by J. Lea
“You?” I looked around myself. “What are you doing here?” Across me sat the handsome stranger who changed my tire.
Eyebrow raised, he responded, “What does it look like I’m doing? I probably didn’t come here to swim.”
A smile broke across my face at his sarcastic reply. “Sorry, it’s just… I didn’t expect to see you again.”
“I guess boredom does weird things to a person,” he winked at me.
“Yes, you could say that,” I shook my head, smiling.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to bore you, so let’s make this date a little different. I won’t annoy you with generic questions, like where you work, and what you like to do for fun. Let’s try a different approach instead.”
If he hadn’t already caught my attention back on the road, he’d definitely have it at that moment. “Okay. What did you have in mind?” My interest was piqued.
“Let’s see. If you won a trip to a country of your choice, where would you go?”
“Simple. Australia,” I shot enthusiastically.
“Interesting. I don’t know much about the land down under, but I love their Tim Tam chocolate biscuits,” he said playfully. “What makes you so passionate about Australia?”
“What wouldn’t? It’s a beautiful country that offers so many things to discover and try out. I’d love to ride the mechanical dolphin—they say it’s like flying underwater. Or better yet, I’d like to swim with real dolphins, explore the Australian wilderness, and admire nature on a bike. Maybe ride the four-wheeler through the Simpson Desert, and sleep in the underground bunkers that date back to Second World War.” My voice was filled with excitement and passion every time I spoke about Australia.
“Huh. I didn’t peg you as this adventurous.”
“Well, you don’t know me,” I shrugged.
We continued our conversation, discussing the countries we found fascinating, and what adventures we would like to experience.
“So…” I caught myself before I called him Adonis, biting down on my tongue quickly. I glanced at the sticker, pasted on his chest. “Parker, do you always help damsels in distress?”
Parker flashed me his flirtatious smile, causing my heart to beat faster. “I do what I can.”
I wondered how many girls’ hearts his gorgeous smile had broken. His perfectly straight, white teeth practically lit the room every time he grinned.
“How—“ Just as I was about to pose him the next question, the bell rang, announcing the end of the date. We exchanged glances and awkward smiles.
“It was really nice to meet you.”
We shook hands, before Parker got up, and walked to the next table. He affected me so much, I couldn’t help myself but to turn my head, and steal one more glance at him. And I wasn’t the only one. Parker turned around too, gave me a wink when he caught me staring, and sat down at the next date’s table. I’d give anything to spend five more minutes with him, but he was already smiling at the girl to the left of me.
“Having fun?” Elias’s familiar voice interrupted my thoughts. I spun in my seat to face him, and gave him a soft smile.
“It’s actually not as bad as I thought.” Parker made it so much better.
“Ha! So, I was right.”
“And you? Have you met anyone interesting?” I was curious to know.
“A few,” he winked sassily at me. He discreetly pointed his head to the black-haired beauty, standing on the other end of the room, chatting with some man. She was dressed in a skintight mini black dress with sky-high heels on her feet. She was a knockout. Then he pointed to the bespectacled brunette with a low-cut neckline, breasts spilling out of the material.
“Nice,” I offered my opinion sarcastically. Elias had always been attracted to women with big breasts; But, what I was more interested in, was what attracted him to men. In all the years I’d known him, I never saw him with a guy. What qualities did he search for in men? Did he look at guys the same way women looked at men? Did he first check out their butt? Perhaps their smile? Eyes? Or, did his eyes drop directly to their family jewels? Would Elias like Parker?
Three dates later, I had another unusual experience, which was the complete opposite of my five minutes in heaven with Parker.
“Hi there, kitten,” came a disgustingly sweet voice from a guy whose sticker said his name was Rick.
“Um, hello,” was my hesitant greeting.
“Baby, you’re so fine, I could put you on a plate, and sop you up with a biscuit.” He winked at me.
“Um, thank you?” I had no idea how to respond to his lame pick up line.
“Tell me, kitten. What do you like to do in your free time? We could take a ride in my new car sometime,” he plopped down into his seat, leaned his elbow on the table, and rubbed his stubble with his hand. His appearance screamed cocky, the way he spoke told me he was confident, and he wasn’t hiding it. But, the line between being self-confident and self-conceited was very thin, and Rick has already crossed it.
“I don’t think so.” I didn’t even bother investing into our conversation. I glanced around the room wearily, waiting impatiently for the five minutes to pass. Suddenly, my eyes met Parker’s. We smiled gently at each other. Rick’s eyes, studying me intently, drew me back to my companion.
“I think I’ve seen you before somewhere,” he said, and started snapping his fingers as if he was thinking hard.
“Oh, really?” I asked incredulously.
“I know!” His eyes lit up. “In the dictionary, next to the word hot.” He smiled broadly.
Oh, god. Could he be any cornier? I gave him a sour smile and nodded. He thought he was such a player, making me melt at his corny compliments, but the only thing melting was my patience. Luckily, the bell rang soon after, and I sighed in relief.
The next half hour went by pretty quickly. A few men were quite boring, but others I wouldn’t mind at least becoming friends with. Of course, I had to answer to the same boring questions, but at least all men seemed genuinely interested in me. I returned the favor by trying to be as friendly as possible, because that’s just the way I was.
After the conclusion of the dates, as Elias and I were leaning against the bar at one end of the room, and comparing our experiences, Rick approached. To my surprise, Elias seemed to know him.
“Hey, man. Didn’t know you’d be here,” Elias said, when they shook hands.
“Curiosity, man,” Rick responded. “I wanted to see if there would be any hot chicks at the event.” He licked his lower lip suggestively, and eyed me from head to toe. “I’m glad I came,” he winked at me.
“Rick, this is Lori, my best friend.”
“Best friend? How come I’ve never seen her before? I’d definitely remember a hot piece of ass like hers.”
“She just moved here.”
They chatted on as if I wasn’t even there, until I cleared my throat, focusing the attention on me. “Oh, sorry, Lori, this is my neighbor, Rick,” Elias explained.
“We’ve gotten to know each other a little on our date,” I told him.
“So? Are we going out after today, or what? I would definitely like to see you again,” he added, nodding at me.
“We’ll see about that,” was my response. Even though I found him fairly annoying, I didn’t want to tell him that since he was Elias’s friend. His friends were more or less okay. Maybe I just had to get to know him better. I excused myself, and went in search of a restroom. On my way back, I noticed Parker. I didn’t understand the strange pull that had me drawn to him, but in the next moment, I stood right beside him. He was leaning on the bar, legs crossed at the ankles, speaking to the waiter.
“A glass of water, please.”
“Lori,” Parker nodded.
“I thought you already left.”
“Nah. I’m waiting for my friend.” He pointed his finger a few feet to the right, to the man in a heated conversation with two women.
I nodded. “Do you do this often? This speed-dating thing?
”
“No, it’s not really my thing. Gabe, my best friend, dragged me here. He comes every now and then. It was surprisingly refreshing.” The corners of his mouth turned up.
“Yes, it was…” I took a few seconds to find the right words. “Quite an interesting experience, except for the—“
“One and the same questions,” he finished my sentence.
“Exactly.” I smiled, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. “But you didn’t ask me any cliché questions.” I looked up at him through my eyelashes.
“Nope. I like to spice things up; it’s just who I am. I like to know what the person I’m talking to is really like. You can learn a lot about someone if you ask the right questions.”
“And what did you learn about me?”
“That I would like to get to know you better.”
I swallowed and grinned at him, but, on the inside, I was dancing with joy. Yes, maybe it was finally time I opened up to someone, and give him a chance to get to know the real me. Maybe this person won’t be Parker, maybe it won’t happen right away, but I’m ready, I encouraged myself.
As we were leaving, we had to hand over the list of names of the people we liked. At first, I thought I’ll leave mine blank, but then I took a chance and wrote down Parker’s name. Perhaps he was telling the truth, and I really was interesting enough for him to want to see me again.
Chapter Four
July 2010
14 years old
It was my fourteenth birthday. What a huge number that seemed to me! I was chatting with Simon in the hallway of the stadium. He went to the same middle school as me, and also ran track. Out of the blue, he asked me if I would like to go on a date with him. Me! I liked Simon ever since I first saw him in school, but I never thought he noticed me, too. I said yes in an instant. I could hardly wait—my first date. I wondered if we were going to hold hands. Would he kiss me? There were so many things I didn’t know about boys and dating, but I looked forward to our date. I only hoped I wouldn’t make a fool of myself. I was anxious, but at the same time, bursting with anticipation.
I skipped into the locker room, barely holding my excitement in, and hurried to change my clothes. I couldn’t wait to share the news with my teammates. Everybody crushed on Simon, but I was certain they would still be happy for me, even though they’d rather have him to themselves.
As I started to remove my top, strangely all by myself in the locker room, the coach stormed into it.
“Oh, Coach Briggs. I’m not late, am I?”
“Don’t worry, Lori. There’s still plenty of time.”
“Where are the other girls?”
“They’ll be here a little later.” He approached me.
“Oh, okay.” I frowned, wondering why they would come in later when we had a 9am practice, and it was already unbearably hot outside.
“Happy birthday,” he said with a grin so wide I could see his gums. “I got this for you.” He handed me a nicely wrapped small box.
I gave him a small smile. “Thank you, but you shouldn’t have.” I bypassed him on my way to the bench where I usually changed my clothes.
“You’re my most successful protégée. Of course I had to.” He waved his hand at me. “I’m proud of you.”
Coach Briggs was a large and strong man. His biceps were bigger than both my thighs put together, and if you met him on the street, you wouldn’t guess in a million years he was a track and field coach because he looked like a bodybuilder. I didn’t know his exact age, but I’d put him at around forty years of age. He was quite good-looking. His long hair was usually tied up in a low ponytail, and he was always immaculately put together, but there was something about him that made me feel uneasy, something that made me wary of being alone in a room with him. His eyes were cold, dark and mysterious, even though he smiled all the time.
“Thank you,” I blushed. I’d never received a gift from the coach before, so I didn’t know how to react. I shifted from one foot to another, hoping he would leave so I could change my clothes. He extended his arm and fixed a stray lock of my hair that fell in my eyes. My former coach was never so…open with me. Instinctively, I took a step back as I was feeling uncomfortable.
I had started practices with coach Briggs about four months ago. The word around the track and field world was that he was one of the best in his business, so that’s why my dad had made sure I worked with him. The first few weeks, everything had been great, but with each passing day the situation got…worse. Coach started paying me an unusually large amount of attention. Whenever I was near him, I was on pins and needles. He was always so watchful of everything I did, and I felt his eyes were constantly on me. I thought, perhaps I was being unreasonable—after all, he was my coach and had to monitor my progress and fix any mistakes I made, whether it be my running form or my posture.
“Aren’t you going to open it?”
“Um, yes, sure.” Just as I started ripping the wrapping paper, two of my teammates entered the room.
“Hi, Coach Briggs,” Maggie waved at him. “Are we late?” She turned her gaze to the big clock, hanging on the grey wall above our lockers.
“No, you’re just on time. Change, and then we’ll start.” And just like that, he was gone. Maggie and Jenny gave me suspicious looks, as they weren’t used to seeing the coach in the women’s locker room. I shrugged, and showed them the present in my hands.
“Oh, my God! It’s your birthday. How could I’ve forgotten?” Maggie exclaimed.
“Happy birthday!” Jenny threw her arms around me, Maggie followed. I put the unopened present into my gym bag, and finished changing into my training gear.
Chapter Five
August 2014
18 years old
It turned out that Parker had also written down my name after the speed dates. When they’d asked me if they could pass on my number, I heartily agreed. He’d called me the same day, and when I’d heard his voice, my heart jumped in my chest from excitement, and we set a time and place for our date.
He was supposed to pick me up in half an hour, and I was running around my room like a headless chicken. It’d been a long time since I was on a date. Too long. I’d almost cancelled this one, too, but I knew Elias would get on my nerves if I did. And truth be told, I would regret that decision in the end. After all, I was desperate to turn over a new leaf in my life.
I didn’t know what to expect from our date since Parker hadn’t shared with me where we’d be going. He only said that I should dress comfortably, and not to worry. The former I had no problems with, as all the clothes I owned were comfortable, but the latter I couldn’t follow. How would I not be nervous going on a date with a man like Parker? I was unbelievably attracted to him. I’d never before experienced something so strong with a man. He was handsome¸ fun, laid back, and easy to talk to. He had all the qualities I was searching for in a man, but hadn’t found so far. Not that I’d allowed anyone to come close enough to even try.
“Do I look okay?” I asked my mom as I stepped out of my room, ready to leave.
“You look beautiful, sweetheart,” she responded.
“You always say that,” I sighed.
“Because it’s true.” Mom touched a long strand of my red hair falling down my shoulders. “Are you nervous?”
“Yes!” I shouted. “How could I not be?”
“Just be yourself, and it’ll be alright. Don’t worry,” she smiled gently. “You are a wonderful girl.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re my mother,” I shook my head. “I don’t want to lie to him.”
“Who said anything about lying?”
“I won’t tell him anything yet,” I declared firmly. “God knows if we’ll even go on a second date after tonight.”
“Honey, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, this is only the first date. Nobody said you have to share every detail of your life with him. Go out, enjoy yourselves, be a teenager. You never know how the day will end. Don’t push peopl
e away. You’re amazing, and everybody can see that.”
“Yeah, my schoolmates sure did,” I rolled my eyes, curling my lips.
“Not everyone is the same.”
“Really? So far, it turns out, they are.”
“Don’t let them get you down. If people are not willing to accept you as you are, then they’re not worth your time. Remember that.”
“It’s easy to say that, but reality is quite different.”
“Take Elias, for example.”
“What about him?”
“He doesn’t let anyone pick on him. He stands behind his actions and isn’t ashamed of them. If anyone steps in his way, he simply ignores them and moves on.”
“Mom, that’s completely different. You can’t compare my life and his.”
“I know, sweetie.” She kissed my forehead. “I just wanted to help you understand that opinions of others don’t mean anything, the only thing that matters is what you think about yourself.”
“And we both know what I think about that,” I shook my head.
Mom sighed gravely. “Have fun on your date.”
I ran down the stairs to the exit, just as Parker was pulling up.
~ * ~
Parker and I strolled the riverbank, ice cream in our hands, as the sun was slowly setting behind the hills, the sky turning a pretty pinkish hue. A gentle breeze kept us company, caressing our cheeks. Parker was still determined to avoid boring ordinary questions, so we tried to come up with innovative questions in order to get to know each other better. I liked him more each minute we spent together.
“Your dream job. What would you do if you could do anything your heart desired?” I asked him about thirty minutes into our conversation.
