It was a square table they decided upon, each with their coffee in hand as they pulled back their chair with the free hand. The two men faced each other from across the table, and she sat alone on one mediating side between them.
To her right was a young man, 23-ish and bristling with energy that was slightly nervous and otherwise. His smile was warm and effortless, and his gaze easily jumped towards her. Not so much to the male across the table. For, to her left, he faced an older man: late forties-ish, whose gaze was without apology in its quest for truth. His intense thoughtfulness could be misinterpreted as disapproval, I thought to myself, yet his relaxed hands (folded as they were) otherwise conveyed an ease with the occasion.
The jewel was in the middle: to one a daugher, to one a girlfriend. She was all of 22, her hair pulled back and tethered for the business at hand. Hers was the brightest smile at the table. I read her as summoning all the powers at her disposal for the task at hand: a meeting of the minds regarding her future with this young man. As she watched her would-be-fiance speak she seemed dizzy with the promise of their life together. Her eyes would glance back over at her father and look for approval as the young man spoke. She would reach out and rest her hand on his occasionally. Her eyes would dance as she looked to her father: Isn't he wonderful? they said, wordlessly.
The 15 minute gathering ended as they stood and set their chairs back into their pre-summit formation. His words were slow in coming but had warmth as the candidate had passed some scrutiny. As they left she put her arm around each of them, taking a step that would put them all at the same pace. I watched them leave and mused at the significance of the exchange, the heart negotiation of a young woman bridging the worlds of the two Important Most Important Men in her life.
