Calling All David Ryans

Chapter 23

XXIII.

Dave leaned back into his head and placed a hand on his stomach. He grunted as his back hit the padding of the booth. "That was good, wasn't it?"

I nodded as I swiped a napkin across my mouth. "It was so good. We didn't even speak."

Dave smirked at my comment. With a smooth motion, he leaned forward. He pushed the plate away and then folded his hands on the tape. "Maybe we could catch up on the conversation then?"

I shrugged one shoulder and gave a shy smile. "Well, what do you want to talk about?"

Dave's smile widened. The clang of plates seemed to go dimmer. "Hm, I think I would like to talk about you."

"Me? What about me? I am not that interesting!"

Dave laughed. "Not interesting? Not interesting!? You are one of the most intriguing person I have met. So, tell me, Divy, what is that you do as work when you are not scheming?"

Some hurt pricked at my heart at his statement. I swallowed my hurt done. "He is just teasing, Divy." I told myself. "Just kidding. Play along."

I feigned a smile to mirror his. "What do I do for a living? Well, currently I am barista. Working as one to live at least."

"And I assume that is not your passion."

I looked up and met Dave's pale eyes. Something moved within my chest as a blush began on my cheeks. "Um, you are right about that." I tucked my hair behind my ear. "I am actually a musician."

"Do you play any instruments?" Dave asked as he popped an ice cube into his mouth.

My feigned smile dropped a bit. 'Great," I thought, "He is one of those people."

"Yeah. I do." I said. "I play guitar and sing."

"Oh, really!?" Dave crunched on his ice cube causing my teeth to clench tighter. "What do you play, like what genre of music?"

I learned forward, closer to Dave. My hand almost brushed against his skin. I could feel heat running up my arm from the nearness. "Folk. Well, I write and have recorded folk songs. The only stuff that I get paid for really is the tips I get for doing covers at the coffee house that I work at. Even then, I only get to do it once a month because there is rotation the coffee house follows."

Dave crunched again on his ice cube. I sucked my breath in a bit my lip. "Do you want to make it a career?"

Sighing, I shook my head. "You know, at one point in time, I did. I even started going to college for music. But, you know, art and life. College and living is expensive and no one is willing pay for your talents. My mother was not happy with my decision to go to college for music. She thought I should go into nursing or something like that. But, I knew that I did not want to spend my life changing catheters and taking blood samples. Anyways, I am side tracking. I was using up so much of my parent's money for a job that was not guaranteed. On top of that, I was going through a stressful time. I came into contact with a guy who was part a band."

"Uh oh." Dave said with a crunch and a smile.

I smiled at him. "Uh oh is right. I met this guy who was part of the band and apparently he was going to just get signed on with a major record deal. Long story short, we became close and he convinced me that I did not need college. 'You got the stuff,' he told me, 'College is not going to teach anything you need to know.'

"Without hesitation I followed his advice. It was not just what he said, other factors played into it, but, um, yeah. Anyways, after I quit college, I moved into an apartment with him and his roommate. And honestly, for the first year it was glorious."