Monday, January 17, 2005
She watched him over the top of her book. He was sprawled on the other end of the sofa in an easy, relaxed arrangement of limbs that bespoke an effortless, quiet confidence. His long denim-clad legs were stretched out in front of him. The bottoms were frayed and faded, and his feet neat. She noticed them with appreciation- well-groomed hands and feet were so essential. She turned her eyes back to her page as he channel-surfed, one finger pressing a button. His other hand lay at a distance from his side, palm facing upward. His fingers curled in a little, unconsciously, like a leaf, or a small boy’s sleeping hand. The cuffs of his shirt were unbuttoned and rolled up a turn so his wrist was bare. He had large, square hands balanced on an incongruously fragile looking wrist that belonged more to his fingers than his palm. He never wore a watch, preferring instead a faded leather strap on his left wrist. Where it came from and why he wore it was something he had never told her, and she had never asked again. She turned a page, and he breathed, and she put her breath in sync with his. He hadn’t shaved, but his hair had been cut recently. His barber had left a smooth arc over his ears, a clean line across the back of his neck. Contrasted with the shadow on his jaw, the skin just beneath his ear looked like silk, soft and sweet. The shallow between his collarbones dipped a little as he stifled a yawn and pushed himself deeper into the cushions with a small sigh. He shut his eyes for a brief moment, his lashes fluting outward just a little, his mouth pliantly defenseless. When she looked up again, he was frowning a small wrinkle at the top of each of his eyebrows at the screen. As he passed familiar music by he flexed a foot, and it made a cracking noise. She winced, and he looked at her from the corner of his eye. She wrinkled her nose at him, and he smiled a lopsided apology, extending his free arm and wrapping his hand around one of her ankles in a firm hold, hooking his index finger inside her beaded anklet. She put a hand down and looped her pinky though his. They breathed in sync, he changed the channel again, and she smiled at her book.Mina at 7:31 PM
