Chapter 6

Over time the first summer at NRL, Sheila and I became very close. Every day, the two of us would have lunch. By August, we graduated to coffee at Starbucks across the street from the Naval Research Laboratory. Sheila and I even caught a movie at the AMC Theatre near the Eisenhower Metro Station in Alexandria, Virginia. We watched Forrest Gump starring Tom Hanks. Then we hung out in Old Town Alexandria.

Over dinner at Pat Troy's, I was all ready to give Sheila my rosary bracelet. She wore the most gorgeous cardigan sweater that matched the turquoise beads of the rosary bracelet. Under the cardigan she wore a white blouse. I admired her French braided sandy blond hair. Sheila and I chatted, and in the middle of the conversation I heard Sheila say, "...blah, blah, blah...MY BOYFRIEND...blah, blah, blah,.."

That was all I had to hear. I never gave Sheila my rosary bracelet. I a few weeks, I left Washington, DC to return to Harvard.