4 The drunkenness

We sit on the plane, and Michael smiles at me, repeating to me whenever he has the opportunity that it is a very interesting coincidence that we have the seats nearby on the plane.

I have to admit, he's right. There are about a lot of passengers on this plane and I was lucky (or unlucky) to be stuck next to him.

"I feel like you are a very mysterious person, Sofia. I'd like to ask you so many, your brown eyes seem to hide a lot of secrets, but I choose not to. I want to fully discover you." he tells me non stopping to look at me in a way that is impossible for me to put into words.

"Michael, I'm a complex person. You will have some work to do to get to know me better."

"Perfect. I gladly accept the challenge. I also know how I could get started."

"Dazzle me, how exactly could you break the ice wall I built around me?" I ask him entering in his game.

"I would like to start by suggesting that you stay with me until you find a place to stay, after which I would like to invite you to a student party tomorrow night. Considering that you didn't live the typical American studenthood, I thought it would be the ideal time to see what a party looks like in our country."

"How do you know I don't already have a place to stay?" I ask him completely puzzled by the fact that this boy knows some things about me that I didn't even tell him.

"Well, I deduced. I don't know how you would find a place to stay from Romania."

"Seriously? It's not like we live in the age of the internet, where we can communicate from anywhere on the planet." I've noticed that he's a fan of irony, so I'm not shy to answer him that way.

"So do you have a place to stay?" he asks me as if a bomb had just hit him, ruining all his plans.

"Actually, I do. I have rent an apartament in not a very safe zone but this what I have found and what I can afford for now."

"Tell me you are not talking about Bronx."

"I do...I know that it is not safe at all but it is just an emergency place until I will find something better."

"You shouldn't spend even a day there, trust me. You move in such a dangerous neighborhood. You know that you can stay with me. I live alone, and my apartment has an open space living room. I can sleep on the couch and I will leave you the bedroom for you to have privacy."

"Michael, thank you very much for the invitation, but we're strangers. I can't accept." I was immensely surprised by his gesture.

"Sofia, I won't touch you if you don't want that, if that's why you're taking the plunge." Although I can't put my finger on it that you will resist me."

I was smiling in a way that hoped this subject would end. Indeed, Michael is a gorgeous, attractive man, a brunette with big eyes in which you can easily get lost, but I was trying not to think about him in that sense. I couldn't be distracted from everything I had to do in New York. Finding those who killed my father 6 months ago was a priority and nothing should distract me from that.

"I like you didn't deny it." he tells me laughing.

"Sorry, I..."

"Sofia, you look like a brave and uninhibited girl, why are you trying to seem a good one?"

This question locked me up. What could I answer without incriminating myself even more? Even if I'm not the kind of girl who can't put a man in his place, in front of him, my words disappeared. I was not able to think lucidly, and the invitation he gave me to live with him made me smile. But I knew I couldn't give in easily.

"I want to let you know that being uninhibited doesn't categorize you as a bad girl. I can be both, don't you think?"

"Hmm ... that red lipstick gives you away."

Suddenly I have flashbacks with Antonio who categorized my lipstick as vulgar, suitable for whores not for a "potential wife". I knew that Michael said it in a sensual, not necessarily vulgar way, but I couldn't think of all those discussions and debates about how to always wear natural makeup, not to use bold colors, buttons of my shirt should always be closed up, my heels should not be too high, my skirts should not be too short or molded. In short, I was not allowed to give free rein to my nature, which often wanted to go out of style or even why not, to highlight my body.

"Excuse me, did I upset you with something? Forgive me if I was too bold, I thought I could afford it." he finally says, seeing that I was left thinking without answering.

"Don't worry, I was just thinking."

"About what? What to wear to the party tomorrow night?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" I say laughing.

"Does that mean you accept my invitation indirectly?"

"You can take it as you like."

"Miss Sofia, I have a feeling you're going to give me some troubles with these changing attitudes, but what can I say? I gladly accept the challenge."

I have to admit, I was really curious to know what student parties are like on an American campus. I was wondering if Michael was a student or if he had just been invited by a friend. There are so many things I don't know about him, I wouldn't have been able to, how little time we spent together. I was going to use this flight in my favor, trying to get as much details out of his life as possible.

"Michael, are you a student in America?" I finally start the series of interrogative questions for him.

"Do I look like a student? You underestimate me, Sofia. No, I graduated from Pacific University three years ago and now I am the CEO of a travel company which was my father's but he retired."

"I understand. And that you were talking about the American student, how is it? I've seen a lot of exaggeration in movies."

"Well, it's not too exaggerated. What you saw in the movies is not far from the truth. American students are reduced to sex, alcohol, weed, parties, bonfires and various forms of entertainment. I was a hard-working student, you know."

"I'm convinced of that. I answer, rolling my eyes without even realizing it."

"Okay, except for the weekends that ended with hangovers, but that's another story. How was your student's resemblance to what you saw about American style?"

"Not too much. Most of the time I was in a relationship that restricted any trace of my freedom, and that made me miss almost any fun." I tell him, realizing that I have just opened a part of his soul, which I did not expect.

"Wow. Did the feminist in you accept that?"

"No, honey. That's why I became a feminist." I answer, trying not to go into too much detail.

"I have an ideea. In order not to get bored in this flight that will take some time, what would you say if we got drunk?" he asks me with wide, shining eyes, waiting for an answer from me.

I realize how crazy his idea is, but at the same time, I remember how spontaneous I liked to be years ago, before Antonio.

"Let's do it!" I answer, probably with the same twinkling look.

"There ypu go! I expected you to refuse. What do you want me to tell the stewardess to bring us?"

"Jack, please."

"Wow, my kind of girl. I expected you to be a fan of drinking wine or prosecco."

"I want to let you know that you just offended me, Mr. Michael. I'm a fan who loves prosecco and loves a glass of wine, especially with good company." I choose to answer him in an ironic way.

"So should I understand that I'm not good company, since you don't want wine?" he asks me, looking very puzzled.

"No, Michael. To get drunk, I thought I needed something stronger. The company is acceptable."

I see him smiling. I was wondering how this flight would end.

"You have a very ... penetrating look. From our first eye contact, we knew you had something special in your eyes. Michael tells me.

Come on. This one is so sentimental and he hasn't even drunk yet. I don't even want to know what's next after he has a few.

"I think you need glasses. I have nothing special. Even more, I always wanted to have blue eyes." I confess to Michael who signals to the stewardess to bring us the promised bottle of Jack.

"It would be a shame. These brown eyes of yours make you special and have a sparkle that misleads you."

"Misleading me? How's that coming?"

"It's just impossible for me to read you, Sofia. I look at you and I have the impression that you are a little girl scared of this huge world in which you are going to land, and then you look like an invincible woman, very confident in herself. I was wondering which of the two options you are."

"I'm a little of both, I'm not going to lie to you. My life has been sprinkled with moments that have strengthened me, but I still have periods when fear comes to light. I don't let that happen too often, you know." I tell him realizing that it's getting easier to open up in front of him and I'd like that to stop, I feel vulnerable.

The stewardess looked at us smiling, probably wondering what was wrong with these two lunatics who asked her for whiskey. But oh well. Here we go.

A few hours later we were already dizzy from the taste of alcohol, but also from happiness. For the first time in a long time, I was calm in the presence of a man. "Don't get out of your way, Sofia, it's just a beautiful face that will disappoint you over and over again" I kept repeating in my head, but it was in vain, in the next second Michael's lips touched mine passionately. That's where I blacked out.