3. Romance
The next day was Friday and Adam was inwardly vibrating with anticipation about his Saturday evening date with Talissa. He tried to not think about it and concentrate instead on his work, but it was useless. He kept looking around half expecting to see her. And he was relieved when he did not. The joke that they used to say about him at chess club was true. (“If Adam did get a girlfriend, he wouldn’t know what to do with her.” “Don’t worry about that. He wouldn’t know what to do to get one in the first place”) And of course he would joke back that they were all experts on his social ineptitude with women, because they were just as hopeless as he was. Still, he had done pretty well so far without knowing what to do. He had a date with the world’s most beautiful woman. Even though he was so nervous that he could barely concentrate on his work, he knew that he had to keep moving forward if he was to get anywhere. And besides, it seemed to him that Talissa had done the driving so far and he was certainly willing to go along for the ride. He was desperate to go along for the ride.
When Adam arrived home from work, Both Fred and Erik were there. Adam could not keep his excitement to himself any longer.
Fred, Erik, I have a date!” He blurted out as soon as he walked in the door. Then he just stood there looking at both of them.
A smile spread across Erik’s face. “Is it the one that Fred told me about?”
“Uh huh.” Adam replied blankly.
“So she speaks French? Perhaps you should introduce me to her?”
Jealousy welled up in Adam’s heart. Erik’s smooth ways with women were well know to him, yet he did not want to seem perturbed to his friends. He tried to act cool, but the expression on his face was obvious to Erik.
“Hey, chill,” Erik said. “You know that there is no way that I would even come close to treading on your territory. And if you’ll remember, I’ve tried to throw some action your way more than once.”
These words just made Adam feel more inadequate. He truly feared that somehow Talissa would totally ignore him if Erik were in the room. But then he just as quickly realized that Erik was a true friend, and that he would indeed use his exceptional social ability to help Adam no matter what.
A smile lighten up Adam’s face. “Maybe you could give me a few pointers. Or something…God, I don’t know. I want this date so bad, but I’m shaking inside just thinking about it. What if I goof it up?”
“Well,” answered Fred. “The first rule is to think only about success.”
Erik nodded in agreement. “Consider the facts and see the best that could happen. But first tell us how you got the date. I am proud of you. It must have taken all of your courage to ask her.”
“Well, actually, she asked me.”
Fred and Erik glanced at each other in delighted surprise.”
“Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice. She must really like you!” responded Fred.
Erik nodded in happy agreement, “Even for me, that is a very rare occurrence.”
“Okay, but what do I need to do? What do I need to say? How can I make her like me?”
“She already likes you,” replied Erik. “That’s apparent. The real goal is to set and maintain a good mood. If you try to impress her, it will only come across as nervousness. It will make you seem phony. And that is something that is easy to avoid. So for starters, give Fred and me a very detailed account of everything that you can remember; what you said, what she said, and how she acted.”
Adam told them everything that he could remember about his encounters with Talissa. Fred and Erik listened intently as Adam went through what he could remember. They asked him very few questions until he started repeating himself.
“Well, she certainly put in a lot of effort to be alone with you. Notice that both times that she talked to you it was in a place that was unobservable from the mansion, so we can guess that this is probably a case of rich girl rebellion against an over-protective daddy.”
“Sort of a case of going for the hot pool boy when daddy ain’t lookin’,” added Fred.
“I’m not hot.” mumbled Adam.
“Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, it’s cliché but it’s true.” said Erik. “You’re so clueless that you don’t notice women checking you out. I’ve seen it happen many times. You’re in shape, and I’ve also been told by more than one female of my acquaintance that your face is very handsome. You’ve got to put on a little confidence here, man. I’m being straight with you.”
“We’re just pointing out that you need to relax and realize that you’ve got something going for yourself with women, especially this woman,” added Fred.
“That’s right,” said Erik, “so listen carefully and we’ll go over the main points a few times so you get them down. That’s one of your strong points, you’re a quick learner.” And with that Erik and Fred began telling Adams what he should and should not do, how he should act, and other more subtle perspectives on successful social interaction with women.
Talissa felt a rush of excitement as she drove to the mall. Her mother just thought that she was going shopping. Usually she was quite honest with her mother, but now she need a part of her world to be private, without the social guidance that she had been immersed within for most of her life. There was a sense of freedom that rose up from her heart. She had never felt this feeling before. It was like something she would feel when she was a young girl reading adventure novels. Something new and unexpected was about to happen. She could feel it, and gentle waves of unlimited possibilities washed through her mind and body as her rendezvous with Adam drew closer and closer. Tonight, she was going to find out more about him. She realized that she had preconceptions about him from her dreams, but she felt they were they real. Her brief interactions with him had so far had only served to strengthen her fascination and attraction to him. She though about the poem that he had recited to her and wished that it was about her, for her, and inspired by her. Silly romantic emotions, she thought, but she was experiencing them anyway, just like in her dreams. And now she intended to probe deeper into the reality of the man who had invaded her dreams.
At exactly 5:30 by his watch, Adam walked into the restaurant. He was dressed causally for the occasion, just as Erik had instructed him. He was wearing a long sleeved print shirt that he had bought at a high end retailer at the mall. His trousers matched his shirt, and he had on a black belt and black leather shoes, along with a black leather jacket. Erik had taken him shopping earlier in the day to make sure that he looked good for the date. Plus, his usual geek boy attire would not have been appropriate here. The daily weight training was beginning to have an effect, and some of his clothes no longer fit properly. His former 14 inch biceps now bulged in at 16 inches, his shoulders were broad like a gymnast’s, and his abdominals looked good enough for a late night infomercial. He actually felt a little confident about looking his best for Talissa, and he felt less nervous since Erik and Fred and spent so much time preparing him for the date.
Adam looked around the restaurant and Talissa was already there sitting at a table looking at the menu. She was wearing a burgundy-red and violet dress. It was cut just above the knee and conformed well to her body lines. She had on knee-high fur-lined black leather boots. And her fur lined leather coat hung behind her on the chair. A smile broke out on her face when she saw him, and she waved him over.
“Hi!” She said in English smiling warmly. Adam smiled back.
“You don’t mind if I sit here, do you,” he replied while pulling out the chair opposite to her from across the table.
“Of course, I’ve been waiting for you.”
Adam noticed that her English accent was perfect.
“Your English sounds like a native speaker.”
“Only speak English here, we don’t want to attract any attention.”
“Why’s that?”
“Never mind. How’s work?”
“Do the mansion grounds look good or what?”
“Okay, that was a silly question.”
Adam picked up the menu next to him on the table. Talissa was already looking at hers.
“I’ve never been here before,” he said looking at the menu, “What’s good?”
“It’s all good, depending on what you like. I’m thinking of getting the chicken and tofu with rice noodles. Maybe.”
Adam scanned the list of dishes, and beef with spring vegetables caught his eye. Erik had made it clear to order what seemed good to him and not get something just because Talissa was getting it.
“I’m thinking beef with vegetables looks good. You know, the cover of this menu reminds me of some sort of Impressionist’s painting. I would expect Chinese characters, or panda bears, or something…”
Talissa’s face lit up, “Do you like Impressionism?” she asked. It was one of her favorite styles with its splash of colors resolving into distinct images at a distance.
“I love Monet and his water lily paintings.”
“Me too,” replied Talissa eagerly. “I love his approach to lighting in Woman with a Parasol, and what do you think about the Post-Impressionist extension into Pointillism?”
“Well, Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is well-known but I think his technique worked best with View of Fort Samson because it has only nature visible and no people. Seurat depiction of people often impresses me as being a little muddy, but he does well with nature scenes.”
Talissa almost could not believe what she was hearing. Adam was so cultured for a common worker. And he had just expressed her feelings about the artists. No one she had talked to before had even known about these painting styles, and yet Adam knew about them and felt the same as she did about them. She felt like sitting in his lap and kissing him. It was another wild thought that she knew she had to suppress. She smiled weakly at Adam and looked back down at the menu to regain her composure.
The waitress came and Adam ordered beef with spring vegetables, and Talissa somehow ended up ordering the same thing. Adam felt a surge of subtle excitement about being with Talissa. He gazed at her face as she looked up at the waitress and placed her order. Every contour of her cheeks was beautiful. He watched the subtle motions of her lips as she spoke. This turned him on. He could feel it and he wanted to kiss her. Yet he felt so comfortable being here with her. The was not that usual tense feeling that he would have around women he desired. Instead he felt a sense of curiosity. He wanted to know her better, to get closer to her. It was a mystery to him why she liked him, but he knew that she did and that made him feel at ease.
“You know,” he said, “the first time I saw you, you were walking with a man, and you were speaking a language that I couldn’t identify. What was it?”
“French.”
“It wasn’t French.”
“It was Creole French.”
“It didn’t sound like that to me. I read a book on Creole. How do you say, ‘I’m sick,’ in Creole?” Adam could remember this sentence from the book.
Talissa was starting to feel uncomfortable. “Je malade,” she replied softly in an attempt to say something that she really did not know.
“I thought it was, “mo malade.” Adam noticed the uncomfortable look on Talissa’s face. “But it doesn’t matter, I just thought it would be cool if you spoke a language that I didn’t know about.”
Adam’s response lessened Talissa’s distress at the first question, and she felt like giving him what he wanted. “OK, it wasn’t Creole. Only low class people speak Creole. It’s the language that we speak where I’m originally from. It’s called Dwan.”
“I’ve never heard of Dwan. Where’s it spoken?”
“Where I’m from.”
“And where’s that.”
Now Talissa felt very uncomfortable again. She had brought up a subject that was best left silent. “I’ll tell you later. For now, let’s keep it a mystery.”
Adam could sense that the conversation needed to take on a new direction, so he smiled and changed the subject. Erik had made it clear that a conversation with a women should be like chi sao sparing in Wing Chun. You had to go with the ever changing flow of energy to keep things balanced and not get hit.
“Who was that man you were talking with in the garden?”
“You don’t know?” It then occurred to Talissa that her father had not brought up family matters with Adam. “That’s my older brother, Logan. He’s a musician.”
“So you’re a painter, and he plays music. You have a talented family. Do you have any other family members?”
“Not here. It’s just us and my parents.”
“What exactly does your father do?”
“He has several businesses…” Talissa thought about how to phrase it and still be truthful, “import, export, and manufacturing.”
“Well that certainly explains how you can enjoy such a nice home.” Adam thought about what she a said a bit earlier. “So you’re not originally from Haiti?”
“No,” she replied curtly with an expression on her face that told Adam to back off from this particular issue.
He slide sideways into another subject. “Yea, you really don’t look like it. Your hair is very beautiful.” Adam was again entranced by Talissa exotic beauty. He gazed at her hair a moment and then continued. “It’s got three different shade of red. There’s no way it could be dyed, so it must be natural.”
“It is,” Talissa smiled. “It has to do with my mixed ancestry.” She liked the enchanted fascination that Adam was displaying in his eyes towards how she looked. The discomfort that she had been feeling totally faded, and she wanted to focus on Adam. After all, that was why she asked him to meet her here. “How do you know so much about art if you work all the time?”
“I like to read, so I do it a lot.” Erik had made it clear that he was not to mention his almost total lack of a satisfying social life, but to vaguely stick to the facts , and let her fill in the blanks. “I like to read about history and art. Not everything, of course. There’s too much to know everything, but I know a lot.”
Talissa felt that he did know a lot. She did not know how she knew it though. Maybe it was impressions from her dreams. It was fascinating that he was so knowledgeable about art. She would expect a person from his class to know about work, but not art. Why was he so appealing? His face and the way he moved his body was so attractive. Her desire to be close to him grew inside her heart as she realized that he was both intelligent and physically attractive to her. But he was not even close to her status in life. She did not want to think about that aspect of the situation just now. She just wanted to focus on the moment…on being with him.
“Do you have any brothers and sisters?” she asked.
“I have two sister and one brother. They’re all older than me.”
“How about your parents? What do they do?”
“My dad usually does some kind of construction work and my mom is a secretary.”
“Oh. So that’s why you have to work so much. What are your plans for the future?”
“Well, I want to go to college. After I save up enough money, I intend to go full-time.”
“And what will you study?”
“I’m still trying to decide exactly. I love languages, but I don’t see much earning potential there. I’ve thought about getting an engineering degree, but I’ll have to improve my math. I’ve also considered getting a marketing or business degree, and judging by your dad’s success, that seems to be a good option.”
“Yea,” replied Talissa, “but there’s a lot more to it than you might think. The reason we moved to Haiti is because bribes work so well there.” Talissa felt her jaw tighten. She knew she should avoid certain touchy subjects, but it just came out.
“I’ve heard that life at the top isn’t always straight forward like that, but I still think it’s better than getting walked on because you’re poor. I’ve had enough of being on the low end of society. My parents worked hard all their lives and they have nothing to show for it. I’m gonna do so much better.”
Talissa was delighted to hear that, and relieved that Adam had not ask about Haiti and bribes. Adam was ambitious, and she liked that idea. So many princes she had met in her life were actually quite lazy, and were content to have their titles just because of who their parents were. She even recognized this attitude in herself. But at least she had the ambition to be a recognized and respected artist. In her mind, there should be more to life than just court functions, balls, and the status of having married into the right family. Except in unusual circumstances, she could only marry down in life, but that was the fate of an emperor’s daughter. Logan was not the direct heir either. There were three older brother from her father’s first wife, if any of them were still alive. The coup against her father had been swift, and communication was difficult. She just hoped that her other brothers had managed to escape to safety. Talissa broke out of her temporary reverie and looked at Adam. If she had to marry down, way down, because of circumstances, Adam was a very appealing option at the moment.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked.
“Uh,” Adam almost choked on his drink. He wasn’t expecting that question. “Uh, no. I’m really too busy, and a girlfriend might keep me from getting things done that I want to do.” Both Erik and Fred had made it clear that the only reason that he should mention for not having a girlfriend was that he was too busy. And they had further advised him to avoid the subject completely, which was why he was a little surprised that Talissa had brought up the subject, especially so soon.
Talissa sensed the surprise in Adam’s voice. She was a bit confused as to what it meant. Could it be that he really did not like her? She felt that was the wrong idea. Her whole life everybody had liked her. Well, there were plenty of princesses and court attached females who did not like her, but that was because of her status and beauty. But most males would trip over their tongues to try and talk to her. She liked the fact that Adam was different. He was talking to her like she was a real person, and not the high-status princess that she was. But then, he did not know that, and it was refreshing in a subtle, alluring way to be treated like this.
“You know, after working so much,” Adam said, “it’s just nice to spend time alone and read. I sometimes feel compelled to learn more about some languages that I’m studying or read some more history. You can learn a lot about people from reading history.”
Talissa felt like it would be good to drop the relationship subject just now and get him talking about his interests. “So you find history and languages to be interesting. Why’s that?”
“I remember thinking about other languages when I was real young. When I was in grade school, I made up my own language on a sheet of paper. Of course it was just English with other words. I still remember how to say I love you in it. It was ‘mar ala nifaha’. It was silly, but then it seemed cool to me.”
Talissa noticed that he just said ‘I love you’ without passion or real meaning. Somehow she felt that she wanted him to say that to her with sincere emotion. The notion made her feel unsettled. She should not be having these thoughts about a low status commoner, but somehow she was not concerned about it very much at all. Her situation was confusing, and she was only trying to keep her head above water emotionally. A warm energy seemed to flow out from Adam into her head. It made her feel comfortable and secure, like she was worthy for who she was as a person and not what she was. This was the best time she had had for a long time, and she was going to enjoy the moment.
“What languages do you know?” she asked.
“Well, my French is pretty good, and I can read and understand a lot of Japanese. I’ve got some command of Russian and Spanish, and I know a little bit of Chinese. I’ll bet you that I could learn a lot that language of yours, Dwan, I think you said, rather fast. Good enough to talk to you in a few weeks. Do you have some kind of grammar of it? I’d really like to see it.” Adam’s love of language learning showed in his face. Talissa could see this and somehow she wanted to please him, but they were on a sensitive subject again.
“No,” she replied softly.
“Are you sure? I’d really really like to see it if you can find one.”
The energy in Adam’s voice made Talissa’s heart soften.
“I’ll see what I can find… Okay?”
“Cool.”
The conversation continued and touched on other subjects. They talked about things like Adam’s friends and history, and Talissa’s interest in fashion and painting. The time slid by softly and effortlessly. At one point, Talissa looked down a her bracelet.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed, “It’s 8:30 and I told my mom I’d be back by 9.”
“Oh. OK.” replied Adam with a smile as nonchalantly as he could manage. Erik had made it clear that when the date was over to not seem clingy, and make it seems cool, even though, deep in his heart, he felt like he wanted this time with Talissa to last for much much longer.
“Look,” said Talissa, “You need to know that I had a real good time talking to you this evening and I want to see you again, but…” Talissa searched for the words to put it nicely, “ it would be better if you didn’t say anything about us having dinner together. It’s especially important that my family doesn’t know anything about this, so keep your mouth shut and just wait for me to contact you again. Okay?”
“Okay.” Adam kept his cool. He liked that she was taking control. It kept the anxiety and confusion about knowing what to do at a minimum.
Talissa reached down and took the bill. “I’m paying, by the way.”
After they had left the restaurant together, they stood at the edge of the parking lot looking into each other’s eyes. It was only a moment, but it seemed to last for a very long time.
`Finally Talissa said, “We’ll talk real soon. À bientôt.”
“À bientôt,” said Adam softly, and they both turned and walked to their cars without looking back in the soft light of the summer twilight.
Driving back home, Talissa felt a surge of emotion swelling through her mind and her body. Adam had opened doors in her mind to places that she did not even know that she had. She kept having thoughts about how she would like to get physical with Adam. She wished she could go home with him and spend the night, a day, a week, with him next to her, the two of them alone and so together. A part of her wanted to recoil at the thought. She was a princess and she had never even been kissed. Her entourage and her family had seen to that. She and the other princesses had certainly talked about such things when they were alone, but the reality of getting physical with a male was an impossibility for someone of her social position. Still, tingling thoughts of his lips on her lips, his hands on her body danced pleasurably through her mind. She was physically so turned on by these thoughts and she could feel it in the wetness of her body. When she arrived home, she felt a curious mixture of excitement and exhaustion from the uncertain future she envisioned in her thoughts. Yet she somehow managed to quickly fall asleep and dream of Adam yet again.
When Adam arrived home, both Erik and Fred were waiting for him. He told them what had happened, and they both congratulated him on a well played game. They encourage him to keep his cool, and patiently wait for Talissa’s next move. It was obvious, they explained, that she had a strong crush on Adam, so they went over some points to keep Adam from doing anything that would sour the progress that he had achieved so far with her. Adam felt very tired from the excitement of the evening, so he then went straight to bed.
Adam was looking for a new place to live. He saw a beautiful cottage in front of him. It was nestled in some trees on a wooded lot with lots of colorful flowers. There was sign in the front yard that said it was for rent. He walked up to the cottage looking for a phone number so he could call and get an appointment to see the place. He felt an intense sense of enchantment the closer he approached the cottage. He sensed a beckoning energy drawing him to the cottage and he knew in his heart that it would be the perfect place to live.
He walked up to the front door and notice that only the screen door was closed. He looked into the house and was entranced by how beautifully decorated it was inside. It was so cozy, so feminine, and so inviting. He knocked on the door and waited, but no one came to answer. Then he tried the handle of the screen door and discovered that it was unlocked. He knew that he should not go inside, but he felt compelled to step inside anyway to get a closer look.
The feminine nature of the decor washed through his body like a refreshing breeze. The woman who lived here was so obviously creative, original, and unique. He could tell that she was an artist. She had all sorts of paintings and drawings covering the walls. He gazed at one painting of roses. It was so natural, colorful, and lifelike, but it was unique because there were no thorns on the roses. On the coffee table, there was a full color picture book with the title ‘Natural Sensations’. Every page had pictures of the paintings and drawings that she had created. There were flowers and nature scenes, and drawings of houses in the countryside. He felt that she was a person with great passion for her life and her art. He could tell that she strived to do her best at what she truly loved to do.
Then Adam noticed that Talissa was in the room. She was glowing with beauty and ease. She was not upset that he was there. She was delighted to see him and offered him some tea. He had never drank tea in his life, but he accepted the cup know that the beverage would be so satisfying, and he had an overwhelming desire to drink this cup of tea.
“I know I shouldn’t have come in uninvited, but it was like I was magically compelled to come here.”
“It’s all good,” she replied, “let me show you around.”
She took his hand and led him into the bedroom. There was a big, undisturbed queen sized bed with a red cover and orange pillows against the back wall under a large open window. A soothing breeze was blowing into the room. Adam looked around the room and the background became indistinct and fuzzy. A confusing and intricate energy was swirling in the room. Adam looked towards where Talissa had been and saw a whirlwind of rainbow colors dancing there, and he heard her voice softly speaking to him.
“It’s all good. We’ll be together and make a calm wind come.”
Adam felt his body being sucked by the whirlwind of energy onto the bed and then he woke up. He felt like he had never felt before in his life. He was filled with a feeling of importance and power. Then he remembered the cup of tea and felt a longing to taste the tea that he was not given a chance yet to drink. Then he felt joy at the thought that the cup of tea was waiting for his lips when the time was right.
taskwazen 