“Like the fact that you’re young enough to actually be my daughter.”
“Aren’t we over that yet?”
“Even if I were, which I’m not, there’s the fact that you’re a liar. And age aside, nothing good can come from messing around with someone, given that we only have a few days left here.”
“You seemed to think hooking up with me was agreatidea at one point.”
“That was before I got to know you.”
“Wow. I should be so flattered,” I said sarcastically. “So I’ve done nothing but turn you off?”
“Just the opposite. That’s the problem.”
“Then you’re just holding back because you think I’m immature?” When he didn’t immediately answer, I crossed my arms. “What about me has screamed immature besides the initial lie? You’re proving that you still don’t know me.”
“Okay.” He leaned in, resting his chin on his hand. “Tell me who you are.”
I took a deep breath. “I’m studying to become a nurse because I want nothing more than to help people, to hold their hands during the most vulnerable times in life. I can’t think of a better profession in order to make a difference in this world on a daily basis. My parents married young because my mother got pregnant with me, but they’ve been married ever since and have really grown to love each other. They’ve taught me what I want in a relationship, mutual respect and true love. I thought I’d found that with my high school sweetheart, and I had my entire life planned with him until the day he broke up with me. Then my world came crashing down.”
Tate frowned. “Why did he break up with you?”
“He decided we both needed to experience being with other people and experience the world before we could decide whether we were right for each other. Pretty sure that’s code for ‘I want to fuck other people.’”
He nodded. “And you felt differently?”
“Doesn’t matter what I felt. I told him the right person for me would never want time apart. He’d proven he wasn’t the one. And I’m grateful he showed me that now and not later. In that sense, he did me a favor. But I also lost my trust in people, to a certain extent, and in my own judgment.”
“You said it happened three months ago, but it seems like everything is still raw.”
“It is, but I’m finally at the point where I want to meet someone new.”
“You’re looking for a relationship?”
“Not at this time, no. I’m definitely not looking for anything serious for a while.”
“That’s smart. I don’t think you should rush into anything. In a sense, your ex was right that you need to experience the world before being tied down.”
“That’s why I’m here.” We stared at each other in silence for several seconds before I said, “Any other questions?”
He nodded. “I have lots. So many I don’t really know where to begin.”
I tapped the table. “Well, keep ’em coming.”
“What’s your real name?”
“I would prefer not to divulge that yet.”
His forehead wrinkled. “Why not?”
“I just think it’s more fun if we don’t know each other’s names. Believe it or not, I don’t want to know your last name, because in this day and age, you can find out everything about people online. I’d probably be googling you forever. Keeping it to first names makes things cleaner once we leave here.”
“You haven’t even told me your first name, though.”
“You haven’t earned it.”
He rolled his eyes. “Anyway…you’re talking like something’s gonna happen here.”
“I’m going on instinct.” I winked.
