“Well, I’ll take you to the theater anytime you’d like.”
We were dressed up and seeing a full-length play downtown; I felt like an adult. It’s weird to think that most of my life I still felt like a child, but it was often true. I called my parents with questions about dinner, I talked with Spencer’s mother when I had child-rearing questions…in general, I often felt like I was a teenager pretending to be an adult. But in that moment, as I slipped my arm into Brandon’s and we walked swiftly into the theater, my posture straightened and I let the adulthood wash over me.
The theater was a magical experience for me, just like going to the movies. The way artists could bring you into their world and make you feel like you were there – I admired that so much.
I knew I could have had a wonderful career as an artist if I would have continued on with my passion. There’s no way of knowing if I would have been any good at it or if I would have made money selling my artwork, but I know I could have been happy. Art had always made me calm and content. So, if I couldn’t spend my time producing beautiful art, I wanted to spend as much of my free time around it as possible.
Art was more than just paintings to me. I saw it in so many different forms. Artists were musicians, painters, writers, actors, and even inventors. It was odd that so much of my life had ended up surrounded by non-artistic people since I loved the art world so much. Unfortunately, I also loved being able to pay my bills, and that meant I was often surrounded by business professionals and people like me who had channeled their creativity into more lucrative and less risky jobs.
“This is so good,” I whispered at intermission when Brandon and I got up to walk around.
“You seem to be enjoying it very much,” he smiled and pulled me close to him. “I love how intently you watch the characters.”
“Are you enjoying it? I’m sorry if I’m ignoring you.”
“Oh, I love the theater, but I already saw this play when it premiered a couple of weeks ago.”
“You already saw this? Why on earth did you bring me, then? We could have done something else.”
He laughed at how loudly I objected to him. I wasn’t objecting to him bringing me to the theater – I loved the show and really did love having him by my side for it. But if he had already seen it, we certainly could have done something more original with our evening. He didn’t have to sit through a second showing of the play. I had probably been a little loud in my exclamations also, since I noticed several people giving me dirty looks as we continued to talk.
“I wanted you to see it,” he said.
His hands gently tugged on my hips as he decreased the distance between us. I melted there with him. My body physically melted into his and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull myself away, or that I’d be able to behave myself. My body tingled with energy as his hands gently rubbed up and down the small of my back.
“I’m glad we came. I really did want to see it.”
Our mouths found each other’s as we pressed the delicate skin of our lips together and stayed that way until the lights flickered, signaling the end of the intermission. The evening had been perfection – but then again, every time I was with Brandon it seemed to be near perfection.
We snuggled close to each other as the final scenes of the play were acted out for us. The people around us seemed oblivious to the random acts of public affection we gave each other throughout the last act. Brandon rubbing my back, me turning to kiss him; our bodies continued to find a way to stay close to each other.
The perfection of the night continued as Brandon took me to a small night club for a drink and a little more getting to know each other. It was clear he was really a good date planner. He had cultivated the evening to such perfection that it seemed like he knew me inside and out.
“I’m really glad I didn’t dump you after the first date,” I laughed as we sat in a corner booth and sipped our drinks.
“Wow, I’m glad, too. Were you thinking of dumping me?”
“Let’s just say I’m not used to agreeing to a second date. I’ve got high standards, you know.”
“Oh, yes, I can tell. I’m glad you didn’t dump me, though…really, really glad.”
“And that sushi date, well, you are really lucky I returned your calls after that. You could have gotten us arrested with all that handsy stuff.”
His face lit up with the memory of how he had teased me that afternoon. He even seemed proud of the torture he had put me through and the pleasure he had delivered. His boyish grin didn’t stop as he leaned over and gently bit my earlobe and I felt his hand on my thigh.
“We could give it a try here, if you’d like?”
“No!” I protested and playfully pushed him away. “Anyways, there’s no possibility that this dress is moving. I’m stuffed in here like a sausage.”
“You are the most beautiful sausage I have ever seen.”
If anyone else had been privy to our conversation, they likely would have thought Brandon was appalling for saying such a thing, but I adored his humor. It was fun to be around a man who didn’t take life too seriously, yet had accomplished a lot with his life. Usually, those two traits didn’t exactly go hand in hand with one another.
“I’m probably only going to have this one drink. I think I’ve still got some of my pre-date fuel running through me,” I laughed.
“I was wondering if you wanted me to give you a tour of my place. You know, a normal house without the need to swim up to it?”
His hand moved gently up and down my arm, and I saw the desire in his eyes as he looked over my body. It wasn’t very often that a woman could be completely ogled by a man and feel empowered by it. But I felt empowered by Brandon. The look of pure lust that washed over him gave me a power I hadn’t even known I longed for.