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Put your lips to mine, with your kiss of fire, oh yeah.
Just to be with you baby tonight, is My One Desire.
Ricky Nelson.

Fully recovered from my pathetic episode, I parked the Riviera at our rented two bedroom home. I picked up my guitar, and pondered which song to make Erica's. Associating songs with women was something I had done since my first kiss at a high school cast party when I was seventeen. Learning guitar after graduating had allowed me to frequently serenade them, with mixed results.

Ricky Nelson's My One Desire had delighted me when I heard it on a flea market 45 rpm single Nick had bought, and it seemed perfect for my new potential girlfriend. The riff proved tricky to play while singing, so it would need a lot of practice.

No hurry. Nothing's going to happen with Erica for awhile. I think...

Time passed quickly, while I let my hands develop new muscle memory patterns, and before I knew it, Nick had entered the rear door.

He brought two beers from the kitchen, tossed one to me, then sat at his drum kit. "That sounds good, Ray. Are you doing another love song for Alice? She might know that one, so don't tell her you wrote it."

It's time to admit it...

"Nick, it's not for her. Alice and I... we are done. We have been, for a couple of weeks. I'm not going to see her anymore."

I choked a bit on the last words, but managed to get them out.

"Oh. What happened?"

"She said I wasn't very romantic. Again."

He nodded, "That's rough. I get it."

It was all the conversation required, and neither of us mentioned Alice to each other again.

"Thanks, Nick. Hey, Wendy is coming over for beers after work tomorrow. You're more than welcome to join us like last time, but if not, we'll try to be quiet."

He raised his beer in a toast. "Rebound Wendy? You are such a cretin, but good move!"

"No, it's not like that."

Or is it?

He scoffed, "Oh really? How is it, then?"

"Wendy's fun to hang out with, you know that. I wish she hadn't shot you down back in August, but we're still good friends."

A couple of weeks after I started at my new store, Tracy had a twenty-first birthday party at a club, and I brought Nick with me. I had in mind he and Tracy might get together, but Tracy had already sunk her claws into my heart. I introduced him to Wendy, and they got along, but Nick's advances had fallen flat with her. Nonetheless, the two were always friendly when she visited.

"Nah, I think I'll sit this one out. You know, you should see if she wants to be more than friends."

I sighed, "Yeah, maybe I will, but she's got a boyfriend now."

Nick crossed his arms and smirked. "When has that ever mattered? So, what happened today at work?"

"I met a girl."

"You met a girl. Of course you did. Wait, let me guess, she's special?"

Nick teased me about calling girls special, because I had used the word to describe more than thirty different women over the last five years we had been best friends. A few times, I had a new special girl every week. I knew it was ridiculous, but my romantic feelings for women often didn't last long enough for me to make a move, and shifted constantly. To make matters worse, sometimes the same woman went from special, to not-special, and back several times. My phone book contained multiple notations and corrections as my romantic notions evolved.

My face lit up. "You know something Nick? Erica is special, but there's really something different about this one. It's like I'm destined to... I don't know what. I'm going to fuck her, someday, but it goes deeper than that. Much deeper."

Nick looked at me like I had completely lost my mind. He may have been right. "Man. You just get sappier and mushier every time. What, are you going to start writing romance books? And what do you mean, someday?"

"Well, she's only seventeen, and still in high school. And I've never had a coworker as a girlfriend. I don't want to get in trouble."

"Seventeen? Damn, that's almost ten years younger than..."

Alice. It hurts...

"...never mind. Sorry."

After an awkward pause, during which we chugged our beers, he belched. "A girlfriend in high school, at your age? That's pretty sketchy, even for you. I know you like Jerry Lee Lewis' songs, but you don't have to be like him!"

We had recently seen a documentary about the rock 'n roll pioneer, and learned he had married his thirteen year old cousin.

"C'mon Nick, it's not like I hang out at the school, like Fonzie!"

Heyyyy!

We both reflexively performed iconic double thumbs-ups of the beloved character from the sitcom Happy Days. Of indeterminate age, but well into his twenties, leather jacketed Arthur Fonzarelli had his pick of the litter from the show's 1950's era Milwaukee high school.

Nick wagged an accusing finger. "Well, you did go back to your school a few times after you graduated, just to make out with that gorgeous little blonde sophomore. You rode a motorcycle and wore a leather jacket too, Jerry Lee Fonz. Whatever happened with her?"

Alison!

"It was getting too creepy, so I stopped. I ran into her a couple of years ago at the mall, and she gave me her phone number, but I had just started with Rachel, so I never called Alison."

"Alison, yeah that's the one. You said she was special. I think she was the first one. Didn't you write a song about her?"

It was awful-
'My red hot baby in a red hot dress...'

I shook my head. "No."

Nick stared at me, but let my obvious lie go. "Ok, whatever. What does this new Lolita look like?"

I licked my lips, "Nick, Erica's the sexiest woman I've ever met. No, that's not right. She's beyond sexy!"

"Big tits?"

Nick had somehow met all of the busty women I had dated, and just a few of the small and medium breasted ones. I had long stopped correcting him when he mocked what he believed to be my preference.

I sighed, "Well, yes, kind of. Not huge like Wendy, but they are pretty out there. Nice, really nice. Erica's like... some kind of New Wave Valkyrie. You know, a tall, powerful blonde beauty. Come by the restaurant sometime and see for yourself."

Nick had visited me a few times at work to review coworkers I had raved about. He scratched his short hair. "Maybe I will. Are you going to treat this one better than your other girlfriends?"

Yes! I'm going to treat Erica better than any man has. I'll be the best boyfriend ever...

I scoffed, "Hahaha, not a fucking chance, Nick!"

"That's more like it! Ready to go to the movie, McFly?"

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