Adventures at Disney

Soon we are at the Tomorrowland Terrace to see the 80z All Stars.  It turns out that the last set starts a bit later on Fridays.  We still have a half hour, so we find a table close to the stage and start talking about the race.  Not only is this April’s first Disney race, but it is her first race ever.  In fact, this whole weekend is her gift to herself for finally getting up the courage to divorce her husband.  Even though she hasn't seen him in six months, it only became final yesterday. 

You know how it’s sometimes easier to tell your problems to strangers?  I guess we must listen well because she decides to elaborate, "You have to understand...he wasn't mean or abusive to me.  In a way, it was much worse than that - he ignored me.  We were married three years, but our sex life ended as soon as he found out that I can't have children.  Bad plumbing.  I did try to make it work, but it got so bad that he wouldn't even touch me for months at a time, or even sleep in the same room.  The only thing that kept me going was my buddy, Rigel.  He was my baby…. the cutest mutt you've ever seen.  I had him since he was a puppy and lost him at twelve.  Without him, I had nobody, so I decided to get out."

When she gets to this part of the story, we can see tears rolling down her cheeks.  Diana pulls her into a big hug and tells her that we totally get it; mentioning our own dogs, and like a proud mom, pulls them up on “DogCam”.  This lightens the mood somewhat, and April apologizes for getting all emotional.

"The two of you must think that I am quite the loser, especially for putting up with him for so long".

"Oh, no, not at all.  In fact..."  Diana pauses and looks at me hesitantly.  I give her a quick nod and she continues.  "…Bruce went through something very similar to that in his first marriage." 

April looks at me questioningly, and I take over.  I give her the short version of the story, explaining how Gina waited until after we got married to decide to become celibate, and ultimately taking a job out of town to keep distance between us.   I did keep trying to make it work, until Diana and I started seeing each other.  At that point I was done - I had found the person I should be with.  We’ve been together ever since.

After hearing our story, I can tell that April sees me a little differently.  I'm no longer just the guy attached to Diana, but I am someone she can actually relate to.  She even tries to engage me in the conversation by asking me about the music I like.  There seems to be a little common ground there, and she starts telling us about an amazing winter musical event called “Acker Night” that takes place in a town not far from Sedona.

Before we have a chance to finish talking about it, we see the stage raising and hear the music starting.

As usual, the band is as good as we expected, but I noticed that my two companions are more into talking about getting together once we move than paying attention to the music.  Not surprising considering that we will know no one there, plus the two of them seem to have a lot in common.

That all stops when they start playing "Living on a Prayer".   It’s Diana’s favorite song and of course she has to get up and move over near the crowd.  April follows her and the two of them rock out for a while, singing and dancing along to the songs.  At one point, Diana glances at me, and I can tell she is having fun.  Probably excited at the prospect of having a new friend.

The next time I glance up, April is standing in front of me.  “Diana says that you don’t like to dance much, but I told her I could convince you to come dance with us.”

“Oh, really? How’s that?”

“Ever watch a show called Friends?”

*****

Less than a minute late I am on the dance floor.  Diana is looking at me like I have two heads. April is grinning ear-to-ear.  "I got him to agree to dance with us." she says.  "It just took a little motivation".

"Really?  Like what?" Diana asks.

"Well, I remembered something I saw on an episode of Friends once.  I promised him he could watch two girls kissing if he came down here".  As she says this, she turns away from me and gives Diana a little wink.  Diana realizes that she has some sort of trick in mind and decides to see what she's planning.

"I remember that episode.  I guess I’m up for it if it gets him dancing..." Diana says.  April moves closer to her, looking like she intends to kiss Diana but then raises her hand.  She is holding one of those smart phones with the massive screen.  She taps the screen, and a video starts, showing a bunch of clips of two women kissing.  It looks like she has pulled this trick before.

"There you go, two girls kissing!"  She says, laughing at her little prank. 

"Nice try," I say with a smirk, "but I distinctly recall you saying that I could watch a hot kiss between two girls.  Those clips hardly qualify as hot.  You're going to have to do a lot better than that."

April pouts and says to Diana, "Damn. That used to work all the time. Guys are all the same. They think women sharing a kiss is such a big deal. I guess it's just too commonplace now."

Diana chuckles, "You don't know my husband.  He'd probably give us anything we ask for to see a real kiss.  Guys haven't changed that much." 

April looks at me.  "Really?  Would you agree to never turn down a dance with your wife ever again just to see us kiss?"

With a smirk I reply, "If it’s a hot kiss, of course!  Not that is actually going to...."

Before I can finish, April pulls Diana to her.  Diana doesn’t make any attempt to pull away, so April smiles slightly and leans in part way, giving my wife plenty of opportunity to back out. Whether it's surprise, curiosity or simply trying to shock me, Diana smiles and lets April kiss her.  It's a soft, light touch, barely qualifying as a kiss.  Looking over April’s shoulder at my reaction, she decides to go with it and kisses April back lightly.  It's tentative at first, but something seems to come over the two of them and it gets progressively more intense. 

When they finally part, all I can say is, "wow!" 

April looks into Diana’s eyes and whispers, "wow is right...."

All the sudden, Diana seems to realize where we are and looks around in a panic.  Fortunately, no one even noticed because they are all paying attention to the band.  She then turns to me and tells me for that, I have to dance with her whenever she wants.  All I can do is nod in agreement. 

The band continues playing.  It's their longest set of the night, so the three of us spend quite a bit of time dancing before they finally wind down.  Every few minutes one of us breaks out laughing.

"I can't believe we did that!  At Disneyland, no less."  April says. 

"I am surprised they haven't kicked us out," Diana replies.  

"Nah...." I say, “.... they have Miley Cyrus to deal with."  Even that lame joke gets a laugh.

Eventually, the band finishes for the night and it's time to leave.  There is a strange awkward silence for a moment.  Since April is staying at the Grand Californian, I suggest we walk back together.  When we get to the crowded section of Main Street, I take Diana’s hand, so I don't lose her.  As we clear the crowd, I notice that April has her other hand.  We make it halfway down Main Street before either of them realizes that and let’s go.

On the way back to the hotel, the two of them keep talking about the race and April’s trip.  I am not all surprised that when Diana invites her to join us in the morning, offering to act as a guide in California Adventure for her first time.  We make arrangements for breakfast and split up in the lobby.  April starts to take off but turns back.  It almost looks like she is welling up as she gives my wife a light kiss on the cheek.  "Thank you.... today is exactly what I needed," she whispers in Diana’s ear.