“Welcome,Ryan.”
I extended my arm and hand for him to shake. His hand shake had been firm, and I couldn’t help notice that his palm was clammy, but bone dry where my thumb and fingers curled around to embrace hishand.
Though he looked a tad on the pale side, his warm smile exposed a boyish dimple on the right side of his face. I quickly took in his appearance during our greeting; his facial hair had been trimmed close and neat, his hair was styled in a trendy fashion. The neck up was where he seemed to spend the most attention and care. He wore a navy t-shirt, that appeared to be at least one size too large, and jeans that left everything to the imagination. His feet donned modern gray lace up boots. I smiled at the boots as he attempted to make his t-shirt look more grown-up. Thirty-five, I mused tomyself.
“Thank you for inviting me to your home,” he said as he crossed the threshold of myhome.
Manners.
“Of course, Ryan. We’re going to be working closely together for a while and this is where we’ll be spending the majority of our time when we’re not at parties andfunctions.”
I motioned for him to follow me further into the house towards thekitchen.
“Did you have difficulty finding the house?” Iasked.
“No, the gate guard gave me directions too. I worried that I was going to be tooearly.”
I picked up the slight nervousness in his energetictone.
“You weren’t too early at all. In fact, you were right on time. If you arrived somewhere anything earlier than five minutes, then you’re early. If you had arrived ahead of the scheduled time by five or less minutes, you’re on time. If you arrive right at your scheduled time, you’re late,” I lightlysaid.
His cheeks grew a pinkish shade, and his lips parted to form a smile. Ryan ran his hand down the back of his head to make it appear as though he was merely checking that his hair was all in place. This afforded me the view of his elbow; dry. His hand quickly went from the back of his head and settled over hisabdomen.
Nervous. Uneasy. Possibly feelingembarrassed.
“Relax, Ryan,” I smiled and winked athim.
His smile spread wider and henodded.
“May I offer you a beverage? Coffee, tea, juice,water?”
I began brewing a K-cup for myself and leaned against the counter waiting for hisanswer.
“Water would be great. Please.”Hand to the back of his neck and then back to his abdomen.“Mr. Moore.”Hand rubbing his stomach.“Master Moore, I mean.”Hand went on the back of his neck again.“Master Russell?”Hand back to rubbing on his stomach.“SirRussell?”
I couldn’t help but smile at my apprentice, but he was in dire need ofrelaxing.
“Ryan,” Ibegan.
“I’m sorry. I—” he stammered and began pacing a few steps in eachdirection.
“First, what are you apologizingfor?”
I kept my eyes on him but reached for my mug. His eyes shifted nervously as his hand continued to rub the width of his t-shirt. He appeared to be lost over my question regarding hisapology.
“What are you saying that you’re sorry for?” I rephrased itslightly.
“I—I don’t know what to call you.”Other hand now rubbing the back of his neck.“Or what you prefer to be called. Or what I should callyou.”
“What were the first three words you justsaid?”
He stopped pacing and his eyes moved upward as herecollected.
“I don’tknow.”
“Precisely, Ryan. Do not apologize for something that you didn’t know.” I let that sink in for a moment, and was satisfied when he nodded and removed his hands from his neck and stomach. “Ryan, there’s going to be a whole new world that you’re going to discover. Many questions will be on the tip of your tongue. The very worst thing that you could do is to ignore your questions or make assumptions.” He nodded. “Ask those questions. If you don’t, you will be doing a disservice to yourself and the bottoms in which you top.” He nodded again. He understood, there wasn’t a deer in headlights look in his eyes. “Russell,” I said, letting him know what I expected him to callme.
He looked surprised, but nodded. I retrieved a glass from the overhead cabinets and turned to face him as I neared therefrigerator.
