Stories, Thoughts and Snippets
A 1st Date 1 A 1st Date 2 A 1st Date 3 A 1st Date 4
"You went with her?"
"I didn't know anything else at that point. My formal education ended in kindergarten, and my father had abandoned me in the first place, I didn't really think I had any options."
"I actually wanted to ask you about that. You're a really sharp girl, I mean you seem educated. How do you know everything you know?" I loved this question, whenever I heard it.
"Bob taught me to read, he had a very extensive library, and no television. He didn't want us to know what was going on in the world, but we could read any book he had. The whole time I was with him his books were my only escape, after nine years of reading I was pretty well hooked. My math isn't so strong though."
"Why would he bother teaching you to read? Why would he care?"
"He didn't, but a kid that's reading is a kid you don't have to worry about or pay attention to. Besides, some of his clients liked it, sometimes I had to memorize poetry to recite, sometimes I had to write love notes to men. Anything you can think of, there's someone that gets off on it."
"It's a fucked up world."
"Thanks for that pearl. Anyway, this woman liked to travel, she rented houses in seasonal towns, we went to Cape Cod most summers to work the tourists, she liked ski resorts for the winter. I actually got to see a good part of the country with her. I guess I owe her that much."
"You don't owe her shit." He interrupted my chain of thought.
I let go a little sigh, "I appreciate the thought, but anything you might say I've already heard, or thought of on my own. Believe me, I know, and that's why I am sitting here with you right now. But try to remember that I stuck with this woman for 3 years, and then worked on my own for 3 more after that. It's easy to say that I was forced in it, and felt trapped, but the truth is that after awhile, I didn't care. It was a job to me, a job that paid a lot better than any other I was able to get at that point. And I might still be doing it if I hadn't forced myself to admit that eventually I wasn't going to be able to do it anymore, and that if I didn't have an education, or some kind of stability at that point I was going to be fucked, yet again, and in a more lasting sense."
"And so you're here now."
"And so I'm here now. Pouring coffee weekdays, and stronger drinks on weekends. Another 2 quarters and I'll have my AA and then I'm going to transfer up, maybe even to Berkeley, and get a Bachelor's in Finance. Fuck I might even come back and get my M.B.A. after that."
"I can't believe how ambitious you are, I think your life would have broken my spirit."
"I think it would have, too. But you don't get anywhere unless you want to get there."
"Where do you want to get?"
"I'm going to have a big fucking townhouse, and a powerful fucking job that no one can take from me. And I'm going to have a child that I can protect from everything I've seen."
"Won't you need a husband to have a child?"
"You want the job?"
"That wasn't...I mean I didn't mean that I wanted to...I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to hit on you."
"Yes, you were. It's ok; you're a lot more decent than the vast majority of men that I've met. But enough about me, you asked me to coffee, lets put you on the spot for a bit. Tell me about yourself."
"I don't think I can compete. I had a fairly average upbringing."
"Tell me about average."
"Um... Lets see... I grew up outside Portland, Ore. Mom worked in a bank, Dad was a carpenter, and I had a dog, a mutt. I played baseball from little league up through high school. I didn't have a girlfriend until my junior year, and she broke up with me right after our senior prom. I moved down here for school, and I'm in my last year at Berkeley, as you know. I spent a summer backpacking in Brazil."
"Do you speak Portuguese?"
"A little bit, my Spanish is better, and it's not really that good."
"Tell me something else."
" I learned to drive in an old Toyota Camry. I've had the same best friend since grade school, his name is Joe Harris.
"Why don't you have a girlfriend?"
"Irreconcilable differences."
"Irreconcilable differences?"
"She would say she needed more space. I would say she needed to blow some guy in the bathroom at a house party a few months ago. In retrospect I don't think we would have worked out anyway. That thought really isn't all that comforting though."
"That sucks." I said. And meant it.
"I'm sorry, I don't have any right to complain to you."
"I was the one that asked about your life."
"Still..."
"Don't worry about it. I'd rather hear about normal relationship problems than think about my professional relationship problems anyway. You know I never actually had a boyfriend?"
"I suppose the profession didn't really lend itself to forming a bond with someone."
"Not exactly. You know I just thought of something funny."
"What's that?"
"When was the last time you had sex?"
"Haha. Interesting sense of humor you've got there."
"No, you idiot, seriously, when was the last time you had sex?"
"About three months ago I guess."
"I haven't had sex in a year and a half."
"What?"
"Not since I quit. I haven't particularly been interested. This might actually be considered the first real social activity I've had since then. Or really before then for that matter. Holy shit, Eric. This is the first time I've been on a real date, of any sort."
"It's just coffee, I don't know if you can really count..."
"Shut up, this is special to me." I tried to memorize every detail I could, from the flowered tablecloth, to the way he had his hair expertly roughed.
"We can go and see a movie if you like, maybe get some dinner, that'd be traditional I suppose. "
"Alright Eric, you're on, but I'm paying my share."
"Fair enough. Anything else I should know?" He asked.
"I've tested positive for herpes." I answered.