PROMPTuesday #44: Character Sketch

Rather than hit "PUBLISH POST" lickety split, before my router breaks up with my modem again (or whatever it is that is causing me to lose my effing mind the internet disruptions), I'm taking this time to share my experiences.

I have been having heavy internet connection disruption (do they make a pill for that?) this week. And last week. I'm delighted (and so is my husband who's been within earshot of my cursing accusations whining efforts to fix the problem) that it seems to be working this morning. Connectivity is hit or miss around here, so if I'm still connected after posting this? I'll be over to read your blog. But if you don't see a comment from me, that means my connection is down again. But I won't let you down. Look out of your window. I'll put up a smoke signal.

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It is PROMPTuesday #44: Pastiche over at San Diego Momma.

Deb's prompt this week: Write a character sketch of someone you love (child, partner, pet, mentor, etc.). Detail this person, let us see him or her through your description. Maybe you want to “show” your loved one through action and movement, or perhaps you are viewing him or her in repose. Either way, get down to brass tacks and give us the one you love through your writing.


Character Sketch

It was day one of law school, way back in the early ‘90s. One hundred or so students in section three were crowded into Merrifield Hall. One by one were told to introduce ourselves, and say where we’d been to college. One by one everyone did. Some guy with an Electrical Engineering degree and an MBA from UCLA briefly caught my attention (because smart is hot, yo), but I couldn’t really see him from where I was sitting in the front row. I always sat in the front row.

Before law school started, I had been dating a guy, on and off, who was childless, the beneficiary of a not-large-enough-for-the-lifestyle-he-lived trust fund, and drove around town in a topless jeep with oversized tires. So, after him (someday I will write a post about the reason for that breakup because the aforementioned description was oddly not reason enough back then), I decided that I would not date childless guys any more (because that would fix everything). I thought that a guy with a child or two (two would be my limit), would get it better.

As the first year of law school progressed, I found out that the smart guy with the BSEE and MBA was hot-hot and smart, not just smart-hot.

And so I introduced the hot-hot, smart guy with the BSEE and MBA to one of my friends. They went on a date. But there weren’t really sparks between them. I guess. He later asked me why I set him up with my friend rather than go out with him myself. I told him that it was because I had two children. He looked at me with a partly amused, partly puzzled expression and said, “So?”

He asked me out.

I said no.

I told him I was flattered. I told him that if I were going to go out with someone, it would be him, but I was taking a break from dating. And I had my eye on the (childless) T.A. in Contracts (Not really.) (Sort of.) (But not really.)

The next day after our first class, he carried my books to our next class. And then he started showing up at the end of other classes to carry my books.

Law books are very heavy.

In the cafeteria, he’d get up from his table to carry my tray from the cash register to my table.

Cafeteria trays with a salad and Diet Coke are not heavy.

He started showing up in the library to study with me. And then one day, he asked me if I wanted to study with him that night at the law library at UCLA (we were Loyola students, but UCLA was closer to our homes at the time).

So we studied there. (Yes we did.) (No we didn’t.) (Yes we did.)

Then we fell in like, lust, love, got married, moved to San Diego, had Laura, and he adopted Kristen and Courtney.

The End