“Ok… I’ll… help you with… your dreams. And when you lose fifty pounds I… might… make you that coffee. Deal?” I threw in a make-or-break condition but made it so unrealistic, that she would either refuse it or allow me to always be on top of the deal.
“What? Are you afraid that I will squash you?” she looked mockingly at me. I took it as a dare to make me ‘lighten’ the deal. I stood my ground and did not reply. A few seconds passed. I could see that she was thinking. “Twenty?”
“Thirty.”
“Deal.” she extended her hand to shake and I couldn’t help but notice those immaculate nails again.
“Oh, and one more thing,” I continued. It was time to put her nails in the deal.
She promptly withdrew her hand to hear what else I had to say.
“If you trim or cut off your nails the deal is off.”
She looked at her nails. Then at me. Then at her nails again. Shrewd smile.
“I’m beginning to think… that my nails… are a bit… too important to you” she said, raising her glance towards me, sideways.
I didn’t say anything, but couldn’t hide the feeling of being ‘caught’.
“Don’t get me wrong, I like that,” she continued. “So…” she brought a hand up rubbing her chin. She was scrutinizing me while my eyes were glued to her nails. “It seems like I do have some… leverage…” she said, tracing the contour of her lips with her middle finger. When it reached the middle of her upper lip she brushed it downwards raking her nail over her lips. She didn’t lick it, but I couldn’t help raising my chin a bit and reflexively opening my mouth, just barely, in an empathic reaction to feel her nail on my tongue. She noticed and grinned. “How about… this? You… tutor… me for lucid dreaming and I let you… do… whatever you want with my nails, as long as you don’t cause them any mishap. The… erm… coffee… is optional. Deal?”
This… was extremely tempting.
“…And the deal is off at the first-, no, …second sign of… unwanted… behavior. I’d say one fair warning should be okay?” she added tapping her fingers on her cheek.
Suddenly I felt like I was negotiating something too good to be passed up. In my head, this meant that I got to be around her nails, maybe even touch them, or… maybe… even more, without having to… do anything I didn’t feel comfortable doing, at least while I would be tutoring her. She was looking intensely at me waiting for an answer.
“Deal” I finally agreed.
“Great. When do we start?” she promptly followed up.
“Erm… I… am still on my lunch break. I get off at six.”
“Wow… Is six that arousing that you… get off at it?” she returned the pun.
I started nodding slowly “I think I deserve that…”
“Yep. You do. Your place? Or mine? Or would you rather we meet on neutral ground?”
“D’you live far from here?” I asked.
“From the north entrance of the park, the second building to the right. The one with the pastry shop at ground level. I’m beginning to question if it was a wise decision to rent a place there. I thought with the park across the street I would get out and walk more. But the pastry shop is not helping me with… you know.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No. Really. I can’t… pretend… it’s not there. I have to have something sweet or freshly baked every time I go up.”
“It’s not that. I mean… That’s the place where I live.”
She didn’t say anything for a few moments.
“So you’re the one who lives…” she raised an eyebrow, “…on top of me.” Pause. “He-looo, neighbor!” she said finally. “So much for neutral ground. It’s more like mutual ground” she chuckled.
“When did you move in? I hardly leave the place. I thought I’d have noticed some… commotion.”
“I haven’t actually… moved… in. I used to live with my folks until last week. I know, I know, it’s… waaay past time I should have… relieved them of my presence. I’m just starting to get used to living on my own and I’m bringing stuff along as I find what I need to get by. No… commotion required.”
“Well… if you ever need a hand with… carrying… stuff… that may pose a risk to your… manicure… just let me know.”
She looked again at her nails and grinned.
“Thanks, I’ll… uh… keep that in mind.”
I looked at my watch, again, twice. Consistent.
“I should be getting back to work” I resumed and got up. “Coming? Or staying?” I probed for her willingness to come along.
“No, I’ll stay a little longer. I’d rather be outside. Away from… food. Anyway, I want to finish this book. By the way, is there any chance that the… russian guy’s book can be found in hardcopy? I prefer reading the old fashioned way.”
“Erm… I’ve no idea. It probably can be ordered online somewhere, but if you want to start reading it right away I’ll give you my kindle. It’s as close to paper as I can offer right now.”