Counting the Days (3 page)

“
Girls, let’s clear this dance floor,” I said quickly to avoid talking to her. They both roared and the three of us began to dance.

All three of us had someone in the crowd to impress. So when I say we sizzled, I really mean we burned the house down. We danced so provocatively that we literally cleared the dance floor. Everyone stopped dancing and watched us. Having all eyes on us gave us power. Power that surged through us. Power that was sexually charged and, let me tell you, we played it up. We danced hard and kicked butt. Those we were seeking to impress undoubtedly stood with their mouths wide open.

Applause rang through the house when the song ended and we finished dancing. Without a doubt we had an all-male audience. After the excitement was over all three of us went outside for some fresh air. The sweat was dripping off us. The cool air was thoroughly refreshing and titillating. As we walked over to my car, we laughed and laughed and began to talk about our dance floor tale excitedly. To the perfect stranger we were just three silly girls talking nonsense, but we were the dynamic trio together again. I got some napkins out of my glove compartment and we began gingerly drying our faces.

All of a sudden we heard a commotion and loud shouting going on inside the house so we all ran back in to see what was going on. I noticed that Danny was being restrained by his friends and he was shouting at someone on the other side of the room. I couldn’t see who he was yelling at, so I push my way through the crowd closer to where Danny was standing. Oh my goodness, it was Thomas. And his face was bleeding.

I ran over to Thomas to see if he was all right. “What’s going on?” I asked wiping the blood off his face with the napkin I had in my hand.

“
Nothing! It’s okay. I’m all right. I should’ve known better than to mess with Danny’s girl.” Thomas stated pushing through the crowd towards the front door. As I followed Thomas, I shot an ‘if looks could kill’ glance at Danny. He turned away quickly and disappeared into the crowd.

“
Thomas, I am so sorry, but you’re wrong. I am not Danny’s girl. We only talked that one day at the beach and I haven’t heard from him since,” I stated as I walked Thomas to his car.

“
Well, you need to let him know that, because I think he sees it otherwise. Besides, I shouldn’t have made a move for you. He’s my buddy and I was out of line.” Thomas got into his car, said goodbye, and drove away quickly. I stood outside by myself for a while thinking about what Thomas said. Did Danny really think that I was his girl? My heart began to skip a few beats. I mean we haven’t talked since day one, could he actually have been thinking about me all these weeks? I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear, so I went back inside hoping to get Danny’s attention.

Well, the fight must have put a damper on everyone’s mood because everyone was leaving. The party had ended. Jenny came over and told me that she would catch a ride with Paul. I didn’t see Tina and I had no idea where Danny was, so I said goodnight to a couple of my friends and decided to leave.

As I was walking to my car, Danny came running over and apologized. “I’m so sorry that I overreacted and behaved badly tonight,” he said sounding pitiful. “I couldn’t help myself. You look so delicious tonight and the thought of Thomas making his move made me crazy.” He paused and continued, “I’m sorry. I know that I’ve been a real jerk and I haven’t called, but my father has been short handed and I’ve been working everyday. He’s even got me working late into the evenings. I know that I still should’ve taken a minute to call and let you know that I was thinking about you.”

He was thinking about me. I couldn’t help myself anymore he was just so pathetic. So I leaned in and shut him up with a kiss. “Big tough man, I thought you worked when you wanted to work?” I whispered. He responded with a smile and pulling me into him he kissed me long and hard. I was beginning to feel drunk with passion. My legs began to feel like rubber. I was totally on fire. We stood there making out for a long while and then we were interrupted…by Tina.

“
Uh-hum, excuse me Danny, could you give me a lift home?” she asked. I was a little surprised and confused as to why she didn’t ask me. “I’ll give you a ride Tina…we haven’t talked lately. So I don’t mind. As a matter of fact, I was hoping that we could talk a little tonight.” What audacity! Why was she asking him? What is up with that?

“
It’s alright. I’ll take her home,” Danny interrupted.

What? “Danny, you don’t need to do that. Right, Tina?” I said glaring at Tina waiting for her to back me up. But she didn’t, she wouldn’t make eye contact with me. She just looked down at the ground and said nothing.

“
Go inside and wait for me,” Danny said to Tina who left obediently. “Come on Marilyn, its okay. Tina lives on the way.” He put his arms around my waist and continued, “Dear, don’t be jealous. Didn’t I prove to you tonight who I want?” His eyes were playful and seemed sincere. After all, he did get into a brawl with Thomas over me.

Even though outwardly I had mustered up a smile onto my face, inwardly I seethed with envy. I quickly replied, “I’m not jealous…it’s just that I haven’t seen her in a few days and wanted to talk to her. That’s all.” He tightened his grip around my waist pulling me into him again and then he began kissing my neck and around my collarbone. The kisses electrified me and even though I fought to hold on to my anger, the more Danny kissed me the faster my anger faded. It seemed like every pore on my body screamed with excitement. When we came up for air, I quickly said goodnight and jumped into my car.

“
Let’s get together tomorrow night,” he said. “Meet me at the Huntington Bay Diner at 8pm. We’ll have dinner and then we’ll go to the harbor for a moonlit walk.” He bent down and kissed me tenderly on the lips.

“
Okay,” I rolled my eyes and grinned, “I’ll see you tomorrow night.” I was on cloud nine as I drove away. All the way home I couldn’t help thinking about Danny from Smithtown, Long Island. Was I falling in love with this handsome stranger? Every inch of my body shouted, “Yes!” How could I be falling in love with a man I’ve only seen twice? Love at second sight. Is that possible? Tomorrow would be our first official date and I was already hearing wedding bells. I needed to snap out of whatever fantasyland I was in. In a month I would be a full time student at Stonybrook University. The next six years of my life was dedicated to getting an education. An education that would embark me onto the career that I’ve dreamed about since I was a little girl. You have to focus Marilyn. No distractions…remember?

Hey, wait a minute, how is it that Danny knows where Tina lives?

If she didn’t drive here, how did Tina get to the party?

It’s a quarter past eight and Danny is now officially late for our first date. I decided to go into the restaurant and have a drink before he came. Now that I’m eighteen, I could legally have a drink, not that my age ever stopped me before. The waitress came over and asked if she could get me something. “Yes, could I please have a rum and coke?”

I was so stressed I needed to relax. I had an awful fight with my mother tonight. When I told her that I had a date and that I’d probably be late, she wanted to know the who, what, and where. She said that she was concerned because I hadn’t mentioned anything at all about Danny to her. I told her that we just met and I didn’t know anything about him. But that wasn’t good enough for her; she kept nagging me for more info. What did she want from me? A complete history or something. She questioned, “Why isn’t he being a gentleman and picking you up?” I got so annoyed at her that I told her to mind her own business. I’m an adult now. She should just relax and let go. Man did those words hurt her, I could see it in her face, but I refused to apologize. I hate when she does this to me. I walked out without even looking back.

My mothers’ name is Debra Ann Martinez. Born in Puerto Rico, she came to New York to get her degree in Nursing at the State University of New York. She met my father one night at a party and that’s how I came into the picture. They never married, but that didn’t stop my mom, she continued getting her education, graduated and started working at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where I was born. In a few years, she had enough money saved to buy our house and so we moved to Huntington, Long Island. She worked the night shift at Huntington Hospital, because it paid more money and as a single parent, more money was a necessity. Even though she worked pretty close to home, I rarely saw her. My mother tried really hard to give me a good life. She worked very hard to make sure that I had everything that I wanted and thought I needed. She wanted me to have a life of privilege growing up in the infamous town of Huntington among the wealthy. She thought that having money and the best of everything would make life all right. That it all would work out well for both of us, so my mother spared no expense. We had everything, no matter what it cost. Unbeknownst to her, it only cost our relationship. As I grew older, we grew further apart. In the end none of it mattered to me, because I was very spoiled and extremely ungrateful. Now that I look back, I really regret the way I acted out.

Danny finally showed up, looking very delicious I might add. He bent down and kissed me on the cheek. My heart was pounding. “Sorry, my father, jerk that he is, decided to go for a late appraisal and estimate. He wanted me to go.” He looked so handsome in his white polo and black slacks. I took a deep breath with every move he made. He was forgiven for getting here late. “What are you drinking?” he asked.

“
A rum and coke,” I said a little embarrassed that I’d started without him. I only had a couple of sips and I wasn’t too sure if I liked it. It was too strong. Danny ordered a round of drinks and then proceeded to order dinner for both of us. He didn’t ask me what I wanted, which I found a little offensive. Maybe he’s on a budget and can only spend so much money. I guess it was okay…he ordered stuff that I liked.

I gulped down the rest of my first drink and then I glanced around the restaurant at the different patrons. The waitress bought over the drinks Danny ordered and also placed some bread down on the table. We engaged in light conversation and pleasantries for a while and then we had an odd moment of silence. “So, what did you do today?” he asked breaking the silence.

I gulped down half of my second drink and answered, “I went to the mall with Jenny this morning. We walked around and window-shopped. I asked Tina if she wanted to come, but she didn’t want to.” I paused, took a sip of my drink and then continued, “She’s been acting so weird the last few weeks.” Hoping that he would have an answer, I included, “I think she’s seeing somebody and is either embarrassed or…I don’t know.” The waitress bought over a couple of salads and set them down.

“
Well, Tina and David have been hanging out a lot since the night they met, if you recall,” he paused and ordered another round of drinks. Turning to me he went on, “They’ve been getting along very well. If you know what I mean?”

“
So, Tina is seeing David?” I asked curiously. “She hasn’t mentioned anything to me about him. As a matter of fact, when I asked her if she was seeing someone she started to cry.”

“
You girls are too funny. You cry at the drop of a dime,” he said snickering. “Maybe the day that you and Tina talked, she was having a bad day.” He finished his salad and continued “David told me that Tina wanted their relationship to be official, but he only wants a playmate. He’s not looking to be with just one girl right now. Maybe that’s why she’s so upset.”

The waitress placed our entrees in front of us. “You don’t understand, Tina and I have been best friends since we were little girls. She tells me everything. And she has not mentioned anything about David. We haven’t even talked about the night that I walked in on her and him. It’s just not like her. We’ve never had a problem talking about anything and she’s just not talking lately.” I was curious to know what he knew. He was hiding something from me and I’m going to find out what it is. “Is David a nice guy?” I asked as I finished my second drink and began on the third.

“
He’s okay. David is into playing the field right now. I personally don’t think he’s Tina’s type.” Danny paused and went on, “Dave’s a doormat when it comes to women and Tina needs a man that will guide and direct her every step…someone that will keep her in her place. She’s kind of flighty you know. David is just not ready to commit to a serious relationship right now, and honey, she’s not as good a friend to you as you think she is.”

What did he mean by that? I know that she’s been acting weird and stuff, but she’s my best friend and I trust her implicitly. He knows nothing about our friendship. Enough talk about Tina. I can’t deal with this nonsense in my head right now. I looked away so that I could think. The silence was good. It gave me an opportunity to change the subject. Carefully and a little bit playfully, I asked, “So, are you looking for a serious relationship or are you also looking for just a playmate?”

“
Well, what do you think? I’m 25 years old. I’ve already played the field and sowed my wild oats. Being single just isn’t fun anymore.” He instructed the waitress to bring us another round of drinks.