Susan's Return
(c) 2005 SwitchMan
Chapter 1 - Lost and Found
It had happened nearly a year ago, but Ross remembered it like it was
yesterday. Ross had just completed his junior year at State when Susan decided
to end their five years together. In hindsight, it all seemed rather petty.
They had been out to a fraternity party. He had probably had a few too many,
and she started tickling him. Instinctively, he grabbed her wrists and flipped
her underneath him. With an extra 50 pounds and 10 inches to his advantage, it
was almost too easy. Even though she begged him to stop, he thought she was
just playing, and it wasn't until he used his necktie to tie her wrists behind
her back that he knew he had gone too far.
Susan cried. He apologized. But the damage was done. Within a week
Susan told him that it wouldn't work out, and she hadn't talked to him since.
He called her periodically for months, but his messages went unanswered. He had
seen her around campus, but every time he would go over to talk to her, her new
girl friends would intervene and ask him to leave before he even got close to
her. He wasn't certain, but he thought Susan might have joined a sorority. Her
friends stuck together like glue.
That's why the Thursday evening phone call was such a surprise. It was
Susan. She was a little apprehensive, but she started the conversation with
"Ross, I miss you." He reciprocated. She explained that she had often hoped to
ask him out for coffee, but every time she tried, she lost her nerve. She was
embarrassed at how abruptly she had broken off their relationship.
"I'd be honored to have coffee with you any time you'd like." Ross
offered. Susan explained that she was in the middle of finals, and couldn't
spare the time, but that there was a party she was required to attend for her
sorority.
"Would you mind accompanying me?" She asked. "I know it's a bit much
all at once, but there will be coffee there, and I'd love to talk."
"I'd love to." Ross blurted out even before she had finished her
sentence. It was funny how studying for his Advanced Physiology final suddenly
seemed insignificant.
Susan offered an escape, asking "Are you sure? It's in Northbrook. I
know how you hate to wear a tie." But there was no way this opportunity was
going to slip away from Ross, and he agreed to dress appropriately.
Northbrook was an affluent community north of campus. "There's no money
like old money" Ross thought. Susan must have fallen in with some wealthy
sorority sisters to attend parties in Northbrook. He agreed to pick up Susan at
6:00 pm Friday evening and return her home by midnight. When he hung up the
phone, he hung his head in disbelief - almost as though he was thanking God for
divine intervention.
