Oh Comely

Part 1.

She finished her sentence with a last swig of the stout - or maybe it was a porter, I always forgot the difference, and we sometimes debated if there really was one - and settled the glass down on the coaster in front of her. 

"Huh." I said dumbly. I wasn't sure if I should shrug or scratch my head or... well, I really didn't know.

"Yep," she nodded, looking not at me, but straight ahead at the bartender's back as he busied himself with glass drying. I'd somehow missed that he was wearing a denim vest with a Bad Religion patch on the back. Maybe it was a good omen. 

 I was about to say something - anything, really, just to break the silence - when she started to speak again.

"I just thought you should know." 

I nodded. I had this strange effect on people. People seemed to think I was oblivious to just about everything. So here she was, tripping over her words, struggling to tell me something she'd obviously struggled with for a long time, or at least wanted me to know for a long time... But to me it was clear as day that I knew. 

Of course I knew. I always knew. A blessing and a curse to be considered so naive, but that's another story. 

"Sure, of course." I nodded a little faster. I didn't feel like exerting myself and explaining that none of this was news to me. 

 She suddenly jerked her eyes away from the bartender's patch and her eyes pierced mine. I'd forgotten they were green. 

"Does David ever ask about me?" 

My chest tightened. Another leftover. And besides, I've always hated lying. So I didn't lie. 

"No." 

The intensity in her eyes dulled a little. Something around her temples softened. This all happened in about half a second and then she resumed her pleasant expression. Much like the one I'd seen with the cat eye glasses. She never hated lying. 

She changed the topic and talked about something else. I don't remember what now. I've gotten much worse at truly hearing people now. I'm trapped somewhere a little higher than my head most of the time. 

But all I could think of was how much I knew she wanted children and how quickly she'd moved in with Tim after David and then that too didn't work out, and she was constantly going from long term relationship to long term relationship and- 

"Oh!" she exclaimed brightly in the middle of my thought train. 

"I love this song!" I came back to earth and listened. It was very familiar, indeed. You Worry Me. 

I laughed softly and replied, "Me too." 

The thought continued just where it left off. And in some ways she's just like me.