Wednesday, February 11:
American Airlines Flight #1430
Depart: San Diego, CA (LAX) 9:50 AM
Arrive: Chicago, Ill (ORD)
[The Association of Writers & Writing Programs Annual Conference @ Hilton Chicago]
Sunday, February 15:
American Airlines Flight #2079
Depart: Chicago, Ill (ORD) 8:45 AM
Arrive: San Dieco, CA (LAX)
!!!
-Lilian, I want to talk to you about something. Guy paused and took a deep breath, holding it longer than normal. But, here... he took her hand and held it against his chest, right over his heart. Feel that?
-Yeah.
-I'm a little nervous. He looked at Lilian's dark eyes and long lashes, their youth big and bright on her inquiring face. She took her hand from over Guy's fluttering heart and asked what he's thinking. Well, Lil... he paused again, the silence so loud he found his thoughts being distracted from leaving his tongue. The last thing I want is for anything to threaten our relationship--our friendship. We've known each other for nearly six years and we've seen each other both running and crawling through our lives. We've seen each other broken and we've seen each other restored. Everything that we've been through these years, we have experienced together.
Lilian was laying on her stomach beside Guy and rolled to her side to face him as he developed his sentences. He wasn't his usual confident self, his speech broken by hesitation and extreme care in word choice. Obviously he had something on his mind that shook him into this foreign character. He fell into a pause again and Lilian took the chance to reassure him she was attentive to what he was saying. We have, she said.
Guy breathed deep again, Fuck it. I'll just say it. Guy clutched the pillow beneath his body and, from his belly, turned to face Lily. This past month, the time we've been spending with one another has meant so much to me.
-Me too, encouraged Lily.
-But more than usual. Lily, I really like you and not until you came home had I realized what a truly beautiful and unique and matured human you are. I mean... he cleared his throat and squirmed a bit on his side... I think that you and I share something unbelievable, a friendship of astounding strength and honesty, something that I look for in a woman I want to be with beyond friendship.
Lily dropped her head onto the pillow under her and looked up, away from Guy. I agree, she said. We do have something uncommon.
-And as I noticed these feelings I have, my friends noticed them too. And I hold the advice and opinions of my friends with my faith in the friendship. Friendship balances on the fulcrum of communication where talking about and talking to each other meet. Rob and Shel both gave me perspective on how I act around you, pointing out nuances in me that change. Guy shifted once again, setting his hand as a stand beneath his head, still facing Lilian. They asked me why we aren't dating and I couldn't give them a good answer.
Lily looked back to Guy, studying his features, how he held a single brow above the other and how his eyes bounced over hers searching for a response. I, uh... I don't know what to say. She returned to looking away from Guy.
-I just wanted to let you know that this is how I feel. Are you against the idea of us making something more of our relationship? I'm not expecting us to leave this conversation with some sort of label or anything...
-No, I know, she interrupted. I don't have anything to say, which is most certainly not saying no. Looking back to Guy, Lilian continued, something was said to me and it got me thinking too. Guy's lips parted and gave way to a smile, his body not nearly as tense and his features relieved.
-So you're not against the idea?
-No, she said, I'm not.
-I guess that leaves my worry of mutuality with either yes or maybe. Guy breathed deep once more and smiled again, I'm glad.
-Me too, she said. Wanna cigarette?
-Yes
I do. With that, Guy grabbed his American Spirits and Zippo and jacket
to step into the chilling night air with Lilian close behind, reaching
for his available hand.
Last month I was invited to dinner by my coworker, Katie. I've known and worked with Katie for nearly five years and she and I have always gotten along well. She's a flower child of the sixties and I embrace the movement she was involved in... so we naturally click. The dinner was to take place at her home with her husband, daughter, and another family that we both know from work as well. The dinner was meant to take place tonight, but I got a text from Katie saying that it had been canceled because her daughter, Larkin, was sick. Understanding, I sent her a text saying thank you so much for the invitation anyway and I sent Larkin a text telling her to feel better. Larkin responded soon saying, "you should come over for drinks and chit-chat." Figuring she was feeling well enough to hang out with me, not necessarily with an entire dinner party, I headed over to her home after work.
When I arrived, Katie answered the door with a strange look on her face, like, "what the fuck are you doing here?"
Assuming that Larkin just didn't tell anyone that she invited me over, Katie had me come in and we hung out for a while with her husband talking, drinking, and waiting for Larkin to get out of the shower.
Through the rest of the evening, we all sat around the kitchen with wine and hors d'ouvres having a truly pleasant time.
Eventually, Katie and her husband left for bed, so Larkin and I stayed in the kitchen talking for about an hour then headed out for a smoke, where we stayed for another twenty minutes or so.
I made my goodbye and thanked Larkin for having me over and headed home.
While I was driving home, I checked my messages and realized that Larkin had texted me earlier that day... actually, it was a text she sent me right before the text inviting me over for 'drinks and a chit-chat.'
This newfound text, however, made me feel like a complete and udder idiot -- it was the first half of the invitation text. This message placed Larkin's invitation in a completely new context by thanking me for the well-wish and then saying "when I'm feeling better..." The rest of the message came as text number two, making the full message, "when I'm feeling better... you should come over for drinks and a chit-chat."
Apparently I was not invited over, rather I knocked on the unsuspecting door, inviting myself in for appetizers and wine.
