Chapter 16: 1970s
“Are you sure you have everything you need?” Zander asked for the hundredth time as he stood before me at central station. The train was prepped hot and ready for its voyage behind me as countless people like me made the most of every second before we boarded the train, parting ways with our beloved for an indefinite amount of time.
“DC is not that far” Zander pushed back my hair behind my ears before raising my hands and kissing the knuckles. “Please call me as soon as you get settled in. You show them what you’re made of, but don’t forget to take care of yourself. I’ll try to call you everyday”
“You don’t have to do that, Zander,” I reminded him.
“I want to, if only just to hear your voice and to make sure you are doing well, I want to” Zander pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. The train honked behind us, and all around us, a collective sigh of goodbye enveloped us, bitter, sweet and somewhere in between. Zander leaned back to give himself just enough space so he could press his lips upon the arch of my brow.
“ALL ABOARD!” the train conductor shouted.
“I guess this is goodbye?” I pulled back, still not letting go of him, my fingers clinging to the creases of his suit jacket. He chuckled and pinched my cheeks, before leaning down to give me a chaste peck on the lips.
“Hell no, it’s a see you later, so you better sit tight” he kissed me so quickly I did not even have a chance to kiss him back. Zander caressed the cheeks he pinched, running his thumb over the surface of the skin already turning pink. “You are not getting rid of me this easily, so until we meet again, I will be waiting for you” Zander said.
“I’ll hold you on to that” I pressed my face into his hand, if only I could tell him how much his words mean to me, the promise of tomorrow, and a future together.
“ALL ABOARD” the conductor called out once more, this time closer to us. “Excuse me miss, I understand that it might be difficult for you to part with your handsome young lad but I am afraid we have to board the train, and don’t worry young man, she will be in good hands.” the train conductor laid out his arm to usher me to the awaiting door of the train.
The first two weeks of my assignment were difficult. Day in and day out I had to sit in court and listen to the proceedings of every single detail presented as part of their argument. It was brilliant how women of this generation were able to come together to form a group to defend and raise their rights. A battle for women fought by women. That is why the editor-in-chief opted to assign me to this scoop. I was ecstatic to be a part of this momentous turn of events for humanity. In the fourth week, I was completely over the glorious moment. It’s hard to think that long ago this country only wrote ten amendments to their constitution. At that time I laughed at how it won’t be enough to stand as pillars of their perceived community. That is until they added and added until it reached the constitution their country now uses.
Things used to be much simpler.
The only thing keeping me going was Zander’s daily call to check in on me. The first few days were annoying, how he would pester me to eat or to rest, or just random daily news pieces on how his day was going. Now it was something I looked forward to, everyday after court proceedings, I would ring my meal, and take a bath for the night. Then I would wait by the phone, collecting my thoughts for the day’s events. But tonight, unlike any night before, the phone rang like clockwork, once my food had already been delivered to my room.
“I’m beginning to think you have some sort of insider in the hotel staff” the phone did not even complete its full ring when I picked up the handset to press it between my ears and shoulder while I checked the food that arrived.
“If I did, would I know that you are not having pasta tonight?” His voice was soothing and welcomed through the weak and noisy telephone line.
“I have half the mind to pack up my things and transfer to another hotel you would not know of”
“I already told you, you ain’t getting rid of me yet, no matter where you are I will come to you. As a matter of fact” he paused “Look outside your window” my brows furrowed as I stood and leaned over the table to peek through the window.
“What exactly am I looking for?” I asked after staring out the window with my mouth agape.
“Wait, you don’t see me?”
“No”
“Oh crap” - ” I mean the other window, the one with the french restaurant on the ground floor” I did as he instructed and pushed the curtains to look out the window. And there he was secured in the white and red telephone booth. When our eyes finally locked, he placed the telephone
handset back in its place and jogged towards the hotel. Moments later he stood before me, holding a bottle of wine and a bag of something smelling incredibly good.
“I figured you were having pasta again, so I got us some good ‘ol french baguettes, what do you say, care to share your dinner with me with some wine?”
“I have half the mind to turn you down right now” I eyed him, eyes sharp for the small detail on his face for his reaction. “But you know me, I would never turn down good food and wine” I held my door wider to let him into my hotel room.
“You don’t have to worry I am not staying long, I am just simply here to cheer you up, then I’ll have to run back to the station to catch the last train” he explained whilst he opened the bottle of wine.
“You’re not staying long?” I asked, sitting down and crossing my legs on the chair opposite to him.
“I told you, I want to do this the right way, but I must admit, going here tonight, to see you, It was a complete lack of self control. Day in and day out I find myself yearning to touch you, to hold you. I thought I could be content with hearing your voice every night. But I am afraid it only made me want to see you even more” he took my glass and poured wine into it, his stare never once breaking. Despite not looking, he was still able to fill my wine glass to its appropriate serving, almost by nature.
“You didn’t exactly plan this out did you?” He handed me my glass as I took a small sip, letting the richness of the wine overtake my taste buds.
“Not exactly, no one knows I am DC right now, not even Mary Anne” he sighed sitting down after he was done pouring himself a glass. I swirled the deep red liquid in my hands thinking about Mary Anne’s reception of his incredibly reckless and impulsive behavior, unknowingly a smile forms upon my lips.
“Penny for your thoughts”
“Nothing I” - “ I was just imagining the amount of scolding Mary Anne is going to give you once you get back to New York”
“Now there’s an image I try not to think about” Zander chuckled while taking a sip of his wine.
“Well you yourself admitted it was pretty reckless, how’d you even know that I’d let you in?”
“I was riding on the hope that you were missing me just as much as I was missing you” the night passed way too fast and too short. Soon we were both standing in front of each other on either side of the door frame saying our not goodbyes. After that it was not long until Zander made it a tradition during my stay in DC. Every time the month approaches its end, he will pop by my door, bringing food and wine, spending the evening together until it is time for him to leave to catch the last train. This lasted for several months until my assignment in DC was finally over. On the last day of my assignment in DC, our meeting came a little differently. After the victorious win of the legion of female lawyers, I basically had nothing keeping me from returning to New York.
I organized my writings and packed up my personal belongings ready to catch the earliest possible train to New York. However when I stepped into the lobby, Zander was already waiting for me through the revolving glass door. Leaning against his car, looking dapper, a pristine three piece suit, coat hanging over his shoulders, hat to match the coat.
“Hey, I wasn’t expecting you” I approached him, towing my bags with me.
“I wanted to pick you up”
“You look very dapper for someone who’s just here to bring me back to New York”
“I may have an ulterior motive, I wanted to ask you out to dinner, not as celebration, not as friends but a date”
“Haven’t we been doing that these past few months?” I asked.
“No like a proper, take you out to dinner, candle lit date,”
“Alright, but I am afraid I am pretty underdressed”
“I waited long for you to say yes to a proper date, I think I can wait a few more hours to wait for you to get ready” he joked, kissing my knuckles of my hands before taking my luggage from me and loading them into his car.
“So where are we going then?”
“You’ll see”
“At least tell me the dress code, or shall I go on with what you’re wearing?”