Things To Say Before I Go

Chapter 14: Nate

"Batman or Superman?" she asked. 

"Batman," I answered, since it was such an obvious question. "Much more interesting backstory. Next." 

We were doing rapid fire trivia. We were sitting across the table from each other eating some pancakes we made early that morning. She was wearing one of my shirts which was putting an unremovable smile on my face. After an amazing night and waking up to her next to me, I couldn't see a reason to stop smiling. 

"Favorite ice cream?" I asked. 

She smiled, taking another bite of pancake. "Phish Food Ben & Jerry's. Hands down." 

"Mine would have to be Double Fudge Brownie," I said, taking a sip of my coffee. 

She shook her head. "It's too simple for me. Phish Food has marshmallow, caramel AND hard chocolate fish. It's doesn't get any better than that!" She was getting very excited. 

"Okay, I'll take your word for it," I said, moving on to the next one. "Okay, here's a tough one. Favorite album?" 

She gasped. "How dare you?! Shit, how am I supposed to answer that." She stared off, thinking which made me laugh. I noticed she scrunched her nose when she thought really hard and played with a little piece of hair that didn't stay tucked behind her ear. "I think it would be 'Funhouse' by P!nk." 

"Wow, heavy hitter," I replied. I didn't really know what to expect from her musically. She didn't strike me one way or another when it came to music. "Why that one?" 

"Well," she started, almost in a way that made me regret asking, "P!nk is a goddess, but besides that fact, the album has every possible emotion I have ever felt conveyed through a song. 'So What' for when I get pissed and don't want to think about the stupid things of the past, 'Please Don't Leave Me' and 'I Don't Believe You' for when I'm feeling sad, and 'Crystal Ball' to help me see that I'm not the only one who struggles with a fear of what the future holds. It's a complex and gorgeously sung album. Now top that, sir." 

I thought for a while and then decided. "I'd probably say 'Cold Spring Harbor' by Billy Joel because it has one of my favorite songs of his on it. 'She's Got A Way' is absolutely one of his best songs." I looked at her. She had her chin in her hand, staring at me. "What? What are you staring at?" 

She smiled and chuckled. "You," she said, like it was a ridiculous thing to ask. "I love that song too. It's so beautiful. He and Bob Dylan are some of the best songwriters of the past decades." 

I took another forkful of pancake. "We've got good taste in music, you know that?" She smiled and raised her glass of orange juice. 

"I'll drink to that," she announced and we clinked our glasses like a toast.

****************************

When the door closed behind Jess, Mark opened his door suddenly, so much so that it took my by surprise and made me jump. 

"Well?" He asked with a smile. 

I smiled and shook my head, making my way back to the table. 

"Well?" He asked again. 

I looked over at him. "I think I love her. I mean, I think I'm actually falling in love with her."

****************************

"So it's getting pretty serious, huh?" Jack and I were standing by the water machine. He had become the only person I really talked to at work. 

"Yeah," I nodded. "And I really like her. She's pretty, she's smart, funny, sarcastic as all hell and we just get along so well."