Part Two

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Moving day! I am so tired, I can hardly keep my eyes open. The apartment is nice, though, and the location is great. We’re close to the place where Rick is staying and to both of our jobs. His sister, Mandy, is great, too. I think I’m really going to like her.

“Rick, what a surprise.” Mandy did not sound at all surprised to see her brother.

“Hi, Mandy. Is Diana at home?” he asked, not seeming to see his girlfriend despite her proximity.

His sister waved her arm in Di’s direction. “Here she is; she’s all yours.”

Rick gave a rather predatory grin, which sent a thrill through Diana. “Just what I was hoping you’d say.”

Mandy shook her head and walked towards the kitchen. “Be good.”

“We won’t,” he answered. He turned to Di. “So, what did you want to do this evening? Did you want to go out, or stay in?”

She thought for a moment. “Let’s go out. We could see a movie, or something.”

“So long as it’s nothing girly,” he replied.

“If I wanted to see something girly, I’d take Mandy and leave you behind,” she teased.

He nodded and led her to the door. “I was thinking we might go for a picnic tomorrow. I could pick you up in the morning and we’ll drive out to a place I know. It’s beautiful this time of year.”

“Not too early,” she answered. “I’m getting my hair done.”

His face took on a look of dismay. “What are you doing to it? I like it how it is.”

Di shook her head at his strange behaviour. “It’s just getting a little too long. There’s no need to panic. It’s not like I’m going to shave my head or anything.”

He was almost pouting, now. “I like long.”

“It will still be long, I promise. Just not quite as long.”

Rick fingered a few strands for a moment. “Well, okay. But, if you’re going to change it, at least make it all the same. I don’t like it being all different.”

She frowned, trying to decipher his meaning. “You mean, you don’t like the layers?” She found the shortest ones and gave them a little tug. “So, if I got it all cut to this length, you’d be happy?”

He considered for a few moments, then nodded.

“Fine, I’ll do that, just for you,” she agreed, amused. “No one has ever been so interested in my hair before this.”

“Haven’t they? Well, you have me now.” He smiled. “Let’s go watch that movie.”

Monday, July 16, 2007

Why does my mother have to make so much trouble? She called again today, begging me to come home. I don’t want to go home! I like it here so much. This is a great vacation job and I get to see as much of Rick as I like. There’s no way that I’m changing my mind and going back to Sleepyside for the rest of the summer!

Diana picked up the phone and put it down again. She looked at her watch, shook her head and turned to walk away. After a few steps, she turned back to the phone, snatched it up and started to dial. She paused, half-way through, but resolved to continue. Holding the receiver to her ear, she waited for someone to pick up.

“Hello?” greeted a sleepy voice.

“Honey? It’s Di. I’m sorry to wake you… I just needed someone to talk to.”

There was a sound like a sigh, or a yawn. “I don’t mind. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

Di sank onto the floor and drew her knees up to her chest. “Well, I don’t know if it’s wrong, or if it’s right, or if I should have done it, or not. Especially after everything that happened with Mart and am I letting things move too fast?”

“What did you do?” Now Honey sounded wide awake. “Did you and Rick…”

“Yes,” Di breathed. “I didn’t mean for it to happen like this, but it has… and after I was so insistent with Mart about waiting until we were married. I don’t know if it was the right thing to do, but I can’t exactly go back now, can I?”

“No, I don’t suppose you can.” Her friend sighed. “Why did you let him convince you, if you weren’t sure?”

Di paused to consider her answer. “I don’t know. He loves me and I love him. I think we’re meant for each other and I thought he agreed with me that we should wait, but maybe he thought we’d waited long enough. I mean, he’s only got one year left until he graduates and maybe he’s thinking it would be better to wait until after then to get married, but that’s too long to wait for intimacy.”

“Did you ask him to wait?” Honey asked.

Di frowned. “I thought I had. I’m not sure.”

“Maybe you need to be clearer with him about what you need,” Honey suggested. “If he doesn’t know what you want, how can he give it to you?”

She murmured assent, trying to think over what she had said and done that evening. Honey’s voice broke into her musings, asking, “Are you going to be okay?”

“Yes,” Di answered. “Yes, I’m okay. I just needed to tell someone what I was feeling.”

“Well, I’m glad I was here to help you,” her friend replied. “You’ve gone quiet. Do you need to talk any more?”

“No. I think I’ll be okay, now.” With a few more words, Di wound up the conversation.

After setting the phone down, she hugged her knees and thought about what she had done. Sleep would be a long time coming tonight.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

It’s almost time to go back to college and I’m sad to be going. This has mostly been such a great summer. Mandy is such a lovely person and I’m going to miss her so much! I hope I can come back here next summer, but Rick will have graduated by then. I wonder what he’ll choose to do then? I almost hope that he’ll choose to do his Masters, so we can be together a little longer, but I don’t think he will. Hopefully the job he takes will be one that’s close by.

“This is it,” Rick observed, as he guided her to the door of his new apartment. “Come in and have the guided tour.”

Di smiled and let him lead her inside. She dutifully oohed and ahhed over the shabby sofa, tiny kitchen and bathroom to match, before Rick showed her his room.

“What do you think?” he asked.

She glanced around. “Lovely. Er… that’s rather a big bed you have, with relation to the size of the room.”

He smiled his most attractive smile and she felt the pull of attraction. “It does make it a bit crowded, but I know it will be worth it. You could stay the night, if you liked, and we’d be comfortable.”

She tried to keep her expression neutral, but knew that she had failed by the disappointment that showed on his face. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that,” she told him. “Not yet, at least.”

He sighed. “Well, at least come and try it out now. See how comfortable it is?”

Di sat down on the edge and bounced a little, finding it rather too hard for her taste. “Very nice. I’m sure you’ll be happy here.”

He nodded and pulled her closer for a kiss.

Monday, September 10, 2007

It’s just occurred to me that my college career is half-over. When I started this semester, I had crossed the half-way mark. That’s exciting, in a way, but scary, too. Tomorrow is the six-month anniversary of Rick’s and my first date. We’ve got a celebration planned and I’m really looking forward to it!

“New dress?” Rick asked, eyeing her appreciatively. “I like it. You should wear green more often. It suits you. I like it a lot better than purple.”

She thanked him and complemented his appearance as well. He took her hand and escorted her out to his car. They were soon on their way to the restaurant he had booked. As they arrived and were seated at a table, Di glanced around. Rick had certainly gone to an effort and she thought that boded well. They ordered their meals and fell into easy conversation. After a time, he took something from his pocket and changed the subject.

“I know we agreed to no gifts – after all, this is only half an anniversary – but I saw something and thought of you.”

He placed a small box on the table and Di’s heart jolted in her chest. She opened it to find a dainty silver bracelet with small, green stone beads suspended from it at intervals. They were spherical and opaque, banded with dark grey-brown.

“That’s why I was glad you were wearing green,” he told her, smiling. He placed it on her wrist and fastened the clasp. “It looks perfect on you.”

Di moved her arm and watched the stones swing on their loops. “It’s lovely,” she told him. “Thank you.”

She enjoyed the rest of the evening very much.

Friday, October 5, 2007

I’m going to be brave and hold a Bob-White Halloween party, just like old times. It won’t be on the actual day – it’s a Wednesday this year, and we’d never be able to pull that off – but I think it will be fun all the same. Trixie and Honey have both promised to come and I’ll be taking Rick with me. He hasn’t even met half of the Bob-Whites and I think it’s time I fixed that.

“So, what do you think of Rick?” Di asked, as she, Honey and Trixie settled down for a night together at the Lynch Estate.

“He seems very nice,” Honey answered. “He’s very good-looking, of course. I didn’t get to talk to him all that much, though.”

Di turned her gaze on Trixie, who blushed. “Didn’t you like him, Trixie?”

Her blush deepened. “Well, it’s not exactly that I didn’t like him, it’s just that I didn’t seem to be able to find anything interesting to talk to him about. I mean, Honey’s right and he is nice to look at, but he seems a bit, erm, dull and… self-absorbed.”

“He’s not!” Di objected, without even thinking about it.

“Well, I’m sure you’re right,” Trixie interrupted, before she could say anything else. “I mean, you know him and I don’t. I hardly got to talk to him at all, really, so I couldn’t really say what he’s like.”

“Is it serious between you two, Di?” Honey asked, in a soft voice.

Di considered for a moment. “Well, we’ve been together for over seven months, now. I’d consider that serious, wouldn’t you?”

Honey nodded. “You spend a lot of time together, don’t you? It shows.”

For a moment, Di did not answer. “I know this isn’t how we thought it would turn out, but I’m happy with Rick. I hope that we’ll all be able to get along with one another.”

“Of course we will,” Trixie agreed at once. “When we get to know each other a little better, I’m sure we’ll all get along fine.”

Di smiled at her friend, grateful for her enthusiasm.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Rick and I have finally negotiated a deal with both sets of parents. We’ll both be going to his parents for Thanksgiving and mine for Christmas. I thought, for a while, we were going to have to do both sets on the day on both days, but they finally agreed to a compromise. Just as well, considering they live about three hundred miles apart!

“Here’s your room, dears,” Mrs. Taylor noted, ushering them both into it. “I’m sure you’ll both be comfortable there, but do let me know if there’s anything else you need, Diana.”

“Thank you,” she murmured, stepping inside.

Rick set their bags down on the bed and his mother smiled and closed the door.

“You do realise, don’t you, that my mother would never let us stay in the same room?” she asked him, still stunned by this development. “When we go to my parents’ place for Christmas, you’ll be staying in a guest suite – and I do mean staying there.”

“No night-time visits?” he asked, amused. “How uninteresting. We’ll have to find a way around that.”

“I don’t think we will,” she answered, her face heating. “I don’t think I want to even think about doing something like that at my parents’ house.”

He shook his head. “Di, you’re grown up. You can do what you like.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to suggest that he wanted her to do what he liked, but she swallowed the urge. Instead, she noted, “It’s still their house and they have a right to enforce some standards in it.”

“Then, we’ll have to find somewhere else to be together. You’d know somewhere we could go, wouldn’t you?”

Di thought of the clubhouse and blushed. It had long been a joke between the three Bob-White girls that the conference table in the clubhouse would be the perfect spot for a seduction. The three had differing opinions on who should play the roles of seducer and seduced. Somehow, Di could not tolerate the idea of Rick and herself in those roles.

“I might be able to think of somewhere,” she admitted. In the privacy of her mind, she vowed to think of another location.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

I love this time of year! I love finding the perfect gift for everyone on my list and listening to the music and decorating and baking and looking forward to all of the parties! It’s only a few days until we leave for Sleepyside and I can hardly wait. I just hope that Rick gets on well with my family. My brothers can be a little difficult at times and they still don’t understand what happened with Mart. I don’t understand it either, so I don’t blame them, but that doesn’t mean they should be hard to deal with. I’ll have to make sure I speak to them as soon as I can to head off any trouble.

“Your boyfriend is looking rather sulky,” Trixie noted, in a low voice. The younger Beldens had invited a variety of friends over for a visit. “Aren’t you treating him right?”

Diana felt a blush climb her cheeks. “He doesn’t think so.”

“Tell him not to worry – Jim’s not treating me right, either.”

“Trixie! I’m not telling that to anyone.” She paused a moment. “You mean…”

“Mr. Honourable-all-over-the-place thinks it’s a good idea to wait.”

Despite herself, Di grinned. “You can tell Mr. Honourable that he’s right.”

Her friend laughed. “Now it’s my turn to say I’m not telling that to anyone. I’m especially not telling that to Jim – he’d be even more insufferable.”

Di shook her head. “Jim is not insufferable. You’re just impatient.”

She sighed. “Always. And I know he’s right.”

“So, how long do you have to wait?”

Trixie groaned. “If I knew that, I think it would be a bit easier. Some days, I think it would be better to just jump on him and force him to give it up.”

“Please, don’t do that, Trixie.” Di giggled at the thought. “I doubt it would turn out well.”

“You’re right: Mr. Honourable has self-control of steel. He’d just frown at me and tell me to be patient. I hate being told to be patient.”

“So does Rick,” Di noted.

“So, you’re making him wait, too?”

Di felt her earlier blush return with lightning speed. “Well, not exactly. I mean, we can’t in my parents’ house, but we have before…”

Trixie grasped her arm. “Di, are you sure you’re not making a mistake with him?”

She bit her lip. “I don’t think so,” she whispered.

Her friend released her grip and stared for a long moment. Then, her gaze turned to Rick. A shiver ran down Di’s back as she saw dislike on both their faces when their eyes met.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Last night, we had a Bob-White New Year’s Eve party. Well, all the Bob-Whites were there, but there were so many others that it hardly qualified as a Bob-White party. It was lots of fun, all the same. I’m so glad that Rick gets on well with most of my friends – except Trixie, of course, and she’s trying very hard to get along with him. I had a very strange encounter with Mart, though. Rick had gone to get us both more drinks when all of a sudden Mart was right in front of me. He told me he was glad that I’d found someone who seemed to be so good for me. The way he looked, though, said something else altogether. I almost thought he was sorry for what he did. It’s too late, though. He and I are definitely over. He’s missed his chance.

“So, how was your Christmas?” her friend Amy asked as they walked to class on the first morning of Di’s return. “Did you have a good time?”

Di waved a hand to indicate mixed feelings. “Rick wasn’t exactly the best company. I don’t think my friend Trixie likes him at all and he was a little annoyed with me. Other than that, it was nice. It’s so good to see everyone again. How was yours?”

Amy launched into an account of the highlights of her break, but Di could see a trace of concern in her friend’s face. True to form, they returned to the subject of Di’s troubles before long.

“So, you and Rick…” Her brow raised in enquiry.

“We’re fine. As soon as we got back, he got over his temper tantrum.” She smoothed back her hair and shifted her bag on her shoulder. “And I think I know how to deal with him next time, so it won’t be an issue again.”

“I’m glad,” Amy answered. “I think you two are good together.”

Thursday, February 14, 2008

This is the best Valentine’s Day ever! Rick took me out for a romantic dinner and he gave me the most beautiful emerald and diamond necklace! It’s so lovely I could hardly speak. We talked a bit about the future and I’m pretty sure that he’s thinking about marriage. I know that I am!

“That’s very nice. Did Rick give it to you?” Amy asked, suddenly, as she and Di were studying together in the library.

Di nodded. “For Valentine’s Day.”

Amy’s eyebrows raised. “Very nice. You two are getting serious, aren’t you?”

Di considered for a moment. “We’ve been serious for a long time.”

“You mean, you’re sleeping with him. That’s serious for you, but not for him.”

She shook her head. “It’s not like that. We’re in love.”

“Sure,” Amy answered, turning back to the stack of books in front of her. “Though, the jewellery is a good start in the seriousness stakes. He might turn out all right, after all.”

“You’re rather pessimistic, aren’t you?” Di asked, feeling disgruntled with the whole conversation.

“I should be,” Amy replied. “I’ve been dumped enough times.”

Shaking her head, Di turned back to her work.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

I’m so crushed! Rick told me today that he’s accepted a job offer for after graduation and he’s going to Iowa, of all places. I need to decide on what I’m going to do. I don’t want us to be so far apart, but what would I do in Iowa? I can’t believe this is happening and after I thought he was all set to accept an offer that would keep him right here. He didn’t even tell me that he’d gotten this offer before he accepted it. I know it’s better pay and conditions, but Iowa? I just don’t know what to do.

“You seem a little down,” Rick noted, as he walked Di home after a date. “You’re too quiet.”

“I’m still trying to decide what to do,” she replied, watching his face. “Your decision to move to Iowa has thrown me a bit.”

He frowned. “Has it? I thought you would just transfer. I mean, I guess you could stay here, but I’d really rather we were together.”

She smiled, though it did not quite reach her eyes. “I would, too.”

“But?”

“But it’s a long way from Sleepyside,” she continued. “At least when I’m here I can pop back for a weekend or something. From there, it will be a much bigger deal.”

“Does it matter so much?” he asked. “You don’t go back to Sleepyside all that often – and when you do, you complain about having to go.”

Her smile was more genuine, this time. “Sometimes. Other times, I want to go back and see my friends. It’s hard to see them when we all live in different places. I miss them.”

“You’d have me in Iowa. I would have thought our relationship was more important now.” He squeezed her hand. “I can’t really see me there without you.”

She nodded. “I’m still thinking, though. I need some time to make my decision.”

Continue to part three.