~ SHEILA ~
I'm finally ready to answer all your questions. I thought I had successfully escaped from my ill-luck pasts but regretfully, I say truly with a lot of contempt, I think it is you I should have married.
The thought of that brought a smile to Pete's brooding face. He continued reading;
It's ironic how the people you choose to let close to you are the ones you should keep furthest. I'm sure you can recall how fast I ran-off to NYC after calling off the wedding and the controversy that came with it.
They say the best gossip never makes the news or the papers. It roams in the whispers of the 'street man'. The impromptu called-off wedding between the Hamilton's and the Macs made serious highlights in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in early 2006. That issue made finishing Law school a living hell for me. I never had the intention of getting a job in Virginia early on but this issue added fuel to the previous decision. I initially knew no one would give me one and if otherwise, it would simply be an extension of my suffering. I heard you ran-off the following week after I sent that message. At least you got your degree.
Pete's mind went down that depressing memory lane; he shook his head and continued reading;
Finally able to get some money off my old man, I was able to relocate to New York where all pipe-dreams come true. Internship was affordable but rent in Manhattan was another issue. A paying job no matter how small the pay package was a must. I part-timed as a waitress in Shukettes; a counter-based restaurant located Middle East 230 Ninth-Avenue. That was when I met Benedict Graine; an introverted self-absorbed accountant.
I am a very observant person and have a keen eye for patterns even the most oblivious of them but Ben- Mr.Benedict was way too obvious and predictable. You could set your clock by him. By mornings at six, he was there for breakfast, by mid-day, for lunch. Sometimes he passed by eight in the evenings to get some snacks. Oh! Another thing, he never brought company; now this was intriguing. He passed for a normal day to day good looking man. Getting dates should certainly not be an issue for him. With an ounce of courage, I went to sit with him and get answers to my doubts.
Pete glared as he continued to read along; thinking of it today, I know it was attraction that made me do it. I already noticed similarities. We were both introverted, at least, out in society. Finding common grounds for conversations would most certainly be challenging but entertaining.
~ Ben ~
The salt content was just about right, the sauce a tad on the sour side. The noodles, medium cooked. It was a monotonously boring day in Benedict Graine's life. Picking up a fork full of noodles with the intention of devouring it, he paused as he caught sight of a slim figure approaching him from the rear view of his left corner. As she stood a feet away from him, he could access her features more clearly; She was a lean figured woman with healthy dark hair and a beautifully sculpted oval face. Her lean figure could pass for the idle model size. A perfect 176-181cm. Her most striking feature were her eyes. Her navy-green eyes glistened as the reflection of the silver stands shined through them. There were celestial.
Another feature that stood out was her height. She was strikingly tall for a woman-almost intimidating as she stood next to me. There were few women who could match a quarter of my height and funny enough, I was sitting.
"Is this seat taken?" I didn't know how to answer that question. Normally, I don't do socializing nor take likely the violation of one's personal space that comes with it. She stood too close as she waited for a reply. I could feel her hot breath stamping my face as she spoke and that was uncomfortable, extremely uncomfortable. This was the only reason why I accepted the company. Let there be some distance woman.
"No its not" She pulled her seat closer to mine. Ok…we're still doing awkward.
"So how do you rate our Thursday's special"?
Ohhh I see, she was a waitress probably getting customer's review.
"As usual....."
"As usual! And what rate will you give 'the usual' on ten?"
I turned to the smiley pink face lady beside me. On a normal day, if the aim of this survey was truly to get client's feedback, the spectator should at least have the proper items for report presentation; there was no device recording the conversation nor was there any pen or paper. So probably this was small talk. I could use the company though. She seemed nice and she's pretty.
"'As usual' must not necessarily be bad though, you know that". I leaned towards her as well intending to in formalize the atmosphere. This wasn't so bad...
She chuckled as she took a cup of coffee from her colleague who winked at her after sizing me up passively.
"Thank you T. Who said 'as usual' is bad? I want to know just how good 'as usual' is. Is it as usual on eight or as usual on a five?" She seemed serious as she asked this time. A bad review would have caused kayos. Let me tease her a little bit.
"What do you think?"
"Ok, so you're the turnaround type".
"Yeah….only when I want to elongate small talk with pretty women". She smiled. She had a nice smile. The type that was infectious. Without even realizing it, I smiled too.
"Ok Mr...…"
"It's Ben please."
"Ok Ben....…" She struggled to keep a chuckle down.
"I don't get it. What is wrong with my name"?
"My neighbour's Dog is called Ben". She hissed. Now I chuckled.
"Well then, it would be my pleasure to meet his acquaintance", She laughed. It was soothing.
"Trust me he has a thing for name sakes. Alright Ben, how usual is the usual then...." She asked as she leaned towards me with a hand under her chin smiling flirtatiously. I found myself smiling again. This is not a good sign.
~ Sheila ~
I could feel the introverted Mr Ben's eyes stationed steadily on me as I made every action. The rest of the evening was spent getting acquainted. Surprisingly, he had a sense of humour. I learned he was from New Orleans and was a divorcee. He was cautious about spilling the details of his first marriage or the events that led to the divorce. When I pried, all I got was;
"Misunderstandings"! and I like to live it there. As for his occupation, you didn't need a fortune-teller to tell you he was an accountant. It didn't come to me as a shock when he confirmed it. Never did he live a dime unpaid or could get cheated out of his change. His tipping was consistent in both amount and frequency.
Laughing at another one of his underline jokes, I began to wonder again why such a pleasant man couldn't keep a marriage.
"So you were married once"? I tried pushing the button again. You'd be surprise at what persistence can get you.
"That question again"? He sighed.
"What? Too old"?
"No. The opposite. You look like someone still searching. Did she get pregnant early or….did you do something untoward that obliged you to get married early?"
"How old do you think I am?" He asked with his bushy eyebrow raised up as he picked up his glass of scotch.
"You guess"
"Twenty-five"? I probably guessed right. His face was expressionless.
"I should give my gym instructor a raise then." He said again expressionless as he sipped his scotch.
"So I'm wrong then."
"Very…but thank you for the compliment. I'm thirty-three"
"Yup! He definitely deserves a raise" He chuckled at my slang.
"And no she wasn't pregnant nor was I obliged. We genuinely decided on our own accord to go down that lane together".
Ok that was a relief. No babies in the picture.
"So you guys were in love?"
"College Sweethearts. She was sixteen. I just turned twenty".
"Again, If you don't mind me asking. What happened?"
"Again-misunderstandings. We weren't ready."
I decided to live it at that. This was the first conversation, with time I believed he would open up.