“Why don’t I have his number?”, she wonders?
Had she really meant for this experience to be just a once off? She isn’t sure, but as she gets out of the bath, she makes up her mind that she will definitely see him again, soon. She will not make it to her jog come 4AM, so in about two days she will drop this bit of information to Jamal and give him the whole day to think about it. And then, if he shows up that night, then he will know what he is dealing with, and he will be a little more prepared.
Exactly two days later Sophie is on the track again, just before 4. She looks around for Jamal, but she doesn’t see him. She stretches a little bit, and throws her eyes around the track again. Still there is no sign of Jamal. Sophie really starts to wonder if he is going to be a no show, and she really starts to feel a tug in her belly, letting her know that she will be very disappointed if she doesn’t see him. Suddenly, Jamal walks out of the maintenance building, armed with a broom, and she exhales hard, relieved.
“Good morning,” he says to her as she runs up to him.
“Morning,” Sophie says, not sure if she should apologize for the other night.
“I’m sorry for the other night… I was a little drunk…” he says first though, and she suddenly feels worse than she had that night.
“I’ve got to tell you something…” she starts, walking up next to him now and following him towards the center of the field. She isn’t sure what he is going to do there, since it is grassed and he is carrying a broom. She forgets about this now though, and tries to string together the sentence that could send Jamal running for the hills.
“What’s up?” he says, still not looking at her. He seems to deliberately be avoiding eye contact with her and she wonders why. Surely this isn’t where they are now? Surely they are not suddenly uncomfortable with each other?
“I’m a virgin,” she says, not knowing how else to say it. He looks at her now, and it is as if a penny drops and everything suddenly makes sense. He smiles, a relieved smile, an I’m-so-glad-it-wasn’t-me-because-I-really-thought-it-was smile. He pulls her close to him and plants his lips on hers, kissing her long. And then he lets her go and looks at her closely.
“That’s a relief,” he says. She doesn’t quite understand what he means but has to let this go too because he is kissing her again.
“Will you come tonight?” she asks him when they are separated.
“Careful what you wish for…” he says, and then laughs at a joke that only he gets…
Sophie realizes that she still doesn’t have Jamal’s number by seven o’clock that evening, and she also realizes that she didn’t say what time he should come around. She is ready for him to arrive, and she wants him to get here soon before she loses her nerve. But she knows that she won’t though. Tonight is the night that she will become a woman, and she will become a woman at the hands of Jamal.
Around 8:30, with Sophie having drank half a bottle of wine, there is a soft knock on the door. She knows that it is Jamal, and so she adjusts her short dress and goes to the door. Opening it, she sees Jonah standing outside his apartment again, looking knowingly at Jamal. He seems to know who he is now, and he just shakes his head. Sophie really doesn’t care, because as far as Jonah is concerned, Jamal is the one getting to enjoy what he will only ever hope to. Jonah really isn’t her type anyway.
“We didn’t say what time?” Sophie says as she lets him in to the apartment.
“No we didn’t,” he says, holding a brown paper bag. She wants to ask him what’s in the bag but doesn’t. Instead she pours him a glass of wine. Then she remembers that she had actually got beer that afternoon, purchased for her by the assistant at the liquor store because apparently he thought that this was his way of getting into her pants, and offers him a beer instead. Jamal gladly accepts it, apparently relieved that there is this familiar liquid now.
He puts the bag on the table, and looks at it. He seems to be as interested as she is in the contents of the bag, but still Sophie doesn’t ask him what is inside it. After drinking half of his beer, he pulls the brown bag to him, and then opens it. Sophie tries to sneak a peek inside it but it is not possible from the angle that she is sitting at. Then he pulls out a large tubular bottle from the bag, a red round bottle. Now she looks closely to see just what this is.
“It’s lubrication,” he says, and she is suddenly taken aback. She knows why she told him that she was a virgin this morning, but now that he has come armed with lubrication she feels like she perhaps made it too easy for him. Sophie knows that she didn’t though, and she really doesn’t even care if she has. She really wants him to take her, and now that he is aware of her status, she knows that he will handle with care.
“Okay,” she says, finishing the contents of her glass. And then she watches him finish his beer before handing him another one, taking the lubrication from him. She turns the bottle over in her hands, and when he finishes his beer he gets up, lifting her off the couch, and carries her to the bedroom. It really is now or never.