As Simple as Borrowing a Book

Through the window of the coffee shop, he watched her, deeply engrossed in her book. The voices in his head were arguing - one told him to go for it, jump in with both feet, while the other advised him to keep his distance, that that was what was best for her. She may not realize it but, later on, it would be better for her. “She’ll say, ‘it’s fine, it’s not a big deal for you to be on the road forty weeks out of the year.’ But it will start to wear on her,” he thought as he pulled the door open to meet with the smell of strong coffee and the sound of the coffee grinder over the smooth jazz fusion. “It will start to wear on her the same as everyone else.” He pushed the thought behind a wall and pulled out the chair across the table from her to join her.

She effectively ignored him until she had finished the section she was working on, and made a slow and deliberate effort to mark her page before raising her face to meet his. “Do you do this on purpose? Do you realize your aloof attitude drives me wild?” he thought, meeting her eyes which looked, more than anything, bothered by his interruptive manner. “Hi.” He extended the word to her as if it were a gift to the Don, as if there were just as much chance she’d greet him back as there was she’d pull a silenced handgun from her purse and shoot him in the forehead, depending on her mood today.

“Hi.”

Oh, terrific! The Don was in good spirits today. He relaxed a little and asked what she was reading. “A memoir. This lady was part of the mob, back in its heyday. Not a moll, but a really for-real gangster.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“It is. You can borrow it when I’m finished.” She blinked several times, a shocked expression passing over her face.

He wasn’t sure what to make of it so after several seconds of unrequited pondering, he gave in and asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know who said that. I don’t lend out books. I buy people their own copies if it’s something I really want them to read but I don’t lend out books. But there it was. I opened my mouth and the offer just kind of … fell out.”

He smiled, relieved, in part, that the panicked look had nothing to do with him. At least not directly. Except he was starting to learn while she wasn’t putting on a show for him, she had a tendency to act out of character with him. Her friends had pointed it out to him once. They all believed it was to her benefit, that he brought her out of her shell, made her want to do things she wouldn’t ordinarily do. Even if it was just letting him borrow a book.

He wasn’t sure what else to say but he’d interrupted her reading so he had to make it good. The rivaling siblings in his head started their banter again. He wasn’t sure which voice would be the angel and which would be the devil if they were in fact coaching him from his shoulders, outside his head. Regardless, one voice was encouraging taking her for a walk, countered by the other telling him to make a less-than-graceful exit and pretend it never happened.

“Would you like to go…” He stopped short. “For a walk” sounded a little too cliché, but what else was he going to offer. It was too late for lunch, too early for dinner. He wanted to talk so a movie was out. “…for a walk?” He finally surrendered to it.

Her eyes flashed through a dozen answers before she finally nodded. “Sure.”

“Really? Okay, let me grab a drink and we’ll go?”

She nodded again and followed him to the counter. Before he’d even finished his order, she laid a five on the cash register in front of the barista and grinned at him with child-like glee at her small victory.