Page 72 of Love at First Sighting
Nothing reminds me how empty my life was like the way El fills it up.
“Oh, did I invite you?” I joke.
“No, I invited myself.”
“I thought you didn’t like traveling.”
“I don’t like traveling with people who suck. But you? I don’t know. I think I could get used to it. You’re a good photographer. I could make use of you.”
“A good photographer? That’s it?” I don’t know why I’marguing. She could drag me around the world and make me take photos of her in front of every street sign in Paris and I absolutely would.
“Not just that.” El’s fingertips run up the inside of my wrist, beneath the band of my watch, and it sends a lightning bolt of lust right through me. “You have some other skills I’m pretty fond of, too.”
We finish the last sips of our drinks and close out our tab. Part of our goal tonight was to act like this was any other night of our lives. No five-star meal, no grand gestures. Just us being us and trying on a life together like it’s an outfit. So far, it fits perfectly.
I slip a piece of gum into my mouth as El wraps her arm around mine and moves in close. “Thank you for dinner.”
“Of course,” I reply. “I said I wanted to treat you.”
“You did. To make up for your teeny tiny steak.”
“Man,” I sigh.
I halt in my tracks as we pass the windowed front of a camera store on our way back to the car where we’ve valeted at the end of the block. My eye catches on a vintage camera propped in the display case. “Oh shit, that’s nice.”
“Want to go in?”
“No.” I shake my head. “It’s fine.”
“We’re not in any rush,” El says, pulling me toward the door. The bell jingles above us as we step in. A man behind the counter presses his hands to the glass casing, as if to say,Come take a look at my finest wares.
“What brings you in today?” he grumbles.
“Just looking,” I say, bending down to check out the vintage camera from the window. “El, imagine having to shoot your pictures on this baby.”
El steps closer to me, resting her hands on my shoulders. “I’d have to be far better at photography than I am to make that worth it. You, on the other hand…”
“I’m afraid there’s no room in my apartment for a darkroom. Hell, my camera is almost fifteen years old. I’d need something more like this.” I point to a DSLR in the case.
El stills behind me and makes a pensive noise. “Well, that might be an issue when we travel the world together and you take pictures for me.”
“Yeah, I’ll start saving up,” I joke, standing back up. Realistically, scraping together the cash to travel or to buy a new camera is a far-fetched goal. I don’t want to burst El’s bubble—not tonight—so I keep it to myself.
El laces her arm around my back and kisses the sleeve of my jacket. “We’ve got some time.”
“Are you going to buy anything?” the shopkeeper grunts.
“No,” I tell him. “But thanks. Have a good night.”
I take El’s hand and we head toward the valet lot we’ve parked in. I don’t know where the rest of the night will take us, but I’m up for anything. As I pass the valet my ticket, El pulls away.
“I have to pee again,” she says. “I’m going to dip into the restaurant and be right back.”
“Sure, I’ll get the car.”
It takes another several minutes for them to bring my car around, another minute or two for me to adjust my seat back to where it should be, and by then, El’s returned and hops into the car.
“You good?”
