“I didn’t hear anything,” she said.
I turned back to her and smiled. “Sorry, never mind… I’m probably just imagining things. So, what was the plan tonight?”
“Bar crawl,” Natalie confessed. “It was all Missy’s idea. Oasis was the last stop on her list.”
“Did you enjoy yourself?”
“I did, actually,” she admitted. “I didn’t expect to.”
“How come?”
“The bar scene isn’t really my thing,” she said. “I usually prefer staying at home.”
“And doing what?”
“Reading mostly,” she confessed. “Tuesdays and Fridays, I call my folks. I don’t really see them as often as I would like.”
“You’re close with them, huh?” I asked.
“Very,” she nodded.
I noticed how her expression softened as she spoke about them and for the first time in my life, I was actually interested. I wanted to know about her past, her life, and her family. I wanted to figure out this strange young woman. And even though that fact alone should have scared me, it didn’t.
“Do you have siblings?” I asked.
“Only child,” she said. “My parents couldn’t afford to have any more kids.”My eyes snapped down to her face, taken back by the personal bluntness of that statement. It was such an intimate thing to share with a stranger; some would even consider it a source of embarrassment. Not many people liked to admit that they couldn’t afford things. I didn’t usually find myself lost for words, but in Natalie’s presence, I realized I wasn’t sure what to say next.
“It’s nice that you’re so open about that,” I said, at last.
She shrugged. “My parents worked hard all their lives,” she said. “They sacrificed a lot for me. I would be doing a disservice to them if I minimalized their struggle or if I refused to acknowledge all that they gave up for me.”
“I’ve never thought of it like that,” I admitted. “But then again, I suppose I never thought about money growing up.”
“That’s probably because you had it.”
I smiled. “You’re right,” I nodded.
“What about you?” Natalie asked, fixing her hypnotic blue eyes on me.
“What about me?” I asked, just as we came to the fountain.
We stood in front of it, but I only had eyes for Natalie. “Do you have siblings?”
“A sister,” I replied. “She’s older than me. She lives about an hour from here, so I get to see my nephew often.”
“You have a nephew,” Natalie said.
“I do,” I said. “He’s six now…or maybe he’s seven. I keep forgetting.”
“I think you need to spend a little more time with him,” she said.
“I’ll admit it, I’m not the best uncle in the world,” I confessed. “In fact, when it comes to relationships in general… I usually fall short.”
I didn’t know why I was telling her all this. It was all so personal and so unnecessary. And still, I kept going. It was like she was compelling me to talk with those blue eyes of hers. She was staring at me as though she cared about my story. She was listening to me as though I was the most fascinating person in the world.
“I doubt that,” she said.
“It’s true,” I insisted. “I’ve disappointed all the people closest to me: my father, my sister, my nephew… That’s why I like traveling. No one knows you and no one cares.”