An Interesting Love

The park

Word Count: 2,543

The night was amazing. Henry walked me home, holding my hand the whole way. He knew the way. His hand fit so perfectly in mine and frequently he would squeeze my fingers. I felt those lovely nerves filling my stomach and shaking my legs, and I could tell they were overtaking him too. I could tell by the way he began to stutter when he spoke and the way he tripped over not one but two of his steps. He's so wonderful to watch. This morning I wake up holding my pillow, laying some kisses on its cover, pretending it is his face. I laid my hand on his cheek last night, and his skin was the softest I've felt— the pillow is no match. Then I follow my usual routine, accidentally getting a drop of red on the sheet. That's okay, they should be washed anyway.

As I walk to work, I feel eyes on me. I keep looking over my shoulder, and no one is following me. When I reach the office, Michael appears. I wonder if he's been following me. We greet each other as usual and I tell him about Henry. He seems shaken; he seems disturbed that I spent my evening with Henry.

"Do you know him? Henry Pearl?" I ask.

"I've never heard that name before, no," He says.

The rest of the elevator ride is silent.

Today, Jocelyn asks me for lunch. I'm overjoyed because she seems like a great person and I'd love to befriend her. We walk to the dining hall together, and I learn that she's only a couple of years older than me and studying at Columbia to earn a master's in creative writing. She has so much to say on the subject, and our time is filled discussing our favorite authors as well as our opinions of Chaucer and his work. Then our conversation shifts to life in the city as we walk back to the office. She's been here for a year and knows the lay of the land. She's been with a few partners.

I have to ask, "What was your first relationship here like? I'm interested in someone but I don't know if I should rush into anything."

"I highly recommend waiting a few weeks so that you're more familiar with your environment. I rushed into something with someone I actually have to work with this summer, I regret it a lot. And I can't believe I went out with him, he's abnormally tall. Not my type," she says.

"Michael?" I ask. This would make no sense since he's come here for the first time from Colby, but he's the only abnormally tall man I can think of in the office.

"Yes, it was Michael. I barely ever see him, and when I do it's just in passing, but I'm still slightly uncomfortable knowing that he's in the same building as me," she brushes this off with a chuckle.

"But Michael told me that this is his first summer here, are you sure it was him? Doesn't he go to Colby?" I ask.

"He's been here for three summers, and no he graduated from Brooklyn Tech a while ago, I don't remember exactly when, or if he even told me," she says.

My eyes are wide with confusion, and Jocelyn sees this.

"Don't worry, he's harmless. He probably just was trying to hit on you in his weird shy way by making him seem your age. Just don't indulge him."

"Alright, I won't," I say.

When Jocelyn walks into her office, I sit down at my desk. I spend some time wondering about Michael, but he's not worth my work time, so I move on to writing. Around four, I get a text from Henry. When I see his name on my phone screen, I give myself a little internal scream and bounce my legs with excitement. I haven't checked my phone in a few hours, so I get a little annoyed at myself when I see that his text has been waiting for a response for over forty minutes! He asked me if I wanted to go for a walk in the park after work, I immediately type a yes in all caps, but calm myself down and replace it with a regular spelling. He's quick to type back with a big smile emoji and say that he will meet me in front of the office at 4:30.