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She made it quite easy for me to goad her, she always skirted around topics like intimacy, sex, and romance.
“What was your first kiss like?” I blurted out suddenly nursing my drink with a dark look.
“Sloppy.”
That last part was said without her looking up from her drink. Although I didn’t want to dig into her past, I couldn’t help but ask a few questions.
“What was your last relationship like?”
She hesitated, looking at me curiously. “Why do you want to know?”
“I’m genuinely curious about you. I feel asking questions will help me understand who you are better. That’s if you don’t mind answering them though.”
“Okay, here’s the deal.” She said looking at me squarely, “If I answer, you answer too. Deal?”
That seemed very difficult, I hated talking about myself but in this situation it was a small sacrifice to pay if I wanted to understand her.
“Okay.” I responded grudgingly.
“My last relationship was pretty much the usual. First love and college boyfriend, we dated for three years. Everyone thought we would end up together eventually, he did something I couldn’t forgive and that was it.”
“What did he do?” I prodded.
She sighed a bit and began her story. “Eric was my first boyfriend. We’d been together for three years but along the line, I realized that the focus had changed for the both of us. Growing up had been complicated for Eric, his parents had him young and never married. He also didn’t talk much about why he’d lived with his mother in North Carolina until he was sixteen. I didn’t know what kind of relationship he’d had with his father before I met him, but it sounded non-existent.” She paused briefly to take a sip of her drink again, I encouraged her with my eyes to continue.
“When we started dating, he’d been a sweet attentive boy but gradually three years down the line, we became different people from who we were from the start. His circle of friends changed, he became indifferent, selfish and we disconnected until it was just sex between us. I’d broken up with him twice but each time I kept on going back because he never took my words seriously. I reached my breaking point when he missed my grandmother’s funeral and neither called or texted. I needed no soothsayer to know it was time to leave.
“Shit! I’m sorry about that,” I said feeling bad immediately. “He’s an ass who didn’t know what he had and it takes a fool not to see the amazing person that you are.”
“Thank you, Raymond.” She responded with a smile, “But I’m over it already. The last few months were pretty tough, I must admit. It was one of the reasons my best friend Kaitlyn suggested the beach house for me. She sweetened it further by telling me I could continue my research on turtles here which made it perfect. So don’t worry, the last thing on my mind is an ex that never needed me.
I was in awe of this woman. She appeared so strong, fearless. Best of all she intrigued me, made me want to know everything there was to know about her.
“I’ll always be grateful to Kaitlyn though, she anchored me all through the experience and never left my side until she was sure I was okay.” She finished with peaceful look.
“Kaitlyn sure sounds like a great person.”
“Oh she is,” She said animatedly. “She is the sweetest person I know and we’ve been best friends since college. Always protecting and shielding me from bullies. She’s the only person in the world after my parents that can get me to change my mind once I’ve decided on a course.”
“That quite interesting.” I replied intrigued, I could ask her questions all day long.
“What were your parents like… as a child?” I asked abandoning my drink now to give her my full attention.
“Warm, sweet. They were so full of love that they gave it out to everyone they came across. Dad worked with the Navy and Mom is a scientist yet they both always found time to remind me of how much they loved me in words and action.”
“Have you always lived in New York?”
“No, no… we were originally based in Texas. We had to move after Dad retired from the Navy.”
I sipped my drink, decided I would switch to something less sugary on the next round.
“So why did he leave the navy?”
I wasn’t so sure at first if she was going to answer. But then she squared her shoulders as if drawing the courage to open up.
“An accident on the field, it was so bad that it nearly took Dad’s life. For weeks, Mom and I thought he was dead until a month later when he showed up at our door looking gaunt and malnourished. Mom begged him not to go back when he finally healed, and he listened to her. How about you?”
“What about me?” I asked in surprise dreading what was to come next.
