Dawn and I were having dinner at a bar near her house. Pamela wasn't with us and how that situation came to pass was something with which I was preoccupied. Pamela had come to the house not long after I arrived. She'd been off buying some food, wine, and beer. The three of us sat around Dawn's living room. Frankly, for me, it was pretty odd. See, Dawn and Pam were longtime friends from college... I knew Pamela (barely)... and had just met Dawn. So we were all getting acquainted when the phone rang. Dawn handed it to Pamela after answering. I figured it was Donnie, Pam's husband, checking up on her but it was quickly apparent that she was talking to Sandra, the woman she'd left in charge of her store for the weekend. Pam acted pretty agitated when she hung up. She reported to us that Sandra had told her she'd come down with a stomach virus, was going home, and wouldn't be able to work Saturday either.
After some discussion Pamela announced that she was going to drive back home so she could have her business open on her busiest day of the week. Dawn was against it and kind of insinuated that, since Donnie was the wealthiest guy in the county, she didn't need to be so driven about her store. I kept my mouth shut. Pamela taking off pretty much screwed up whatever plans there were for the weekend but, on the other hand, I appreciated the fact that she took her work seriously.
I walked Pamela out to her Lincoln and she apologized repeatedly for messing everything up. I told her it wouldn't be a totally wasted weekend for me since I could get a place to stay in the city and then spend all day Saturday shooting photographs on the way back to town. At that idea she got pretty upset. She told me it was silly for me not to stay at Dawn's house and, also, that Dawn and I should hang out together like the three of us had planned. I pointed out that I didn't even know Dawn and that she might not want me around anyhow. She gave me a good-bye hug and said,
"Relax. Dawn will be pissed if you take off. Just have fun, Wil. Don't worry about me."
When I got back inside the house I asked Dawn where I could find a good, cheap place to stay.
"Billy, don't be silly, you can crash here. You can use the room Pam uses... or the couch if you'd rather. Seriously, you can't leave too!"
"Well, OK, but only if you're sure. I mean, we just met and I don't want you to be uncomfortable..."
She laughed. "Let's go get something to eat. I promise that if I decide I don't want you around I'll tell you to get lost, OK?"
That's how we ended up at the bar eating burgers. What was puzzling to me was hard to put my finger on exactly. I guess I wondered if Pam's store emergency was legit. Did she engineer this whole weekend to set me up with her buddy Dawn? Did she just hand me off? And, if so, why?
Or was her employee actually ill and everything was exactly as she portrayed it. I couldn't figure it out so I just decided to concentrate on having fun with Dawn.
----------
Dawn was dressed for hitting the cowboy bars: tight boot-cut jeans, western boots, white cotton shirt tailored to accommodate her large breasts, and a dark Western-style jacket. While Dawn was from "back East" she had definitely adopted the fashion sense of this city on the Eastern slopes of the Rockies. She wasn't wearing a Cowgirl hat, but not because she didn't own a few. We hit a few places and shot some pool, drank more than several beers, and eventually Dawn got me out on the floor to teach me how to two-step. We had a great time.
Despite having a pretty good beer buzz I was a perfect gentleman when we got back to Dawn's cottage. I chose "Pam's" bedroom over the couch and said goodnight. I awoke to the smell of coffee on Saturday morning. I could resist that for a while. But then I smelled bacon cooking so I pulled on my jeans, dug a t-shirt out of my duffel bag and wandered into the kitchen.
Dawn was wearing a white #44 Broncos jersey that came down far enough to cover her nice, round bottom. "Floyd Little? Is that you?" I said.
"Damn right, sleepy. Coffee?"
I fell onto a chair next to the little round table in the kitchen and tried the coffee. My head was pounding.
"Need aspirin?" Dawn asked.
"No, I'll be fine," I said.
"Bacon and scrambled eggs?"
"Sounds good to me."
I watched her, thinking as I drank my black coffee... It's true she's kind of plain and never more so than this morning I suppose... freshly scrubbed face... curly dark hair pulled back and tied off with something-- a re-purposed headband maybe ... not homely exactly, I've known homely and she isn't... just kinda plain... then again, she looked pretty damn good last night... 'course I'd had a lotta beer so... shit, who gives a fuck about that, look at that ass... and those great tits... you know Wil, if you're into that sort of thing...
"Nice."
"What was that?" Dawn said.
I snapped out of it. "Smells good," I said, "the bacon and eggs. Nice to be here and not eating instant oatmeal before going to work on a Saturday. I've worked every Saturday since I moved out here."
Dawn turned around and put a plate of breakfast in front of me. She then put her hand on my head and rubbed my messy hair like she was roughing up a dog. I looked at her and she smirked at me-- a look that said, "I know you were staring at my ass, fella. Like it?" I smiled back.
"Eat up, we've got a big day ahead of us," Dawn said.