That Night with You (2 page)

“
Sexy. Did you get his
name?” Lizzie fidgeted in her seat, enthralled.

“
He said his friends called
him Harry, so I called him Harry. I told him my name was Mary.”
Madison sipped her beer as a myriad of lustful memories came back
to her. She could see him sitting beside her, still feel his hand
on hers, smell his musky skin, and…she regained control and went on
with her story. “We spent about an hour at the bar talking. Well,
we didn’t talk per se, he just asked questions and I talked. He
asked me a lot of questions.”

“
What kind of questions?”
Charlie intruded.

“
Where I was from, what I
was studying in school. He knew a lot about architecture and was
pretty smart. I think he talked about how hard architecture school
was, but I’m not sure if he mentioned going to one. He wanted to
know about my family, what I liked to do outside of school…stuff
like that.”

“
Get to the good part.”
Lizzie moved her chair closer to Madison. “Did he take you to his
place?”

Madison played with her beer glass in
her hands, fighting that rush of unease. “He drove me in his
Porsche to his apartment. More like a penthouse really. It had this
wall of windows with a great view of the UT campus. I remember he
had a bar.” She cocked her head, lost in her memories. “Really nice
paintings on the wall. He told me the name of the painter, but I’ve
forgotten.”

“
Sounds nice.” Charlie
grinned. “He must have been rich to have a place like
that.”

“
I don’t think we ever
talked about his family. I don’t know if he was rich, but he seemed
sophisticated. Like he knew a lot of things.” Madison shrugged and
rested her arms on the table, getting comfortable. “He led me into
his apartment, turned on a song named ‘Feelin’ Good.’ I remember
asking him about it. He told me it was by his favorite singer, Nina
Simone.”

“
Is that the song you
always play? You know, I’m feeeliiinnn’ gooood,” Charlie sang out.
“I hear it coming from your bedroom sometimes.”

“
Yes, but I listen to the
Michael Bublé version.”

“
Oh, I love him,” Lizzie
squealed.

“
So you play that song for
him, don’t you?” Charlie probed. “You’re dreaming of being with him
again.”

Madison nodded. “I always wonder what
it would be like if he was there with me. Sometimes I daydream
about dancing for him, and….” She rubbed her arms, feeling she had
said too much. “Silly, huh?”

“
I think it’s romantic,”
Lizzie giggled. “You and Harry have a song.”

“
Enough about the song,”
Charlie clamored. “What happened next?”

“
He wanted me to sober up a
bit before, so he made me some coffee in his kitchen. I was sipping
on the coffee and we were standing in the kitchen talking when I
slipped or got dizzy…I’m not sure. He went to grab me, and I
spilled some coffee on his nice sweater. I was mortified and kept
apologizing, but he just laughed at me.” She smiled, lost in her
thoughts. “He had this great laugh. Deep, soulful; the kind that
vibrates inside your bones. The one thing I clearly remember about
that night was his laugh.”

“
And then what happened?”
Lizzie inserted.

Madison was awakened from her
memories. “I grabbed for some paper towels and started wiping his
sweater. I must have looked like a total idiot. He took the paper
towels from my hands and kissed me.”

“
Good kisser?” Charlie
posed with a hopeful lilt in her voice.

Madison nodded, blushing. “Really
good. The kind you don’t want to stop kissing.”

Lizzie’s grip on her glass of beer
tightened. “Then what?”

Madison lowered her eyes to the table.
“He took my hand and led me from the kitchen to the master bedroom.
When we got to the door, I think I had a mini-panic attack. I was
so nervous…never having done it before. He put his arm around me,
kissed my cheek, and gently eased me into the room.” She raised her
head. “After that, I wasn’t quite as nervous.”

Charlie’s blue eyes grew round. “And
the sex? How was it?”

“
He was very gentle.”
Madison shrugged her shoulders. “I thought it was going to hurt
more, but he went really slow. I’m not sure if he knew I was…. He
made me feel comfortable, or as comfortable as I could feel in that
situation.”

“
Jesus.” Lizzie reached for
a shot glass in the middle of the table. “He must have been really
good.” She knocked back the small glass of tequila.

Charlie nudged Madison’s hand on the
table. “But what exactly happened? How did he do it?”

Madison’s jaw dropped. “What do you
mean ‘how did he do it’? You’re kidding, right?”

“
No, Mads, I’m talking
about before he took off your clothes. How did he seduce you? You
know, what kind of moves did he put on you? Or did you two just get
right to it?”

“
Oh that.” Madison became
silent for a few seconds. “Yeah, well, he, ah, danced with me.
After we stepped into the bedroom, he took my hand and held me
close. I don’t know how long we swayed like that to the music, but
he made me feel special.”

“
Special?” Charlie laughed.
“What about the morning after? How did you feel then?”

Madison slumped in her chair, tucking
her hair behind her ear. “There wasn’t a morning after. When he
fell asleep, I snuck out of his apartment and walked back to
campus.”

Lizzie stared at her. “You snuck out?
Honestly, you didn’t want to hang around and find out more about
him?”

“
No. I was so relieved to
have finally done it, I just wanted to get out of there and avoid
the whole morning after thing.”

“
Damn,” Lizzie extolled
with admiration in her eyes. “You’re a lot braver than me. I always
wanted to meet some hot guy in a bar, but with all the crap out
there these days, I’d be terrified to have him touch me unless he
was encased in rubber.”

“
Please tell me you used
protection,” Charlie groaned as she reached for her shot
glass.

“
We used protection. He had
condoms.”

“
Ever wonder what happened
to him?” Lizzie pestered.

“
Sure,” Madison reluctantly
disclosed. “He was a really nice guy. I kind of wish I could meet
someone like him today. You know…handsome, sophisticated,
articulate, someone who made me feel—”

“
Special?” Charlie
interjected.

Madison nodded to the three-carat
diamond on Charlie’s left hand. “You’ve got Nelson. You’re lucky
you don’t have to go out in the world and find a man
anymore.”

Charlie pushed the last shot glass of
tequila across the table toward Madison. “You’ll find someone…you
just have to hit a few more bars.”

Lizzie snorted with laughter while
Madison smirked at her roommate. Picking up the shot glass, Madison
toasted her friends.

“
To meeting men in bars,”
she proclaimed.

Lizzie lifted her beer glass and
Charlie did the same. “To meeting your Harry in a bar,” Lizzie
declared. “I’d kill to find a man like that.”

They each gulped back their drinks,
and after Madison put her empty shot glass down on the table she
shook her head.

“
I should really be pretty
angry with Harry.”

“
Angry? Why?” Charlie
asked.

“
He ruined me for other
guys.”

Lizzie tittered with a high-pitched
laugh. “What are you talking about?”

Madison ran her finger over the rim of
her empty shot glass. “Every guy since then has never quite lived
up to him. I mean, I know it was a one-night stand and all, but no
guy has ever seemed as smooth or as charming, or—”

“
Good in bed,” Charlie cut
in.

Madison swept her long brown hair
about her shoulder, snickering. “Yeah, that too.”

“
Just be thankful you’ve
had that,” Lizzie advised. “I’ve been at this dating game for damn
near ten years and I’ve never met anyone like your Harry. I was
beginning to think men like that only existed in romance
novels.”

“
Did you ever want to go
back to his place
and find out more about
him?” Charlie’s blue eyes contemplated Madison’s perfect
profile.

“
Thought about it…but I
doubt he would remember who I was.” Madison glanced around the
half-empty bar. “No, if we met up again, it would ruin my memories
of that night. I’d probably discover he’s just like every other
asshole out there.”

“
Yeah, but what an
asshole,” Lizzie imparted with a giggle.

“
I don’t know.” Charlie
leaned forward. “Might be nice to know if the two of you could make
it or not.”

Madison shook her head. “A man like
that would never look at me.”

“
Why not?” Charlie
challenged. “He certainly liked what he saw in the bar.”

“
Charlie, a guy like that
wants one of those ultra-chic women; the kind that leave high heel
marks in their back, max out their credit cards, wears a size zero,
and can suck the cap off a fire hydrant.”

Lizzie began snorting loudly with
laughter.

Charlie ignored Lizzie and glared at
her friend. “Why do you always do this, Mads? You never think
you’re good enough for anyone.” Charlie waved her hand up and down
Madison’s figure. “You can have any guy you want, but you always
end up with losers.”

Madison reached for her glass of beer.
“Losers? Like who?”

“
Oh God,” Lizzie chimed in.
“Can we ever forget the foghorn, Elliot? The guy’s laugh could
clear a room faster than a rabid raccoon in church on
Sunday.”

“
That’s mean, Lizzie,”
Charlie scolded. “It wasn’t his laugh that drove people crazy, it
was that obnoxious habit he had of sucking air through his teeth.”
Charlie imitated the sound, drawing the attention of a few nearby
tables. “He wasn’t the worst. Remember Sid, the furniture repair
guy?”

“
He restored furniture, not
repaired,” Madison corrected with a smirk.

“
Was he the one who always
smelled like salami?” Lizzie queried.

Charlie shook her head. “That was the
guy who worked in Rocco’s Deli.” She glanced over at Madison.
“Wasn’t his name Rocco, too?”

“
Stop it, both of you,”
Madison chided. “Elliot was a sweet guy. Sid was very nice to me,
and his name was Ronnie, not Rocco. And he didn’t smell like
salami…at least not all the time.”

Charlie shook her head, reaching for
her beer. “Honestly, Mads, you have great guys asking you out, but
you only date men who are less than what you deserve.”

“
Maybe I don’t deserve a
great guy.”

“
Where is that coming from?
Of course you do. We all do.” Charlie motioned between the three
women. “The problem with being female is we’re raised in a society
that constantly tells us how to act, what to be, and what we
deserve, but that’s not the reality. We’re different, but not any
less equal to men. We should—”

“
Oh great. Here she goes
again,” Lizzie interrupted.

“
Good thing she’s marrying
a civil rights attorney,” Madison commented. “Now she has someone
to listen to all of her rants.”

“
Very funny. And I don’t
rant. I’m a law student; we debate,” Charlie professed, smirking.
“But think about it, where would our sex be if people didn’t
rant?”

Lizzie stretched for her beer,
frowning with boredom. “Probably still sweeping out caves,
right?”

“
When I’m gone, Mads,”
Charlie went on, “you’ll need someone to watch out for your
interests. I swear there are days when I think if I’m not around to
protect you, you’ll end up in the arms of some psychotic
asshole.”

“
I’ll be fine,
Charlie.”

“
I hope so.” Charlie eyed
her suspiciously. “Just use your head in the future, all right?
Don’t go out to any bars and pick up strange men hoping to find
that Harry again. Promise me.”

“
Why not?” Lizzie
countered. “Seems to me that was the one time she found herself a
great guy.”

“
Perhaps,” Charlie agreed
with a slight nod of her head. “But lightning never strikes twice.
You lucked out the first time, kid.” She took a sip of her
beer.

“
I know.” Feeling depressed
by her situation, Madison raised her beer to her lips. “Just wish I
could get that lucky again.”

***

Pushing the door of their fifth floor
apartment open, Madison giggled as Charlie followed her inside.
When Charlie flipped on the lights, the small living room—piled
high with boxes—glared back at them.

Madison gazed about the bare white
walls and sighed. “It’s going to be empty without you,
Charlie.”

“
You’ll love not having me
around, Mads. No more waiting for the bathroom, listening to my
alternative music selections, and—”

“
No more listening to you
and Nelson going at it,” Madison jumped in.

Charlie furrowed her sleek white brow.
“Were we that noisy?”