J E F F R E Y BROOKS
xx
Jeffrey couldn’t help but smile at the way the people who worked at the place were acting. He figured Eve must come here pretty often for them to be so familiar with her.
When she asked if she could call him Jeff, he nodded, and she went on talking before he could even get the words “yeah, everyone does” out of his mouth. He was a little surprised that she was letting him see her sketchbook just like that. She either didn’t mind who saw her art, or he was just used to particularly shy artists. He looked at the cover for a minute, a little conflicted at the eves don’t open directive; but he figured that since she handed it to him, she likely didn’t mind if he flipped through it. “I like your drawings… Or, uh, art?” He never knew how to properly refer to the things creative people made. It was always either “these aren’t drawings, Jeff,” or “man, these are just doodles,” but the truth was that he loved seeing the things other people made. He wasn’t the most creative person out there, so it blew him away to see how people could do things like that.
When a man brought out their food, he handed the sketchbook back to Eve. There was a little more teasing about them being on a date, but Jeff just smiled and thanked the man before he walked away. Then he turned to Eve, “Not to pry, but I’m a little curious about the whole Lida thing. You know, these guys are calling you Lida, it was on your sketchbook,” He pointed out the name tag still pinned to her shirt, “And the name tag.” He looked at his food, trying to decide on the best first bite to try as Eve removed her name tag and put it away. He nodded at her explanation, “No, don’t apologise. I was just curious.” He thought Lida was a nice name, but she didn’t seem to like it, so he didn’t say anything. She’d probably think he was just trying to be nice, anyway.
When Eve asked Jeffrey about himself, a look of panic crossed his face for a split second. How was he supposed to talk about himself without making himself look like the most boring person on the planet? In the end, he figured that there was no use trying to act like he was more exciting than he really was. “I, uh, I’m in college right now. Studying physics. So I spend most of my free time studying. I don’t mind it though, I like math and science. And all that... Stuff.” He shrugged, “Though, I really love stargazing. Back home, I used to make star charts. You know, map them out and everything.” He gestured up towards the sky, “New York’s not always the best for that, though.” He smiled, “My grandparents live way out in the middle of nowhere, back in Indiana, the stars are so beautiful there. I fell in love with space then. I used to want to be an astronaut, but,” He paused to laugh, “Now I think that’s a little unrealistic.”
He cleared his throat, he’d talked too much about space. “I like bikes, too. Always wear a helmet.” That was worse, somehow. He quickly took a bite of his food as a way to force himself to shut up. When he finished the food in his mouth, he said, “I like this,” Pointing down to the remainder of his food, “Good choice.”
Jeffrey couldn’t help but smile at the way the people who worked at the place were acting. He figured Eve must come here pretty often for them to be so familiar with her.
When she asked if she could call him Jeff, he nodded, and she went on talking before he could even get the words “yeah, everyone does” out of his mouth. He was a little surprised that she was letting him see her sketchbook just like that. She either didn’t mind who saw her art, or he was just used to particularly shy artists. He looked at the cover for a minute, a little conflicted at the eves don’t open directive; but he figured that since she handed it to him, she likely didn’t mind if he flipped through it. “I like your drawings… Or, uh, art?” He never knew how to properly refer to the things creative people made. It was always either “these aren’t drawings, Jeff,” or “man, these are just doodles,” but the truth was that he loved seeing the things other people made. He wasn’t the most creative person out there, so it blew him away to see how people could do things like that.
When a man brought out their food, he handed the sketchbook back to Eve. There was a little more teasing about them being on a date, but Jeff just smiled and thanked the man before he walked away. Then he turned to Eve, “Not to pry, but I’m a little curious about the whole Lida thing. You know, these guys are calling you Lida, it was on your sketchbook,” He pointed out the name tag still pinned to her shirt, “And the name tag.” He looked at his food, trying to decide on the best first bite to try as Eve removed her name tag and put it away. He nodded at her explanation, “No, don’t apologise. I was just curious.” He thought Lida was a nice name, but she didn’t seem to like it, so he didn’t say anything. She’d probably think he was just trying to be nice, anyway.
When Eve asked Jeffrey about himself, a look of panic crossed his face for a split second. How was he supposed to talk about himself without making himself look like the most boring person on the planet? In the end, he figured that there was no use trying to act like he was more exciting than he really was. “I, uh, I’m in college right now. Studying physics. So I spend most of my free time studying. I don’t mind it though, I like math and science. And all that... Stuff.” He shrugged, “Though, I really love stargazing. Back home, I used to make star charts. You know, map them out and everything.” He gestured up towards the sky, “New York’s not always the best for that, though.” He smiled, “My grandparents live way out in the middle of nowhere, back in Indiana, the stars are so beautiful there. I fell in love with space then. I used to want to be an astronaut, but,” He paused to laugh, “Now I think that’s a little unrealistic.”
He cleared his throat, he’d talked too much about space. “I like bikes, too. Always wear a helmet.” That was worse, somehow. He quickly took a bite of his food as a way to force himself to shut up. When he finished the food in his mouth, he said, “I like this,” Pointing down to the remainder of his food, “Good choice.”