Stan and Peggy are walking out of the building into the waning sunlight on this beautiful afternoon. They had walked out of work together many times before, but today was different. Thursday, October 22, 1970. It's getting cool, but lovely. This is a date Peggy wants to remember. She wants to remember everything about it, this is a milestone day for both of them. Not 10 minutes earlier, her whole world was turned upside down, and shaken like a snowglobe. She and Stan shared many, many phone calls and conversations over the years and developed a close friendship. Peggy could tell Stan anything. Today though, Stan told her everything. He told her he was in love with her. When the lightbulb finally went on over her head, she couldn't believe she hadn't acknowledged her own feelings all this time. Peggy finally realized that she was in love with him too. This felt like the beginning of something, not like anything she felt before. She felt so giddy by his side, trying to flag down a cab in the beginning of rush hour traffic. Stan reached out and clasped her hand in his, he didn't want to let her go, or let her get separated from him in the sea of people scurrying around. Finally, after what seemed like forever, a checker cab pulled up and Stan hurriedly flung open the door.
"Come on, Chief...let's rock and roll" he said to Peggy. He was wearing what could only be described as a 'shit eating grin'.
Peggy quickly slid into the cab, Stan slid right next to her. Checker cabs are super roomy...you can fit three people in the back seat, and two more on the jump seats. But for all the room in there, they occupied very little space. Stan pulled Peggy so close, she was practically in his lap. Once again, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. He felt as though he'd been away a very long time and was just coming home.
"Hey you two, you goin' someplace, or are we stayin' here all night? Meter's running, it's up to you".
Stan leaned forward and gave the cabbie his address, and then for good measure added "And step on it" with a laugh. Then he went back to the business of kissing Peggy.
Peggy pulled away and sat up a little straighter. She felt like she was losing her head, all flushed and tingling.
"We're going to your place?" she asked him.
"Yeah, well, your place has rats." Stan replied.
"Not anymore."
"Oh yeah, Abe is gone" he chuckled.
"Not funny. How do I know I'm not going to find what's her face's bra and panties lying around at your place?" she asked.
Stan looked at her and smiled. "You won't. I assure you. And you know her name."
Peggy did know her name, but it didn't matter...she was history, Abe, and the others before and after were all history. This was the start of something new.