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Shawn Warstein · (02-25-2020)

February 6, 2020
11:27pm
Outside of Atlanta Georgia

Her hair draped over my chest as we sat on the bench, looking over the pond. I gently brush the hair out of her eyes and tuck it behind her ear. Atara looks up at me grins and gives me a small kiss on the cheek. I break a small smile and take a moment to compose myself.

“You know all night we’ve been talking about me,” As she sits upright, and slowly turns her body to face me. I do the same. We look a bit like idiots sitting cross legged on a small bench facing each other. “You haven’t told me about yourself. That’s what I’m most interested in.”

She smiles and grabs ahold of my hand. In a caressing manner, and begins dragging her nails gently across the backside.

“I mean, there’s not much to tell.”

“I don’t believe that for one moment. Go ahead… I’m all ears.”

Hesitation followed. Not in a “I’m hiding something” kind of way, but a brief pause. Maybe a moment to relax, and to compose herself.

“Well the first thing you need to know…”

I’m not going to lie, I was this close to not paying attention. I found myself constantly getting lost in the deep ocean that is her eyes. I’d catch myself and continue listening.

It’s just those damn eyes. Protective yet inviting, all the while giving off the impression of a warrior. Someone wounded, but still fighting.

“And, as you said, that gets us to today.” A disarming smile shone across her face. I pull my hand away from her. A slight shock comes across her face. “Something wrong?”

“No.”

“It doesn’t sound like it’s a ‘no’, out with it.” Her demeanor hasn’t changed, it’s still light and airy as she gives me a slight tap to my chest with the back of her hand.

I take a deep breath. I’m usually pretty good at sticking my foot in my mouth, and with her I don’t want to do that. Well honestly is the best policy.

“Something seems off.” As I swallow the lump that has now formed in my throat. “It’s probably me making something out of nothing.”

“Ohh no you don’t get off that easy.”

“Fine.” I take a deep breath and exhale it through my nose. “ The timing of everything seems eerily convenient. Like I said, I’m making something out of nothing.”

“Yeah you are. I know you like to think you’re this big bad impenetrable wall, but you’re not. You want the same things as everyone else. You just want to feel close to someone.” She slides close to me. “You just want the same thing as me. To feel safe.” She places her hands on my shoulders. “ The need to be just yourself.” She interlocks her fingers behind my neck, and allows her elbows to go limp. “Sometimes you just need to be Shawn.”

Atara leans in and gives me yet another kiss on my cheek, but she lingers there for a beat more and whispers in my ear.

“I think I'd like to go home now.” I get chills down my from her warm breath hanging on my neck. I slowly stand up and reach a hand down to her. She grabs it, as I hoist her to her feet.

“Well, let’s get you home then, I’m going to need my phone back.”

She smiles coyly and hands my phone over. I quickly opened up Uber.

“Where are you going?”

“Me? Singular?”

“Yeah. Is that a problem?”

“No… I just didn’t think we were done for tonight, is all.”

She cracks an unassuming smile and leans over to me. Atara grabs me by the waist and pulls me in. I drape my arms over her shoulders and rest my head against her forehead.

“One drink.”

February 7, 2020
1:13am
Atlanta Georgia

The car pulls up to a hotel, and comes to a halt. Atara opens her door and exits the car. I quickly follow and shut the door behind me. The car pulls off and into the night. We walked into the nice hotel. The ornate design of the lobby is all you needed to see that this wasn’t just a run of mill standard hotel.

We get into the elevator, and begin the ride to the top floor. We don’t say much to each other. The little moments of staring at each other, followed quickly by a smile. The doors open up and Atara leads our way down the hallway.

Atara unlocks the door to the penthouse and we stumble in, the drinks from earlier are starting to catch up to us. The door shuts behind me as I am greeted by the skyline of Atlanta. The room opens up to a living area with a couch, a few chairs and a large tv mounted on the wall.

“Take a seat, I’ll get those drinks for us.”

I walk into the living area and sit down on the couch. The large piece of furniture is an ivory color and has a few throw blankets tossed on either side. I lean my head back, as the room begins to spin slightly.

The clinks of the glasses make me bring my head forward. Atara’s already pouring what I assume is bourbon in a glass, along with some wine for herself. I grab the glass, we do a small little toast, and I take a sip.

“Just one remember.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Atara smiles and scoots closer to me. Slowly sipping her wine.

“We should watch a movie…”

“I’m just here for the one drink.”

“Yeah… sure you are.”

Atara carefully puts her glass on the table and reaches over me. The elongated arm of Aphrodite grabs a remote from the other side of the couch. A quick head swip, glance and a smile as she returns to her spot a free hand lands on my thigh. She leaves it there and begins to stroke my leg while flipping through the channels. The clicking of the remote eventually stops and lands on some movie about talking penguins.

“This will have to do.”

A quick toss of the remote down and she nestles up next to me. I sling an arm around her shoulder. My hand slowly makes it way up to the mocha hair adoring Atara. I use my fingertips to massage her scalp slowly. It’s a calm moment and I can feel both of us slowly drifting off to sleep.

Atara begins to slump over and eventually her head falls in my lap and is fast asleep, as I continue massaging her scalp. I feel my eyelids getting heavy. I reach over to the end of the couch, trying not to disturb the angel on my lap and grab a blanket. I gently place the blanket over the goddess and lay my head on the back of the couch.

If this is what tranquility feels like, I may just never let it go.

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