We went to some Asian-Fusion place in the East Village. I remember leaning across the votive candles to speak in a hushed voice as I unwound the story of my recent heartbreak. Kris has a certain perspective that is at once tender, amused, and piercingly direct. He was a serious and empathetic listener. I told him everything- my bad behavior, my darkest secrets. Kris has a way of listening.
After dinner we walked to Veniro , a brightly-lit Italian bakery where we sampled tiny pastries and bought two cannolis, which we dropped in the trash after one bite. Too sweet! All of this was new to me. I was a legitimate small-town girl, I had not been processing city life well. The following weekend, Kris took me to SoHo to go clothes shopping. We spent the entire day trying on vinyl skirts and low-rise jeans and I went home with a completely new look.
What followed was several months of what I now think of as stealth-dating. Kris would take me dancing, and then Veselka for a 3 a. We often shopped, we dined, and we explored the city. Like a magician pulling diamonds from a silk hat, Kris showed me a new adventure every week.
We took to haunting coffee shops, where he spent hours reading and I spent hours writing. Occasionally he would interrupt me to show me a passage in his book that he particularly liked. Occasionally I would interrupt him for a quick edit on tough paragraph. We sent each other poems we loved in a frenzy of workplace instant-messaging. Through it all, I assumed we were only friends.
One Saturday morning after Kris and I had been an established couple for some time, we had brunch with our friend, James. James was excited about an upcoming first date, and Kris was offering him advice. If you do, you might be tempted to kiss her. You want to leave everything ambiguous as long as possible. Previous Next. On the first day we met, Kris took me on the best date of my life. I didn't know it was a date. In the space of a single day, Kris made himself my safe place in The City.
