Nice Try, She Said

Nadia and Gloria have the day off. 19-year-old Nadia’s long blonde mane wildly swirls around her face as a tractor trailer on Route 20 rumbles past. She and her best friend Gloria are hitchhiking, getting hit with road grit from the soft shoulder, holding out thumbs hoping to catch a ride. Nadia looks like a furious angel. Gloria looks like a drunk cheerleader. It’s 1966, a year of change and conflict, rock bands and short hemlines. Gloria’s boyfriend, Joe, is at college. Nadia is sans-boyfriend and fine with that, however, Gloria is not and has made it her mission to change that. Ever since an accident took away Nadia’s parents, she had been living with her often inebriated aunt, but when she met Gloria at her new school, she felt saved.

“Joe’s back next weekend. He’s bringing a friend. How ‘bout we double date?”

“Nice try. Sorry. The last blind date you set up was a disaster,” Nadia grimaced.

“It wasn’t THAT bad.”

“Yeah, you didn’t have to sit next to him. I thought his cologne was going to knock me unconscious. All he wanted to talk about was football. In the spring. IN THE SPRING, GLORIA. It wasn’t even football season. Besides, I’m not a sports girl.”

Nadia thinks back to other unsuccessful ‘blind’ dates - the guy who talked about his mother the entire time, the one that wouldn’t keep his hands off her, the one who had halitosis, and Mr. Cologne. After that, she didn’t just swear off blind dates, she refused to date. She wasn’t interested in any of the guys who were interested in her.

“Well, this guy is in pre-med. He doesn’t do school sports. He wants to be a surgeon. Considers his hands and head too important to chance getting damaged in a game. And he’s handsome. I mean, for Joe to say the guy is handsome means he’s handsome. Either that or he’s planning to switch sides and he’s bringing him home to meet his parents.” They both laugh.

A ’58 Chevy Bel Air pulls over for them. The driver is a friend, one of the few friends with a car. “Hey babes, where we off to?”

“Friendly’s. We got us a date with a hot fudge sundae!” Gloria giggles. That’s one of her charming attributes the boys always liked - her giggling.

“OK, Friendly’s, next stop. Hey, when’s Joe comin’ back? We wanna have a pick-up game.” Gloria hated being asked when Joe was coming back, what Joe was doing, who Joe was doing it with. Why can’t they get in touch with Joe?

“He’ll be back this weekend but he’s mine after 5. Keep that in mind or I’ll be on your ass like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!”

Nadia is silent the entire time. The friend drops them in front of Friendly’s.

“You’ve been awfully quiet,” Gloria asks.

“What’s to say? I was thinking of that hot fudge sundae.”

“Right,” Gloria pauses, “So how about it? How about one date with a handsome future doctor? Hell, if you don’t go maybe I’ll ditch Joe and go myself. Another pause. “C’MON! We’ll go to Dairy Queen and then cruise around a little. C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” Gloria is good at this.

Nadia, sufficiently worn down, sighs, “Alright.” Gloria jumps up and down with approval.

“OK, ok, but…this is the last time, Gloria.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t call me ma’am.”

“I’ll be callin’ you ‘old maid’ if you don’t get a boyfriend soon.”

Despite the confrontational feel to their banter, they know each other. They laugh and Gloria gives her a hug. “You’re such a good person, you should have a boyfriend. Or at least go on dates. Have some fun!”

Saturday night, Gloria, Joe, and the handsome blind date go to pick up Nadia. A relaxed Nadia opens the door. Gloria wonders if she doesn’t look a little too relaxed. She whispers, “Nadia, are you ok? You seem a little bit…I dunno, loose.” Nadia smiles, “I had a teeny-weeny bit of my aunt’s vodka.” Gloria groans, “I hope it was teeny. I don’t want you barfing in the back of Joe’s car.”

“Don’t worry.”

Nadia slides into the back seat, making sure she stays close to the door. The full moon casts subdued light into the car. She steals a look at her date and is almost dumbstruck by his handsomeness. And his eyes. There’s something about his eyes and she struggles to stop staring, wishing she hadn’t taken those two shots of vodka.

“Hi, I’m Boris.”

“I’m Nadia.”

While distracted by his name and intrigued by his face, she hadn’t noticed he was wearing a cape. A silky, black cape. They sit in silence. Nadia can feel Boris’s staring, as if he’s drinking her in.

They stop at Dairy Queen for hamburgers and milkshakes. They talk about college and work life, Joe talks about the partying, Gloria talks about work, Boris talks about the last book he read, but Nadia is quiet. Boris asks Nadia if she ever wanted to go to college. She says she’d really like to travel, maybe go to Europe, get a job, see the world. “College isn’t for everyone,” she says, with a tone of sadness.

Boris turns Nadia’s face toward him and slips his hand into hers. She doesn’t pull away. “You should definitely do that.” Those eyes, she thinks. He gently pulls her closer, unfolding his cape to include them both. Gloria and Joe are unaware of what’s happening as they continue with their small talk. The radio blasts out music from the only local rock ‘n roll station, but Nadia and Boris only hear their hearts beating.

For the next few hours, Nadia and Boris talk in hushed tones, faces together, their breath caressing each other’s ears. They talk about life, about themselves, about fitting in. Or not. About expectations, hopes and dreams, and nightmares.

At the end of the night, Boris is the one to walk Nadia to her porch. Her aunt forgot to leave the light on. Again. Boris flies his cape up and over to cover them. He kisses her. It feels like a never-ending kiss. A trancelike Nadia gazes into the deep pools of his eyes. Boris smiles. She thinks his teeth look a bit different, but it didn’t matter. Boris kisses her again, then kisses her cheek, then moves his kisses down her neck where thin fangs puncture her soft, smooth skin. Nadia momentarily goes limp in his arms. Boris’s quiet strength keeps her upright until, after a minute, she revives. When she opens her eyes, they look different.

“I think I love you,” Boris whispers. Nadia answers him with a kiss.

The next morning, Nadia heaves herself out of bed, wondering if what happened last night was all a dream. She feels along her neck for bumps and looks for redness. Nothing. Then she thinks of Boris. His handsome face, those hypnotic eyes.

Nadia and Boris become inseparable. Gloria takes full credit for the hook-up. But the unforeseen result is that Nadia has less and less time for Gloria, who also has less time for Nadia as she begins her new job at Macy’s. Nadia and Boris stroll around town on weekends; Boris in his black cape, Nadia in a long boho midi-dress. People in town think they’re hippies and nothing more. No one questions the diminishing homeless population around the city.

Nadia is happier than she’s ever been. She and Boris move to Europe where Boris transfers to Carol Davila University in Bucharest. She buys a beautiful set of tarot cards and learns how to use them and now imparts wisdom to the young women who visit her to ask if they should go on that blind date, if they should take that chance.

She always answers, “The cards say yes.”