March, 1992
It's dreary in the Midwest, cold, breezy, and damp. Heading to the campus cafeteria with a couple of the guys, someone passing the other way locks eyes with Nick. it's the same eyes he found that night of the Superbowl party, in a head wrapped with an earth-toned scarf.
They stand about two yards apart, after a pause he realizes the Daves are waiting for him,
"Hey I'll catch up -" and they continue on.
She's wearing a long denim skirt this time, dark tights underneath, bundled up in a parka with a well-loaded shoulder bag flung onto her back.
"It's you..."
"And it's you."
"Nick," as he reaches for a handshake, she does too, and they laugh. Her eyes dance nervously, he hadn't caught before how intense they are, greener now, that dress must have brought out the blue -
"Noreen."
Nick sighs and smiles. "Finally. Um...can we talk sometime? Coffee?"
She looks down and her smile fades into thought, "Three tomorrow?"
"How's the snack bar? Do you know -"
"It's perfect, Nick. See you then." and she gives another slight smile before turning to walk away.
Nick heads toward the cafeteria slowly, almost has to sit down, looks back and she has disappeared, how fitting.
He grabs a burger, they make good ones here, and finds the Daves.
"Who was that, sir?" asks taller Dave, a fellow electronics geek.
"Met her at a church thing a while back." Thankfully other Dave started in about his tourney bracket, and since Nick hadn't ever caught the hoops bug that gives him some time to process.
* * * * *
The next day is a tad warmer and much sunnier by afternoon. Nick tries not to be too early, but doesn't want to be late. He slowly approaches the old Gelding Hall and hit the door at 2:51, headed down to the basement level, takes a deep breath and casually strolls in. Time to be completely real, nomatter what.
He doesn't even have to look around. There she sits, alone, hair tied back as he rememberes, with her bag on the table and staring at a book, with the same demeanor as any of his instructors. He approaches and she looks up as if halfway through a sentence.
"Hi Nick", she smiles, looking as though relieved.
"Hi."
"Please join me."
"Would you care for anything?" He motions to the counter.
"Actually not really, at the moment."
"Well me neither, actually, I think I'll get a Sprite."
She puts down the book, "I'll join you."
They proceed to the counter, Nick's knees nearly give out on the way. He talks her into a Sprite of her own. Two Sprites.
Back at the table, near the back of the nearly empty room, it's secluded enough, they sip their pop and sit in silence, not knowing where to start.
"Nick..." and she nearly tears up. He subtly reaches for her hand.
She laughs just a little. "There's so much."
"You came out of nowhere, like a dream." he pauses, "Then and now."
"I hope it wasn't a nightmare Nick."
"Why would it be?"
"OK...." she sighs, pulls out a kleenex and takes a moment.
"She looks at him and smiles earnestly. Look at your beard. I like it."
"Thanks, what there is of it."
She looks toward the window and laughs, more of a quiet giggle.
"I had stopped by that house for just a few minutes, I know someone who was supposed to be there briefly that night. But she wasn't, so I put my coat down and went looking for a bathroom before I headed out of town."
She pauses and he gazes at her face, she meets his gaze and continues.
"Nick when I..." he takes her hand again. "When I saw you sitting there - it's hard to explain."
"Take your time, Noreen."
"Something about you, just, and I had been thinking...wondering...here I was unattached and not sure if I wanted a family."
Nick's blood ran cold, just as when he'd seen the card. He blurts out, "I still have the card."
That resets her chain of thought, she looks at him and smiled, "Oh I'm so glad you got that."
"Me too, it's beautifully done - sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you."
"It's OK."
"If it helps, I'm not sure I want to have kids."
She sighs. "Nick, that's...the way things turned out, it was like a coin flip, as weird as it may sound, that night I realized the answer was no."
"Heads or tails, " he says without thinking, then palms his face.
He looks up a few seconds later and she is red as a beet and nearly hysterical with silent laughter.
"Sheesh, Swanson."
"Is that your last name?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
She shakes her head, "You are something else Nick."
"So, how is it that this is the first time I've seen you here? I've been in my program since two falls ago, except summer."
"Well, there were budget cuts where I was and so I got fixed up here to do some lecturing."
"In art?" Nick asks with a hopeful smile?
"Actually in lit and writing."
"Ahh."
"If I may ask, what are you taking?"
"Electronics Engineering Technology. Too bad I already took comp. Got an A you'll be glad to know."
"Very nice, who taught?"
"Dan Fulton, sometimes you might see us having lunch with him or throwing frisbee out there."
"You have to admit it would have been quite a shock..."
"Maybe a bit awkward, at first, but we seem to get along."
She sighs. "Nick I wasn't thinking that night, it all happened in a rush -"
"Same here." then he added, "but I would do it all over a thousand, a million times."
She blushes slightly, "We would get pretty sore."
They both giggle and look away from each other for a moment.
"I hope we can be friends and talk like this, Noreen."
"Aren't we doing that now?"
"Yes, but -"
"I know what you mean, and I hope so too."
"And I'm not just trying to, get...I don't want..."
She touches his hand. "Nick, it's OK. I think we are mature enough, and you are obviously beyond your years in many ways I must say."
"I'm 21 in a few weeks."
"Hell I just hit 27."
"That's perfect."
She turns out to the window, smiling out of his viewpoint. He takes a sip of Sprite, now nearly halfway gone.
"So what are you reading?"
"Chaucer...tales of merry olde Englande - have you ever?"
"Not yet."
"I have a feeling you might enjoy - here, let's see..." as she thumbs around.
Nick just admires her ardor.
"Ahh, here, The Miller's Tale, get ready." and she proceeds.
About half way through it starts to kick in, and he can't contain the laughter. "God, this is right out of Animal House."
"Isn't it?" as she tries not to get too amused at his amusement. She finishes up and they laugh together, then she starts finding where she had left off previously in one of the longer tales.
"So you are doing a class for the U?", as in, the university branch that shares the campus.
"Yes, every bit so, I went to college with one of the full timers, Dodson. I specialized in English lit as if you couldn't tell."
"Your accent nearly killed me."
She sticks out her tongue and looks down at the book.
Somehow Nick had downed his drink and she was still working on hers, and the clock on the wall must be wrong as it says 10 after 4. Nick remembered he has assignments and work tonight. That, and the pop was wanting out in a bad way.
"Nick, as much as I hate to, I should probably get my nose back into this, it's been a while."
"Yeah, I need to head down the hall and then back to the lab."
She gets up, leaving her things. "I need to head down the hall too now that you mention it."
They proceed on, separate bathrooms this time, he hurries to get it all out so as not to miss saying goodbye, washes hands hastily, barely gets them dry, rubs his hands on the sweatshirt under his coat as he nudges the door...and she's not out yet. He casually strolls to the window and hears a flush. Someone emerges from the womens' but not her, so he finds another adjacent window. The air is electrified. He hears her voice,
"Thanks so much Nick." He turns her way. They stare intently at each other, not sure what to do.
He lightly grabs her hands. "Can I get your number?"
"How about this for now," and she draws in for a kiss, it lasts about a second, they are both holding back, and that much is clear now.
After a couple more deep sighs they both back away from each other, him toward the door and her toward the snack bar.
Nick heads confidently toward the lab. Anything is possible.