Ivy

Let me just say this just once. Old Orchard Beach is not exactly the Mecca of culture or cultural events. One has to be extremely creative to find a potentially romantic setting for a first date. I wanted to impress Ivy, without going too much over the top.

Portland was close enough to do something, but I wanted to stat in the immediate area. I've I'd wanted to vacation in a city, I would have just stayed in Philadelphia. That took out going to see the Portland Sea Dogs (the Boston Red Sox farm team). They were on the road in Binghampton anyway.

So, there I was, standing in the lobby, at about 6:46 p.m., waiting for Ivy, with barely a thought on what to do. I saw two women, in their mid-twenties I would say, come in through the front door of the Trading Post Inn. I had to say that they were very well dressed for this setting, and based upon what everybody else was generally wearing (casual). Even now, waiting for a date, I wore khaki's, dress shirt, and some comfortable loafers. I was not dressed up, but I wasn't exactly dressed down.

The two women could not be anymore different from one another. One was a . . . mixed heritage . . . I would say. Latin. She had darker coloration. The other was of a lighter complection, maybe Scandanavian descent. She was exactly blonde, but she was exactly a brunette either, somewhere in between. She was a little shorter than the Latin looking one. They both wore professional attire.

They stopped in lobby, momentarily, for something or other. The paler one pulled out a room key that looked suspisciously like my own room key. The mere transaction led me to believe that both of these ladies had to be guests of the Inn.

As they walked away from the front desk, towards me, I got up from my sitting place to greet them. My idea is that if they have been here longer than I, then maybe THEY would know of a place to take a date.

As they neared, I commented, "It does not look like you to ladies have been at the beach today!"

They both giggled, indicating the obvious.

Then the shorter one, half-laughed, "I wish . . . "

The taller one followed that up by adding, ". . . except the water is a liitttle too cold."

Back to the paler again, "A bit 'nipply for my taste."

"Hi, I'm Paul. I'm staying here at the Inn until next Friday."

The shorter girl said, "You can call me Jaci. That's Cat," gesturing toward her companion.

"Cat!?! Like the animal?" I questioned.

"Nickname," the woman commented, "K-A-T, short for Katherine."

"Can I asked you two why you are so dressed up on such a casual Saturday?"

They both looked at each other.

Jaci explained, "We're moving here. We have the Inn booked for 4 weeks. So, we're out looking for jobs?"

"So you've been here awhile."

Jaci, the dominant, or more vocal of the two, replied, "Long enough. My sister lives in the area too."

"What kind of jobs arev you looking for?" I queried.

"I'm looking for a job as a teach. Just a summer job though. I'm still in school studying Education."

"And you?" I raised my eyebrow to Kat.

"Adminstrative Assistant, Secretary, something along those lines," she told me,"I'm taking a little break from school."

"Too bad we're not back in Philly. I am a partner in a law firm. I could probably help you."

"Just my luck," commented Kat under her breath.

"Look, maybe you girls can help me. I am waiting for my date, another one of the guests I met, and I do not have any ideas. I was hoping that you may know of a place that would create the right impression."

"Which guest?' inquired Jaci.

"Oh, you probably don't know her. He name is Ivy and she . . . ."

I never got a chance to finish. The girls looked at each other with this "knowing" grin.

"The Japanese woman. She's beatutiful."

"You know her?"

"No," said Jaci. "Not really. We have just seen her around. Be careful around her. THere's something about her . . . ."

I just let that linger in the air.

"So . . . . do you know of anywhere."

"What about the Pier?" suggested Kat, looking for Jaci's approval. Then she looked back at me, "We were there on Tueday Night. They had a live band, and between sets, Kareoke. The place was packed. They said it gets busier on Saturday night. THat is probably the place to go."

"Yeah," agreed Jaci, sarcastically, "If you were trying to meet somebody. Not the best place if you want to be alone.

"Hold on," indicated Jaci, pulling out her cell phone. "Let me talk to my sister."

Only about a minute passed until she snapped her phone shut.

"She said to take her to dinner at 'Joseph's by the Sea.' It's casual, but very pricey. THe food there is spectacular. Then after, take her over to the Arundel Barn Playhouse. They are rehearsing Romeo and Juliet for when it opens in a few weeks. People go an watch the rehearsals. What can be more romantic that a Shakespearian play?"

At that very moment, Ivy appeared.

The girls excused themselves, with a duel, "Good luck."

Ivy smiled a beatutiful smile, and remarked, "Cheating on me already? And here I thought you liked Asian women."

I decided to be as blunt as she was, "I like you!"

She put her arm in mine, and led me to the front door, "Then we are going to get along fine."

*****

I decided to go with the plan the two girls gave me. I have to say, Jaci's sister was correct. Everything was perfect.

Ivy, I found was the shortened Americanized form of her real name Ivumi. Her full name was Ivumi Saito. The name Ivy . . . worked. She was wearing a tight pair of jeansm which showed off her bottom, a tight pink sweater, which showed the barest hint of her lfat tummy, and some wedge sandals. She wore her hari up, revealing a graceful swan-like neck. The woman was hypnotic.

As the night moved forward, I found out quite a few things about her. She was not shy about who she was, where she came from, and where she was going. Her strength was a signifcant part of her attraction. Ivy knew exactly what she wanted, and went for it. In that sense, she was more like a force of nature, than an ordinary woman.

I learned that her vacation, as she called it, was a gift from her friend. Ivy, as it turned out, just got out of prison about 2 weeks ago. I was stunned. Then she laid her amazing story out for me. She had told her friend that the first thing she wanted to do, after getting out, was just to walk on the beach, free, as far away from that place as possible. And, here she was.

It turns out that Ivy was, or better said, a pharmacist. When she graduated from undergraduate school, she immediately started to use the Americanized form of her name, and went for breast augmentation (to a full C Cup). She explained that she went in to the plastic surgeon, with a picture of Pamela Anderson's breasts, and said that she wanted those. That is what she got. Unfoturnately, she also got a transcected nerve under her right armpit that caused excurciating pain. Her surgeon prescribed Vicodin in ever increasing amounts, instead of a surgical correction. Eventually she was hooked. Ivy eventually had a surgical correction for the physical problem. What she discovered was that the drugs took away the emotional pain that she'd experienced from childhood. I questioned what possible pain that she could have from childhood."

"Do you want the official, diagnosed version, or my version," she put it too me.

"Give me the official version," I asked. As an attorney, I deal in cold hard facts.

"They say that is is racial discrimination growing up, mixed with acculturation differences with the parents."

"Acculturation? I do not know that word."

"Different cultural values even though we are family. My parents are from Japan, with traditional Japanese values. I was born in America, and always thought myself an American. That caused battles with my parents."

"Wow," was all I could say.

"And the worst part is that I internalized it. I didn't have anybody in my postion who would understand that I could talk to. According to the professionals, it was that that predisposed me to drug use, or worse."

Ivy went on to explain that she stole a stock bottle of Vicodin from the pharmacy that she worked at. She was driving home erratically, when she was pulled over by the police. Naturally, they searched her, finding the stock bottle. There was enough qauntity to be charged wit trafficking in nartcotics. Ivy was forced to take a plea of 3 years in prison, or risk a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison. She had no choice.

But, rather than wallow in self-pity, she used the time to dry herself out, and then work through all of her childhood issues. Ivy came out the other side as very diferent person. A strong person. A person, who, after putting life on hold for three long years, was not going to wait a second to go right after what she wanted. Whatever she wanted. She knew what she was, and what she had, and knew how to use it. Boy did she ever.

The whole story added a huge element of danger with her mystery, That mystery, the details of her past, and the person she was that created the person she is now, will stay buried with her.

We went to the rehearsal, and, it was, in fact, very romantic. I want to tell you more, but this is where I will have to stop. I am a gentleman, and some things must remain "off camera."

Let's just suffice it to say that she came back to my room, and did not leave until this morning . . . Monday morning. That is why I missed a day with this Blog. I do NOT kiss and tell.

Let me just say this. I've been around the world. I've had sex and made love to more women then I can count of all races, creeds, ages, and levels of experience. Even a lot pf professionals. She is the best I've ever had. In fact, there is not even a close second.

It took the rest of the day just to get my energy back.

I'll go out exploring again tomorrow. Maybe some of the other guests will be back from this weekend. If I see Jaci and Kat, I think I am going to blush.