Tinder
In my room. On Tinder. A match! Jackie. Her photos look as though they were taken by a professional backstage at some glamorous event. A beautiful face framed by a huge afro. I send a message. Nothing big, just a hello. Jackie replies. More messages. Yes she speaks English. This is encouraging. Less so are her monosyllabic replies. The conversation needs a shot in the arm. I look through her photos again. I decide to say what I see – a quiet, creative type who perhaps has done a bit of modelling.
Close?
Her reply is instant.
Very close.
I can almost see her sit up and pay attention.
First Date
Vitoria. Old Town. Vitoria is colder than Bilbao. One jumper colder. Jackie is showing me around. Cobbled streets, cathedrals, a cosy little park, winter sunshine. It’s 3 o’clock on a Sunday and most of the city’s inhabitants have retreated to their homes to sleep off the afternoon wines and calamari. The streets are ours.
She buys roasted chestnuts at a stall. She tells me how she and her little brother used to put them in their pockets to keep their hands nice and warm. I picture the two of them trailing behind their mother, chatting happily and nibbling away. I’m charmed.
We have a beer. It’s a terrible thing to say but trotting out the usual stuff about work, friends and family is becoming a little jaded to me so I’m happy to listen to her talk about her business.
On the tram we stand close, face to face. Loosened by the beer and encouraged by her warm smile I get over the shyness and take her hand.
At the station the passengers board the bus. How often have pleasant days been cut short by the rattling of an impatient engine?
I have a lot of questions but there’s no time to ask. I like her. I know that.
She tells me all I need to know with a kiss.
Rehearsal
Vitoria. Jackie’s rehearsal. We step out of the cold and into the apartment of Jackie’s teacher. We are greeted by warm smiles and the smell of baking bread. We remove our jackets and move into the studio area.
Jackie takes the stage. I take a seat. The piano accompaniment is barely there. Chin up, back straight and hands clasped lightly in front of her, she sings. Her mouth stretches wide and high, yet through all the manoeuvres she smiles. She looks so at peace. When a song finishes she looks at me and gives her full radiant beam. There are soft spoken exchanges between teacher and student. She leaves through her sheet music, stands erect and sings again. Her voice is like a finely tuned instrument fulfilling its full capacity.
After the rehearsal we walk happily hand in hand back to her apartment.
You know that period? That sweet getting to know you period where you come to learn the other person’s habits, idiosyncrasies, intimacies and routines; you walk around wide eyed in a strange new world; craving and being craved.
You know that period?
This is beginning to feel like the beginning of that period.
Vitoria New Town
Vitoria, Jackie’s apartment. We’ve just eaten a nice meal that Jackie prepared. I’m washing up. The atmosphere is stifled. There are long gaps between exchanges. What to say? I wanna lighten the mood but feel too tense to wisecrack. She’s hovering around me, watching me wash up. An inevitable sigh.
‘What?’
‘What are you doing? Not like that. Here.’
‘It’s fine. I got it.’
‘I want to do it. Just step aside.’
I sigh in exasperation and let her at the sink.
You know that period when everything you do gets on your partner’s nerves? That’s where we are.
Jackie dashes off to rehearsal. I take a walk through her part of the city and ponder it all going wrong. We’ve known each other a few weeks but bicker intermittently. Is it a cultural thing? Did Irish girls just turn a blind eye to my shortcomings or drop subtle hints that I failed to pick up?
The streets are empty and the buildings unlovely. It’s beginning to feel more than just one jumper colder.
Last Christmas
The writing’s on the wall. Looking at the situation in cold logical light I can see we’re going nowhere fast. But, I like her, and a stubborn desire overrides logic.
I do the romantic equivalent of driving down a one way street.
So, late one school night before Christmas, because the bus timetable says yes (though in between the lines Jackie said no) I find myself on the bus to Vitoria with a plant on my lap. When I arrive at her apartment, she graciously accepts the plant. Looking at her beautiful face I understand why I made the trip. But the dizzy romance is short-lived. Tiredness, the desperation in my effort, sloppy table-manners and the thought of sharing a bed with a restless soul culminate to help her realize she hasn’t got time for this carry on. She spells it out for me.
The end.
nocktoebenaughto
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Gosh it seemed to end so abruptly. I get the feeling she held a lot in and didn’t fully express what she was actually thinking. Interesting how you mentioned Irish girls;
“Did Irish girls just turn a blind eye to my shortcomings or drop subtle hints that I failed to pick up?” That made me smile!
Good read!
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I’m glad that line made you smile. Thanks for reading.
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beautifully written
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The baby steps of romance..I must say love is blind, you got this gut feeling that it’s not gonna work but you wanna cling stubbornly un to it.
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That’s it man. That’s exactly what happened! I probably need to listen better rather than just carrying on with my own ideas.
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ohhhh, I loved it!!
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Beautifully written, glad I came across your blog.
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And I’m glad you found it! Cheers!
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This is such a nice easy read and I am so glad to have been able to read it. Thank you and so sorry you went through this heart break.
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That’s okay. I’m okay. Thanks for the comment.
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I came in here thinking it was going to be a short story about how 2 people fell in love and lived happily ever after. I didn’t get that. I got the real truth, the real happenings. And I love it.
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Maybe one day I’ll get to write that short story 😉
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Nice
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love exist, in its own way. I enjoyed the read. I also have a blog. check it up and leave some comments.
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Lovely story
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Just what I needed to read right now. Keep up with this good work but hopefully not with the short romance.. cheers!
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Ahh and your kind words are just what I needed to read right now! Cheers!
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A great post. Here you can find a Costa Rican writing about the hidden paradise In Costa Rica https://paradiselivingblog.wordpress.com
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The End.. appropriate. Sometimes that’s all that’s left. No discussion needed. You just know. Been there… I feel your pain.
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This is great!
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love it..beautifully written
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I loved this, a perfect snapshot of the phases we go through!
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It’s sad and mysterious how the magic of love can sort of fall off after that brief period of excitement and newness. I’ve never been in a relationship because I was always afraid of getting hurt but I think that I shouldn’t go into relationships thinking like that. There is beauty in love that is worth experiencing even for a short period of time
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“That sweet getting to know you period where you come to learn the other person’s habits, idiosyncrasies, intimacies and routines; you walk around wide eyed in a strange new world; craving and being craved.”
NAILED IT. 🙂
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Thanks for sharing
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Get a room😂
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[…] Something Different? A Bit of Romance […]
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Love this!
Check out my blog post on real life experiences
https://hiiddensecrets.wordpress.com/2016/11/11/the-beginning/
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Takes time to find your blog on discover, aha. What makes it interesting & caught my attention is because it happened online..
“That sweet getting to know you period where you come to learn the other person’s habits, idiosyncrasies, intimacies and routines; you walk around wide eyed in a strange new world; craving and being craved.”
– Very well said on this, seems like the memories are still in memory ..
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A soothing story
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[…] Something Similar? A Bit of Romance […]
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I really liked this read, you have a nice story-teller style of writing, that I sometimes struggle with. And this really captured those short-lived romances that begin online, may times only lasting a few weeks but leaving a lot of impact. Definitely have experienced this before.
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[…] Something different? A Bit of Romance […]
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