I don't eat out much

Westlands is such a beautiful place, in comparison to the rest of Nairobi. It's just a stone throw from CBD yet it's a stark contrast from its vehicular chaos and crowds. It's green and full of 80s and 90s suburban architecture. Something about clay tiles and whitewashed walls give me nostalgia. I lived futher along Waiyaki way as a child, near Nairobi school so I spent a lot of time roving suburbs in Lavington and Westlands mostly in school buses or on Sunday for after church lunches. I never use uber or bolt or any other pocket taxi service mainly because I know my way around Nairobi very well (hopefully this isn't a jinx). Also because I grew up broke and I have always perceived taxis as a luxury for sheltered kids, business men and women. I was going to meet a friend in Westy so I got into a matatu and alighted it near a private road about 500m from my destination so I could take a little walk following my google maps.

It was late dusk when I arrived at my destination, an Indian restaurant in one of the many obscure malls dotted around. It was calm and the low yellow lights complimented the late evening sky well. I called my company for the evening to let her know I had arrived and felt the kind of uneasy cold when you're about to see someone you haven't for a while. There she was looking at me through her glasses. She's wearing black trousers heels, i think (ladies footwear confuses me) and a white button down. There is something so innately feminine about her, something almost overwhelmingly feminine about her presence. Maybe it was the way she smelled when we briefly embraced while exchanging pleasantries, maybe it's how beautiful and Afrocentric her braids are, I do not really know. She turned to lead me to where she was seated and as I'm walking behind her I catch a glimpse of black lace peeping from her low-waisted trousers. There's something about the subtlety that is so seductive to me.

Articulate people are very fun to talk to. Ideas, sentiments and testimonies have some artistic value that can be brought out by words. I especially enjoy it when someone expresses a point of view I have never experienced in detail. I came across a piece of media that said you can create a soul tie through conversation and that it's the most common kind of soul tie we make for example with our friends. I do not know what would quantify as a conversation that creates a soul tie but I think I have an Idea. Good ambience, nostalgic music and good food. Pair those with curious, intentional, genuine and personal inquiries and add a lot of eye contact and that would be my recipe. I like making beautiful women laugh or smile. I made sure to make her laugh, she has an almost childish laugh that makes me happy. 

On my way, I was skeptical it would be like an awkward first date. I couldn't have been more wrong. The conversation has been varied, it was inquisitive, expressive and perhaps more impressively flowing. I barely find myself in scenarios like these, I don't eat out much. I also do not find myself in conversations for hours at a time, I am very comfortable in silence and mostly reserved. I have paid so much attention to my company I have not noticed the restaurant emptying around us. Almost 11 p.m and we have to be ushered out. Still in the midst of yawns and tired stretches we talk. The first real bout of silence comes when we're outside waiting for a cab. I wonder what's going on in her mind as she stands silently beside me in the darkness. I'm thinking about how stellar the evening has been and whether I should get used to feeling like this or shun it so it doesn't ruin my benchmark. When the cab comes observe her petite silhouette and marvel at her intellect and tenderness.