Here We Go Again!

"Did you sleep with her," Jenny asked her lip quivering with emotion?

"I admitted that I was tempted and in the end it was a struggle to resist. Debbie was right in one aspect though. I do need more than I have been getting from our relationship," I said.

"So you want to break up with me and start dating her," She asked as tears came to her eyes?

"No I want to start dating you," I told her with a grin on my face.

"You mean it," Jenny asked as she threw her arms around me and cried?

"Yes Jenifer I do. I'm still not ready for us to have sex just yet, but I want to start going out as a couple. I want to hold you and caress you and show the world that we belong to each other. This would mean that we are monogamous with each other. Can you handle being my girl exclusively," I asked?

"I have been your girl exclusively since you agreed on us being friends again. This does mean we can kiss now, right," She asked?

"Honey you damn right it does," I said imitating our first of many passionate embraces for that evening alone.

The deal with California brought other populated states with pollution control problems to follow suite. Of course in the wake of our previous success the golden couple was always chosen to travel together to hash out these deals. In the office Debbie was fairly tame. On the road; however, she was practically a barracuda, trying anything imaginable to get me to succumb to her womanly whiles. We got back from completing our third major deal and once again I was able to resist sleeping with Debbie, though just barely. I think I had become an obsession with her. She was certain we would make the perfect power couple and she was determined to convince me of it as well.

My date with Jenny, that next Saturday night was somewhat of a mystery. She said she had a surprise for me, and I thought I had a vague idea of what it was. I must admit I was not expecting what I found when I arrived at her mother's place to pick her up. Jenny answered the door wearing a baby blue evening gown that was quite elegant and fit her frame to a tee. She looked gorgeous.

"You look amazing Jenifer, what's the occasion," I asked with a lump in both my throat and my pants.

"Why it's our senior prom silly. Your tux is in the bedroom. Now go get cleaned up. We have reservations at the chateau for dinner in an hour, and the dance starts at 9:00," She told me.

"What's going on Jenny," I asked?

"Honey, seven years ago today should have been one of the happiest night of our lives, instead it turned out to be a disaster. I want to try again. I have reservations for a nice meal, we can go out dancing later at one of the clubs and if you feel up to it I even rented the same room number you booked seven years ago that we were never able to use," She told me.

"Baby, no matter how much we want to, nobody can relive the past," I said.

"I don't want to relive the past sweetheart. I hate even thinking about that awful night. What I want to do is give us a chance to live the evening we should have had, before your plane was canceled and my stupidity fucked it up. Please Matt honey do this for me. Do this for us," she begged.

I knew that Jenny had spent a lot of time, effort, and most of all money she couldn't really afford to make this night possible, so I was not about to disappoint her by refusing to go. Since I had already showered before I arrived, it didn't take long to change into my monkey suit and for us to be on our way. Jenny had packed an overnight bag with some of the essentials we would need for our little excursion back in time. I took note that she had included a big box of condoms in our luggage. I had come to the conclusion months ago that I still truly loved Jenny and despite everything that happened I always had. The last thing I wanted to do was disappoint her, but every time I considered making love with Jenny something was holding me back. For the life of me though I just couldn't place my finger on what the problem was.

Because of the way we were dressed Jenny and I attracted quite a bit of attention that night. The places we visited were nice, but they weren't Tuxedo and prom dress nice. To save time Jenny and I just told whoever was bold enough to ask that we had just come from a wedding. Dinner was superb, although Jenny and I argued about who was going to pay when the bill came. In the end she won out, but relented enough to let me leave the tip. I knew I would have to find some way to pay her back for this evening. I could afford something like this, but I knew she really could not.

After leaving the restaurant, we ended up at a Floridian hot spot called the Right Foot. We really were having a great time, when I looked up to see a group of women most of which I'd never seen before being seated at a large table next to ours. One of the ladies present looked all too familiar, as it was none other than Debbie Brown. Of course being dressed as we were, there was no way she didn't notice us.

"Hello, may I cut in," Debbie asked?

"Not tonight Debbie," I said rather annoyed. "I'm here with my girlfriend," I told her bluntly.

"You look really nice Matt. If you don't mind me asking, what's the occasion," She wanted to know?

"We just came from a friend's wedding," I said.

"Oh how romantic, I'll bet the two of you don't get to play dress up too often," She said directing her remark towards Jenny.

"Matt aren't you going to be a gentleman and introduce us," Debbie asked?

"Debra Brown this is my girlfriend Jenny Stapleton. Jenny this is Debbie Brown. She works at Ford with me.," I said becoming more upset by the minute.

"Oh Matt don't be so modest. We do more than just work there dear. At Ford we're known as the golden couple. We travel all over the US together, just the two of us wooing customers, and bringing in those multimillion dollar deals, isn't that right Matt honey," She purred.

"You do all the wooing Debra, I'm just the nerd they send to explain the technical stuff," I said. "Now if you will excuse us, Jenny and I need to get back to our date," I said in an effort to get away from Debbie.

"Is she always that bad," Jenny asked me while we were dancing?

"No usually she is worse. She seems to have developed some sort of obsession with me," I said.

"She is a very beautiful woman," Jenny noted.

"On the outside I will agree with you, but you just witnessed what she's really like on the inside. The more I'm around her the least I want to be," I admitted.

I excused myself to use the restroom and when I came back both girls were in such a heated conversation, that neither one of them noticed my return.

"Face it girlfriend, you are just not in the same league as people like us. Matt is not cut out to be a domestic. He is special and you my dear are holding him back. If you care for him at all, break it off tonight, and save yourself the anguish of losing him later, when he finally gets tired of playing daddy, and wants a real woman in his bed," Debbie sneered.

'I may not be able to compete with you in looks and I have no doubt that you are great in the bed room, as you obviously have had plenty of practice, but I wasn't short changed in life. God gave me a gift that you simply don't have, the ability to love. I love Matt. I would lay down my life for him. Those aren't just words; they are what I know in my heart to be true. I have no doubt what so ever that Matt would do the same for me or my son. Until you have experienced that type of devotion you will never truly understand what's really important in life. One day, during a weak moment, Matt may succumb to a person such as you, I know it can happen. If it does, yes I would be devastated, but nothing would really change. A love like ours can't be destroyed because of a stupid mistake. So lady you can have your fancy college degree, and your jet set lifestyle, but when it comes to Matt you'll have a fight on your hands, because quite frankly bitch you're the one that's not good enough for him," Jenny said.

I couldn't believe the conversation I just overheard. I knew Debbie was relentless in getting what she wanted, but I never thought she would talk that way to Jenny. I was about to rip into her when Jen started to speak. I was amazed. She was willing to fight for me. Jen never backed down. I hung on every word she spoke, each syllable burying itself deep within my heart. I didn't have to wonder if she was telling the truth. I was certain of it. I knew because she had just described the very same feelings I held for her. Until that moment I wasn't sure what it was that was holding me back from making love to Jen. Now I knew. After what happened, I was never truly convinced that Jenny had the same degree of feelings for me that I always did for her. With that issue no longer in question, I was now finally free to open my heart to the one person I knew would cherish it for as long as time would allow.

"Are you ready to go Jen? I believe our room is waiting for us," I said wrapping my arm around her waist.

"Yes I do believe I am, wait, what did you call me," she asked in wonderment?

"I called you what I have always call you. You're my Jen, and you always will be," I stated sincerely.

"But you haven't called me that," She started to say.

"For far too long," I finished.

Jen and I couldn't make it to the hotel fast enough. Years of sexual frustration was released that night in a storm of ecstasy which overshadowed any and all previous attempts at lovemaking that either of us ever shared with any of our former partners. I admit I have dated more experienced women, but nothing can compare to the type of intimacy which can be achieved when a couple's souls are truly connected. Jen and I had discussed our previous lovers before reaching this point in our relationship. I learned the details of what finally became of Kyle soon after I was back in town. It seemed his little midnight swim in the ocean, the one which I had arranged on his behalf before I left for California, didn't detour him from continuing to seek out already attached women. Kyle's demise came in the form of an jealous husband, who unexpectedly returned home early one evening only to find Kyle in bed with his wife. Rumor has it that the guy went insane and beat Kyle so badly that they couldn't even have an open face casket at his funeral. I heard that the woman's husband pleaded temporary insanity and is now serving a five year stint in the state mental ward. Aside from Kyle, whom she swears was nothing more than a one night stand; she had dated one other guy by the name of Eric for about four months. Eric was kind to her at a time when she really needed a friend and their relationship eventually evolved into a sexual one. Eric wasn't overly thrilled with the fact that she had a son and she thinks that may have been one of the reasons they broke it off. Jen admits to being somewhat depressed when their affair ended, but not overly destroyed by it, as her feelings for Eric never materialized into the type of bond we always shared.

I could relate to how she felt. I'd bedded a half a dozen women since breaking up with Jen. Most of them were party fucks where we did nothing more than use each other's bodies as a means of getting off. There was one woman; however, that I ended up dating for about two months. Doris was a really good person and probably would have made a fine wife, for someone else. We weren't a bad couple and had I not already given my heart to Jen I may have considered making our relationship a more permanent one. In the end, we decided it was best to just be friends.

The only thing stopping me from proposing to Jen that evening was the fact that I lacked the necessary provisions to properly make the request. Not having advanced warning of our special outing, I had no reason to be carrying my great grandmother's engagement ring with me that night. After gaining a better perspective of the situation I opted to hold off proposing until such time that I could arrange the proper setting in which to do it.

I decided to move out of my parents' home and into a temporary one bedroom apartment. I think Jen was a little put off by my choosing to rent a place that was too small for the three of us to share, but she never complained about it. Of course unbeknownst to Jen I already had a real-estate agent working on my behalf at the time, who knew the type of home I was looking for and what time frame we had in which to locate it.

Jen and I continued moving forward with our relationship, growing closer with each passing day. Although we made good use of my new apartment, I hated the times we spent apart and I almost caved in and proposed to her more than a dozen different times. What I had in mind took months to arrange and was contingent upon a number of variables that had little to no control over if my plan was to be a success. I had chosen the most romantic day of the year, which incidentally also happened to be Jen's birthday to launch my initiative. This meant that I had to disappoint Jen repeatedly as each holiday brought anticipation of receiving a ring that never came. Although I wanted my proposal to come as a total surprise I did relent slightly by telling her that a big surprise was on its way, if she could just manage to be patient just a little bit longer. This perked up her mood and we managed to get through the holidays without seeing too many sour faces.

By early February nearly everyone I knew had some clue as to what I was planning for Valentine's Day except Jen. I am still amazed I could let that many people in on my secret and none of them had managed to spill the beans. Even her son Will had some idea of what I had in mind. I told Jen that I needed some new suits to wear when I traveled to meet clients. Everyone around the office had seen me in each of the only two I owned and some of them quietly suggested I needed to update my wardrobe. We were coming out of one of the men's clothing stores at the mall when we bumped smack dab into a Red Cross blood mobile. I immediately suggested that we both donate a pint, and Jen, being a little squeamish tried to beg off. I had to really lay it on thick to get her to relent; knowing that if she didn't agree to this months of planning could all be ruined. Thankfully she never actually read the papers she signed, nor did she notice when the doctor put our samples in a special cooler away from the other donations.

When Valentine's Day finally arrived Jen was not overly pleased to learn that I had promised to take her son Will to Jolly's Amusement Park that morning. I explained that as we already had plans setup for later that evening I thought it would be nice to do something special with William beforehand. She knew that I loved her son like he was my own, so Jen relented after making me swear that I would get her back home in time to get properly cleaned up before we went out that evening. I never kept that promise.

Knowing Jen as well I do, I figured it wouldn't take long for her to suggest that we ride the G Force for old time sake. Of course, I pretended to protest, but not too stringently, as this was what I wanted to begin with. I proposed that if we really were going to recreate our first time riding the G Force that we should ride in the front row. Jen wasn't sure this was such a good idea, as the park was fairly crowded that morning and we wanted to make sure Will had plenty of time to visit the other attractions before we had to leave. William sided with me, saying we should wait for front row seats, and it didn't take too much more convincing to get Jen to go along with our decision. I just hoped I could get her to agree to everything else I had planned that day, or I would end up looking like the biggest fool on earth.

When our turn came Jen and I took our seats in the front, exactly like we did 15 years ago, only this time her son William was sitting in the car directly behind us. Once we were strapped in the train was getting ready to leave a voice come over the loud speaker halting our departure.

"Attention folks, I regret to inform you that this train will be delayed for a bit," The voice said.

Jen and I looked at each other as she said. "Not again!"

Almost on queue the voice continued "Don't worry; we are not having any problems with the train. I just wanted to take this time to recognize a very special anniversary event in the parks history. My name is Walt Jolly, and 15 years ago today I was not exactly living up to my last name. You see at that time the G Force was the newest and most advanced thrill ride of its time. A representative from travel magazine was scheduled to arrive that very afternoon to do a feature story on it for the front page cover of their magazine. I should have been thrilled. The problem was we had to shut down the ride due to technical difficulties since it was Saturday the part we needed to get it running again wouldn't be available until the following Monday. Thousands of people had come to the park that day specifically to ride the G Force and I was going to have to tell them that the ride was shut down. I was discussing the problem with my chief engineer when this ten year old boy came up to us and tapped me on the arm trying to get my attention.

At first I thought he was lost, but as it turns out he was instead listening in on our conversation and felt he had a solution to our problem. He suggested that we switch out the defective part with the one in the Tackler which at that time was a far less popular ride. He even told us approximately how long it should take to do this. I started to explain to him that our rides did not have interchangeable parts, when my chief engineer interrupted me and said in this particular case the boy was correct. It turns out Matt was a genius and knew the parts were interchangeable because he had done a report on the mechanics of amusement park rides for a college class. He was at the park that morning celebrating his friend Jenny's tenth birthday. Now 15 years latter Matt and Jenny are here again, only this time they brought Jenny's son William with them. Matt and Jenny, do you have anything you would like to say to these fine folks," Mr. Jolly asked handing me the microphone?

"Yes, I have something I'd like to add Mr. Jolly," I said.

"Jen 15 years ago today on this very ride you leaned over and kissed me forever capturing my heart," I told her.

At that very moment one of the large monitor screens they had installed above the ride came to life showing that very picture that was snapped of the two of us so long ago.

"I think it only fitting that on this the anniversary of that momentous occasion that I ask you a very important question," I started to say.

The video screen changed from our old photograph to a prerecorded image of me in a tuxedo kneeling on one knee holding an open ring box in my hand.

"Jennifer Ann Stapleton, WILL YOU MARRY ME," The video and I asked in unison.

The crowd went wild and I nearly dropped the microphone as Jen threw her arms around me smothering my face with kisses in between continually repeating the word YES. I placed the ring I'd been carrying upon her finger in the midst of more cheers as I took the microphone once again and said:

"My only stipulation is that I don't want to wait to make you my wife," I said to both her and the gathering crowd of spectators.

"I would marry you today if I could," Jen said loud enough for the microphone to pick up her voice.

"Funny you should mention that. Since we fell in love on this train, and became engaged on it a few minutes ago, I think it only right we should be married here as well. Reverend Morris would you please step out here and join us," I asked my double entendre receiving gasps from not only Jenny but most of the other passengers on the train.