The Marigold Girl

I walk through the front door of my friend Josh’s lake house to find the party he is throwing already in full swing. The music is thumping loudly from the gigantic house speakers he installed recently. The beer kegs are freely flowing. I even count four separate beer pong games in progress. This party is shaping up to be one of Josh’s wilder ones! With this realization, my social anxiety and dislike of large crowds threatens to take over and cause me to have a meltdown. I immediately regret coming to the party and prepare to flee the festivities. Luckily my younger brother Shane walks in the back door and catches my eye. He can tell that I am on the verge of a panic attack, so he motions me to follow him.

I snake my way through the crowd and manage to get outside. Once outside I visibly relax and inhale the cool breeze coming off the lake. Once I feel more comfortable I follow Shane over to where our buddies Doyle and Bryan are playing corn-hole with our host, Josh. A smile plays across my face as I walk over to my friends and grab an ice cold bottle of Michelob and pop the top. I finish off my second beer while laughing at Josh and Shane trading insults with each other. I happen to look over at the back patio in time to see her. My laugh catches in my throat and the guys start searching for what stunned me to silence.

There on the patio stands the most exquisite woman I have seen in an eternity! Her shoulder length dark brown hair has blonde highlights in it that reminds me of honey. Her lightly tanned complexion contrasts perfectly with the mint green sundress that impeccably accents her slight frame. I am stunned by her radiance! Then I hear her melodious laugh as someone cracks a joke. Her brown eyes sparkle with her mirth. I ask Josh who she is and he says that he doesn’t know. Shane tells me that she came in with his friend Ana.I track down Ana and ask her who her friend is. She tells me that her friend’s name is Kennedy but that she goes by Dee.

I spend the next couple of hours trying to find an opportunity to speak to Dee. Shane bumps into me and asks me what I am doing. I tell him that I am looking for Dee and that I want to ask her out. He says, encouragingly, “Go for it!” I respond, “I’m not drunk enough yet.”

Shane shrugs and walks off. A little while later the music slows down and people begin to couple up and start swaying to the romantic music. I am surprised and a little hurt when I see Shane leading Dee into the crowd to dance. After the song ends, the party gets cranked back up. I see Dee walk over the bonfire that Josh lit when the sun went down. She sits down in one of the camp chairs spread around the fire. I walk over and introduce myself.

“Hi! I’m Matt.” I say as I reach out my hand. She smiles shyly and places her delicate hand in mine. Her hand is as soft and smooth as I expected it to be. I ask her if I can sit next to her. She nods her head with a flirty grin. We start talking and I learn that we have a great deal of things in common. The facts that we are both introverts and do not feel comfortable in big crowds cause us to remain next to the fire talking to one another as the hours pass by.

Our conversation is interrupted by a couple of drunk guys running by with a garden planter full of flowers that Josh’s girlfriend Sara had bought to decorate the patio with. I excuse myself to go save Sara’s plants. I catch up to the two drunk idiots and rescue the flowers. Josh kicks the guys out of the party and helps me return the planter to its proper place. “Thanks, Matt! Sara would have murdered me if anything had happened to those flowers.” I laugh as I bend down to pick up a marigold that had fallen to the ground. The stem is broken off too far to replant it, so I keep it and plan to give it to Dee. I think that it would look great tucked into her hair. I walk back towards Dee as another slow song plays over the speakers. I am preparing to ask Dee to dance, but once again Shane grabs her hand and pulls her in for a dance. I see red for an instant, but I control my emotions and hurry over to cut in. I shove Shane’s hand away from Dee’s waist and resist the urge to punch my brother in the face. I stare him in the eye and say pointedly, “I got this one.”

Shane smirks at me and whispers, “It takes your little brother making a move to get you to take action I guess.”

I flip him the bird and turn back to Dee. I give her the marigold and she tucks it into her hair right over her ear. I am correct, the dark gold flower augments her beauty brilliantly. As we sway to the music, I can not think of anything other than how perfectly her hand fits in mine and how natural it feels to have my hand resting gently on her lower back. With the ending of the song I come back from my musings and realize that the party has come to an end. The only people remaining were the friends of Josh who were staying the night. Dee realizes this as well and begins to look for Ana, but she can not find her friend. I call Ana and hand my phone to Dee when she picks up. Ana explains that she did not wish to interrupt our conversation and that she knows that I am an honorable and respectful person so she didn’t feel bad about leaving Dee with me. Once the call is ended Dee puts her number in my phone before returning it to me.

The temperature has dropped and I notice Dee shivering, so I grab one of the huge blankets Josh and Sara left out for their guests and wrap it around her. She thanks me and flashes me one of those gorgeous smiles of hers and my legs turn to jello. I don't know why or how she got under my skin this quickly. I am not complaining one bit, even though it is terrifying how fast I've fallen for her.

I lead Dee to my favorite spot on Josh’s property, a small hill overlooking the lake. At the top of the hill are two sturdy oak trees with an oversized hammock strung between them with a few of the most comfortable pillows in the hammock. I tell Dee that she can have the hammock and that I will sleep against the tree. She insists that I share the hammock. I give into her pleas.

As I situate myself in the hammock, she scoots as close to me as she can and lays her head in the crook of my arm and proceeds to drift off to sleep. I lay in the hammock enjoying her presence as I listen to the sounds of the water lapping on the lake shore, the wind whistling through the trees, the chirping of the crickets and the croaking of the frogs. I am shocked by how fast things have developed between me and this honey haired vixen! I have never believed in the concept of a soul mate before now. But Dee has me wondering for certain.

I must have finally dozed off, because I wake up to the morning sun peeking over the trees. My first thought is that last night was just a dream, but the buzzing of my phone proves that it wasn’t. Because when I pick up my phone, a slightly crushed marigold falls to the ground. I unlock my phone to see a text from my Marigold Girl. The text says, “Thanks for such a wonderful night! I can’t wait to do it again!”

The biggest grin splits my face and I fall back into the hammock and enjoy being me!