(Page 4)
Mary [Ekholm] Francis
(c) 1997
�If I were out in the park right now, I�d want to be drinking hot chocolate from a thick pewter mug. And I�d want to have lots of tiny marshmallows floating on top of my hot chocolate. When we were kids, we�d try to sip the foam from the melted marshmallows and end up with white moustaches.�
�Why are you so down on alcohol?�
�I didn�t realize I was giving that impression. I�m not used to drinking. When I smoked, the cigarettes killed the taste of the alcohol, so I usually had a drink or two when I went out for dinner.�
�Not at home?�
�Asti Spumanti on a special occasion.�
�How long since you quit smoking?�
�Eight years.� Colleen smiled. �You want the number of months and days, too?� After Steve shook his head, she asked, �Have you ever smoked?�
�I tried it when I was a kid, but I didn�t like the taste.� Steve looked at Colleen and tilted his head, �What would you do if I pulled out a cigarette and lit it?�
�Leave.�
�Would you really?�
A little voice inside Colleen�s head asked her why she stuck with a man who was slowly getting drunk if she would leave a man who lit up a cigarette. She ignored the voice and said to Steve, �What would you do if I lit up a cigarette?�
�Leave. The smell is worse than the taste.� Steve placed his thumb and fingers on the slender stem of his wine glass. As he slowly twirled the glass, he said, �Taste yours. You don�t have to drink that whole glass, but it�s time you became acquainted with a classy wine.� He raised his glass toward her in a toast: �To stars in the trees and hot chocolate in the park.�
Colleen picked up her glass. �To twinkly lights and miniature marshmallows,� she said and touched her glass to his. Their eyes met. Then Colleen looked down at her glass and brought it to her lips.
Steve watched her. �Wel-l-l?� he said after she swallowed and set her glass back on the table.
�You�re right. It tastes good. I�ve always thought that wines were either too sweet or awfully dry, but this one is neither. What is it?�
�It�s the house wine, and you have to come back here with me again before I�ll tell you what it�s called.�
Colleen eyed the bottle wrapped in a towel and nestled into the ice in the bucket that sat on a small stand by their table.
�No cheating,� Steve warned.
Colleen laughed. �All right. I won�t peek. I�m probably better off not knowing.� She raised her eyebrows. �You know what they say?�
�What?�
�A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.�
Steve sighed. �I can see that I�ve got my work cut out for me. You have a lot to learn.� He picked up the bottle and splashed more wine into his glass. He reached toward Colleen�s glass, but she put her hand over the top and shook her head.
�Thanks. I�ve still got plenty. I want to be able to walk across the park to the theater, and I want to stay awake during the show.�
�You�re afraid you�ll have to carry me across the park? Or listen to me snore during the show as I sleep on your shoulder?�
�You snore?�
�Well, I�ve never heard myself snore, so I can only give you a second-hand report. But there are those who swear I shake the rafters, and there are others who say I merely sound like a large pussycat breathing heavily.�
�I�m trying to imagine the sound of someone snoring during a musical in a large, fancy theater. I guess I need to hear it in order to get the whole effect.� She put up her hand and quickly added, �But not you, and not during Showboat.�
Steve grinned. �I can handle my liquor better than that. You won�t catch me sleeping at any theater, especially when I�m with you. Ah-h-h, here�s our dinner. When I ordered the wine, I told them to bring us the top sirloin. I promised you the best, and voila! Sirloin steak and Caesar salad: the best dinner in town.� Steve emptied his wine glass and reached for the bottle.
Colleen had been too busy to do much dating after she had ended a relationship three years ago. She wouldn�t have met Steve if her friends hadn�t dragged her away from her computer the night of the party. She wondered if it would be bad manners to leave a date during dinner just because he was becoming rather loud and clumsy. She didn�t want to make a scene, so she decided to make the best of the situation.
�Earth calling Collee-een. You�re floating around in the stars again.�
�Sorry. Those little lights remind me that there are only fifty-some days until Christmas, so I was starting my shopping lists.�
Steve refilled his wine glass and glanced toward her nearly empty glass. She nodded. He managed to pour most of the wine inside her glass. �What do you want for Christmas?�
�What do I want for Christmas?�
Steve looked around the room. �There�s an echo in here.� He leaned forward and whispered, �What do you want for Christmas?�
�An echo.�
�An echo?�
Colleen looked around the room. �There�s an echo in here.� She leaned forward and whispered, �I want it.� Steve was a little slow at catching on to the joke, but, when Colleen saw his eyes light up, she began to laugh.
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