Musical

My glamorous life began with an early morning trip to the hardware store to buy what I needed to fix the toilet, which decided to go on the blink in the middle of the night.

Before I could get home, Mica called. Little white dog woke with blood in his fur around his eye. She was taking it him to the veterinarian and wanted to know if I wanted to meet them there. Taking a beloved dog to the vet may be the only thing that makes working inside a toilet tank sound appealing.

Little white dog’s eyelid is swollen, maybe the result of the stinger not falling out. They shaved his eyelid to get a better look but can’t tell for sure what’s going on. The veterinarian sent home meds. If there’s no improvement by Tuesday she’ll do surgery to figure out what’s causing the swelling. (That wailing noooooo you hear is coming from Trupanion.)

I followed Mica home, intending to stay an hour or so but ended up staying so long I had just enough time to mostly fix the toilet (it works again but I need to replace one more part), shower and get ready before Blaine came over.

We went out with Kim and John tonight. They chose a Brazilian barbecue restaurant in the historical district and seemed excited that they could introduce us to a new restaurant and style of food. I would have pegged them for straightforward steakhouse folks, I suppose because the few times I’ve been around them it’s been for burgers and beer. They actually lean toward being foodies, with Kim much more likely to try anything.

In fact, “likely to try anything” is what they’re about. About 10 years ago, soon after they married (also a surprise; I’d assumed Dani was their daughter but she’s Kim’s), they began traveling, taking a big trip every couple of years. Their last was to Peru to climb Machu Picchu. The next may be to Australia to visit the Great Barrier Reef. I’ve never been to Australia but know about it and was familiar with their wish list of places to visit. I hope they decide to go there and not bicycle in Thailand, which is another possibility. I want to hear about Australia.

One topic led to another until we were talking about favorite charities. I asked too many questions about one they’re involved with, prompting Kim to ask if I might be interested in volunteering. I told her my personality isn’t well suited to the types of roles they need volunteers to fill. She tried to dissuade me based on her impression so far, but I know my limitations. John said he never thought he was cut out for a lot of things until Kim came into his life and showed him otherwise. I melted. I love being around couples like this. His point, though, was that given time she would convince me I’m wrong.

To steer the conversation away from me, I asked John what types of things Kim has introduced to him. The one that stuck out was convincing him to speak at a local event that’s structured like TED Talks. The one that led to more conversation was that she convinced him to take dance lessons.

“I am not musical. I cannot dance,” he stressed.

“Me either!” I burst. Blaine chuckled. I stated, “You learned though.”

“Oh no. I’m still an embarrassment. But I had fun trying to learn with her.”

“Blaine, do you like to dance?” Kim asked.

I looked over at him. His jaw tightened and I knew he was fighting off a smile. “Uh, I guess I don’t mind it under the right circumstances.” He glanced over and winked at me.

“We’ll clear the tabletop for you,” I teased. He bumped me with his shoulder.

“Have either of you taken lessons?” John asked. I shook my head in a way that may have suggested he was crazy for even asking. When I said I wasn’t musical, I wasn’t kidding. I don’t even sing in the car for fear someone overhearing will consider it an act of road rage.

Blaine answered, “[His wife] and I took a few lessons before Allison got married. I can’t say I remember anything.”

“Do it again,” Kim encouraged. “You two should take lessons together.”

“I like him too much to put him through that,” I said. They laughed but Kim and John remained encouraging.

After dinner and walking away from the restaurant, they in a different direction, I told Blaine I liked them a lot. “It was like meeting two new people, though.” I rambled on for a block or so. I get hyper-talkative when I’m excited about something. In this case, it was a refreshing and effortless conversation with new people. I finally caught myself. “To sum up, you have nice friends.”

“I have a nice girlfriend too.” That word. Still so strange.

We were stopped at a corner, waiting for traffic to clear the four-way stop. “You want to do something else down here?” I asked. It was a gorgeous evening—mild with a gentle breeze— and we were surrounded by bars with outdoor seating if he wanted a drink.

He drew in a breath as he considered it. “We can,” he said. “Or, I thought we could go to my place and dance.”

He makes it awfully hard not to like him an exorbitant amount.