Love and War Chapter 3

I was absolutely losing it. Don't get me wrong, I've been with women before, and I'm not just talking eating at a restaurant, if you know what I mean. But I was already out of my comfort zone in a place as nice as this was, and here was this stunning woman sitting across from me, talking to me. She had long, dark, sliky, wavy hair cascading across her shoulders and down her back. She had a beautiful face with a cute nose and sensual lips. Her deep red lipstick and black hair contrasted strikingly with her smooth alabaster skin. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a more beautiful woman in my life.

"So, Jim, what brings you here?" she asked, dragging on her cigarette. "I don't think I've seen you here before, and you look a little younger than the people we usually get in here."

"Oh, well, I," I stammered. I knew what I wanted to say, my mouth just couldn't spit the words out correctly. "Um, a friend of mine at the base, I was supposed to meet him and a few other people here. But they haven't shown up yet."

Our conversation was interrupted by a waiter, who, after taking our orders for two martinis, congratulated "Dolly" on her performance.

After he left, I raised an eyebrow and asked "Dolly? Or is it Dorothy?"

She laughed lightly and replied, "Oh, my friends call me 'Dolly'. The waiter – David – thinks we're friends. But I'll tell you, friendship is the last thing on his mind." We both had a chuckle but Dolly soon brought up other things to talk about.

We talked about music, what songs she sings, what nights she works, usual stuff people talk about when getting to know each other. I directed most of the conversation to things about her, mostly so I could hear her beautiful voice over and over.

Eventually, the maître d' showed up at the booth and informed me that the captain, the lieutenant and their dates had arrived, and been seated. He pointed to where they were, and Dolly and I both looked. I gave them a wave, then told the maître d': "Could you please tell my friends that I will not be joining them? I'll see them back at the base." The maître d' left, and as he told Captain Decker my message, I raised my glass and smiled at Decker from across the room. He smiled, shaking his head.

"So, you mentioned your base. What base, exactly?" Dolly asked.

"Well, Dorothy," making a point to emphasize her full first name, "I'm at the Presidio."

"Oh, the Presidio!" she said excitedly. "My uncle lives in Marin County, on the other side of the bridge. I see your base every Sunday when I go visit him!"

"You have a lot of family here?" I asked her.

"No, just my uncle. I'm from Arizona originally. But I grew up here with my uncle." Her smile disappeared as she told me about how she came to California. Her parents died when she was young, so she had to move here. No siblings growing up, just her and her uncle. "That was fifteen years ago, when I was eight. I've been here ever since." I could tell it bothered her to talk about it, so I didn't press any further. However, turnabout being fair play, she asked about my family. I think I surprised her with how much in common we actually had.

"My family life is pretty boring, actually. I'm an only child of a mom and a dad who were only children. Makes for a small family. Mom and dad were in their late thirties when I was born, so they were already old by the time I got to college. One day, I got a telegram in the dorm from my pastor back home: Mom and dad had died in their sleep. There was a break in the gas line, and they died peacefully in their sleep."

Unknowingly, I had been staring down at the table. When I looked back up, Dolly was dabbing tears at the corner of her eye with her finger.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, not crying, but not in control of her emotions. "It's just…it's… I was going to be fine after talking about my parents, then hearing about you going through the same thing. It made me kind of emotional."

"It's okay, really," I said, trying to reassure her. I handed her my new handkerchief, and she gingerly soaked up tears, trying not to ruin her makeup. We looked into each other's eyes, and I felt an intense connection – like we had known each other intimately for years. She reached out and took hold of my hand on top of the table – the forwardness of the action took me off guard, but her hand was trembling, so I held her hand.

"Jim, I'm sorry about that. I'm usually not a basket case like this." Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. I reassured her, telling her that it was okay. After all, everyone does that now and again.

The moment lasted another couple of minutes: holding hands, eyes transfixed on each other's. The band's music, the din of conversation and the clinking of silverware on plates all fell away. All I could hear was the thud of my heartbeat pulsing in my ears. Eventually, Dolly gave my hand a squeeze and let go, and I was again aware of the rest of the room.

Dolly looked around the room, then back at me and asked, "Jim, would you mind if we left? I don't sing again tonight, and I really don't want to be hanging around my work anymore."

Of course, I agreed with her recommendation. We both finished our drinks, I left some money on the table, and stood to leave. As she walked by, I placed my hand at the small of her back and walked beside her. She didn't seem bothered by that and she didn't shake me off, so I took that as a good sign. She picked up her purse and coat from the coat-check girl and we headed outside.

As soon as we stepped out into the chilly San Francisco night, Dolly put on her coat. I headed towards the row of waiting cabs, but before I could get three steps away, she snaked her arm around mine, turning me around and keeping me close. "Let's go for a walk, shall we?" she asked.

"Indeed we shall," I responded, and she led the way.

We had walked a couple blocks from Paradise Cove, and along the way, she gave me a long list of things I should do and places I should see while in San Francisco. She asked me what time it was, so I checked my watch and told her: 9:45.

"Hmmm," she thought out loud. "A little too early to go home."

That was kind of odd. "Too early to go home?" I asked, curious.

"Oh, well, Mrs. Vickers wouldn't like it," she said, matter-of-factly.

Confused, I asked, "Who's Mrs. Vickers?"

"She's my landlady. My apartment building is basically all single women living in them. If she's awake and sees men coming in or out of the building, it's bad news. Violation of my lease. I don't want to get kicked out of my home!"

That was a surprise: getting invited to her home. I really hadn't thought much of the reason why we were walking. Soon, Dolly suggested we stop in at a nearby diner. As we rounded the corner, I saw the diner she mentioned, casting harsh light into the darkened street it sat in.

We went in, sat down, and both ordered coffee and pie – she had cherry pie, I had apple. We talked some more, mostly about army things, about what I did. I tried my best to make it interesting, but it's not easy to make gasoline, diesel and oil a fun topic of discussion. But Dolly didn't give away any sense of boredom, nor did she try to change the subject. She again held my hand on the table, and as she did so, the conversation eventually came to a stop.

Dolly glanced around the diner and found the clock. "Ten-thirty," she said. "Mrs. Vickers should be asleep by now. My place is just around the block."

She rose and walked towards the exit. I hastily threw some coins down on the table, probably overpaying our bill. I caught up with her outside. She put her right arm around my left and held my hand with her left. As we walked, she was careful to point out to be quiet when we get to the apartment: "I'll unlock the door, but NO TALKING! And no stomping up the stairs. I'm on the second floor, so tiptoe if you have to."

I made it a point to stomp down the sidewalk and make way too much noise for after ten PM. Dolly playfully slapped at my arm, laughing. "Come on, I'm being serious! Stop it!"

After another few feet, we stopped, and she gestured to a large, dark, stained-glass door.  "This is it," she said. She unlocked the door, stepped inside, then looked back at me. "Shhh," she said softly, putting a pale finger against her red lips.

She walked down the dimly lit hallway, and I followed, watching her shapely hips and backside sway in front of me. I was a couple steps behind, making nary a sound. She looked back at me and pointed to a door, mouthing 'Mrs. Vickers' as she did so. I smiled, and when I got to the door, I made like I was going to really pound on her door. Dolly's eyes got wide, and she covered her mouth with her hands, halfway horrified, halfway amused. As I was mimicking knocking on the door, it suddenly swung open, and a mean, old-looking woman in a robe and rollers in her hair, glaring at me like Medusa.  I instinctively stood at attention.

Mrs. Vickers pushed passed me to the hall, staring daggers at Dolly. "You weren't planning on taking a man up to your apartment, were you now, Miss Williams?" Mrs. Vickers was livid, face red, barely keeping her voice at a volume low enough to prevent the entire building from waking up.

"No, no, no, no, Mrs. Vickers," she stammered. "Lieutenant Hamilton was just walking me home from work. He was actually just leaving."

"Well, lieutenant?" Mrs. Vickers asked, turning around to give me the evil eye.

"Yes, ma'am." That was all I could muster.

"Well, then you best be on your way, lieutenant. I do appreciate you serving and all, but rules are rules. I'm sure you can appreciate that, right, lieutenant?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Then off you go."

As I turned to leave, Dolly briskly walked up to me, grabbing my arm. She leaned in close and kissed me on my cheek. She lingered, and the smell of her perfume was exhilarating. Before she turned to walk to her apartment, she whispered, "I'm off at eleven tomorrow." I smiled, looked into her sharp blue eyes and nodded. I noticed Mrs. Vickers, still fuming, keeping an eye on us. We both turned away from each other, and I left the building.

Outside, I took in a deep breath of the cool San Francisco air. I felt like I was floating – like I could get back to the base on my own wings. After about five minutes of walking, I finally found a cab, and rode back to the base. Yeah, I was glad I went out tonight.