It was a Friday evening, and I was in the shopping mall with my brother Luke who, at twenty, was a little more than a year older than me. We had gone to look for a gift for Dad's birthday in a few days' time, but were sidetracked when we ran into Adam, one of Luke's workmates.
I hardly noticed Adam because my whole attention was on the man with him. The most stunningly handsome man I had ever seen. Not movie star handsome, but definitely my kind of handsome, which is impossible to explain to anyone who doesn't understand me as a person. My breath caught in my throat as he fixed me with a dazzling smile and introduced himself as Kurt.
"Like Kurt Russell the actor?" I teased.
He nodded ruefully. "Yeah, my folks named me after him."
In hindsight I must have seemed like a lovestruck adolescent as the four of us wandered around the mall for the next couple of hours, with me hanging on every word that issued from Kurt's luscious lips, and blushing furiously whenever he said anything that could be even remotely complimentary about me. One by one the stores in the mall began to lower their security shutters, and I felt like all of my Christmases had come at once when he took me to one side, and asked me to meet him in the food court next evening.
The next day was the longest and slowest I had ever lived through. I checked the clock every "hour," almost screaming with frustration when I saw that little more than five minutes had passed since I last checked. It was a struggle to appear calm, because I knew from past experience that my well meaning Dad would give me a thorough grilling if he knew I had a date. It wasn't that he didn't trust me - he just didn't trust anyone in pants within a mile of his precious daughter. I had no intention of keeping it a secret from him, but I found it less stressful to let him know as I was about to leave. That way I could escape before the grilling started.
As fortune would have it, this was the night of his monthly Rotary Club meeting, which was really an excuse for the men to escape their wives and hit the booze, so I planned to drop it on him on his way out.
With agonising slowness the hands on the clock crept closer to my date time, and Dad picked up his car keys and looked at Luke. "Fancy coming for a beer?"
My brother shook his head. "Thanks, but I have a hot date waiting for me."
Dad rolled his eyes. "Lucky you. Don't do anything I wouldn't enjoy."
Mom laughed. "If he's anything like you there's not much chance of that!"
I walked with him to his car, and as he turned the key in the ignition I kissed his cheek. "By the way, I'm meeting someone at the mall, but I won't be home late." I said casually, and as the expected scowl formed I walked quickly back to the house, waving in acknowledgement as he shouted after me.
"Don't let anyone pressure you into doing anything you don't want!"
Mom looked amused when I walked through the door. "I heard your Dad yelling. I take it you just told him about your date?"
I grinned, wondering if every over protective father glanced down towards his daughter's crotch when she returned from a date. Almost as though he expected to see fingerprints - or worse. "Yeah, speaking of dates, didn't Luke say he had one?"
Her smile widened and she nodded. "He's in his room getting ready. He seems sure he'll get lucky tonight, and you know how persuasive he can be so I wouldn't bet against it."
Fifteen minutes later I said goodbye to them both and headed out to meet Kurt. My face fell when I saw him. The almost effervescent man with the ready smile, who had figuratively charmed the pants off me the night before - and I must stress that I had no wish for him to do so literally, then or at any time in the forseeable future, although I admit that at the time I had briefly considered the possibility of him being the first to put his hand inside my bra - was gone. In his place was a scowling figure, who stared pointedly at the clock as I approached.
"You're late, I was about to leave." The way he said it made it sound as if he thought my whole life would be ruined if I missed him.
I shrugged unapologetically. "I had to wait for my dad to leave." His expression said he didn't believe me, but I was so disappointed with his changed personality that I didn't really care. Then again, we had both made the effort to turn up, so I might as well see how our date worked out.
He seemed to be thinking along similar lines, because he nodded. "Let's grab something to eat."
After a few minutes checking what was on offer from the various food outlets, we found a table for two and sat down to eat. He remained silent as he shovelled food into his mouth, scarcely taking his eyes off my breasts. I had an uncomfortable feeling that he was undressing me with his eyes, but I brushed it off as overreaction to his mood, telling myself that it was natural. Every boy I had ever dated since my breasts first started to develop had looked at me in the same way.
Kurt finished his meal first and stood up. "Coffee?" In an attempt to lighten his mood, I smiled agreement, but he merely turned away with a curt nod.
I was just finished when he returned with an insulated cardboard cup of coffee for me and a cola for himself. When I beamed my thanks, he gestured.
"Bring it with you. Let's get out of here."
I raised a questioning eyebrow. "Where are we going?"
For the first time his scowl vanished, but his almost smile was not one of amusement. "Wait and see." Taking a firm grip on my arm he led me to his car, and within no more than five minutes, he turned into the deserted carpark of my old high school. Switching off the engine, he took my coffee and sat it on top of the dash before unfastening my seatbelt.
