Ten Hail Mary's in the Morning

Ten Hail Mary’s in the Morning

By

Jamey O’Donnell

She said we were a perfect match, me being a Taurus, The Bull, and her being a Gemini.

I never much paid attention to that kind of stuff, but I was really looking forward to meeting her. Her photo online alone was enough to get together with her, but her intellect was what sold me. The things she spoke about and the way she said them were unique to me.

It took several months before we actually spoke on the phone. You must tread lightly when it comes to matters of the heart. Jumping in headfirst is never advised. One must take his time, investigate the possibilities, and determine if she is even in the ballpark of love.

She may turn out to be a horrible person that hates everything and is only putting up a front to seduce you, only to lower the boom on you once she has her hooks in you, then it could be too late.

Taking it slow is always the smart move. When it comes to love, you shouldn't be in a hurry, even though you may be suffering from a long drought.

Rebecca promised to be at The Chateau at 7 sharp, and she didn’t disappoint.

I had arrived 5 minutes earlier and waited outside the front door for her so we could walk in together. It seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do.

As she rounded the corner from the parking lot, she was absolutely stunning in her red dress and matching high heel shoes, walking as if she owned the real estate under her feet, and it was all I could do to keep my composure and not let on that I was more than pleased at the package she was presenting.

Definitely did not want to seem too eager.

“Rebecca?” I asked.

“Yes. You must be Brett?” she asked in return, then she extended her hand out to me.

I took it and we shook hands, and I was taken aback slightly at the firmness of her handshake. My father had always told me that you could judge someone by the way they shook your hand. If they had a good firm handshake, there was a good chance they could be trusted in business.

I had no idea how that logic applied to this situation, but my instincts told me that it couldn’t be a bad thing.

“Very nice to meet you finally” I said to her. “Shall we go inside? I have a table waiting for us.”

I then opened the door. “After you” I said, holding the door open for her.

We were seated promptly at a secluded table behind the Ficus tree, next to the balcony railing overlooking the bar.

I ordered a gin and tonic, and she ordered a martini. My kind of gal, I thought.

The place was very busy, as it had always been every other time I had supped there.

It was the best French restaurant in the city, and I was hoping to make a good first impression.

On the inside, I was very nervous and hoped it did not show, and I’m pretty sure I did a decent job of containing my exhilaration at finally being with this beautiful specimen of womanhood.

Her eyes were so blue, I almost couldn’t stop myself from staring into them, but I did my best not to, as I did not want to tip my hand, giving her the upper hand.

We chatted politely for a good 15 minutes, both of us sipping our drinks, before our waiter came to our table to begin our order.

We began with French onion appetizer bites and Ratatouille.

For our main course, she ordered the chicken croquettes and I ordered the steak fritas, both excellent first date choices I thought.

“I am very pleased to be here with you” she said.

“As I am with you. I am very impressed with your beauty. Photos do not do you justice” I responded.

Crap! Should I have said that? I wondered.

“Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself Killer” she said, and I immediately felt better.

She called me Killer! Ha!

After our second round of drinks, the social lubricant started to take effect in me, and as I popped an appetizer bite in my mouth, I asked her what her intentions were with me, to get a laugh and halfway open the door to the next step of the evening, but committed the cardinal sin of talking with food in my mouth, and it didn’t seem to phase her in the least.

“I guess that all depends on how dinner goes” she said with a wink.

I was really liking her more with every minute.

Then I excused myself from the table to pay a visit to the men’s room.

As I walked down the stairs, I ran into an associate of mine from work, heading to the men’s room as well.

“Hey Dylan, fancy running into you here.” I said.

“Hey Buddy, how are you? Wait, I know how you are because I saw who you are with. You are doing just fine my friend” Dylan answered.

You never get tired of hearing another man compliment you on the date you are with.

It’s almost as if you had the bigger dick of the two of you and he was acknowledging it.

I grabbed the first urinal available and he grabbed the one right next to me.

“You know, that is the premier android about to be released by Synton Laboratories. What I’ve read about this particular model is her forte, her trademark. Sex, wild sex, keep you talking about it for a week kind of sex,” said Dylan. “They are in their final testing phase now, before turning them loose on the market. How did you get hooked up with them?”

What he had just said almost didn’t register with me.

I had to ask him to repeat himself, but slowly.

He repeated it and I wanted to punch him in the mouth.

“What in the hell are you talking about?” I asked him.

“Oh shit! You didn’t know? I’m sorry man.” Dylan said sheepishly, as if he had just pissed on my leg.

I am not one to keep up on the current inventions, as they seem to happen too fast for me to keep up with. I pay little to no attention to the internet, or even television for that matter, so I had no idea what he was talking about.

After he washed his hands, he pulled out his phone and pulled up a picture of Rebecca as part of an article describing exactly what he was saying to me.

She was the newest model, the Rebecca T-1000, the most human of all androids, guaranteed to fool even the most discerning of skeptics.

Needless to say, I was floored and had to steady myself on the sink in front of me.

I felt like the biggest idiot in the world.

For months I had been romancing a robot and had no idea, and now I had absolutely no clue on what to do next.

Do I go back up there and confront her with this new information I’d been given?

Or do I just leave her there at the table and walk out, leaving her to pay the bill?

What if I am wrong and she is a real person, a human being that just resembles this android Dylan had just shown me a picture of?

I couldn’t just leave for that reason alone.

I thanked him, then I walked back up to the table where we were seated.

I sat across from her, staring at her as she talked about a new species of fish that was recently discovered off the coast of Chile, but can’t remember anything she said about it.

How sequestered have I been that I had no knowledge of these androids whatsoever?

It felt like a movie I was in, but could not assimilate the information to where it made sense to me.

Her face, her hands, her hair, even her fantastic breasts, they all seemed to be as human as any other human in the restaurant, and for the life of me, I could not detect anything about her that was artificial, knowing that she was not human and possessed no soul.

I let her do most, if not all, the talking, and she was an excellent conversationalist.

And then a funny thought had crossed my mind.

What if I took this to the next level? What if I actually went to bed with her and wasn’t repulsed at all? What would that make me? A pervert? A weirdo?

Would it be possible to have feelings for her, knowing it would be impossible for her to respond in kind?

What happens when she goes back to the people that created her? Would I ever see her again?

I struggled with coming out point blank and asking her the magic question, if she were a real human being, and with each drink I had imbibed, it seemed less important for me to know.

It had been a long time since I had been with a woman, especially a woman of her stature.

I decided to play this out to the end.

After we had finished our meal, she asked me what my plans were for the rest of the evening, and I told her I was open for just about anything, and she walked into that with the expectation that I was hers for the night, and truth be told, I was.

In a brief moment of lucidity, I re-examined my moral code, and asked myself if I could go all the way with her, and if I could, what then?

What happens if I fall in love with this machine, which is what she was, and how could I keep her with me and not lose her to her creators?

I was taking a big chance with my heart and hoping I didn’t lose myself and my sanity in the process.

“How would you feel about coming to my place and having a few more drinks and dancing with me on my balcony?” I asked her, feeling emboldened by the alcohol and the fact she wasn’t human.

“I was hoping you’d ask me over. I don’t have to be at work tomorrow” she answered, and if that wasn’t the biggest go sign that she was up for spending the night, I don’t know what would be.

I opened the car door for her and she slid inside like a cat with catlike moves, and after I sat behind the wheel, I was so ready for her when she leaned over and stuck her delicious tongue down my throat, giving me the most complete and perfect kiss I ever had.

If it was any indication on how the night was going to go, I knew right then and there I would have to go to confession in the morning to absolve myself of my transgressions.