I met Wanda and Sue when Chris and I were together. We used to go to their house and hang out in a loft that Sue had built for Wanda above their garage. It was a great little space where we could lounge on fluffy cushions and play Nintendo until my thumbs felt like they would fall off or Wanda unplugged the game - whichever came first. That was my cue that it was time to leave and, pretty much, the only way to get my attention away from the screen! I really loved that game!

Sue was gifted when it came to building things. Anything. Especially woodworking. She loved making wooden toys and had shown me some of the things she'd made. Building blocks, puzzles, wooden cars and a really great pull train where each car was made of stacked building blocks of different shapes. Their most recent project was making these cute little wooden reindeer, whose backs were planter boxes, and were selling them for the Christmas holiday season at the Long Beach Promenade - an outdoor marketplace for artists and craft-workers. When their orders began to get out of control, they decided to set up a workshop to accommodate their needs. Wanda was Lightning's best friend. Lightning had the capital they needed to make it work. So the three of them formed the new custom woodcraft company, LSW Woodworks. They leased a large industrial building with a storefront close to downtown in Long Beach.

The building had what they needed but their plan was to live there too so there was much work to be done. There was a small store in front with a huge warehouse behind it. Two storys high, skylights in the ceiling and a loft at the back end of the building. Since I had plumbing experience, Sue asked me to come help re-design the small bathroom so it had a bathtub and shower with all the proper drainage. So, while I planned and helped build a full bathroom out of what started as a room with a sink and a toilet, Sue began work on the rest of her vision. When it was complete, the downstairs was a professional wood shop with tools that were state of the art. The back of the shop was where we had built a complete kitchen and bathroom. On the left wall was a staircase. Gone was the ladder bolted to the wall which had been the only access to the loft. At the top of the stairs was not one loft, but two, connected by a catwalk.

The new loft was a bedroom and an office. The top half of the giant store-front window was its front wall. On the opposite side was a place where you could sit and observe the goings on of the shop below or look across to the living room on the other side.

I'd always wanted to learn how to work with wood. My grandfather had been a master craftsman and cabinetmaker but he retired before I was old enough to learn how. I did inherit a bunch of his woodworking tools though. Sue was going to show me how to finally make good use of them.

Lightning was there often. For the most part, we got along fine. It was only when she and Randi would fight that things went the other way for us. Everytime, it was always the same. They would get in a scuffle. Randi would call me, crying. I would run to her rescue. She would fall into my arms... and I got to be her hero! I guess I've always had a thing for damsels in distress.

So, I would be running out the door of the shop right about the time Lightning would be arriving. We would snarl at each other as we passed. Her look to me read like, "Good! You can take her for a while!" And mine to her was like, "You didn't have to hit her!" I'm pretty sure if we had said those things out loud, her response would've been something like,"Jesse, you have no idea what you're talking about!"

As it turns out, it was at least a year later, but I did get the chance to see the Randi that had regularly pushed Lightning beyond her tolerance threshold. This was much later on. Randi and I were in my car, on our way to my house when we started arguing about something. I don't remember the subject matter. I think Randi got off on purposely choosing the opposite side of anything just to get to argue about it. I'd decided that she needed to go! I stopped my car and said,

" It's time for you to go."

She just looked at me... I thought, maybe she didn't understand what I was telling her.

"Get out of my car!"

To which she crossed her arms in front of her and said,

"Make me."

I was floored! I mean WHAT?! No, no, no, no, this can't happen!

"MAKE YOU?! It's my car! You HAVE to get out of it! It's mine!"

She just sat there and said again,

"Make me." and shrugged. I could see the faintest trace of a smile, even! ()

Miffed, I had idea what to do! If I remember correctly, I think I got out of my own car and left her sitting in it while I walked away! But, like I said before, I didn't get to know that side of Randi until quite a bit later. In the mean time, I learned how to make toys with wood and everything stayed the same for a while.

When I wasn't trying to be Randi's hero, Lightning and I got along just fine. She had this way of... I don't quite know how to explain it. It was like she had no recollection of any animosity between us. Like the things that came between us as a result of her relationship with Randi... It stayed with that relationship. OUR interaction with each other was ... friendly!

One day Lightning asked me if I'd be interested in going with her to the car auction. She wanted to buy a car and knew i had been a mechanic so I agreed to go. We had a great day that ended with a purchase of a very cute little car that ran well. The next day I got to the shop just as Lightning came out the door. She said she was going to a local thrift store and asked me if I wanted to come. I said okay and jumped into her car.

Something happened then. I can only describe it as sparks in the car between us. No, not between us - connecting us! It was so strong that she had to have felt it too. Because, it was there. Tangible. And it took my breath away! Just like that! It was like a steam engine had just plowed into me and suddenly what wasn't there before, now took hold of me with its' teeth, and I had no idea what to do with it! All I could think about was that I wanted her! I'm telling you, it was the weirdest thing! It wasn't just a physical attraction. I wanted her to be mine!

So, the problem with that, of course, was that I could never make her mine! I mean, I was Randi's hero!! She was Randi's girlfriend! No matter how I looked at it, this was something that just couldn't happen. It would never be okay. Right?

Still...

I left the moment we got back to the shop. I tried to occupy my mind with other things. Anything! I WANTED HER! I wanted to go back in time... to do something to justify being with her. I played it out in my mind over and over. If only there was a way to just get her and run away somewhere where nobody would find us. Some way...

I called Lightning and asked her if she wanted to go out for coffee with me. (Nothing had been said out loud. Going for coffee wouldn't be breaking any rules.) She said she didn't think so. So I told her I wanted to talk to her and would come by the shop. I didnt say anything about the way it had been in the car.

"Who knows..." I thought to myself. "Maybe it was all on my head." If it was just me and she hadn't felt anything, well... That would be different. That, I could let go of. I needed to know!

When I got to the shop, I had to ring the bell. It was late. I waited for Lightning to come down. I swear, it felt like I could only breath in. Exhaling was impossible! When my lungs were full and i couldnt take in any more air, it was as if I couldnt breath at all! I had to literally tell myself to exhale before I could breath again. Waiting for her to come out was unbearable!

Finally, she came outside. I didnt even give her a moment to say hello. I said to her,

"Okay, so I don't know what happened but I can't stop thinking about you! From the moment I got in the car with you... Could you feel it? You must have felt it? Do you know what I'm talking about?"

She stood there calmly with kind of a half-smile or smirk - I couldn't tell which. But she let me continue.

"I don't know what to do! I know it's not okay. It can never be okay! But I've never denied myself anything I've wanted! Never! I want to take you far away from here where nobody can find us! Oh my god, Lightning. I don't know what to do with this!"

a good fifteen seconds of silence happened then, and I started wondering if she'd heard any of it!

finally Lightning said,

"Well Jesse,"

"unlike you, I didn't just discover my attraction for you overnight! And you'll do exactly what I've done... You'll deal with it!"

Then she reached for my hand and gave it a squeeze as she kissed me on the cheek and said,

"Goodnight Jesse."

And she turned and walked back into the shop. I just stood there, dumbstruck and completely in awe.