All Sexual Situations In This Story Are Between Persons 18+ Years Old
Saturday, December 30, 1960
Thirty-six-year-old Phil Maxon stood on the smooth cement terrace outside the bank of glass French doors closing him off from the hundred or so dancers milling to Dorsey-esque big band music in the Westport Country Club's ballroom. Cold, but clear, it was a beautiful night and, in the lee of the large Colonial-styled building behind him, he felt no wind to speak of as he stared at a distant pitch-black fairway.
Under the full moon, on the nearby 18th green, the pin, with its occasionally fluttering flag, cast a shadow over the neatly trimmed Bermuda grass as if it were a moondial. He took another slow sip from his Seven-and-Seven and wondered whether the New Year would really be very different from the old.
Behind him, Phil heard the music get briefly louder, then softer, as a door opened and closed. His quiet-tuned ears picked up the staccato steps of a woman's high heels before his nose caught her perfume. His only real surprise when she spoke to his back was that he did not recognize the voice. "Hi, Mr. Maxon," she greeted him simply.
Turning to learn who else was escaping the revelers, so close the magical moment in history when 1960 would forever depart into fading memory, Phil saw a very attractive young lady, dressed in a powder-blue satin lined chiffon prom dress. Her ruched bodice gathered demurely about her bust then tapered to a form-fitted lace waist above a full circle skirt over her crinoline. To his eyes, she evoked Pinocchio's Blue Fairy, only as played by Elizabeth Taylor. Certainly her dark brunette shoulder-length wavy hair, curled in ringlets over her high forehead, combined with her shaped heavy black eyebrows, were modeled on the movie star.
Still not recognizing the stunner standing only a foot away, Phil answered, "Hello. I'm sorry, I think I ought to remember meeting you before, but I don't." He abstractly studied the gardenia corsage on her dress's left shoulder strap and mentally measured which was creamier: the flower petals or the perfect pale skin between her dΓ©colletΓ© and her slim throat.
"I'm Becky Barnes, Mr. Maxon," she replied casually. "I used to live next-door to you." She laughed a light tinkling laugh and added, "My mother and brother still do, actually. It's okay that you don't remember me. I've grown up quite a bit since I moved away three years ago." She edged infinitesimally closer.
Five-feet six-inches tall, Becky, in her three-inch spike-heel pumps, stood not quite nose-to-nose with Phil. Pausing, she half-smiled as she coolly met his obviously appraising brown eyes. Worried that her penetrating emerald gaze might read his mind, he kept his expression impassive. But, he need not have been concerned.
Becky was not even trying to guess Phil's thoughts; she was pre-occupied with her own. His manly, yet boyish, handsome features conjured for her the image of Sean Connery, in 'Darby O'Gill and The Little People', except in evening clothes. She resisted an impulse to straighten his slightly skewed black bow-tie. Instead, she asked, "May I have a cigarette? I left my little purse at the coat-check."
The question released Phil from his spell. He answered, "I have to apologize, again, Miss Barnes. I don't smoke."
Becky, quickly replied, "That's okay, too. I don't either, actually." She laughed her light laugh once more and explained, "Except sometimes... When I drink."
Phil observed placidly, "You aren't drinking now, though..."
Becky tried to match Phil's savoir faire as she responded, "No, I'm not." But then, she lost it, lowered her eyes, and volunteered, "I just made that up. I won't be twenty-one for another four-and-a-half months."
Becky's voice remained soft, even as her words began rushing like a creek overfilled with spring snow-melt. "I'm here as Chet's, err, Mr. Monkford's guest... with his wife, and his son, Bryce. Bryce got really drunk and the Monkfords had to take him home. I asked if it would be okay if I stayed, even if they were gone, and Chet said sure, but later, I realized being alone was weird. Then I recognized you out on the dance floor. And when I saw you walking toward this terrace, I followed you out, but after I said 'hi', I was stuck." A swift blush flitted over her cheekbones as she concluded, "So, that's why I said that."
Phil smiled kindly and said, "Sure, I know Chet. We golf in the same foursome every Saturday and play poker the third Monday night of each month. He's a nice guy." Then, in a naturally curious tone, he asked, "But how is it you're a 'guest' here? I thought Ralph was still a member, though now that I say that, I haven't seen him around for I don't know how long."
Becky backed off a half-step and replied, conversationally, "When Dad divorced Mom in '56, he changed his club membership to be individual, so Mom, Barney and I were no longer members. But I sometimes got to swim or play tennis here when I dated Bryce in high school. After graduation, he went off to Dartmouth, while I moved to The City to attend NYU, and we lost touch."
Taking a breath, Becky went on, "Anyway, I bumped into Mr. Monkford last week when we were both out Christmas shopping. He told me Bryce was home for the Holidays and hoped I could to join them to see in the New Year." Silently, she chastised herself, "Shut up! You're talking too much!"