He texted me when he was parked outside my office. I ran
down the stairs and out into the drizzling rain. We kissed hello.
I started telling him about my day at work. One of the
interns told a story about a misunderstanding he had in University when he was
asked to participate in a psych experiment. I was really into the story, and
Kevin was laughing so hard that we missed our corner, and had to circle around
downtown for a while.
We eventually parked, the spot we found was still dry
(the former occupant must have only just left) and so it all worked out for the
best. We walked to the restaurant in the rain. Kevin held my hand and I pointed
out that we always seem to go for walks in the rain. I looked around, we were
in a neighbourhood where I used to work, and a few of the businesses along the
avenue had been converted into something else. The Thai place that we were
heading to had been there for years, though I had never noticed it before.
We went through a non-descript door and up some stairs. Kevin
held the door and signaled for me to precede him. His hand rested on the small
of my back for a moment in a gesture that was delicate and strangely familiar. I
blushed and cleaned rain off my glasses as I climbed the stairs. The ceiling
was a dangling mass of dried roses, and the place smelled of incense and
spices.
We were shown to a table and settled in. He had tea, and
I was happy with water. We chatted for a little while before heading over to
the buffet. In keeping with my precedent of pretending not to be the pickiest
eater alive, I took a variety of food, and managed to eat it all. There were
tofu salad rolls, curries and veggies, calamari and pad thai. I used my amazing
retractable chopsticks and Kevin was suitably impressed. We talked about work
and life and food. When our plates were cleared, I presented him with a
selection of notebooks so that he could choose one to use for his writing.
A few days ago he had mentioned that he used to keep a
notebook full of ideas on hand. I told him that I had a number of empty
notebooks kicking around and that he could have one of mine. I asked him a
number of highly specific questions (size, hardcover or soft, lined or unlined,
binding preferences, etc.) and decided that the ones I had weren’t quite good
enough. So I stopped at a stationery store and picked out a couple that I
thought he’d like. And then, because I couldn’t convince myself that I’d made
the exactly right call, I brought all of them (at least 7) to the restaurant at
lunch, and let him pick. He chose the one I bought for him.
Kevin told me he had a present for me also. I looked
around expectantly. He said he hadn’t brought it into the restaurant because he
wasn’t sure they’d appreciate it. I made a joke, “Aw, you got me Ebola? You shouldn’t
have!”
We went for seconds. I took smaller portions this time,
and less rice. So good.
 |
| Defensive instincts in action. |
This time, I was the one who was paying attention to the
time. I mentioned that Kevin’s parking meter would be up soon, and so he paid
the bill and we stepped back out into the rain. I reached out for his hand, and
we walked back to his car together. He put his notebook on the seat, and I noticed
that it needed a pen. I found one floating in my purse and hooked it onto the
cover. He gave me my surprise (which was a bottle of wine), and we made our way
back to my office.
I was paying better attention this time, and giving him
directions without the distraction of a ridiculous story. I directed us right
to a train crossing, where we sat for ages waiting for a train to go by. He
seemed perfectly at ease and mentioned that he didn’t mind waiting because he
could spend time with me. In self-defense, I called him a cheeseball – because a
girl’s got to defend herself from wanton compliments like that.
He dropped me off at work and gave me an awkward kiss
goodbye. It’s always weird kissing when you’re both seatbelted. I
do not recommend it. I will be sure to take my seatbelt off next time. I got
out of the car and stepped into a massive puddle, said something unladylike and
squelched back to the office.
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