I was ten minutes late getting to the coffee shop on Venice to meet Brandon. Lucky for me, he's consistently fifteen minutes late every time we link up.
BRANDON: Sorry, Gia. I lost track of time at the gym and then traffic was crazy on the way here and-
ME: Brandon, relax. It's ok. I got you a Cafe Latte non-fat w/ Splenda.
BRANDON: You know me well.
ME: Yes I do.
BRANDON: So how's the new job?
ME: It's fantastic! I'm flying to New York in 2 days to do a fitness segment on Good Morning America.
BRANDON: G! That's fantastic. Wow! A few months ago, I thought I was going to have to commit you and now-you're a star.
ME: I wasn't THAT bad.
BRANDON: I'm really proud of you.
ME: How are things with you?
BRANDON: Couldn't be better. My contract with "Generations of Bold Children" got picked up for a year. I'm officially a soap opera star.
ME: Suddenly, the world all makes sense.
BRANDON: Not exactly my dream acting gig, but it's a hell of a lot better than slinging drinks at Birds.
ME: Plus you get to make out with hot actresses all day long.
BRANDON: Bonus.
ME: What's your girlfriend think about all this?
BRANDON: My lady? She's cool. Now I can actually afford a ticket to New York to see her more than once a year.
ME: I don't know how you two lovebirds do it. Long distance for 2 years?!
BRANDON: It's definitely not easy.
ME: Why don't you just marry her and BE together.
BRANDON: She's got her job in New York with the consulting firm making SICK money. There's no way I could ask her to give that up.
ME: And I don't really picture you singing and skipping across a Broadway stage.
BRANDON: Uh, no.
ME: So do you notice anything different about me?
BRANDON: Your hair?
ME: No.
BRANDON: Hmmm...there's a little sparkle in your eye. You got laid!
ME: Bingo!
BRANDON: Who's the lucky guy?
ME: Well, I don't want to say much because I don't want to jinx it. But we've been seeing each other for about 6 weeks now and it's pretty intense.
BRANDON: Holy shit. Giovanna has broken her celibacy vow.
ME: It wasn't a VOW per se. I was just waiting for the right guy and the right moment.
BRANDON: Well good luck. So when are you going to see him again?
ME: Tonight.
A few hours later, I was waiting anxiously at my apartment for Tyson to show up with the goods. As I checked my cell phone for the tenth time, I heard a knock at the door.
TYSON: You look HOT!
ME: Thanks. Come on in.
Tyson plopped down on the couch and picked up the remote. I sat down next to him excitedly.
ME: So???
TYSON: I got it. Don't you trust me?
ME: That is yet to be determined. Let's see it!
He pulled a small baggie out of his pocket and dangled it in front of me.
TYSON: My boy, Mike told me this is the best stuff. Pure MDMA.
ME: So what's the plan?
TYSON: I'm thinking we drop it here, wait about 30 minutes until the sun is about to set, then head down to the beach.
ME: Great idea.
About 45 minutes later, sitting with Tyson on the balcony, I started to recognize the familiar signs. My hands began to sweat. The color of the palm trees suddenly seemed to glow a brilliant green, and they waved in slow motion as if saying "Hello, Giovanna. Look how beautiful we are."
I took a deep, slow breath and felt my heart pumping rapidly inside my chest. Then a wave of emotion passed over me. Suddenly, their was a moist feeling between my legs. I looked at Tyson.
TYSON: You feeling it?
ME: Yup.
TYSON: You ok?
ME: I feel amazing.
TYSON: Good. Let's head to the beach.As we drove along Venice Blvd, I leaned my head against the car window and let my hand dance in the wind rushing by. I could hear everything so clearly-little children laughing, birds chirping, and I swear I could even hear the flowers blooming. They all combined to create an orchestra of sounds that tickled my ears.
We parked the car in the lot and I immediately dashed towards the water. Putting my feet into the sand felt like a mini-orgasm. I bent down to touch it and let it run through my finger tips.
ME: Do you FEEL that?
Tyson walked up behind me smiling and tousled my hair.
TYSON: Feels good, huh?
He took my hand and we walked down to the water's edge. At some point, we must have kicked off our shoes because when I looked down, both of our feet were bare and the cold, salty water was creating a pooling around our toes. Tyson suddenly scooped me up and chased the tide as it headed back out towards the skyline. I screamed with delight and begged him not to throw me into the water.
A few moments later, we were laying on our backs in the dry sand staring up at the sky. It was streaked with lines of blue, purple, orange, and red.
ME: Do you think God considers himself a painter?
TYSON: I don't know if there is a God.
I rolled over onto my side and leaned on his chest.
ME: You don't know if there's a God?! How can you look at that and not feel the presence of God?
TYSON: How do you know God's a guy? If there is a God, I think she's a woman. That's the only way to explain natural disasters. God's on her period and feeling moody for no apparent reason.
ME: Oh PLEASE!
TYSON: It's the only explanation for why everything is lunar and cyclical.
ME: Do you want to have kids?
TYSON: How'd we end up here?
ME: I don't know. It just popped into my head.
TYSON: I don't know if I'd make a good dad. I'm really selfish.
ME: Isn't it natural to want to leave a piece of yourself here? So when you're gone, there's a part of you that will live on.
TYSON: This world is really messed up. I'm not sure I'd want to bring a kid into all of this.
ME: Well I do. I think I'd make a great mom.
TYSON: I was talking to my roommate, Terri about kids and she said if everyone who wanted to have a child adopted one first, there would be no more orphanages or foster kids.
ME: That's very noble of her.
TYSON: Most animals just come together to mate, then they move on.
ME: Are you comparing humans to all the other beasts of nature?
TYSON: I mean, if you think about it, it makes sense. Man and woman stay together long enough to create their progeny, then once the child has survived the first few years of life, they go their own separate ways.
ME: What about love?
TYSON: What about it?
ME: Don't you believe that two human beings can connect so deeply that they want to be together forever?
TYSON: Combined, my parents have been married a total of six times. My dad has 7 kids by 5 different women.
ME: He was a rolling stone.
TYSON: Speaking of rolling, this E has me wanting to move.
I looked back towards the line of bars and clubs on Washington.
ME: I hear some music coming from that way...
TYSON: Let's go!
