I laughed. “Why? You didn’t do anything wrong. Think positively! Think of the story you’ll be able to tell your roommate when you get back.” I took my toilet kit and tossed it back into the duffel bag, and zipped it back up.
“Oh God! What will they think!?”
“Are you kidding? They’re all going to be jealous!” I helped her into her coat, and then pulled mine on. Marilyn eyed me curiously when I picked my hat up off the floor and dusted it off. I set it at an appropriately jaunty angle and grinned. “Come on. Let’s get you some breakfast and back home.” I grabbed the duffel bag and my car keys and headed out through the kitchen, with Marilyn in tow.
She was very quiet on the ride, and by the time we crossed the Hoosick Street Bridge, I glanced over at her and laughed. Marilyn always had the most amazing ability to fall asleep anywhere, anytime, within seconds of closing her eyes. Now she was sitting there, upright, with her head tilted back, her eyes closed, and softly snoring. I had seen her do this countless times before. I just chuckled to myself and shook my head. I drove down I-787 to Albany, switched to I-90 for a mile, and got off on Route 9. From there I went down to Central Avenue and drove west to Jack’s Diner.
Marilyn woke up as I pulled into the parking lot. “Where are we? This isn’t Saint Rose.”
“Even better. This is Jack’s Diner. We need to get some food in you,” I answered.
“I don’t know. I should be getting back…”
I simply parked and turned off the ignition, pocketing the key. “Marilyn, my dear, you worry way too much! Life will seem much better once we get a nice hot breakfast inside you.” I opened the door and climbed out. Marilyn slowly climbed out and followed me inside cautiously. Once inside the door, she discovered we were at a diner, and not at a roadhouse where she was about to be abducted by white slavers.
A hostess promptly settled us at a booth. “Can I get you kids some coffee?” she asked.
Marilyn shyly nodded to me. I just rolled my eyes in amusement. “The lady will have some coffee, and I’ll have some tea.”
“Hot tea?”
“Please.”
“Coming right up.” She gave us a couple of menus and wandered off towards the kitchen.
I gave Marilyn my best smile. “You need to stop worrying. Nothing happened last night and nobody will care about where you were. Hell, tell them the truth. They’ll all be jealous!”
Her eyes widened at that. “No way!”
“Oh yeah! Tell them the truth. You went to a party, where two men fell for you and fought a duel over you. The tall, dark, and handsome one was the winner, and you ended up sleeping with him, and then this morning you wore his clothes home. They will be stark raving mad with jealousy!”
“That’s not what happened!”
“Really? Tell me one thing I said that wasn’t true.”
It was amusing to watch Marilyn squawking without making a sound. She finally settled on, “But that was different!”
“Tell it my way. They’ll be so jealous of you.”
She smiled at that, and then slowly started to giggle. “You’re not tall, dark, and handsome.”
“Well, I’m tall-er. That should count for something.”
“Is that the story you’re going to tell?”
I gave her a big grin at that. “Oh, absolutely! This gets me in the He-Man Hall of Fame for sure!”
The waitress brought our coffee and tea, and took our orders, even though we really hadn’t even glanced at the menus. Still, every diner in America has some form of special covering two eggs any style, bacon or sausage, toast, juice, and potatoes. Marilyn ordered up hers sunny side up, wheat toast, bacon, skipped the hash browns, and had orange juice. She always did. I did what I always did, and ordered over easy, bacon, white toast, hash browns, and tomato juice. What really surprised Marilyn was when I ordered Tabasco sauce. She stared at me when I made a Virgin Mary with Tabasco, salt, and pepper.
“That looks awful!”
“Here, try it.” I slid the glass across the table to her.
She looked at it dubiously, but sampled it. Her face wrinkled up and she pushed it away. “That just ruins perfectly good tomato juice.”
I tossed in a few more drops of Tabasco and stirred that in. It was definitely spicy. “Gets your heart started in the morning!”
She looked around the diner. “Exactly where are we?”
“I told you, Jack’s Diner. It’s pretty much a landmark in Albany. We’re on Central Avenue. We’re only a mile, if that, from Saint Rose. You could walk home if you wanted, but don’t, I’ll drive you.”
“I never even noticed. You have your own car?”
I pointed at the Galaxie out the window. “The Galaxie out there. You?”
She shook her head. “I have one at home, but my folks wouldn’t let me bring it.”
I got her to open up and start talking, first about her car, and then about her family. She calmed down when she talked about them, although I teased her by saying that she probably shouldn’t tell the story about the duel and sleeping with me to them. That got her laughing so hard she almost snorted her juice out her nose. Once our breakfasts were brought out, she realized just how hungry she actually was, and polished it off totally, and then started nibbling on my hash browns. I smiled and asked if she wanted seconds, and she blushed at that.
Afterwards, as we sat there sipping a second round of coffee and tea, she said, “Thank you for breakfast.”
“Oh, you’re welcome. I always buy breakfast for the women I sleep with. It’s the least I can do.” Marilyn turned bright red, but stopped smiling. I reached out and touched her hand. “That was a joke, honey.”
She nodded without looking at me. Finally she said, “And does that happen often?”
It was my turn to look startled. “What the sleeping part or the breakfast part?” Marilyn didn’t answer that, but just looked out the window. I took my time before answering, but I reached over and took her hand. She looked at me nervously. “I think I know what you’re asking. It’s okay to ask me.”
“Well…”
I gave her a soft smile. “First off, I have never had a girl fall asleep in my arms and wake up that way in the morning. That’s a first for me, too. I kind of liked it, though. I think we need to try that again.” Her eyes widened at that. I just patted her hand. “Marilyn, you are safe with me. I would never hurt you. No matter what happens, I will never hurt you. If the question is whether I still have my innocence left, well, the answer is not for a long, long time. If the question is if yours is safe with me, the answer is yes. You can trust me. I will never hurt you.”
She seemed to relax at that. “I’m not that kind of girl.”
“Never thought you were.”
“But you’re that kind of guy!” she said with a certain degree of amusement.
“Never said I wasn’t.”
“I’m not sure if I trust you.”
“Well, the only way to find out is to go out with me,” I replied. “What time should I pick you up?”
That shocked her. “What? Tonight!?”
“Why not?”
“I can’t go back there after sleeping there last night!”
I laughed at that. “You’d be surprised what goes on there, but who says we’d be going to Kegs. I want to take you out. How about going to dinner tonight?”
“Where?”
I shrugged. “Who knows? There must be a couple of dozen places over on Wolf Road alone. You want to go anyplace special?” I asked.