Ginger couldn't stop thinking about last night. It had been nothing like any first date she'd had before. In fact, despite her image, she didn't always kiss on the first date, especially French kissing. But she didn't usually know a man three years before the first date.
In some ways, she knew Gilligan very well, from the name of his best childhood friend to what he'd buy with a million dollars. And yet, he could still surprise her after all this time. He'd still been Gilligan last night, but a more affectionate and even more passionate Gilligan than she'd ever seen.
All they'd done was kiss and dance, but she was getting awfully curious about what he'd be like when they went further. Yes, she was teaching him, but it was more like teaching someone to paint by demonstrating the basic strokes, as opposed to buying them a paint-by-numbers kit. The resulting artwork was not something she could predict.
They'd spent part of the date on their feet and part sitting down. Before she'd known about the cane chairs, she'd thought they might sit on the ground, but the chairs had been more comfortable. They agreed to leave the chairs in this clearing for next time. She had the feeling that the Skipper wouldn't mind. There might come a time when they'd need a more intimate piece of furniture, but she'd figure that out when they got there.
At this point, she was wondering if it might be rushing things to introduce Gilligan to necking tonight. And wondering whether Gilligan still wanted to take it slow. However, if they did nothing but kiss and dance for a week, or a month, she wouldn't mind.
She faced one of her greatest acting challenges that day. She had to continue to pretend these were dance lessons, despite stirring Gilligan up and getting stirred up herself. She didn't know which she was more surprised by. Here she'd spent three years of either getting no response from Gilligan or having him overwhelmed by her attentions. It was quite a new experience to have him reciprocate and sometimes even initiate. She'd always wondered what it would be like to awaken Gilligan, and now she was finding out.
And he was really getting to her. He was still a long way off from the world's greatest lover, but he was better than she'd expected. And it was exciting to discover a side of Gilligan that was hidden from everyone, including probably Gilligan.
She had to hide her discovery, and her reaction to it, from the others. If Gilligan seemed embarrassed that day, it was plausible that he felt self-conscious about everyone knowing about the dance lessons. But Ginger had no cover story for feeling like a giddy teenager, so she hid that as well as she could.
She didn't even want Gilligan to know the effect he was having on her. She was supposed to be the sophisticated, experienced, (slightly) older woman. She would enjoy herself, yet remain cool underneath her warmth. But she knew she couldn't preserve that facade forever. As they got more intimate, she would eventually hold nothing back.
There had been a moment last night when she had felt terribly self-conscious. They were going to dance again, but instead of leaping to his feet, Gilligan sat and looked at her, as if really looking at her for the first time. And she wondered if he saw flaws in her. After all, she was pushing thirty now, still young but not as young as she was when they met. And she was three years away from the pampering and maintenance she'd received at various movie studios. She exercised, took mud baths, and designed and applied her own makeup on the island, but it wasn't the same as being taken care of by professionals.
And then it occurred to her that Gilligan was simply ogling her body. After all, he hadn't seen many women in the past three years, and he wasn't usually the type to stare. Maybe he was allowing himself to ogle because of the kissing lessons. She again felt self-conscious but flattered, too, because he looked for an awfully long time.
It wasn't until she was in her bed, listening to Mary Ann's sleep-breathing, that it occurred to her that Gilligan had been looking at her like she was on a movie screen. Perhaps it was really sinking in that he was going to be fooling around with someone he first saw in a movie. Or maybe it was just sinking in that he was going to be fooling around.
Her own mental adjustments were different. It was sinking in that she had someone to kiss and more, for the first time in ages, and that someone was shy, inexperienced Gilligan. She'd been attracted to, for instance, Duke Williams the surfer, but he moved too fast for her, not to mention that he was chasing Mary Ann at the same time. Gilligan wouldn't rush her, and he wouldn't flirt with other girls.
Or so she assumed. Maybe awakening Gilligan would mean he'd be eager to do everything. And/or he'd become girl-crazy. She considered warning Mary Ann, but she knew Gilligan was very unpredictable sometimes. You'd think you had figured him out, and then he'd throw you for a loop.
It made this project all the more interesting. Under other circumstances, she'd want to report to the Professor, since wasn't this in a sense a scientific experiment? She'd learned a lot about science in the past three years, simply by being around the Professor and sometimes helping him in his studies. But she knew that this was too private to discuss with anyone, and the Professor seldom had time for romance, his own or anyone else's. Also, she supposed she didn't have the scientific objectivity that a true scientist should have. She couldn't keep her distance from Gilligan and simply observe.
She also wished she had a girlfriend she could confide in about Gilligan. She was closer to Mary Ann than she'd been to her last roommate, Debbie Dawson, but she and Debbie had had different tastes in men, so, no matter how much rivalry they had as actresses, they'd never been romantic rivals. She and Debbie would discuss the men they were dating, the men they wanted to date, and the men who wanted to date them but had no chance. Ginger missed that and she did wonder what Debbie would think of Gilligan.
With Mary Ann, well, the farmgirl continued to act as if Ginger was just giving dance lessons. Was she really over Gilligan? Maybe Gilligan agreeing to get romance lessons from Ginger was a sign to Mary Ann that she never really had a chance with him. Ginger wasn't so sure about that. Maybe Gilligan would turn his attention to Mary Ann once he'd built up his confidence and experience. But Ginger wasn't quite ready to share or give up Gilligan. She had much, much more she wanted to do with him. Yes, teaching him about necking tonight sounded perfect.