Finally I leaned forward, moving slowly but deliberately, and touched my lips to hers. She did not resist, in fact she leaned into me, meeting me halfway. Her lips were cold and dry from the icy wind, but never had a pair felt so good against mine, never had my body reacted as it was reacting to hers. We slid our lips together softly, the kiss lasting less than ten seconds before we broke apart. But worlds suddenly changed in that ten seconds.
We continued to stare at each other for a long time after our lips parted.
"That was nice." Nina finally said, barely above a whisper.
"Very nice." I agreed.
"We've crossed a line." She told me. "I told myself that going out with you was a bad idea. That if I did, I would fall right back in love with you the way I was before. You haven't proved yourself to me yet Bill. You haven't proved that you're any different. You could be just putting on an act. After all, you must have a lot of charm to do the things you've done."
"Nina, I…"
"Shhh." She hushed. "Let me finish."
"Okay." I said.
"In the end I simply couldn't stay away from you. Except for a few rumors from school, I have no proof that you're any different. I have no proof that you've given up your old ways. Your shining ability among the girls at school was your discretion. Your downfall was that it was they who were indiscreet.
"And I was right Bill."
"Right?" I asked.
"I fell right back in love with you. When you held my hand in the theater I almost melted. When you put your arm around me I did. And when you kissed me just now." He she took a deep breath, blowing a large plume of vapor into the night. "I love you Bill. I was starting to get over you but now I'm head over heels again. You tell me you're different now, that you've changed. I certainly hope so Bill. I certainly hope I'm not being played for a fool."
"You're not Nina." I answered her. "I swear you're not. I love you. I really do."
"You hold my heart in your hand now Bill."
I nodded. "Yes I do. And I promise you won't regret giving it to me."
"I'll hold you to that." She said, leaning forward for another kiss.
Al Steiner--July 16, 1999 Chapter 9 ->
Chapter 9
Tender is the night
When you hold your baby tight
Tender is the moment
Tender is the night
JACKSON BROWNE
We stayed by the water for a few more minutes, holding onto each other tightly, feeling the warmth that comes from more than just body heat radiating back and forth. We kissed a few more times, cautious, soft kisses. Nina was inexperienced at this sort of thing and I did not want to push her too fast, to cheapen the magic of the night. Mostly we just held each other, her resting her head on my shoulder, me smelling the faint scent of her shampoo. I felt I could have done that forever.
Though love was in the air that night, so was a nearly zero degree wind-chill factor. Despite the down jackets and the embrace we shared, we finally began to shiver uncontrollably and our lips became so numb we could no longer feel our kisses. Reluctantly we let each other go and walked hand in hand back to my car.
We drove in silence for a bit, letting the Datsun's heater tackle the task of warming up the interior of the car. I glanced at her several times. She was looking out the window at the passing scenery but not seeing anything. Her eyes were shining and glazed, her expression contented.
When I got to the freeway and no longer needed to shift gears, I took her hand in mine once again, doing it carefully since that was my sore hand. She gazed at me lovingly.
"No matter what happens Bill." She told me. "I'm always going to remember this night. My first date, my first kiss. Thank you for taking me."
"I'll always remember this night too." I told her.
A few more minutes passed, bringing my house and an end to this night ever closer. Finally I asked, "When can we see each other again Nina?"
"I'm not doing anything tomorrow." She told me quickly.
Sadly I shook my head. "Tracy's flying in tomorrow and I promised Mom I'd pick her up at the airport. We'll be doing all the family crap. But Sunday's free and I have lots of Christmas shopping to do."
"So do I." She said. "How about Sunday morning around nine?"
"It's a date." I answered.
"I'll come over to your house again." She said. "Remember, no phone calls just yet."
"Okay." I said doubtfully. "I take it your parents would not be too thrilled to find out you're dating me?"
"I'm sorry Bill." She said quietly. "I would just assume we keep this a little secret from them for the time being."
"They liked me before." I offered hopefully.
"That was before." She said. "Things are different now. Very different."
"What do you mean?"
There was a long pause, as if she was trying to gather her thoughts. "Bill, my parents are kind of old you know."
I nodded. "Yeah."
"My Mom was thirty-eight when she had me, my Dad was forty. They'd been told that they couldn't have children and they'd lived with that for years. They'd accepted it. And then, after all that time, my mom managed to get pregnant anyway."
I nodded, not sure what to say, not sure where this was leading.
"You see," She continued, "I'm their only child and they're kind of overprotective at times. They're also from a different generation than your parents. They're as old as your grandparents are. I've always been very close to them, probably closer than a lot of kids are because of how they've always treated me. I've always been like, well a gift from God to them. Anyway, the day that you and I had our, our fight, I went home crying. I couldn't stop crying in fact."
"Uh huh." I said, feeling more than a tinge of guilt at this admission.
"Well, my Mom was home. She found me crying and she asked me what was wrong. You have to understand that was a strange way for me to act. I learned way back in grade school when I was ugly, lisping Nina not to cry. So obviously, Mom knew something was very wrong with me. I cried and cried that day while she held me and finally I told her what was wrong. I told her everything."
"You mean…" I couldn't finish, so stunned was I. She had told her EVERYTHING?
"Everything." Nina nodded. "About how I loved you. That she already knew. But then I told her about how I'd found out that you were sleeping with every girl you could get your hands on. How you had a reputation around the school for that sort of thing. About how the girls would come up to me and ask, well, you know." She smiled crookedly. "Mom was kind of upset about that. In fact, she used a few words about you that I'd never heard her use before."
"Jesus Nina." I said quietly. She had told her EVERYTHING!
"She was more upset than I ever would have imagined. I figured she would comfort me and tell me things like 'you'll be okay without him' and 'he's not worthy of you', and stuff like that, you know?"
"Mother things." I offered.
"Right." She said, cracking a slight smile. "But that wasn't what happened at all. She was outraged, angry. I don't believe I've ever seen my Mom that angry before. Not even when I was playing in her car in the driveway when I was a kid and accidentally let off the emergency brake and crashed it into the neighbor's car across the street. She was almost insane with anger Bill."
"Wow." I said, thinking it was no wonder that I'd gotten a cold reception on the few times I'd called after our break-up. "And your Dad?"
"Mom told him that night." Nina said. "I heard them talking softly to each other when they went to bed. The next morning he told me that I was to 'never see that bastard again'. That's an exact quote, mind you. It was pretty plain that Dad was even angrier than Mom."