When the Time is Right

"My dad died," Rik told him directly.

"I...I'm sorry, buddy. I really am," Brian said as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I lost my mom when I was ten."

"You did?" Rik asked, perking up immediately.

"Yes. In fact, it was 17 years ago September 11th."

"Wait. September 11th? Are you saying..." Rita said.

Brian nodded.

"I grew up in New York. My mom worked in the North Tower."

"Oh, my goodness. Brian, I am so sorry!" she told him.

"Thank you, but it was a long time ago," he told her even though he still thought about his mom every day.

"We lost...Jake...my husband...25 months ago," Rita said quietly. "It's...it's been very hard—on both of us."

Brian did his best to lighten the mood by asking Rik, "So have you ever golfed before? Putt-putt? Anything?"

"I played putt-putt with my dad," he replied. "But that's it."

"Well, that just means you don't have any bad habits to unlearn."

He turned to Rita and started to ask the same question.

"No. Never," she replied with a shake of the head before he could finish. "If you didn't already know that, you'll find out very soon."

"Well, that's why we have 'intro' courses," Brian told her cheerfully as he stood up.

He smiled at Rita then told them both, "I enjoyed talking with you, our um...common tragedies aside."

"Yes, you, too, Brian!" she told him sincerely.

"I'll see you back out there at 1:30, then?"

"Yes. Yes, you will," she said.

"Payne Stewart? How about you?" he asked Rik.

The 12-year old boy smiled and said, "Oh, yeah!"

He raised his hands and snapped his fingers as he sort of shook his head, adding to his 'uniqueness', and Brian couldn't help but think back on his own sense of awkwardness as a young boy growing up without parents. He'd never known his father, and still had no idea who he was and no intention of trying to find out.

"All right. That's the attitude!" Brian said as he asked for and got a high five.

"He's weird," Rik said once Brian was out of earshot, too young to understand the irony of his comment.

"I think he's kind of nice," his mom replied.

"I guess. In a weird sort of way," her son told her, determined to have the last word.

"Finish your lunch—Payne," his mom told him, thinking of the other kind of 'pain' in some lower part of her body.

After lunch, Brian took them to the driving range where he showed them how to tee up the ball as well as the key points of the swing, emphasizing the most important parts several times. Each person then tried several 'dry' swings using their drivers but without a ball. Brian would stop and make corrections as necessary then have that person try again until they got rid of the problem.

Rita was quite possibly the worst in the class, although another, much-older woman was a very close second.

"Okay. Take a look at the position of my fingers now and...now," Brian said as he began again with the grip.

Rita imitated her instructor.

"All right. Now when we move up to the tee, where do our feet go and why?" he asked.

Rita understood and gave the right answer, but still had several serious issues with her swing. Rik, who was having no real issues, was able to smooth out his swing to a large degree in short order.

"I don't think golf is going to be my game," Rita said with a laugh after Brian tried a fourth time to help her with her swing.

"Nonsense! Anyone can learn this," he assured her. "Can we try one more time?"

"Sure. Okay," she told him.

"Do you mind?" he asked as he moved right up behind her.

"No. Not if you think it'll help," she replied.

Brian reached around her just like in the movies and put his hands on top of hers. Then he drew the club back, stopping at each step, and explained why the club was in that position.

"This is what you were doing," he then explained, drawing it back incorrectly before showing her the proper way again. "Feel the difference?"

"Oh. Okay. Yes, I see that now," Rita told him.

"Great. Then follow through like this keeping in mind the position of your shoulders, hips, and where your head is supposed to be."

Her swing went from horrible to bad, and Brian told her that was a great improvement before moving on to the next person.

By the end of the day, everyone...else...was at least hitting the ball off the tee—most of the time. Rita was still 'whiffing' and 'topping' the ball fairly often either missing it completely or sending it dribbling out in front of her. Rik, on the other hand, was smacking some decent drives and earning a lot of praise from their instructor.

As the first day ended, Brian thanked everyone and asked if anyone had any questions. No hands went up, so he let them know he'd see them again tomorrow at 10am.

As his class filed off of the course, Rita waited around so she could ask Brian something in private.

"Do you think it's worth me coming back? I mean, I know I'm never going to be...Payne Stewart...but I'm really bad."

Rik smiled at the Payne Stewart comment but didn't laugh.

"You've improved a lot since the first time you swung a club, Rita," he told her. "I'd hate to see you not come back just because you feel you're not picking it up as fast as you'd like."

"Even my 12-year old son is much better than me," she admitted as Rik did a fist pump and said, "Yes!"

Brian couldn't help smiling and agreed Rik had some real potential, but he wasn't ready to give up on Rita.

"Tell you what. Can you come 30 minutes early tomorrow?" he asked.

"Sure," she told him.

"Great. I'll give you some personalized, one-on-one help while Payne Stewart here can hit some balls off an actual tee."

"I can't ask you to do that, Brian. It's not included in your fee, and I don't ask anyone to do anything for nothing," she explained. "It's just a personal thing."

Brian was impressed by that, and told her he understood then said, "Honestly? I absolutely love my job. Well, both of them. I teach skiing in the winter, too, so truth be told, I'd do this for nothing. That means coming out here for a few extra minutes to help someone improve their golf game isn't a hardship. It's a pleasure."

"Well, if you're sure," she said with a very nice smile.

"Positive. One-hundred percent," Brian assured her.

"All right. I'll see you at 9:30 then," Rita told him.

"You, too, killer," he said to Rik who was beaming from the praise.

As Brian walked away, Rik told his mom, "He is so cool!"

She laughed and said, "See, I told you."

Brian was there at 9:15, and to his surprise, his remedial client showed up at 9:20, something else he found very positive. After saying 'good morning' he suggested they take advantage of the additional time, so they headed straight out to a practice area.

Brian went over the fundamentals again then asked if Rita was ready.

"Would you mind helping me with my swing again? Just so I can 'feel' where the club is supposed to be?" she asked with an apologetic wince.

"Sure. I'd be happy to," Brian told her.

"Sorry. I know it can't be too exciting to have to cozy up to a middle-aged mom, but yesterday it really made a difference, so if you can stand it..."

The look on Rita's face was so serious Brian was surprised.

"Wait a second. Are you seriously implying you don't realize how attractive you are?" he asked just as seriously.

"Wait. What?" Rita asked, very confused as to what he meant.

"You uh, you did say you were a doctor, right?" Brian asked.

"Yes. I'm an internist."

"That means you're very intelligent, so how is it you're not following?" he asked trying not to smile.

"Because I'm...confused?"

"I can assure you you don't look like anything I'd call 'middle-aged'. In fact, you're about as far from that as anyone I've ever..."

He stopped before finishing his sentence then said, "Sorry. I don't normally say things like that to my clients. Perhaps we should just focus on your swing here, okay?"

Rita finally understood, and once she 'got it', she felt even more confused, because Brian was so good looking it made no sense to her to think he might be flirting. And yet that's exactly what she was almost sure he was on the verge of doing. She didn't want to be cynical, but his having brought up the fact that she was a doctor allowed her to assume that was the reason why. She wanted to think it was because, for a middle-aged mom, she wasn't all that bad, but she was a realist who simply couldn't imagine a guy like that flirting with her for the reasons men typically flirted with women.

He helped her the same way he had the day before, but this time his verbal cues seemed more formal and less friendly. Rita tried not to read anything into it, but she couldn't help wondering what had changed and if she might be the reason for it.

Just before class started, it was still eating at her so she asked Brian if she could talk to him for a moment.

"I'm not sure what happened a few minutes ago, but if I said—or did—anything to offend you, I am very sorry."

"Offend me?" he asked, his eyebrows raised high indicating he was the one who was now lost.

"Yes. Something changed. And it happened right after I made the comment about having to cozy up to someone my age. I can't help but think that may have offended you or maybe even...disgusted you...so, I was hoping we could..."

"Hold on," Brian said as he held up a hand.

Rita stopped talking and waited for him to say whatever he was getting ready to say.

"I can assure you that is not what I was thinking," he told her. "Not even close."

"Oh. Okay. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the reason for the shift in the way you were treating me. That's all," she said rather apologetically.

"The truth is you are the reason I stopped being quite so...informal," he said causing Rita to shake her head very slightly while her eyebrows went up.

Brian looked down then looked right at her.

"This is probably going to destroy whatever relationship we had, but the truth is I...I actually find you to be...extremely attractive."

Rita's mouth fell open in spite of years of always being in control around other people.

"When you said what you said I nearly told you something like how I'd actually enjoy cozying up to a woman like you, but I remembered who we are to one another and tried to forget what you'd said or how it made me feel."

Rita was still just staring at him so he said, "If you'd like, I'm more than happy to refund your money and..."

"Stop!" Rita finally said, her smile back.

Brian did stop, and Rita spoke.

"I just didn't understand. At all. But now that you shared your perspective, I'm...flattered. I just wouldn't have expected you to...see me like that. It...it's actually very nice. So I suppose I should say 'thank you' and leave it at that."

"So you're not ready to walk away?" Brian asked.

"No. I think I'll stick around. If that's okay."

Brian smiled at her then said, "Yes. It's very okay. I'd like that."

He turned to the rest of the group that had gathered about 20 feet away and said, "Good morning!" as he headed that way.

After reviewing what they'd gone over the day before, Brian got everyone back on the tee hitting drives with the focus on hitting the ball as straight as possible.

"We'll work on hooking and slicing tomorrow," he promised.

One of the older men said, "I think I have both of them down pat already."

Brian laughed then told him, "Yes, sir, but the key is being able to hook or slice only when you need to."

Everyone else chuckled politely, and Brian noticed Rita smiling at him in a way he hadn't seen. He smiled back and saw her look away immediately telling him she wasn't just looking at him, but that she'd been looking at him.

During lunch, Brian made his way over to where Rita and Rik were sitting and told them they were both doing great.

"Did you see me hit the 150-yarder?" Rik asked.

"I did. Very impressive," Brian told me.

"You don't have to make something up for me," Rita said. "Although I did hit one that rolled almost a hundred yards that was pretty straight."

"You're doing just fine," Brian assured her with his words and with a smile.

"Ask him, Mom!" Rik said.

"Honey!" his mom said immediately.

Not sure what was going on, Brian sat there not wanting to say anything (else) foolish.

"My mom was wondering if you'd go out with her," Rik said.

"Rik! Oh, my goodness! I did NOT say that!" she said with a look of horror on her face.

"Yes, you did," he insisted.

"I said no such thing," his mother told him. "I only wondered if he has a girlfriend."

Having said that out loud, Rita realized it was nearly as bad and began apologizing.

Brian laughed politely and told her it was no big deal.

"I know parents say things privately to their children, and the kids often misunderstand the meaning."

He looked at Rik then said, "No offense, my friend."

"Yes. Thank you!" Rita said. "I was just sort of...musing. That's all."

"The answer to your question is 'no'. I do not have a girlfriend."

Rita did her best to recover, but it was obvious Rik misunderstood what his mom had said, but he hadn't misunderstood the underlying meaning. When he blurted it out in front of Brian, it not only caught her off guard, it embarrassed her, and after the mixup the two of them had that morning, it was too much to take.

By then end of Day Two, Rita was hitting some decent drives while the only folks worked on slices and hooks, or 'fades' and 'draws' as the pros called them.

Again, she waited until everyone left then walked up to Brian and asked for another moment of his time.

"I just wanted to apologize—again—for the very strange day. I really do hope everything is okay between us."

"There's still no need to apologize, and yes, everything is just fine," Brian told her.

"Oh, okay," she said rather nervously.

"Was there something else?" he asked.

"Um...no. I...I don't think so," she said unconvincingly.

She'd looked at him while they were talking until he asked her that when she immediately looked away.

"Mom!" Rik said in that same tone of voice.

"Rik. No. Please don't start again," she told him.

"Why? Why won't you ask him?" her son said, his whiny voice irritating his mother even more than normal.

"Okay. That's it. We're leaving, and you are so in trouble, young man!" she told him as she pointed toward the parking lot.

"Why am I in trouble?" he said as he turned to walk away.

"I'd say 'yes'," Brian said loudly enough for Rita to hear, deciding to see where this might go.

Rita hadn't yet turned to follow her son and froze in place.

"Excuse me?" she said, emphasizing the word 'excuse' as though he'd just called her 'fat' or something worse.

"If you wanted to ask me out, I'd say 'yes'," Brian told her with a smile.

"You...I can't believe...why would you..."

Rita was stammering and trying to sound indignant, but it wasn't working.

"Am I wrong?" Brian asked as he moved a little closer.

Rik stopped walking and turned around, but didn't come back.

"It's not like we're employer/employee," he told her. "I think you're pretty amazing, and I would very much like to go out with you. I can't say I've ever had a woman ask me, but I'd love for you to um...be my first."

His words were so playful, it was clear there was no hidden meaning implying he meant hooking up or anything crass. It was just an honest admission of how he felt.

"I'm not sure where this is coming from," Rita began, "but I think you're imagining something that...that just...isn't there."

Her reply was so overly defensive, Brian knew he was right. But he also knew that with her son so nearby, it was unlikely she would be able to say what she had most likely been thinking.

"Okay. My apologies, then. I guess I did imagine something that wasn't really there," he told her sincerely although without conviction.

He was pretty sure she would just leave, but a part of him wondered if she'd not return. What he didn't expect was to hear her tell her son to go wait in the car.

She dangled the keys and waited for him to come get them.

"I'll be right there, okay?" she said, her tone softening to where it normally was.

Rik was even more confused and took the keys before throwing his golf bag over his shoulder and heading out to the parking lot.

Once he was far enough away that he couldn't hear, Rita began speaking.

"I just want to be clear, okay?" she said. "I don't really...date, okay? I admit I find you...rather attractive, but I also know I'm, well, I'm...older than you. And not just by a year or two."

"I'm 29," Brian said quietly.

"Oh, my... That's how old Jake—my husband—was when we got married."

"Does that mean you're attracted to men my age?" Brian said as seriously as he could.

Rita was trying to be serious and explain why her innocent comment about him possibly having a girlfriend had nothing to do with any actual interest on her part, but his straight-faced delivery got to her.

A smile appeared first. Then Brian smiled, and when he did, Rita laughed.

"That wasn't fair," she told him.

"Sorry. I'll try not to be funny or charming again," he said just as seriously.

"Brian! Stop!" she said, feeling like she was in high school.

"Okay. I'm stopping," he told her.

"No, you're not! You're still doing it," she said with a smile.

"Oh, so you do think I am funny and charming."

"Ugh! I think you're...impossible!"

"Au contraire," he told her. "I'm actually very 'easy'. If you'd just ask me out, I could say 'yes' and we could both go home. Alone."

Rita's eyes got wide, but she couldn't help laughing, so she covered her mouth as she did.

"You're...terrible!"

"I thought you said I was 'impossible'," Brian countered.

He held her stare until she could no longer look at him. He took a step closer, and waited for her to look up at him.

"If you won't ask me, then..."

"Brian? Would you like to...go out with me sometime?" Rita managed to say even as she felt herself almost 'shaking' inside.

"See how easy that was?" he told her with a smile.

"You didn't answer me," she reminded him with a smile of her own.

"Yes. I would love to go out with you."

"Oh. I...I guess that was pretty easy, huh?"

"Just let me know when and where, but I do have one request. Well, actually it isn't a request."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Whatever we do, I pay. For everything."

His caveat surprised her to the point where it caught her off guard. Before she could reply he told her there was one more.

"Oh, and I come and pick you up, too."

"All right," she said as she found herself now actually feeling like she had in high school the first time she talked to a really cute guy.

"So okay to both?" he asked.

"Yes. And I...I'm really glad you said them. Both...of them."

"And I'm glad you asked me out," he told her.

She smiled, and now almost fully recovered, playfully said, "For your information, you're my first, too."

Brian gave her a feigned look of shock and pretended to recoil, causing her to laugh.

"No! I only meant you're the first guy I've ever asked out!" she hurriedly explained.

"Again, I'm very happy you did."

"Yeah. Me, too," she told him with a sweet smile.

"Maybe we can talk about where you'd like to go tomorrow during lunch," he suggested.

"Okay. Sure. That sounds nice," she said, feeling silly and happy and still somewhat confused.

"And you can give me your address and phone number so I can, you know, come pick you up. And Rik, too, if you'd like."

"Really? You'd be okay with Rik coming along with us?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, you guys come as a two-for-one deal, right?" he teased.

"Yes. I suppose we do," she told him.

There was an awkward moment of silence before Rita said, "I...I should probably go."

"I agree. Your son has your keys, and he might be half way to California by now."