FAIR PLAY (3)

I was not paying attention to Rita, who, once again, decided to take matters into her own hands. She did some kind of two footed leap brushing past me and closing the distance with Frank in the blink of an eye. As she landed, her right hand shot forward full force into his face.

He staggered and fell backward clutching his nose. Blood was pouring out everywhere.

"DAMN YOU! You broke my nose!" he howled. "I REALLY think now would be a good time to leave!" I said, louder this time. "Come on, Frank! Get up! I'm not done with you yet." taunted Rita. She had resumed her fighting stance and seemed to be thinking about using his head for soccer practice.

I stepped forward again, though this time I wasn't sure who needed defending more.

Mercifully, Frank finally got the hint. He rolled over and crawled back a few steps before getting up. He looked back to see Rita still ready to clock him again.

"Frigid bitch!" he muttered as he retreated to his car, got in, and squealed out of the parking lot. It wasn't until he was out of sight that Rita let down her guard. When she turned to face me I could see the anger had left her and she was trying to smooth her clothing and look presentable.

Her skirt had ridden up enough to show the rest of her well muscled legs and lower thighs. The grey business suit, on the whole, was in dire need of a trip to the cleaners. Sweat had soaked the top part of the white blouse so that her cleavage was visible, ending at the top of her bra.

"I don't know how I can ever thank you!" she said.
"For what?" I replied. "Getting in the way of his fist and hitting the ground?" My complete lack of ability to come to her aid was not lost on me. I felt like a complete fool.
"He surprised me," she said. "He had me pinned with his full weight before I could even defend myself. I was stupid and I almost paid dearly for it. If you hadn't come along and given him another target, I would have been in serious trouble." She paused, adjusting her clothing and looked at my chin with concern. "You're hurt!" she said.

I touched the stinging area on my chin and noticed the blood for the first time. Apparently, the son of a bitch had caught me with his ring. It didn't seem serious. I probably did more damage to myself shaving that morning.

"It's nothing." I said. She had managed to pull her self back together and, except for the wrinkles and sweat, you wouldn't have known she was in a fight at all. I became aware of how bad I must look. Blood spots stained the front of my shirt and my pants were filthy from my trip to the ground.

So I was feeling a little self-conscious about my appearance when she said "Come on, let me take you back to my apartment and patch you up"

"I'm fine." I protested. "Really, it's just a scratch.

Nothing serious at all." For a brief moment I thought she might be coming on to me, but I quickly dismissed the notion. What would she see in me? My clothes said I had little money, I was a good 15 years older than she was, and I obviously couldn't handle myself in a fight.

She had no way of knowing whether she liked my personality yet since we hadn't even had a reasonable conversation. From her point of view I was practically a poster child for "Losers".

"Nonsense!" she said. "If you're going to act all chivalrous and come to my rescue, the least you can do is let me play the damsel and bandage your wounds." She was smiling when she said this and I had to chuckle too.

"Yeah, thats me, alright. A regular knight in shining armor. If I had been a real knight I would have probably fallen off my horse while the dragon munched on the princess."

She thought this was genuinely funny and laughed out loud. "Well, Lancelot, my chariot awaits, thanks to you recovering my buggy whip." she said as she dangled her keys before climbing into the drivers seat and opening the passenger door from the inside. "Besides, I'd like to buy you a drink and I'm pretty sure Wang's is closed by now." she continued.

As I thought about it, I realized I did not have a good reason to say no. Without work tomorrow, I had no commitments until the end of the weekend. In fact I had nothing to do at all.

I put up my hands in acceptance and climbed into the car. She locked the doors and drove out of the parking lot.

As we headed to her apartment, she smiled and said "In all the commotion I forgot all the usual pleasantries. My name is Rita." "Hello, Rita. I'm Bill." I replied. "A pleasure to meet you."

Looking over at her I could tell she had something else on her mind. After several seconds, she finally asked "By the way, Bill, how did you know my keys were in his pocket anyway?"

"I was watching you two and the heavy guy in the bar before you left." I said. I could see a look of concern wash over her face when I said this so I hurried up with a more complete explanation.

I laughed nervously and said "I wasn't being as creepy as that sounded. I was eating dinner and watching the people in the bar. You know, just for fun. There were a bunch of drunks in front of the tv, a group of salesmen and secretaries teasing each other, and the three of you. I was at the bar when you went to the ladies room and I saw Frank rummaging through your purse and stealing your keys.

When you left, I figured I'd better follow you out to the parking lot and make sure that Frank behaved himself." I paused and added, "Apparently I was right to follow, but if you hadn't been a regular Charlie's Angel I would have been pasted all over the pavement. Where did you learn to fight like that, anyway?"

The explanation seemed to satisfy her and I could see the tension that had built up on her face easing away. She started telling me about how she had taken Tai Kwon Do as a child and had moved on to study several other martial arts. She was still angry at herself for letting her guard down with Frank. I told her it was a natural thing, which explained why there were so many dates.

From there the conversation shifted to our respective jobs. I told her about my office and she said she worked for the local branch office of a large
company with Frank.

The heavy guy was Harry, a division head from out of state. About twice a year Harry would visit the local offices and one of the junior executives would take him for dinner and drinks before he left. It was Rita's turn and Frank volunteered to come as well. At the time she thought he was being nice.

Harry was known to talk for hours telling war stories from the early days of the company. An extra person would make it more bearable.

From there we got onto the subject of Frank. He had hit on her twice at work and she'd told him "no" in no uncertain terms. To him Harry's visit was like a date invitation she couldn't turn down.

I could see she was getting upset again so I changed the subject to the more usual lighter fare. Movies, books, music, art, etc. were all covered to some degree. We found we had a lot in common: Quirky movies, jazz, Warhol. By the time we arrived at her apartment, I was starting to feel like I was on a date.

It all seemed sort of bizarre to me since I hadn't been on a real date in years. My first marriage had ended sadly with the death of my wife. A year passed before I could even think about dating after that.