She Brings the Rain

Name: Davina Akari

Age: 23

Occupation: Robotics

Dirty Secret: Virgin

I wrote that as a gaff at my 21st birthday party, and my friends tend to be all over me about it. Why would I, a dream boat for anyone to date, be a virgin? I have no idea. Picking someone as your first isn't instantaneous like most people have you believe. 'Heat of the moment' sex is more like awkward hours of figuring out how to make each other cum.

And no one's got that far with me. Trust me, I tried. At this point, it's low on the list of priorities.

I still go out with friends, volunteer, buy things I really don't need, go on vacations, talk to my parents. All the things anyone would think my life is 'missing'. Life just hasn't shown me someone I want to take a risk on. Dating men and women, you see a rainbow of personalities and find some really cool people. But after the first hour or activity, you can tell if you want to do something about it. Only two people got past one activity.

One girl and one guy. Both turned out to be either hiding narcissists or overconfident streaks. And the girl was worse... Since then, I put dating in the back of my mind and focused on my work. Outside of work, I hung out with my mom and dad, having dinners together and wondering about life. On one of those dinners, there was also a show at one of the venues. Who knew dancing was popular at upscale venues?

That's where I met Lena, in all her tallness. No one had a clue she was actually a she until masks came off and a round face was underneath. Seeing a woman as tall as a man was jarring... and kinda sexy. Funnily enough, the dancer's table was not far from ours. Calling a waiter, I ordered a glass of wine to the tall woman, which the waiter smiled and said "Of course".

The restaurant was busy as I got up to leave with my parents. Putting on my jacket, the same waiter came back, a folded napkin in his hand. Before I could ask, his eyes gestured over, which I followed to the tall dancer, who lifted her glass at me. Blushing, I took the napkin, gave the waiter a tip, and slipped the number into my pocket. On the drive home, I opened it to see the number and a note.

Call me when you're at home.

----

She wrote it so definitely. As if she knew I would want to call immediately. Or that I sent the wine in the first place. But trying my chances, I settled in at home, dressing down, opening my own wine bottle, and typing her number in. After a few rings, a rather soothing voice answered knowingly.

"Nice to meet you officially."

I let out a nervous laugh. "Are you sure I'm the right caller?"

She laughed softly. "You did send me a vintage red right?"

"The house special. Was it good?"

"I enjoyed it with your thought in mind. I personally like a nice white, light and springy."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Does Kindness have a name?"

"Davina Akari."

"What a beautiful name. Lena Kovenish."

"Sounds foreign."

"Hehe same as yours. Were you born around here?"

"Yes. Locally farmed within a few city blocks."

"I was born in Belarus. Moved here when I was 8 for my father's work. He's demonologist."

"A demonologist?"

"He hunts ghosts."

"Sounds like an interesting man."

Her voice picked up, as if he was her favorite thing. "He is. Best man in the world. Open and honest, never sugarcoats anything. I love him."

"You two close?"

She paused before answering. "Can we talk more over coffee sometime? I... should be in bed. Practice of our next routine starts early."

Hearing her ask me to meet gave me goosebumps and I couldn't figure out why. "Day after tomorrow? Maybe 7 am? I work from home and always go out for morning coffee."

"I look forward to meeting with you again." She said warmly, seemingly feeling what I feel.

"Me too. Good luck tomorrow."

"Many thanks."

I sat there, swirling my wine a bit then taking a sip. Who knew I'd like a dancer? A very tall, charming dancer... For only having one conversation, it was... laid back. Like we knew each other a while. For not keeping dating at the top of my priority, this date just... appeared.

I kept thinking between wine glasses, some reading, and some cleaning, I made a choice to put effort in. Looking outside, I realized it was raining. I wondered if it was good luck or a sign of things to come.

----

Two Days Later, 6:30 a.m.

On my work from home days, I can roll out of bed and get coffee from the nearby shop. Instead of sleeping in, I was anxious about seeing Lena. Too jittery to stay in bed, I got dressed, brushed my teeth, and even fixed my hair. I never care about being prim and proper but the least I could do was be presentable when meeting for coffee. Okay, I'm lying. I'm putting on nude lipstick and some eyeliner... I'm kind of wreck.

Finally getting myself together enough to leave, I walked the five minutes and stood outside. Every tall guy that walked by got my hopes up, and the closer it got to 7 am, my heart dropped. Did she forget? No sooner than my brain let that thought exists, I spotted a familiar face and a tall figure.

I nearly fell over with how tall she was compared to me. But those eyes... and hair falling over, I felt gooey.

"Hi." I forced myself to say.

"Hehe good morning." Lena chuckled. "Sorry for being nearly late. Couldn't find my keys."

"I live five minutes away. Didn't mean to make you feel bad or anything."

"Figure I be honest you know. I made a promise."

"Of course. So... how do you take your coffee?"

Shaking her head, Lena opened the door for me to walk in and we could get a drink. She liked vanilla and caramel with a sprinkle of sugar and milk. As I got my chocolate coffee and whipped cream, she offered to get me something to eat. Getting us both a light waffle breakfast, we sat at a table. Pushing my chair in, she slid into the booth in front of me, a smile on her face. As she took off her hat, I saw that she had blond brown hair that looked red at the same time. Different from the blond I thought the other night.

But as I looked at her eyes, I realized one was the lightest shade of green and the other was light brown with... a sort of smudge. It looked painful... The longer I stared, the cooler it all seemed. Only when Lena sipped coffee and the handle blocked her face did I snap out of it.

"What's... with the eye?"

"Right or left?" She joked. "I was born with the two different eye colors. Rare the doctors said for two blue eyed parents. My left eye was from when I was a little girl. My dad swung a broken hook from one of his rigs and it got me. I'm not blind but the vision is a little cloudy. Doctors tried fixing it but the iris was too damaged. Used to look worse."

Feeling bad, I tried to apologize. "Sorry for asking."

"No no." She said while shaking her head. "It's fine. Everyone's normally too freaked out to ask. I've come to terms with looking and being different from most people."

"Sorry to have two boring brown eyes." I giggled.

"That's fine by me. Matches your dark facade. Dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes. The perfect detective to have at night."

Trying not to laugh, I took my napkin, put it in front of my face before struggling to say, "I'm Batgirl."

Lena tried to not laugh out loud, and failing as she cackled. I wasn't much better as I pressed the napkin to my mouth to muffle my laugh. Once we could stop our laughing fit, we sipped our coffees and kept chatting.

"Obvious question. How tall are you?"

"Do you want the metric or imperial measurement? Because I know both."

"Let me have it."

"I'm 5'11, or 71 inches, and about 181 centimeters. If I wear the right shoes, I'm 6 foot even."

"Ironic you're just touching 6 feet. I'm 5'6, a little taller than the average woman. But you blow me out of the water."

"It has good and bad. Shoes and clothes are hard to shop for. But I can reach everything myself."

"And you're graceful. Not many people can say that. Much less dance."

"Hehe well you know what I do. What do you do?"

"Every date's favorite question... I'm a data collector."

"What's a data collector?"

"It's a mix of engineering and robotics. The algorithms put into machines don't always work. So I monitor input and recommend something be repair or fixed. A lot of numbers, a lot of recording, and a lot of testing. But the pay is pretty good for being 23."

"23? You sure I won't be too old for you?" Lena questioned, lifting the brow over her smudged eye.

Hearing that made my stomach jump onto the table. Don't tell me she's double my age... "That depends... How old are you?"

Rubbing her neck, the blush on her cheeks highlighted freckles... fuck that's cute... "I recently turned 34... I look younger but... well, numbers aren't a liar."

I sighed a little. Dating someone as old or older than my parents would be weird... "I don't have an issue with that number. Just promise to tell me what I missed in those ten years."

Grinning, she showed her teeth... An off cream white like pearls. They made my mouth look coffee stained, which they are.... Maybe I should cut down. We chit chatted a bit before our food came. And she was definitely worth the morning's delay for work.

Lena was always passionate about dance, getting a scholarship to Julliard. She was also a trained circus dancer for the school that helps Cirque de Soleil. Her father, Artur, was a demonologist, interesting that wasn't a lie. They were close, tight knit after Lena's mother disappeared. She was vague on those details and I didn't pry. I think I was lucky to not have anything wrong in my family. Seeing as her father never remarried, Lena was the only child.

I went into my background and she listened as if it was the most interesting life in the world. I was flattered... Compared to most, mine was charming and normal. And she loved knowing more. I was always a walking calculator and excelled in math. It led me into robotics in high school and I won national tournaments for every school I attended. My university tried to get me to stay two years longer with a paid tuition program. I was that good.

My parents were married for 30 years, having me, my younger brother, and baby brother. They already had a grandchild from my first brother. And now my other brother. In most families, it would have been an issue. The elder girl not having babies first? Insanity. With mine, they accepted facts and did everything to prepare both for fatherhood.

Being the oldest, I didn't think too much about having kids. And it might not happen at all.

Even after I felt I said too much, Lena was there smiling, leaning on her arm and looking at me with sweet eyes. There was a point our waitress asked us to pay and go in a polite way. The waitress walked away as quickly as she came, weird since I hadn't given her my card. Only when she came back did I see Lena paid, and left a nice tip. Checking my clock, it was 8:30... felt like it was just 7... I really had to start analyzing before my boss has a catastrophic meltdown.

Reading my mind, she put her hat on her head.

"Guess I overstayed." She shrugged, her face turning red. "Apologies..."

"It was worth the time." I assured. "Getting to know you was... a lot of fun."

"Hope we get to know each other again soon sometime."

"I'd love to. When are you free?"

She reached in her pocket, pulling out a date book... People still use those? I feel so out of touch with how often I use my phone for everything. Flipping a couple of pages around, she turned it to me, pointing to a Sunday in two weeks.

"Is this okay?" She asked with a head tilt. "I have shows and a few circus acts and can't free up anything else."

My stomach twisted, thinking of what my schedule was for the next two weeks. Sunday... Sunday... that was brunch with a few friends. They wouldn't like me ditching... but hey, I wanted to see Lena again. Not like I don't see my friends every day at work or the scrap lab. Giving a nod and a smile, I gladly accepted. As she smiled back, a pen came out of her pocket and she scrawled it down. Putting the book away, she took her hat off and put it on my head.

Blushing red, Lena took my hand and kissed it.

"So I'll see you in two weeks." She said.

"Yeah..." I said while touching her hat. "So you might need this."

"No. Hang onto it for me. So if I have time between now and next I meet you, we can find an excuse to say hi."

Well fuck... If Lena wasn't smoother than black ice, I'd be on my back. But I didn't mind. It was refreshing to have someone stand out or want to stand out for me. After some minutes of saying goodbye, Lena waved and turned to leave. Standing there for a moment, I finally turned back to my apartment, my fingers touching the brim of the hat Lena gave me. Starting work, I took it off, touching and taking the details in.

It was a weird mesh of woven wicker and thread, a black band around it, with a card and a feather. Pulling out the card, it was an ace of hearts, with luck of the draw written in Sharpie. Though I wanted to figure out what it meant, work was calling and I had to answer. Ticking away, I worked well past lunch and dinner, not seeing that it was almost 9 pm. Sending results to my boss, I sighed as the skyline lit up outside my window. The night was hazy and midnight blue, a few stars out to say hello.

Pouring from my open wine bottle, I turned a chair to stare out, a drink and my thoughts there a while. Finishing a glass, I put the wine away, the glass in the dishwasher, and took a long shower. Feeling the steam build and the heat surround me, I sighed. Part of me wanted another sound to make, but I wasn't sure. Life was... odd, yet normal for me.

So why did it feel something was missing?

----

Nine Days Later, 3:28 p.m.

It's been a long week with test results and progress with the program I've been working on. The latest version, Cyndogram 1.0.8.17, has unpredictable bugs with every fix. We can't afford to scrap and start over, so I've been testing frequently and building mock ups. So much so that my boss had to force me to take time off due to how much overtime they had me logged for. My coworkers were a little concerned when I tried to work on my own time and break into the lab.

After blocking my online access, I had a week too long for my thoughts to stop worrying about the project. By the first night, I was losing my shit... Not working and all the numbers in my brain with nowhere to exit was proving fatal. Needing some fun to distract me, I opened my laptop to check out local events, even expanding the search area. Everything seemed to be a bar or outdoor event. Jesus... why do people think the only way to be social as an adult is to drink?

On about the 40th page, I saw a circus and carnival... Didn't Lena say she was working one? Running with that idea, I opened both and scrolled to see what kind of acts they offered. The circus, which was the furthest, had dancers and trapeze...

Bingo, Yahtzee.

Should I call Lena and be sure that it was okay? No... no let it be a surprise. I thought about just going now because it was already 5 and it'd be a 2 hour drive... Shaking my head, I threw my jacket down and actually looked through my closet. Once I picked something, I got make up on, but comfortable shoes.

Like hell I was walking around a circus in heels...

And that was probably the fastest I've ever gotten pretty. Not that I wasn't gorgeous already. But I really wanted to impress Lena... Never have I wanted someone's approval before. On the drive there, I honestly wondered why. I never had to impress anyone because I was uniquely me. Is this what love feels like? Because my other two relationships didn't feel like this. Not even close. Amid all this thinking, I forgot to bring her hat... fuck... Too late now.

----

Finding a parking spot in this infinite set square was ridiculous. And most people would have thought the 30 dollar parking fee was the worst part. Rushing through the ticket booth, I found a board that had the acts and where to find them. Finding the dancers, I saw Lena on the poster... and that was different than I expected.

Come and rock with the Melody Pirates. The colors make them pop and you might need to just get up and dance.

Seeing her in a leather stud jacket with a pirate hat wasn't something I thought I needed to see. But damn if it wasn't cool as hell. And she looked handsome. Following the arrows and maps, I found the big top where the show was, music blaring. Anxious to get a view, I stood near the steps to go up the bleachers, not seeing them on the ground.

When the bass of the song kicked in, lights flashed and turned my attention skyward. If the words instant wow didn't come out of my mouth, nothing could describe what I was seeing. A troupe of circus dancers on high wire and ribbons! I was in awe. The dancers made it look so effortless, sliding down, jumping, swaying, and holding each other up. The whole time, I kept looking for Lena, who was hard to spot despite how short everyone looked.

And on cue, a dancer that landed on a platform swung outward, one arm wrapped in ribbon and feet braced, over the crowd with a loud "Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh". Lena... As she passed over, I couldn't help but clap, as did the entire crowd. Making it back to her perch, a light shone on her and she swung out again, her voice over the loudspeaker.

"Avast ye scalawags! 'Tis concludes our tale... Until you find our depths again, I privy you tread lightly."

With chuckles over the loudspeaker, everyone got up from their seats and nearly trampled my short ass as I fought through. Falling back, I hit the center sand pit hard. Damn... whoever said sand was soft was a liar. Though as I was seeing stars, the first person I saw was Lena and I smiled stupidly.

"Crew overboard?" I said with a nervous uptick.

Shaking my head, I spotted her smile as she helped me slowly sit up. "No lost souls on my ship. Especially a first mate."

Rubbing my sore head, I groaned. "Ugh... that hurt like hell."

"I thought the same thing when I first fell without a mat. Might as well have us swinging over concrete."

Helping me up, we sat on the first row of bleachers, Lena saying she'd catch up in a bit. As she rubbed my back, I leaned into her and sighed. I was blushing... and hoped I wasn't being weird... Feeling her arm squeeze me, I smiled.

"It's nice to see you." I said softly.

"I can say the same. Thought you would be working."

"I was. But I put in so much overtime the past week that my boss said to take a week off... The program I was helping to fix was turning out to be impossible. I didn't sleep for the first three days, and my boss nearly didn't believe I was awake that long. Until he asked me what day it was and I said it was still Tuesday... And I had the same cheese stain on my shirt."

I felt Lena's thumb press at the base of my skull where it hurt most and press. As she circled, I almost fell asleep. "You have to take care of yourself Davina. Work may be important, but so is your health."

"Mmm... But they're counting on me..."

"I know sweetie. But don't put so much on your shoulders. Stressing shortens your life."

"I'll try. But it's so hard to not want to overdo the work. I've always done that. I want to get it right."

"All I mean is to take it easy. I want to have a date somewhere nice and not have to visit you in the hospital."

Glancing up, I finally looked at her. A bit of grey paint on her face, pirate hat, and those same one of a kind eyes... As she stared back, I felt her fingers trace my cheeks... and my jaw. Then softly below my lips...

"That's a pretty color... What's the name of it?"

"Parisian Cherry... I thought it was too dark... But I like it a lot."

Leaning in, I felt her breathing, and swore I heard her heartbeat. Or maybe it was mine. I lost track of that thought when her lips pressed to mine and I couldn't help being greedy. Her arm tightened around me as mine wrapped around her shoulders and neck. What felt like an eternity stopped when we came up for air, Lena softly murmuring a response.