VINCE
July 16th, 2014
The meal with Sienna was far more enjoyable than I ever expected it to be. As gorgeous as she was, and as womanly as she appeared to be, being in her presence reminded me more of hanging out with the fellas than eating a meal with Natalie. She was calm, she spoke about whatever was on her mind, and she didn’t seem to have reservations regarding any of the subjects I chose to discuss. I found myself intentionally trying to cause her to be uncomfortable, but nothing seemed to shake her. As our meal came to a close, I had to continually remind myself that being in a relationship was the last thing on earth I needed to do.
But I really enjoyed being with her.
“So, you don’t work?” I asked.
“Not right now, no. I did up until last year, but I got…” She paused, raised both hands in the air, and made cute little finger quotation marks before continuing. “Let go.”
I couldn’t help but grin. To see her was to witness beauty, but watching her live life defined cute. I gazed at her for a long minute, mentally stumbled, and finally spoke.
“I see,” I said.
She twisted her mouth to the side as if she were thinking and reached for her glass of tea.
“I’m kind of just hanging out right now. It’s my father’s old house, and I don’t really have any bills, so…” she raised her glass, took a drink, and chewed on a cube of ice while she gazed at me innocently.
“And on Sundays you get drunk and review books?” I asked.
She swallowed the ice and quickly got another. As she chewed it, she responded over the loud crunching sound. “Pretty much. It’s a ritual. I generally start about seven or so. It’s the only day of the week I drink.”
Over the years I had learned a lot about people. My job required that I have a knack for reading people or develop an ability to do so based on my experience. I suppose my successes in my work could be attributed a little to both. Naturally I was able to read people better than most other men, and over time I learned a lot about expressions, tell-tale signs, and mannerisms while working. Sienna’s willingness to do something as simple as sit and chew ice cubes told me some things about her.
She was comfortable around me, and she had no hesitation to be herself in my presence. I studied her for a moment and eventually raised my index finger. As her eyes shifted up toward my hand, I grinned.
“I have a question,” I said.
“Okay,” she responded.
Her brown eyes were filled with innocence, but my experience with people told me she was far from an innocent woman. I knew I wasn’t mentally or physically ready for a relationship, but letting her slip away completely was unthinkable.
“I told you about my ex-wife, and how I didn’t trust women,” I said.
She nodded her head as she raised her glass of tea. “Yep.”
“Well, what if we started doing this every Sunday? As friends and nothing more, just two people enjoying each other’s company. What would you say to that?” I asked.
She shuffled an ice cube around in her mouth and eventually spit it back into her glass of tea. After wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, she shifted her eyes to meet mine and smiled.
“I’d like that,” she said.
And, with those three words, my life was completely changed.