"Of course."
"So, anyway, you continue down her arm, just kissing and making her generally hot." She gave me a knowing look, "I KNOW you know how to do that.
When you make it to her hand, her left hand, you surreptitiously remove the ring from your pocket or whatever and slip it into your mouth. You kiss her fingers and then take the ring finger and start sucking on it. Then, using only your mouth, you put the ring on her finger." She sighed as she thought about this. Uncomfortably, I could see that her nipples had hardened. "What do you think?"
"What do I think?" I asked, "that gave me a hard-on just hearing you tell about it."
"So it's a good idea?"
"I'll consider it," I told her. "I'm not sure that's quite right for Nina, but I'll mull it over."
"You do that," she said. "Trust me on this. It'll be erotic beyond belief.
She'll remember it forever."
Just then Nina came tromping back out of the woods beside the lake. We hushed up our conversation and Maggie said, "I'm gonna go wake up Mike. After that conversation I'm gonna have to have someone go with me when I pee, if you know what I mean."
She headed out of the water, flashing Nina a pleasant grin. A minute later her and Mike had disappeared the way Nina had come. But that was okay. We found something to occupy ourselves with while they were gone.
The next day at work I brought the question up to Mindy. Since my days there were numbered, Mindy was pretty much letting me get away with whatever I wanted. She encouraged me to come in late (which I never did), to leave early (which I sometimes did) and to take long breaks. When I told her what my intentions were and asked her for advice on the matter, she took me aside and talked to me for more than thirty minutes on the subjects of women, romance, intrigue, mystery, and various other topics. She gave me no actual suggestions but listened carefully to those that I'd already received. After talking to her I was able to formulate a plan that incorporated elements of both Maggie's and Tracy's suggestions.
The next day I went to work on the plan. The first step was to talk to Nina. I gave her a call and asked her if maybe she was up for a nice dinner on the following Saturday night.
"A nice dinner?" she asked. "How nice? Would I have to dress up?"
"Yes," I told her. "That dress you wore to the play would be appropriate. So what do you say?"
"Where did you have in mind?" she wanted to know.
"You'll see it when you get there," I said cryptically. "So are you in?"
"I'm in."
When I hung up I began making phone calls, referring to a list I'd made after considerable research. I made the necessary arrangements, writing everything down so I wouldn't forget it. The final phone number was one that did not involve research. It was here where everything could fall apart. But it didn't. The recipient of this phone call was more than happy to help me out, especially after I told him what my intentions were.
I hung up the phone with a smile. Everything was in place. Well, almost everything. I went to see Dad.
"I need you to cash out some more stocks for me," I told him.
He nodded, taking a sip out of his coffee. "It'll be nice when you're finally eighteen and able to cash out your own damn stocks," he said good-naturedly. "How much?"
I told him.
"That much?" He asked, surprised.
I told him what it was for and he smiled.
"I'll do it today," he told me.
Saturday, September 3, 1984. A day that will live in infamy.
I woke up early, very early, six o'clock in the morning type of early and was unable to sleep any more. My date with Nina was still nearly nine hours away, the moment of truth considerably more than that, but I knew there would be no more sleep for me. I drug myself out of bed and went downstairs to watch some television. I knew the day was going to drag on like nothing I'd ever experienced before.
I was right of course. I spent much of it lounging around in my shorts, watching television, picking at my breakfast and my lunch. I talked with Tracy, with my Mom, with my Dad, all of whom were in on my intentions. They made comment after comment about my nervousness. I denied that I was nervous but knew that I was lying.
At about two-thirty, absurdly early, I began getting ready. I took a shower, washing myself thoroughly. I dressed myself in my best suit, fixing my tie so it was just right. And then I waited for it to be four o'clock, time to go pick up Nina.
I restrained myself from leaving the house early. It would have screwed up the schedule I'd carefully planned. Finally I made one last check of my possessions to make sure I had everything I needed. I had the ring, I had the roll of twenty dollar bills that was so thick it looked like a pimp's flash money. My family wished me good luck and I headed out the door, climbing into my faithful Datsun and heading off to Nina's house.
Jack and Mary met me at the door, inviting me in. Nina was nowhere to be seen.
"She's putting the finishing touches on," Mary told me, offering me a seat. The interrogation began.
"Kind of early for a simple fancy dinner," Nina's mom commented, handing me a glass of iced tea that I hadn't asked for.
"We'll probably be out for a while," I told her, sipping out of it.
"This date wouldn't have anything to do with that little present you showed Jack on the fishing trip now, would it?" Mary asked pointedly.
"Mary…" Jack started but was silenced by a sharp glance from her.
I licked my lips nervously, unable to think of an answer.
"Does it?" she persisted.
"Yes," I answered. "It does. It has everything to do with that. I'm going to ask your daughter to marry me tonight."
She stared hard at me for a moment and then her face softened a little. "Do you have something special planned? Something she'll remember?"
I looked down the hallway toward Nina's room, seeing that the door was still shut. I gave Mary a brief summary of what I had planned, leaving one part out of course. Mary listened to me carefully, her eyes boring into me.
"That's very romantic," she finally said, her face breaking into a smile. "Can I see the ring?"
Another quick glance and I pulled the ring, free of its box, from the inner pocket of my jacket. She stood and sat next to me on the couch, taking it from my hand. She appraised it for a moment, looking at the gold band, the diamond protruding. She nodded, handing it back to me. I returned it to its hiding place.
Mary continued to stare at me for a moment. "You know how I used to feel about you Bill," she said. "We won't rehash that. But I'm glad to find, after getting to know you, that I was wrong. As wrong as a person could be.
I wish you luck tonight and I'd like to be the first to tell you, welcome to our family." She leaned forward and gave me a hug. Surprised, I returned it.
"Of course you won't do anything stupid, like eloping, will you?" This was more a command than a question.
"No," I said quickly. "I promise."
"Good," she said, a tear coming down from her left eye. "Because I want Nina to have a big wedding with lots of guests. I want to help her plan it, I want to help her make out a guest list. You'll let me do that, won't you?" More tears were coming down now.
"I promise Mary," I told her, giving her another hug. "We'll get married in Spokane and we'll let you plan it. I promise."
"Thank you."
"Of course this whole discussion is meaningless if Nina tells me no," I put in.
Mary broke the embrace and looked at me in much the same way I'd looked at Tracy when she'd asked what Mom and Dad were doing in their room. "You don't really think that's a concern, do you?"
Mary had herself under control and Nina sensed nothing amiss when she emerged from her bedroom a few minutes later. She was not wearing the dress she'd worn to the play but an entirely new one, a dark blue and white one. It was not strapless, as Maggie had suggested it be, but that was not important. She looked ravishing in it.