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to finish up her grading. The extended coffee date
coupled with the half bottle of wine she consumed Saturday night plus the movie
outing she’d taken Abby and Owen on that afternoon had really cut into her work
time. She sat in her armchair with the pile of papers on the end table, her
red pen getting a workout. She was listening to the music and sounds of the
video game her kids were playing and found her mind wandering again and again
to nowhere in particular. She finally decided to call Rachel and get the scoop
on the house party.
    Rachel sounded even more
tired than Sarah felt. “We didn’t get back until noon today, and I haven’t
really been to sleep yet except an hour or so in the car. I’m so glad Mark
drove!”
    “See, it worked out
better without me going, cause you know I would have wanted you to drive if I’d
consumed a drop of alcohol in the preceding 8 hours,” Sarah joked. “But
the real question remains: did you get laid?”
    Rachel deadpanned, “Seriously?
It’s me...of course I did.”
    Sarah was shaking her
head at her friend’s predictability and waiting, more or less patiently, for
details. “Oh, don’t make me beg! Spill it, woman!”
    “There was this couple,
mid 40’s, very fit and hot,” she started, as if the details were about to
explode under pressure. “We were in the hot tub and I noticed Mark had moved
really close to her. Then her husband started inching toward me...and well, we
started there and then ended up taking things inside to one of the bedrooms. He
was pierced!”
    Sarah smiled, glowing in
her friend’s happiness. “Nice!” she exclaimed as Rachel began to share all
of the juiciest nuggets from the encounter. Some might have accused her of
over-sharing, but this was Classic Rachel, and Sarah loved her for it.  
    “So....” Rachel finally
wrapped up her story, “How was your date?”
    Sarah considered what
details she wanted to share, not being quite as forthcoming as her best friend.
Especially when meeting new people, she didn’t particularly like to share
details until she knew things were going somewhere. She always wondered if that
was a fear of rejection thing. If it didn’t work out, she’d have to admit
to herself and her friend that he wasn’t interested, or whatever the issue was. “Well,”
she began, knowing she wasn’t going to get away with silence on the matter,
“his name is James and he’s 29.  He’s an ROTC instructor at the
university. He seems really bright. And good looking.” Obviously Rachel
would hone in on the latter.
    “Young. Hot. Military,”
Rachel summarized. “I like where this is going. So did you fuck him or what?” She
always cut right to the chase.
    Sarah laughed,
“Seriously, Rachel, you know me better than that. It was just coffee. Nothing
more. Although I’m considering asking him to dinner next weekend,” she admitted,
a vision of James’ intense blue eyes popping into her mind.  
    “Go for it,” Rachel
encouraged. “I probably want you to fuck him as much as you want to!”
 She laughed so hard at her comment that the chuckle morphed into a minor
coughing fit.
    “Haha, I bet you do,”
Sarah replied once her friend settled down. “Yikes, hope you’re not catching a
cold, honey.” She paused for a moment, then, “Alright, listen, I have to get
back to grading. We’ll have lunch on Tuesday, okay?”
    “Sure thing, Babydoll!”
    ***
                Sarah
could compose a treatise on patience, or lack thereof. She was thinking about
how a few years ago if two days passed after a date and she didn’t hear
anything, she would have given up hope and written him off. Now, she was
calmer, more rational, and realized that it was really okay a) if she didn’t
hear from the individual at all and b) if she initiated that contact herself.
    She reflected about how
much she had grown and matured throughout the past few years as she strolled
across campus, her sandaled feet getting wet in the