Raw: A Love Story by Smith Mark Haskell

Author:Smith, Mark Haskell [Smith, Mark Haskell]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Published: 2013-12-02T16:00:00+00:00

22

Beverly Hills

Harriet sat in the back of a cab with Curtis. She let him lean his leg so that it touched hers. His warmth sent little quivers through her. She looked out the window and noticed the distinct lack of traffic. What had happened to all the cars? It wasn’t late, maybe ten thirty, and yet for some reason the streets of Los Angeles were empty. Where did everybody go?

She saw Curtis’s profile—as handsome as any hip young adjunct English professor—briefly illuminated in the street light. She felt a warm glow filling her body, like a teenager who’d just played spin the bottle for the first time. She was giddy. That was a funny word. If she remembered correctly it came from the Proto-Germanic word gudig and meant “to have a confused sensation.”

Harriet was enjoying the ride, the contact with Curtis, feeling the fresh night air blow through the windows, reveling in sensation, trying to wrap her head around the idea that she had a physical self, a body that craved sensual experience. Her yoga teacher had told her she lived too much in her head and now she was starting to think maybe she was right. She heard Curtis clear his throat.

“Um. Want to get a drink? We can pick up your car and go to my hotel. It isn’t far.”

Before she could even consider what this invitation might mean or what consequences might unfold she said, “That sounds perfect.” Curtis turned and smiled at her. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

The plan set in motion—and surely some kind of sexual encounter was forthcoming—Harriet began to overthink what was happening in earnest. Her default setting in these male/female scenarios was typically critical and anxious, parsing every word, thought, and feeling, and now she went into full catastrophic-thinking mode. She felt her pulse race. Why was she so nervous?

She remembered an insipid book that one of her friends gave her called something like Get in the Game!—with the hopeful subtitle Find a Husband, Get a Life. According to Get in the Game! she was supposed to be some kind of unique creature with confidence and attitude that proclaimed her fabulousity. Somehow she was supposed to “let her true colors show” by only emailing him back once for every three he sent and by not returning his calls over the weekend. How that was good advice or got you a husband or was anything more than infantile game playing, she couldn’t say. Besides, the advice didn’t apply to this situation; Curtis hadn’t emailed at all. What was she supposed to do? Give him her email address and then wait a couple days? She knew that one-night stands were against the Get in the Game! code of conduct, but maybe it would be fun anyway. Or was that sleazy? Should she just get in her car and then agree to meet for breakfast? Or does brunch sound more noncommittal? What did she want? A husband? Some fun? And what would she do

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