Elaine set the letters aside and turned off the light. Her pillow made a comforting shape in her arms. Barrett's hug had teased her spirit and her senses. Thoughts of comfort and romance flooded in. It had been a long time. What would it be like, to hold someone again? Would she even remember how? Gently she caressed her breasts, but then, couldn't help laughing.
"Peaches."
* * *
"Most Precious Elaine,
"You know by now I have a yen
to call you my own. More so do I aim
to be your companion than
anything on sale in aisle ten.
"Besides I'm running out of aisles,
next is eleven,
and to wait any longer for your smiles
would be a mistake most graven.
"Fervent is my wish that you would meet me, Elaine,
tomorrow at the festival when the sun is highest in the sky,
that is noon, as in twelve, "aisle twelve,"
and you will understand why
I could not sign my name.
Into my secret heart I pray you will delve.
"Hopefully yours,
"Your Secret Admirer."
* * *
The popcorn festival glittered with shiny rides and sticky children. Elaine wore a big hat and sunglasses, like a movie star trying to hide in public. As if! People waved and called to her at every corner.
"Hi, 'Laine!"
"Hey, Lainey!"
She nodded and smiled and headed for the beer garden. The big open space was the single largest attraction of the festival. It was like stepping into a spotlight. Armed with a tray full of food, Elaine found an unoccupied picnic table. It was about 11:45. If she was lucky she might have time to floss before S.A. showed up.
A shadow fell over the table. "Trent!" she gasped.
"You don't have to sound so shocked, everybody comes here." Trent sat down across from her.
They stared at each other. "You know, I never said anything, 'cause you're my boss and all, but you have pretty eyes. Why don't you take off those big glasses?"
"Like this?" She pulled the glasses away from her face.
"Yeah... I hope you don't mind me saying so."
"I don't mind..." At a loss, she added, "You, uh, you have nice eyes, too."
"Thanks. Oops, gotta go, there's my date." Trent waved at Lana, who was approaching from a few yards away. "Just wanted to say hi."
"Hi, 'Laine!" chirped Lana.
"Oh, yes, yes of course," Elaine stammered.
Trent gave her a funny look. "You feeling okay?"
"Fine! Have a good time."
This was foolish, this was absolutely silly. Elaine started wolfing down her bratwurst. She would finish her lunch and go home. She was too old for this.
In fact, why bother to eat? In a fit of pique, she grabbed her tray and jumped up from the table. As she swung around she bumped into somebody and spilled food all over his shirt.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay, it's okay," said Clark. "I've been wanting to get mustard on this shirt all morning."
Elaine laughed. "Don't tell me it's you."
"Me? Me what?" He looked like he didn't know what she was talking about.
"Never mind, forget about it." She was so embarrassed, she couldn't bring herself to grill the young man. Besides, what could she say? "Have you been writing me love letters?"? This whole thing was just ridiculous. Meanwhile this poor guy was dabbing at the food stains with a napkin, trying to win the hopeless battle. The shirt was ruined.
She tried to make amends. "Hey listen, I was going to meet someone here but they didn't show. Will you let me do something about that shirt?"
"You really don't have to."
"Please... I'd feel a lot better."
Clark shrugged. "What do you have in mind?"
"I'll buy you a new shirt, you can put it on at my house, and I'll put that one in to soak."
Elaine was thankful that he didn't argue too much. They picked out a festival t-shirt and walked the few blocks to her home.
"So who were you supposed to meet?" he asked.
A rueful grin crossed her features. "Nobody, I guess. How about you?"
"My date didn't show."
"Too bad! Her loss."
Clark smiled. "Thanks, that's nice of you to say."
"Well, you're a nice guy, and she's silly for not giving you a chance."
They walked up the three short steps and Elaine unlocked the front door. "You can change in the bathroom, right in there, and give me that shirt and I'll see what I can do with it."
"Okay." Clark disappeared behind the door and in a few minutes stuck his arm out. "Here you go."
Elaine plucked the soiled shirt from his hand and toted it off to the laundry. A few scrubs of BlastOff ought to do the trick. As she worked in the high-falutin' petro-chemicals, she thought, If it really is Clark, he'll say so now. Come up behind me with his shirt off, or something. Maybe he'll kiss the back of my neck... Then she blushed for thinking of him that way.
Clark met her back in the living room. "Hey, since neither of our dates showed up, why not let's go back and enjoy the festival?"
"Sounds great!" Elaine suddenly felt better. So it wasn't her employee. The tension of the morning went away -- to hell with this stupid secret admirer business -- it was far better to just relax and have a good time with a friend.
And a good time they had. They rode the Zipper and ate junk food, in sage agreement that it was better to ride the rides first, and abuse their stomachs second.
"I threw up that way once," Elaine confessed.
"Really?" Clark laughed.
"Oh yeah. Half a dozen of us, back in high school. What a hurler."
They giggled and told silly stories. At Elaine's gentle prodding, Clark admitted he didn't really know what he was going to do next -- maybe take some classes at the local community college in the fall.
"You've got a lot of potential," she told him.
"Really?"
"You're smart and a good listener. That'll take you pretty far."
Her friend looked into the distance. "We'll see."
By sundown they were both worn out. Clark asked Elaine if he could walk her home. Something about the way he said it made her know. Smiling, she agreed. A look of understanding passed between them.
When they were away from the crowds, she asked, "Why didn't you tell me at lunchtime?"
"It was just that you seemed so tense... and all of a sudden I realized that in a way my letters weren't very thoughtful."
"No, no, they were very sweet..."
He smiled at her sideways. They were walking down the sidewalk now, almost to her house for the second time that day.
"I'm glad you enjoyed them. I've been wanting for a long time to ask you to go out with me, and I couldn't figure out how. Then the letters, you know, seemed like a cool idea. But when I saw you at noon you looked so unhappy -- and I didn't want to be the cause of that. I just wanted to spend time with you."
"And so you did." They were on the front steps of her house.
He faced her. "And so I did."
He took her face in both of his hands. "Oh, 'Laine, give me a chance," he whispered. His kiss was warm and lasting. Elaine drank him in. They held each other in a soulful embrace. At last she pulled away from the onslaught of gentle passion and rested her cheek on his chest.
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