One & Two
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“ Ninety pounds of cougar are tougher than a hundred and eighty pounds of Saint Bernard, it so happens.” Tanya laughed,“ You’ re no saint and too old for me to be called a cougar.” He grinned,“ You are older than me.”“ No. Six months doesn’ t count,” she said, as their waiter appeared and took drink orders.
“ How was school today?” he asked.“ I volunteered your services for the Halloween party this year.” Eddie rolled his eyes.“ Oh boy! Do I get to mind the“ duck pond” or the“ bobbing for apples” booth?”“ Actually, they hinted at doing a haunted house ". Tanya knew that the mere mention of haunted house, Eddie was in. " My junior high kids don’ t get to have the crap scared out of them like the high school kids, who can drive, are allowed.”“ Now that sounds like fun,” he said, as their drinks arrived. Tanya could see the thoughts brewing behind his baby blues. He sipped from the tall, frosty glass. The frothy beer left a white mustache, which he quickly licked away.
“ Have they started planning yet?” Eddie asked, excitement began to creep into his voice.“ No. It was just something they tossed around, but had no idea where to begin.” The waiter returned to explain the specials of the day and take their order. Eddie was soon lost in thought. Eddie was one of those people who seemed to need noise and activity to feel alive. Motion and discord became an aura that he immersed himself fully. Tanya enjoyed the silence.
The food arrived and Eddie dove into his steak. After devouring his dinner, he pushed the plate away, sat back and watched Tanya eat. She placed the last morsel of the petite filet mignon in her mouth, dabbed her lips with the white, linen napkin and placed her knife and fork on the empty plate.“ I have some vacation time,” he said, thoughtfully.
“ I don’ t think I heard you correctly. Did you just offer to burn some of your precious vacation time to help with our Halloween party?” surprise filled her voice.“ I have some ideas.”“ No, Eddie. They won’ t let you take the kids for a joy ride.” Tanya teased.“ Ouch! Waiter, please kindly remove the steak knife from my back.” Eddie laughed and fell over dramatically on the booth seat.“ Are you done?”“ Eating or acting?”“ Both,” she said.
Eddie gestured for the check. The waiter placed the black folder on the table. Eddie glanced at the bill and tossed some cash inside.“ Come on. Let’ s go make out in the parking lot,” he smiled. That statement would have been cute if she did not know him so well. The last time she said,“ Yeah, sure.” What started out as playful necking almost got them arrested in the parking lot. If the weather had not turned cold and the windows been so fogged, the cop who asked them to take it to a motel, probably would have hauled their butts to jail. Eddie still knew how to push all the right buttons, because that incident happened just after last Christmas.
They left the table.“ We are going to have to wait until we get home,” she said. Eddie turned to look into her eyes and see if she was serious.“ All right! Sounds like a yes to me.” he said, noticing the sparkle in her eyes.“ Only because you make me so damned hot,” she whispered.“ Can you say that a little louder? I want everyone in this place to be jealous,” he said, as they headed for the door.“ Okay, but only because you make me so damn horny!” she announced as he held the door for her. The startled look on his face was worth the embarrassment she felt as they ran laughing toward the parked truck.