So it’s okay for us to share personal information?” His
expression is hesitant.
“ I just shared something
pretty personal,” I say, not being mean about it. “And I think
that’s one of the things you’re supposed to do when you’re on a
date, yes.”
He sets his sandwich down and brushes
the crumbs off his hands. He then leans forward and crosses his
arms on the table. “My parents died in a carbon monoxide leak New
Year’s Day,” he says, his eyes growing distant and distracted. “The
housekeeper found them the next day and they called me then. I’m an
only child, so everything fell to me to arrange the funeral, deal
with their belongings, sell the house.”
“ Oh, Julian,” I say. I
instantly feel sorry for everything I’ve said in the past five
minutes. My reasons for not dating recently are nothing compared to
his. “I’m so sorry.”
“ Thanks,” he says, his
eyes focusing on mine again. “So, yeah, I ended up staying in New
Mexico for over a month dealing with everything.”
“ Is that where you grew up
then?” I ask.
Julian nods. “My parents adopted me
just after I was born. They’d tried for fifteen years to get
pregnant themselves. Never happened so they decided to adopt and
got me. I guess my birth mother was only like sixteen years old and
the sperm donor wasn’t much older. But things were good with my
parents. It was pretty horrible to hear they died. Takes a while to
get over something like that.”
“ Of course,” I say,
placing a hand on his arm.
Julian suddenly gives a chuckle and a
smile curls on his lips. “See what happens when you go on a real
date with someone? You get the sad story dump.”
I smile back and wrap my hands around
my cup. “It’s kind of nice, actually. It’s been a while since
I…connected with anyone.”
“ What about you, any sad
stories you’d like to share?”
My body locks up in certain places: my
face, my chest, my stomach. But hopefully none of that
shows.
Because my sad story isn’t one that I
will ever share.
“ Nope,” I lie. “I’m just
the daughter of a plumber slash football coach and a stay at home
mom. I’ve got three brothers, one who’s married, one who will be
coming home on leave from the Marine’s in two weeks, and one who’s
a model and lives with me.”
Julian chuckles and shakes his head.
“Well, knowing you’ve got a brother that lives with you is good to
know if we’re going to be dating.”
“ Let’s not get ahead of
ourselves here,” I tease. “I only agreed to one date today. Let’s
not go saying we’re dating.”
Julian winks and bites into his
sandwich again.
Once we are done eating lunch, we head
for what is called The Path. This is an underground shopping mall.
We spend four hours wandering the shops and talking, easy and
relaxed. While we shop, I observe Julian, trying to get a sense for
who he is as a person.
What I learn is that he has impeccable
taste in clothes. He looks through a rack of similar dress coats to
the one he is wearing, his eyes light up at the sight of a suit,
and he buys three ties. But he also likes to dress down in jeans
and a soft t-shirt.
He also seems to love music. Several
times I catch him humming to the music that plays overhead. We pass
a vinyl shop and I can see the longing in his eyes. I ask him
multiple times if he wants to go in, but he just shakes his head
and says it’s okay. He does, however, buy a Nirvana t-shirt from a
shop.
“ So,” I say as we pass by
another vendor trying get us to try out the latest skin care
product. “Did you always know you were adopted?”
It’s a personal question and I’ve
tried to avoid those kind until this point. Maybe it’s the relaxed
day we’ve had, maybe it’s the way I’m enjoying his closeness, but
for some reason I find myself wondering.
Julian nods. “I don’t think I really
understood what it meant or the significance of it until I was at
least twelve, but yeah. I always knew. My parents
expression is hesitant.
“ I just shared something
pretty personal,” I say, not being mean about it. “And I think
that’s one of the things you’re supposed to do when you’re on a
date, yes.”
He sets his sandwich down and brushes
the crumbs off his hands. He then leans forward and crosses his
arms on the table. “My parents died in a carbon monoxide leak New
Year’s Day,” he says, his eyes growing distant and distracted. “The
housekeeper found them the next day and they called me then. I’m an
only child, so everything fell to me to arrange the funeral, deal
with their belongings, sell the house.”
“ Oh, Julian,” I say. I
instantly feel sorry for everything I’ve said in the past five
minutes. My reasons for not dating recently are nothing compared to
his. “I’m so sorry.”
“ Thanks,” he says, his
eyes focusing on mine again. “So, yeah, I ended up staying in New
Mexico for over a month dealing with everything.”
“ Is that where you grew up
then?” I ask.
Julian nods. “My parents adopted me
just after I was born. They’d tried for fifteen years to get
pregnant themselves. Never happened so they decided to adopt and
got me. I guess my birth mother was only like sixteen years old and
the sperm donor wasn’t much older. But things were good with my
parents. It was pretty horrible to hear they died. Takes a while to
get over something like that.”
“ Of course,” I say,
placing a hand on his arm.
Julian suddenly gives a chuckle and a
smile curls on his lips. “See what happens when you go on a real
date with someone? You get the sad story dump.”
I smile back and wrap my hands around
my cup. “It’s kind of nice, actually. It’s been a while since
I…connected with anyone.”
“ What about you, any sad
stories you’d like to share?”
My body locks up in certain places: my
face, my chest, my stomach. But hopefully none of that
shows.
Because my sad story isn’t one that I
will ever share.
“ Nope,” I lie. “I’m just
the daughter of a plumber slash football coach and a stay at home
mom. I’ve got three brothers, one who’s married, one who will be
coming home on leave from the Marine’s in two weeks, and one who’s
a model and lives with me.”
Julian chuckles and shakes his head.
“Well, knowing you’ve got a brother that lives with you is good to
know if we’re going to be dating.”
“ Let’s not get ahead of
ourselves here,” I tease. “I only agreed to one date today. Let’s
not go saying we’re dating.”
Julian winks and bites into his
sandwich again.
Once we are done eating lunch, we head
for what is called The Path. This is an underground shopping mall.
We spend four hours wandering the shops and talking, easy and
relaxed. While we shop, I observe Julian, trying to get a sense for
who he is as a person.
What I learn is that he has impeccable
taste in clothes. He looks through a rack of similar dress coats to
the one he is wearing, his eyes light up at the sight of a suit,
and he buys three ties. But he also likes to dress down in jeans
and a soft t-shirt.
He also seems to love music. Several
times I catch him humming to the music that plays overhead. We pass
a vinyl shop and I can see the longing in his eyes. I ask him
multiple times if he wants to go in, but he just shakes his head
and says it’s okay. He does, however, buy a Nirvana t-shirt from a
shop.
“ So,” I say as we pass by
another vendor trying get us to try out the latest skin care
product. “Did you always know you were adopted?”
It’s a personal question and I’ve
tried to avoid those kind until this point. Maybe it’s the relaxed
day we’ve had, maybe it’s the way I’m enjoying his closeness, but
for some reason I find myself wondering.
Julian nods. “I don’t think I really
understood what it meant or the significance of it until I was at
least twelve, but yeah. I always knew. My parents
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