He realized that response eluded to wild times she was supposed to have had that she possibly hadn’t, but it would still serve as a convenient conversation topic. The fascination as to whether Darlene was a dark horse with a more expansive lifestyle or else someone who had hardly known a man’s touch had not lessened since the dinner.
The correspondence drew to a close then. Having agreed a date, Darlene asked for his mobile number and only told him to head to the center of Portland at 6pm on Thursday. It was clear that she was intending on giving someone the slip before seeking him out and probably because her parents would insist on dropping her off in town. All of which only made Kurt more excited.
They were playing with fire in a way, even though it was not obvious how fierce the flames were. Was Mr Furse an overprotective parent whose amiable outer shell would crack if he heard of a bad boy carting his little girl off, or would he suck it all up and carry on as normal? It was hard to read because it was hard to imagine him in a state of fury but, either way, he was not one for conducting relationships in a ‘proper’ fashion. Kurt was not about to trot up to the man’s door and ask for permission to take his daughter out to dinner. Rather he’d have as much fun as he could before deciding whether or not it was in his interests to involve parents at all (and almost certainly not). So, sneaking around was going to be in order – if, that is, she did not turn out to be one of those girls who demanded his hand in marriage before hands were allowed below the neck and above the knee.
Anything was possible, but that was exactly how Kurt preferred life to be. Like an ocean voyage, it was all about embracing mystery and allowing fate and destiny to seek you out if it so chose.
Thursday evening came and Kurt sat parked up in the Pearl District of Portland, thrumming his fingers on his steering wheel and wondering whether to go and get a coffee somewhere.
It was 5:15 and he was early – mostly through not wanting to be late, but the traffic had been kind. There was only 45 minutes to wait, by which time Darlene should have called him and let him know where she could be picked up from. The older he got, however, the more Kurt found that he became bored very easily and so he sat in his car feeling tetchy and uncertain.
Why that might be was something of a puzzle, being the laid-back type. But it was almost as if some outside force was telling him that time was precious and not to sit idle.
As it turned out, he had nothing to worry about, because something uncanny then happened.
There he was looking out over Columbia Square when who should turn the corner but none other than Darlene heading his way.
Have I completely underestimated this girl?, he thought, wondering how she could possibly know where he was. That was his first thought anyway; his second was how staggeringly dazzling she looked. If he had thought meeting her in the company of their parents and in homely surroundings had been an eye opener then seeing her out and about, with the wind in her hair, made him see that he had booked a date with a real bombshell.
She was dressed in a lilac one-piece that hung from one shoulder only and ended just above the knee. Fitting her curves perfectly, for someone of her background it probably amounted to being that dress she had always wondered if she would have the nerve to wear. Kurt thought that she looked like pure class and immediately saw that he would have to act quickly to show that she was with him. Eyes were turning her way, scanning her up and down as the male gaze does and, if he wasn’t swift enough, he might have to end up fighting several rivals off.
Getting out of the car and trying not to look like he was rushing in closing the gap between them, Kurt fixed her with his best John Travolta grin.
‘You never told me you worked in intelligence, Darlene,’ he said.
‘What do you mean?’ she asked, returning his smile though seeming a bit shyer of him than her appearance suggested.
‘How would you know I was here otherwise?’ he asked.
‘Oh! This is where everyone comes,’ she replied.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘It’s just an observation people have always made. Anyone who arrives in Portland from the west always chooses to stop in the Pearl District.’
‘No kidding.’
‘No one knows why, but I thought I’d come here and then call if you were elsewhere.’
‘Well, it was a good call,’ he told her, ‘here I am – and here we are.’
‘Yes,’ she replied, sounding a little giddy as she failed to sound casual – a response he could not help but love.
‘I hope it wasn’t too difficult getting round your parents?’ he asked.
‘Not so hard,’ Darlene replied, with a shrug.
‘Did you have to give someone the slip to get here?’
‘No, a trusted friend dropped me off,’ she revealed. ‘She owes me a few favors.’
‘Well, good! That’s come in handy,’ he said. ‘Means we can enjoy a nice evening together. Shall we?’
Darlene accepted his invitation and they were soon in the front seat of his Toyota, heading back to the freeway and the coast. Kurt had always avoided going for the flashiest cars. In part, it was unnecessary when you had access to a fleet of luxury yachts, but he also thought it a good move in showing that he did not feel the need to be really flash (even though the truth was he would have preferred a Jag). His date did appear impressed enough by his motor, however, though he did wonder if that was more because she had never gotten into the front seat of some guy’s car and been whisked away in this fashion before.
With his anticipation for a fabulous evening stirred, Kurt simply had to find out the truth about her, but
knew that patience was a virtue (so they say). Hopefully there would come a time for more interesting questions later. For the time being he just had to make sure she was comfortable enough in his company and set about helping her to relax and trust him.