commenting on the sea life.
My cell phone rings and I pull it from my purse, expecting it to be one of the kids. It’s David. Kiran is observing some large, ugly fish that has a shocked expression on its face when I reject the call and put my phone away. I can’t help but be puzzled as to why he’s calling me. We haven’t spoken since the day he came by for his things.
We finally reach my favorite exhibit, the jellyfish, and I eagerly approach the tank. “I could watch these things all day. They’re so beautiful.” I briefly turn to Kiran. “Even though someone has to pee on you if you get stung. Did you ever see that episode of Friends , where Monica gets stung, and Chandler pees on her to ease the pain?”
“I must have missed that one,” he says with a chuckle.
“It was pretty funny.” I continue to watch the jellies dance gracefully in the illuminated tank, the lights giving them a hypnotic glow. “How about Finding Nemo? Did you see that part where Dory and Marlin bounce along the tops of the jellyfish to keep from getting stung? The kids used to love that movie. In fact, it’s still one of Hayden’s favorites.”
I realize I’m babbling now, but feel the need to keep some semblance of a conversation moving.
I’ve not taken my eyes from the jellyfish, mesmerized by them like always, and notice Kiran hasn’t responded. When I turn to look at him, he’s got those emeralds on me with a slight smile on his face.
“I’m sorry,” he says and flits his attention to the tank. “They are beautiful.”
I allow my gaze to linger on him a few more seconds and he swallows hard. Good Lord. What the hell does he think about when he looks at me like that?
Later, as we sit down with our coffees, my cell lights up on the table with an incoming text. David again. Just wanted to say hey and see how things are going .
I flick the screen off and set my phone back on the table.
“Everything okay?” Kiran asks.
I rub my shoulder. “Um... I’m not sure.”
He leans forward with his arms on the table, saying nothing.
“Would it make you uncomfortable, if I talked to you about David?” I ask.
“Not at all.”
I pick up my phone again and rotate it in my hand. “Well, you know he and I split a few weeks back, and he’d asked me if we could still be friends. I didn’t want to, but he wanted to keep in touch with the kids, and I said it was okay. But now...” My knees sway back and forth underneath the table. “Now I get this text from him out of the blue, asking how I’m doing.”
Kiran knits his brow. “Maybe he’s just trying to end things on good terms. Or do you think he’s trying to reconcile?”
“Absolutely not.” I watch as groups of people pass, heading toward the event center for tonight’s cirque du soleil show. “He had no interest in trying to work things out.”
He offers nothing else, clearly waiting to see if I’ll continue.
“I do worry about him,” I admit. “I think he’s got an alcohol problem.”
“Is that the reason you broke up?”
I shrug. “It was a combination of things, I think. We were spending less and less time together. He’s very focused on his writing, and he claims he was tired of making me unhappy.”
“Were you? Unhappy?”
“It was more like...” I pull at a piece of my hair. “More like, uneasy. Anticipating conflict. I guess you can’t really call that happy, can you?”
He crosses his hands on the table. “No. I guess not.”
We stare at one another for a few quiet moments. Then before I know it, my mouth is running amok. “Can I just say, you are the most handsome man I have ever seen in my life!”
The corners of his eyes crinkle before he bows his head. “Thank you.”
“Aye, aye, aye. I’m embarrassing you and I’ve embarrassed myself.” I turn away and take a sip from my cup. “So what about you? Any long-term relationships in your past?”
“Long-term... No.” He’s not very convincing.
“Short-term then?”
My cell phone rings and I pull it from my purse, expecting it to be one of the kids. It’s David. Kiran is observing some large, ugly fish that has a shocked expression on its face when I reject the call and put my phone away. I can’t help but be puzzled as to why he’s calling me. We haven’t spoken since the day he came by for his things.
We finally reach my favorite exhibit, the jellyfish, and I eagerly approach the tank. “I could watch these things all day. They’re so beautiful.” I briefly turn to Kiran. “Even though someone has to pee on you if you get stung. Did you ever see that episode of Friends , where Monica gets stung, and Chandler pees on her to ease the pain?”
“I must have missed that one,” he says with a chuckle.
“It was pretty funny.” I continue to watch the jellies dance gracefully in the illuminated tank, the lights giving them a hypnotic glow. “How about Finding Nemo? Did you see that part where Dory and Marlin bounce along the tops of the jellyfish to keep from getting stung? The kids used to love that movie. In fact, it’s still one of Hayden’s favorites.”
I realize I’m babbling now, but feel the need to keep some semblance of a conversation moving.
I’ve not taken my eyes from the jellyfish, mesmerized by them like always, and notice Kiran hasn’t responded. When I turn to look at him, he’s got those emeralds on me with a slight smile on his face.
“I’m sorry,” he says and flits his attention to the tank. “They are beautiful.”
I allow my gaze to linger on him a few more seconds and he swallows hard. Good Lord. What the hell does he think about when he looks at me like that?
Later, as we sit down with our coffees, my cell lights up on the table with an incoming text. David again. Just wanted to say hey and see how things are going .
I flick the screen off and set my phone back on the table.
“Everything okay?” Kiran asks.
I rub my shoulder. “Um... I’m not sure.”
He leans forward with his arms on the table, saying nothing.
“Would it make you uncomfortable, if I talked to you about David?” I ask.
“Not at all.”
I pick up my phone again and rotate it in my hand. “Well, you know he and I split a few weeks back, and he’d asked me if we could still be friends. I didn’t want to, but he wanted to keep in touch with the kids, and I said it was okay. But now...” My knees sway back and forth underneath the table. “Now I get this text from him out of the blue, asking how I’m doing.”
Kiran knits his brow. “Maybe he’s just trying to end things on good terms. Or do you think he’s trying to reconcile?”
“Absolutely not.” I watch as groups of people pass, heading toward the event center for tonight’s cirque du soleil show. “He had no interest in trying to work things out.”
He offers nothing else, clearly waiting to see if I’ll continue.
“I do worry about him,” I admit. “I think he’s got an alcohol problem.”
“Is that the reason you broke up?”
I shrug. “It was a combination of things, I think. We were spending less and less time together. He’s very focused on his writing, and he claims he was tired of making me unhappy.”
“Were you? Unhappy?”
“It was more like...” I pull at a piece of my hair. “More like, uneasy. Anticipating conflict. I guess you can’t really call that happy, can you?”
He crosses his hands on the table. “No. I guess not.”
We stare at one another for a few quiet moments. Then before I know it, my mouth is running amok. “Can I just say, you are the most handsome man I have ever seen in my life!”
The corners of his eyes crinkle before he bows his head. “Thank you.”
“Aye, aye, aye. I’m embarrassing you and I’ve embarrassed myself.” I turn away and take a sip from my cup. “So what about you? Any long-term relationships in your past?”
“Long-term... No.” He’s not very convincing.
“Short-term then?”
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