Читать книгу My Words Were All I Had - William Sanchez - Страница 5

Chapter 1

The Coffee Shop

You’re not just playing games, when you’re playing with lives.

“Help me to understand, Sebastian. What is it that drives a man? To take the risk of approaching a woman, without a grain of thought on how to open up to her? Why would you walk over without not knowing what to say?” asked Mike.

As we were both admiring a pair of gorgeous ladies, who sat a few tables away from us. Seeming to be enjoying their own private conversation, just as much as we were discussing ours.

“I just can’t get over the habit of having the moment lead the way for me,” I explained. As I smirked at Mike’s attentive stare, I started to school him. “Just calling a woman beautiful is not going to lead you that far, in some cases nowhere at all. But to make a woman feel beautiful, now you’re entering a whole other world,” I detailed.

He swiped the coffee off his mouth with a napkin faster than a credit card on the card reader. Then threw his hands up surrendering to my claims. “Okay then, you plan on performing hypnosis? Are they going to be in a trance by the time you introduce me?” he questioned sarcastically.

“Nah man, I’m not doing nothing outrageous just yet,” I reacted. I then waved my finger at him as I continued. “But… Whatever I do say, I’m going to make sure they both tell you. They’ve never been approached in such a manner,” I predicted to Mike.

He remained in a daze trying to figure out my attempt. As he looked right at them, he informed me. “They’ve been staring at us for a while now, Sebastian.”

“That’s good!” I assured him. “That’s what they are doing at the moment, if you pick actions of the moment, Mike. Then how can you ever sound rehearsed?” I asked.

He crossed his arms with a crumbling face of confusion. “So you’re going to ask them what are they staring at?” he asked.

“No,” I calmly answered.

There was a flier of an event on the table next to us. I had to think quick, as these two attractive ladies—one blonde and a brunette—at four tables away from us. Possibly interested, from what Mike and I had observed. Even though they were smiling at each other while sharing words, they would take glances in our direction. Our interest grew more as we noticed that the glancing became more frequent. Now maybe I could just approach and introduce myself, but I promised Mike I’d be different.

“Give me a pen!” I demanded.

“What? Are you drawing her something?” he joked.

“Shut up with that. And I’m glad you’re wearing that leather jacket. It makes you look like a detective,” I added. I then turned away from him.

“This is top of the line right here! You don’t know about this!” Mike yelled as I walked off.

I then grabbed the flier on the next table faster than the girls could notice. As I approached the table, they leaned away looking up at me. Waiting to see what I had to say.

“I don’t mean to interrupt your chatter over coffee, but I need to know. Which one of you is hired for the hit? And what’s the motive?” I asked. As I had moved the pen and flier around, pretending to write a police report.

“Excuse me?” sked the blonde, confused, as if wanting me to repeat myself.

“Well, my friend Mike over there is very nervous. And he believes you girls have been staring because you’re planning a killing of some sort. So what’s the truth here?” I joked.

The brunette put a hand over her mouth, holding back her giggles in reaction when the blonde questioned me.

“Now why would you say that? We just like what we see, that’s all.”

“Thank you, and…this is just my way of saying hi,” I confessed.

“Hmm…that’s different,” judged the blonde as I could feel I was being eye-scanned by her friend.

“I like a man who can be different,” interrupted the brunette. With the help of such a comment, I already knew who I was to aim for.

“And your name is?” asked the brunette.

But even to say my name, I wanted to continue keeping this interaction interesting. “Since women love for men to guess their age, let’s just say”—I paused briefly—“you two guess my name, and I’ll do the same in return. And if you get mine right, then I won’t arrest you two,” I joked.

They laughed and accepted the challenge. “You look like a Carlos,” said the brunette, while she looked me up and down. I pretended to be shocked to add a bit of fun.

“Me! Why, because I look Spanish?” I blurted. They both shook their heads no as I attempted take a small shot at assuming their names too. “Your friend here looks like a Bridget,” I teased the brunette.

“What is a Bridget supposed to look like anyways?” she asked sarcastically.

I turned around to see if Mike was still sitting. He was smiling in our direction. The same way a child does when he sees his favorite playground from a car window as mommy drives by. I waved him down to come over, since we were pretty much done with our table. “Would you ladies mind if we sit here with you two?”

“No, not at all,” offered the blonde.

I placed my hand on Mike’s shoulder as soon as he slid right next to me. “Hey, this is Mike by the way, and I’m Sebastian. Excuse the thirty-second delay of my name,” I said.

“Well, I’m Anna,” the blonde introduced herself.

“And I’m Lisa.” That was the brunette.

This sweet-looking woman was the cream to a cake, but you wouldn’t find a sweetie pie like her in any pastry shop. A grown woman’s face with the eyes and smiles of a baby. Her body had more curves than a bowling pin. I was eager to have words with her. “So, Lisa, I must say that the whole glasses look goes perfect with you, it’s cute,” I complimented. I then calmly sat next to her.

“Oh! Well, thank you. And I only wear them because I need to. But I don’t like wearing my glasses,” she confessed. I leaned in toward her, getting my mouth close to her ear.

“If I needed glasses, using them would depend. For instance, as long as you’re the one who comes into focus, I don’t need glasses. Everything else can stay blurry,” I flirted.

“Aww, thank you.” She sighed. Blushing while she played with the back of her ear.

Now this was the type of interactions and exchange I was used to. But it was a role that was becoming old; it really wasn’t my type of play anymore. I was soon to hit a wall of realization not long after us four had conversed for a bit.

“So, ladies!” shouted Mike, in an attempt to steal the show, as he had a suggestion to make. “Sebastian and I can take you two on a double date. Especially since Sebastian don’t even look out his bedroom window, as of recently,” he said. I rolled my eyes at him, and before he continued, he whispered to me: “Bro, I got you.”

I noticed when I pulled my phone out. Lisa started to look around the ground almost like she’d lost something. I continued with my original intentions and asked for her number. I found it to be odd that she looked at me with wide eyes and turned to Anna to ask, “Can I give him yours?”

“Of course, girl, here’s the phone. He can type it in,” suggested Ana.

I was then curious to know. “So you don’t have a phone?” She bit down on her lips for a second before she decides to explain. “It’s that I’m married, but don’t worry, he’s never up my ass wondering where I’m at all times,” she confessed. I sat there frozen, letting her continue. “Plus, I’m always with my best friend. So you can call me at her number whenever,” she assured me.

I wasn’t pleased with Mike being happy to hear this. And he reacted with excitement. “My man Sebastian!” said Mike. With his arm around Ana. He was enjoying himself as much as he was enjoying my situation with Lisa.

To make better sense of this, I questioned her with an assumption. “I take it that you’re heading for divorce or something?” I asked, as I looked at her hand trying to see a ring.

“No…he treats me pretty good” she addressed, before Ana then interrupted.

“He’s actually a really nice guy, I get along with him well,” she confessed.

This whole time, Mike was laughing and pushing my shoulder softly with his fist. While at this point I’m sitting with them, I pondered, what the hell am I doing? Not only was I seducing another man’s wife, but these two girls were also admitting that he was a nice guy. They went as far as explaining features of the nice house he shared with Lisa and the great job that he had landed. I Felt a small wave of nausea settling in me. I then pulled Mike by his jacket and leaned him toward me to remind him. “Hey, don’t we have a whole kitchen to rebuild?” I said. Then stared sharp in his eyes to signal that we were done here.

“Man, that’s not until five o’clock. It’s only 1:00 p.m. right now!” he reacted, annoyed.

“Yeah, sure, Mike, we got to go and pick up some stuff. Plus the machines,” I demanded. I started getting up when Ana seeming to be bothered with my behavior.

Asked Mike, “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, yes!” I interrupted.

She leaned back and rolled her whole face at me; rude was what I seemed. But to close off this gathering in that fashion was the least of my worries. I still said bye even if it wasn’t accepted with care. “We have to go, and it was nice to meet you two,” I blurted. I then smacked Mike lightly on his back and whispered away from the girls, “If you want to get their numbers that’s fine, but let’s just go. I’ll be in the truck.”

He looked down and shook his head. I can tell he was aware I wasn’t pleased with this encounter. But he knew there was more to my mood change than just the infidelity of Lisa. I then walked out of the coffee shop with a rhythm to my steps as if I had better things to do. We don’t shed our old skin to then hang it up in the closet, just to wear it at a later time in life. We shed our old skin to make the space for a new skin to live our life in, until we keep growing. There is no emptier feeling than the feeling we get from the actions that don’t define us anymore.

Even more when we recognize that these old actions have cost us the loss of so much. And walking away was the best action I took in this particular time.