The Trinity Game

brief time-out, a couple of hours, just you and me and a bottle of wine.”
Stop talking
, he told himself. But he didn’t. “You know, don’t think of it as a date. I just, I need to focus all my attention on security tomorrow, and I can’t afford to be thinking about things left unsaid.”
    “Geez, it sounded a lot more fun when I thought of it as a date,” said Julia, a smile in her voice. “OK, tell me where you are and I’ll come over and drink your wine while you leave nothing unsaid.”
    “Cut me a little slack, would ya? It’s been a while since I asked a girl out.”

    When Daniel was eighteen, Father Henri let him have a key to the place so he could lock up or open the gym in the morning, and he’d brought Julia here a few times late at night to sit up on the roof and watch the world go by.
    But fourteen years have gone by since she was last up here. Fourteen years. Man.
    And now he was about to ask her to just forget about that. He would tell her that, this time, he would not run away chasing ghosts and dreams. He would tell her that, this time, she was his dream.
    He would ask her to make that dream come true.
    After she’d agreed to come over, he’d come to the roof and set up a couple of folding lawn chairs and a small table he took from the office, a portable radio, the wine, and two plastic cups.
    And now she was here again, standing with him on the roof, the skyline of downtown New Orleans glittering behind her in the night, her black hair fluttering in the hot, thick summer breeze, her olive skin shimmering, slightly moist, a glass of red wine in her slender hand.
    He was tongue-tied by this woman. He switched on the radio, tuned it to WWOZ. A jazz tune he didn’t know, but it was sultry and slow and perfect.
    “Julia, I-I have so many things…” He searched for the right words. “I want a second chance with you. I have thought of you every day for the last fourteen years, and I want you back.”
    She smiled and sipped her wine. “Every day?” she said.
    “Well, not
all
day, every day. But yeah.” He drank some wine. “Every day. I guess that sounds a little desperate.”
    Any answer—even
Yes, that sounds desperate
—anything at all, would’ve been easier than the silence that followed as she sipped her wine and thought her private thoughts. Daniel struggled tohide the tension that felt like it was about to rip him in half. He noticed his own hand shaking as he sipped his wine, hoped she didn’t notice it too.
    Waiting…his heart pounding out the seconds that passed in silence.
    Waiting…and reminding himself to breathe.
    Waiting…each second a lifetime.
    Finally Julia approached with an expression he couldn’t read and put her palm flat on his chest and said, “OK, but you can’t just walk back into my life and claim me as your girlfriend. If we do this, we take it slow. We go out on dates. If we like it, we go on more dates. And who knows? Maybe it leads to a relationship. Maybe it leads to forever. But we don’t just pick up where we left off fourteen years ago. We start anew.”
    Daniel clinked his plastic cup against hers. “I’ll drink to that.”
    As they drank, the radio DJ said, “And this one goes out to all the broken-hearted lovers in the Crescent City. Leroy Jones, with
Mood Indigo
.”
    Daniel turned up the volume, put his wine down on the table. “Dance with me,” he said.
    They danced, her hands behind his head, his hands on her waist. And as they danced, they kissed. Soft, inquisitive
getting to know you
kisses that became stronger, declarative
I remember you
kisses and finally grew into passionate, demanding
I want you right here right now
kisses.
    Coming up for air, Julia said, “Wow.”
    “Wow, indeed,” said Daniel.
    She reached for her glass, drank some wine, and shared some with him from her mouth. “Can I ask you something?” she said.
    He smiled and rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’ve really been celibate for fourteen years.”
    “Gawd am I in trouble,” she laughed. She drank some more wine and they kissed again. “Say, do they still have that horrible yellow tartan fold-out couch in the office downstairs?”
    They did.

    Daniel woke by the light of morning, on the fold-out couch in the office, limbs intertwined with Julia. He kissed the top of her head and smelled her hair, and she purred against his chest.
    “Mmm, what time is it?”
    He looked at his watch. “Eight thirty.”
    “Oh my God.” She jumped naked out of bed and