the riders: war, pt. 1

War was a quiet girl, actually. Neither loud nor particularly violent, or even argumentative. She just had this unshakeable conviction and this quiet sort of confidence, and it was hard not to admire that sort of thing. The first time I really talked to her outside of work, I took her to a nice Italian place outside of town, and we ate too much and we drank Merlot and she asked me questions that I figured were innocuous. She probably knew the answers already, and here I've already forgotten the questions.

I didn't think of it as flattery when she spent the night, in that quiet, certain way she had, telling me how much she admired my research and was so happy she got to work with me. When she said something she had a way of making it seem like fact. And we retired back to my place for a nightcap, and she was halfway through her gin and tonic when she finally got the nerve to ask if I wanted to work with her on this idea she had.

I was hesitant to commit to anything outside of work, but she went on to explain. It was possibly the best idea I had ever heard, something I put up to the alcohol at the time. Still, I agreed to work on it. If we pulled this off we'd be rich for the rest of our lives.