Chapter 8
In David's apartment there's a large mirror above the kitchen sink. In fact, I think most of The Villa's apartments have these. It must be because the sink doesn't have a window above it to look out of while doing the dishes and mirrors create the illusion of space, less stuffy I suppose. I usually help Elizabeth with the dishes after dinner so I see how the mirror works. It really does create a more open feeling to the kitchen; better than staring at the wall while doing dishes anyways.
It was the day after David's date with Amy and he was doing the dishes while occasionally looking at himself in the mirror, but more looking past himself to the reflection of the violin in the living room. He could stare at a violin for hours, he thought. What beauty. The violin's beauty reminded him of a woman's beauty: soft curves, inviting, responsive, and if touched properly would return music to your ears in the most breathtaking voice.
His eyes were busy moving from dishes to violin, but his mind was mostly occupied with remembrances of his date with Amy. He was recharged and happy they had connected in such a way. He felt that spark at the pool earlier, but of course, the date was more intimate. David thought, when you ask someone to intentionally spend time with you, not like a chance meeting around a pool, and they say yes it is more; well important. Casual friendships are one thing, you know when you have someone you always seem to meet at the same time in a coffee shop to talk about the trades or something but really never make any firm plans to do so. If you ask and she says yes it's just better.
It seems these days young folks go out in groups more than in pairs, but David's a bit old fashioned and likes the one-on-one date thing. He likes the formality, and the planning I suppose, of the ask and answer, the plan to go and when/where, the preparation of what to wear to a lesser degree, the drive over and the opportunity for a connection. He's a romantic I would say.
The next morning at 5:30am David was preparing for his run. Again he was physically going through the motions but his mind was elsewhere. He enjoyed thinking about Amy, it made him feel good. Through routine and just plain habit he donned his normal running attire, jock, shorts, old white t-shirt (one he'd retired as a work undershirt), socks and running shoes. He did all of this without really thinking about it. As a side note, his running clothes were all pretty raggedy except for the socks and running shoes; he made sure those were fairly new and in good shape. Runners have to care about socks and shoes I guess because they so impact the health of their feet, ankles, hips and knees. Makes sense to me, he always had a nice pair of sneakers anyway.
David thought to himself, it's actually good to have something positive to think about while running. It's better to let the body do the work and let the mind do its thing otherwise. If you focus on the run and how your body feels, whether it be tired, achy or worse yet focus on some slight injury, then the run becomes more difficult and not enjoyable really. Running is supposed to be enjoyable otherwise why bother. If you just run and think of positive thoughts you seem to run faster and the run becomes an enjoyable event with no worries. Amy is a good running subject, he thought. At this moment David couldn't think of a better thing to think about. He probably looked a bit like a madman to some. Running at the crack of dawn, pretty darn fast for like three miles, with a big grin on his face; non-runners might think he had a screw loose. Other folks like David, that is runners with a romantic side, might just think he was in love. Then again they could also be thinking he just had gas I suppose, you know that kind of grimace that almost looks like a smile thing; oh never mind.
That night David was awake late, too late for a 5:30am runner. Also, with work the following day this stressed him out a bit. Tossing and turning trying to get to sleep was fruitless. His mind was racing about the prospects of the wonderful little Miss Helmer.
Now I have to admit I've spent my fair share of sleepless nights over girls. There were none more so than over my wife Elizabeth. After our first date, first meeting even, I don't think I slept for a month. Well, I'm exaggerating a bit but you get the point. When you feel that spark it kind of consumes you as a man, especially as a young man. All these emotions stir up inside you and it feels like the world has opened up and provided you with a great opportunity; corny maybe, annoying somewhat, but true nonetheless.
After two hours of staring into the dark David decided it best to just get up and do something to calm his mind. As Mr. Planner he decided to write out a list of pros and cons of Amy as a person. Something told me the list of pros would be longer than the list of cons at this point. Young David had it pretty bad, pretty bad indeed.
Pros:
Attractive (beautiful)
Funny (witty)
Social (carries on a good conversation, at least with a couple of drinks in her)
Knows where to find a good meal
Seems to have it together (at least knows what she wants)
Sexy (hot, hair, face, what breasts, hips, legs, tushie, even her feet are damn sexy)
David just sat there and stared at the last line he wrote for about fifteen minutes. Lost in those extremely detailed thoughts only a young man can muster and not have a heart attack. He was in full lust mode.
After expending so much energy on the Amy's positives and even more energy on lustful thoughts David couldn't bring himself to the cons. Not tonight, he thought, I have work tomorrow best just get to bed. Convenient, how a young man only addresses the positives with a pretty girl. David was in deep.
A couple of days later, after work, David took some time to work on a piece of music. It was an original piece of music he scored himself. He never really thought of himself as a composer, but something just came over him a while back on a day off from running. He liked to take slow walks at dawn on these days. "A Morning Stroll" is what he named the piece. It was slow with soft and gentle bowing and more rhythmic than most classical music. It was a bit modern, but David didn't mind, he just enjoyed the feeling it gave him to create something he actually liked.
However, on this day his work was stalled. Writer's block you might say. Again Amy was on his mind. He wondered what she was doing, if she was thinking of him as he was her. He decided to entwine his mood and thoughts into his playing, so he put down his original piece and thought about what classical piece of music reminded him most of Amy. He settled on Vivaldi's "Spring" of "The Four Seasons", especially the first movement.
Upbeat and frolicking kind of, "Spring" had possibilities, hope of things to come with warm times ahead and summer fun on the horizon. That's how he wanted to think of Amy, as a promise of a spring morning. Anything is possible in spring, he thought, if you're young you get to play outside more and soon you will be out of school for the summer to play all the time. If you're older, and have aches and pains, they subside or at least reduce in intensity. Who doesn't like spring? If there's someone that doesn't I don't want to meet them, thought David with a grin. After playing the piece several times David was calm and moved his thoughts to life in general. Not just Amy, Amy, Amy, but what he wanted to do with his life; who he wanted to be. A beautiful young girl will make you think of the future; about your life and direction. With David's intelligent, inquisitive and especially planning mind he could live an entire lifetime, through thought, in just several minutes. This is an interesting ability, but can get fairly tedious when the reality doesn't match up to your dreams. Something told me Amy wouldn't live up to the delusions of grandeur David had; but then who could I suppose.
David took a long moment to think to himself about where he is currently and where he wants to go in the near and then long-term future. David, being a homebody, wants to create a healthy and enjoyable home life. To him this would mean marriage in the near future. We're not talking about tomorrow, or really even rushing into anything, but soon enough not to feel like life is passing him by. David loves kids, so they must be in his long-term plans. Any gal he settled down with would have to wa
nt kids too. Two would be great, David thinks, a boy and a girl would be perfect. He'd be willing to have more if his wife preferred but wants at least two. He thinks the prospect of having an only child is a little depressing. Not that there's anything wrong with only children, he's had friends that were, but it has to be a less social situation than growing up with one or more siblings. Maybe it would even be a boring life, with no brother or sister to play with, for an only child and David wouldn't want that. Oh, and animals too. David would like to have a couple of dogs and maybe a cat depending.
Settling down is the important thing for David. I've chosen not to make my work the focal point of my existence so I could have a healthy and fulfilling family life, he thought. This is a mature outlook for such a young man. Most men get around to this outlook but unfortunately can put their wives through a lot of difficult times being the workaholic/long hours/job first guy in the meantime. Some men never get past this and seem to get divorced and remarried every three or four years. That must be difficult on the kids and everyone else in those families. David doesn't want his life to be that way. His father was not much of a father at all, absent mainly. David wants to do better. He demands it of himself. He looks forward to a time when he can live a healthy and fulfilling family life in a two parent home. He means well and hopes that means something in the end.
You know I see the point David has about settling down. In my youth I was quite selfish and preoccupied with my time. I had no real desire to listen to, let alone get involved in anyone else's time. Unfortunately this includes the first several years of my marriage to Elizabeth. She's a doll though and she waited me out until I became more mature. Lucky for me and thank the Lord for her. She's really a doll I tell ya. I'm older now and less selfish but still quite arrogant and honest to God rude at times. I still get lost in my people watching hobby, but Elizabeth allows me a little leeway.
I do love being married though. I don't know what I would do without my wife. I'm one of those guys that never learned to cook or do laundry or sew or do dishes or, or, or; I could go on you know. It's not that I think those things are a woman's job it's just that I never enjoyed them and never had to do them. I'm kind of spoiled. Check that, I'm damned spoiled I tell ya. To illustrate my point about my love for and really comfort with marriage; let me tell you I can't even sleep alone anymore. Like if my wife goes to her mother's for a couple of days, seems like I'm up all night.
The whole concept of two becoming one is nice in itself but what I really like is the way, when you're married, everything in your life has a woman's touch. Most men I know, including yours truly, could care less about the little things around the apartment like which plants to hang from the ceiling and which to put on the window sill, which candle to burn in the bedroom to create the best calming aroma throughout the apartment (stronger in the bedroom but lingering throughout the rest of the apartment, I guess that's why Elizabeth does it that way but who knows), what color to paint the guest bedroom, what carpet feels best on your bare feet, or what pattern of wallpaper to use in the kitchen and so on. But boy ? you take that stuff away and we'd notice, yes us men sure would.
Life is just grander when you're married, at least for men anyways. I like to think it is great for the woman too but who am I kidding. No actually, I'm sure my skills at fixing stuff around the apartment, changing the oil on the auto, lifting heavy stuff and such are a big help. I just hope Elizabeth gets as much out of it as I do 'cause I sure appreciate her. Maybe I should tell her more often.
David, being the homebody he is, has a lot of time to himself; a lot of time to think. It is nice to have time to really think things through and relax, but it also creates an environment where he's alone a lot. While not needy or desperate, David does long for companionship.
I don't do so well in crowds I suppose, thinks David, but I'm good in one-on-one situations and would make a good husband, a good companion. I have a strong work ethic, I take care of myself and I truly care about people. Plus I love kids. Surely there is a gal out there that sees those things as honorable and worth being around. David often wonders if that's really how things work. While he's mature beyond his years in many ways, he doesn't have the life experience to know all. He's sure seen the "bad boys" that treat girls poorly get far more dates than he has and he wonders if his plight as a "nice guy" is to be alone. Don't start that feeling sorry for yourself, David thinks, toughen up big boy.
I've noticed this about David, being a homebody and all. I'm kind of that way a bit, but maybe not as much as David. My wife Elizabeth often says to me "Sammy let's go out with friends sometimes," I usually agree but seldom go. I guess I'm more of a people watcher than a party person or small talker. Anyways, in this situation I think David's being a bit of a whiner. I mean he doesn't know how good he has it. Sure I love marriage and all but looking back on times when I was younger and had all that free time to do whatever I wanted to was pretty good too. I mean you don't know what you've got till it's gone, right? There are times in your life when you have to do certain things. Young men need to be alone for a while, I think, to kinda find themselves. I don't see any reason to rush into things or to see a girl like Amy as a princess just because you're ready to settle down. I'm not completely convinced that's what David's doing at this point, but the risks are there and they're substantial. He should take a deep breath and step back from the situation I think. Oh, but what the hell do I know, I'll just stick to my observing; I'm good at that. Besides a little drama around The Villa is fun. I can be such a jerk sometimes, ha ha.
A Modern Love Page 12