Chapter 9
I had never been in a more welcomed environment in my life. The lab had nothing on this. Here, it was just me, Sara, and a bunch of seals having the time of their lives. Just listening to them bark instilled a unique energy and sort of happiness that I had never felt before!
"These guys are hilarious!" I laughed. I leaned over the railing of the pier. The seals down below on this island of wooden planks were quite a sight. They were lazy, because they could afford to be. They were loud, and no one was to stop them. They were entirely childish, and that's what made them so appealing. They were kings in the disguise of oversized rats. And I couldn't be any more jealous of them.
"They can be the cutest little things…" Sara smiled. Believe it or not, I was actually a bit more absorbed in the pile of blundering mammals at the moment. There was something about them that was so intriguing…
"Isn't there the idea that most cute things are dumb things?"
"I don't think it's cute and dumb. Maybe cute and… I would say naïve, but that can be really annoying."
"Maybe it's just the age quality of naivety. You know, the innocence that comes with a younger age, usually associated with naivety at that younger age."
"You mean as opposed to naivety at an older age, which is associated with being ignorant?"
"Yeah, actually."
There was a silence that fit itself comfortably in between us. I had no idea why I brought up the topic I did. I had no idea where I wanted to go with it. In fact, I don't think it could have gone any further than it did.
Actually… no. I could push it further. Let's not be shy…
"Except you don't necessarily have to be dumb to be cute, right?" I asked a bit matter-of-factly, a wide smile forming on my face. My stare stayed fixated on a particularly clumsy seal. It just hobbled on top of other seals, slipping and falling on its side occasionally. But no matter how much it fell, it was able to make it to the edge of the raft they were floating on, and continued to slip into the water.
Well, I guess "slip" is a gentle way of saying it. It definitely belly flopped. But it was so graceful once it got its legs in its comfortable setting. I couldn't help but identify with it a bit. People work through an uncomfortable environment to find where they are comfortable to enjoy life. I may have been uncomfortable for a bit… but that certainly wasn't the case right now.
She gave a soft laugh in response to me. She didn't answer my question, but smoothly changed the subject, beginning to walk away from the edge of the pier.
"Let's go grab some lunch, Greg. I'm pretty hungry. You?"
"Oh, I don't know… I'm trying to watch my girlish figure."
"Oh, don't you even start, Greg…" She didn't say that in a harsh tone. I could tell she wasn't irked. Her joking character came across with her gesture of a playful shove as I took many hurried steps to catch up to her. Oh, how I love this woman…
"How's seafood sound?"
"Sounds fantastic."
"You know… when I agreed to seafood, I was under the impression that it wouldn't be able to see us…" I looked down at a tank of fish swimming around. I swear they were all staring at me. It reminded me of the whole personifying aspect some vegetarians gave to meat products. If you cut off the head, it somehow made it less human, and more acceptable to eat. But really, it's the same body, just without a head.
Not that I'm about to turn vegetarian or anything. But… those eyes, man.
"Developing a conscience?"
"After fighting crime for so long, one grows on you."
"Haha, but no… I was thinking clam chowder."
"I'm down."
She led me through the frenzy of fish, both alive in tanks and dead in neat stacks (which I was pretty surprised about. I mean, fish are slimy. How can they just lie in stacks and not slip off of each other?), and eventually had a table in a quaint little place still on the pier. It was as though this building had no walls, because the windows were so big, and they didn't have glass through them. I could stick my arm out of them and everything. I could foresee getting cold was inevitable.
And apparently Sara picked up on that as well.
"Uh… do you actually have any seats inside?" Inside? I thought we were inside.
"Of course… right this way," the waiter kindly led us past many more tables, and eventually we were met with a door slightly ajar. He pulled it open and, lo and behold, this restaurant did indeed have walls! Must have been partially covered seating, and fully covered seating divisions. Oh, did I feel a bit foolish, "You can have a seat here." He pulled a seat out for Sara, who nodded at him and took her seat.
I can't say I could fully attribute me feeling hot was because of being indoors now, because we had only been inside for a few seconds. I want to be honest and also say the blood in my veins was running hotter because I was becoming territorial. I eyed the man carefully.
The way he pulled out her chair.
The way he gestured for her to have a seat.
The way he smiled at her.
I knew it was all for show. To get tips at the end of the day. But it was still getting to me. And then, it was soon enough ebbed away.
By the way she smiled back at him.
By the way she said, "Thank you."
By the way she stepped to the side, so he could leave before she sat down.
"You are joining me, aren't you Greg?" she looked up at me. I was still standing. I blushed slightly – hopefully she'd attribute that to the warmer temperature, and hadn't caught me in the animalistic expressions of being territorial. You know, I don't even know how I feel about using that phrase. Being "territorial." You can really only effectively be territorial about objects. About things that belong to you. Sara is by no means an object, but she does belong to me. Or, at least, I'd love her to be…
Guess you can't be territorial over something you don't yet have.
I smiled back and hastily pulled out my chair, "If you'll have me."
I said that in response to her question – but it really meant so much more. I regretted it a moment later when she casually responded.
"Of course. I'd love to."
I'd love it if you did, too.
