MILKSOP Chapter 16

Archie Realized that Alice WAS Special
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The year was going well but the pressure was always on.

Going to school and working in the broker's office after school until six thirty, cleaning up some of the day's activity, and learning to balance the day's accounts kept Archie busy.

Then there was the ever present, "Alice."

It seemed she was always around.  He wasn't totally objectionable to her being there, because there were times when the stresses would weigh heavy upon him she would be a calming force upon him.

She would say something like, "Now Dear just relax, because we can get through this."  

 

The irony of such a statement had the effect of redirecting his focus beyond the present issue to a more stable state.

When he had time to think about her (which was seldom) he would once again affirm, there may be more to this (used to be skinny) gal than I once thought.

There was one thing for sure; the stock broker didn't pay him much money.

He would tell Archie that the education he was getting is pay enough. While Archie couldn't argue with that logic, he still needed more money than he was getting.

The Senior Prom was nearing, and it was going to be hard for him to have enough money to afford to attend.

Alice reminded him that he had not asked her to go with him, and that she had several offers to go with some of the more popular guys.

He thought because of her always being there for him, it was automatically assumed that they were going together.

Then it dawned on him that taking too much for granted might not be the smartest thing to do.  No matter how much someone cares for another, they want to be special.

Being taken for granted reduces them to being very ordinary.

 
He said, "I hope I have not waited too long to ask you to go with me to the prom because I wouldn't go with anyone else, and I would hate to miss it."

She grinned and said, “You just made it under the wire, because I was about to give in to someone else.”

Alice told him not to buy her a corsage for she would take care of it, and his Aunt paid for the tux rental. Alice paid for her own ticket so financially he made it barely.

From that moment on his attitude changed in the way he viewed Alice and he realized that he had been seeing her as ordinary when she "Was Special” to him.

The last few weeks till graduation passed quickly, and getting his diploma was a step forward.

The summer would be spent working full time in the brokerage firm, and he now made a salary that relieved his financial problems.

He managed to get some night classes to speed his career along, and was far ahead of his contemporaries.

Alice was spending more time with Archie's Aunt Celia and they had became friends or at least on friendlier terms.

 

Alice's mother had insisted that she learn the basics of cooking and how to prepare a meal so sometimes she would cook for Archie and his Aunt.

Alice and Archie would go out once in awhile, but for the most part they stayed in at Aunt Celia's.

When the summer was over both Archie and Alice enrolled in continuation school.

She was going for an associate degree with an eye to become a court reporter and Archie started law school.

He had done his pre-law studies already so he was prepared to plunge right in to studying law.

 

These studies conflicted with his work at the brokerage firm and he once again was relegated to a part time position.

They were both very busy, and Alice secured a job doing secretarial work part time so she didn't have as much opportunity to spend with Archie.   

 

To be Continued