|
Paul: the
party was in the basement of my cousin Ben’s house in
Brooklyn. Ben had just passed his bar
exam and was celebrating. It was crowded with young people, most in their 20s, maybe a few
oldsters in their 30s. Everyone
was talking about how well they were doing as lawyers, doctors, in
advertising or on Wall Street. When
I was asked what I did and said I was an accountant, the other person immediately lost interest and went off in search of bigger fish elsewhere.
One guy in particular, holding
court in the middle of the base
ment, was bragging about the millions he was making.
His name
was Richie Something and I think he was an investment banker. He was a big blond guy,
good-looking, I suppose, and he seemed to have all the girls spellbound, particularly one tall curvaceous
redhead who hung on his every word. I’d
noticed the girl he’d come
with, a pretty brunette with a nice smile.
She detached herself from Richie’s audience and came
over to the drinks table where I was standing.
Maybe she’d heard all of Richie’s boasts before.
I asked her if I could get her
some
thing and she said, Yes, a gin and tonic. I
mixed one as best I could, probably putting in too much gin.
We introduced ourselves. I
told her I was Ben’s cousin. We
talked a little.
I found out she worked in an ad agency and knew Ben from college.
I was tempted to ask her for her phone number and tried to get up
the courage to do it. But she was
too pretty and besides, she was Richie's date.
Then, before I could say anything, Richie came
over to claim her and she was gone. But
when the party was over I did ask Ben if he knew her number and he gave it
to
me
.
Marilyn:
I like Ben and was glad he’d passed his bar exam but his party
was pretty boring, the same
old people bragging about how well they were doing.
I think the only reason Richie wanted to go was so he could tell
everyone about his latest coups on Wall Street.
I’d been seeing Richie for a few months and had been attracted by
his confidence and air of success. But
lately I’d been getting tired of his need to let everyone know how great
he was. I
met Ben’s cousin Paul at the party. He
was cute and I think he wanted to ask
me
for my number but was too shy. The
day after the party I called Ben to thank him and congratulate him again.
I
mentioned his cousin and he told
me
he’d given Paul my number. I
wonder if he’ll call.
Paul: I carried
Marilyn’s phone number around for a couple of weeks, telling myself
I’d call her. But then I’d re
member that she was Richie’s date. The
guy was blond and handsome
and making millions of bucks. Why
should she want to go out with someone like
me
? Even if she got tired of Richie,
she was so pretty she could get any other guy she wanted.
Then one day when I left my
office to go for lunch, there she was, coming up the steps toward
me. “Marilyn,” I
said, “it’s
me, Paul. I don’t know if you
remember. We
met at my cousin Ben’s party.”
“Oh, yes,” she said.
“I remember.” It turned out her
advertising agency was just a few blocks away.
She said she was delivering some
thing to a magazine that had its office in my building.
I took a deep breath, then asked if she could have lunch with
me. “Sure,” she
said,
“I can deliver this later.” I
knew of a good place where the managers of my company went and took her
there. We talked, telling each
other all about ourselves. I
found out that Marilyn wanted to be a teacher.
She loved children. Before
we knew it, we’d been there almost three hours.
“I have to get back,” I said. My
boss bawled
me
out but it was worth it. I had
a date with Marilyn for the weekend.
Marilyn:
I kept waiting for Paul to call
me
. Finally I called Ben.
He told
me
how shy Paul was. I found out where
Paul worked -- luckily, not too far away from my office.
The next day I waited outside his building at lunch time
and when I saw him coming out I almost ran into him to make sure he saw
me. He took
me
to lunch and we talked for hours. I’m
seeing him next weekend. I’ll
tell Richie that it’s over. I’m
sure he’ll be much too absorbed in all the money he’s making to be too
hurt about it. I’m going to
marry Paul.
Richie:
I couldn’t believe it. Marilyn
has dumped
me. She must be crazy.
Well, there are lots of other fish in the sea.
Besides, she wasn’t that great.
She has a good job in an ad agency but wants to be a teacher.
I called the redhead I
met at that party last month and I’m taking her out tonight.
She’s really hot. So
all’s well that ends well.
|
