Chestnut. At least I think it’s chestnut; honestly I’m never good at guessing hair color.
Her feet are draped over the coffee table, but the rest of her body sits in comfort next to me on the couch. Weaving a hand through my arm, she pulls me towards her as she glides off to sleep. I stroke back a strand of hair that falls over her face and tuck it behind her ears. Maybe auburn? Isn’t that when there’s a little bit of red? I sorta see blonde too, but it’s more like a light brown in parts if anything.
I flick on the television and watch a few episodes of a show we both like. When I hear her start to snore, softly, that’s my cue to be able to get up without waking her. I sneak my arm out and lay her gently against the side-arm of the couch. What does amber look like? Is that too light? Maybe the light is just messing with my eyes again. I got up and made a snack in the kitchen for both of us: avocado and toast. It was funny, we fundamentally loved the same base, but there was a slight difference: we both liked it with salt, pepper, and a little lime juice. But I also loved chili flakes, a lot. After generously applying some to my half of the plate, I came back with some tea to accompany it before gently waking her.
“Noooo, just lemme sleep a litt…. Is that…”
“Mmhhm, and if you wanna wake up, I was thinking we could go out and get some pho after.”
Nutmeg? What the hell does that even look like? Dirty brown? Isn’t all brown dirty? My hair practically looks like the color of shit.
“Okay okay, lemme grab a shower first,” she said stretching her hands up high. Of course, I had to take the opportunity to tickle her armpits. She laughed and fell on top of me for a kiss before heading off to the bathroom. I started to get up before I saw her walking back to grab a bite of the snack I made. “Ooohh, perfect!” She said on the way back with half of it in her mouth. Right before shutting the door, I heard her make a weird grunt. “GOD DAMN IT,” and I guess some of the chiliflakes spilled over onto hers. I slide half a glass of almond milk to her so she doesn’t die from the heat, chuckling to myself. “You tricked me, again!”
“Okay, in my defense it was the same plate, and I was a little heavy handed. My bad haha,” I reply as I go over to the front door to get my shoes.
I leash up her dog, and we went out for a quick walk. Pine? No… pine is always green, even though it has nothing to do with the trunk and more so with the spur-esk leaves. Furs… I dunno, I’m not an arborist.
“Aw shit, I forgot a bag. Dude… seriously, how is that even coming out of you? Jesus, maybe if I just kick some dirt over it… nope, now we’ve just got a dusty truffle bar. Aaannnnddd we’re walking, we’re walking, and we’re clear!”
I walked him around another block or so before heading back. As we rounded the corner, I heard a very distinct scream coming from up the block. Fuck.. I really don’t have time for that. “Come on, let’s get you inside.” I opened the door just as she was getting out and decided it could wait a little longer.
After dinner, we went to this jazz bar up the road to hear some music, maybe grab a drink. She sat down and I went up to say hey to our bartender. “How’s it going man!?” he tried to say over the crowd.
“Great! Just got back from dinner, mind hooking us up with the usuals!?”
“Sure, gimme like two minutes!” I nodded and turned back to the crowd. I didn’t see anyone too shysty I needed to worry about, thankfully. Looking back, I saw she found us a table in the corner, perfect. I caught her eye and made a face. She laughed and turned back to the band; god was she beautiful.
“Here ya go man!” He said, tapping me on the shoulder. I nodded, left some money, and thanked him before walking back. We hung out for a little while, the band was even alright for once. We kinda cuddled next to each other until I almost dozed off. I woke up to her gently shaking me.
“Wake up sleepy head, time to go haha.” I laughed, it was only a moment, but I always felt so calm next to her, a moment’s rest felt like an eternity. I loosened my tie and scratched the back of my head before getting up and following her out the door.
I parked just a few blocks over, but the cool night air was welcoming. She had her arm tucked through mine and into the sleeve of her sweater’s pocket. Walking at a leisurely pace, we had a chance to plot out some constellations, although both of us were sure the other was wrong about where Orion’s belt was located.
“I swear, it’s right… there!” I said pointing to it just above her head. She looked up and when her head tilted back down, I snuck in a kiss. “Okay, maybe I don’t know for sure. But I know I like kissing you, and am more than happy to make half-hazard guesses to sneak in a few more,” to which she smirked and shoved at me. I let her into the car before getting in and driving back to her place.
Several hours later, we laughed, we slept, we did other stuff, and slept some more. I think it was close to 7ish by the time I woke up. Even on days off, I had a rough time sleeping in. But I didn’t mind when I got to wake up next to her. With the window opened and the dim morning light resting on her face, I could not have been happier.
Sliding out of bed, I let her dog out before going into the kitchen to make some coffee. I remembered we still had some Nutella and bread from the other night, so I make us a snack as well. I heard the last few drips hitting the pot as the toast was done; perfection.
Coffee! No.. There’s like four-hundred ways to describe the color of that. Damn, I’m just not gonna guess this right. I woke her up gently with a pat on the butt and the smell of coffee in the air. She just smiled and pulled me back into bed with her. God she looked lovely in that morning light, just waking up. The coffee was cool by the time we left the sheets, but neither of us minded. It was a day I could be happy, and just wonder about the color of her hair.
