Her smile was knowingly comfortable and it unnerved me slightly. Her crystal sharp green eyes looked at me as if she had known everything about me since I was a child, and there was something so very familiar about her that, try as I might, I just could not put my finger on. Still I did not want to say anything to this fabulous creature that had just entered into my life that would make her want to turn away so I said nothing, at least for awhile.
We had shared nearly a half dozen Scotch's that night, and after her second she had decided to share doubles with me. I had been there for much longer than her and was quite happy to let her carry the conversation for most of the night. Watching her eyes and her smile as she laughed and told stories of her youth made me almost forget completely about anything else for the entire evening.
A few of the regulars had wandered in and out on that otherwise unremarkable evening in that unremarkable and dying little town. All had walked over and spoke to both me and Patty and while she was gracious in her conversations with them it was clear she was intent upon having private conversations with me. After quizzing looks at me and appraising glances at her, all of them had left the two of us to ourselves.
Patty was 4 years younger than myself and her birthday was very close to mine, a fact she had let be known before I had said anything about the date of my birth or age. However this revelation did not occur to me until after we had parted ways that evening. Her mother had raised her alone after her father had been killed in a work related accident and she had dated a bit but nothing ever seemed to come of any of it. Patty spoke sparingly but adoringly of her late father and how their families life had changed after the accident.
She was 10 years old when she came home from school that day and when she entered the house her mother was crying and sitting at the table. She said she knew something terrible had happened because her mom had worked a day shift job in a local bar and was seldom home before she was. The news had devastated her and it was apparent as she told the story that the memories of her father were still vivid even as she spoke. She had been a gangly and clumsy young girl she said, and after she and her mother moved away from where her father died she had trouble meeting or keeping friends. They had moved from place to place where ever her Mom could find work and finally had moved to New Jersey to live with her Moms sister.
As we finished what turned out to be the last of our drinks for the evening Patty looked at me and became very quiet. I started to say something to her about the rest of the evening and she put her index finger up to her perfect lips and said "shhhh" in a both provocative and non provocative way that made me wonder for just a split second if the Scotch had finally burned out my brain cells. She looked at me with those green eyes that I had decided I could never ever tire of looking into and said, "Just look at me for a minute and don't say anything".
It was the easiest thing anyone had ever asked me to do. Her eyes seemed to almost mist as we sat there looking at each other and as I was about to violate her request not to say anything she stood up and briskly walked into the ladies room. I pondered the the idea of ordering us another round but the evening had turned into late night and before Patty could come out of the restroom the front door to the establishment had opened and a very large man smoking a huge cigar had burst through.
"Kid", he said, "I need some help". And I sat frozen for just a moment. In the many years of our friendship the big man and myself had always done favors for each other and there was never a split second of hesitation before help was offered. But this time I wavered and he looked at me with a stare that could cut through concrete. It was a stare that would bend most men, but I had known this fellow since I was a young boy and he had taught me to fear no man including himself. Still I knew I was about to make a decision that he may not understand or like.
Patty opened the door to the ladies room just as the big man had taken the seat that would have been on the opposite side of her from me and I could see her come up short with a look of recognition and then slowly almost apprehensively walk back towards us. Just as I was about to tell the big man that I was not going to be able to give him a hand Patty walked up and said, "NickD, I have to go, please tell me you'll see me tomorrow night".
"Wait" I started to say and she stopped me and said, "No", and then with those crystal green eyes she looked at me and said, "Help your buddy with what ever has to be done and promise to meet me tomorrow night at Charlies for coffee". "Deal"?
We set the time for our date and she smiled at my buddy and then turned and walked out the door. I looked at the father of the bartender and considered how badly he might mangle my head if I punched out his teeth and stopped Patty from walking out of my life so soon after walking into it. Instead I just said "You got some real shitty timing bud". He looked back at me and laughed and shrugged his shoulders and said," Yeah, but this can't wait and besides she said she'll see you tomorrow".
I walked over to the door and saw her pull away in a new or almost new blue Corvette and as she drove away I knew I would never see her again, and for the second time that evening I was wrong.....
