2001-08-19
feeling kinda
and i was still nervous when i got to Newport. no Boy. i was half hoping that his sexy self would be there, leaning up against his bike, looking all James Dean (but with longer hair). note to self: never do your makeup on the bus. applying mascara while rattling over potholes? shades of Airplane, and it doesn't do much to calm your nerves. i thought he might have gotten cross and impatient, as the bus was a little late, and headed off.
so then i half thought i'd just catch the bus back, and was jittering around behind the guy on the payphone, waiting to call to see what the deal was, half keeping an eye on the idling bus. *tap, tap*. c'mon, guy, get off the phone... ah! calling card... mispunch number and try again... and bingo! he picked up right away, and came over to get me about five minutes later. see? no need to be worried. *shakes head* lighten up, girl. they are not all out to get you.
turns out it was just as well i was a little late, since he'd finished up the course late. gave him a chance to run home and clean up, then come back and hang out at the office. i should call down next time to confirm schedule, since he knew when i was coming, but wanted to be sure.
yay! hopped in, big sloppy kisses, and off to dinner. he knew i wanted lobster, but wasn't feeling well and wanted to go to his regular sushi place. three times i've been down there, three times we've gone to this restaurant. creature of habit much, you think? then again, miso is good for what ails you.
the nice part is, the chefs know him there, and they always send over treats, things they're trying out. last time it was a warm crabmeat and stuff sort of thing in a hard boiled egg; man, was that tasty. this time, we got some sort of roll (which i wasn't crazy about, unfortunately), and fatty tuna. i'd never had that before. they served it with a sweetish sort of sauce, very light. the tuna looked almost like wedges of grapefruit, very unlike anything i'm familiar with. it was all very tasty. and the converstation was lovely.
i love being with him, even briefly, because he makes me laugh and think, two things i like very much. i'm at a new place, where i feel open enough to accept the gifts given to me, and not question them too much. yes, yes, i know... all the nervous making above would seem to belie that. the two things aren't really contradictory. i can be nervous about a date, and still happy with who/where i am. trust me on this one.
we talked about just everything; made me very happy that i had even a bit of a clue when he was telling sailing stories. yes, i do have an idea of what reefing a sail is. yay! makes me feel a little less dumb. not dumb stupid, but dumb not knowing. you know, when you're trying to learn something new and you feel all untethered? that sort of dumb. so 'getting' the story made me happy. of course, the point of the story was that he told them to do something that nearly got him killed, which didn't make me so happy. but he was there to tell about it, so clearly, he's Not Dead Yet (ambience courtesy of Monty Python).
at one point, The Boy started singing to me, which prompted me to say 'oh, shit!' don't remember what he was singing, but some connection made me realize that i forgot to bring the Jonatha Brooke CD that i've been quoting left and right recently. this is what i get for leaving packing to the last minute and then hurrying up because sis called. always happens. of course, he teased me that his singing was such that i felt compelled to shout obcenities. :) and he did sing me Happy Birthday, and i didn't say anything bad. maybe i'll rip a copy of the CD and send it on down...
hee hee... we were talking about my work a little, and i'm not sure if it was the flexible schedule or my generally dismissive attitude about a lot of the recent changes. for whatever reason, he looked at me and asked 'are you trying to get yourself fired?' hee. nope. just using the limited benefits to their maximum capacity, is all. i have every intention of using up every single hour of paid time off this year, a day here, a half day there.
much sake and sushi later, we headed home. and that, my friends, is a story for another time and place.
