Part 19 (1/2)
”No s.e.x?” she tried one more time.
I shook my head.
”d.a.m.n. Then how about a movie? I could use a little escapism right about now.”
”I'd be happy to take you to the movies.”
”I'll get my coat.”
”Great.”
As we were leaving the house, I held the door open for her.
”In the excitement of the day, I forgot to tell you the good news, that you were a budding lesbian at the age of four.”
She laughed heartily.
”You're making this up to cheer me up.”
”I'm not, I swear it. You had a best friend who lived next door, Lydia Barton's daughter. Her name was Janine, but you called her honey.”
She hit me with her coat.
”I knew you were lying.”
”Okay, seriously, you called her Nene. That was your very first word.”
”My girlfriend's name was the first word out of my mouth?”
”It was.”
”That figures. I always was advanced,” she said obviously impressed by her early tastes. ”Was she cute?”
”When she was little, she was adorable. Her mother has a ton of photos of her on display in the living room. Now, I'd say she's average-looking,” I perhaps understated.
”What's she up to these days?”
”Funny you should ask. Get this a” she lives in San Francisco with her *best friend' who's an electrician.”
”Hot d.a.m.n! Is it presumptuous of me to stereotype?”
”Not at all. She's a lesbian if I ever saw one.”
”How funny.”
”You don't remember her at all?”
”When you said her name, I had a flash of memory, but it went away before I could catch it.”
”Maybe more will come back to you later.”
”You're sure she's only average-looking now?”
”Maybe a fraction above average,” I conceded. ”But she seems to be a married woman.”
”No matter. Let's go visit her, Kris. Let's skip the movie and fly to San Francisco.”
”Oh sure!”
”Let's do it!” She jumped up and down. ”You're the boss. Close the office for a few days. Let's go meet Janine.”
”You're serious?”
The twinkle in her eye gave her away. ”Only halfway. But it would be an adventure, wouldn't it?”
”Every moment with you is an adventure, Destiny.”
We didn't go to San Francisco. We went to a movie that wasn't meant to be a comedy and laughed our heads off. We ate dinner at the theater a” nachos and popcorn.
I went home alone.
When I got back to my apartment, I started cleaning it. Three hours later, I still wasn't done. It wasn't so much the cleaning that took time. It was the picking things up. I hauled piles and piles of stuff from the living room into the bedroom. And from the bedroom into the bathroom. And from every room into the kitchen. I wore myself out before I ever turned the vacuum on, which was probably just as well given that it was way past midnight.
On impulse, when I was straightening up the phone cord, I called Destiny.
”h.e.l.lo.” Thankfully, her voice didn't sound groggy.
”Hi, it's me. What are you doing?”
”Actually, I was getting ready for bed. What's up?”
”Not much. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”
”I'm okay. Are you okay?”
”Of course I am. I had a very eventful day, a wonderful evening with a good friend, and I cleaned my apartment.”
”You cleaned your apartment tonight?”
'Yep.”
'You cleaned your apartment instead of having s.e.x with me?” Her voice was full of mock outrage.
”Well, I never thought of it in those terms, but now that you mention it, yes.”
”I'm insulted.”