Looks Can Be Deceiving

I slid my phone into the back pocket of my black jeans and opened the fridge to see if we had anything good to eat. Phil and Alan had left to go get sushi. They’d invited me, but strangely, I wasn’t in the mood for it. Tino sat at my kitchen counter, on his phone. I guess he hadn’t felt like sushi either.
“So,” he began, setting his phone down. “You and Pandora, huh?” he smiled.
“What about us?”
“I don’t know… you two are getting pretty serious.”
“I guess you could say that. I’m just so into her… I’m afraid of losing her now that I finally have her. One little thing could end everything.”
“I don’t think so… she seems pretty into you, Austin.”
“Yeah?” He nodded.
“I definitely like her more than Gielle.” I laughed.
“I think everyone likes her more than Gielle.”
“Have you two talked about Gielle?”
“Well she knows I was married before. I brought it up the night I met her, but it hasn’t been talked about since.”
“Do you think she forgot?”
“Probably… either way I have to discuss the divorce with her sometime soon. I feel it’s just too early.”
“Listen to your gut. If you think it’s too early, then it’s too early.”
“She got kind of freaked out last night.”
“About what?”
“I started talking about tour. Her mood immediately dropped and she started worrying about us being apart.”
“Well you know it’s going to take a bit for her to adjust when you leave. Both Phil and my girlfriend went through it. Of course she’s not happy about being away from you for such long periods of time.”
“I know, but I don’t want her to change her mind about us because I’m gone a lot. I wish there was something I could do to help.”
“You just have to be there for her and be patient.” I nodded.
“Thanks for the talk,” I sighed.
“No problem, brother. Anything else you need, just holler,” he smiled.
“I would dump all this shit on Alan, but he’s no help on the subject.”
“Yeah, I get that. It’s Alan, what do you expect from him? He’s basically still a teenager.” We both laughed as Pandora knocked on the front door.
“That your lady friend?”
“Indeed it is.”
“You want me to bounce?” he asked, as I went to let her in.
“It’s all good dude,” I turned around to grin before opening the door. Pandora looked up and smiled at me from my front porch. She wore black leggings and Vans with an oversized knit gray sweater. I pulled her into me as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I leaned down to kiss her as she giggled.
“What?” I smiled, taking in her beauty.
“Nothing,” she shook her head. I raised an eyebrow, grabbing her hand as I pulled her inside with me. She waved to Tino who waved back from the counter. She set down her backpack as Tino eyed it down.
“Austin gonna help you with school work?” I chuckled.
“Don’t know how much help I’ll be,” I glanced over at her as she blushed.
“Help? More like a distraction,” she eyed me down.
“Now I’m not even gonna help you,” I chuckled. She walked over to me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
“Oh you know you’ll help me, ya big teddy bear. You love me,” she rest her chin on my chest, realizing what she’d just said. Her smile faded as I softly smiled down at her.
“Yeah… something like that…” I whispered. She let go of me and brushed her hair behind her ear. She was nervous. I watched her as she grabbed her bag and started for the stairs.
“Can I go up to your room?” she asked quietly.
“Make yourself at home. I’ll be up in a minute.” She nodded, trudging up the stairs.
“Woah…” Tino muttered, sighing. “She’s the one man.” Instead of laughing, I stood there, because I knew it was true.
“I know…”
“Even I could feel the heat from that conversation… that was really weird. I’ve never experienced something like that.”
“That’s what she does to me,” I chuckled. “She drives me insane.”
“Well damn. I guess I should go home. Who knows what’s gonna go down tonight.”
“Some hard core studying, that’s what.” He laughed.
“Yeah, okay,” he sneered. “That’s what I always said in high school, Austin. Have fun studying.”

Notes