Daphne

(3) Trust and Respect

Daphne left her last Friday morning class early and made a bee-line to the region of the Mall where she'd met Leo the week before. Arriving just after 11:00AM, she paced back and forth, scanning as far as she could see. Just before noon she spotted him. She never thought she'd be relieved to see Leo again, but she was, having been seduced by her demons several times since arriving. He was chatting with another girl, an attractive brunette. She appeared to laugh. She shook her head and then laughed some more as she left.

She watched Leo scan the field as she approached him, and then he saw her. Daphne wasn't merely walking in his general direction; her eyes were locked on him and his on her. He glanced at his wristwatch then looked back at her and smiled; it was clear that this rendezvous was no accident, although he couldn't know that she'd skipped a class to be as sure as possible to meet him.

"Hi, Leo!"

"Hi, yourself. I never did get your name..."

Daphne smiled inwardly. That's right, you didn't. "I saw you strike out just now."

"Can't win 'em all. Tell me, why are you here?"

"Let's just say that I could be persuaded to get back in the batter's box if there's another triple-mocha in it for me. I might even be willing to swing at a pitch if it looks good enough..."

"Miss, talking with you is expensive." Leo motioned towards the cafe.

Leo sat across the table from Daphne. She wasn't drinking her Triple Mocha; she just looked at it, rotated the cup a quarter-turn, looked at it some more, and spun it again...

Daphne hoped that it wasn't too obvious that she sought him out because she wanted to say yes. But she needed some answers... She finally broke the silence. "You planted a seed in my head last week." She sucked on the straw. "A damned weed!"

She sighed. "You were right, I thought about all that stuff before, I used to have those dreams maybe once or twice a year, but since talking with you they're popping up like dandelions now and I can't root them out. Over and over, every day and every night!" She looked up at him. "You've ruined my life! How did you do that?"

"I didn't plant that seed," Leo responded. "You said it yourself: it was already there. You planted it yourself, years ago. I didn't cultivate it or fertilize it or nurture it in any way either. You kept it alive and it blossomed into your own vivid fantasy. You could say that I merely offered to help you harvest it; that we could make it real if you wanted to actually experience it. I think that a part of you is so interested, so desperate to 'harvest' your fantasy that it won't let you 'get it out of your mind.'"

She looked up at him. "If I did what you want – and I'm not saying I will – I'd be putting myself completely in your hands, but I don't know you."

"Don't you mean 'if I helped you do what you want?'" Leo interjected.

Daphne blushed, then gulped. It was what she wanted...

"But, it's exactly like you said. You don't know me. I'm a total stranger and you'd be crazy to trust me very much at all. And you'd have to be really crazy to strip for me, publicly or not!"

Leo paused. "You know, that's the only thing I could possibly say that you will believe without a second thought. There's nothing else I can say. But you already know all that, don't you?"

Daphne looked back, a little sadness in her eyes. She'd wanted an excuse to do it, but he wasn't offering one. She nodded.

"But in another sense you already trust me more than anyone else you know."