“Yeah. Nico ran the idea by me first but I thought it was ridiculous and risky. I tried to talk her out of it but it was no use. That whole thing was so unlike her, I sometimes wonder if that also was the tumor.”
We sat for a minute in silence. “So, you know I was a gigolo.”
“No, you weren’t. You’re a nice guy who did what Nico told him.”
Another question gnawed on my conscience. “How did you become a client?”
Kelly raised her eyebrows and tilted her head. “My boyfriend dumped me in February. He said I was getting too clingy and too fat. Turns out he had been cheating on me with some skinny-ass sorority girl for a few weeks before he got up the nerve to break up with me. The punch line is that she dumped him a month later. Then he started coming around, trying to patch things up but I refused. By spring, though, my resolve was almost gone and I asked Nico what I should do. She told me I should spend an evening with you and then I would know how much of a louse my ex is.”
“Nico told you to have sex with me?”
“God, no! That was something that just happened. Nico wanted me to see what it could be like to spend time with someone who was gentle and caring. I was so nervous at first I didn’t want to do anything. But sitting and talking with you was great and then we spent that hour simply kissing. By then I knew I wanted to experience more of you and you were so tender and loving when we were on the floor. I couldn’t help myself. I had to have you.”
“Was she there that night? I dreamt she was watching us sleep.”
“No, she had a really bad episode earlier that week and was back home being cared for by her parents.”
Silence fell over us as waves of heat radiated from every direction. There was so much I wanted to ask Kelly I didn’t know where to begin. It was evident it would take time to hear the full story about Nico. I took seven deep breaths and plunged in. “Listen, I don’t want to keep you from wherever you’re going but I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me some time.”
Kelly smiled. “What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know, dinner maybe, perhaps this weekend.”
“Tell you what. I’m on my way to buy my textbooks. If you don’t have plans, why don’t you come with me. We can go to lunch afterwards, and then…” She let the sentence trail off.
“And then what?”
She shrugged. “Then we’ll see.”
That was a year and a half ago. Kelly and I have been living together for the past year and we’re graduating this spring. Kelly’s been accepted at State for their Veterinarian Medicine program and I have a job lined up with their Computing Resources Department. We plan on getting married next summer. I’ve never been happier.
Nico has stayed with me, haunting my memories. She did come to me in my dreams once and did as she promised. When I awoke I was making love to Kelly. I don’t know if that really was Nico’s ghost or just the memory of her, but quite frankly, it doesn’t matter to me.
All I know is, I owe her so much.
For Nico. I love you and I miss you.