The Sound Of Love

Secondly, she did not have the guts to ask him out. She knew that he really liked her, but did he like her as more than a friend? She could not be sure of this. There was no way to really tell without actually asking him out. Chantal was not the kind of girl that would sit back and wait for the guy to ask her out. No, she was the kind of girl that took the initiative and did the asking out on her own. She did not want him to think that she was desperate, though. What if he said no? What if he told her that he only saw her as a friend? She would have been able to deal with it had it been anyone else in the world but she did not think that she would be able to deal with such a rejection from Michael. No, she really would not be able to deal with it at all. It would depress her greatly to be rejected by a man that she liked so much, it would bring her self esteem to rock bottom.

There was also the fear of what would happen after she said yes. Michael really enjoyed talking to her over the phone, but in person was a different matter entirely. She was fat, there was no use denying it. What if Michael didn’t like how she looked? When she had sent him pictures he had complimented her profusely, told her that she looked extremely beautiful. However, the pictures that she had sent him had, obviously, been extremely flattering pictures of her. They were pictures that she had carefully taken in order to make herself look as good as possible. What if in real life she wasn’t able to look this good? What if, in real, life, she looked a great deal less good and he thought that she had deceived him in some way? She did not know how she would be able to deal with the fact that Michael was not attracted to her.

She was also afraid of him realizing that she was not as much fun to talk to in person. She was not nearly as talkative in person. Indeed, she was not usually this talkative over the phone either because so many people had made her self conscious by telling her that she talked too much. Michael made her feel so comfortable that she did not feel the need to censor herself. She did not feel the need to make herself into someone else in order to appease him or make him happy. However, at the same time, she couldn’t help but think that in person this might not work as well as it did over the phone. In person, she might just end up feeling self conscious and exposed because he was right there in front of her, he could see her without any filters, the true her that so many people before him had rejected.

She did not want to risk it. It was safer over the phone. It was safer to hide behind this veneer, this veil, the phone was all she needed in order to make him like her and she was afraid of taking even the smallest of steps forward. No, this was all there was between them, she was alright with that. She could deal with that. She didn’t have to worry about anything else. She didn’t have to worry about what he would think of how she looked when all of their conversations took place over the phone.

Then, one fateful day, they spoke, and everything changed.

Michael called her. Chantal answered with a confident, “Hey!”

“Hey,” said Michael. He was smiling as he spoke. Chantal could tell by the way his voice sounded. She loved it when he spoke like that, loved it when he made her feel so special by changing his voice by smiling. He probably didn’t even realize that he did it. He probably didn’t even realize how he made her feel by doing something that came naturally to him, something that he didn’t even know that he was doing.

“So I was wondering,” said Michael, “we’ve been doing this for a couple of weeks now. That’s a pretty long time, don’t you think?”

“It is,” said Chantal. “a pretty long time indeed. I’ve enjoyed every moment of it.”

“Me too,” said Michael. “I have honestly never connected with anyone as much as I have connected with you, and I swear I’m not just saying that. I mean every single word.”

Chantal flushed with pleasure. She honestly did not know what to say. The fact that someone like Michael, someone that she admired and liked so much could feel this way about her, this was beyond her wildest dreams. She really liked the fact that he was saying it too, she really liked that he was so confident with his affection.

For so long, Chantal had started to put a lid on how affectionate she was with people because she did not want to weird them out. She did not want them to think that she was some kind of clingy weirdo. She didn’t want them to think that she was some kind of oddity that did not know how to respect people’s personal space. Michael was different. He was the one that initiated the affection. He didn’t wait for her to give it, if he felt it he gave it himself. She really appreciate this about him.

“Thank you so much,” said Chantal. “For saying that I mean. I would never have had the guts to say that, I would have been too afraid that you might not feel the same way.”

“Well, now you know I do,” said Michael. “Now you know. I wanted to ask you… would you like to have dinner with me?”

“What?” said Chantal. She was completely taken aback. She had not been expecting this at all. She didn’t think that she could feel so nervous. “Are you asking me out?”

“Yes,” said Michael. “I mean, why not, right? You’re such an amazing person. You’re interesting and funny and so utterly beautiful. I want to go out with you. No pressure, we’ll just hang out and see where it goes okay?”

“Oh,” said Chantal. “I… I’m not really supposed to date customers or clients.”

“Oh,” said Michael. “I’m sorry… I wasn’t aware of that. So you can’t go out to dinner with me then, I’m guessing.”

Chantal was silent for a moment. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to feel. “No,” said Chantal, “just let me think about it and get back to you, alright?”

“Alright,” said Michael. “Take your time, there’s no rush or pressure. You don’t have to say yes anytime soon. You don’t have to respond at all if you don’t want to. Just let me know that you don’t want to discuss it again and I will never mention anything of this sort ever again. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I just wanted this and I’m the type of person that goes out and gets what he wants.”