Get your own
 diary at DiaryLand.com! contact me older entries newest entry

10-01-01 - 11:39 p.m.

Today was my official last day as a chronological child. And boy was I childish.

I went to work this morning, ho-hum, left early because I could, and also because I had to go see Janet.

In the waiting room was a young man, I'd assume somewhere between 18 and 21 years old. He was idly flipping through a magazine. He was beautiful. I decided to make chit-chat.

"Are you here to see Doug?" I asked. (Doug is Janet's partner, a fellow psychologist.)

The young man looked at me. "No, he said. "I'm actually here to see Katie."

"Katie?"

"My sister. She's with Janet right now."

"Oh." At this point, it somehow dawned on me that, of course, I couldn't be Janet's only patient. It didn't bother me, just was a little surprising.

"I see Richard," said the young man, "in Kearny Mesa."

I smiled, nodding. Then I asked his name.

"Leif."

"Leif? As in�?"

"Yeah, as in leaves on a tree, ha ha." Clearly, Lief was not a fan of his name.

"Actually I would have said Leif Ericson, Viking discoverer of America and Columbus' predecessor by nearly 500 years, but have it your way." (brain to mouth...shut the hell up...he doesn't care about Leif Ericson...)

"That's who I'm named after. I thought nobody'd heard of him"

(mouth to brain...YOU shut the hell up...)

"Oh, well, I'm just a nerd like that."

"You don't look like a nerd."

"Well, you don't look like a Viking."

"Touche."

(brain to eyes...he's cute, well-dressed, and nice enough to drive his sister here...you know what that means...) I stared at him for a few seconds over the rim of my own magazine. (eyes to brain...he's not gay...he's not gay...)

I stuck out my right hand without thinking. "I'm Laura," I said, then as he looked down at my hand to shake it, I drew back suddenly, folding both hands in my lap and smiling idiotically, embarrassed. I didn't want him to notice my scars. I didn't want to have to explain anything.

His little sister, a girl of about 14, came out then. She grinned at seeing her big brother, and I smiled politely. Leif told Katie to go meet him at the car while he gathered his things and stood. I opened my mouth to say it had been nice meeting him, but before I could say a word, he'd asked for my number. I gave it to him. He gave me his. And then he left.

For dinner tonight my boys took me out to celebrate my birthday a day early. We went to Bellagio, my favorite restaurant on earth. It's a small, family-owned Italian restaurant, the kind where the waiters kiss ladies' cheeks and are prone to miniature spats in fluent Italian the second a customer stops smiling. The only truly out-of-place thing about this restaurant is this:

They give out fortune cookies.

After a dinner of ravioli bolognese (the world's most perfect food), the four of us sat around opening and sharing our cookies' wisdom, adding "in bed" to the end of each one like junior high-schoolers.

Bryan's: "You will soon be very proud of someone close to you." (in bed)

Justin's: "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." (in bed)

Rob's: "A friend in need is a friend indeed." (in bed)

Mine: "The true path to happiness can only be accomplished through your own hard work." (in bed)

I didn't say anything to any of them, but these cookies' messages seemed a little creepy to me. I can't explain why I thought/think that, it's just something that made me feel a little uneasy. Maybe I'm paranoid. It just seemed like they all could easily have applied to me. But I guess they're made to be general enough to apply to everyone.

Justin and Bryan bought me a CD-burner. Rob says "part one" of his gift to me will come tomorrow evening, and then another part either Wednesday or Friday. Am I right to be wary of a gift that comes in parts? Only a little while until a whole new world of freedom opens up to me.

I think my head's going to explode.

 

previous - next

about me - read my profile! read other Diar
yLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get
 your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!