a perfectionist. I know that I can’t do everything and expect to be perfect, but I strive for that level anyway.” I noticed that we were passing Blue Collar the spot he pre-picked for us to have lunch.
“Um, Nicholas, you missed your turn.”
“While you were getting dressed, I decided that I wanted to do something different so I made alternate plans. I hope that’s okay.”
“Yes, that is fine, but why didn’t you tell me?”
“To be honest, I was going to tell you, but when you walked out of the room, I lost my train of thought.” He paused and looked over at me and gently caressed my face, his thumb gracefully rubbing across my bottom lip. His touch was causing a waterfall in my undies and that desire from within was making her presence known. “If it’s not, tell me. Remember, I am not trying to pressure you into anything you do not want.”
“I don’t feel pressured, Nicholas. I don’t want you to go through any trouble for me.”
“Lunch is not trouble, Maya. It is a requirement of your body. It’s not far from here. I wanted a place with a little more privacy. I think we need to talk about what is going on between us. You know, lay our cards on the table. How does the other person feel about what happened?” It was as if he had been reading my thoughts the whole time.
“Sure. I agree that we need to discuss the um, situation between us,” I said nervously while fidgeting with my hands. He looked over at me and grabbed my hand, pulled it to his mouth, and kissed it, providing me with comfort.
We arrived at Balans restaurant in Brickell. As soon as we arrived, the host immediately escorted us to our seats. He had arranged for us to have an intimate corner booth away from other patrons. The host took our drink order and then left us alone. It was awkwardly silent for a moment. We would look up at each other with bated breath, waiting on the other to say something, but suddenly turn away.
“Nicholas.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to relax before I spoke again and inserted my foot into my mouth. “We took a step last night that always changes the dynamic of a relationship as well as define it. I have not had the best of relationships and I am not sure how this should go. Like are you saying that you wanted me and now that you had me you are going to dump me?” I must have comedic timing because he laughed hard at my thought-out speech.
“Maya, I didn’t bring you here to dump you. Everything I said to you is true. I’ve wanted you since I first laid eyes on you in class back in college. We had English I together with Professor Caine. On our first day, you wore a pair of jeans that hugged your curves in the right places, a black T-shirt that was from your high school, I guess, and white tennis shoes. You had your hair pulled back into the same ponytail you are wearing now and you had on your glasses. You dropped your pencil and all the guys watched as you bent over to get it. You had no clue of the attention you were getting. That let me know that you are not that type of girl who wanted attention. I almost failed because I was too busy thinking of you and not taking notes. The guys used to ask me why I never spoke to you or asked you out. I told them that you had a one-track mind and guys were not a part of it. They thought I meant you were a lesbian at first.” I was in complete shock. Who remembers what someone wore to class. Was I being stalked in college? I thought to myself.
“You remembered what I wore?” I said, astonished. “That’s pretty impressive.”
“You were worth the note taking.” I was slightly embarrassed at his admission. Butterflies were having their own private party in my stomach right now. “When I heard that you were going to be at the club for the graduation party, I had to go and take a chance to at least meet you and speak to you.”
“How did you find out?” The server returned with our drinks and asked if we were ready to order. We