Part 3: YOUNG LOVE
Sean could not tell his father that the worried look on his face was not because of the condition of the company stock portfolio, but it was because of a piece of his past that sat printed before him on the crisp white paper with expertly designed letterhead. "Powers & Lambert" it read. He had read the introductory letter and he fixated on the signature of the woman he had tried to forget. "Elana M. Powers, CPA". Her name was engraved on a forgotten part of his heart and her signature burned across the hidden recesses of his mind. At one time he had felt he would wither away for lack of her presence, and now, at the mere sight of her name, small waves of panic shot through his body, and he silently prayed that her company would not be selected because he did not want to know what effect encountering her again would have on him.
What permeated his thoughts was the year that they revealed their feelings for each other, discovered the passion between them and discovered the seeming inevitability of their being together. It had all began in 1983; he was 18, a senior in high school, and she was 16 a junior. He and Elana had attended Friends Select, a private Quaker school in Greenwich, Connecticut all of their lives together, and before he had graduated from high school he remembered their conversation...
May, 1984
Friends Select School
"Hey, Elana, can you meet me at the Café after school, I need to talk to you about something."
"Sean, you've almost finished your final exams, and you have aced every class so what do you need my help with today?"
"I didn't say I needed your help, Elana, I said I needed to talk to you about something. So will you meet me?"
"Give me a good reason, Sean. I'm busy. I'm taking all accelerated classes, and I hope to be graduating early myself next year, so most of my time is spent studying. I can't be hanging out all afternoon with you." Elana retorted, getting irritated feeling that Sean thinks he can just snap his fingers and she will be there.
Sean looks at her in anguish and smiles. Noticing her brown eyes that seem translucent when the sunrays beamed on her face. Her brown hair hung just above her shoulders and parted on the left side was professionally cut in a blunt style and fell in soft waves on each side of her round face. She looked at him straight in the eye after her retort, waiting for his answer. He admired her full lips that were shimmering with a touch of lipgloss that she always wore. He thought that now was the time to give her a 'good reason' to meet him.
"Come over here for a second." He took her right hand and led her inside an open classroom. Once they entered he turned around and pulled her close to him holding her waist with one arm while holding his book bag in the other over his shoulder. He lowered his head and softly brushed his lips across hers. Then he pulled back studying her expression trying to gage her reaction.
"What did you do that for?" She said softly, while slowly opening her eyes from the suddenness of the kiss.
"Is that good enough reason, Elana?"
"Look, you can't just kiss me and think I'm gonna fall all over you, just because you're a good-looking, rich, white boy. What did your friends tell you? Black girls will give it up if you show them some interest. Well don't count on it, Sean. I'm not the one!"
"Why are you so hostile? We've been friends for years now Elana. You know I'm not like that. And you'd be blind to not see that I'm crazy about you. I just want us to talk about this before I go off to Harvard in September."
"I don't mean to be hostile. You just surprised me that's all. Like you said, we've been friends for years and now you go and do this. I don't know what to think."
"Elana I don't want to talk about this here. Could you please meet me at around 6 tonight and we can talk then." Sean asks.
Looking into his cloudy blue eyes, she knew she couldn't resist him, when he was being sincere. "Ok, I'll meet you."
"Good!" Sean smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek, happy with this new break in their relationship. "I'll walk you to your car." They left the classroom and walked to the school parking lot where Sean led Elana to her car and opened the door, allowing her to get in. "See you this afternoon!" He said as he shut the door and waited until she drove away before he proceeded to his own car to go home.
Sean could not tell his father that the worried look on his face was not because of the condition of the company stock portfolio, but it was because of a piece of his past that sat printed before him on the crisp white paper with expertly designed letterhead. "Powers & Lambert" it read. He had read the introductory letter and he fixated on the signature of the woman he had tried to forget. "Elana M. Powers, CPA". Her name was engraved on a forgotten part of his heart and her signature burned across the hidden recesses of his mind. At one time he had felt he would wither away for lack of her presence, and now, at the mere sight of her name, small waves of panic shot through his body, and he silently prayed that her company would not be selected because he did not want to know what effect encountering her again would have on him.
What permeated his thoughts was the year that they revealed their feelings for each other, discovered the passion between them and discovered the seeming inevitability of their being together. It had all began in 1983; he was 18, a senior in high school, and she was 16 a junior. He and Elana had attended Friends Select, a private Quaker school in Greenwich, Connecticut all of their lives together, and before he had graduated from high school he remembered their conversation...
May, 1984
Friends Select School
"Hey, Elana, can you meet me at the Café after school, I need to talk to you about something."
"Sean, you've almost finished your final exams, and you have aced every class so what do you need my help with today?"
"I didn't say I needed your help, Elana, I said I needed to talk to you about something. So will you meet me?"
"Give me a good reason, Sean. I'm busy. I'm taking all accelerated classes, and I hope to be graduating early myself next year, so most of my time is spent studying. I can't be hanging out all afternoon with you." Elana retorted, getting irritated feeling that Sean thinks he can just snap his fingers and she will be there.
Sean looks at her in anguish and smiles. Noticing her brown eyes that seem translucent when the sunrays beamed on her face. Her brown hair hung just above her shoulders and parted on the left side was professionally cut in a blunt style and fell in soft waves on each side of her round face. She looked at him straight in the eye after her retort, waiting for his answer. He admired her full lips that were shimmering with a touch of lipgloss that she always wore. He thought that now was the time to give her a 'good reason' to meet him.
"Come over here for a second." He took her right hand and led her inside an open classroom. Once they entered he turned around and pulled her close to him holding her waist with one arm while holding his book bag in the other over his shoulder. He lowered his head and softly brushed his lips across hers. Then he pulled back studying her expression trying to gage her reaction.
"What did you do that for?" She said softly, while slowly opening her eyes from the suddenness of the kiss.
"Is that good enough reason, Elana?"
"Look, you can't just kiss me and think I'm gonna fall all over you, just because you're a good-looking, rich, white boy. What did your friends tell you? Black girls will give it up if you show them some interest. Well don't count on it, Sean. I'm not the one!"
"Why are you so hostile? We've been friends for years now Elana. You know I'm not like that. And you'd be blind to not see that I'm crazy about you. I just want us to talk about this before I go off to Harvard in September."
"I don't mean to be hostile. You just surprised me that's all. Like you said, we've been friends for years and now you go and do this. I don't know what to think."
"Elana I don't want to talk about this here. Could you please meet me at around 6 tonight and we can talk then." Sean asks.
Looking into his cloudy blue eyes, she knew she couldn't resist him, when he was being sincere. "Ok, I'll meet you."
"Good!" Sean smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek, happy with this new break in their relationship. "I'll walk you to your car." They left the classroom and walked to the school parking lot where Sean led Elana to her car and opened the door, allowing her to get in. "See you this afternoon!" He said as he shut the door and waited until she drove away before he proceeded to his own car to go home.