Love and Time

"I don't want to waste your or my time, so I will get to the point. Are you dating with the intent to marry?"

She had said that to the last few folks who sat in front of her. So, I was prepared for the question, unlike the others before me.

This event, one my buddy talked me into attending, was like musical chairs for singles. All black ties and slim dresses, pretty candles on ornate tables. The thing was, some folks pulled the tab for sitting at tables while the others pulled for leapfrogging to a few different ones as they saw fit.

I was a frog. She was a fortress.

This woman had black-rimmed glasses and the sharpest eyes I'd ever seen. Mature, but not prudish, with high heels and covered shoulders, and a beautifully powdered face. The very model of royalty.

More than one person sat at her table, but most stood up before even a minute passed.

"Yes," I replied, fingers interlaced and sweating on my lap.

"Hmm, good." She kept her smokey-eyed gaze on me. "Do you want children?"

"I'm okay with or without them."

"I don't want children."

"Fine with me."

She hummed. "Name?"

I told her. She told me hers in return, her posture impeccable. I straightened my back to match the instant I realized I was starting to slouch again.

"Your last name, or mine?" she asked.

"Yours is more aesthetically pleasing. I also don't have much of an attachment to my own."

"Acceptable." I resisted the urge to check my watch and see if I'd lasted a minute yet. "What are your thoughts on trans rights?"

Oh. I don't recall hearing this question before. I wondered what about me made her think to ask.

"People are people, and we all deserve rights, don't we?"

A bit of the firmness in her brow lightened.

"Your opinion on Republicans?"

"Depends on the Republican in question."

"Democrats."

"Same verse as the first."

Maybe it was an illusion, but perhaps the corner of her mouth moved up by a millimeter.

She nodded. "Pets?"

"None."

"My cat's name is Loreida. 10, Black longhair."

"I'm not allergic."

"Good. Occupation?"

"IT Consultant, 9 to 5. You?"

"CPA, work from home."

With her demeanor, she'd fit right in on a corporate scale. Maybe she was. Working from home didn't mean she wasn't contracted with high-dollar corps.

"Thoughts on cheating?"

I almost stumbled over my answer, not expecting the question. It didn't seem in-line with the current topic, but maybe this was the point. A test of some sort.

"No reason to do it. Communication comes first. You?"

"Scum." Yikes. "Longest relationship?"

"Nine months, about two years ago. It, ah, wasn't the cleanest break. Had some differences we couldn't accept. Your longest?"

"Five years, ended six months ago."

"Oh."

I cleared my throat, feeling the words get stuck. Slipping up, the silence dragging on for a moment.

"Sorry to hear that... Ah, mind elaborating?"

"Yes." I blinked, and she elaborated. "For now. Perhaps later."

"Fair enough. Erh...age?"

She said how old she was. A little younger than I expected, considering the strands of grey in her hair. Maybe genetics. Maybe stress.

I said how old I was. As expected, I was younger than her. But, well, I'd always liked older women.

"What made you decide to date again?"

With this, she paused. For the first time, she looked away from me, gaze falling on the candle.

"I don't prefer being alone. I can be alone, but I would rather share company with someone. And you?"

"Ah, I've been looking around for a little bit. Had some dates off and on, but never felt very connected. So, I figured I needed to expand my horizons and meet new people."

"You felt connected enough to sit with me. Why?"

"...You're magnetic," I answered honestly. "And I got curious. And, ah, you have a cat, so you know satisfaction brings us back even if it kills us."

"That joke was terrible." The smile wasn't miniscule this time, though. "I'm a bit strict."

"And I'm a bit silly."

"So it seems."

Even so, she reached back and turned on the light near her seat. A breath later, a server came up to us, handing us menus and giving us cups of water. I wasn't sure how they knew I liked mine with lemon, but they put it on the side, like I preferred.

"Vegan?" she asked, looking over her options.

"No. You?"

"No."

"If I'd said yes, would that have been a deal breaker?"

Her lidded eyes and long lashes flicked as she glanced at me, my heart skipping a beat in my chest. God, how could anyone hold someone like her up for five years just to let her down?

"Your diet is your business. I was just curious."

"Like a cat."

"Hmm. Cyclical."

"Just chasing my tail."

She huffed. It sounded like a laugh.

"I feel like you told yourself a joke just now."

"Perhaps I did."

"Tell me? Maybe it's funny."

"Maybe it's cruel."

"I can handle a little BDSM."

She frowned then. "That's not the point of BDSM. It's about trust and reliance."

"Ah... Are you into BDSM?"

"Not particularly. But I know of it."

The server returned when she looked up. They quietly took our orders, placed down some bread and butter, then left, giving us an estimated time before our meals would arrive.

"...'Everyone here is trying to chase someone else's tail, not their own.'"

"Huh?" I was partway through slathering a piece of sourdough in fat.

"The joke I'd thought of. A bit sarcastic."

"Mm... True. But not cruel. It's not lie everyone here is looking for something. You're looking to not be alone. I'm...well." The gleaming metal of my straw suddenly seemed quite attractive. "I'm looking to settle down. I don't think I like being alone either."

"Hmm."

I stuff my face with bread as anxiety curls in my guts. She hasn't eaten anything yet.

"...If we happen to come across a topic we just...don't agree on. If that happens, will you regret it?"

"Will you?"

"No."

She leaned back in her seat, giving me a once-over. Then, something about her seeming to rest. Fangs covered, swords sheathed. Gate lowering for a dinky little frog on a half-ass hinny.

"...I also think meeting you, even if just tonight, wouldn't have been a waste of time."

Ah. Yeah.

"You've gone rather red."

"Hot people do that to me."

I let myself slouch forward as her eyes, sharp as ever, twinkle much brighter than the straw in my glass.