He shrugged again. "I don't care about that. Just no drugs."
"Deal!" I stuck my hand out.
He thought for a second and then shook my hand. "Deal."
"Next time we're at the house let's shop for real estate.", I replied. He smiled and agreed.
As expected, the idiocy ran for the full two weeks, and went right on up to midnight on Saturday. It really only affected about half the house, since the other half had some sort of squatter's rights going on. When it finally became clear what was happening, Joe and I found ourselves claiming a room on the third floor facing Burdette. It was a decent size, square, with a couple of built-in bunk beds in an L shape in one corner, and a pair of long built-in desks on the other two walls. The only drawback was that it was at the top of the house, and we would have to carry my mini-fridge up about a million stairs.
Chapter 31: Road Trip
It was our last date of the semester. Finals were just ended and most of us had already taken off. I was sticking around for another week before heading out. I definitely wasn't heading back to the old homestead! Before he went home, Joe Bradley and I had boxed up all our shit and driven it over to Kegs. It had taken us several trips, but our boxes were now all moved in. I would be in the room before he was, so I told him I would sort it out at some point.
It was a last date in several ways. Marilyn was heading home tomorrow also, but she wasn't coming back to Saint Rose in the fall. Much like before, she had flunked out. It wasn't that Marilyn was dumb. She wasn't. Maybe she wasn't a genius, but she wasn't stupid. However, Saint Rose was a bad mix for her. She needed the structure and discipline of family to keep her focused, and she certainly wasn't getting that in Albany.
Tomorrow her parents were coming to pick her up and take her and her possessions home. She would start over again in the fall at Mohawk Valley Community College. She could apply her credits from Saint Rose, but since I don't think she passed a single course all year long, nothing would apply. I didn't tell her I knew that, but I let her put as good a face on it as she could. Regardless, Marilyn was quite depressed about it, and the fact that she felt we were breaking up and would never see each other again had her on the verge of tears.
I had felt that the first time around as well. I had taken her out to dinner and afterwards had cried myself to sleep. Then, we started writing each other over the summer, and I took the train from Albany to Utica in the fall and we figured out how to see each other. The rest was history, or would be history.
I picked her up outside her dorm about seven or so. I had stressed that I wanted to take her to a nice restaurant, and I was going to wear a suit, so she needed to dress nicely as well. A dress and heels would look good on her. It was a beautiful spring day, dry and warm, and I was all smiles when I saw her. She had on a red and black knee length dress with a U-shaped neckline that showed just the tops of her breasts and was tight enough through the waist with a slight flair at the thighs, along with hose and medium high heels. She looked like she was on the edge of crying, but trying to make a brave go of it.
"My God! You look fantastic!", I told her. "I won't be able to eat, I'll be too busy fighting off the other men in the restaurant!"
She smiled at that. "This is all right?", she asked. Marilyn really wasn't a very fancy girl, and her mother wouldn't have been helpful at all, even if she had asked her for help.
"Turn around.", I said, twiddling my fingers in a circular motion. Marilyn slowly pirouetted and I whistled appreciatively. Our daughter Maggie really had been correct, in her utterly tactless way; Marilyn was hot! "You are gorgeous!" If we had gotten that far already, I would have taken her inside and ravished her a time or two before we went to dinner.
But we hadn't gotten that far yet. This was, without a doubt, the longest period I had gone celibate since I lost my cherry to Shelley Talbot. Marilyn, however, was very Catholic, and she had told me once the difference between a good girl and a nice girl. 'A good girl goes home and goes to bed, and a nice girl goes to bed and goes home!' Marilyn was going to be a good girl, right up to her wedding day, and told me so in no uncertain terms. Marilyn also got extremely turned on when we were making out, as much now as before, and even if Marilyn's mouth was saying 'No, no, no!', her body was screaming 'Yes, yes, yes!' Early in the fall I finally popped her cherry, and I was hard at work on moving the timetable forward.
"Are you sure I can't convince you that maybe we should head back to my dorm, so that tomorrow I can serve you breakfast in bed? Wouldn't that count as taking you out for a meal?", I teased.
Marilyn blushed but smiled. Wagging her finger at me, she said, "Forget it!"
"Well, it seems like a good idea to me, but okay, if you'd rather have dinner..." I gave her a quick kiss and then opened the door and led her outside. We held hands on the way to the Galaxie, and I opened the door for her. I went around and climbed behind the wheel, and then whistled at her again. Her dress had ridden up slightly and her legs looked spectacular! Marilyn simply giggled and tugged her dress down a touch, and had me start the car.
I was taking her to L'Auberge that night, a very fancy French restaurant in Albany. It was also very expensive. On the first trip through, my mother had been visiting us once when we were living in Clifton Park, and she took us to dinner there. Afterwards, when she saw the bill, she turned green and said she was going to have to tell Dad when he was in a good mood. I suspected something sexually exotic would be involved. As it was, I fully expected the bill to be at least $100. Considering that this was 1974, and that was a month's room and board at Kegs, L'Auberge was not where I routinely dined.
It wasn't more than a few minutes away in downtown Albany, a stately old home turned restaurant. It was a place frequently used by businessmen and lobbyists to wine and dine politicians, and we were younger than the usual crowd. Still, I had made reservations, and we were dressed appropriately, and I knew how to handle myself, even if Marilyn felt a little self-conscious. Before I locked my car, I reached into the back seat and pulled out a gift wrapped box.
"What is that?", asked Marilyn once she saw me carrying something.
"That is for you, but not until we get inside.", I said, smiling.
"Tell me!"
It was my turn to waggle a finger. "Inside!" She stuck her tongue out at me, but then scampered towards the door when I moved to swat her rear with the box.
Once we were seated I set the box on the side of the table. "We'll get to that in a moment." Just then, our waiter came up and we ordered drinks, with me ordering a gin and tonic and Marilyn getting something sweet and silly. Then I picked up the box.
"I can read minds.", I said, "and right now I can read yours perfectly."
"Oh? So what am I thinking?", she asked.
I held a hand up to my temple and closed my eyes. "Well, actually, there's two things." I paused dramatically and closed my eyes again. "The first thing, well, Marilyn, that's illegal in this state, and certainly won't get you into heaven!"
"CARLING!", she shrieked quietly.
"And the second is that you're worried you'll never see me again, and you've fallen hopelessly in love with me." I smiled at that. Marilyn's face screwed up and her eyes started to water. I had said the wrong thing. I reached out and patted her hand. "Marilyn, it's all right. I love you, too, and we'll certainly see each other in the future."