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"Yes. And, so … that's a problem."
"Because it's wrong for us to be together."
"Yes."
"Because of the age difference."
"Yes."
"But more importantly because we're going to be Lissa's guardians and need to focus on her—
not each other."
"Yes."
I thought about this for a moment and then looked straight into his eyes. "Well," I said at last,
"the way I see it, we aren't Lissa's guardians yet."
I steeled myself for the next response. I knew it was going to be one of the Zen life lessons.
Something about inner strength and perseverance, about how the choices we made today were
templates for the future or some other nonsense.
Instead he kissed me.
Time stopped as he reached out and cupped my face between his hands. He brought his mouth
down and brushed it against my lips. It was barely a kiss at first but soon increased, becoming
heady and deep. When he finally pulled away, it was to kiss my forehead. He left his lips there
for several seconds as his arms held me close.
I wished the kiss could have gone on forever. Breaking the embrace, he ran a few fingers
through my hair and down my cheek. He stepped back toward the door.
"I'll see you later, Roza."
"At our next practice?" I asked. "We are starting those up again, right? I mean, you still have
things to teach me."
Standing in the doorway, he looked over at me and smiled. "Yes. Lots of things."