Your Presence Is Enough

“I can tell you’re not a well behaved woman.”

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.

“Your quiet demeanor doesn’t fool me.”

“There’s this defiance in your eyes.”

“Casual.” 

“Unimpressed.”

“A stubbornness.”

“I’ll find the right word in a minute.” 

I take no time to reply.

“Honey I’ve been through more heavens and hells than you could imagine.”

“I call it, ‘the will to live’.” 

“You don’t have to fill silences with pseudo analyses.” 

“We can sit here for an hour and not say a thing.” 

“That could be rather charming.”

He lifts his glass and looks away.

“And then the sarcasm begins.”  

I can tell he feels hurt. 

That he has imagined I just wove a polite request to stop his blabbing. 

I know he’s trying, and I don’t mind blabbing. 

I just mind the nervous kind projected outwards in a state of panic. 

The ones that manifest as unfairly dissecting another human being - a reflection of what’s going on within. 

So I take his hand from across the table. 

“You’re wrong.”

“I wasn’t being sarcastic.”

“Shared silence is a valid source of intimacy for me.” 

As if on cue, his shoulders drop like a weight. 

Brow raised, he looks at me confused.

I smile.

He returns his awkwardly, 

And balance is restored to the universe 

Or so it seems.

As he watches me apprehensively for the rest of the evening, 

Settling into this strange new groove,

I stifle chuckles throughout.

With time, the goofiness began to rise, 

Steady and sure,

As n easy glide came crashing into his footsteps.

Impromptu tap dancing (he’s actually very good)

Something he hadn’t done since he was a tender 10.

When he laughed, he laughed full and wide, 

Eyes glistening with mischief, throwing head back.

Marveled as he noticed subtle strains of wood used in furniture, 

From pulling out a dusty old chair.

Oh you sweet, sweet, charming man.

So many boys lost in the bid to become men.

Later he would reveal, that his mind hadn’t quite understood what I meant, 

“… with the whole silence thing.” 

“That’s not a surprise,” I replied, 

“… but your intuition sure did.”

© Adenike O. Akinbisehin, ‘Your Presence Is Enough’​​.