Leto - part 5

By the time the second course meal reached our table, I had already heard about Leto’s entire family tree, his school antics, the teachers that hated him and the girls that he used to drive crazy but he quickly changed the focus from that topic. I used that as my cue to start searching him for answers.  “Leto!” I called out to him. “Why am I really here?” I asked. “Well to eat.” he said. “I could be eating at Res, why did you ask me out to eat with you?” I further asked. “Well we’ve known each other for a while, so I thought why not go out to eat like normal friends.” He responded. ‘Friends!?’ I asked myself. Did he dine at romantic Italian restaurants with all his ‘friends’? I breathed in deeply and let out an abysmal sigh. “Leto, I do not think that you and I are just friends”. He put his fork down and gave me a surprised look. “What do you mean we are not just friends?” he asked. I felt an invisible rope sit around my neck but I continued. “Judging by your behavior around me, I cannot say that we are just friends. You text and call me in the middle of the night, you ask me profoundly personal questions, you talk and smile at me in a manner that you do not with anyone else, just look around Leto? We are in a romantic set-up, I wouldn’t do this for friends!” I felt the invisible rope tightening around my neck and I could hardly swallow my own spittle, but I continued. “Leto, all these months that all of this has been happening I have been busy developing feelings for you that are beyond friendship, and I would genuinely like to know if I am wasting my time or is there something genuinely developing between us”. He let out a nervous cackle and looked at me then started eating again. This time he was taking smaller portions into his mouth and chewing slowly as if he was buying some time. I was becoming impatient but my inner conversations kept me calm, so I continued eating at his pace, with each bite I was internally saying to him ‘I am not going anywhere until we finish this conversation.’ We both finally finished eating. “Should we order dessert?” he asked. “Only if you are ready to be completely honest with me,” I replied. He let out a huge sigh and asked, “If I choose to be truthful do you promise to understand?” I desperately wanted to know the truth therefore I said “Yes” even though I was uncertain that I would actually understand. We ordered our dessert and after the waiter had left Leto pulled his chair towards my right side. He now looked very serious and I began to worry.

To be continued…