“Swim team, huh?” I asked.
“Oh yes, swim team,” he said. “Good ol’ swim team. That lasted a little longer than basketball though. They actually let me pretend to participate with that for a little while.”
“So you weren’t destined to be the next Michael Phelps?”
“I remember thinking, yeah, I like swimming. Pools are fun. Maybe I can do this. Nope. Turns out I wasn’t real good at the whole, stroke, kick, hold-your-breath kind of thing. Or diving. Wasn’t great at that either. I liked cannonballs, but apparently diving required some level of skill above my threshold.” He paused and smiled. “So yeah, if you exclude that stuff then I was great at swimming.”
We both laughed. It was the kind of laugh that makes the world brighter. It wasn't the polite conversation laugh, but the kind that only people who understand one another can share.
It was then that our food arrived. We took a moment to each taste our meals before continuing the conversation as if we had never left off.
“Young Jacob wasn’t exactly cut out for athletics,” he said. “Luckily, I realized that before giving the football team a go.”
I laughed, imagining a small, five-foot Jacob running under the weight of his pads.
“But why?” I said, smiling gently at him. “You could have been the next NFL star and now you’ll never know.”
“Oh, I know,” he said. “Kind of like how I know that if I were to light myself on fire right now, it’d hurt like all hell. It’s one of those things you don’t really need to experience before you know.”
“So now you’re comparing athletics to the pain of being lit on fire?” I teased.
“Eh, I don’t know if that’s fair,” he said, thoughtfully. “Athletics might be worse.”
I loved laughing with him and it was so easy. There was something about him that lifted my stomach into my chest until I was floating, propelled by his every word, his every syllable. He was beautiful, his eyes were enchanting, his style refined and his smile mesmerizing. But above all, he was authentic.
Never had I met someone that could so comfortably make fun of himself while still maintaining a confident charisma. His authenticity coated every word he spoke and it pooled into a genuine personality that seemed almost tangible. Everything he said or did was him in his purest form.
As we finished up, there was a bit of wine still left in the bottle.
“Can I top you off?” he asked. “Guess we might as well finish this.”
“Is there enough for both of us?” I asked, eyeing the bottle carefully. I was comfortably relaxed, but I didn't want to get into tipsy territory.
“I guess we’ll see when I’m done pouring,” he said, and poured the remainder of the bottle into my glass. “Oh, bummer.”
I smirked at him. “You did that on purpose.”
“Maybe.” He grinned. “Take your time and enjoy it. I’m in good company.”
I took a small sip. The wine was so good I was secretly glad I got to have more.
“How’s the job search going?” he asked.
“Oh, man. I’m glad you refilled my wine glass,” I said and let out a wry chuckle. “The job search is going about as fast as a dead horse.”
“That well, huh?” he asked, sounding almost as disappointed as I did. “What about that internship? The one with ZephTech?”
“I haven’t heard anything yet,” I told him. I was surprised, almost stunned that he’d remembered the name.
“I wish you the best of luck,” he replied. He frowned slightly before speaking. “I've heard that ZephTech is intense and not for everyone.”
“That's true,” I agreed. “But it's what I've wanted since I found out about the company. I like hard work, so I think I'll do okay. That is, if I even get it.”
“I think you can do just about anything.” Jacob reached out and took my hand. “You just have to wait for the right job to come along. It'll happen. I promise.”
I believed him. It was strange, but I believed him. When he said it, I felt like it might actually be true and not just a platitude that people would say to make me feel better. For the first time in weeks, I felt like I might be moving in the right direction.
“Thank you,” I told him, meaning it completely. “If I get it, you'll have to show me around Silicon Valley, since you've been there.”