Vengeance
I’d decided not to bring a flight attendant with us, either. Even if I had banished her to the back of the plane, she may have still been able to overhear us.
“I’ve never been to Norway,” Jonovan said. “I heard it’s lovely.”
“We won’t be around a lot of other people, just the staff, but the island itself is breathtaking. Plus, it’s still summer solstice.”
“What does that mean?”
“That you can see the sun around the clock, even at midnight.”
“Wow, like in Alaska?”
“Yeah. You’ve been there?”
“Nope, never. It’s going to be so strange to see the sun at night.”
“It’s strange and then there are the times of the year when it’s polar night and it is dark throughout the day . . . like in some of those horror movies.”
“Those things are about to play out. They put one of those out at least once every other year.”
I giggled. “You sound like you know that because you’ve seen them.”
Jonovan tried to suppress a laugh, but he couldn’t. “Okay, okay, I confess. I have a thing for cheesy movies and bad horror flicks. Sometimes watching other people make stupid choices, or die with the benefit of special effects, can make the time go by.”
“Speaking of making the time go by, how are things going with the woman you’re dating?”
The grin disappeared off Jonovan’s face. “I wouldn’t be here with you if I was in a serious relationship. I’m not that kind of man.”
“Who said I’m trying to get with you romantically?” My low self-esteem was about to jump out the closet like a skeleton. “Don’t assume that I asked you to come with me because I want to have sex. I’m not that easy.”
He had no idea! My hairbrush had a better shot than he did of getting into my panties!
“That’s where you’re mistaken about me. I can get sex anywhere, and I realize that a woman like you is not going to be down for games. You asked me to come and spend your birthday with you on a private island, and while I am hoping that we can sneak in a romantic moment here or there because of the surroundings, I don’t have any expectations of this going anywhere. Dating someone doesn’t mean that I’m having sex with them, and the woman you saw me with is not the only one who I spend time with.”
That made me even more upset, even though I am sure his intentions were the opposite. He realized it and tried to make it sound better.
“That’s not to say that I have a romantic interest in any of them. It means that I’m a man who is still waiting for that special person to settle down with. I can’t find her without exploring the possibilities.”
“There’s that term: ‘settle down.’ Why do men make it seem like they are walking into the gallows when it comes to being with one woman?”
“My father said it best one day when he was talking to me and some of my friends in college. He said that most men don’t have an issue with saying yes to one woman. They have an issue with saying no to all their other options.”
“Is that your philosophy?” I asked with a smirk. “You’re keeping your options open?”
“You make it sound like a criminal act. People should take their time to find the person who complements them in every aspect of their lives instead of trying to pretend like the differences won’t matter in the long run. Women tend to fall quick and hard and then wake up one day and realize that they have nothing in common with the man lying next to them, except for great sex.”
“I’ll give you an amen on that and add in a high five and a foot stomp with it. There are a lot of transformers running amuck on the dating scene. I hear the stories about bitch-assness and fuckery all the time.”
“Not bitch-assness and fuckery?”
“Yes, that’s the typical behavior of community dick and water cooler dick men.”
“You are hilarious.” Jonovan poured himself some more wine. “You’re definitely going to have to break those terms down for me.”
“No hay problema but no es bueno.”
“Let me find out that you speak Spanish?”
“A little. Enough to know what the hell people are talking about when I’m touring. I also know enough French, German, Italian, and Japanese to get by.”