After the waitress leaves we make small talk about our majors; I'm majoring in education and he's an engineer major. His favorite color is orange; I tell him mine is purple. We talk about all of the places we want to visit; London being my number one and Tokyo being his. My only club activity is the book club and I already know he's on the basketball team. He has an older sister and a younger brother; I only have the twins. His parents are dentists and have their own practice which leads me to believe that he's had many years of practicing his PBS with those perfect teeth with dentists as parents. We take turns talking about our family and friends. When the food finally arrives I am famished; we bless our food and begin eating.
OMG, the pasta is better than I hoped it would be, I think to myself. His food smells amazing as well.
"You were right. This food is amazing," I say between forkfuls of pasta.
"Thank you. I'm glad you like it," he says before taking a sip of his drink.
We continue to eat occasionally asking a question or making a comment until we are full. Between the very generous serving of pasta and the soft garlic bread that accompanied it I am extra full. Mekhi nearly finishes everything on his plate, but I'm not surprised he did just play a very physical game of basketball and burned a lot of energy doing it. He asks if I want dessert and I explain that I will not be able to handle it; he insists on sharing it. The waitress comes and places my food in a box to take home as well as take our dessert order.
"That was really delicious, thank you again," I say before taking a sip of my drink.
"Anytime baby," he says with a half-smile.
"How did you find this place," I ask folding my hands on the table.
"Driving to summer basketball camp during my freshman year I passed this place and told myself I'd find it again when I got tired of campus food. So I came here about two weeks later," he says with a chuckle at the end.
"I can imagine having to train all day eventually eating the same food everyday gets boring," I say laughing with him.
"I'm really glad that you decided to go out with me today," he says holding my hand.
"I'm glad I did too. Honestly I wasn't sure you would still want to hang out after winning your game today," I say to him honestly.
"We celebrated and many of the guys are still celebrating, but I had to come and see you and make sure we are on the same page. It has been a while since I've wanted someone as much as I want you and I didn't want to miss the opportunity of being with you to hang out with a bunch of guys that I'll see later on tonight and at practices all week," he says truthfully.
"I didn't think I was ready to date or be with anyone else, yet here I am. So please be good to me; I'm still recovering," I say showing this last part of me giving him the chance to choose differently.
"I will do my best. I can't promise you perfection, but I promise that I will try to get pretty damn close," he says and with that my last insecurity vanishes.
The waitress returns with our dessert and the bill. We fuss over the bill; he won't allow me to pay for any portion of the meal or tip the waitress so I vow to beat him to the punch next time. As promised we shared the dessert although I left most of it for Mekhi to finish; it was really good. We gather our belongings (really me and my box of food and wristlet) and head out of the restaurant. It's dark outside as we walk hand in hand to our cars; since neither of us are ready for the evening to end we decide to take a walk downtown and end our evening together there. He opens my car door for me once again and I follow him back on to the main road to go downtown. We are able to find parking close enough to each other so we park and he meets me at my car with a jean jacket over his arm.
"This is for you, in case you get cold," he says as he helps me out of my car.
"Thank you," I say realizing that it is chilly and I didn't bring a jacket of my own.
"Here," he says holding up the jacket for me reading my mind.
"Thank you," I say as I slide my arms into his huge jacket with super long sleeves that he helps me roll up.
"You're welcome," he says as he grabs my hand and we start walking in the direction of a little park.
We walk in silence- I guess each of us taking in our time together so far- passing other couples along the way. There are a lot of people out tonight, this is always the case when the weather starts to turn nice. I'm glad my time with him is turning out better than I could expect especially after my little melt down in the restaurant. I feel like he's what I've been waiting for, but is it too soon to tell? I look at his profile as we walk towards the park and he is handsome yet there is so much more to him than that and I plan on finding out what's underneath all of that. He catches me checking him out and just smiles and squeezes my hand as we continue our walk. After crossing another street we finally arrive at the park and head towards an open bench. We both sit down and Mekhi pulls me closer to wrap his arm around me and I automatically feel safe and secure. I lean into him and relax; he definitely feels like home.
"I'm glad you're finally relaxing with me," he says loud enough for only me to hear.
"I guess it's the fresh air. You knew I was nervous the whole time," I ask closing my eyes with a smile. He doesn't miss anything does he, I say to myself.
"Of course, it was a new experience seeing you like that. The many faces of you," he says.
"Seriously though, how'd you come to want me," I ask because I genuinely want to know.
"Spending a lot of time at the café, I saw you a lot. You were studying, reading, meeting up with your friends, and just being busy. You were beautiful then, but you also looked like you were going through something and yet you made time for others and before I knew it, I was hoping I'd get to see you smile or be happy. Each time I saw you it looked like you were getting better little by little and I found myself wanting to be the one to make you smile or make you happy. I waited for the right time to approach you and when the wind blew your umbrella out of your hands I felt like it was fate telling me to take my chance," he says as I remember those long days I spent at the café trying to escape my own reality.
"Wow, that's sweet. I'm glad you waited for me to find my best self. Truth is I just woke up one day and decided that enough was enough and I've just been pushing forward every day. It wasn't easy, but it's a journey worthwhile. And you've awakened something in me that I had no idea existed before," I say looking up at him. It's been a while since I have been able to converse and express myself so freely without fear of judgement or sympathy.
"I understand, sometimes we lose ourselves going through the motions of life. So let's promise to remind each other to keep finding something worth going through the motions for," he says with a wisdom that gives me goosebumps.
"That was deep," I say snapping my fingers appreciatively and he hugs me a little tighter.
"Let's walk for a little while," he says stretching his legs out then standing up offering me his hand.
"Okay," I say and as natural as it felt to be snuggled up next to him my hand feels at home in his.
We leisurely stroll around the park chatting and laughing. Looking like any other young couple in love, except it can't be love…right? We stop at the fountain; I make a wish and toss in my coin as I've always done. There's music coming from a place close by and we dance together around the fountain until I'm breathless with laughter and dance. Mekhi just holds me steady never letting me fall.
"This was so much fun. Thank you for tonight," I say looking up at Mekhi filled with appreciation and lust.
"You're welcome," he says licking his lips.
The next thing I know he's kissing me or am I kissing him or rather we're kissing each other. The kiss is so deep, sweet, and passionate that when we finally pull apart I am breathless and my heart is racing. I rest my head against his chest and try to collect my thoughts. I can't believe we really just kissed like that and it felt so right. My mind wants me to slow things down yet something somewhere deep inside of me is telling me that I'm doing just fine. I was never one to believe in love at first sight, but the last week of my life has felt nothing short of a fairytale or romance novel. I read those books to escape reality even if it's for a little while, I did not imagine that it could happen for real.
"Was that too much," Mekhi asks lifting my chin with soft concerned eyes.
"No, it was just fine," I reply with a small smile. More than fine actually, I say to myself.
"Cool," he says and this time I definitely kiss him. Not as long or passionate as the one before, one conveying my feelings more clearly than I can currently put into words.
"See, I'm fine," I say as I pull away from him smiling.
"You definitely are," he says as he hugs me a little tighter.
"So are you," I say and he releases me to find my hand and we walk around the park a little bit longer.
"Are you ready to go home," he asks me.
"Not really, but I should," I say with a sigh.
"Yeah, I know the feeling," he says as we walk towards the cars.
Walking to the cars feels both long and short and I know it's because I don't want the evening to end. Tonight has been full of moments they make movies of and I got to enjoy those moments for myself. This is just the beginning for us and there is still so much to do and discover. I look at Mekhi as he walks so gracefully to our cars and know that he really is mine and I mentally hug myself.
"Alright baby, I guess this is where we say goodnight," he says standing at my car waiting for me to unlock the door.
"Yeah, I guess so," I say unlocking the car door and start taking off his jacket.
"Nah Uh, you can hold on to this until next time," he says pulling the jacket back over my shoulders and pulling me close.
"And when will that be," I ask leaning in.
"Probably tomorrow," he says meeting me for a final kiss.
This kiss is filled with desire and lust as he pushes my body up against the car deepening the kiss. My body responds immediately as he presses his lean body into mine and I can feel all of him. When he finally pulls away we're both breathless and I know very aroused. He still has me against the car with his forehead pressed against mine trying regain his composure.
"Lena, what are you doing to me," he says to me with bewildered eyes and a peck on the lips.
"I could ask you the same thing," I say quietly. After a few minutes of standing like that he backs away and pulls me forward into a bear hug.
"Alright baby, get in the car because if I stand here with you any longer I don't know if I'll be able to control myself," he says opening my car door and helping me into the car.
"Okay," I manage to get out because this is goodnight.
"Goodnight, baby," he says as he backs away from my car.
"Goodnight," I say.
"Let me know when you've made it home," he says as he walks to his car.
"Okay," I say. Once he gets into his car and I hear the engine cut on I pull out and wave to him.