Lucy, saying that he did not wish to disturb us as we enjoyed our coffee. I thanked him, and off he went again.
When we'd finished our drinks, I signaled to him that we were ready to leave, and he brought over the check. I looked it over, write in a nice tip for him, and put my American Express card on the tray. After he'd left, Lucy looked at me and said 'That wasn't a Gold card, was it?', and I said that no, it wasn't. She said that it didn't look like the regular AE card, and I finally admitted that it was the platinum card. Her eyes widened a bit at that, and even Robyn seemed to understand what was going on, because she gave me another one of her minor-deity looks.
When the waiter came back, I signed the receipt, and when I'd gotten my card and copy of the charge, he moved around to hold Robyn's chair for her as she got up, letting me attend to Lucy. When we were all standing, Robyn came around to stand on the other side of me from her mother, and the waiter came around behind her, stopping in front of us. He bowed slightly and said that it was his pleasure to have had us as their guests that night; then he reached out first for Lucy's hand and then Robyn's, kissing them in turn before stepping aside to let us leave. Lucy and Robyn fairly *glowed* as we headed toward the door; when we got to the front, the headwaiter approached, and said that it had gotten a bit cool out, and if I cared to wait inside a moment, the valet would have the car ready for us in just a moment. As we waited, he thanked me for coming back, and after saying that he hoped my next visit wouldn't take so long 'and do bring these two goddesses back with you – please!' winning him radiant smiles from both of them – and I assured him that it wouldn't. About then, the valet opened the door, and started to come in; but when he saw us standing there, stayed outside, holding the door for us, instead. As we passed him, he said that he hoped we'd enjoyed our time with them and would return.
When we'd gotten into the car (which didn't take too long; it really had turned cool), both Lucy and Robyn emitted sighs of pure contentment as I pulled away from the curb. All during the ride home, they talked about all they'd seen, and how lovely everything was, and 'did you*see* that…', and so on. As I turned onto the street to our apartment complex, Lucy looked at me as thanked me for making her promotion something she'd remember for a good, long time; and prompting Robyn to chime in with her own expression of appreciation. I told them that it really had been my pleasure, telling them that I'd been the envy of every man who saw the three of us that night. The both giggled a little at that, just as I pulled into the parking lot of our apartment complex.
When I'd pulled into my parking space in front of my apartment, and we'd gotten out, somebody came toward us from the shadows, surprising the hell out of us. When they got closer, we could see that it was a teenager, and that not only was he pretty ragged-looking, but appeared to be high on something. When he got close, he stopped, and asked me for a couple dollars. I told him I didn't think so, and he said that if I didn't give it to him, he'd
That kind of surprised him, and he said that he had a knife, and he'd use it. My response was that in that case, not only would he be sorry that I hadn't killed him, but that he'd find himself in the jail ward of the hospital, too. That seemed to get through to him a little, and when he realized that not only wasn't I afraid of him, but that he might actually get hurt himself if he tried anything, he decided to try the pickings elsewhere – heading off away from us and the apartment complex. When he'd gotten a hundred yards away, or so, both Robyn and Lucy came up to me and wrapped their arms around me. When I put my arms around them, I could feel them shaking from both fear and their sobbing. I softly assured them that there wasn't anything to worry about, and that it was all over, and that nothing was going to happen. After a couple minutes, they'd gotten themselves together again, and we went into their apartment.
When we got inside, Robyn said that she was exhausted, and was going to go to bed. She heading down the hallway toward her bedroom, leaving me with her mother in the living room. We kind of stood there, awkwardly, for a minute when she said that as much as she liked dressing up to go out, the clothes were never really meant to really be comfortable in. I laughed in reply, and admitted that I was a lot more comfortable in jeans and sports shirts, myself. She asked if I'd mind if she went in to change, and I suggested to her that if
I got changed and had hung my suit back up when I heard Lucy knocking at the door. I opened the door for her, and found her standing there in the too-small T-shirt and frayed jeans I'd seen her in before. And it was obvious that she thought the temperatures out were a little cool, because I could see her nipples poking out the front of the shirt.
I quickly invited her in, and asked her if she'd like something to drink. She said that a Coke would be fine, and after a couple moments, asked if I had anything to put in it – saying that she still felt a little shaky from the little encounter outside. I told her I had some rum, and she said that was fine, make it a strong one. I warned her that it was 151, and she said that was even better, and she still wanted a strong one.
I filled a water glass about half full of rum, dropped in a single ice cube, and filled the glass the rest of the way with part of a can of Coke; then opened a can of Coke for myself, and went into the living room. She was sitting at one end of the couch with her legs under her again, and I handed her the glass and the rest of 'her' can of Coke. She felt how much was left in the can, gave me a curious look, and took a big swallow from the glass – and promptly started gasping. When she'd caught her breath again, said 'I said 'strong', not
I told her that I wasn't since it really hadn't been anything too serious.
She looked surprised at that, and said that it had seemed pretty serious to her. I replied by telling her that it wasn't as bad as it might have looked: the kid was young, obviously stoned on something, and if she looked close, she could have seen that he wasn't in very good shape, either. She thought about that for a second, and said 'Yeah. But he still had a knife!'. I pointed out that he hadn't*shown* a knife, so it was only the word of a stoned thief that there was one, and that even if he did have one, he was still both young and stoned. She asked 'But he still might have hurt you!', and I told her that I didn't think he could have hurt me unless I'd gotten real clumsy or did something real stupid. She asked what I meant, and I had to explain to her a little bit about some of the things that I'd done in the military, and some of the places I'd found myself even after I'd gotten out, taking up the better part of an hour. She seemed to understand that I'd left a bit of it out, but seemed to also understand that I'd have been fully able to deal with the twit if he'd been stupid enough to continue.
Then she shivered a little bit, and said 'Between remembering that, and how cool it is out there, I'm feeling a little chilly'. I told her that if she liked, I'd be glad to get her a blanket to wrap around herself, and she said that a blanket would be too hot, and a moment later, asked if I'd mind if she sat next to me, instead. I told her that I'd made it a point to never object to having skimpily-dressed pretty girls sit next to me, and she gave me a little laugh, saying 'Great! But first, I've got to get rid of some of that wine from the restaurant'. I told her that I figured she could figure out where the bathroom was, getting me a smile and a nod before she got up and headed that direction.
A couple minutes later, she came back in, and had me twist around a little on the couch, so that she could nestle herself into the crook of my arm next to my shoulder. I had my arm resting on the back of the couch, and when she'd gotten herself situated, she reached up and pulled my arm down around her shoulders, holding my hand in hers. When she was comfortable, she said 'You know, it's been*years* sit I was able to just sit and snuggle up next to a man like this – I'd forgotten just how nice it could feel.' I thanked her for the compliment, and told her that it felt pretty good for me, too.
We sat there like that for several minutes, both of us comfortable just to have the physical contact and closeness of another human being next to us, before she looked up at me and said 'You know, when you first moved in, I thought you were kind of a nerdy bum, spending almost all your time inside your apartment. Then after we talked outside that day, I realized that there was more to you than what I first thought. Then when Robyn got interested in your computer, and started coming over to visit you, I worried that you might be some kind of pervert or something and try to molest her. When I got back from my trip, I was worried that you had somehow gotten her into bed with you. It was only when I came over to apologize to you and we had a chance to talk a little more that I realized just how much there was to you; and when you started helping me and Robyn out with our problems, it only made me understand just how thoughtful and smart you are. Tonight, when we went to the restaurant, I
