I was at grad school studying law and doing fairly well for myself. Over the winter break I'd received a full-time employment offer from a highly sought after law firm and I could see a path to a respectable living and maybe even some comfort. One of the interesting things about my school was that they let undergraduates take some of the lower level classes to encourage them to apply to the grad school and shave off some of the time and expense required to graduate. I'd decided to fill out my legal knowledge by back tracking into IP law and in that way I had gotten to know Nathalie.
The first time we met, I was seated behind her in a large auditorium. She slunk in, took her place at the middle of the classroom, brought out her notebook and pencil, and then started reading what appeared to be a book of literature in French. Not the typical behavior for a Junior or Senior to say the least. She seemed completely uninterested in the people around her and absorbed in her reading material - which had to be more interesting than the class were we taking. I knew there and then that I had to get to know this adorable creature. Fortunately, I had taken a French Lit class during my undergraduate years and had a pretty good understanding of the basics. So I took the chance to interrupt the young ladies to discuss the finer points of the author she was reading. At first, Nathalie was annoyed but then she saw me for a fellow traveler and started an animated discussion which was cut short by the arriving professor. At the end of the class, I asked if she was free for a coffee which fortunately she said she was.
She was French and had come to study in the states to get a broader perspective on the world and to escape the stifling world she had come from. From what I could piece together, Nathalie was from a well-known and very wealthy industrialist family. She was expected to marry someone similarly well-bred and continue the family tradition. Except, she was Nathalie - anything but conventional - quirky, humor off the wall, strange dress sense, and certainly not about to become "Mrs" anyone. Did I mention she was cute? Medium height, lithe, small breasts with a bit of a droop, perfect tight butt, flat round face, small upturned nose, and dark brown hair and eyes. I just loved to check her out - in the most unobtrusive way of course.
She wore form hugging leggings and top that left little to the imagination. Fortunately since she wasn't well endowed or many curves she got away with no bra and a thong and didn't look like a tramp. The colors were so distracting that I doubt many people saw through to her beauty like I did. We hit it off right away. I loved her soft French accent, her devil may care attitude, and her sense of fun. It was fun to get out of the bubble of the serious lawyer to be crowd. Nathalie wasn't studying to become a lawyer, she'd just promised her father to take classes in business, law and finance to make sure she could take over the family business someday if needed be. Her two older brothers were already working their ways up the firm and there was little need for Nathalie's business acumen at least at the moment.
When it was time for my next class I had to beg off and ask for her number. Nathalie gave it to me and suggest that we meet up at the end of the week when mid-terms were over. A week later I reached out to Nathalie and she suggested dinner at her place. I had to say I was somewhat surprised she would go to the effort but then guessed as much that Nathalie was not one to easily pigeon hole in terms of her behavior.
Nathalie was living in student housing in a large dorm near campus. She shared it with three other women but all of them were away for the weekend. So she had the kitchen all to herself. When I knocked on the door, Nathalie opened it wearing some sort of comfortable velour top and bottom, and her hair braided into two pigtails down either side of her face. The smell of something delicious escaped out into the hallway. "Quick" she said, "get inside before the whole hallway smells my cooking and wants a bite. These people are like vultures around here - it's as if they've never had a good meal in their lives. But come to think of it that may be the case for some of them!" I did I was told and she led me into the small kitchen/dining area. In the oven was probably the first soufflé that it had even had inside of it. Vegetables were being lightly sautéed on the stove top, a table had been set for two complete with table cloth, nice china, and two wine glasses. Cooling in a bucket nearby was what looked like a bottle of wine, probably French. I hadn't expected to be treated to such an effort. Perhaps Nathalie liked me more than I thought.
We chatted idly about class, some mutual acquaintances, and plans upon graduation. I was asked to open the bottle of Sancerre which I did to her evident satisfaction. Then we sat down to the main affair. The food was delicious and I told her some numerous times. The soufflé was just perfect and it paired wonderfully with the rest of the meal and the wine. Being a bit of a lightweight I was half way to being drunk after my first glass.
This is when Nathalie got to talking about a book she'd been reading lately: "I've been reading this book about decisive turning points in people's lives, you know, go left or right and your future will be entirely different. It's an anthology of stories of regular people and the choices that they have made or were made for them that broadly decided the rest of their lives. It's fascinating and I've got to thinking that it's not a bad thing to do in this day and age. Instead of endlessly keeping your options open and not committing to any one thing. Do you think that approach makes anyone happy?"
I concurred that I doubt it did.
