Flux and Flow

Olivia sat at the coffee shop in her neighbourhood waiting for Dan to show up. It was the day of their "date". Olivia didn't know what to call it. Calling it a date made her nervous, but calling it just a hang out made her upset because she wanted more. She liked Dan. She thought he was cute and he seemed nice enough. She didn't know enough about him to pass real judgement, but from what she knew, she liked.

"Olivia," Dan smiled, waving at her as he walked in.

"Dan, hi." Olivia smiled, accepting the hug he gave her.

"Ready to go?" Dan smiled. Olivia nodded and let him lead her out of the coffee shop.

Their hangout wasn't much of anything, it was just them walking around the area and going into shops they found interesting. It was mostly just a get to know one another.

"So why the U.K?" Dan asked once they wound up back at the coffee shop. It was the question that Olivia had been dreading all night. She had been mapping out ways in her mind to answer it, but nothing ever seemed good enough.

"I just always wanted to come here ever since I was a kid," Olivia replied, running her fingertips over the edge of the table. "And I never got the chance to until now."

"What changed for you?" Dan asked, leaning back in his chair and watching her. Olivia loved that when she spoke Dan looked at her and actually listened to her.

"A lot of stuff went down in the span of about two years," Olivia replied. "Bad stuff."

"Can I ask what happened?" Dan asked, politely. Olivia looked at him and saw the genuine interest and concern on his face when he asked her this question. She feared he was asking for the sake of being nice, but didn't actually care.

"I got married when I was 20, my mom died the next year and then for two years after that my marriage went to hell," Olivia replied. "We got a divorce, I was completely broken and then I moved here. So, here I am."

"What about your dad?" Dan asked. "Is he around?"

"No," Olivia replied, looking down at her hands. "He died when I was about six."

"I'm so sorry," Dan gasped, reaching out and touching her hands. "I lost my dad not too long ago. So I can identify."

"I'm so sorry," Olivia stated softly. "What happened?"

"Cancer," Dan replied. "What about your dad?"

"Heart attack," Olivia replied. "He was actually close to his 60's. My mom was a lot younger than him, my mom was his second marriage."

"And your mum?" Dan asked softly.

"Cancer," Olivia replied. "Breast cancer. We didn't even really know, it just hit so fast."

"I'm so sorry," Dan sighed. "I can't imagine losing both parents."

"I didn't know my dad that much, but it was awful losing my mom." Olivia nodded.

They sat in silence holding hands for a bit. They had more in common than they thought. They spoke to one another with ease. They were good together. Dan brought out an openness in Olivia, a willingness to share that she hadn't felt for a long time.

"What was your husband like?" Dan asked, seemingly unaffected by the news that Olivia had been married.

"A workaholic," Olivia replied. "He was desperate to be successful, not that there's anything bad with that it's just that he'd forgot about me along the way. We were opposites. He never wanted to stay in with me, he always wanted to go out. So he would go out with his friends and all these other girls. He forgot he was married and had an affair. I was so devastated because of my mom's death that I stayed because I didn't want to be alone. Eventually I picked myself up and asked for a divorce. He more than happily agreed."

Dan stared at her in awe. He couldn't believe someone so young had gone through something like that.

"I'm being emotionally slutty right now, aren't I?" Olivia sighed.

"Emotionally slutty?" Dan laughed, not used to the term. "No, not at all. I like that you actually talk and open up to me. Besides if you're going to be 'slutty' I'd rather it be emotionally."

Olivia smiled and nodded. Dan ran his thumb over the back of her hand. It was a simple gesture, but it meant so much to her. It had been a long time since Olivia had felt any sort of affection from anyone, especially a man.

"I like you," Dan smiled.

"I like you, too." Olivia nodded. "You should just know that I'm new to this. It's been a long time since I've liked someone and opened up like this."

"It's my fault you're emotionally slutty?" Dan teased.

"Yes," Olivia laughed. "It's entirely your fault!"

"I can take the blame for that," Dan laughed, nodding. "And it's the same for me. It's been a while since I've liked someone. We'll go slow, okay?"

"Slow," Olivia nodded. "I can handle slow."

Slow it would be.