Dominoes 104b: Steakhouse

Robert drove across to the steakhouse and went in. Grace wasn’t there yet, so he got a table and ordered a cherry coke. It was so hot outside, he really needed something. Finally she showed up, looking very nervous. This wasn’t exactly Robert’s normal way of operating… suddenly calling her up for a date. And the last time they had talked… well, it hadn’t gone so well.

“Hey,” Robert said, getting up as the waiter brought her over, and then sitting down again, “A Sprite?” He asked, “Or some wine?”

“No wine, I need to drive back,” she said, “Sprite please.”

They looked at each other for a minute, and then Robert cleared his throat and said, “I’ve been thinking about what you said last time, about how you really want to… for us to sleep together. And I’ve made a decision.” He cleared his throat again. “I want to. I mean, of course I do, but… I want to say yes. But I need you to, to wear something first.”

She looked at him, very confused and he rushed on, “A ring. I want you to put on a ring first.”

She suddenly blushed and  her eyes widened. “What?” She asked.

“Grace,” he said… “Oh, thank you,” he said to the waiter, appearing with Grace’s sprite. “No, we haven’t even looked at it yet, I’ll call you.”

He waited, embarrassed, while the waiter walked away, then turned back to Grace, red-faced. “I, will you marry me? I only want to sleep with my wife, and you want to sleep with me, so the only way I can see to reconcile that, and not lose  you, is to ask you to marry me.”

“I… I think we had better order,” she said, and picked up her menu.

Robert’s mind raced. He knew what he wanted, but he picked up the menu for something to do. What was she thinking?

“She looked at him, “Do you know what you want?”

“Of course, I just… oh, on the menu, yes.”

“I’m ready then,” she said, and after a confusing pause, he waved the waiter over.

“Yes, miss?” The waiter said to Grace.

“I would like the grilled chicken breast, with lemon-herb sauce, on the side please. And the cracked pepper salad.”

“Very well, Miss, Sir?”

“Sirloin tip steak, medium rare, baked potato.”

“Very well, Sir.” The waiter said, and moved off. Robert looked at Grace, his hear pounding.

“I… you know you have asked me, if I have slept with anyone. I have, obviously, or I would have just answered. I wanted to tell you about it, before you… before you asked me.”

“It won’t change my question,” Robert said. “I figured  you had, or, as you say, you would have said something. So you can answer me before you tell me.”

She looked at him, tears coming down her eyes, “It was all so stupid, too. I didn’t even mean it to happen, and now look what it has done. I have dreamed of having you ask me to marry you, and here I am spending time crying over … Yes. Yes I will marry you. Now, let me tell you.”

She took a deep breath, dried her eyes, and began, “It was three years ago, at summer camp. There was this boy and, and he was OK, but nothing special. But he and I were the only two counselors that didn’t live nearby, so we stayed at camp over the break between camps… just the one day, you see what I mean.”

Robert nodded, his heart pounding out of his chest. How could this be happening?

“And so we would swim around in the lake, and talk, and go for walks. I mean, there was no one else there except for the manager and a couple of girls that worked in the kitchen. So then, one night, We were sitting on his bunk, talking, and, well, one thing led to another, and then I had my clothes off, and…” she burst out crying. Robert took her hand automatically, but his mind was racing. This absolutely could not be happening!

“And then you felt guilty,” Robert said, and Grace nodded. “But he had had fun, and wanted to keep going.”

Grace looked up at him, startled. “Do, do you know him?” She asked, but Robert shook his head,

“It’s a guy thing,” he said. “But you didn’t want to,” he continued, and Grace nodded, crying freely. “And he said… he said if you didn’t, he would tell everyone that you had done.”

Grace stopped crying, whispering, “How do you know? It was horrible! I mean, it was… it wasn’t horrible physically, I enjoyed that part. But I was always afraid we would get caught, and…”

“And you thought he cared about you?” Robert asked.

Grace nodded, eyes wide. “But he didn’t. “When I got home I waited and waited for him to call or write, but he never did, not even when I wrote. And I never did dare to call him. Oh, Bobby…” She said, crying.

Just then, brilliantly, the waiter brought the meal. “Anything else, Sir? Miss?” The waiter asked, having put down his load.

“That would be ‘Ma’am’,” Robert said, “no thank you.”

“Very well, sir,” the waiter said, and when he was gone Grace said,

“Bobby?”

“You said ‘yes’. I heard you. Now eat up, we eventually have to get back and pick up Caleb and Jenny at Chez Emmanuel.”

“Caleb and Jenny?” She said, her voice curious.

“Yes, at least, I hope so,” he said, answering her implied question. “She is dying for him, but won’t admit it. And he, well, he’s a boy.”

“What does that mean?” She said, her fork halfway to her mouth.

“It means that there is nothing so irresistible to a boy as a girl that wants him.” Robert said, and applied himself to his steak. They made a great steak here, and he was hungry.