Don’t say a prayer
For me now
Save it ‘til
The morning after
No don’t say a prayer
For me now
Save it ‘til the morning after …
-Duran Duran, “Save a Prayer”
Isaac was startled when he woke up Sunday morning,
and had to think for a minute before he remembered where he was.
He sat up slowly, recalling what had happened the night before. He looked at the clock. 10 a.m. He had gotten exactly three-and-a-half hours of sleep.
Despite the fact that he had a slight ache at the sides of his nose from the champagne, he smiled to himself.
He looked around, wondering where Taryn was. The nightgown and robe she had worn the night before where draped over her vanity bench. Isaac then chuckled at himself, as he remembered he’d better put his pants on. He was only wearing the t-shirt.
He slipped on his boxers and wandered out into the hallway. He heard the faint noise of the television in the living room, so he peeked in to see what was going on.
Taryn was in front of the TV, doing Tae Bo with Billy Blanks. He grinned as he watched her kicking and sweating. He leaned against the door frame and folded his arms across his chest.
“Should I be worried that you’re doing this so you can kick my butt?” he asked.
Taryn whirled around.
“God, Isaac, you scared me!”
“You’re the one doing Kung Fu moves. I should be scared.”
Taryn walked up to him. “You better watch it, or I’ll give you a hug with my nasty, sweaty body.”
“I’d be mad if you didn’t.”
He gathered Taryn up to him, and held her. “Last night was really special to me,” he said sincerely.
“To me, too,” Taryn said.
Isaac gave Taryn a sideways look. “I hope you don’t think I’m being pushy, but I got my return flight for tomorrow afternoon instead of today,” he said.
Taryn grinned. “No pushier than I was for taking Monday off and planning on begging you to stay for one more day,” she said.
“What should we do with the rest of the day?” Isaac asked.
“Well, before we do anything, I need to shower,” Taryn said.
“That’s a coincidence … so do I!”
Taryn grinned. “Have I created a monster?”
“Hey, all I’m suggesting is a shower. I resent that you would think otherwise.”
An hour later, Taryn and Isaac sat in her room getting dressed. The bathroom was a mess … the shower had turned into a water fight. But Taryn didn’t care. She would clean it up later.
“Are you hungry?” she asked, as she sat on her bed and pulled on a clean pair of white socks.
Isaac, now dressed in the New York Knicks sweatshirt Taryn had gotten him for Christmas and jeans, threw himself across the bed on his stomach.
“Starved. But I feel the slightest bit queasy.”
“Ah, grasshopper, allow me to teach you the first rule of drinking. You always go to breakfast the next morning. It will make you feel better.” Taryn said in her wisest tone, as she pulled a white cotton sweater on over her t-shirt.
Isaac smiled. “I have a feeling I’m going to learn a lot from this relationship.”
Taryn grinned.
Isaac was beginning to love New York. No one looked at him strangely; in fact, it was rare that he was even recognized. As he and Taryn walked to the corner diner hand in hand, he marveled at how free he felt.
After breakfast, Taryn and Isaac went back to the townhouse. They built a fire, and spent the day cuddled up on the couch.
Taryn was flipping through the TV channels.
“I hate this lockout crap,” she said. “If the NBA weren’t such a bunch of jerks, we could watch a basketball game. They’ve totally ruined Sundays for me.”
She fell back against Isaac, who leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
“I don’t care what we’re doing. I’m just glad to be here with you.”
Taryn sighed.
“I hate that you have to leave tomorrow.”
“Not as much as I do.”
Isaac cocked his head.
“What are you doing New Year’s Eve?”
Taryn gave Isaac a quizzical look.
“Isn’t there a song that goes something like that?”
Isaac chuckled. “Why are you always such a smarty?”
“Sorry. Um, New Year’s Eve … well, I usually go out with Cam and Gregor, or they come over to my place, wherever that happens to be. Why?”
“Well, because I was thinking, I’ve been here three times, and I’ve met your family, but you’ve never been to Tulsa.”
Taryn sat up and turned around to face Isaac.
“You’re joking.”
“No. I think you and Iris should come to Tulsa for New Year’s.”
“Where would we stay?”
“Well, we could get a hotel. Have Iris bring a little friend, and they can get a room that adjoins ours. We could ring in the New Year at my family’s party, and then we could go back to the hotel.”
Taryn couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“No. I’ll buy the plane tickets tomorrow. New Year’s Eve is on a Thursday. Why don’t you come in Wednesday afternoon, and then you can leave like on Sunday or something?”
“You’re serious.”
“Quite.”
“What are your parents going to say?”
Isaac took Taryn’s face in his hands.
“Taryn, we’re not just high school kids going steady. This is a relationship. I love you, and I believe that you love me. My parents are going to have to accept that sometime. Out of respect for them, we’ll stay somewhere else while you’re in town, but they’re going to have to get used to the idea that we’re together.”
Taryn gave Isaac a long look.
“Okay,” she said finally. “But I want to buy our own tickets.”
“We’ll go halves,” Isaac said.
Taryn nodded and smiled. “Deal.”
