The Love Box Experiment

Chapter Three. Lunch

CHAPTER THREE.

Some of the mood Katie felt was down to her not hearing anything from Paul. Three days had gone by and he hadn't been in touch. Their two cafe meetings and a lunch had given her a view of his protective armour, a thick coat of metal that prevented others looking too deeply into him. He remained adept at finding out a lot about other people, a thirst for information and a genuine interest. And he maintained eye contact, something that she noticed was lacking among many of her university friends . . . easily distracted from a conversation, especially a long one. They all seemed to have, Katie included, busy lives, or rather a short attention span. 

On the other hand, Paul appeared to be incredibly busy with his own business, and yet had the time to converse and listen without putting his mobile on the table as if hoping for a call. Those eyes. Dark as plain chocolate, full of secrets, she imagined. 

To wait any longer for him would be painful. Her text read, 'How are you. Working? K.' Having sent the message she held her phone and five minutes seemed a long time.

'Yup I'm working but never too busy for you. What are you doing? P.' 

Oh yeah, that sounded so smooth, thought Katie. Nice though. 'I bet you say that to everyone. Am sitting on my bed cross legged.'

'No I don't say that to other blokes, ha-ha. Nor to other girls. Only you :) Cross legged is something I can't do.'

I'll teach you.'

'That sounds good. What do I have to wear for lesson one?'

She hesitated and debated the direction this might go. It felt good to have Paul chatting one-to-one, to just her. 'Loose trousers or sweatpants or shorts ... the last option would be ok.' She told herself he probably wouldn't rise to that remark. She laughed at his reply.

'To stay loose, should I wear nothing?'

'I could cope with that.'

His reply took slightly longer than previously. She guessed he was weighing up how suggestive to be. Secretly, she wanted him to extend the boundaries, because this was fun; and boundaries needed to be broken, as far as she was concerned; to break through his wall. Because she wanted him. The realisation caught her breath and waited with apprehension for Paul's text.

'You know the rules. Whatever I take off, you also take off. Shall we start with lunch, just the two of us?' 

          ***

Whenever Paul went on a date, he had an internal problem. How far to let the relationship develop? He knew there were two ways it could go. Either the girl signalled that sex was acceptable without too much involvement, or the girl wanted sex but it came with a message. The second scenario didn't work for him. 

One of his friends once said, 'Paul, you're a bastard. Try. Try to form a relationship and see what happens.' And he agreed with his friend. Wise words. But logic is not what makes the world go round, as far as he was concerned. These were discussions he had batted around during his university days and he concluded men preferred to stay single and unattached if they could. As he mulled over these thoughts over breakfast, he got a text from Michelle.

'What are you doing tomorrow? Mich.'

Tomorrow was the day he was meeting Katie. It occurred to him that Michelle might know of their lunch date. He thought he better check with Katie. 'Had text from Mich asking about tomorrow. What shall I say?'

He waited, but no reply came. Risking whatever he did would probably be the wrong decision, he texted a reply to Michelle. 'Just arranged lunch with Katie. Come join the party. P'