Diva Dismayed: Chapter 20 – Taking the plunge

By the time Sunday came around the prospective party completely filled my thoughts. Choosing what to wear had been easy enough. Knowing that for part of the time I would be wearing only a swimsuit, for the rest of the afternoon I selected a dress that was neither too short nor too revealing up top. It was a pretty pink number with a lace collar and I thought it suited my purpose just fine. Very demure! I was more anxious about who I might meet and what I would be asked to do.

When I was ready I mounted the stairs to call for Rachel and was amused to find she had evidently had similar thoughts to mine over her choice of attire. Her selection proved to be something just as modest. From outward appearances we could have been headed for a bible meeting instead of a party.

“Great minds think alike!” I quipped and my friend joined in my laughter.

“Do we need to bring our own towels?” was my next concern.

“I would say not. As the hosts at our parties we always provided plenty of towels, not to mention a hair drier, somewhere to change, sun lotion and even goggles, though not many folk bothered with them.”

The practicalities seemed to be well taken care of so all I had to do was relax and enjoy myself. That was easier said than done given the novelty of everything. I reminded myself that the best way to dispel these sort of nerves was to ensure my friends were having a good time. It seemed to help.

The party was a social success from my point of view. Harvey’s friend Mark turned out to be a geekier version of Harvey. He proved to be quite harmless. I found him easy to chat to, as was his girlfriend. Also I recognised some of the girls I’d met at the nurses’ dance. It felt like I was with friends, and I was happy to be making some new ones. I hit it off with Mark’s younger brother, Jamie. He and I were about the same age and he kept finding ways of teasing me. It might almost have looked as if we were flirting. I wasn’t, of course. Well, perhaps just a little bit. Okay, I was shamelessly giving back as good as I got! I found it such fun! As for Harvey, while there was plenty was plenty of interaction between him and myself, nothing occurred which might have marked us out as a couple and I took care to include my friend as much as possible.

Rachel and I stayed quite late before leaving. The best outcome for me was that by the time we came away she and I seemed to be back on our previous footing. The intimacy between us had been re-established to my intense relief.

Over next few days I saw nothing of my friend as she had been asked to work additional shifts at the hospital. It was not until the following Wednesday evening that we had the chance of a heart to heart. My college semester would begin the next day and my head was full of the necessary preparations I needed to get on with. I’d been occupied so for some time when my friend opened a different topic.

“You ought to think about returning that bathrobe and lingerie soon” she advised. “It would seem ungrateful to delay much longer.”

The need to return my borrowed items of clothing to Pete before too much time had elapsed had been preying upon my thoughts also. I guess my concern stemmed from the way that the avoidance of being impolite had been drilled into me from an early age.

“I know” I responded. “That’s why I went there on my way home from work yesterday.”

The look of horror on Rachel’s face was almost comical. “You went on your own? And… did anything happen?”

“Well, yes. But it turned out okay… sort of.”

“Sort of?!”

“Yes, I think so. I got off the bus a few stops early and you would have been pleased with my thoughtfulness. I remembered to buy Pete a spray of flowers to say thank-you.” All that day I’d been wondering how Rachel would take the disclosure of my visit. Now we’d broached the subject I felt a lot better. I paused for breath.

“Go on. Tell me what happened.”

“Well, I was feeling a bit nervous when I rang the bell of her apartment. That’s quite a swell part of town and also I wasn’t sure whether I was doing the right thing or not, by visiting without you, I mean. I’d made the decision that I wouldn’t go in even if invited, since you thought I should be cautious.”

“I guess that was something” my friend remarked drily. “And did you, go in?”

Somewhat shamefacedly I had to admit that I had. While my friend shook her head disbelievingly I explained that I’d had no choice, really.

It had happened like this.

When she opened the door, Pete had her head wrapped in a towel, like a turban. She’d clearly just washed her hair and had another larger towel wrapped around her torso. She beckoned me inside and then disappeared into the bathroom. I called out to her that I had brought back her bathrobe and things and I was tempted just to leave them on the table and go, but to do that seemed awfully off-hand. I wanted to say thank-you properly and give her the flowers personally so I hung around and waited, feeling quite awkward.

After a few minutes of this I was about ready to give up and go when she shouted that I should make myself useful and make us both a coffee. I wasn’t doing anything else so I shrugged my shoulders and headed for the kitchen. I was glad to be doing something familiar. While I was busy in there, I was aware that my benefactor had emerged from the bathroom, still wrapped in her towel. She called through to me asking if the flowers were for her, though it was obvious that they must be! By the time the coffee was ready and I’d brought it in she was fully dressed. She looked really different. She was wearing smart pants and they were teamed with a filmy evening top. She had on some jewellery and strappy heels. I was surprised how feminine she looked, so unlike before. She was even wearing perfume.

She must have noticed me staring because she laughed to my face and said “I do have a soft side you know. You bring it out in me.”

The remark startled me but not as much as the hug that followed it. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. When she released me I was ready to run, so instead of sitting as she bade me I perched uncomfortably on the arm of a sofa.

“Sweet Pete, you can call me. Don’t look so scared” she laughed. “I don’t bite! Unless you like that kind of thing!”

I smiled awkwardly.

“Do you approve of my top?” she asked almost bashfully. “It’s quite sexy, don’t you think? I put it on especially for you.” Her approach was unsettlingly direct.

I didn’t know how to respond but nodded and managed to blurt out “Yes, it looks great on you.” It did. I was finding her surprisingly attractive. That and her directness was beginning to have an effect on me. To my embarrassment I was getting turned on.

“There’s no point in beating about the bush” she declared. “I like you. In fact I can’t stop thinking about you and I can tell that you like me. We ought to be an item. You’ll find that I can please you in lots of ways, even with your er… special needs, shall we say?”

Involuntarily, I gave a start. What did she mean?

“Oh, yes! I know your little secret.” She laughed. “I had my suspicions from the first, so when you were getting dressed last time you were here, I took a little peek, but it’s okay. You can trust me to keep quiet about it.”

That was something to be thankful for at least.

She took my hands in hers and spoke quite tenderly. “Don’t you see? I’m your ideal partner. We get on amazingly well and as for in the bedroom, I get off on making my lover happy if you know what I mean, boy or girl, and, let me tell you now, I’m very good at it. I don’t like to be touched myself. That’s not me.”

Somehow I didn’t doubt her claim. But this was all happening much too fast for me to take in.

“I know I’m rushing you but I may not get another chance. So! How about it?”

This was getting completely out of control. I had to somehow check the flood before I was overwhelmed by it. “I have to say no. It’s not that I don’t like you. It’s just… there’s someone else.”

Pete was dismissive. “Well if it’s Della, then that will never work. She’s different again, as I’m sure you’ve found already. She’ll never be able to meet your needs. No, forget her. What do you say?”

“It isn’t Della. It’s somebody else.”

She looked her disbelief, but I nodded to confirm my words. “I’m sorry. There’s only one person in the world I want to be with.” My words surprised me but their truth carried conviction.

My would-be seductress looked so crestfallen, that I was almost tempted to relent. I resisted a fleeting impulse to hug and comfort her.

“If you ever change your mind, you know where I am.”

I steeled myself to take leave.

While I gave my account of all this to Rachel, she sat perfectly still. There was a lot to tell so I’d tried to summarise what had occurred, skating over some of the detail, but I’d made sure that she got the gist of everything of any significance.

She had one pressing query to make. “Who was the ‘somebody else’? Harvey? Jamie? Or did you make that up?”

“No, that part was perfectly true. There’s only ever been one person for me, and I think there always will be.”

I hesitated.

She coloured deeply as the consciousness of what my words might mean sank in. I could bear the suspense no longer and, risking everything, knew I would have to take the plunge.

“Well?”