The Friends Only List

  Upon opening the door, Katherine saw a tall slender balding man and a tall well-endowed teenager standing in front of him. Leon was Katherine’s date for the afternoon and had asked to bring his teenage daughter, Jasmine, with him. It was the first date of Leon and Katherine. They had texted and spoken on the phone for the past six months but had not yet seen each other, not even on video chats.

They emailed photographs of each other’s family, of course, but agreed to not do videos or facetiming. They agreed to this arrangement when they met each other in a chat room online. Neither one of them wanted to make a connection with someone who they didn’t know, so they stuck to text messaging and phone conversations for six months.

Leon and Katherine lived in different states, she in San Jose, California and he in San Antonio, Texas. After six months, Leon told Katherine he was coming to Sacramento to visit his sister, Diane, who lived there with her husband and grown children. He asked if he could come by to visit her while he was there.

“Of course! Will you be bringing anyone with you?”

“Yes, my daughter Jasmine who is thirteen will be with me. Is that okay?”

“Absolutely. We can go to the Tech Museum. Would she like that? If so, then we could have some time to talk while she looks at the exhibits.”

“Yes, that sounds good. We’ll be there next Wednesday if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure. See you then.”

When they showed up on her doorstep, Katherine was surprised to see a gorgeous young girl dressed in sweats standing in front of Leon. She had beautiful long black hair and was looking down at the porch when Katherine opened the door.

Something’s not right here. She’s acting way too shy, even if she’s never met me before. Maybe I’ll find out what’s going on later.

Leon peeked around her and smiled as he said, “We’re excited to see the museum. Thank you for offering to take us there.”

As Katherine drove them downtown, she kept quiet and listened for any conversation between Leon and Jasmine. There was none. This is weird and uncomfortable. Maybe Leon has changed his mind and can’t wait for this date to be over.

At the museum, Jasmine made a beeline for the most popular computer exhibits. The museum was modern with lots of windows that made it feet open and airy. Leon asked Katherine, “Would you mind if we follow her around. She’s shy and isn’t comfortable in crowds.”

“Of course,” said Katherine who had not told him that she hated museums and that following a young person around was the last thing she wanted to do. She spoke to Jasmine on occasion but really wanted to go to the coffee shop area. It was a small place that was cozy and relaxing and all she wanted was to sit quietly with a cup of coffee and a croissant.

Hopefully, Leon will continue following his daughter around and I can relax a little after the horrendous day I had at work yesterday. It doesn’t help that he and his daughter were late showing up and my nerves were jumping all over. Maybe later I can talk them into going into the theater and watching the technology presentation.

“Hello,” said Leon. Katherine looked up and saw that Jasmine was following him to her table, and it looked as if they wanted to sit with her for a while. Damn, there’s goes my peaceful moment.

“Hello, you two. Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?”

“Actually, Jasmine would like to use the rest room. Would you mind? She doesn’t want me to follow her there.”

“Sure, I’m finished here anyway.” Katherine stood up and led Jasmine to the ladies’ room area on the second floor. Katherine sighed. There goes my quiet time. Standing outside a restroom isn’t what I was looking forward to doing.

“Uh, Katherine,” whispered Leon as they watched Jasmine walk ahead of them and disappear into the restroom. “I just wanted to tell you, without her hearing me, that my sister said Jasmine started her period today and is very embarrassed about it. I’m supposed to tell you so you will know why she is acting so strange.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know. That explains the sweats she’s wearing. Don’t worry, I can handle this.”

Leon looked relieved. I can’t believe that of all days, when I am finally going to meet the woman that I might be in love with, Jasmine starts her period. Maybe that’s a sign that this isn’t going to work out. I hope this doesn’t put Katherine in too much of an awkward position and she gives up on having a relationship.

Retreating to the other side of the indoor skywalk, Leon looked across at the restroom area where he saw Katherine standing by the ladies’ room door. She was peeking in but not moving to go inside near the stalls or sinks. Good. That seems like the best approach to take for a young girl who is embarrassed about the whole situation.

Leon stood at the end of the skywalk until Jasmine came out. She was smiling! He let out a sigh of relief. Well, at least I know Katherine isn’t thrown by unexpected situations.

Katherine nodded at him and walked with Jasmine across the skywalk. They joined Leon and headed downstairs to the theater where they sat in the middle seats in the back row, Katherine on one side of Leon and Jasime on the other. The movie was interesting and entertained them for an hour. After that, Katherine drove them home. Jasmine was smiling.

Thank goodness. She is a smart girl and I’m glad this day worked out well for her. But I’m not sure about Leon. He is awfully quiet, and I don’t think he is attracted to me. Oh well, I can add him to my “friends only” list, like my girlfriend Jodi suggested. I’m so glad she told me that most women my age and stage had four or five male friends before they met The One.

When they got to Katherine’s house, they went inside for a few minutes and talked about the museum and what Leon and Jasmine were going to do when they got back to Sacramento that evening. Jasmine left to look around the house. That’s when Leon told Katherine, “Diane said Jasmine knew about getting her period, but she had to tell her what to do. She gave her some supplies and told her to call if she needed advice or was too embarrassed to talk to me or you. You were very good with her, though. Thanks.”

“Well, I’m glad it went well. She’s a beautiful, sweet girl.”

Leon answered, “I’ll call you when we get to Diane’s house.”

Katherine sat in her wingback chair looking out the window at his car parked in the driveway. I guess that’s it then. I’ll keep him as a contact for when I visit my friends in Texas.

Leon and Jasmine let themselves out and Katherine sighed as she sank back into the chair and reached for the remote.

Suddenly the door opened, and Leon breezed past her to the kitchen where he picked up a map he had left on the counter.

Katherine looked up and smiled as he approached her, leaned down, and gave her a kiss. A romantic kiss, not a kiss you get from a friend. Then he stood up and quickly walked out the door. She watched through the window as he got into his car and drove off with his daughter.

Well, I guess that answers my question. That was one solid yummy kiss. I’m definitely removing him from my Friends Only List.