My jaw drops, "what?"
"This is my secret place, but if you like it that much, I'm willing to share it with you. Just promise me no one else will be here."
Without hesitation, I reply "I promise!"
A smile lights up his face from my overly excited reaction. It's then that I realize that I have never seen him smile. It makes him look so carefree, child-like. His smile lines surround his deep pink lips and his straight white teeth shine brightly, matching his crystal blue eyes that seem to get even lighter if that's possible.
"Good. Let me show you out back."
Following him down the stairs and to the back door that's in the kitchen, a deck stands proudly above the ground, outdoor couches and fire lamps filling up the space. Looking beyond the deck, there is a small yarded area that leads to a small lake with an out-of-place weeping willow providing shade to the small corner. I could imagine myself sitting against that tree and reading a book and when I get hot, drip my toes in the water to cool off before eating lunch.
"Can you swim in the lake?"
"Yes, but only from late March to early September before it gets too cold. I don't want you getting sick."
We both pause after his last comment, silence fills the space around us. Why would he care if I were to get sick or not? I know we agreed to have a fresh start, but that doesn't necessarily entitle him to have to care about me. From the look on his face, I think he is just as confused as I am.
"Noted. Thanks," I say, breaking the awkward tension.
"Why don't we go back inside and get some lunch. The fridge and cabinets are stocked."
Nodding, I follow him back to the deck where I stop to spend more time outside to enjoy the nature surrounding me. Taking a deep breath, I inhale the fresh air. In the city, the air always smells of car fumes and factory smoke. To be able to breathe pine-scented air surrounded by gently rippling water and birds singing is heaven, a place I never want to leave.
"I figured we would eat lunch out here."
Jumping, I whip my body around to face Damon who is holding two plates with a sandwich and chips on each.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he says innocently with a small laugh.
"Don't worry about it. If I wasn't so lost in my thoughts and easy to scare, I wouldn't have jumped. What did you make for lunch?"
"I wasn't sure what you liked to eat so I made a basic sandwich with ham and swiss cheese. The chips are barbeque because that's all I had. You like barbeque, right?"
"The sandwich is perfect. I'm surprised you knew to put swiss cheese instead of american. That is the go-to for most people, but I can't stand it. I'm pleasantly surprised. As for the chips, no sandwich is complete without a side of barbeque chips in my opinion."
Setting the plates down on the small table in front of the couches, he takes a seat next to me and we eat silently, the crunch of the chips and the bread filling the air.
"What do you like to do?" Damon asks as soon as I stuff my mouth with a larger-than-normal bite.
Rushing to chew, I forcefully swallow and choke out, "I love to read any type of literature, besides the classics because I never fully understood the language so the content was lost on me, but I love to read more modern and contemporary works of art. Any book that has romance in it is an absolute must-read. Thinking about it, my love to read spurred my love to write my own works and edit other works that are not my own. That's what I'm in college for. I'm in my last semester to get my master's degree in writing. Hopefully, after this, I will be able to work for a large publishing company and help authors get their works out so their voices can be heard all over the world. Then a little bit farther down the line, I hope that I can publish my own work and become a success doing what I love. Sorry, that was really long and a little off topic. What are your hobbies?"
"Don't apologize for thoroughly answering a question or talking about yourself. I want to know more about you, aside from the little daredevil you are. As for my hobbies, I'm a pretty basic guy. I like to work out, watch sports, drink beer, drive fast cars, and party whenever I can. But my real hobby is building this. It doesn't matter what it is. If it's building an engine or fixing up a car, I like seeing all the different pieces scattered on the floor and watching as it becomes assembled so that all of the pieces are now the engine, not just a mess of metal. It's the same thing with people. If you think about it, I didn't know you yesterday and today you drove my car and came to my secret place. We went from nothing to gradually, well a little faster than that, but gradually we became acquaintances, maybe we could possibly be friends."
"Is that what you want to do in the future? Build things? Be a mechanic or communications representative?"
"It doesn't matter what I want. My future is decided. It has been ever since I was a young child."
"What if you did what you were told you would do, but then made a small side business doing the things you are passionate about the most. You could be a mechanic at a repair shop during the week for a few hours or take up wood carving. You could even work for customer service and help people get the product they need."
"My current profession doesn't allow any time for hobbies or part-time jobs."
"Oh. Well, maybe in the future then. You never know what might happen, right?"
"You're right. Maybe in the future," he pauses as if trying to find something else to say. "Why don't I show you the book collection I have inside? There are some classics, but also more modern pieces that you may like better."
"Really? Lead the way!"
With a bounce in my step, I follow him back inside to the master bedroom. On the wall behind the door, a shelving unit filled with books replaces the wall. Running up, I look at the large collection he has. From Dickens to Brontë, Shakespeare to Austen and Hemingway his classics collection is expansive. His modern, however, is even bigger, if that is possible. He has almost everyone: James Patterson, Stephen King, Danielle Steele, and other authors I have never even heard of. He basically has his own library! Taking a moment to scan the titles, I find one, a romance novel, that stands out. The cover itself is black and white but the red popping out on the case catches my attention.
"Can I read this one?" I ask, the book already open to the first page.
"Of course. Where do you want to read it?"
"Can we go outside by the weeping willow tree? It's my favorite type of tree."
"Sure. Let me grab one thing."
He reaches for the shelf behind me, carefully picking up a book, he tucks it under his arm and walks out of the room. I'm right on his heels as we take the short walk to the shaded area. Sitting against the rough bark of the trunk, a breeze ruffles through the long, thin branches making them gracefully sway around us. We both open our books and begin to read, enjoying the silence that two readers commonly share.
Turning onto page 50, I see Damon shifting. He stands up and outstretches his hand for me to take with my own. As soon as he wraps his fingers around my hand, I realize how small I am compared to him. My whole hand is encased by his fingers and he towers over me by more than a few inches!
"How about we dip our feet in the water? It's too cold to fully submerge ourselves but it can get a little humid since the trees block out most of the breeze."
"That sounds wonderful."
Sitting side by side, we both take off our shoes and socks, placing them neatly next to us. I let him dip his toes in first and gauge his reaction to see if it is cold or not. Besides a little wince, his feet slide underwater seamlessly, encouraging me to follow his actions. Hissing, the water is colder than I expected from his reaction.
How could the water be this cold at the end of March?!
Ignoring the pins and needles, I allow for my feet to adjust to the temperature and turn towards Damon.
"If you could have anything in this world what would it be?"
This one question led to many more throughout the afternoon. We never stopped talking even when the sun started to fall and our feet had been out of the water for hours.