‘What do you mean?’ she asked, returning his smile though seeming a bit shyer of him than her appearance suggested.
‘How would you know I was here otherwise?’ he asked.
‘Oh! This is where everyone comes,’ she replied.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘It’s just an observation people have always made. Anyone who arrives in Portland from the west always chooses to stop in the Pearl District.’
‘No kidding.’
‘No one knows why, but I thought I’d come here and then call if you were elsewhere.’
‘Well, it was a good call,’ he told her, ‘here I am – and here we are.’
‘Yes,’ she replied, sounding a little giddy as she failed to sound casual – a response he could not help but love.
‘I hope it wasn’t too difficult getting around your parents?’ he asked.
‘Not so hard,’ Darlene replied, with a shrug.
‘Did you have to give someone the slip to get here?’
‘No, a trusted friend dropped me off,’ she revealed. ‘She owes me a few favors.’
‘Well, good! That’s come in handy,’ he said. ‘Means we can enjoy a nice evening together. Shall we?’
Darlene accepted his invitation and they were soon in the front seat of his Toyota, heading back to the freeway and the coast. Kurt had always avoided going for the flashiest cars. In part, it was unnecessary when you had access to a fleet of luxury yachts, but he also thought it a good move in showing that he did not feel the need to be really flash (even though the truth was he would have preferred a Jag). His date did appear impressed enough by his motor, however, though he did wonder if that was more because she had never gotten into the front seat of some guy’s car and been whisked away in this fashion before.
With his anticipation for a fabulous evening stirred, Kurt simply had to find out the truth about her, but knew that patience was a virtue (so they say). Hopefully there would come a time for more interesting questions later. For the time being he just had to make sure she was comfortable enough in his company and set about helping her to relax and trust him.
‘So, we didn’t really get the chance to talk the other day,’ he began. ‘I guess we can make up for that this evening.?
??
‘Without our parents listening in,’ she agreed, still looking unsure of herself.
‘Absolutely! Are you really pleased to be back? I know people can feel a little lost after finishing education.’
‘Oh, I know what you mean,’ she agreed, responding well to his hint of compassion. ‘There are a lot of decisions to take and my dad’s talking of a job in his office, but…’
‘But you’re not sure about accepting an easy route via your parents.’
‘Yes, but–’
‘Ha! It’s OK,’ he said, reading her mind. ‘You can’t offend me. I love life on the ocean so joining the family business was an easy decision for me. But each to their own, if you want to follow your own path I’d say go for it.’
‘You’re right. The problem is I’m not completely sure about what I want to do, it’s just that…’
‘That you don’t want to be railroaded by your parents.’
‘I worry if I make the wrong decision I’ll be stuck there, or else I would have accepted by now. What do you think?’
‘No one should feel trapped. Do you have any idea what else you’d prefer?’
‘Only vaguely. I think I’d prefer something more expansive. More… adventurous, I guess. Like what you do – but I’m not sure my parents will be very supportive about that.’
Kurt loved that she had used the word ‘adventurous’, suggesting there was something inside her yearning to break free. The evening was getting better by the minute, as his earlier summations of her character were being proven sound (he had been guilty of imagining such things before).