“Are you sure I can’t convince you that maybe we should head back to my dorm, so that tomorrow I can serve you breakfast in bed? Wouldn’t that count as taking you out for a meal?” I teased.
Marilyn blushed but smiled. Wagging her finger at me, she said, “Forget it!”
“Well, it seems like a good idea to me, but okay, if you’d rather have dinner…” I gave her a quick kiss and then opened the door and led her outside. We held hands on the way to the Galaxie, and I opened the door for her. I went around and climbed behind the wheel, and then whistled at her again. Her dress had ridden up slightly and her legs looked spectacular! Marilyn simply giggled and tugged her dress down a touch, and had me start the car.
I was taking her to L’Auberge that night, a very fancy French restaurant in Albany. It was also very expensive. On the first trip through, my mother had been visiting us once when we were living in Clifton Park, and she took us to dinner there. Afterwards, when she saw the bill, she turned green and said she was going to have to tell Dad when he was in a good mood. I suspected something sexually exotic would be involved. As it was, I fully expected the bill to be at least $100. Considering that this was 1974, and that was a month’s room and board at Kegs, L’Auberge was not where I routinely dined.
It wasn’t more than a few minutes away in downtown Albany, a stately old home turned restaurant. It was a place frequently used by businessmen and lobbyists to wine and dine politicians, and we were younger than the usual crowd. Still, I had made reservations, and we were dressed appropriately, and I knew how to handle myself, even if Marilyn felt a little self-conscious. Before I locked my car, I reached into the back seat and pulled out a gift wrapped box.
“What is that?” asked Marilyn once she saw me carrying something.
“That is for you, but not until we get inside,” I said, smiling.
“Tell me!”
It was my turn to waggle a finger. “Inside!” She stuck her tongue out at me, but then scampered towards the door when I moved to swat her rear with the box.
Once we were seated I set the box on the side of the table. “We’ll get to that in a moment.” Just then, our waiter came up and we ordered drinks, with me ordering a gin and tonic and Marilyn getting something sweet and silly. Then I picked up the box.
“I can read minds,” I said, “and right now I can read yours perfectly.”
“Oh? So what am I thinking?” she asked.
I held a hand up to my temple and closed my eyes. “Well, actually, there’s two things.” I paused dramatically and closed my eyes again. “The first thing, well, Marilyn, that’s illegal in this state, and certainly won’t get you into heaven!”
“CARLING!” she shrieked quietly.
“And the second is that you’re worried you’ll never see me again, and you’ve fallen hopelessly in love with me.” I smiled at that. Marilyn’s face screwed up and her eyes started to water. I had said the wrong thing. I reached out and patted her hand. “Marilyn, it’s all right. I love you, too, and we’ll certainly see each other in the future.”
She stared at me. “What did you say?”
“I said I love you. I didn’t think you’d be so unhappy as to cry about that.” I smiled and continued holding her hand.
“Oh, God!” She started to blubber, and I just lifted her hand and kissed her palm.
I also reached into my pocket and handed her my handkerchief. “I love you,” I repeated quietly.
Marilyn had happy tears in her eyes, and she grabbed my hankie and started wiping her eyes. Of course then she had to honk her nose into it, so I decided to let her keep it as a souvenir.
“Now, stop worrying so much. This is not the end and we are going to keep seeing each other and we’re going to talk about that tonight. What? Were you worried I was going to break up with you tonight?” I asked, smiling.
“Well…”
“Honey, if I was going to break up with you I wouldn’t do it at these prices. I’d take you to a HoJo’s and go Dutch!”
Marilyn blushed. “So what’s that?” she asked, pointing at the box.
“Here, it’s for you.” I handed her the gift.
She tore the wrapping paper off the box. Inside was a Polaroid SX-70 instant camera, a state-of-the-art (at the time) instant camera with a single lens reflex action. You took a picture and within seconds the film pack spit out a picture that would develop in your hands inside of five minutes. “What… why…” she asked curiously.
I handed her another couple of film packs from a pocket. “I am going to take pictures of you tonight before we split up, and keep them with me over the summer. That way I won’t forget you.”
She smiled at me. “You want take pictures of me? Like what?”
“Well, high heels at one end, and a smile at the other. The middle is kind of optional.”
“Carling!” she said with a blushing smile.
“Oh, all right. A fellow can dream, can’t he?”
I simply waggled my eyebrows at her, and she blushed some more. I opened the box up and showed her how to load a film pack, and then I took a quick picture of her, and showed her how it developed. The flash attracted some attention, which embarrassed her a touch, but nobody seemed to mind a boyfriend taking pictures of a pretty girl. I folded it back up and put it back in the box to the side. “I’ll take a few more after dinner. Then later, when you get back to the dorm, you go upstairs and put on a bikini and come down…”
“CARL!”
“It was worth a try!”
The waiter brought our drinks, and we looked over the menu and I reviewed the wine list. I decided to splurge on a nice bottle of Pouilly Fuisse. In just a few days I was going to be dining with some people a whole lot less decorative than Marilyn.
“I still can’t believe you’re going across the country next week,” she told me.
“It’ll be fun. You should come along!”
“No way! I think you’re just going to chase girls and drink and smoke pot,” she said, smiling.
“No on one, yes on two and three,” I said with a shrug.
“I’m not sure I believe you.”
“This is my only chance to do this. My next two summers I’ll be camping with the Army.” I told her.
“I still can’t believe you’re going into the Army.”
I shrugged. “It’s not like I have a choice. Uncle Sam is paying for college for me, and he’s looking for some payback. If my father could do it during World War II and my grandfather could do it during World War I, I guess I can survive it now. At least nobody’s shooting at us at the moment.”
We talked some more about my joining the army, and how ROTC worked, and also about my family’s military tradition. This took us through a fair bit of dinner, and I took this as an opportunity to toss a new idea into the mix. “After I get back, let’s go to Maryland. I can take you to see my folks for a few days, and then we can go to the beach.”
“The beach? You live near the beach?”
I shook my head. “No. Several hours away, in fact. Here’s my suggestion. I’ll get two rooms at a place in Ocean City. You’ll have your own room. I know you well enough for that.” Marilyn looked relieved at that. “We’ll start at my folks for a few days and then drive to the beach. Take a week or two at the beach and then come back up to New York for the fall.”
Marilyn was looking intrigued, so I told her all the positive ideas about meeting my parents and family, which are always important to a woman. I also stressed the idea of sun and sand and warm, warm water. You just don’t get that in Utica. By the time dessert arrived she had agreed.