Katey was my sister's best friend. She always seemed to have a smile for me when she came to our house and I guess I kinda just grew up knowing her. She was only two years older than me but always seemed much older, as girls do. Katey was always kind to me as I grew up; sympathizing with me when my sister didn't, throwing a ball with me when there was no one else around. I always thought it was because she didn't have a little brother of her own. It never crossed my mind that she could be lonely, or that she might like me.
She certainly took me by surprise when we went for a walk that summer's evening along the river. My sister had stood her up for some guy and I was hanging out in the garden when she came around, obviously at a loose end. She suggested we walk a ways and enjoy the evening.
When the rain started we sheltered under a huge oak tree that bent over and leaned towards the river. At some point while we laughed about the rain our eyes met and the laughter stopped. I instantly sensed that we were going to kiss and in that moment Katey changed -- into the beautiful girl she was but I had never noticed. To this day I remember the surprise and delightful excitement as we kissed, hugged and giggled under that old tree.
When the rain abated we continued our walk, now holding hands and talking a little less. I didn't ask where we were going when she led me away from the path and into a small wood. An hour later my hands knew more about a woman's body than they had, my body knew more about a woman's hands than it did, and I was no longer a virgin.
When I kissed her goodnight at her door that night I was about to ask her when we could go out again but she guessed and put her finger to my lips. "It was a moment." She smiled softly. "A wonderful moment, beautiful. Let's leave it at that and not screw it up by getting involved."
We shared some secret smiles over the next few years, before Katey left to work in Seattle, but the moment was never repeated. It was also never forgotten.
****
When my sister decided to get married she hadn't seen Katey for years but she eventually tracked her old friends down through some family that still lived locally. When I was told by my excited sibling that her old friend was returning for the big day I couldn't help but smile to myself and remember "the moment".
While the whole of my family got wrapped up in the wedding I had my own little event to look forward to but when the day came I too was overtaken by the event and my anticipation at seeing Katey again was lost. As the day wore on I remembered about her more and more, but couldn't recall seeing her. I was standing at the edge of the dance floor looking out for her, my anticipation gradually dissolving to disappointment, when I felt some familiar arms wrap around me.
"Don't turn around yet." She whispered in my ear. "Make a wish. Hey, you never know, I might've brought some luck with me."
I made a wish. It wasn't hard to come up with one. Then I turned to see her.
"Hi." The familiar smile beamed at me and we fell into a hug. "Wanna dance?"
The years had been kind to Katey. As she moved gently in front of me, taking my hand and smiling, I saw a woman in the prime of her life and comfortable with herself. Her hair was a little shorter now and swept back from her face in waves of natural sheen. Dancing, her hair moved like a calm sea echoing a moonlit night. Her face was round and cheerful with a beautifully shaped sensual mouth that somehow managed to look even more enticing when she narrowed her eyes and grinned. She had the greenest eyes I ever saw. Katey's eyes whispered. Her eyebrows tilted slightly and gave her face an overall mixture of natural sex appeal and elfin mischief. Her whole body had its own divine arithmetic that was an absolute in femininity.
Tonight she was wearing a short-sleeved cotton dress that featured bunches of fabric around the shoul¬ders and hem line. It was predominantly white with seemingly random brush strokes of pastel shades merging into the cloth like a water-colour painting left out in the rain. I thought back to a moment when I was lucky to have her as my first lover, and couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to repeat the experience now.
Back at the bar we small-talked about my sister and her new husband, Katey's job, my job, my lack of a date for the wedding, her lack of a date, our current lack of partners in general everything really, except "the moment". "I gotta go talk to a few people I haven't seen for a while, would be rude not to, but how 'bout you save me the last dance? Seeing as we don't have dates?" She laughed as she left me, not waiting for an answer.
When the band announced they were about to play their last song I looked around for Katey but couldn't see her. Again, my disappointment started to rise and I hoped to feel those arms around me, saving me again. Then she was there, across the room from me, smiling. I walked towards her and we met in the center of the floor, coming together comfortably in each other's arms. "Nice to see you again." I whispered. Her head nodded as she laid her cheek against the top of my chest.
Katey sighed against me and I could feel the contentment she was radiating. "It's so good to feel close to you again. It's been too long."
Even when the music stopped we danced for a few seconds, not wanting to lose whatever connection we had rekindled. It was impossible though, so much of my family to say goodbye to, my sister to see off and all of the general "caught-up-ness" that happens when you least want it to. Somewhere in those minutes I lost track of Katey.
I guess I went back to my parent's house because that's where most of the remainder of the crowd headed; the hard core, taking the event into the night. I was in the kitchen when I saw her, at the end of the yard, alone, walking around, looking like she was in a reverie, swinging gently on the swing that my father had never quite found the time to dismantle since we'd grown up. I never saw a more beautiful sight.
I walked out into the warm evening with two glasses of wine and an unsteady step. Funny how sometimes even when you know what's happening you aren't sure.
"I knew you'd come." Katey smiled as she took her glass.
"I didn't." I wanted to touch her, but couldn't, not yet. "I'm glad you're here though."
"Me too." Her eyes touched me. "I'm hoping you'd like to go for a walk."
I nodded, sipping at my wine and enjoying Katey's presence. Now certain of where we were headed, I willed myself to relax and enjoy the moment. As far as relaxing went though, I failed; my will wasn't strong enough for the tension that was webbing the space between us.
"You remember the last time we walked along here together?" Katey asked wistfully as we meandered down the path to the river.
"Not something I'm likely to forget." I hadn't been along that path in over a year, but it hadn't changed; in a year or all seven that separated me from my virginity. "I was lucky. Not everyone's first time was such a great experience. It was a very special moment."
Katey stared straight ahead as she answered. "You weren't the only lucky one that day. I was having a tough time with things at home. I needed a comforting hand. You were wonderful. I wished that had been my first time. But you're right, it was very special. I've never forgotten what it meant to me." She sniffed a little laugh. "And you were good."
She told me about her life in Seattle, how she enjoyed it but missed something about the small town that she grew up in, something that nagged at her more as the years went by. As we approached the oak tree I was kind of expecting the years to peel away and leave Katey and I back as we were that first time but nothing like that happened. It was just the two of us, in the present, both knowing and enjoying every minute of the tension. This time there was no rain when we got to the oak tree but as she got to the trunk and turned to face me I fell into her arms, feeling a familiar body wrap around me as our lips met in anger for the first time in too long.
She tasted of wine, of my youth and just downright sensual. Her tongue was already looking for mine as my lips opened and my fingers spread amongst her luxurious hair. It was a kiss like a sigh as some of the tension between us abated. She smiled as our lips parted, her eyes shining and her hands holding on tight. I couldn't help but point out, "You said it was a moment and that we should leave it alone."
"It was, and we are." She lifter her hand to my cheek and let her fingers run down around my chin. "This is a new moment."
This time there was no surprise as she pulled on my hand and led me off the river path. "Have you wondered as many times as I have, what might've happened if I hadn't made that stupid comment about leaving the moment alone?"