Thanks again for all of the reviews! I'm really pleased with the response that this story has received. I never expected it to attract as much interest as it has. Hope you enjoy this chapter. And don't forget to review!
The Future – Part IV
Saturday morning was clear and sunny. The air was still cool as Bill dropped Elise off at the soccer field 45 minutes before the game for warm up drills. He watched her join her teammates on the field and then parked his car in the nearby parking lot and headed off on foot to the coffee shop about a half mile away.
By the time he reached the coffee shop, he was at the end of a long line of soccer parents who were also getting coffee to fend off the morning chill. Bill immediately recognized Ed and Cindy Guthrie, Katie's parents.
"Hi, Bill," Cindy called as Bill entered the shop. They already had their paper cups with the cardboard jackets in hand and were on their way back to the soccer field.
Bill greeted them and the three talked while Bill waited his turn. Bill frequently stopped at the shop on the way to work and the girls behind the counter knew his order without even asking.
"A medium coffee with cream," one of them said as she reached for the cup.
"Make it one medium with cream and a second with milk and a little sugar and two of the chocolate biscotti, please" he told her.
Ed Guthrie smiled. "What's wrong, Bill. You think it's going to take both caffeine and sugar to keep you awake through this game?"
Bill smiled back. "No, I think it should be a good game. The other coffee's for a friend of mine whose coming to the game."
"Elise told Katie that you were bringing your girlfriend to the game," Cindy said happily. Cindy Guthrie had been trying to fix Bill up with every single woman she knew for the last three years.
"My girlfriend? Is that what Elise told Katie?" Bill asked.
"She said that the two of you were having dinner the night of Katie's sleep over. Then Monday, Katie came home from school and said you were bringing your girlfriend to the soccer game," Cindy said.
"That's interesting," Bill commented. "I wonder who else she said that to."
"I know she told Natalie and Grace," one of the other mothers piped up. "They were talking about it on the way here this morning."
"You're kidding me! This is actually a topic of conversation?" Bill, being an extremely private person, was mortified. "I've been out with this woman twice; she's not my girlfriend. I think it's interesting that Elise is portraying it this way."
"Don't try and figure it out, Bill," Ed Guthrie told him. "There is no figuring out 12 year old girls. Believe me, Katie is my third and I still haven't figured them out. And it doesn't get any easier when they get older either."
"I just can't tell if she's happy that I'm seeing someone or unhappy about it. At first she was really upset. She seems to have warmed up to the idea."
The threesome started walking up the block toward the soccer field. They were just about to enter the gate when Bill heard a familiar voice behind him and turned to the source.
"G-Man!" his sister shouted. She ran the short distance to catch up. "Oh, you brought me coffee. Thanks!" she said as she reached for a cup.
"Sorry, not for you," Bill said as he pulled the cardboard tray holding the drinks and biscotti away from her. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you were coming to the game."
"I wouldn't miss this for the world," Jane told him.
"Since when are you interested in soccer? You don't usually come to games."
"It's not the game I'm interested in," she said. "I just want to meet your new girlfriend."
"What! What makes you think I have a girlfriend?" Bill asked becoming exasperated that everyone seemed to know that Karen was coming to the game.
"Ellie told me. She said that you had a girlfriend named Karen and that she's coming to the game today. Why are you keeping this a secret, G-Man? You spies are all alike."
"Elise is exaggerating. Karen and I have had lunch together once and dinner once. That hardly makes her my girlfriend. I'm not keeping it a secret. It's just that there's nothing to tell at this point. And I wish you would stop referring to me as a spy, Janie, because I'm not! If I were a spy, you wouldn't even know that I worked for the government!" Bill's face was reddening as he became more and more flustered.
"Calm down, Bill," Jane told him. "That vein in your forehead is starting to show. That always happens when you're mad. I'll keep a low profile. I just want to meet Karen so I can report back to Mom. She's just dying to know about her."
"Report back to Mom? How does Mom know about this? You two need to stay out of my personal life. Information like this is on a need to know basis. When Mom and Dad need to know something, I'll tell them. I don't get involved in your personal life. I didn't show up at the anti-nuke rally to check up on you and your new boyfriend and I didn't call Mom and tell her about him."
Jane looked shocked. "Who told you I have a boyfriend? Do you have your goons following me and reporting back to you?"
"Oh, no. I have a better source than government agents and much cheaper. She's about this tall," he held his hand a little more than five feet off the ground. "Give her a rocky road ice cream cone and she'll tell you anything."
"Elise! I can't believe the squirt ratted me out!"
"If you think she's only loyal to you, you need to think again, little sister. So, let's hear about Mr. Nelson."
Cindy Guthrie, who despite being a good friend, could easily be considered a busy body, chimed in. "Janie, you're dating Mr. Nelson, the new Latin teacher? Our Jessica has him this year. Maybe you could convince him to give her a B in his class. She's having a terrible time on the tests, but she's working really hard. I'm afraid that a C is going to be all she can pull off in that class. We're really hoping that she'll get into Stanford, that's Ed's alma mater, but that C is really going to look bad on her transcript."
"Sorry, Cindy, can't help. Vincent and I have agreed not to interfere with each other's classes. Tell Jessica to talk to him and see if she can do some extra credit work." Jane turned back to Bill. "Okay, from here on out I stay out of your personal life, but you have to promise not to tell Mom about Vincent. I just couldn't deal with all of her questions."
"Agreed," Bill said. It was then that he spotted Karen parking her car. "Now be a sport and don't act more interested in my life than necessary. I'll introduce you to Karen, but make it look like you're actually here to see the game. That ought to take all of your energy since you hate sports."
"I don't hate sports. I just don't understand why they have to be involved in competitive sports at such a young age. Then when they lose it just hurts their self esteem. Twelve year olds are fragile creatures. I just don't think it's good for their psyche to go out there with the idea of kicking butt and then have to face the emotions of either winning or losing. Maybe they could just play and not keep score."
Bill rolled his eyes skyward as if asking God for strength. Once again Jane's liberalism was making him crazy. "Do you live in the real world or are we in parallel universes that just happen to collide on a regular basis? Find a seat in the bleachers. Karen and I will be over in a minute," Bill directed his sister and then turned to walk toward Karen.
Bill was flustered. It was an emotion that he rarely felt, but he felt it keenly that morning and he hoped that he could bury the emotion as he walked the hundred or so feet to where Karen was parked. As if it wasn't enough that he had barely slept the night before for worrying about Elise and Karen's first meeting, now his social life was suddenly the concern of seemingly everyone he knew. He wished that he understood why Elise had told everyone about Karen. He wished that this wasn't all so complicated. And for at least the hundredth time since he had innocently asked Karen to breakfast a little more than two weeks earlier, he wondered if he had made the right choice. What little time they had spent together was almost magical. He couldn't explain it, but he loved the feeling. At the same time, dating under the watchful eye of his 12 year old daughter was harder than he would have ever thought it could be.
Karen parked her car near the far end of the small lot. She got out and started the trek to the soccer field remembering dozens of similar Saturday mornings with her own children. She was unreasonably nervous and she knew it. She chastised herself for it. There is no need to be this worried about meeting Elise, she told herself. She had chanted it like a mantra the whole time she was driving but it didn't help. The truth was that everything was riding on this meeting. She knew how much Bill loved his daughter and she also knew that if she and Elise didn't hit if off that Bill would politely find some excuse for the two of them to stop seeing one another. That was the part that scared her. In the short time the two of them had spent together, she had been happier than she had been in years. She was amazed to find that the serious, straight-laced CTU director was witty and charming and had scads of things in common with her. They liked the same books and movies and music. They had the same strong family ties and values. As hard as she had tried to avoid it, she had to admit to herself that Bill was quickly becoming an important part of her life.
Karen began to relax as soon as she saw Bill walking toward her. Something about his presence was so reassuring. "Good morning," she called as they got within a reasonable speaking distance. "Nice day for a soccer game."
"Perfect," Bill agreed. He leaned forward and gave her a friendly kiss which Karen eagerly returned. The few kisses they had shared had been nothing more than friendly, but she found herself wanting more and at the same time angry at herself for thinking that way when they had known each other such a short time.
They started toward the soccer field while chatting about the weather and the condition of the field. Bill casually introduced Karen to his sister and to the Guthries as they took seats in the bleachers. They exchanged quick greetings and then turned their attention to the field where the game was about to begin.
St James' Academy had won the toss and elected to take the kick off. Karen immediately spotted Bill's chestnut haired daughter just behind the circle in the middle of the field. "Elise is the right half-back, right?" Karen asked Bill.
"That's her. Number 14," he nodded indicating the uniform number on her back.
The teams were pretty evenly matched and by half time the game remained a scoreless tie. Elise trotted off the field with her team and huddled under a nearby oak tree. As she walked past the stands, she waved shyly to Bill and Karen, who returned the wave. "Good game, Ellie!" Bill shouted. "Keep it up."
St. James' second half strategy didn't work quite as well as the first half's had and St. Mary's scored twice in the first ten minutes. The St. James' coach called a time out to regroup and then the girls again took the field. Elise, who had been sitting out for a few minutes to catch her breath was back in the game.
St James' was holding its own again when they took advantage of a mistake by St. Mary's and took possession of the ball. Katie Guthrie passed the ball down field to Elise who dribbled around two St. Mary's defenders. Not willing to see her do that again, St. Mary's double teamed her and boxed her in. Elise wasn't going to give up easily. She tapped the ball gently with her instep and nudged it forward. Just as the defender reached her own right foot out to steal, Elise pulled the ball back and reversed direction. Double teaming Elise had left Katie open and Elise sent the ball across the mouth of the goal where Katie could kick it in.
The girls celebrated their goal briefly but set back to work trying to tie up the game. In the end they weren't successful and the 2 to 1 score in favor of St. Mary's held up. Parents lined up on the sidelines to greet their daughters as they came off the field. Bill and Karen stood off to one side so that they had a little bit of privacy.
"You'll get 'em next time, Ellie," Bill told Elise as she ran off the field toward him.
"I hope so. I'm tired of losing to them!" she said as she squirted water from her water bottle onto her face. "Why is Aunt Jane here? She hates soccer."
Bill ignored the question. "Elise, this is Ms. Hayes," Bill said, his heart thumping just a little harder in his chest.
"It's Karen," she said as she extended her hand to Elise. "You were great out there. Nice footwork. The St. Mary's girl didn't see that coming. Then your cross was right on. You set up that goal perfectly."
Elise's face was red from exertion but Bill thought that it reddened just a little bit more with Karen's compliment.
"Thank you. It sounds like you know something about soccer."
"I played on my high school team," Karen told her.
"Really? What position?"
"Benchwarmer mostly, but when I got in the game I played half back or forward."
Bill smiled at how well the interaction was going. He looked at his watch. "Why don't you go get showered so we can go to lunch," he suggested.
Elise looked over and most of the girls were already on their way to the locker room. "Okay, I'll make it a short one," she said and ran off after her teammates.
"She's lovely, Bill," Karen said once Elise was out of earshot.
"At least she's talking. If she was quiet I'd know that she wasn't happy, but she's talking to you so that's a start."
Fifteen minutes later Elise was the first of the girls to exit the school. She was wearing Capri pants with a light weight shirt and a denim jacket. Her hair was still wet and she had pulled it up to get it off of her neck. Her soccer bag was slung over her shoulder.
"Are you guys ready to eat?" she asked. "Losing always makes me hungry."
"That new Mexican place is just down the street," Bill said. "Why don't you throw your bag in the car and we'll walk."
Elise agreed and soon they were off in the direction of the restaurant.
Lunch went smoothly. Karen and Elise talked about soccer and school while Bill looked on happy with what he was witnessing. Elise and Karen seemed to genuinely like each other. Their conversation wasn't forced or strained and by the end of the meal they had all relaxed. It was almost two o'clock when Bill decided that it was time to go home.
"I hate to break this up," he said, "but I think you have an English paper that you have to work on this afternoon, Ellie."
"Oh, that," she said rolling her eyes. "It shouldn't take me all that long. Maybe a couple of hours. Can't we just stay here a little longer?"
"Honey, we've been here for an hour and a half. It's a restaurant. Once you finish eating you're supposed to leave."
"I know," Elise said reluctantly as she pushed away from the table. "I just don't feel like working on that paper."
"Finish it up and then tonight we'll watch the movie we rented," Bill told her as he held the door for Karen and Elise to exit the restaurant.
"Saturday's movie night. We make sandwiches and snacks and eat in front of the television. It's the only night of the week that says it's okay not to eat at the dinner table," Elise explained as they walked back to their cars. "Dad, maybe Karen would like to come over and watch the movie with us tonight?"
Elise's suggestion took Bill by surprise. He looked from Elise to Karen trying to decide what to say. "It's nothing special, Karen. Ellie's hooked on Alfred Hitchcock movies so we rented 'The Birds'. If you've got something else to do, we'd understand."
"Oh please, come over. It'd be fun," Elise said ignoring the fact that her father was giving Karen a graceful way out. "My favorite movie night dinner is grilled cheese sandwiches."
"Do you put tomato on them?" Karen asked smiling.
"Dad puts tomato on his, but I don't. He says that I'm a purist," Elise replied. Her blue eyes had grown wide with excitement.
Karen laughed. "Now how can I possibly pass up grilled cheese with tomato," she said as she looked from Elise and then to Bill. "How about if I make the snacks? I think I can come up with something appropriate for an Alfred Hitchcock movie."
"Karen, that's sweet of you, but you don't have to," Bill said.
"I insist. What time should I be there?"
"About 7:30. Is that alright with you?"
"Seven thirty it is, then. Thanks for the invitation. I'll see you both then." Karen and Bill looked at each other for a moment both considering whether a kiss was advisable or not. They both seemed to decide against it since Elise was standing right in front of them.
Karen slipped behind the wheel of her car enormously pleased with her first meeting with Elise. She found herself looking forward to eating grilled cheese sandwiches and watching a movie that she had seen at least ten times. It didn't matter. As long as she was with Bill, and now with Elise as well, she was happy.
As soon as Karen started to pull her car away, Bill and Elise turned to go to their car.
"So, Dad," Elise started as she bumped into him playfully. "Why didn't you kiss her goodbye?"
"Excuse me?" Bill said. Again he was genuinely surprised at Elise's acceptance of the situation.
"Why didn't you kiss her?" she asked again climbing into the passenger seat.
"I don't think that's any of your business," Bill said trying to suppress a laugh.
"Come on now, Dad! You stood there and looked at each other. You wanted to kiss her and she wanted you to kiss her. So why didn't you do it?"
"When did you become such an expert on male/female relationships?" Bill asked trying unsuccessfully to sound annoyed.
"Don't change the subject! Why didn't you kiss her? Was it because I was there?"
"Maybe it was," Bill admitted.
"Well, when you marry her you're going to have to kiss her in front of me."
"Hold it, Ellie!" Bill said tapping the brakes to stop for a red light and then looking in Elise's direction. "Nobody's talking marriage. We've only gone out a couple of times."
"I know, but you're so happy when you're with her. You're completely different, Dad."
"I am not! I'm the same person I've always been."
"You're different, Dad. Believe me. I know you and you're different. Don't get upset. It's not a bad thing. I'm not mad about it. I like it. I like to see you this happy."
"I'm always happy when I'm with you, Ellie. I've told you before that you're all I need."
"No, Dad, that's not true. I watched you today and something special happened. That was when I realized that I can't be the only girl in your life. And I know that there's room in your heart for both of us."
Bill smiled at her. "You're amazing. Do you know that? You sound so grown up when you say things like that."
Elise shrugged. "I just said what I felt. I don't know if that's grown up or not. You're the best, Dad and I want you to be happy. So maybe I'm rushing the marriage thing, but if you get to that point, just know that if it makes you happy, it makes me happy, too."
Bill reached over and squeezed her hand. "I love you, Elise."
"I love you, too, Dad," she said returning the squeeze.
None of the three of them would have readily admitted it, but Bill, Karen and Elise were all excited about spending Saturday evening together. Seven thirty finally arrived. Bill was in the kitchen getting ready to grill the sandwiches and Elise had just finished vacuuming the family room when Karen rang the doorbell.
"I'll get it!" Elise shouted as she darted through the kitchen past Bill. She looked at him and skidded to a halt, her socks slipping on the ceramic tile floor. "Actually, why don't you get it. I'll get the sandwiches started," she said remembering that Karen was her father's guest and not really hers.
"Thanks," he said smiling. Bill opened the door for Karen who stepped in the house and out of the cool night air.
"Hi," Karen said smiling broadly as she entered the house. She stopped for a moment and turned her face upward so that she and Bill could kiss lightly. "You've got a beautiful place here," she said looking around the living room.
"Thanks," he returned. "Let me help you with those." Bill took a large baking dish from her. "Ellie, we need a hand," he called.
Elise popped out from the dining room way too quickly. Bill knew that she had left the kitchen and made her way closer to the front door.
"Hi, Karen," she said happily as Bill handed her the baking dish. "What's in here?"
"Well, I thought since we're watching 'The Birds' that wings would be appropriate. So I made honey-barbeque chicken wings. If we put them in the oven now, they'll be ready by the time Tippi Hedren first gets attacked by a bird."
Bill started to laugh. "Sounds like you've seen the movie more than once."
"I've seen it more times than I can count and I still love it. I can't wait to watch it again."
"What's in the other dish?" Elise asked eyeing up a foil covered plate that Karen was still holding.
"That's dessert," Karen replied. "Cheesecake brownies. They're my daughter's favorite. I thought you might like them, too."
"Sounds great," Elise said reaching for the dish.
"Not a chance!" Bill said. "They won't make it to the kitchen without you stealing one. I'll carry those."
Elise giggled. "You have no faith in me!"
"I have faith, just not blind faith!" Bill retorted as he took Karen's coat and hung it in the closet.
It didn't take long to grill the sandwiches and put the chicken wings in the oven. Elise poured drinks for everyone and carried them on a tray to the family room. Bill and Karen followed with the sandwiches on plates. The three of them sat down on the sectional sofa and Bill pulled the coffee table closer so that it could be used as a makeshift dining table.
With everyone comfortable, Elise started the movie. They ate the sandwiches and nibbled on wings and dessert and watched the movie, laughing over old, out of date special effects. By the end of the movie, Bill sat in the middle of the sectional with Karen resting against him on one side and Elise resting against him on the other. He had an arm around each of them and, at some point, he realized that he wasn't really watching the movie as much as he was enjoying being with his girls.
It was a little after ten when the movie ended. Elise helped clean up the dishes before looking at the clock and announcing that it was time for her to go to bed. Bill smiled knowing that Elise never went to bed this early on a Saturday night.
"Goodnight, Dad," she said raising up on her toes for a kiss.
"Goodnight, Sweetheart," Bill said as he kissed her.
"Goodnight, Karen," Elise said. And then she surprised them by reaching out for a hug. Karen smiled and returned the hug, happy to know that Elise was warming up to her so nicely. "Can you come for movie night next Saturday?" she asked.
"I'd love to," Karen told her.
Elise's eyes danced with excitement. "Dad, can we plan on that? Is that okay with you?"
"It's fine with me. I'll be looking forward to it."
"Thank you!" Elise squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was suddenly back in little girl mode after being very grown up all day. Bill and Karen watched Elise practically dance up the stairs.
Bill snaked his arm around Karen's waist and he pulled her close. "Thank you," he whispered into hear ear.
"For what?" she asked.
"For getting along with my daughter."
"She's a doll, Bill. I'm crazy about her. And I'm crazy about her father, too," she added.