Chapter 1: Ultimate

The grass was brown, because water is a scarce natural resource late in the summer. Oh it was green in places, because weeds always seem to be green in a dry lawn. But the grass was definitely "dormant" and would stay that way until the late fall rains brought it to life again.

Steve Mitsunami didn't mind much. In fact, he didn't even notice. He was too intent on Leonard's poor pass, straining to get the Frisbee before Jack could pick it off. He got it, just in the nick of time, as Jack smacked into the ground behind him. Exultant, he recovered his feet in a rapid shoulder roll and flicked the disc off to Bill, already down field on the company exercise area. Following through with his smooth recovery he began dashing back to his position. Steve was a superb athlete and quicker than most.

Jenny had taken it all in.

On her way out to her car, she had noticed the brown grass. It seemed faintly ridiculous to her that Corvallis Oregon, with an average of over 40 inches of rain per year and two major floods in the last twelve months, couldn't manage to put aside enough water to keep lawns green during the dry summer months. Water shortage indeed! Stupidity and hypocrisy always irritated her, but not for long today though. Obviously Steve didn't mind the brown grass, and he was the one thumping into it regularly; she just had to look at it.

Then a smile crossed her face. Tonight she had a date with the guy! Amazing. She had been wheedling him for months to take her out, and he had finally asked. Success always made her happy and brightened her outlook on the world in general. It wouldn't really be all that different from any other evening with Steve. There had been evenings at the pool hall and dinner after volleyball games. But this was really different, because she'd managed to convince him to ask, on purpose, for time alone. He had admitted to himself that he wanted to spend time with her, planned time, time with her and nobody else. Somehow the intent mattered, and it mattered that he'd finally come up with the idea on his own.

Well, mostly on his own. Jenny Robinson enjoyed beguiling, and loved it when things went to plan.

The sun was warm on her glossy auburn hair and she began to consider how best to wear it tonight. And what to wear? She knew enough, and she was intent enough, to be cautious about what she wore on their first "date". Her figure was noteworthy and some of her clothes could send a signal far more provocative than she desired for this occasion. Michelle, who Jenny was quite certain was engaging in wishful thinking, had warned her that Steve was all biceps and no brains, and to expect a thrilling, physical evening. But being a statistician, she worried a bit about being stodgy; she certainly wanted him to think of her in more than dry mathematical terms. On balance the hair would have to carry her tonight, she decided.

And then her smile broadened. She saw the magnificent catch, the smooth recovery and rapid toss. He was such a kid! A graduate of MIT's College of Mechanical Engineering, working in the Basic Research Laboratory of the biggest, most successful inkjet technology company in the world, highly ranked among his peers, and yet his ego revolved around his ability to make diving catches, to throw a $1 plastic disk accurately, and to stay upright in high winds on a sail board. She laughed out loud at the thought of it.

Steve, lifting his eyes off Bill for a second at the sound of that laugh, smiled as well. All in a second he was delighted to be noticed by her, then confused as to why, then glad that she'd seen his spectacular move. In the next second he furtively looked around the field at his compatriots, hoping they'd notice who'd noticed him. Then it struck him as odd that he should care. Surely they'd all seen a pretty woman before? And they didn't even know he had a date with her tonight.

His running slowed a bit and he became slightly less intent on his game.

Jenny seemed different to him in a way he couldn't articulate. "Love" was such a tacky sentiment, and he wasn't going to get into that, yet he also knew it wasn't lust. Steve knew all about lust, and this was different. He thought what his friends would expect from him on a date with such an obviously feminine girl ("party!"), and felt a resentment that he didn't understand well up inside. Why couldn't they grow up? As he dimly realized he should probably be paying more attention to the game, there was a pain in his left arm.

Bill, taking it all in with a single glance, grinned and zipped the Frisbee back at Steve. It hit him in the arm and bounced off, to the enjoyment of others on the field who'd also seen his confusion and to the disgust of those on his team who hadn't. "Wake up Mitsunami!" from Jerry, and Steve snatched up the disk and tossed it over to Sachico. Jenny waved, Steve took the time for a small wave, and then went back to his game. Bill was glad, happy that his friend might have found something more important, finally, than his toys.

Jenny kept smiling, because she'd managed to throw Steve off stride one more time. To do so had been difficult at first, which had puzzled her, but she was getting better at it now.

She finished walking to her car. The red Shelby Cobra that her father had built up from scratch, for her, shimmered in the sun. "Life's tough" she said to herself for the millionth time, and got in. Jenny idled it out of the parking lot, past the security checkpoint and on to Circle Boulevard on her way home. She had grown up in her father's garage because that is where he kept his toys; she'd always adored being near him. Early on she'd learned to maneuver him into seeing things her way with the tilted head, the innocent eye, the simple joke. Like most fathers, Marc Robinson had known exactly what his little girl was up to, and like most fathers he delighted in indulging her. Putting a Cobra together had been a lifelong dream of his, and over the objections of Emily (his wife and Jenny's mother) he'd bought an old wreck, put it in the garage and taken it apart. Then he and Jenny had cleaned, sanded, polished and painted every evening for months until it was ready to screw together again, which they'd done in a week of frenzied effort one summer 8 years earlier. She couldn't drive the car, even on such a mundane trip as this, without pleasant thoughts about that time. More than anything else, she wanted to be in a family like that again, a family of her own.

Was it possible she could find a guy who'd be like that with her children? It was hard to know, since fatherhood was the farthest thing from the minds of any of her friends right now, Steve included. She giggled. Steve especially. She'd have to be patient and enjoy herself in the meantime. She pulled into the driveway of her duplex, shut off the engine and sat in the car for a bit longer. "Sooner or later" she said to herself, running her hand over the polished steering wheel. Then, feeling self conscious, she glanced around, got out of the car, and went inside.

In the meantime, Steve had his hands full. Bill and Jack were in top form and running him ragged. Panting, sweating, tired, he kept up a relentless pursuit of his companions on the "turf". Intercepting a pass attempt from Randy to Cindy, he flipped it over Cindy's head to Sachico, who scored. Back to position, but the rest of the team was moving a little slowly now, late in the game.

"Hope I didn't look too stupid" he said to himself. "Jenny's different from anyone I've hung around with. It's going to be awesome having a date with her. Not that anyone here would understand that." Steve was more than a little self conscious about his social standing in the group.

Randy slowly got off the ground, where he'd lain since falling down while trying to catch up with the action. Randy was the crowd jock, head and shoulders better at this game than anyone else. He was far more popular with the girls than Steve. Sachico was his current live in, but they had a non-binding, informal agreement about things. "Of course, I can solve problems he can't even conceive of" he thought to himself, not recognizing that he was being defensive. Randy wouldn't understand any of this. "He lives for his loins, and will give me a hard time if I don't keep cool about Jenny, like I did about Sachico while I was rooming with her. He doesn't understand how anything can be better than that."

In fact, Steve was discovering that he had only a vague idea of how anything could be better than that himself. Life with Sachico had been ideal; everything a young man could want with no commitment. When it had ended, the finale had come gracefully and on positive terms. Neither threw the other out, Sachico was just bored and wanted to move on to other experiences. They still played ultimate together, didn't they?

Then why this G-rated attitude towards Jenny? And why did she put a silly grin on his face? He had no expectation of establishing a similar arrangement with Jenny, indeed his feelings rose up in protest at the thought. But the grass seemed green, the sky deeply blue, and the birds joyous just because she existed. Deeply silly. But why? Steve needed someone to discuss it with who wouldn't laugh.

Looking around he saw his other friend running far ahead, blond hair shining in the sun, plastered to his forehead with sweat. Bill, on the other hand, sees things in weird ways. He actually enjoyed debating the deep questions like "how high is up?" He might have some insight, some idea of what this is all about.

His tentative mental fumbling was cut off as the action picked up again. Steve was not usually one to contemplate when he could be physical.