Authors note: My mom is Sue with Merle Norman. I told her long ago that I’d model a character after her for one of my stories and, well, I included her in one and she loves it.
A Chicago Love Story: Part 2
by Stephanie Weiland
Over the next few weeks Trixie and Jim settled into a comfortable routine. He drove her to the train station for work before going to the school, she quizzed him for his classes and helped him grade papers for the class he taught and they also generally spent as much time together as they possibly could.
As the weeks went by, Trixie and Jim saw everything they could on Sundays in the Chicago area. They made a lot of new friends and the natives of the area gave them lots of tips on where to go. They also bought several guidebooks to help them along.
On a couple of Saturdays Trixie met Jim after his class at Northwestern and they spent time walking and talking along the beautiful campus on the lake. They loved the city of Evanston and went to several places there, including the Davis Street Fish Market, a noisy fun place with the best clam chowder in the world.
As they spent so much time together they discovered that they were falling in love with each other. It had been meant to be for almost ten years and was finally happening. Trixie almost ran home from the train every night except for on his school nights. They both were reluctant to admit how deep their feelings were yet. Jim had the feeling that Trixie loved him too and was trying to figure out the perfect place to declare his feelings for her.
On the second week in November Brian had a conference in Chicago on a Friday and Honey was coming with him. After the conference they would be there until Tuesday morning. Trixie and Jim both had the next Monday off and they were all looking forward to the weekend spent together.
When Brian and Honey arrived on Thursday night, they picked them up at the airport and drove to the apartment. There they sat in the living room and watched ER together and talked about what they were going to do over the weekend. There were so many things both Brian and Honey wanted to see and they finally narrowed it down to as much as they could fit.
Then the talk turned to wedding plans. Trixie told Honey she was honored to still be asked to be maid of honor since she was living so far away and Honey said, "You’ll be there for the wedding and the last days before it and that’s what matters and there is no way I could get married without you standing there, could I?"
Trixie said, "I was just concerned about not being there to help you with everything. This wedding is going to be perfect. How are Mart and Di or Dan and Hallie coming along anyway?"
Honey said, "Mart and Di are as close and in love as ever and so are Dan and Hallie. Dan says that he might have a meeting here the first weekend in December and will call you when it’s confirmed to come and visit. This apartment is so nice. Park Ridge seems like such a nice place to live. Any thoughts about living here forever? Please, say no."
Trixie said, "We talked about it somewhat but Sleepyside is our home. We love it here but we want to spend the rest of our lives in Sleepyside. After all, Jim has already bought the land around Ten Acres for the school and we have our agency to get started in a few years."
Jim said, "I think the only thing Trixie would change is more washer and dryers and a dishwasher here, but she has me."
Everyone laughed at that remembering how Trixie had always hated and always would hate doing dishes no matter what.
Brian and Honey also both noticed that whenever Trixie and Jim talked about their futures they always talked of being together which everyone expected, of course, to happen. They were very happy for them and hoped things would really happen.
As it was getting late, everyone got ready for bed. Brian was staying on the hide-a-bed in the living room and Honey was staying in Trixie’s room.
The next day Honey met Trixie downtown for lunch. They went over to Harry Caray’s restaurant which was one of Trixie’s favorite places in the city to eat.
Honey said, "I can see that you and Jim have certainly progressed in your relationship. No more just looking fondly at each other and holdings hands, I see"
Trixie blushed and said, "We’ve kissed many times but that’s it. I love him but have not quite gotten up the courage to admit it to him. I guess maybe I’m a little afraid as to what he’ll say and that he’s not in love with me yet."
"I think he is in love with you. You just have to figure out the perfect time and place to tell him how you feel."
"Living together has been such an experience but we are so natural together it’s perfect. Sometimes I just sit and watch him while he’s working on something. He is so wonderful."
"And the way he looks at you speaks volumes. He was watching you last night as you sat there together on the couch. I think the world could have ended and he wouldn’t have noticed. This is nice. Things are starting to turn out for all the Bob-Whites the way they were meant to be."
Trixie agreed and they finished lunch and Trixie gave her a tour of her office--at least, what she could show her--and then Honey headed back to Park Ridge while Trixie finished her workday before almost skipping to the train. She loved the walk to the train downtown over the famous bridges and river but couldn’t help but wonder at the famous St. Patrick’s Day tradition of dying the river green. She wondered to herself, "How could they tell the difference?"
That night the foursome went to Bailey's where they ate, danced and talked until they went to a movie at the famous Pickwick Theatre, a beautiful old theatre in downtown Park Ridge that was world famous for its style and class. The owners had kept it the way it had been when it opened in the 1920’s.
After the movie was over they took a little walk through Park Ridge which was nice. Trixie pointed out things in her favorite stories and said she would have to take Honey to meet Sue at Merle Norman the next day. She told them that she and Jim were going to her house for Thanksgiving dinner since they weren’t going to be able to go home for the holiday.
The next morning Jim and Brian went off to workout while Trixie and Honey went shopping in Park Ridge, agreeing to meet and go downtown together around noon.
Trixie took Honey immediately to Merle Norman where the owner Sue greeted them with a smile and Trixie introduced Honey to her. They talked and Honey bought a few of the beautiful blouses that were sold there and a Winnie the Pooh sweatshirt. Honey had always been a big Pooh fan. Sue also gave Honey some wedding day makeup tips and wished her luck.
After that they went to some of the other stores with Trixie telling Honey how Park Ridge had resisted going too far into the 90s with a lot of businesses having been there for generations. Honey agreed with Trixie when she said that Park Ridge was like Sleepyside, only on a bigger scale and that must be one of the reasons Trixie and Jim loved it so much.
The foursome met at the Park Ridge train station and headed downtown talking and laughing all the way. Trixie talked about how nice the ride was every day, smooth and fast as they were in the center of Chicago in half an hour and walking into the November Chicago day.
They first went to the top of the Sears Tower. When Trixie talked again about how romantic she thought it was and how she still wanted to go there at night, Jim couldn’t help but get an idea and started to plot in his head.
After they left there they went on a horse drawn carriage ride along the lakefront. Even though winter was approaching, the lakefront and the skyline were still beautiful.
After their ride they went shopping at Water Tower Place. Of course Jim and Brian would rather not spend all that time shopping but they indulged their women. Brian said, "I remember Dad saying he was worried Moms would want to buy one thing here and set them back for 10 years"
They returned late to Park Ridge and that night drove out to Hackney’s, a great family Irish style restaurant in nearby Wheeling, and had hamburgers, all agreeing that they were the closest things in the world to either those served at Wimpy’s or by Mrs. Belden.
They had a lot of fun downtown again the next day, spending the morning at the Art Institute and the afternoon at the Museum of Science and Industry.
That night Brian and Jim had a chance to talk while Trixie and Honey went off for a bit to meet one of Trixie’s friends.
Brian said, "I see what’s happening with you and Trixie. So how do you feel about my sister? You know Honey and I want to see you two together. I know everyone wants to see you together."
Jim said, "I love her and I think she’s in love with me but I’m trying to find the right place and time to say it out loud. What she said when we were at the Sears Tower made me start thinking about something for next Friday when we have a half-day at school." He outlined his plan to Brian and Brian said he thought Trixie would love it.
Then Jim didn’t surprise Brian at all when he said, "And I also think that I’m going to marry her someday. Living with her can become a habit. I guess we’re just going to have to see what happens and I think things will happen very soon."
The next day they went up to the Northwestern Campus where they showed Brian and Honey everything they liked there and had dinner at the fish market. The next day they were all sad to see them off on their early morning flight back to Sleepyside.
Honey knew she would be grilled by Mrs. Belden and would be very happy to inform her that Trixie and Jim were very much in love and maybe there would be another wedding in the family soon. As they talked on the plane on their trip home, Brian heartily agreed with her and said he knew that his parents would be ecstatic. Honey said that her parents would be too.
On Friday Trixie was leaving her office building when she saw Jim standing there looking very handsome in a dark suit and holding a big bouquet of roses for her.
She walked up and kissed him and asked, "What’s going on?"
Jim said, "You will have to wait and find out"
First he took her to dinner at Harry Caray’s restaurant where they had their favorites. It was a really nice restaurant which was in tribute to the late great broadcaster. Jim once said that as a baseball fan he wished he had once gone to Wrigley Field and sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" along with Harry. They both thought the guest conductor thing was a little goofy.
After that they walked to the Sears Tower and took the elevator to the top. When they arrived at the top, Jim took Trixie’s hand and led her to their favorite view of the city, looking south over all the lights. They had never been there at night and they both thought it was ten times more beautiful and romantic at night than during the day.
Jim put his arms around her and said, "Trixie, you talked about how romantic you thought this place was. I thought it would be the perfect place to say I love you."
"I love you," replied Trixie.
They kissed, arms around each other and totally oblivious to the crowd of people around them and the city twinkling below them.
To be continued