These women that mess with our minds

The two of them were sitting on their evening bench as usual watching the birds, the water and the sunset, not in any particular order of priority. She wore her favorite skirt, the one that bothered him every time she wore it. "Honey it looks great as long as it is in the closet!" he had said in the manner Ford had spoken about his Model T's. Both had been wrong and she knew it. She therefore never acknowledged that statement even with a grunt for a response. This was their usual reprieve from the everyday bustle that they indulged in as one would in a hobby of some sort and she felt it reasonable to spend it comfortably.

On the surface anyone who knew them individually would never expect them to be a couple. But when they were together, everyone agreed that they were as inseperable as neodymium magnets - that is, everyone who knew what neodymium magnets were. They spoke different languages, but they had been successful in building their tower of Babel.

She started giggling in the midst of the flight of a few pigeons across the orange sky in front of them. Sensing a delightful conversation in the making, he turned a smile and then his head toward her asking her to let him into that delightful and convoluted world in her head that only he had been successful in mapping out. She continued to giggle and now she shrugged her shoulders and leaned forward a little while attempting to cover her giggle with one hand indicating that even though she wanted to tell him what she had been thinking about she would be embarassed about it. He continued to look at her in his relaxed posture and then smiled inquiringly, prodding her to go on and tell him. In part he was reminding her about their promise to each other to never hide any thoughts no matter what it was.

"Nooo! Hehehe!", she said.

"What is it sweetie? Tell me..."

"Noooo, I don't know if I should. Hehe!"

"Why, what is it?" He asked while not prodding her too much - an effort that he was still hoping would result in her doing the same towards him. Their promise of unbriddled, uncensored, honest, open communication between them had cost him the most in terms of efforts made to change. His method of dealing with situations was to take off for a little, clear his head, think the situation through and then rejoin her - he needed his space from time to time. She was the type of person who wanted to solve issues by talking it out and discussing every one of the details with him - she believed that they were two different bodies only because she didn't have anything to say about it when they were being made!

"No, do you remember our argument yesterday?" she asked.

"Uh huh...", he affirmed.

"No you took so long to tell me what was bothering you so much. I had to beg you so much before you would tell me.", she seemed to complain.

"Yeah, but that's how I deal with things. Don't you think I should have some space of my own every now and then?" He demanded, while simultaneously feeling proud of his 'very masculine' behavior trait. The idea of 'Brutus the stoic' came back to his mind from his high school days.

"Yeah, that's what I was finding very funny!" she answered.

He just screwed up his face requesting an explanation as he didn't understand what on earth was so funny.

"Hehehe!" Was all she offered.

"No, what was so funny?"

"Hehe! But I don't think I should tell you!" she said coyly. This would take some more begging on his behalf.

Anticipating this he replied, "No, please tell me"

"Hehe, no, I really don't think I should", she said.

"No seriously, don't worry about it. Just tell me." He assured her.

"Hmmmm, I most probably shouldn't.", she persisted.

"Okay, fine then, I don't want to know," this was the final call, you either boarded the train now or headed back home. He also knew fully well that she absolutely wouldn't fall for this reverse psychology trick. She had seen this before. She would just totally ignore that statement.

As if on queue, she carried on nonchalant, "If you promise me that you will not use this information or change your behavior after listening to this, I will tell you."

"Hahaha! You're ridiculous! You're laying down terms and conditions for me when I don't even want to know!" He said trying to provide his previous statement some credibility, failing miserably.

"NO! But I HAVE to tell you. Remember our promise - we have to tell each other EVERYTHING." She continued relentlessly.

"No, it's fine by me. I don't mind. Let's not tell each other everything." he said making yet another attempt to gain his own space.

"No, I HAVE to tell you, but you HAVE to promise me that you won't let this affect you in any way!" she shot his attempt down like a champion skeet shooter. Bam! Poof!

This was the last round. She knew she had him. She made a puppy dog face and looked up at him through those big hazel eyes.

"Hahahaha! SWEETIE! Fine, I won't change my behavior. Just tell me."

"But you have to say the words 'I promise...'", she demanded further. This wasn't going to float well with him.

"No, I don't have to say the words. I said I won't change my behavior, that itself qualifies as a promise from me." he said with an ever widening chest, basking in the sunlight of masculinity.

"Okay, so you remember yesterday's thing right..." she said moving closer to him. She cuddled up with him, put her head on his chest, and hugged him with both her hands. He put one arm around her. She continued, "You said you didn't want to talk about it, but you rally want to tell me, but your sense of 'manhood' gets in your way. That's why you wait until I ask you so many times right?"

She clung on harder while he struggled to get free.