“Vin, you’re a special case I guess,” Saturn told me after we had just finished enjoying a romantic Valentine’s night dinner of red wine, filet mignon, heart-shaped chocolate mousse and all the fixings at an upscale Providence restaurant.
“Yeah, I thought I only got one chance with you and I blew it … badly,” I said as we wooed each other with bedroom eyes amid the aphrodisiacal glow of candlelight.
“You did blow it,” she said as she seduced me with her revealing emerald dress and her long brown hair swept up in an elegant twist that couldn't wait to be released. “But I made an exception. I left the door open for you and for us. And you rose to the occasion. You stepped up. You proved you could be worthy of my love. No more Morgan. It’s only you and me. Can you handle that?”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “You’re the one I want. Just you.”
“This time I’m ready to believe you,” Saturn said with a gorgeous smile. “When I first met you, I didn’t really know you yet. I sabotaged the whole thing myself by letting you meet Morgan right away. I knew she would screw around and come between us, but I didn’t really care. I was curious to see what would happen. You failed, but I was just as guilty for not really trying. When I dumped you, I challenged you, you grew up a little and now here we are.”
“I also wrote a couple of songs for you and performed them at Sea Mist,” I reminded her playfully.
“Yeah, that didn’t hurt,” Saturn said with a wink. “Not every girl has her name, her song on a CD. Your band is talented, Vin, and so are you. I’m very proud of you and I think you’ve got an amazing and very interesting future ahead of you.”
“I hope so,” I said. “And it would be even better with you in it.”
Saturn turned more serious and looked at me with a depth to her eyes I had never seen before.
“Vin, if I give all of my love to you, you can’t leave me,” Saturn said, tears welling up. “I don’t give my heart or my love easily, especially after …”
I grabbed a handkerchief out of the pocket of my gray sport coat, reached over the warm candlelight and dabbed a tear from her left cheek.
“I know,” I said. “You don’t have to say it.”
Saturn’s parents died in a plane crash when she was 13. They were returning in a small plane after celebrating an anniversary weekend in Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island. She had confided in me about the tragedy that had shaped her life since when we started talking again over the phone in January. She said she had dated plenty of people in the nine years since her parents died, but she had never truly loved anyone. She wouldn’t allow herself to do that. She also said she felt a connection with me that transcended music because I had lost my father at such a young age. She felt grateful she had 13 years to get to know her father whereas I don’t even remember mine. He truly was just a gravestone to me. It also didn’t hurt that Saturn got along well with my mother when they first met at the Heartbreak way back when. Saturn didn’t judge my mother at all for being a stripper. That meant a lot to me.
And now, Saturn was ready to trust me and love me. I was so excited about this new chapter because, just like her, I had never truly fallen in love before.
“Let’s go,” she said, smiling and taking my hand. “Let’s see what love is all about.”
That night it was my turn to get out of the cold and experience a night of passionate sex at the Westin Hotel. I didn’t need two women like Freeway. Saturn alone was light years better than any two other Earth women could ever be. It was the most amazing night of our lives, and it wasn’t just the pleasure either. This time it really meant something. I held Saturn’s heart in my hands and I was ready to treat it far more special than any music I could ever make.
Of course love was a huge roll of the dice. But for the first time in my young life, I believed with all of my heart, mind and soul that this gamble was one I absolutely had to take.