Steven Hunley
08-10-2011, 11:51 AM
Don’t Say You Love Me
by Steven Hunley
They were at that point in the relationship where something needed to be said. Society expected it, their respective histories demanded it, and fate decreed it be done.
The pressure was building. She was non-committal and skeptical. He, on the other hand, was eager and a fool for love.They had this wicked combination going on. When it came to having lovers, both of them had histories that didn’t bode well for their futures.
She’d been married and divorced several times. Several times. He’d been in relationships that lasted long after the love had gone sour and never had the sense to pull out of the stench.
What a pair.
Their biggest problem was they were so damned attracted. Like f*cking magnets.
They walked to Balboa Park for lunch and found a romantic spot on a bench under the eucalyptus trees. He took out his handkerchief and dusted off her spot. The sat close together, sipping their Starbucks and watching the black and white swans glide by in the reflecting pool.The sky was clear as a bell and dotted with white puffy clouds. A wandering troubadour walked by strumming a guitar. After that it got quiet.
“You’re not saying anything,” she noted.
“I’ve got something to say, but don’t know if I should say it.”
Nothing like saying what you going to say without saying it directly. His intentions stuck out like an elephant’s trunk grasping for a peanut.
“You can tell me.”
Oh, she was asking for it alright, just asking for it, literally begging the statement.
“I don’t know if I should. Maybe it’s not the right time.”
Now he was hesitating and playing hard-to-get. The swans, the romantic park setting, the dreamy look in her eyes? Not the right time? Come on now, get with it.
“I mean I think I can tell you anything, can’t I? I mean... between us has always been the truth.”
She smiled that 'I’m ready for intimate truth-telling' smile she’d been saving up for special occasions. In reality she was looking forward to this. Even if she feared commitment herself she felt more secure with a committed lover. She liked feeling secure and in control.
“Of course, I always want you to feel you can tell me anything.”
The clock was ticking. The expected bomb was about to drop. The love-hammer was going to fall any second.
He got up and placed his coffee on the bench. He began to pace nervously back and forth back and forth. She watched him intently, like watching a fuse burn down closer and closer to a stick of dynamite.
“I love you,” he blurted out finally. “I didn’t plan too. It just happened.”
It was time to take pity on the poor guy. She knew what he needed just then. I mean, he had the fever and she had the cure.
“Come here and sit down.”
She looked into his nervous eyes. They were as expectant as they were blue. She leaned in closer and put her hand over his hand. Then she gave him an academy award-winning kiss.
“It’s OK, calm down. You have nothing to fear. I love you too.”
He relaxed immediately. The pond reflected the clouds and the sky, and for a second, just a second, until the swans drifted by, the world was a beautiful upside-down world.
As they left a few minutes later, three romantic thoughts raced through his head.
“She loves me. She loves me. She loves me.”
At the same time her cranium began calculating.
“This is the honeymoon stage. It lasts about two to three months.”
She did the math. She was good at combining math and romance.
“After that is the love affair proper.”
She checked into her personal romance-history book and summed up the figures.
“I figure we’ve got ‘till spring..if we're lucky!"
The thought just warmed her little heart. She grabbed hold of his hand and pressed it. He loved it when she held his hand and thought the only thought his head would allow.
“This one is going to last forever.”
Together, hand in hand, they walked off into the kind of a sunset that only southern California can provide. Such a beautiful, meaningful, wonderful, romanticful, afternoon at the park.
There was nothing like it for sure.
©Steven Hunley2011
Thanks Billy and thanks to the woman too, I can’t do without her.
http://youtu.be/kW0MY_KhL7Q
by Steven Hunley
They were at that point in the relationship where something needed to be said. Society expected it, their respective histories demanded it, and fate decreed it be done.
The pressure was building. She was non-committal and skeptical. He, on the other hand, was eager and a fool for love.They had this wicked combination going on. When it came to having lovers, both of them had histories that didn’t bode well for their futures.
She’d been married and divorced several times. Several times. He’d been in relationships that lasted long after the love had gone sour and never had the sense to pull out of the stench.
What a pair.
Their biggest problem was they were so damned attracted. Like f*cking magnets.
They walked to Balboa Park for lunch and found a romantic spot on a bench under the eucalyptus trees. He took out his handkerchief and dusted off her spot. The sat close together, sipping their Starbucks and watching the black and white swans glide by in the reflecting pool.The sky was clear as a bell and dotted with white puffy clouds. A wandering troubadour walked by strumming a guitar. After that it got quiet.
“You’re not saying anything,” she noted.
“I’ve got something to say, but don’t know if I should say it.”
Nothing like saying what you going to say without saying it directly. His intentions stuck out like an elephant’s trunk grasping for a peanut.
“You can tell me.”
Oh, she was asking for it alright, just asking for it, literally begging the statement.
“I don’t know if I should. Maybe it’s not the right time.”
Now he was hesitating and playing hard-to-get. The swans, the romantic park setting, the dreamy look in her eyes? Not the right time? Come on now, get with it.
“I mean I think I can tell you anything, can’t I? I mean... between us has always been the truth.”
She smiled that 'I’m ready for intimate truth-telling' smile she’d been saving up for special occasions. In reality she was looking forward to this. Even if she feared commitment herself she felt more secure with a committed lover. She liked feeling secure and in control.
“Of course, I always want you to feel you can tell me anything.”
The clock was ticking. The expected bomb was about to drop. The love-hammer was going to fall any second.
He got up and placed his coffee on the bench. He began to pace nervously back and forth back and forth. She watched him intently, like watching a fuse burn down closer and closer to a stick of dynamite.
“I love you,” he blurted out finally. “I didn’t plan too. It just happened.”
It was time to take pity on the poor guy. She knew what he needed just then. I mean, he had the fever and she had the cure.
“Come here and sit down.”
She looked into his nervous eyes. They were as expectant as they were blue. She leaned in closer and put her hand over his hand. Then she gave him an academy award-winning kiss.
“It’s OK, calm down. You have nothing to fear. I love you too.”
He relaxed immediately. The pond reflected the clouds and the sky, and for a second, just a second, until the swans drifted by, the world was a beautiful upside-down world.
As they left a few minutes later, three romantic thoughts raced through his head.
“She loves me. She loves me. She loves me.”
At the same time her cranium began calculating.
“This is the honeymoon stage. It lasts about two to three months.”
She did the math. She was good at combining math and romance.
“After that is the love affair proper.”
She checked into her personal romance-history book and summed up the figures.
“I figure we’ve got ‘till spring..if we're lucky!"
The thought just warmed her little heart. She grabbed hold of his hand and pressed it. He loved it when she held his hand and thought the only thought his head would allow.
“This one is going to last forever.”
Together, hand in hand, they walked off into the kind of a sunset that only southern California can provide. Such a beautiful, meaningful, wonderful, romanticful, afternoon at the park.
There was nothing like it for sure.
©Steven Hunley2011
Thanks Billy and thanks to the woman too, I can’t do without her.
http://youtu.be/kW0MY_KhL7Q