An Intimate Connection: The Good Hotel

It’s our last night in San Francisco. After checking in at the Good Hotel, Axel and I take a walk with the full moon lighting our way. I see the words LOVE on the apartment building across the street. Reaching for my camera phone I said,

“Look. It says Love.”

Him: No. Love always complicates things.

Me: Why does love complicate?

Him: Too much drama.

Me: Why drama? I feel love for people all the time. I felt love for the man behind the counter who just checked us into the hotel. He was so present. So full of information and wanting to be helpful. When he pointed to the bikes and the photo booth, his whole body lit up. I could feel his heart. And in that moment I felt love for him. The sensation was palpable. My heart swelled with love. I was “in love” with this stranger in a moment of connection and oneness.

Him: That is not possible.

The night before, at the Airbnb house with twenty of my friends and classmates, sharing a meal around a large dining room table, someone asked if I am in love with Axel. I said, “Yes, I think I am in love with him.”

Then, I held up my hand and said, “Wait.”

Pausing, I closed my eyes and tuned into my heart. I began to answer the question again.