by Linda Ball
http:\/\/visiblewoman.blogspot.com
http:\/\/austintexasdailyphoto.blogspot.com
http:\/\/journalunintended.blogspot.com
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She waited, drinking what she always did in this lounge, a martini on the rocks. Extra olives for sustenance. She liked coming here because the seats were comfortable and the bartender knew what her \u2018usual\u2019 meant. And you could watch the folks on Sixth Street to entertain yourself. Which was good because she didn\u2019t have anything to read and her phone was low on juice. There was always some waiting when meeting Bryan. There were lots of people to watch. Bicycle cops. Riding on sidewalk. Bad example they\u2019re setting. Families piling out of SUVs to eat at the steakhouse. Buff bodies headed to Gold\u2019s next door and returning gleaming with sweat. A few transients. Young couples heading to East Sixth like there was something there of genuine interest. Suddenly there Bryan was in a purple shirt with a subtle pattern. He came in and caught her eye, knew she was looking at the shirt. He held up one foot, pointing. Purple wingtips, just complementing the outfit which, mercifully, included simple black pants.
\u201cGreat outfit. Where\u2019d you find those shoes?\u201d she said, getting up to give him a peck on the cheek.
\u201cWhy\u2026you want some?\u201d
\u201cMaybe in black!\u201d she said.
\u201cMen\u2019s shoes now?\u201d
She pointed to her shoes. Very nice leather tasseled loafers.
\u201cGuy in Nordstrom\u2019s convinced me he should order these in a Men\u2019s size 7 for me. After I groused about Cole Haan abandoning its casual line to the devil after merging with Nike. Never could wear Nike anything.\u201d
\u201cI just want to be left alone with what I wear, you know. I went through twelve grades of pubic school, four years of college and a couple of years of work before I could wear pants!\u201d she added, warming to the subject. Besides the loafers she was wearing a rather worn pants suit she\u2019d had custom-made years ago and a blouse that was, in fact, a man\u2019s shirt.
\u201cWell,\u201d he said, noting that a nerve had been struck, \u201cWomen have so many more choices today. Sure people are looking at my shoes, but if I\u2019d chosen a dress and put on some makeup\u2026.\u201d\u200b\u2028\u200b\u2028\u201cWould you like to?\u201d She probed.
\u201cNot really. But it isn\u2019t as accepted as your manly look.\u201d
But I have to resist the pressure to wear makeup! It\u2019s funny,\u201d she mused, \u201cHow important clothes are to us and how from a young age we crave wearing certain things. Regardless of sexual orientation, I think. We are almost always dressed and our clothes are our advertisements of ourselves, our defense, our second skin.\u201d \u201cYeah,\u201d he said, As a kid I wanted really bright colors and, if I\u2019m honest, sort of wanted some frills or a dress! Oh, not really a dress, but just, I don\u2019t know.\u201d Suddenly she remembered that Bryan had said he had something important to tell her.
\u201cBut what did you want to tell me?\u201d she said, just as the waitress appeared with the glass of white wine he\u2019d signaled her for on the way in. He waited, nodding at the waitress and thanking her. She was off to deliver more drinks across the room.
\u201cWell. Yes. Clayton and I are going to go our separate ways.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s not a question of fashion, is it?\u201d she said, trying to sound light-hearted but sympathetic. She hated it when friends she liked broke up. These two always had the greatest fashionable outfits. She liked them both so much.
\u201cNo,\u201d he smiled. \u201cNo, not fashion. Not sex. Just some other things that just won\u2019t mesh.\u201d
She wished it weren\u2019t so. But there is no talking people out of things. She reached in the inside pocket of her jacket and fished for the flyer for a charity event.
\u201cYou should come to this. It will be fun and I\u2019m one of the chairs. And Clayton will be out of town, I know.\u201d
Bryan scanned the brochure.
\u201cI may do it. What should I wear?\u201d He laughed. Laughter helps she thought. And purple shoes.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Excerpt From
Stories from the Crowd
Scott Ballew
This material may be protected by copyright.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Linda Ball http:\/\/visiblewoman.blogspot.comhttp:\/\/austintexasdailyphoto.blogspot.comhttp:\/\/journalunintended.blogspot.com She waited, drinking what she always did in this lounge, a martini on the rocks. Extra olives for sustenance. She liked coming here because the seats were comfortable and the bartender knew what her \u2018usual\u2019 meant. And you could watch the folks on Sixth Street to entertain yourself. Which was good because she didn\u2019t have anything to read and her phone was low on juice. There was always some waiting when meeting Bryan. There were lots of people to watch. Bicycle cops. Riding on sidewalk. Bad example they\u2019re setting. Families piling out of SUVs to eat at the steakhouse. Buff bodies headed to Gold\u2019s next door and returning gleaming with sweat. A few transients. Young couples heading to East Sixth like there was something there of genuine interest. Suddenly there Bryan was in a purple shirt with a subtle pattern. He came in and caught her eye, knew she was looking at the shirt. He held up one foot, pointing. Purple wingtips, just complementing the outfit which, mercifully, included simple black pants. \u201cGreat outfit. Where\u2019d you find those shoes?\u201d she said, getting up to give him a peck on the cheek.\u201cWhy\u2026you want some?\u201d\u201cMaybe in black!\u201d she said.\u201cMen\u2019s shoes now?\u201dShe pointed to her shoes. Very nice leather tasseled loafers.\u201cGuy in Nordstrom\u2019s convinced me he should order these in a Men\u2019s size 7 for me. After I groused about Cole Haan abandoning its casual line to the devil after merging with Nike. Never could wear Nike anything.\u201d\u201cI just want to be left alone with what I wear, you know. I went through twelve grades of pubic school, four years of college and a couple of years of work before I could wear pants!\u201d she added, warming to the subject. Besides the loafers she was wearing a rather worn pants suit she\u2019d had custom-made years ago and a blouse that was, in fact, a man\u2019s shirt.\u201cWell,\u201d he said, noting that a nerve had been struck, \u201cWomen have so many more choices today. Sure people are looking at my shoes, but if I\u2019d chosen a dress and put on some makeup\u2026.\u201d\u200b\u2028\u200b\u2028\u201cWould you like to?\u201d She probed.\u201cNot really. But it isn\u2019t as accepted as your manly look.\u201d But I have to resist the pressure to wear makeup! It\u2019s funny,\u201d she mused, \u201cHow important clothes are to us and how from a young age we crave wearing certain things. Regardless of sexual orientation, I think. We are almost always dressed and our clothes are our advertisements of ourselves, our defense, our second skin.\u201d \u201cYeah,\u201d he said, As a kid I wanted really bright colors and, if I\u2019m honest, sort of wanted some frills or a dress! Oh, not really a dress, but just, I don\u2019t know.\u201d Suddenly she remembered that Bryan had said he had something important to tell her. \u201cBut what did you want to tell me?\u201d she said, just as the waitress appeared with the glass of white wine he\u2019d signaled her for on the way in. He waited, nodding at the waitress and thanking her. She was off to deliver more drinks across the room.\u201cWell. Yes. Clayton and I are going to go our separate ways.\u201d\u201cIt\u2019s not a question of fashion, is it?\u201d she said, trying to sound light-hearted but sympathetic. She hated it when friends she liked broke up. These two always had the greatest fashionable outfits. She liked them both so much.\u201cNo,\u201d he smiled. \u201cNo, not fashion. Not sex. Just some other things that just won\u2019t mesh.\u201dShe wished it weren\u2019t so. But there is no talking people out of things. She reached in the inside pocket of her jacket and fished for the flyer for a charity event.\u201cYou should come to this. It will be fun and I\u2019m one of the chairs. And Clayton will be out of town, I know.\u201dBryan scanned the brochure.\u201cI may do it. What should I wear?\u201d He laughed. Laughter helps she thought. And purple shoes. Excerpt FromStories from the CrowdScott BallewThis material may be protected by copyright.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3610"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3612,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3610\/revisions\/3612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}