Romance Part 3

Do you remember waking up after a life changing 'night before' - a 'did that really happen, or was I dreaming' feeling? And the stomach turning, adrenalin-rushing realisation: this was no dream! The stuff of Mills and Boon in real life :-)

After that first heart-dizzying date, we arranged to meet late the next morning on the beach.

"At the bench by the second subway on the prom*"

Clear enough, one would think, hmm?

I headed off to the beach, ambled along the prom until I reached the bench we had arranged. It was a beautiful morning I remember, but I was a little bummed to see that I had arrived before Clay had. Not cool really. But I was sure he woud be along any moment. As the minutes ticked by without any sign of him, doubts began to rise - You know the kind: "He's not coming! You read more into the whole thing than you should have. Why would he go for you?! Blah blah blah" I began to feel more and more foolish, sitting there waiting. And more and more sick; that awful sense of doom you feel in the gut - it felt as though the words "HE'S NOT COMING- SHE'S BEEN STOOD UP" were written over my head in red capitals. Just as I was on the point of leaving, a friend of mine pitched up and we started chatting. I wave my hands around when I talk; still today. And I wore an unusual silver ring in those days and those two facts - oddly - saved the situation. Suddenly Clay was there. I never saw him walk toward me. He was just there. Turns out he had been there as long as I had - only he had come from the opposite direction and so had been waiting on the other side of the subway! And, like me, had been on the point of leaving, also thinking he had been stood up. Then he had caught sight of the familiar silver ring on my gesturing hands on the far side of the subway. I leave you to imagine the rush of relief and joy! I remember that we decided to keep our relationship under wraps. Not really sure now what our reasons were, but I do know that he had a really large fan club at work. And I was not looking forward to dealing with those girls/women when they found out. Some of them were really hardcore. And they didn't like me, that's for sure. Any divorced woman will tell you, its not fun around other women. If they are married, they think you will try to take their men: if they are single, they think you are unfair competition. So - you are basically not welcome anywhere where there are females. I was a strange mixture of brash and timid in those days. Hard to get my head around now but its true. So we met on the quiet until we decided to 'come out' to the work people. We chose an office dance to do it. Sounds silly now, but we wore the same colours: pink shirts and black pants. (Clay was all tall rangy guy-man, so he looked g-o-o-d in pink, in case you were going 'ew') A crazy night, we were so aware of the astounded stares and some hostile vibes around us but so caught up in each other at the same time. Lots of dancing, music, memory making. Streaking was in fashion then. Do you remember streaking? One of my guy friends, an excitable youngster called Leon, decided to streak that night: he ended up sitting next to me. Undressed. Completely. I didn't know where to look - or rather I knew where I should not be looking. It was bizarre - he just carried on munching snacks and chatting, starkers, right there. That's got nothing to do with anything - but it happened and its part of that mad night, so you are hearing about it, kay? After that night , the cat was well and truly out of the bag with the work fraternity. I could just imagine what they were saying And some it it, I admit, I was saying to myself too - panicking about all the things that were wrong with this relationship. Why it couldn't possibly work. Trembling at the pain I knew I was probably headed for. And there was still the 'other woman' or, as I was to find out, the 'other women' to be faced. Not to mention his family.

But I was too much in it now to draw back.

* 'prom' was our slang for the 'promenade' or walkway next to the sea at the local beach.

PS: I will try to get a pic today of the subway inquestion.

It might be fun for you to see the scene.