Beginnings

Douglas had a skip in his step, opening the front door at his firm to go on his date with Reena. His jaw dropped, seeing the 21 year-old Indian clad not in her conservative business attire for work, but shorts that showed off her lithe brown legs, and a short top that exposed her toned midriff. She must have changed a few minutes ago, Douglas realized. He whistled low, and Reena blushed.

"Hey now, no false compliments," she said.

"No, you really do look good," Douglas said.

They went to Marconi's, an Italian restaurant. They discussed Douglas's life in superficial detail. School. His legal career. His marriage to Elizabeth. His marriage to Faith. Life as a single father. He omitted the brutal facts: that he'd torpedoed his first marriage by setting her up with a Black man, and then sealed that deal by cheating on her. Or that he'd intentionally suggested to his second wife that she start pole dancing for fitness and fun, encouraging her down a path that led her to being purchased by a Middle Easterner.

Reena's life was more geographically active: a native Indian, a jaunt to England, and a pit stop in America. But it didn't have the small peaks or the devastating valleys that Douglas had intentionally created for himself. She found Douglas, and America, to be as exotic as he found her. Despite his misgivings about his fitness as a partner in general, he found himself attracted to her, and planted a long, deep soulful kiss onto her at the conclusion of their date. When it ended, her eyes opened after a long second.

"Wow," she said. "That's only my third kiss."

"Third kiss? What about ... ?"

"I'm a virgin."