Karin and I had known each other for 6 or 7 months. We shared a lot of mutual friends and common interests. Most of our contact was in groups, at parties, trips to ball games and beach outings.
We would gravitate to each other at these events. We had both grown up outside NYC and while we loved LA, we missed the bustle of Manhattan, the theater district and a good delicatessen.
I was working as the production manager at the House of Blues at the time and would get passes for Karin and a friend or frequently just her alone. She seemed to always know at least one of the musicians on stage, whether the act was a local garage band or a world class headliner.
When the Specials skipped LA on their current tour by playing three nights at the Belly Up in Solana Beach, we decided to make a road trip of it. We both personally knew the band and loved their music. I got a friend to cover me at the club for the weekend.
I had been attracted to Karin for a while. While I thought there might be a vibe between us, I had not made a move and neither had she. Tonight, I was determined to take a chance.
I rented a Mustang for the drive, thinking it would be more fun than my Toyota Corolla. It was a limited edition and the one day rental cost more than my monthly car payment, but I wanted to impress Karin.
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On the long drive down, we chat back and forth, mostly about music and the band we are going to see.
She met the Specials while working for Bill Graham Presents where she was a promoter rep for shows outside the Bay Area. She had dated one of the band members for a spell, but he had left the band by this time.
I met them while living in London and production managing a series of anti-apartheid concerts and benefits. Long ago I had believed myself to be a revolutionary. My time in London rekindled some of that spirit. I found Jerry Dammers and the band to be truly inspirational and felt a bit embarrassed at my lack of activism at that time.
Both of us are learning new things about each other and I feel really comfortable in her presence. I reach over and take her hand and rest it on the console between us. Our fingers play little games in each other's palms as the sun drops into the Pacific.
As we approach the long, no mans land where I-5 cuts through Camp Pendleton, I bring her hand to my mouth and begin softly kissing the back of her hand, her palm and then begin sucking on her fingers.
She responds immediately.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
I remove her hand from my mouth and place it back in her lap.
With no witty response on the tip of my tongue, I come up with "Sorry, I just wanted to have your fingers in my mouth."
"Are you fucking with me? For the last few months, I have made it clear that I am interested in you. I come down to the fucking club and hang out just to be around you, but you take no notice."
"I'm sorry, I thought.......... I mean............. Wait a second, just give me a second."
"Okay, I'm waiting."
"I'm gonna be honest here."
"Yeah, I would like that."
"I never picked up any signals from you. I thought you were just using me to get passes to the shows and visit your musician buddies."
"Oh, fuck you! You can just turn around now and take me back to LA -- and again FUCK YOU!" She slams herself back into the corner of the seat and the door, as far from me as she can get.
Just over a year clean and sober, I am still socially unsure of myself. No longer able to muster up some dutch courage with a few drinks, I am lost on how to approach someone I am attracted to. And I have apparently fucked this one up royally.
While she already knows I am in recovery, I explain my sobriety based hesitancy to Karin. She tells me not to use my recovery as an excuse. And she is right.
She sits with her arms crossed, glaring at me from her hostile corner.
Then I tell her about a brief relationship with a woman I had dated in AA. After several dates with no moves on my part and what she thought were plenty of signals from her, she asked me, straight up: "Are you gay or what?"
Karin laughs out loud.
"Most of my male friends are gay and I have been a fag hag since my teens. You are definitely not gay. That woman was an idiot. But you sure can be cold, distant and hard to read. After not responding to a single move I have made, you are suddenly sucking my fingers while I am strapped to car seat on the freeway."
"Sorry, I.............. But before I can say more, she continues.
"Shut up, I'm not finished. Most musicians are so self centered that they are shitty lovers. And yes, I know from a lot of personal experience. I was chasing you! I wore out my vibrator from all the nights I went home unfulfilled, you moron."
"Look, I am really sorry, I know that must have been weird to suddenly have me slobbering on your hand."
"Oh fella, you don't know what weird is for me and you are totally missing the point. Fuck! Using you for tickets? I know your boss, hell, I can get into any show in town I want to. I work for a publicist for Christ's sake."
"Do you still want me to turn around?"
"No, I want to see the band. Dammers is an old friend and I would love to catch up or at least say hello. But you have definitely pissed me off."
We sit in silence for several minutes.
Shaking her head, Karin re-engages with me.
"You have a lot of nerve. If you thought I was using you, why did you invite me to come with you tonight?"
"Since we both know the band, I thought it was solid common ground. Plus, I love the Specials and had thought it would be nice to finally dance with you instead of watching you dance with other people."
"Damn, that is the sweetest thing you have ever said to me. Why couldn't you just say that?