“India’s” I said, a little surprised, as my phone rarely rang.
“May I speak to India?” a deep voice on the other end asked.
“Speaking”
“India, this is Kevin”
I stood there unable to speak. Something about his voice sent a million butterflies loose in my stomach in person, but on the phone his voice took on a deeper, even sexier tone.
“How...how did you find out my name?” was all I managed to say, as a flurry of thoughts were clogging the path from my brain to my mouth.
“Your friend Shae” he said with a laugh. “I hope it’s okay that I called”
“Of course it’s okay” I said, shaking myself out of the state of shock I was momentarily in.
“How are you?” he asked softly. “Are you busy? Do I need to let you go?”
“No. I mean....can you hang on for just a minute?” I asked as the customer came to the counter to pay for several pieces of brass sculptures.
I laid down the phone and rang up the purchase as quickly as I could. I’m sure, looking back now, that the customer must have thought I was losing my mind, as my hands were shaking so badly that twice I rang up the wrong amount and then proceeded to drop her change all over the floor. I watched her leave and then cradled the phone to my chest, trying desperately to compose myself.
“I’m so sorry about that” I finally said. “I had a customer, but she’s gone now.”
“I can call later if you’re busy” he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
“No, really...it’s...I’m glad that you called. And....there isn’t anyone in here right now...other than me of course....so I’m free to....” I sighed, frustrated with myself. What was it about this man and his voice that sent my brain on hiatus and my heart into overdrive? “I’m not making any sense, am I?” I finally asked.
He laughed softly.
“Let me try that again” I said, his easy laugh calming me. “I’m not busy at all. I’m so glad that you called, Kevin”
“Thank you for the lavender plant” he said, his voice deep and soft.
“I hoped you would like it” I said, relaxing a little more.
“Of course I like it. I love it actually. My whole hotel room smells so sweet. It’s wonderful.” he said.
I leaned against the wall behind the counter and slid down to a sitting position on the floor, my legs out before me and crossed at the ankles.
“Tell me about yourself, India” he said.
I took a deep breath and let my head rest against the wall and thinking for a moment. “What would you like to know?” I asked, smiling to myself. “Wait, I just realized that you already know more about me than I know about you. Why don’t you tell me something about yourself.”
“Okay” he said with a chuckle. “What would you like to know?”
“What brings you to New York?”
He laughed softly again and I could hear him sigh quietly. “Business, mostly.”
“What do you do?” I asked, knowing the answer already and realizing he probably knew that I already knew, but I wanted to hear him describe his work to me.
“I’m a musician” he said. “A singer. I’m in a group, actually, but we’re on a bit of a break right now.”
He continued to talk, telling me about the work he was doing with an up and coming singer in New York. He explained that he was helping write songs for him and was hoping to help produce his album when the time came. I listened to him talk, enjoying hearing him talk about something that he was obviously very excited about.
I told him about my shop and how I came to own it. I talked about my trips to India and he talked about traveling the world as well. We talked about our childhood friends and pets we’d loved over the years. We talked about anything and everything and the conversation was easy and enjoyable.
I moved around on the floor as parts of my body became sore or numb from the hard wood and ended up laying on my back, my arms folded across my stomach as we continued to talk. He told me about his career and the many things it had enabled him to experience. I laid there listening, amazed by his story and even more amazed that he was telling it to me.
As he talked about his love for the piano, I looked up under the counter and saw a small spider beginning to weave a small web. I watched as she worked tirelessly, not having the heart to break down her web and smash her as was my first instinct. He talked and the spider worked, and lost in the beauty of his voice and her web, the time slipped away.
“I just realized it’s almost six o’clock” he said with a laugh. I looked up at the clock and was surprised to see that he was right. We’d talked for more than three hours but the time had flown by and never during that time was there a moment of silence between us.
“India, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” he asked as I stood and stretched. My breath caught and again the butterflies took flight in my stomach.
“You know, I would like that very much” I said, opening the cash register and fishing around for the keys to the door. “Truth be told, I’m famished.”
“Me too” he said, laughing.
“Do you like Indian food?” I asked.
“You know what? I’ve never had it before” he confessed.
“What??” I said, teasingly. “You haven’t lived until you’ve had authentic Indian food”
“Well I say we go out to your favorite Indian restaurant then. My treat”
“What time?” I asked walking towards the door to lock up for the day.
“How about right now?” he asked.
I laughed and put the key in the door. Just as I turned the key I looked up and saw him standing at the door, a cell phone at his ear.
“Hi” he said with a soft smile.