The Sound Of Love

“My feelings were hurt,” said Chantal, “but we’ve already established that I’m not the kind of person that complains a lot. I just figured that he was probably sad or depressed or angry. I felt sorry for him, to be honest, I felt like he probably deserves all of the help that he can possibly get. I just decided to move on, you know? What’s the point of dwelling on it. What happened, happened. I reported his number, I did all that I could have done in that situation. Apart from that there was really nothing left to do, so I just decided to move on and improve my mood. Ate some ice cream, watched a funny movie, and got back to work. I was really looking forward to tonight too so I didn’t want this to spoil my mood tonight either.”

Michael smiled and said, “I was really looking forward to tonight too. I didn’t think you’d look this stunning, I feel under-dressed!”

Chantal chuckled and said, “You’re not under-dressed at all, don’t be silly. You look really good. I have never seen anyone look this good before, in fact!”

“You are too kind,” said Michael. “I was a little worried about how I would look, if I’m being very honest. I wanted to look good for you, I wanted you to look at me and be happy that I put this much effort into looking good for you.”

Chantal was surprised. She hadn’t thought that Michael would want to put so much effort into looking good for her. He was such a naturally good looking man and she… well, she was just Chantal. She was overweight and not pretty like other beautiful girls. She was proud of how she looked but in front of Michael she felt a little self conscious.

It was not that he made her feel self conscious in any way. It was just that he was the kind of guy that she wanted to look good for. She didn’t feel like she was pretty enough, and she had not felt this way in a very long time. She was afraid that he might not like how she looked. He had told her that she looked beautiful, though. That was really important. He had told her, and in telling her he had made her feel like her efforts to look good for him had been completely successful.

He had also told her that he had been nervous too. This made her feel a lot better about the situation. She had never felt so confident in herself. She was still a little self conscious but the fact that he liked how she looked and had put effort into looking good for her, indeed the fact that he had thought at all about putting any effort into looking good in the first place, made her feel like she was worthy of his attention. She was really enjoying herself. She was glad that they were able to hit it off so well in real life, just like they were able to hit it off over the phone.

They got to the restaurant and sat down at an excellent table. It was an extremely fancy place, one of the fanciest places that Chantal had ever seen. She had never been to a restaurant that was this high end. Indeed, she had never thought that she would get the chance because she had never thought that she would have enough money to go to a place like this. She knew that Michael was going to pay for their meal right now, but before meeting him she had never been comfortable with allowing anyone to pay for her food. She just didn’t like the idea of that, it made her feel almost like she was taking advantage of that person in some way.

“So,” said Michael. “Shall we order wine?”

“I’d love some,” said Chantal. “What wine would you like to drink?”

“Hmm,” said Michael, mulling the thought over in his head. “I think a red wine would suit tonight. I think I know just the wine for the occasion.”

Michael called the waiter over and order a 1972 Chateaux Sauvignon. Chantal wondered what was so special about this wine, and almost as if he had read her mind Michael started telling her all about it.

“It’s an old wine,” said Michael, “so it’s strong, but it has a fruity aroma to it. I think it reminds me a lot of you. It’s sweet but strong, it is not a flimsy wine. The sweetness is not added artificially to hide the taste, it exists in the wine on its own. The sweetness is as intrinsic a part of the wine’s identity as the strength. I think that’s what you are like. You are a gentle person, a loving person, but this is not because you are trying to be that way. It’s not because you are weak at all, even though most people that are gentle are so because they are weak in some way. No, you are strong, incredibly so, your strength is a part of you but so is your gentleness. You would never speak about anyone in a negative manner, you would never make anyone feel like what they are doing is wrong in any way. This wine is you, Chantal.”

When the wine arrived and the waiter poured it into the glass, Michael raised it and said, “To you, Chantal.”

They drank the wine. Chantal was honestly speechless. She was not at all used to men speaking about her in this manner. Indeed, she was more used to men that just wanted her for her body, or ignored her for that very same body. She loved how Michael saw her as an actual person rather than somebody that he could have s*x with. This made her feel even more attracted to him. This made her feel like everything that they were doing was right, it was exactly what was supposed to happen.

The wine was absolutely delicious. It was sweet but this did not mask the strength of the alcohol. It flowed through her and made her calm and confident. Chantal realized that she really liked wine. She had never really had good wine before, she had had the cheapest varieties because she had never really been able to afford really good ones. She had never really been able to afford the kind of wine that she was drinking right now with Michael.

“I’m really glad I’m here,” said Chantal. “I’m really glad that I’m able to exist in this moment with you, Michael. I mean, it’s the first time I’ve met you and I feel so comfortable. I feel so confident. I’ve never really felt this way before.”

“Honestly,” said Michael, “due to a bad previous experience I thought that I might never be able to feel happy again. I felt like I had lost my chance, that I would somehow spend the rest of my life without feeling even the smallest iota of joy. Yet, here I am, with you, drinking this amazing wine, and I am utterly joyful. Isn’t it good to be joyful, Chantal? Isn’t it good to feel like everything in the world is going according to plan, and in this great and divine plan you are meant to be happy?”