It happened One Saturday (Round Robin Group C)

Cafe Society
1

The day did not start well for Claire Woodhouse. For starters, the alarm didn’t go off when it was supposed to. Then, she managed to stub her little toe on the corner of her bed as she groggily stumbled to the bathroom. Finally, she remembered too late that she had used the last of the toilet paper the night before and had failed to replace it with a new roll. As she awkwardly waddled to the cabinet with her panties around her ankles, Claire seriously considered calling in sick so she could crawl back into bed and stay there-it might be better to just nip this day in the bud. Unfortunately, she had already called in twice this month. She would be walking a very tight line with Diannah, her boss, if she pulled that trick again.

So Claire resigned herself to another day of hellish boredom and stepped into the shower. It wasn't until she was rinsing the shampoo out of her hair that she woke up enough to realize that it was Saturday. Saturday! Suddenly, things started to look up. Any day she didn't have to go to work was a good day, as far as Claire was concerned.

She now took her time finishing her shower, letting the hot water massage her body for fifteen minutes. Feeling refreshed and awake, she shut off the water, dried off, and towel-dried her long black hair. Humming a little mindless tune, she went back into the bedroom. There she stepped into her favorite pair of baggy jeans and pulled a lilac hooded sweatshirt over her head. Quickly, she ran a comb through her still-damp hair and slicked it back into a casual ponytail. Still barefoot and still humming, Claire headed down the hall to the living room and tiny kitchen of her one-bedroom condo.

The living room was dark and still. Ernestine, the black Labrador Retriever Claire belonged to, was curled up on the couch, still snoring away. Claire crossed to the sliding door that opened onto the patio and pulled the floor-length blinds aside, letting sunlight flood the room. It was a beautiful day, the sky blending with the cerulean blue of the ocean so perfectly you couldn't tell where one began and the other ended. Claire stood watching the waves break upon the beach until she felt something cold and wet touch her hand. She looked down into a furry black face.

"Morning, Ernie," Claire said. "Sorry if I woke you. Need to go out?"

Ernestine wagged her tail and Claire slid the door open for her. Happily, Ernestine bounded down to the beach, scattering seagulls as she went. The warm and salty sea air drifted in, and Claire left the door open as she headed to the kitchen.

Still moving at a luxurious pace, she filled the teakettle and put down some food for Ernestine. In just a few short minutes, she was sitting at the kitchen table, eating her breakfast and watching Ernie frolic in the surf through the large bay window. She sighed happily as she scraped butter on her toast. Breakfast quiet and alone-just the way she liked it.

As she ate she considered what to do with her day. Maybe she'd take Ernie for a quick sail later. Of course, that would mean she'd have to run into town to get a replacement for that gasket she'd broken last weekend, but that wouldn't take any time at all. The whole day stretched out ahead of her, a void to be filled in anyway she saw fit.

Then the phone rang.

Claire got up and moved to the caller ID box sitting on the counter next to the phone. Damn. She'd forgotten that it was broken. "Oh, well," she thought. "Who ever heard of a telemarketer calling at 8:30 on a Saturday morning? It's probably just Mom." She picked up the receiver, cutting off its shrill voice mid-ring.

"Hello?"

"Claire? Is that you?"

It wasn't her mother.
2

“Yeeeeesss. . .this is Claire,” she replied guardedly into the phone. “Who is this, please?”

“Claire, it’s Vince Bannister. We met at Phil Brosius’ party last weekend?”  Now Claire remembered. Her mind flashed back to the barbeque at her friend Phil’s house the previous Sunday afternoon. If she remembered correctly, Vince was a tall, brown-haired guy with cute eyes and a crinkly smile. They had a pleasant conversation and she remembered breezily agreeing to have a drink with him sometime. She didn’t think “sometime” meant “six days later,” though.

“Claire?”  The voice buzzing through the phone brought her mind back to the here and now. With a start, Claire realized she had been woolgathering. “I’m sorry I called so early, but I was getting ready to take my new toy out for a spin and I wondered if you might be interested in taking a ride up the coast with me. I have to run up to Echo Hill to drop something off with a friend of mine and it’d be nice to have some company. I thought you might like to take a ride and maybe have lunch at the winery on the cliff.”    Quickly, Claire thought about the mysterious stranger’s proposition. He was a friend of Phil's, so he’s probably not an axe murderer, she reasoned. In fact, she vaguely remembered Vince mentioning that he did something for the government. You can’t get more stable than a government employee. So what if he was a bureaucrat? He was sort of cute. And the winery had great food and a gorgeous view. *What the heck*, she thought. *I’ve nothing to do today and it sounds like fun.*

“Sure, I’d love to,” Claire replied into the phone. “What time do we leave?”

“Well, how about I pick you up in half an hour? That way I can run my errand and we’ll be at the winery by one o’clock,” said Vince.

“Sounds great!” said Claire. “I’ll be ready.” After exchanging good-byes, they hung up.

Claire hustled about the kitchen, putting away the breakfast dishes and tidying up the counter. Bounding up the steps, she waltzed into her bedroom and opened her closet. After several minutes of deep thought, she settled on a pair of off-white linen slacks, a peach silk blouse and a pair of tan loafers. Her wardrobe laid out on the bed, Claire sat down at her vanity and started putting on her makeup. Fiddling with her mascara, she started to chuckle. Here she was, going on a day trip with a guy she didn’t know and primping like she was getting ready for the prom. Well, he was cute and a meal at the Echo Hill Winery was too good an offer to pass up.

Smiling and humming to herself, Claire had just slipped into her shoes when the doorbell rang. Hurrying to the front hall, she looked through the peephole and saw Vince’s lean, tanned face through the glass. As she opened the door, she noticed that Ernestine had wandered back into the kitchen and was engrossed in her breakfast.

“Hi, Vince! Come in,” bubbled Claire. “Let me get the dog squared away and we can be off.” Ushering her guest into the house, Claire walked back to the kitchen. Closing the sliding door and giving Ernie an affectionate pat on the head, she grabbed her purse and walked out to the living room. Vince looked up from the vase he was studying and grinned. “Ready?”

“Sure! Let’s go!” Claire replied. “I’m ready for an adventure!” Vince laughed. As the pair walked through the front door, Claire noticed a deep maroon ’61 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz parked at the curb with its top down. As the sun sparkled on the chrome and warmed its biscuit-colored leather seats, Vince walked over to the passenger door and opened it. Bowing from the waist, he swept his left arm out in a grand gesture. “Milady’s chariot awaits,” he intoned in a campy British accent.

Giggling despite herself, Claire stepped through the door and settled into the soft seat. “So this is your new toy?” she asked.

“Yep, just picked it up from the restoration shop last night,” replied Vince. Settling behind the wheel, he turned the key in the ignition and the big car’s engine roared to life. Turning to Claire, he dropped the chrome gear selector into Drive, smiled, and said, “Onward to adventure!”

3

Claire had to laugh. “Adventure and and excitement,” she agreed. Her laughter ended in a sharp gasp as Vince took the turn off her street a little too sharp, a little too fast, sending the neighbor’s trashcans clattering across the blacktop.

“Oops. Sorry.” Vince’s smile dimmed down a bit as his face took on a self-deprecating expression. “I guess I’m not used to the power under the hood just yet.” She couldn’t help but return his smile once more–Vince brightened up again at that–while deriding herself mentally for interfering in his enjoyment of the ‘new toy.’

“I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it.” Claire reached over and patted his hand on the steering wheel.

Vince nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll keep it down until the expressway,” he promised. “Then we can open her up and see what she can do.” The grin on his face widened in anticipation and Claire found herself laughing again.

She let herself relax, sinking into the supple leather seat, closing her eyes to enjoy the the breeze that twiddled with wisps of hair that had escaped her ponytail.

“Wake up.” An elbow to her ribs interrupted her thoughts and she jolted upright in the seat, eyelids popping open. “You’re going to miss the scenery.”

Vince pointed vaguely to the side of the road as they drove past a boxlike mini-mall. Ready to give him a smart-alecky response, Claire shot a quick glance to her left, then shut her mouth abruptly as she realized his remark had been completely serious. She looked back out the window at the scraggly trees that stood between the highway and the parking lot as she tried to pick out something, anything, in the surrounding that appeared interesting enough to be classed as ‘scenery.’