The Catch

“Amy, what am I going to do?” Cali moaned to her friend who was on speaker, “My parents want to meet my new boyfriend – the one I’m completely devoted to and totally made up!”

“ I told you that it wasn’t a good idea to lie to them, Cal,” Amy reminded her, “I mean, I know you’re sick of them setting you up with blind dates, but a direct, assertive approach would have made more sense.”

Then Amy quickly shifted from the therapist she was to the friend she needed to be now: “You know you’re very pretty. I’ve seen you turn down dates left and right. There must be some guys at your work who would love to take you out!”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Cali said skeptically as she adjusted herself in her flowered easy chair, “I think I’ve turned those guys down one too many times, and all for the same reason—we have nothing in common. And I don’t see the point in dating just for the sake of dating. Dating shouldn’t be a chore, should it?”

“I hear you,” sighed Amy, “I’ve been on some dates I couldn’t wait to end!” Like Cali, Amy was an attractive young woman, as well as warm and kind. She also had yet to find her match.

She asked, “So when exactly do your parents want to meet the supposed love-of-your-life?”

“Well, they just said ‘soon,’ which gives me some leeway, BUT, this Saturday, they invited me and my sister and her family, and my brother and his family to dinner at their house. If I could find a guy to go with me then, there wouldn’t be so much attention on me and my mystery man.”

“That’s good thinking. Now, how do we find you a guy who is willing to meet your parents in 5 days?” Amy asked. After a moment of silence, she answered the question herself. “I think the bookstore is your best bet. It’s your home away from home, so you’ll feel most comfortable there, and what better way to meet a guy who shares your interests than see what he likes to read? The fact that he’s in the bookstore at all should win him some points.”

“You’re right!” exclaimed Cali, a voracious bookworm. She laughed, “I probably should have been trying to meet men in bookstores all along! Of course, I’ve always been so preoccupied with the books themselves. . . probably the perfect man for me has been, too.”

“Yeah,” agreed Amy, “You may have to draw the right guy out of his shell a bit. That will be a challenge for you. But there’s nothing wrong with challenging yourself sometimes, right?”

“Right!” exclaimed Cali, with far more bravado than she felt.

“The bookstore is open for another 3 hours. Can you be ready in 15 minutes?”

“Sure,” said Cali, who had not bothered to change out of her work clothes: sensible shoes, winter tights, a suede skirt and black sweater.

She washed her face in her spotless bathroom and checked to make sure she had not been cursed with a sudden blemish on her usually flawless complexion. Then she carefully brushed her hair that fell in gentle ringlets. She brushed her teeth, flossed, and swished with a fluoride rinse. Finally, she applied lip balm and hand cream to protect against the cold.

She heard Amy’s car horn and slipped on her coat, grabbed her purse and headed to the door. Then she stopped midway, ran back to the bathroom and spritzed on some perfume her Secret Santa at work had given her. It was called “Sugar Cookie.”

The bookstore was big, bright, neat, and quiet. Not much happening on a Monday night. Cali spotted about 20 other heads moving through the aisles. She spotted a tall man with thick, brown hair perusing the new fiction. His back was to her. He put the book he had been looking at back in place and quickly picked up another and turned to the inside jacket. Then he checked out what looked like the first page. He put that book back in place also and picked up another.

“A man of discerning tastes,” thought Cali. She gave Amy a slight nod and held up one finger, signaling that she would try to approach the man on her own. Amy, who had previously voiced her opinion her friend might need her help, shrugged and gave Cal a thumbs up with a smile.

Cali had almost reached the man when he turned and headed left. She watched him go into the mystery section, which increased her interest. She loved a good mystery! A few minutes later, she was standing in front of the Agatha Christie books. She looked down the aisle and glimpsed at his profile as he scanned a shelf. He had a thoughtful expression. His profile was all clean lines and his skin had a healthy, pinkish hue. Bonus for her: he had no facial hair.

Cali cleared her throat. He looked at her expectantly. “Hey,” she said in the most casual way she could muster, “Do you happen to know if the mystery book group still meets here on Wednesday evenings?” She had never actually gone to that group, or any of the bookstore’s groups, but she saw them on the calendar she read every month in case there was an author coming to visit. Cali loved to listen to authors tell their stories.

The man looked surprised by the question. “Oh, no. I’m sorry, I don’t. I’m not much of a joiner. They could probably tell you at the front desk, though.”

“Sure,” she said, blushing. “Now what was she going to do?” Her mouth was as dry as the Sahara. She meekly held up her hand as a goodbye and went to search for Amy, who she found tsk-tisking and shaking her head at the titles in the self-help section.

“Wa-ter,” gasped Cali, and the two quickly headed to coffee bar section of the store. After a flavored seltzer drink, Cali was able to relay how her “challenge” had gone.

“Actually, you did better than I thought you would, Cal,” mused Amy as she stirred more cream into her coffee, “I mean, you’ve never pursued a man before, have you?”

Cali shook her head. “Not a man. I used to chase Robbie Langford around the playground in kindergarten.”

Amy laughed, though she had heard the story before. “We need to channel some of that old Cali! But seriously, I think I’d better walk around with you. I don’t want to be a third wheel, but I could help keep the conversation going. Why don’t we head to the classics section next? You’ve read a lot of those, and if you find a guy there, you’ll know he’s a deep thinker like you.”

After Amy paid for their drinks and bought Cali a bottle of spring water to carry with her, the two headed to the classics section.

Cali’s heart rose when she saw the same man from the mystery aisles in the classics section. Nervously, she turned to the shelves and picked up the first book she laid eyes on, Silas Marner.

“Haven’t you already read that?” asked Amy a little too loudly.

“Yes, but I don’t have my own copy,” protested Cali.

“Oh!” greeted the man, “Nice to see you again!” He gave Cali an enthusiastic smile, and Cali wondered if he regretted her quick departure earlier.

“Good to see you, too,” she said, “My name’s Cali. It’s nice to see someone else enjoys the classics.”

He chuckled. “I’m Keith. I majored in English Literature.” His grinned widened, “But I enjoy many different kinds of books, even low-brow stuff.” He moved closer and thought he smelled fresh sugar cookies.

Cali laughed with him. “My moods vary, too. One day I’ll be reading great poets, and the next I’ll be reading a paperback romance.” She blushed on the word “romance” and realized she was interested in more than just some guy to meet her parents. She clumsily unscrewed the top off her water and chugged some.

He held up the book he was holding, The Catcher in the Rye. “I’m buying this for my youngest brother. I thought it might get him hooked on reading classic literature like it did me. The first time I read it, I couldn’t believe it was really a ‘classic,’ since I was enjoying it so much!”

“I felt the same way about The Bell Jar!” exclaimed Cali.

“Did you know parts of The Bell Jar are often considered by critics to be an homage to Catcher in the Rye?” asked Keith.

As she shook her head, Cali recalled that Robbie Langford had thick brown hair as well. She remembered how it bounced when she chased him on the playground.

In the brief pause, Amy got straight to the point. “It sounds like you two have a lot in common." Deciding to stretch the truth a bit, she added, “You know, Cal, you should ask Keith to go with you to your parent’s dinner party on Saturday. I know they’re expecting you to bring that other guy, but since he got called out of town, I’m sure Keith would enjoy it. And you wouldn’t want your parents to end up with leftovers. They hate leftovers.”

Cali gave her friend a stunned look but quickly recovered and nodded. “Would you like to come, Keith? I’m afraid Amy is mistaken about the whole ‘dinner party’ thing. It will be casual, and the only other people who will be there is my family, but my parents are expecting me to bring a date.”

It was Keith’s turn to look stunned. This beautiful, intelligent woman who smelled like his Grandma's cookies was asking him out on a date? “Th-thank you,” he managed, “I’d love to.” The fact is, he would have said yes to a polar bear plunge just to see her again.

Once outside with Amy, Cali stared up at the clear, starry sky and watched her breath float upward. She grabbed Amy’s arm and exclaimed, “All these years I’ve been waiting for the right man to come along! Why didn’t I just go out and catch the right man myself?”

“This whole night has inspired me,” Amy answered, “I’m coming back later in the week to find my own catch! Will you come with me?”

“Of COURSE!” Cali assured her, “That's what friends are for!"