Sharp new sweater.Sharp new sweater. Remember to drink the first beer fast. Be loose. Smile. Circulate. Meet all available women. Look into their eyes, deeply, deeply. You are irresistible, sensitve, patient--oh, so patient. Hell, I was patient with Dora. Left high school a virgin. Wish I'd stayed one after laying that nympho Margaret while Will watched. Okay, this party isn't a swap meet, just the old gang looking for a good time. And this year, I am going to have a good time!! And it wasn't a bad time at all. Ten guys, ten women, about half couples, half singles. Mark downed three beers trading notes with the guys, and then found himself warmly reminiscing with Sue, his first date ever in junior high. Sue was majoring in forestry at UC Davis and had been seeing a guy named Robert for more than a year. That revelation made Mark both time-conscious and guilty that he was losing interest in Sue's story. Mark politely disengaged, then wandered into a conversation with Buddy and Janet, seldom shall they part, Walter and Vivian, and Elaine. Elaine. A monument, Elaine. Nearly straight A's in high school, friendly but aloof. Promising curves. Dark, curly hair. A too-understanding look. Mark had not been ready for an Elaine, and now, as he glanced up at her, a sensation of chilling anxiety overwhelmed him. Elaine was not smiling at him the way people smile at parties. She was smiling as if he had returned from the seas, as if . |