Justin Two's Nice Tulips and Two Lips

Dear Sillies,

To recap, Jesus had interrupted our discourse two nights earlier; drunken Jesus needed a ride home. Justin Two (JT) said he'd be at this night's show, though. 

Without a way to contact JT, I sat on a wooden bench in front of the stage, pretending to not be nervous about whether or not he'd show. I hope, hope, hope he shows. Nah. Don't get your hopes up. Forget about him. They always disapp-- JT came strolling through the area, confidently. He wore a friendly grin and casual attire. 

I approached with arms extended. 

"I'm the hugging type," I said. "Hope that's o--" JT wrapped his sturdy forearms around me for a brief embrace. 

After the show, which went well --"You did great," he'd told me -- JT suggested we talk somewhere peaceful, perhaps his front porch. Woohoo! I wasn't the only one who was annoyed by drunken Jesus' interruption. 

Free-flowing chatter ensued at a small black table by JT's front window. JT had lit a candle to illuminate the otherwise pitch dark setting. A tall thin glass holding tulips centered the table. 

"Pretty flowers," I said, and he told me that they're plastic. 

We learned of quite a few commonalities. Neither of us drinks or smokes. Neither of us owns a TV. Each of us opens the passenger's side car door first, when driving with a passenger. (This one I learned when I accepted a ride to his place. Afterall, he'd assured me that he's safe. I suggested, jokingly, that I might not be.  He seemed fine with that.)  

JT, like me, is divorced.

 

"I'm not looking for an open relationship," I told him. "That seems to be what all the men I've been dating lately want."

"That isn't really a relationship."

"I agree." Phew. Wow. Is he for real?

Time flew. It was 1 a.m.

JT pulled one of the tulips from the vase and handed it to me. "You'll get real ones later."

At my car, we hugged, and then there was a brief moment of looking at each other, and then his two lips were on my two lips. We shared two sweet kisses.

"I didn't expect that," he said. 

I was hoping, I thought. But not hoping too much, because you know how I've been so disappointed again and again and again, and then so disappointed again, by men. 

***

This happened in early June. 

The tulip, positioned atop a heart shaped candle, centers my kitchen table now. 

Psst, JT's coming over tonight.