at her when she passed them by, or when they passed her by. Every Thursday they had brunch at their favorite café on Plaza and every Thursday Ariana watched how men nearly tripped over their feet trying to get a better look at the woman.
“You are so in denial,” she finally said. “You’re gorgeous. Men notice you; trust me on that. They just keep going because you never give them the impression that you’re interested in having them notice you. The ones who approach you and keep bugging you, the type you don’t want, are the ones who aren’t waiting for a sign that you’re interested and aren’t quick to leave once they find out you’re not.”
“Yes oh wise one,” she put the palms of her hands together in front of her chest and bowed her head. Ariana laughed.
“You’re young still. You’ll find the right man. But first you must find your confidence in yourself. I see it in you when you dance. I see it in you when you speak at conferences for your profession. I see it in you when I look at the woman who won a research grant away from older men with far more acceptable years in the field listed on their resume.”
“Yeah, but I have been studying the heavens with my father since I was a little girl. I was two and he would take me out to Anini Bay Beach Park or up into the Na Pali cliffs to study the stars. My mom worked with the observation of the rainforest…that’s how they met actually, but I already told you about that. My point is I’m comfortable and confident with my career because I have technically been training for it since I was two years old. I know more than a lot of these guys who didn’t start studying about the stars until they got their first telescope at the age of twelve. I had an expert teaching me about the stars and an expert teaching me about the rainforest and the earth.”
“True and you have an expert teaching you about dance.” She reminded her.
“I know, but I haven’t been doing it as long. Maybe in another twenty years I’ll feel like a pro.”
“Well I would suggest you feel like a pro by Friday night,” she laughed. “You always feel the music when you dance. That’s not something I can teach it’s something you’re born with. Embrace it.”
She fell onto her back on the fainting couch in a mock over dramatic fainting move with the classic damsel meets diva fainting spell yell. Ariana laughed. “Don’t dramatize it silly.”
Zahara laughed as she sat up. “I’m going to try to rock it out. I have a great costume. I have a great song to dance to. I’m mostly improvising so if I mess up I’ll just keep going like you always tell us to. That’s the great thing about the solo and not the group. If I mess up on a group routine then everybody knows.”
“So true,” she nodded. “So, how are you really doing with being back in Texas? I know you have been here for a little while but you seem to miss Alaska sometimes.”
She shrugged. “I love Hawaii and would have moved back there if I could have gotten on at the university. Alaska was okay. It wasn’t horrible. The sky is beautiful to watch, but it’s cold.” She put the emphasis on cold. “I guess what I miss is that it’s so far away from here.”
“You were never happy here were you?”
“I was. I mean when my dad told us we were all moving to Texas I nearly had a stroke. I was twelve, had the best friends, was living in the best place in the world, and he wanted to move to Texas. Why? But then I got here and on my first day of school I met somebody great. I found out that I liked boys in ways I never thought I’d like them. I met a nice girl and she got the guy. That was killer because I was right there in front of him and he chose her. They started dating our junior year of high school when I had been in love with him since I was twelve. They dated all the way through high school and pretty much was on the fast track to marriage. I
“You are so in denial,” she finally said. “You’re gorgeous. Men notice you; trust me on that. They just keep going because you never give them the impression that you’re interested in having them notice you. The ones who approach you and keep bugging you, the type you don’t want, are the ones who aren’t waiting for a sign that you’re interested and aren’t quick to leave once they find out you’re not.”
“Yes oh wise one,” she put the palms of her hands together in front of her chest and bowed her head. Ariana laughed.
“You’re young still. You’ll find the right man. But first you must find your confidence in yourself. I see it in you when you dance. I see it in you when you speak at conferences for your profession. I see it in you when I look at the woman who won a research grant away from older men with far more acceptable years in the field listed on their resume.”
“Yeah, but I have been studying the heavens with my father since I was a little girl. I was two and he would take me out to Anini Bay Beach Park or up into the Na Pali cliffs to study the stars. My mom worked with the observation of the rainforest…that’s how they met actually, but I already told you about that. My point is I’m comfortable and confident with my career because I have technically been training for it since I was two years old. I know more than a lot of these guys who didn’t start studying about the stars until they got their first telescope at the age of twelve. I had an expert teaching me about the stars and an expert teaching me about the rainforest and the earth.”
“True and you have an expert teaching you about dance.” She reminded her.
“I know, but I haven’t been doing it as long. Maybe in another twenty years I’ll feel like a pro.”
“Well I would suggest you feel like a pro by Friday night,” she laughed. “You always feel the music when you dance. That’s not something I can teach it’s something you’re born with. Embrace it.”
She fell onto her back on the fainting couch in a mock over dramatic fainting move with the classic damsel meets diva fainting spell yell. Ariana laughed. “Don’t dramatize it silly.”
Zahara laughed as she sat up. “I’m going to try to rock it out. I have a great costume. I have a great song to dance to. I’m mostly improvising so if I mess up I’ll just keep going like you always tell us to. That’s the great thing about the solo and not the group. If I mess up on a group routine then everybody knows.”
“So true,” she nodded. “So, how are you really doing with being back in Texas? I know you have been here for a little while but you seem to miss Alaska sometimes.”
She shrugged. “I love Hawaii and would have moved back there if I could have gotten on at the university. Alaska was okay. It wasn’t horrible. The sky is beautiful to watch, but it’s cold.” She put the emphasis on cold. “I guess what I miss is that it’s so far away from here.”
“You were never happy here were you?”
“I was. I mean when my dad told us we were all moving to Texas I nearly had a stroke. I was twelve, had the best friends, was living in the best place in the world, and he wanted to move to Texas. Why? But then I got here and on my first day of school I met somebody great. I found out that I liked boys in ways I never thought I’d like them. I met a nice girl and she got the guy. That was killer because I was right there in front of him and he chose her. They started dating our junior year of high school when I had been in love with him since I was twelve. They dated all the way through high school and pretty much was on the fast track to marriage. I
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