Chapter 8
At about the time that the man made Dale change seats with him in the Olds, Rene was melting in Oscar's arms. They were parked in his car in the deserted area at the edge of the desert.
It had been a wonderful evening for both Oscar and Rene. Oscar had apologized for his actions and thoughts of the night before. "I must have been out of my mind with jealousy, darling," he had said at dinner. "I've been thinking of you for years and then when I came across your pictures in those dirty magazines ... well ... I didn't know what to think."
"You shouldn't be reading such nasty stuff," Rene had pouted, seeming to blame him for the bad business between them simply because he had looked through the publications.
"Well, that's all gone now. I acted like a spoiled brat. All I know is that I can't imagine living without you."
"That's how I feel about you too, Oscar."
Rene's eyes melted as she looked into Oscar's and he wanted to take her in his arms right there in front of the other diners and press his lips to those heavy lids.
Rene lowered her eyes. "Don't look at me like that, Oscar."
"I was about to tell you the same thing."
She felt suddenly weak. Her heart beat quickly, her hands trembled. "Please," she whispered. "I can't talk any more. Not here."
They finished eating in silence, still communicating, however, with their eyes, with the touch of their furtive hands, and with their silence.
Then, with the moon streaking down upon them, they drove out to the edge of the desert. They parked facing the distant mountains and he took her in his arms. It was gentle this time, and mutual, each as much a part of the love engulfing them as the other.
Their lips met and crushed, their bodies strained toward each other and they knew the sudden, rushing glory of intimacy, of the knowledge of things discovered in each other. Her body bent to him, her breasts crushed willingly against his chest, their arms arched with the fervor of their embrace and they both wanted to cry out in the glory that was theirs.
But all they could do was gasp, their hearts fighting their breaths as their lips parted and they clung to each other.
"This is the way it should have been at the very beginning." Oscar whispered into the softness of Rene's throat. "I was a jerk to waste even one night."
"Let's let sleeping dogs sleep," answered Rene, and such was the nature and strength of Oscar's love for her that he thought of it as an original and apt expression.
"We start from right now, from today."
"Oh, Oscar. This is just like a scene from a movie, isn't it, with the desert and the moon and all?"
"I never understood love scenes before. Now I do!"
"Me, too! Oh, my darling...."
Her voice was a bare whisper as he took her in his arms and the fire roared in their veins. Lifted by their passion, carried along by a will stronger than the force of life itself, they found themselves out of the car and on the sand.
Rene fell back, her neck taut, her eyes glazed, her mouth gasping and hungry for his lips. Her breasts rose to meet his grasping hands, her hips thrashed under him, beyond control and with a power and force of their own.
Whispering her name over and over, Oscar raised her blouse, found the naked and burning flesh heated to a fire to match his own. Her legs were now bared to the light of the moon as he crushed against her.
Suddenly, she gasped. Her eyes opened wide to the wonder, her breath caught in her throat. But only for a moment and then he was in her, and they were caught in the whirling vortex, the stampede of senses, the charging, relentless joy that knew no end, only the explosive demand, the sensation beyond sensation, life fruition of all purpose, all-powerful.
And there, on the desert they were one with the sand and the moon and the skies, and there was nothing else in the world.
A thousand thrills later, Rene sighed and said softly, "You see, darling? You didn't have to be tough with me. All you had to do was be nice, because I love you."
Oscar leaned on his elbow and looked down on her. Even in the moonlight her face was flushed, her eyes sparkling as she lay in complete repose, a thousand secrets hidden in her expression.
"I was a jerk, of course," he said. "But I'll never be one again as far as you're concerned. (Josh, Rene, I'm sorry I have to go away."
"So am I, now that we really found each other."
"I'll arrange everything with the main office and then come back here to stay with you."
"Thanks for letting me keep on working, Oscar. It's important to me ... at least for a while."
"I understand, darling ... I...."
"Ohmygosh!" she sat bolt upright, her open blouse falling away from her knockers.
"What's the matter?" Oscar sat up with her, startled.
Rene started to button up. "I forgot again!" she exclaimed. "Oh, gee whiz! What'll the agency say? This is the second time I've goofed!"
He helped her to her feet and they both swayed, still drunk with the fatigue of love. He tried clumsily to help her adjust her clothing, brushed the sand from the back of her skirt and blouse.
"I had a job tonight with a photographer and I forgot all about it!" Rene got into the car. "But that's only the half of it. I forgot yesterday too. And all on account of you, darling! You see what you make me do? I'd forget my head if it wasn't stuck to my shoulders!"
As they drove away from the desert, Oscar made a mental note to work on Rene and rid her of trite expressions. Still, he thought, as she nestled close and warm to his shoulder, she was sweet and the cliches could be forgiven.
Rene was still yaking about the missed job. "My agent doesn't like me to goof like this and this is the first time it's happened; no, the second, counting last night."
Oscar felt detached from the subject of modeling but tried to show some interest. "What sort of posing would you do for this man, honey?"
Rene glanced at him apprehensively. "Well, I don't know until I see him. Probably some kind of pin up. But no nudies, Oscar. I won't do nudies, honestly."
"Don't worry about that," he smiled.
Rene relaxed. "They do ask for some wild poses, sometimes, though."
"Like what, for instance?"
"Well, a lot of them take pictures of girls being dressed by other girls, you know? What I mean is one girl has a bra and panties on, and also a girdle, of all things. And another girl is fastening the girdle."
"Oh," Oscar said. "Fashion stuff, then?"
Rene shook her head and her curls bounced. "No, not fashion poses at all. They don't ask us to wear fancy clothes or anything like that. Just what I told you. I don't understand it at all."
Oscar put one arm around her shoulders and drew her close. "Let's stop talking shop, shall we, baby? You and I really found each other tonight."
Rene giggled. "We really did, didn't we, Oscar? Who'd ever think when we were kids back in Easton...?" She let the sentence hang and brushed her lips against his cheek.
"We've grown up, Rene...."
And the subject was happily changed as they warmed to each other's love and drove back into town and Rene's apartment, filled with joy toward all the world and knowing there could be nothing bad in it after what had happened to them.
"I have to leave on the first flight I can get tomorrow," Oscar told Rene at her door. "And so I won't be able to see you before I go. But I'll clear things up back east and be back to you as soon as I can."
"Rush, darling." Rene clung to him hungrily, promisingly. "And please take care of yourself so that you can come back to me safe and sound."
"I will. And don't forget to take care of yourself. After all, you're a girl, and...." Oscar broke off and laughed. "What am I talking about? You've been taking care of yourself all the while you've been alone here in Las Vegas."
"That's right. I can handle myself just fine. So don't worry about me."
"I won't."
One last open mouth kiss and it was the end of the evening for Oscar and Rene. She swung into her apartment on winged feet, alive and buoyant, calling Dale's name so that her friend could share her happiness.
But the apartment was empty. Rene frowned and checked the time. It was past midnight, an unusual time for Dale to be out unless she had a date, and she rarely made one during the week when she was working.
Rene kicked off her shoes. "The notepad," she said to herself. "Dale always leaves a note telling me where she is."
But the note pad was blank.
Rene stared at the empty page quizzically, unable to understand its blankness. She blinked her eyes, hoping that the action would bring some answer to why Dale had left no note before leaving.
"Dale?" she called, still refusing to accept the fact that her friend wasn't home. But there was no answer and there was no solution to the empty apartment and the blank note pad.
"Oh, come on!" Rene snapped herself out of it. "Dale's a big girl and knows how to get around without my worrying about it like this...."
She pulled a bottle of milk out of the refrigerator and poured out a glass. She sprawled out on the sofa, her head on the arm rest.
"I'll just stay here and wait for her," she told herself as she sipped the milk. "She ought to be home any minute and I want to tell her about me and Oscar...."
And, with the thought of Oscar and what had happened between them on the desert, she smiled. "On second thought, I won't tell her everything! But on third thought, why not? After all, everybody screws when they're in love, don't they?" She frowned, poutingly. "And sometimes when they're not in love, too. So what's the big secret? After all, I'm no hypocrite!"
And so musing, lost in the warmth of her body as she relived and dreamed over that wonderful, hectic moment on the sands, she fell asleep, her red lips parted in a smile and relived the thrilling experience with Oscar in a wildly thrilling dream.