Story Time

Here's an unedited snippet of dialogue from something I've been working on:

“You think you’ll ever get married?” I asked while we were working in his home office.

He turned around in his chair and stared at me. His expression was blank but his eyes expressed shock and a little fear.
​
“Um, that was out of left field.” He laughed nervously.

“I’m working on an article. I had a conversation with a few female entrepreneurs and many of them are wondering if when they are ready- if they are ever ready- for marriage and children if they will find someone. Given that they’ve achieved some level of success. You know will they be able to find someone in their lane or someone who’s not intimidated by their success.”

“Okay?” he asked still seemingly confused.

"I’m wondering is this just something females are worried about or do men wonder about the future as well? Do you see yourself married with children? And if so, are you looking for a particular female to fill that position? Like does she have to be as successful as you or would you prefer someone who isn’t as ambitious?”

“So are you interviewing me?” he smiled.

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Is this just for the article?” he asked softly.

I shrugged again. “Maybe.”

He rolled his chair next to me and sighed. He was quiet for a minute and I was actually afraid of his answer.

“To be honest with you, I never thought about getting married because I never figured it was an option. You know I didn’t grow up with my parents and none of my friends had parents that were married so that wasn’t something I ever even thought of.”  He paused and shook his head. “And the kind of girls I used to date. . .” he laughed darkly. “I sure as hell would never wife any of them. So my plan was to just keep trying to build a business, stay out of trouble and just enjoy my life.”

He leaned closer to me and bumped my shoulder.

“And then I met you and for the first time in my life I wanted more.”

I smiled at him. “More what?” I asked wanting him to elaborate.

“More from life. You inspire me. I wanted my business to bigger and better, I wanted to live intentionally and help my community and for the first time- it wasn’t just about sex- I wanted to be with you just to kick it or talk or just sit down and stare up at the sky.” He laughed.

“You sound so whipped.” I teased.

He kissed my lips. “You know I am.”

I kissed him back. “I know. But uh- you still haven’t answered the question.”

He rolled back to his side of the room.

“I’ve thought about it. A woman who has her own thing would be cool and I’d support her in any way that I could as long as I had her support and attention as well. And it would be really cool to one day teach my son or daughter what I know and pass my company to them. I think one of the main issues in our community is the lack of legacy building.”

My heart swelled at his words.

He started typing on his computer before he asked over his shoulder. “What about you? Have you thought about it?”

“I’m not the one being interviewed.” I laughed nervously.

“I’m interviewing you.” He said.

“I don’t know- like you said- I didn’t have an example of what marriage looked like either and over the years I’ve dated some men whose last names I definitely wouldn’t want attached to mine. But I have also been thinking differently since we’ve met.” I said softly.

He turned to look at me.

“I’m just afraid- I’ve heard so many horror stories about expectations and people changing after marriage. I couldn’t be with someone who is going to stifle me and what if you got bored with having sex with one woman for the rest of your life and went out and cheated and-,”

“Whoa- so this is no longer hypothetical?”

“What do you mean?” I frowned.

“You said what if you-,” he said pointing at himself.

“I didn’t mean you- it's hypothetical this entire conversation is hypothetical Michael.” I sighed and went back to work.

He rolled his chair next to me again but this time he turned me around to face him.

“Well let’s get specific for a minute. First of all, I would never cheat on you. And second let’s drop the bullshit. Do you want to get married one day?”

I shrugged. “I want a family. I want stability. I want love. Everything I never had growing up.” I started tearfully.

“I want that too.” He assured me. “Is that something you can see yourself having with me?” he asked.

I shrugged playfully. “I guess you’ll do.” I laughed.

“Okay, you got jokes.” He laughed.

“I’d consider myself extremely lucky to have that with you.” I said sincerely.

“I feel the same. I mean I know it’s only been a year and a half but I’m not going anywhere, I’m here unless you send me away. So let’s just keep learning and growing together and know that we’re on the same page. Okay?”

“Okay.”

He kissed me again and turned away before quickly turning back to me.

“Wait- how many kids?”

“No more than two.”

“Good. I thought you’d want a bunch of kids since you were an only child. I draw the line at three.” 

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I don't know if this will be a part of my next novel or not. . .but it will definitely make an appearance in a future book!