A New York Romance by Anna (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📕

rubbed them with his
gloved hands.
"There much better", then he gave me one of his famous smiles.
"Well, thank you Paul, much better now", he looked so good in his wool sweater, his scarf
and his coat.
"I got to go home and study, I do have an exam tomorrow"
"Yes finals, I know"
"It was nice to walk with you"
"Well, it was nice to have good company", he gave me a kiss on the cheek and waved goodbye.
"See you tomorrow", he say.
"Good luck Paul", I felt the weirdest creature in the planet, Paul Gardiner really seemed
to like me and that was really a surprise to me.

I guess life was not full of jerks after all, Paul Gardiner didn't seemed to be one of them,
I hoped that I was right because if he turned to be one of them my life would lose all hope.
As always I ate my food in front of the television, trying to convice myself that something
was going to change for me, that for once in my life something good can come to me. Next
morning I went into the library, I could see some of the girls staring at me with some of
the guys that had gone into the coffee shop that day, I felt looked at like a monkey in a
cage at the zoo, maybe they were Paul's friends and knew that he had walked with me after
his classes yesterday, I tried very hard not to look at them, probably they were wondering
what a guy like Paul was doing walking with a girl like me. When I finished my work I left
the library and walked outside, he was behind me.
"Kate", he called out.
"How was your exam?", I asked wanting to know.
"I think I pass, it wasn't that bad", I smile at him.
"Then we should celebrate with a nice warm cup of chocolate"
"Sounds good to me, is a really cold day, wow no gloves again"
"Sorry I keep forgeting them but you never leave your house without them"
"No, I don't, scarf and gloves are very important in cold weather", he pulled my scarf
a little bit higher.
"Don't cover my eyes", I laughed and he did too.
"Oh sorry, yes is too high", he pulled it down a bit.
"Now much better", I was beginning to see he liked me but then I remembered the girls and
guys in the library and the way they had looked at me.
"Why aren't you with your friends?", it was best to know the truth, I hope he could tell me.
"They are just people I know, not really my friends, I am kind of a loner, quiet type"
"Are you?" it was surprising.
"I do get along with people, get together with them sometimes but I love to be in my apartment
and enjoy a quiet evening, sometimes I go an visit my parents in Long Island but I don't like
going to parties too much.
"I can believe that a guy like you dosen't even have a girlfriend, you look like Robert
Redford, you know that, don't you?"
"Yes, I heard that comment many times and truly is more than looks to the man", he was
very serious.
"That is so true, handsome and intelligent, Paul I didn't mean to compare you with him,
I mean you do have his looks, that is all, but you are more than looks", he smile and
looked at me.
"I apologyse" he looked at me with one of those bright sunny smiles.
"Apology accepted, no harm intended, I do look like the man, what can I do?", he was
funny too, did I needed to do something special for him to really stay by my side. We
laughed like kids.
"Give me your hands, let me warm them up", once again he took my hands and placed them
in his blowing air.
"I bet they are much better"
"Yes Paul, thanks, lets go for that cup of chocolate", we walked towards the coffee shop,
once in there we ordered our chocolate and bought some vanilla muffins, we looked into
eachother's eyes.
"What are you doing tomorrow?", he asked as he took a bite of his vanilla muffin.
"I was just going to stay home"
"Would you like to go take a walk by the lake?"
"Up at the lake is always so nice this time of year, the blossoms are so beautiful each
spring"
"Yes they are, so is that a yes?"
"I guess is a yes"
"Should I go and pick you up?"
"I don't live very far from here", I took out a paper and wrote with a pen my address.
"You are right, you do live nearby, I would be there by eleven, is that alright?"
"Is alright with me?", he took my hand, he had taken his glove off inside the coffee shop,
I could feel his skin on mine, warm and soft.
"Kate you are... well, how should I say this, more than beautiful, incredibly warm and
bright, and I really like you", my heart was skipping a bit, Paul Gardiner, a soon lawyer
student graduate and Robert Redford look a like really did like me, I thought that every
thing was just a stupid dream and I was going to wake up with a headacke and a heart brake,
the usual in my life, one look at his blue eyes and I knew it was not a dream.
"You like me?", my mouth was opened in surprise.
"What is not to like, I wanted to get close to you for a long time, I just didn't have the
nerve till that day in the coffee shop", I couldn't believe my ears.
"I am sorry if I seem stupid to you Paul but is just that is very hard for me to believe that
a guy actually is interested in me, specially someone like you", his smile didn't faint, he
took my hand and squeeze it.
"Any guy would be lucky to get to know someone like you, believe me Kate", so here he was
side by side with me walking and telling me all this things that my ears had never heard
before.
"I'll pick you up at eleven, is that alright?"
"Yes, is alright Paul", he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Say you later then", he waved and I kept on walking, he was going to catch the bus.

I was ready when the door bell rang, I took peak in the door hole and saw it was Paul so
I opened up.
"Good morning, wow you look nice", I was just wearing a pair of jeans with a blue sweeter
and a nice matching wool cap, well, he looked handsome as he always did, it was actually
not that cold that morning it was in the sixties, Paul was wearing jeans, a white t shirt
tucked in his pants and a white long sleeve shirt hanging loose, he did look perfect.
"Thanks, you too", I had to make that comment.
"Are you ready?, the day is great for a stroll by the lake"
"Ready as can be", when we reached the side walk it was nice too see the beautiful day,
it was cool but nice and the trees were in bloom. We walked side by side making comments
about the things we saw along the way to the lake. We were there in fifteen minutes, the
park was big and it has beautiful trees all with tiny blooms, I breathed slowly.
"This is beautiful", he seemed so please with my comment.
"Yes, it is", he had the courage to take my hand, this time he was not wearing gloves,
I felt his touch on my skin, it was the smoothest of skins, I loved his gentle touch.
"Do you like baseball?", he asked me.
"Yes, I am not a huge fan, well, I was when I was little but afterwards being a girl
others things interested me more"
"I understand that, the reason why I ask you is because when season stars I sometimes
go to some games, I mean not all the time because I am in a budget, you know one has
expenses but I would love for you to go with me sometime", this guy was amazing, I
thought, here we were in a place where he could take advantage of me and he was just being
charming, defetnely I was dreaming, it had to be one of those fantastics dreams that
you don't want to wake up from, if it was a dream I didn't want to wake up.
"It sounds good to me"
"Really?", he seemed surprised still with my hand in his feeling a sweet tingling inside.
"Why not?, I truly like being with you" his blue eyes were flashing at me with laughter.
"You do?, he was more surprise each time.
"I do Paul, you are a different type of guy, you don't act like other guys", right then
and there he grabbed my face in his hands.
"You mean because I haven't kissed you?, not exactly what I had in mind, guys around me
acted like jerks, "I really do want to kiss you is just that I don't want you to think
I am taking advantage of us being here in this beautiful romantic place", we looked at
eachother's eyes for a moment, he was sincere, he didn't have agendas like the others
guys around the city, I liked that about Paul and yes inside of me I wished for a kiss,
and without even thinking he was actually going to do it he planted a kiss on my lips,
sweet and gentle with my face in his hands.
"I liked that very much", it came right out of my mouth the same way I thought about it.
"I am glad you did, I have plenty more", I had to laugh at that, we kept walking hand in
hand, stopping sometimes to kiss, it was very strange to me, all of it, here I was with
a handome guy that was not actually a jerk who had given me a great kiss, more than great,
amazing.
"I am usually not this forward with a woman, I did had a girlfriend not to long ago but
it took me a long while to actually get close to her but with you is different I can't wait
that long to get closer", what he had say made me fall more for him.
"So tell me about her?", I wanted to know more about that girl that kissed him before I did.
"There is not much to tell, I really liked her, I found out later it was not love, she was
way to frivolous for me, always thinking of shopping and manicures and stuff like that,
after a few months I just broke it up", maybe she was one of those girls in the group I saw
in the library, the ones stairing at me.
"Is she at the campus?"
"Oh yes she is, actually she is been trying very hard for me to notice her again, that
would be impossible under the present circustances"
"Which are?", I was curious.
"That I rather be with you", we stopped and he leaned me over a tree and just kissed me
softly with a rather tender feeling.
"That is nice of you to say", is this guy for real, I asked myself but somehow deep inside
I knew he was that way, he was a natural person, no pretences, that was great in this
society of ours that everybody pretends to be who they are not.
"So, I guess you want to know about my love life?", I played with the collar of his shirt.
"If you want to