Right from the get-go there was a sexual tension between us. The moment I saw her, before we even spoke. Tall, blond, strong, blue eyes with the intensity of dark eyes, high-top Docs, short hair. A real butch, for a change. I figured she'd know what she was doing and she wouldn't be looking for love. She came to one of my readings. A lot of people came, we didn't get a chance to speak, I just caught her eye, but it was obvious. She knew my name, I didn't know hers, I figured she would find my email address, Facebook, Instagram, it wouldn't be that difficult. She wrote me the following day, she talked about my book, she addressed me as “vous.” I addressed her as “tu,” I asked her out for a drink, I told her to pick the place. We met on rue des Archives, at the Cactus, opposite the Cox. She ordered beer with Picon, I got a shandy, we talked a while, I looked at our glasses, we'd almost finished, I didn't want to order more, I counted to three, I kissed her, I said, Shall we go to yours? We took the metro, it was quite far, we had to change lines, we got out at Gambetta, I hadn't been there before, we got to hers, we started on the couch in the living room, we moved to the bedroom, it was pretty good, we talked a bit, we started again, she asked if I wanted to stay over, I said no.

I find the next one at Marché des Enfants Rouges, it's a nice day, she's wearing a sleeveless sweater, the skin on her shoulders is completely white, narrow, nervous face, short brown hair, blue eyes, she's a student, a pretty girl, a little shy, she tells me about growing up in the Tarn, the year she spent in London, she runs her hand through her short hair, she's a little awkward, she orders a drink, she tells me about her younger brother, she tells me about the pink color of her nipples, the fair hair on her cunt, she lights a cigarette, we go to her house, it's right next door.

The one after that tells me I'm intimidating. She smiles a lot. We stroke each other's bodies, we kiss on her couch. I wasn't paying attention when she gave the taxi driver her address. We went to get two beers from the corner shop. It must've been midnight. We'd already been drinking a while with some other people. When we finished our drinks, when everyone started saying so? and looking at their phones, I turned to her and said, Are we sleeping together or not? I know I can do that kind of thing now.