Page 51 of Rebound With Me
Nina
Almost overnight,I suddenly have the kind of summer schedule that I’d dreamed of having before I moved to Brooklyn and got caught up in Russell’s regimented weekends of foodie adventures, jazz concerts and antiquing.
I finally sawHamiltonon Broadway. Who lives in New York for three years without managing to seeHamilton?! It was just as electrifying as meeting Vince, and I leave both feeling young and super-charged and ready for anything.
When I was with Russell, I must have given off a “Don’t look at me don’t talk to me vibe,” because I swear—men never used to check me out when I walked around town. They never used to strike up conversations with me on line at the market. Ironically, now is when I’m totally uninterested in getting to know another man, but I feel so open. And it’s all because of Vince Devlin.
This is, without a doubt, the best summer I have had since moving to Brooklyn. It’s the best summer of my life, if I’m being honest. I almost don’t even think about what it will be like once school starts up again and I’m asleep by ten pm, using faux swear words again, and seeing my fucking ex-fiancé five days a week. For now, I am more awake, and busier than ever, ignoring every lingering ghost thought of Russell and Sadie while staying focused on Vince. He has showed me so much of Brooklyn, usually on the fly in the middle of the day, between his meetings, when I’m not hanging out with Marnie or my other teacher friends.
He’ll just call me up and be like: “You like to doodle, right? You been to the Brooklyn Art Library? I’ll meet you there in half an hour.” And then we’ll spend an hour looking through an amazing collection of artists’ sketchbooks. When we’re walking to get ice cream in Greenpoint, he’s like: “Hey, you like cats?” and we take a little detour to see the Cat Village—a colony of feral cats that keep the local rodent population in check. At night, I’ll get a call after his last meeting: “Hey, you feel like going out to hear some music? A buddy of mine’s performing tonight.” And then he’ll take me to the Brooklyn Academy of Music to see his buddy perform.
Anything can happen when I’m with him, and so far there have been no more incidents when other men are friendly to me. Like the Italian waiter at this cozy neighborhood joint where we’re getting lunch in the back garden. Vince even seems amused by the ostentatious way this fellow is flirting with me. After we order, I pull out a book from my bag and place it on the table in front of him.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a little gift. I was browsing the bookstore this morning, and I wanted you to have a copy of this. It’s one of my favorite poetry books.”
He has such a big smile on his face as he picks it up. “Nobody’s ever given me a book as a gift before. I mean, since I was a kid.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Thank you. I will read every word. I have something for you too, actually, in the trunk of my car. Which is at my Dad’s place. I’ll give it to you tonight. Who’s Rumi?”
“Rumi was a thirteenth century mystic poet who is one of the most popular poets in America, actually. He wrote so beautifully about love and longing and opening your heart to all of life’s experiences, even the painful ones. It got me through a lot, back in Bloomington. It’s just beautiful, and…when I read a lot of these now, they remind me of you.” I can’t look up at him to see his expression. I’ve laid out so much more on the table than just that book. I laugh. “Before you, my biggest form of rebellion was reading Rumi poems when my Dad was teaching classes on Chaucer and Shakespeare’s sonnets.”
“You really still think you’re rebelling by being with me?” He is amused more than offended, but it’s definitely both.
“Well no, I mean…I just…I had never had a one-night stand with a stranger before.”
“Uh huh, well it doesn’t really count as a one-night stand anymore now does it?”
“No. And I’m glad. But, you were still a stranger.”
“Everyone’s a stranger at first, Nina.”
“Were you on the debate team in high school?”
“No, but I did go to third base with one of the girls on the debate team after giving a very compelling argument about why she should let me.” I burst out laughing. He grabs my hand and kisses the back of it. “I love that you gave me this. Thank you.” He puts it in his leather messenger bag, then reaches back for my hand. “Listen, I can’t go out tonight, but—”
“That’s fine.”
“But—maybe you’d like to join us for dinner at my Dad’s place. They’ve been bugging me about wanting to see you again. It’s Taco Tuesday at Casa Devlin. But if my Dad forgot to get the ingredients again it’s Tater Tot Tuesday plus like, one vegetable maybe.”
“I’d love that. That sounds like fun.”
“Oh yeah. It’s like aFast and Furiousmovie, but with mediocre tacos and no cars. We can pick up Charlie at his day camp here in Carroll Gardens and then head over to Cobble Hill. His nanny gets off early today.”
“Oh, I get to meet Charlie?” This feels significant. Charlie seems like such an important person in Vince’s life and I could tell he was waiting before talking about him more, or introducing me to him. Probably because of the nanny-banging thing too.
“Yeah. It’s time you met the little turd.”
“Is he at the day camp on Smith Street?”
“Yeah, you know it?”
“Of course, it’s a great program. Some of my friends teach at summer day camps. I was considering it for this year.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re free to hang with me.”
