THE MINERVA MINK STORY
"We Have A Date At 8"

Chapter 15


     Tuesday Night:

     Minerva and Stephanie had barely gotten in the door, when the living-room phone started to ring.

      Tossing her purse onto the plush couch, the elder mink scooped up the phone and rested it between her shoulder and her ear. “Hello?”

     “Minerva? It’s Sawyer. Listen, Meggie and I found some possible models for you, but it’s a pretty long list. Do you have a fax number I can send to, or would you rather come pick it up?”

     “Excellent! Please send it to my home office fax Sawyer. Do you have a pen handy?”

     Stephanie crawled up on the couch and plopped down with a sigh. Snatching up the remote, she flipped on the TV and started hunting for cartoons.

     “Okay, I’ll get this list over to you as soon as I can. How was your brother doing?”

     “Oh, he’s okay. Looks like everything is going well, he’s being his usual pain in the butt self. But we wont know if it worked or not till Friday.”

     “Well, I hope it all works out. He and Stephanie are in our prayers.”

     Minerva smiled. “Thanks Sawyer.”

     “I’m going to go do a few house calls tomorrow. Call in on some old friends and see if anyone is interested in investing. It will really where I’ll make or break this whole thing.”

     “Sounds like you’ve got your work cut out for you. I had better let you go then.”

     “Ya, it’s going to be a big day. Thanks again for the list Sawyer and I’ll be in touch.”

     “No problem Min. Good-bye.”

     “Bye.”

     Minerva sat the phone down and trotted down into the den to switch her fax on and wait for the list to come through.

     She tapped her finger nails against the hard plastic of the fax as she waited, making sharp clicking noises, until finally the machine started up and began spitting out paper.

     “Yikes. She wasn’t kidding.” The LCD monitor on the front of the fax read ‘Printing page 1 of 60.’

     She fumbled through some drawers around her computer desk till she found a ream of printer paper and fished out a little under half of it. ‘Should be enough.’

     Sticking the paper into the secondary feed slot, she switched off the den light and headed back up stairs, letting the fax finish it’s work unobserved.

      ************************

     John Mink began strumming his fingers on the break table for the third time in so many minutes.

     He had gotten to the break room fairly early, the last few stragglers from the previous shift finally leaving, giving him some privacy before his own people started to file in. ‘It’s now or never M’Laddo.’

     Getting up, he pulled the piece of paper with Minerva’s number on it from his breast pocket and headed for the break room phone.

     John whipped the phone back up to his ear and almost dropped it again trying to get the mouth piece down to where he could talk into it.

     “Hello? May I talk to Minerva please?”

     “Speaking. Who may I ask is calling?”

     “Oh, it’s John. John Mink?”

     *************************

     Stephanie watched as her Aunt’s face changed from slightly confused to greatly surprised, then coquettishly happy.

     “Oh. Hello JOHN!” She gave his name extra pronunciation just so Stephanie could hear. “I was beginning to wonder, like if you were going to call me.”

     The little mink shot up and did a tummy slam on the arm of the couch, craning her neck in an attempt to overhear the other half of the conversation.

     Minerva felt generous, so she moved closer to the couch, stretching out the phone cord, but making John’s voice audible to her niece.

     “....sorry about that. Some things came up and this is as soon as I could get back to you.”

     “That’s okay. I’ve been busy too. Newbie business and all.”

     Stephanie rested her head on her hands and smiled as she listened to her aunt and what she personally hoped would be her new boyfriend make small talk for a while.

     ******************

     John knew that he was really just stalling with the line of questions he was firing toward Minerva. There had been a distinct reason behind his calling her, but now he found himself dancing around it.

     Oddly, in all of his years in the dating circuit, John had never been so flustered around a woman as he was around Minerva. She seemed to sit alone on some personal level of expectation, and made it perfectly clear it was his responsibility to reach it.

     Not that it was a bad thing. He liked a challenge.

     “Uh, so.... the uh, reason I called was.......”

     At that precise moment, it seemed as if the clouds had suddenly parted and God himself pointed his mighty finger down and said, “John, I don’t like you.” for the break room door swung open, and in walked Brendan.

     “Uhhhh... could you hold just one second?” Before she cold reply, John quickly slapped his hand over the mouth piece and snarled in Brendan’s direction. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

     The pig didn’t seem to notice at first as he waddled over the snack machine, and John couldn’t help but wonder if that how murders look at their soon to be victims.

     “Free country right?” He fished several quarters from his pockets, and began to shove them into the money slot on the vending machine with his pudgy fingers.

     John couldn’t help but growl again, but rather turned his back on the walking heart attack that had just came in and put the phone back up to his ear.

     “Sorry about that.”

     “It’s okay.”

     He couldn’t see it, but the two girls on the other end were greatly enjoying his flustered behavior and were doing there best not to burst out in giggles. Minerva secretly liked it when boys were nervous around her. ‘That’s how it should be.’ She thought.

     “Anyway, I’m pulling a half night today, and was wondering....”

     “AND THAT PUTS THE STEELERS AT FIVE AND O AFTER LAST NIGHTS GAME! IT WAS AN AMAZING DISPLAY OF FOOTBALL AT IT’S FINEST.....”

     John felt his heart jump halfway up his neck and make an honest attempt to jump out his mouth as the break room TV came on and started blaring football stats.

     Usually the room could get pretty loud when it was full, so the TV volume had to be set high so that those who wanted to watch could hear, and the set was far to old to have closed captions.

     “Sorry Minerva!” He shouted into the mouth piece. “Some inconsiderate jerk just turned the TV on!”

     He waited a moment, expecting the volume to go down, but when he turned to look, the remote was sitting two tables away from Brendan, and it was more than obvious that he wasn’t interested in adjusting the volume.

     “Oh my God!” The pig shouted, pointing at a fumble on the TV, then putting his feet up on the table. “*Snort!* Huh huh huhuh!”

     John sat the phone down again and grabbed up the remote, he turned the volume down and accidentally hit the channel button too.

     “Hey!” Brendan squealed.

     He pitched the remote at the obnoxious pig, bouncing it off his protruding stomach and onto the table, almost knocking down the tower of Hostess cakes he had raided from the snack machine. “What was that for?!”

     “If you weren’t such an idiot, you could see I am on the phone!"

     Brendan didn’t say anything to that, but he crossed his arms and stuck out his lower lip like a child deprived of a toy.

     John went back tot he phone and picked it up again. “Minerva? You still there?”

     “Yes, you were about to ask me something?”

     He couldn’t help but notice how soft and smooth her voice was, and he felt the hair on the back of his neck sit up as she spoke.

     “I was wondering if you would like to go out for dinner tonight?” He blurted out before he could be interrupted again. “I know of a great little Italian place, if your interested.”

     On the other side, Minerva smiled happily and gave Stephanie a thumbs up motion. “Hmmm, I don’t know. I better check my schedule.”

     John crossed his fingers and waited for her reply.

     “Sure. I can make it. Is 8:00 okay?”

     John felt the elephant that had been sitting on his chest jump off. “Great, that will be perfect.”

     “Oh, and you don’t mind dining with two girls tonight do you?”

     “Two girls? Oh, sure. No I don’t mind. She’s more than welcome to come with too. Do you know where Mario’s is?”

     “Mario’s? Hmmm, oh! Sure, I know where that is. We’ll see you there at 8:00 okay?

     “Sounds great. I’ll see you then.”

     “Good-bye John.” Minerva said, extra sultry.

     “Bye Minerva.”

     He sat the phone back on the cradle and fought the urge to jump up and click his heals.

     The rest of his shift had started to file in, most getting a dower look on their faces as the saw Brendan waiting for them.

     When John turned around to leave the break room, he couldn’t help but notice that Brendan was looking at him funny. ‘The hell man, he always looks funny.’ But this was a little different. His usually pale, pudgy face was twisted into something that held a vague resemblance of curiosity.

     ‘Bah, who cares about Fat Boy Phil over there.’ He had a date with one of the most beautiful women in the world, and he needed to get home to make himself presentable.

     ***************

     “What?! I don’t wanna take another bath! I already had one today!”

     “Fine, fine. You don’t have to, but you better get cleaned up to go. I want hair brushed, teeth brushed, and some nice cloths put out for me to iron.”

     Stephanie sighed, but didn’t object. She fished her hair brush out of her suitcase and hopped up on Minerva’s vanity to brush her red hair.

     Her aunt however did opt to bathe again, unbuttoning her blouse and skirt, slipping out of her underwear, and quickly scrubbed herself down in her shower stall.

     The fur dryer clicked on as she exited the shower, and in only a few moments she was dry again and feeling fresh and clean.

     Wrapping a towel around herself, she stopped at her vanity to touch up her own hair with a brush and blow dryer, then help Stephanie finish her own.

     Make-up was applied, followed by picking out the right jewelry, and Stephanie was even allowed to wear some of her aunt’s real diamond earrings.

     “Awwww.... Do I gotta?!”

     “Missy, we’ve had this discussion once today. John was nice enough to ask us to dinner tonight and we can both look presentable. Dress young lady.”

     “Awwwww.... stupid dress. *Mumble.*” She shuffled off to her suit case again and fished out one of her pink skirts with a poodle on it.

     Minerva stopped at her closet and pulled her favorite little red dress from a hanger and draped it over the ironing board. She fished out red pumps, a strapless bra, and matching red panties.

     She ironed her own clothing, and quickly pressed Stephanie’s, then excused herself into the bathroom to dress. Gold hoop earrings were placed in her ears, and as her niece brushed her teeth, she teased her hair a little, applied hair spray, and just a hint of rose perfume on her neck and wrists.

     “Aunt Nerva, I can’t hook this. Can you help me please.”

     Minerva knelt and hooked up Stephanie’s skirt just above her tail. “Do you want some more perfume sweetie?”

     “Yes please.” Stephanie got a spritz of ‘Teen Dream’ perfume, and her aunt checked her over to make sure she was presentable.

     “Okay, lets got sweetie and have a good time okay? Remember,” She stood and took Stephanie’s hands in hers and they started dancing. “We are Foxy ladies! Yes, we are Foxy ladies! Hehehe! Hahah!”

     ******************

     John parked his black Lincoln next to Minerva’s Mustang in the square shaped parking lot of Mario’s Italian restaurant. He had run into her half way to Mario’s and followed her the rest of the way to the parking lot.

     Getting out, he crossed to her car, and quickly opened the door for her. “Hey, thanks for coming.”

     Minerva took his hand and stepped out, her heals clicking on the ground as she stood. “Thanks for inviting us.”

     He felt his heart skip a beat as he got a good look at her. Dressed in a slender, form fitting red strapless dress, and a trim cut black leather jacket, Minerva was simply stunning.

     Even Stephanie looked very pretty, her hair pulled back into a pony tail, and an old fashioned poodle skirt and Saddle shoes.

     John, himself was dressed in a pair of black slacks, a white button up shirt, and a striped tie.

     He gently kissed Minerva’s hand and motioned to the door. “Shall we go in?”

      *********************

      Mario’s was mildly busy that night, a few couples scattered about the tables, dining on different meals and chatting to one another.

     John had the foresight to call ahead and reserve a table, which he pointed out to Minerva and Stephanie. “Have a seat. Can I take your coat miss?”

     “Why thank you sir. It’s nice to be taken out by a gentleman now and again.”

     Her jacket slipped off her beautiful white shoulders, better exposing her slender figure. She folded the jacket over and handed it to John.

     Suddenly, as she stood there, handing him her coat, something hit John like a sledgehammer.

     Her name, her face, those eyes, the towel, the dress, how he knew so much about her without actually knowing her. She was that Minerva Mink!

     In a matter of half a second, his brain weighed the decision of wether this fact should affect how he acted toward her the rest of the evening, or for that matter, if he should clue her in that he just figured that little nugget of information out. Thankfully, he decided not to do either and took her coat, sitting it in the seat next to him.

     ‘Woah, I’m having dinner with the Minerva Mink. Man am I such a spackler for not recognizing her sooner!’

     She smiled across the table at him and he noticed a little hint of gloss on her lips, just begging someone to kiss them. “You’re dressed very nice tonight Mr. Mink.”

     “Thank you. You look very spectacular yourself.

     She blushed and smiled again. “Thank you sir.”

     Stephanie rolled her eyes and started looking at the menu. ‘It’s official. Grownups are goofy.’

     Not too long after they had sat down, a young tiger girl dressed in a white shirt and skirt, with a red apron came by to take their order.

     “Hello! My name is Amy and I’ll be your waitress tonight. Just let me know if there is anything I can get you.”

     John folded his menu back up and asked, “Do you have any specials tonight?”

     “We sure do sir. Tonight is the family dinner special. If you and your wife pick any of our specialty meals, that includes a house wine or draft, your daughter gets her meal and unlimited drinks for free.”

     All three minks gave Amy a shocked look, and Stephanie had to hold back an almost unstoppable wave of laughter.

     John quickly regained his own composure and thought, ‘Duh, how do you think it looks?’

     “Hmmm, honey. What do you think?” He said with a hint of sarcasm and a grin.

     Minerva didn’t miss a beat, and closed her own menu. “I don’t know darling. The specials are pretty expensive.”

     “Ahhh, what the heck. Let’s splurge. Nothing is too much for you my love.”

     For a moment, he didn’t think Minerva was going to be able to hold her laughter in, but her face leveled out and she handed her menu to the waitress. “Very well. May I have the tortellini with red sauce please?”

     “I’ll have the Lasagna, and two glasses of your best Italian wine. Dark please.”

     Amy smiled pleasantly, glad that her costumers has stopped acting so strangely. “You sure can sir. And what would you like Miss?”

     “Can I have the spaghetti and a coke please? Oh! And some shake cheese, if you have it? Please?”

     “No problem. Your meals will be ready in a moment.” Amy finished writing the order on her pad and then departed for the kitchen.

     Once she was out of earshot all three minks started laughing, Minerva giggling into the back of her hand, John chuckling softly, and Stephanie laying her head on the table as she laughed.

     ********************

     The meal had been wonderful, and both adults had enjoyed each others company. They had spent most of the time at Mario’s making small talk, asking one another’s opinions on different subjects and getting a better feel for the other.

     In the end, it was obvious to both that there was a good foundation there for a second date.

     Amy came around to clear the table and set down the bill. John took out his wallet to fish out a tip and his credit card, when he spied Minerva hunting through her own purse.

     She pulled out a slim black wallet and tossed a few bills on the counter.

     “Oh no you don’t.” John retrieved her money and handed it back. “Absolutely not. I asked you to dinner, it’s my treat.”

     Minerva feinted umbrage, putting her hand at her throat. “Now really Mr. Mink. Don’t be such a chauvinist. We girls can pay for our own food.”

     “I didn’t say you couldn’t.” John placed his own money on the table and went to pay the bill.

     Minerva smiled as she put her money away, quite pleased by John’s reaction. Stephanie tapped her on the arm and gave her a quizzical look. “What was that about Aunt Nerva?”

     “Oh, just testing his ego sweetie. Real men do that kind of a thing. It’s required of them.”

     “I see.” Steph said, not really seeing at all.

     Soon John returned to escort them out, and Minerva took his arm.

     ********************

     John opened the car door and Stephanie hopped in. “Thanks for dinner Mr. Mink. It was yummy.”

     “I’m glad you liked it.”

     He closed the door gently behind her, making sure she was completely inside before he slamming it shut. He closed the door gently behind her, making sure she was completely inside before he slamming it shut.

     Then, unfolding Minerva’s coat, he held it open for her.

     “Thank you.”

     Minerva slipped her arms into the sleeves and John pulled the neck up over, resting it on her shoulders.

     She turned toward him, clutching her purse in one had and placing the other on her hip. “So, you finally figured out who I am, huh?”

     John couldn’t help but do a double take. “Wh-what? What do you mean?”

     “Don’t play dumb. I know you just figured out who I am when we got here. Your body language changed.”

     He didn’t quite know what to say, so opted to look down at his shoes and rub the back of his neck. “Ya, I guess I did.”

     She reached out and lifted his head back up to look at her. “Does that change how you feel about me?”

     John honestly thought about that, for a moment. Did it really change any feelings that he had toward her that she use to be one of the hottest girls on TV?

     “No. It really doesn’t.”

     She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Good boy. That was, like the right answer! You just earned yourself a second date. So, can I call you tomorrow?”

     “S-sure. I would like that....”

     She cut him off with a kiss, and John felt fireworks explode in his head as her soft lips touched his.

     Stephanie rolled down the car window and stuck her head out. “Hey! Get a room you two!”

     “Hush up you little stinker! Don’t worry John, next time I’ll leave the rug eater home.”

     They all laughed and Minerva gave John one more quick kiss before she let him go. “You’re cute, you know that?”

     “I am?”

     “You are. I’ll call you. Thanks again.”

     He opened the drivers side door for her and closed it behind when she was inside.

     Both girls waved good-bye as the little red Mustang drove off into the night.

     John leaned on his door and felt the cool night air ruffle his hair.

     “She said I was cute. Heh.”