Chapter 36

Elliott picked Wendy up at five and the minute she opened the door she bombarded him with, “You won’t believe this, but I’m doing a Design Showcase at the Convention Center.”

“That’s quite a greeting and I’m very happy for you. I don’t know what it is, so let’s talk about it over dinner.” They went to Hamburger Hamlet. As soon as they were seated Wendy wasted no time as she began to explain the event to Elliott. She momentarily stopped when the waitress came over to take their dinner orders, then continued to rattle on.

“That’s terrific. A great opportunity to do more creative stuff.”

“Thanks, I’m stoked.”

They continued talking about art and being creative.

Their dinners arrived. They ate and chatted. Elliott explained the enchantment with the mountain he was painting, and of course, Wendy went on about her new challenge.

As they entered Pirate’s Cove, they were surprised by the extremely large crowd. There were no seats at the piano bar. She looked toward the tables. Just then Trudy, the very nice waitress, came over and reported she was about to clear a table if they wanted it. It was on the floor in the center of the table and chair area a bit back from the piano bar. A frontal view, at this distance, was new to Wendy. Cindy came over and sat in a third chair. “Hey, guys, how’s it goin’? Sorry I’ve been out of touch Wendy, really been crazy, with work here and my regular job. What’s new?”

“A lot but it’s too hard to talk here. Call me and I’ll tell you about my new involvement in a Design Showcase event at the Convention Center.”

“Outta sight, I’ll call ya,” Cindy said and off she went. It surprised Wendy she even asked about her, or them. Maybe she finally recognized how much she missed their friendship.

As they waited for their drinks Brad sang Jim Croce’s, Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, a great recent hit.

“Let’s dance,” Wendy begged, as she watched three couples dancing at full velocity.

“I keep telling you, I really don’t dance, sorry. I never got the hang of it.”

Although mildly irritated, she said, “I understand.” She wanted to dance because she had so much energy she could explode. Elliott joined Wendy as she started to clap to the rhythm of the song, and others joined in. Wendy turned away from the dance floor and toward Brad. She wanted to touch him, to kiss him, to feel his body next to hers. She shook her head. What terrible thoughts to have as she sat next to Elliott.

After her mother died and her dad was demeaning and hurtful toward her, Wendy escaped into the world of make believe. She lived at the movies, every Saturday. She watched Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, and Clark Gable and their infinite manliness. She wanted a man who looked and acted like any of them…so good, and great actors and so loving and caring to the women with them. They were in movies, but Brad was real. He was the epitome of what she dreamt of. Elliott also possessed those characteristics, so why wasn’t she dreaming of him the same way she did Brad?