The Last Straw

She felt an irresistible urge to stage-manage every occasion, and his stubborn resistance to being told what to do resulted in constant friction.
-Nial Kent
"The Divided Path"

Twenty-five years ago today:

June 28, 1985
Friday

Today is the last working day of June. It was SDC (Sales Development Center) “Snack Day”. That was the decided celebration for our Business Office in honor of Gay Freedom Day (which is on Sunday) in San Francisco.

I telephoned Rachelle.
“I just want you to know I called Jim DeLeuze and told him I was your boyfriend.”
“What? Don’t tell me you did that!” Rachelle screeched.
She really was upset. I was quite surprised that she reacted the way she did. I kept quiet for a minute and she went on and on.
“This is the last straw! We are broken up.” She hung up the phone.

Of course, five minutes passed and she called me right back. I was on my break but Dale interceded and arranged for us to be on a 3-way call together. Dale played ‘marriage counselor’. Things got straightened out.
I explained, “It’s true. I didn’t really call Jim DeLeuze. I do love you, Rachelle. I was just testing your love to see your reaction.”
“Well that was a dirty trick,” Rachelle said with a bit of a pout.

After work I was to go to the gym and pick up Rachelle at 7:30PM. I did not go to the gym. Instead, I took a nap at mom’s house and started to watch the soap opera “The Young and The Restless”. Then I decided to go ahead and go to Rachelle’s house. We were supposed to go out to see a movie.
“No, I don’t feel like a movie tonight,” Rachelle stated proudly.
“Then what do you want to do?”
“We are going to the Pleasanton County Fair!”
“Oh, okay…that’s a good idea. Let’s do it.”
I agreed to her idea. Why argue? She drove to Pleasanton, of course.

While at the County Fair she wouldn’t let me put my arm around her.
“It feels uncomfortable. I want to hold hands.”
I didn’t like to hold hands very much because the hands get balmy and sweaty after five minutes. It seems silly now that I think of it.
I hinted, “We should get a beer.”
I knew full well that I really didn’t have any cash, so I turned the beer idea around. Rachelle started to insinuate that I was ‘boring’ and ‘no fun’.
“That’s not very nice,” I said.
Then she started to walk in front of me. She kept leading the way. I didn’t like it at all.

We left the Fair and got into my car. She was going to go home. I planned to go to the gym. Then I changed my mind, thinking I’d just go to the gym tomorrow.
Rachelle suddenly said, “We should talk.”
“Okay, I’ll drive to my house and we can talk there.”

I made it clear as to all of the things I did not like while we were at the County Fair.
I said to Rachelle, “I especially didn’t like it when you said ‘I’d be having a real good time if you weren’t here’ after you ran into that old friend you used to go out with.”
This particular guy friend worked at the UNION 76 Station on Lake Chabot Road.

While at my house we had another argument. This time it was about my not getting a blanket for her or making coffee.
“I’m not in the mood to play host,” I said with regard to her ‘making coffee’ complaint.
Rachelle got upset.

Then I got up from where I was sitting and took her upstairs. We made love. Then I had to j—k off because we had no protection. She was soon at her home again and things seemed to be fine once again. Things always do when we make up. She always needs reassurance from me. Shit! I can say, “I Love You” so many times, yet it still doesn’t sink in for her.

She peeled an orange and sucked each segment to extinction.
-Stieg Larsson
"The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest"