“So where am I taking her?”
“The Dunn’s Country Club,” she told me.
“You’re telling me you got reservations at a members-only place.”
“Well, maybe Tom got you reservations,” Angie admitted.
I sat on the bed.
“Why am I doing this again?”
“Because it’s obvious that Kara’s your friend and she needs the publicity for her modeling career?”
“You take all the fun out of whining,” I said, and then perked up. “I do get to go to Wesleyan tomorrow. Did Greg get me more condoms? It was his turn to buy.”
“Actually, I got them. I didn’t know they made glow-in-the-dark ones.”
“What? Where did you go buy them?”
“I got them at the drug store over on First Avenue. They have a better selection.”
I just shrugged, filing the information away. Angie went back to the house to make dinner. I got dressed and went down to see what we they were having. She fed me some fruit salad while I waited for the limo to show up. Mom was hanging with Kyle. I refused to hold him because he had just been fed. No way was I going to change clothes.
IT WAS GOOD TO SEE Kara again. The plan was we would spend the night at my place and then spend the weekend with her family. Sunday night she was off to LA to do an ad. She looked great as always. She was rocking a red dress with matching heels by Christian Louboutin. I couldn’t pronounce his name, but women loved his shoes.
When we walked into the country club, I felt really out of place. We were the youngest couple by at least twenty years. When we were seated, I looked at the menu.
“Oh, look, there’s a kid’s menu.”
By now, she was used to my humor and just ignored me.
“Have you talked to the twins?” she asked.
“No, but I did talk to Tyler. They’re doing fine. I also heard that Chuck’s not being charged. I guess it was a scare, but everyone’s going to be okay.”
Then she floored me.
“David, do you think we have a future?”
I put my menu down. I thought about my feelings for Kara. If she weren’t always on the road, we’d be going out. I would never have gotten back together with Tracy if Kara had come home earlier. We were a good fit in many ways. If Tami and I didn’t work out, Kara would be at the top of my list of long-term relationships.
The truth was that she was committed to her modeling. She had a short window in which to make money in that unforgiving business. Adrienne was the exception, not the rule. She was 28 and a living legend. Most models were done by the time they were in their early 20’s.
“Kara, I care for you deeply. If your schedule weren’t so crazy, I’d be camped out on your doorstep, wanting to date you. So don’t ever think that I don’t want you. Does that translate into us getting together? I honestly don’t know. I hope so, but we’ve a lot of growing up to do before that ever happens.”
She gave me a tight smile.
“You know, that’s probably the most I’m going to get out of you right now. I just wish we had more time together.”
“I know, but it seems like we only see each other every couple of months. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us if we tried to start something serious unless there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re going to be around for more than a day or two at a time?”
She gave me a tight smile, confirming that she wasn’t planning on being around. The waiter came before we became too melancholy. I thought about getting something Italian, but I didn’t want to get sauce on my suit. I went with the old standby of a ribeye and baked potato. Kara had some chicken dish with steamed vegetables.
Over dinner, the conversation lightened up and we just enjoyed each other’s company. When the check came, I had to sign for it to put it on Tom’s account. Kendal told me to do it that way because Tom had a minimum monthly tab he had to pay whether he went to the club or not. He hadn’t been making the monthly minimum since he opened the new entertainment division at his firm. In the future, I wasn’t sure I’d want to bring a date here. I might bring my parents, though.
When we left, we prepared ourselves for the press. Kara’s dress was knee length, so she decided to get out first. I had to laugh when we pulled up and there was a line of minivans dropping off kids. We kind of stood out. There were only a handful of paparazzi. I had to laugh again when the kid from Hollywood Central was there. They must hire high school dropouts, give them a video camera, and tell them to go to the airport. This guy looked like he’d been on a three-day bender.
We did a quick five-minute interview and then hurried inside because it was cold out. I knew that Gina was saving us seats. What good is a little sister if she can’t do that? She and Alan were the only two in the know that Kara was my date. When I walked up to the table, everyone felt like they had to give me a hard time.
“I should have known. David Dawson without a date to the Valentine Dance was never going to happen,” Cassidy said while smiling at me.
“Cassidy Hope, I would like you to meet Kara Tasman. Besides being Gina’s sister, she’s also a good friend and someone I model with.”
There were a few more comments, but I just smiled and looked at my date. Let them be jealous. The band was taking their first break.
“Hold that thought. I have to go do something.”
Kara arched her eyebrows. I think Gina had been giving her lessons. I went up to the stage and got a mic. I tried to talk into it, and there was nothing. I tapped it a couple of times and it was dead. One of the audiovisual guys came out with a sheepish grin on his face. He pointed out the on switch. I just laughed. I guess that’s something you learn with experience.
“Hello, Lincoln High,” I said over the speakers.
“Hello,” I got back from the crowd.
“You’re going to have to do better than that! HELLO, LINCOLN HIGH!”
“HELLO!”
“That’s better. Now you’re all going to help me with some extra credit. I’m going to need some help. Are there any single ladies in the house?”
No one raised their hand. I think they were nervous about what I was up to.
“If I don’t get any volunteers, I’m just going to volunteer some girls.”
Still no one. Apparently we had some serious trust issues.
I walked around the edge of the dance floor as a spotlight followed me. I pulled a couple of girls on the left side and had them go stand in the middle of the floor. I then went to the right and pulled out some more.
“Is Mona Wingman here?”
She waved at me.
“This song is dedicated to you,” I said, and handed the mic back to someone on the stage.
The music started. It was Joe Cocker’s version of You Can Leave Your Hat On. I had talked my dance class into putting together something and this song was stuck in my head. Go figure. When the lights came up, everyone realized that the girls all had on little black dresses with a jacket and matching hat. My job was basically to feature each of them while they did a sexy little dance around me. In the end, they all threw their hats at me and the lights went down. We got a nice round of applause and I headed back to Kara.
“You’re such a goof. How’d they talk you into that?”
“In fact, it was me who talked them into it. I’m taking a dance class and our teacher told us she’d give us extra credit if we did a live performance.”
“So you can dance?”
“You saw me in New York. I can hold my own.”
By then the music had started, so I took her out on the dance floor and showed her some of my moves. Once she’d seen my repertoire, she taught me some new stuff. I was glad to see Alan and Jeff join us on the dance floor with their dates. I guess my little talk at the last dance had sunk in. I went over and pulled Jim and Cassidy out. He tried to bolt, but I told him I wouldn’t embarrass him. I showed him how to shuffle back and forth and give his arms a little movement.