Wednesday, August 1, 2007

A Smooch, Not A Peck--The Sixth Day I Knew Andrew

This email message was from late at night on Wednesday, February 8, 2006.




Silvio, I hope you had a good day.

I did.

We did the handball/Tower Records/Georgetown thing, as I sort of planned last night. I couldn't come up with a better alternative.

Silvio, Andrew smooched me. After our first two games of handball, we stood in the handball court for a short breather next to each other and I rested my left arm on his right shoulder (deliberately--See Silvio Recommendation Number Three). Do you know what he did? He placed his right arm AROUND MY NECK and pursed his lips and smooched me on my cheek. It was NOT a peck. It was a smooch. Then he kept his arm around my neck for about a minute, and then he ruffled my hair and we played our third game.

That smooch put to rest any of my lingering doubts that Andrew did not view me in a romantic way. That smooch totally erased my fears that Andrew would shy away from all physical contact, and that smooch settled my emotions and worries down no end. I feel much more relaxed now, and much more confident that I should just step back and let Andrew handle things at his own pace.

Maybe it is my imagination, but after the game he seemed to smile at me in the locker room more than before, too.

Tower Records worked out well. Being there made Andrew talk a lot about music--just as he talks a lot about books in bookstores, a fact I learned on Friday, our first day--and I learned that his favorite composer is Brahms and I learned that he loves 20th Century music and I learned that his favorite opera is Janacek's "Jenufa", which he says is heartbreaking, and I learned that he is currently starting to enjoy the music of Bruckner for the first time (that makes one of us!).

After we got to Georgetown, I made no effort to touch Andrew but I did do the shoulder-touching-shoulder thing every time we had to wait for "Walk" signs at street corners.

In Georgetown, Andrew touched me twice. While walking on M Street, he touched my lower back once when he wanted to stop and look in a store window. At Georgetown Park, he touched my lower back once again when he wanted to change the direction in which we were walking.

At dinner tonight, he was more charming than I had ever seen him. I think that is because he is getting more and more comfortable with me. Silvio, that man is so damn beautiful it's disgusting!

He asked me if I wanted to come over to his place tomorrow after class, at 12:45 again, just like on Tuesday. I said I'd be there.

7 comments:

  1. Andrew's favorite opera is not "Jenufa". "Jenufa" is one of his favorite operas, but "The Rake's Progress" is his single favorite opera.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Reading your exceptionally detailed posts on your first week with Andrew, I could not help but think of the lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman, for a Michel Legrand song from the 1980s, titled "Something New In My Life". I think the words of that song, see below, perfectly encapsulates what you've written thus far.

    I guess I wanted something new in my life...
    A new key to fit a new door
    To wake and see a different view in my life
    The one I've been waiting for
    Dreams like everyone I've had a few in my life
    Who knew that this one would come true in my life
    I knew the moment when you touched me, you touched me...

    You're like a sudden breeze that blew in my life
    A new face, a new smile, a new song
    And now I know I wanted you in my life all along...
    I guess I must have saved an empty place in my heart
    For you to come and fill that space in my heart
    That long before I said I loved you, I love you
    Whatever happens this is true in my life
    When all those springs have come and go
    Whatever doubts I've made or do in my life
    Whatever else that I may do in my life
    You'll always be something new in my life, I know there always will be you in my life...
    From now on

    ReplyDelete
  3. My goodness! The blog moves from "G" to at least "PG-13." I've been curious about your story, of course, but given the general tone of the blog, it seemed inappropriate to inquire about such personal matters.

    An observation and a some questions:

    I've never heard of two fathers setting up their gay sons. Did they know what they were doing? This strikes me as a harbinger of more progressive societal attitudes.

    Won't Andrew's brothers tease him unmercifully now that your courting history is in the public domain?

    Have you read Paul Fussell's "The Great War and Modern Memory"?

    I wait with bated breath for more about the path to true love.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those are nice lyrics, Chanteuse. Thank you.

    David In KC, I hope that a simple smooch on the cheek on the handball court does not take my blog out of G-rated territory. My Dad and Andrew's father only thought we should meet up since we were in school in the same city, nothing more. They didn't mean to fix us up. If I get too much gruff over my posts, I will delete them. I'm not planning on posting anything untoward, ever. I just thought I would write a little about how Andrew and I met. That's all. Yes, I have read the Fussell.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I certainly don't mean to give you any guff about your posts. I'm charmed and delighted by your story - seriously.

    God rested on the seventh day. I look forward to reading about your seventh day.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sorry, I meant "guff", not "gruff".

    On our seventh day, we had what Andrew calls a "tiff". I'm not sure if I am going to post any more of my old email messages. We had a lot of "tiffs" from early February until the middle of April. These tiffs were all my fault. I was going crazy, and we both were under a lot of pressure, winding up our last semester at school and dealing with other issues and planning our lives. It was a terrible time. Looking back, I am surprised we got through that period. It was a beautiful time. It was also a frightening time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. As I said in the comment on Andrew's page, I'm so grateful that you and your family are safe.

    ReplyDelete