GETTING EVEN Part 2
That Tuesday, Luke sank 3-pointers like a man possessed. He was also physically aggressive: if we were really counting fouls, he would have fouled out twice - in the first quarter.
When we went for beers with Marco, Luke let off some steam.
After their first date (and sexual athletics), Anita had given him the cold shoulder. She hadn't answered any of his calls or texts, and he suspected that she'd arranged the seating at Millie's birthday dinner to keep him far away from her.
Neither Marco nor I knew what to say to that.
- "That sucks." was the best I could come up with.
- "Damn straight it sucks."
Luke went to the john for a piss.
- "Ben." said Marco. "Maybe it's just me, man - but you and Anita seemed to have a lot going on... you know?"
- "Just some books we both like." I said. "That's about it. I'm going out with Kira this weekend. Second date."
- "Yeah? Good for you."
Good for me, indeed.
***
I chose a Thai restaurant, hoping that Kira would like it.
- "I don't think I've ever eaten Thai food before." she said.
Shit.
She saw my face. "It's okay, Ben. I've always meant to try it - I just... never did. This is perfect. I know I'll like it."
- "Are you sure? It's not too late to go somewhere else."
- "Positive. This will be good."
Kira seemed comfortable enough, but she still manoeuvred me into ordering food for both of us. And then she was quite pleased with the results.
- "This is excellent." she said.
- "Glad you like it."
- "Tell me something." said Kira. "Do you think that Left Hand of Darkness was LeGuin's best book?"
What? I was stunned. A week ago, Anita and I had talked about LeGuin for half an hour. Kira and Marco had suffered in silence as we geeked out. I'd apologized, but I still felt guilty about excluding them for so long.
And now Kira was asking for more?
"Why do you like LeGuin so much?" she said. "I read Left Hand of Darkness - and I liked it - but I'm still not sure if I'm missing something..."
- "Wait - you read the whole book? This week?"
Kira nodded. "You made it sound so interesting. I wanted to... to know more about it. But I'm not sure if I'm supposed to relate to Genly Ai. I mean... I didn't even know his full name until 30 or 40 pages in."
- "You read Left Hand of Darkness?"
- "Yes." She blushed. "I... I wanted to know why you were so interested in it."
- "That's amazing." I said.
It was. Kira had gone out, found a copy of the book, and read it all - in the space of a week - so that she could understand what Anita and I had been raving about.
- "You made it sound so good." she said.
She was more familiar with Harry Potter, but she'd never analyzed it as Anita and I had.
- "I still can't believe you read 'Left Hand'." I said.
- "I wanted to be able to talk to you about it."
I was floored. Kira had heard me talk about a book, and its author. She'd realized how important it was to me... so she'd bought the book, and read it. To understand me better.
- "Kira - that's... that's incredible." It was incredibly flattering, too.
I drove her home, after our meal. This time, I got out of the car and walked her to the door of her apartment complex. It was one of those square, three-storey buildings.
- "I should've walked to the door last time." I said. "And I'm not, ah..." I wasn't trying to suggest that she should invite me in. Kira was a nice girl - a good girl. I didn't want to rush her, or make her feel uncomfortable.
We stood on her front step for a moment, in awkward silence.
"Kira - will you go out with me again?" I asked.
She just smiled. "Of course I will."
- "Are you free on Wednesday?" I didn't think I could wait a whole week to see her again. I recognized the symptoms: I had it bad. And why not? She was sweet, and so nice to be with.
- "I think so." she said.
- "I'll call you."
We stood there for another 10 seconds, smiling at each other. That's a long time, when you're not doing anything other than looking another person in the eye.
Maybe it was nerves. Maybe it was a really good idea. I leaned forward and kissed her.
Kira didn't back away. She met my kiss, and raised the stakes by wrapping her arms around me.
I hadn't prepared very well; I had to break off the kiss first, because I was having trouble breathing.
- "How about tomorrow?" I said.
Kira smiled, and lightly tapped my chest. "Wednesday is fine."
- "Okay. See you then."
- "You will."
***
Anita was hotter. Anita was a swimmer, with an athletic body. She was a reader, who liked many of the authors I did. She liked beer, for crying out loud. Good beer. If you calculated all of those factors, Anita sounded perfect for me.
Except that she'd fucked Luke right after meeting me.
Plus I was beginning to crush on Kira. She was so sweet. She'd gone to a hockey game - the equivalent of me going to a nightclub - just to please me. She'd read a book, just to get a better understanding of what I was interested in.
I didn't have as many common interests with her. Kira wasn't a perfect match for me. But she was so easy to talk to.
We went for a drink at the Office - that was the name of the pub. Great name, don't you think? I always imagined a beleaguered husband telling his wife 'I'm still at the Office' - which would be the exact truth.
Kira wasn't the most beautiful woman I'd ever met. I mean, she was attractive - just not in the same league as Millie and Carla, or Anita. I'd seen all four, so the comparison was in my head, whether I wanted it there or not.
But Kira was the one I was interested in.
- "I still can't believe you read 'Left Hand of Darkness'." I said.
- "I started 'The Dispossessed' on Monday."
- "You don't have to work that hard, Kira. I already like you. In fact, I think you're really special. You don't have to try to impress me."
- "I just want to know more about you, Ben." she said. "To understand what you like - and why you like it."
Damn. How could I
not
be impressed?
- "Kira - I don't want to order another drink here. It wouldn't be a good idea to drive home, after that. But what would you say... if I invited you back to my place? We could have another drink, and I could get you a cab, whenever you want to go home."