Rafael & MirnaA date.
A checkpoint.
A very relieved driver.
Rafael had his father’s car.
Mirna had her doubts about the ocean.
Rafael picked Mirna up for their first date in his father’s car. He was taking her to the beach. He did not have a driver’s license.
That last detail would become important on the way home.
A friend of Mirna’s had introduced them, and at first she seemed very shy. When Rafael spoke to her, she didn’t meet his eyes. But eye contact was not the only way to find out whether she was interested. He asked for her number and whether she would like to walk on the beach with him.
She said yes.
At the beach, Mirna disclosed a difficulty with the destination: she was afraid of the ocean. Rafael’s relationship with it was considerably more enthusiastic. He told her he used to surf, and that he liked diving and swimming in the sea. An impressive aquatic résumé, offered to a woman who feared the water.
Mirna didn’t believe him.
On the way home, they encountered something that made both of them nervous: a DUI checkpoint. Rafael was driving his father’s car without a license, with Mirna beside him on their first date. They were stopped and asked where they were going.
They said they were going to dinner.
That was all they were asked. They were allowed to continue without any trouble, and Rafael let out a shout of joy and nerves. The alarm they had shared became something they could laugh about later. His relief was rather more immediate.
A police car also figures in the story of their first kiss. It was in front of them, and Mirna became very nervous. The two of them laughed.
But the police weren’t the only reason that kiss would be remembered with laughter. When Rafael tried to kiss her for the first time, he asked her to be his girlfriend. The question itself made her laugh—and she said yes.
Then there was the gesture that made being a couple feel real: Rafael took her hand so they could walk together. The beginning had involved a woman who wouldn’t meet his eyes, an ocean she feared, and a very anxious drive. Here was something simpler. They were holding hands, going together.
Later, Rafael took Mirna to a sushi restaurant for the first time. She said she didn’t like sushi. In fact, she had never tried it—an objection lodged well ahead of the evidence.
It did not survive the first bite. She loved it, and from that day on sushi became one of her favorite foods. Whatever doubts she had about Rafael’s ocean credentials, this introduction worked out beautifully.
At home, Rafael is less eager to advertise his abilities. Mirna cleans while he watches without helping, and she gives him a hard time about it. She gets mad; he keeps explaining that he is bad at cleaning. He appears to regard this as a defense.
On another subject, his confidence remains undiminished. One of the bits of nonsense he offers to make Mirna smile is the announcement that he is very handsome.
She has an answer for that, too: to her, yes, he is.