but I don't know what a bowling shirt looks like either.

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  15. ces, did you do criminal background checks on the guys you dated? i didn't...though i might now.

    ces and anon, i can just see a grey short sleeved bowling shirt with "acme electricians" monogrammed on the back and "lorraine" written above the front pocket--not my idea of evening wear!

    am i naive to think i am writing just a LOVE story--not one so "specialized" that other "non-specialized" people cannot identify with the characters? i am afterall a mainstream woman, you know....

    :)

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  16. I am just joshing. Sometimes I forget that Anon and I share you with the others. I'll behave.

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  17. You have just been unlucky with the two only people you know who have never 'dated' making the first comments, KJ ;) We are only commenting on this particular Chapter and our lack of identifying isn't throughout your Love Story! I still can’t identify a ‘bowling shirt’.

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  18. Here are bowling shirts for Anon. I like them. I am thinking of getting one. I like bowling in my own bowling shoes - not rental.

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  19. I will visit you in my bowling shirt.

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  20. I'm staying out of this one, you three! :) I'm here to say I loved all the new details and background we're getting on Lily! The last line totally cracked me up -- a universal thought in dating. Do you remember the Saturday Night Live skit when the guy shows up on a blind date with a huge fake hairy mole ... and it ends up that she actually has a mole just like it. The guy thinks it's just a joke, too, but it's a real mole.

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  21. ces, you are welcome in your bowling shirt. some people just deserve exceptions to general fashion protocols....

    melissa, thank god for a small voice of santity! thank you for sticking to the subject of my chapter--how novel!!!

    anon, possibly you and ces might have been separated at birth? :)

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  22. Possibly KJ, I've found to like bowling shirts, thanks to Ces's link. I am thinking of getting one. I like bowling in my own bowling shoes - not rental.

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  23. I bowl in my own shoes too. With my own ball. LOL. I joined a league with some coworkers a few years ago and was sooooooo disappointed when the free shirt was a t-shirt-but it still had our team name on it-the Purple People Eaters.

    I've thought about joining a league here in OKC, but it has to be a fun league. I'm not a serious bowler, just in it for the beer, pizza and laughs.

    I remember pre internet when personal ads were the new cool thing. A friend and I took out an ad in a Perth Newspaper-we lived in Oklahoma. Funny thing is, we actually met some very nice people, some face to face.

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  24. i try to imagine myself wearing a bowling shirt and the picture is just not good.

    :(

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  25. Rofl at the last thought!

    This chapter worked for me. When I was single, I made a point of pointing out to any men who asked me out that we were just going on a date and not contemplating eternity. The end of any relationship was when the man in question suggested a night in with a DVD [or video as it was then], a bottle of wine and a pizza.

    I did not see this chapter as steamy - I rather thought it said something about the innocence of Lily.

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  26. miladysa, i find myself wondering if i am doing an adequate job showing who lily is, especially her steady kindness. so i appreciate your comments alot. :)

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  27. haha i enjoy this back story! Finding out more about your characters is great! I have to say I was so excited when you mentioned the Metropolitan!!! It has been a huge wish of mine to own one... i never did :)

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