Escaping to Ireland

Liam

Liam:

She asked me, "what" noticing the smile on my face; I hadn't noticed I was smiling.

Frown.

She did not need to know I was smiling because of how she brought her knee up, acting like she had just hit it on the desk all over again.
Instead, she was actually sitting on a plane, suspended in the air, talking to a complete stranger she barely knows, gesturing the story out in detail.

Talking, in general, was not my favorite thing; talking to new people was a task all in itself.

The last few years of being a book publisher had helped me perfective my enthusiasm for conversations.

If the client; or the author was important enough, I could fake it for a few hours.

But there was something about the woman next to me.

When she looked up this morning, her face let me know she was shocked by my appearance. The shoes, watch, and clothes were all a front, something I had grown up with; it was not the real me. And even though she had glanced at my expensive wardrobe, she had yet to swoon all over me. Like most women usually do.  

I sit and listen as Vinessa tells me more about the "wonderful" Shawn. Vinessa tucks her copper hair behind her ear as she continued, "To be honest, the whole time, I thought this had to be some lame excuse, so this Shawn guy could walk me around and get to know me. I showed him around the building, pointing out the different meeting areas. I worked at a graphic design business, so I had to show him the printers, the think tank room, and where they did the car wraps." Graphic designer, maybe my company could hire her. "And the whole time, he just nodded, making some notes and snapping a few pictures. And that was our first time meeting. A few weeks later, I broke up with Jed."

"Jed," I grunt out, not thinking. "I really want to know about this Jed character" I hold up my hands, ready for her rebuttal. "I know the story is about Shawn, but a rundown on Jed would help..."

"Fine... Jed, Um, I met Jed at the movies when I went with a few friends. We dated for four or five months. He was nice, your normal Iowa corn-fed boy. He moved to Chicago to play on a minor league hockey team" Her words flew together, annoyed at having to bring up another past boyfriend. 

"Iowa corn fed boy. This is too good. Okay, four to five months. Kind of slow up top?" I said, pointing to my head. Ireland smacked me on the arm; shock ringing through her delicate face; this is the first skin contact she had allowed since she had jumped, moving her arm away from me when I had sat down. I felt exactly what she had felt; energy like that is hard to miss. Even now, with her hand hovering a few inches away from my arm, it was there.

"He was nice" She laughs at my joke.

"So you can laugh," I comment; she rolls her eyes at me as a blush consumes her whole face.

Good, I do affect her.

"Anyways, a few weeks later, I broke up with Jed. The next time I saw Shawn was ironically at Cole's apartment." It was a decent recovery on her part. 

"Why were you at Cole's apartment?" I cut in, wondering if they were secretly an item. When I told her I wanted every detail. I was not lying. She could be the next idea for my book if her story was interesting enough. Not to mention twelve hours on a plane was boring, especially when I never brought my electronic gadgets on with me; this was the only downtime I ever got anymore. 

"He invited people from work; it was a party, and I went to it" she shrugged, thinking about it. "Cole was my first friend at college but nothing more. We have been good friends since. I rounded the corner to go to the bathroom, and I bumped into none other than Shawn. He was still dressed up in his suit and tie, and I was swooning over him hard. I shouldn't have been because I just broke up with Jed a week before, but there he was... It was almost like a sign like the universe was telling me we were met to be together. "Hey, it's Vinessa, right?" he said, extending his hand like we were at a formal meet and greet. "Yeah, and it's Spencer?" I asked out loud, but I was fighting between Shawn and Spencer in my mind, but I couldn't remember. He took his hand and pounded his heart lightly. "That hurts. I'm Shawn." I laughed, and then we did this tiptoe around each other to make our way to the bathroom. I was ecstatic I had gone home first to change. I wasn't planning on going, but Susan, my roommate, she also sent me that message this morning. Talked me into going; more or less, she yelled at me and said that I was working my way into a sugar coma if I didn't leave. I do okay after breakups, but I love my sugar... So I went with her. I knew the whole time she just wanted to go because she liked Cole. I will never understand that dynamic, but it is not my place to judge. So I get to the kitchen to find Cole, who gives me a hug, and then he gave Susan a hug. She is still analyzing that hug to this day, I'm sure. And, of course, Shawn was there with this drop-dead gorgeous blonde woman named Hillary. My eyes glazed over her hand, and sure enough, there was a ring on her ring finger."