Seven Tips for Dating an INTJ

Hey, everyone.

So, I know I was supposed to cover the Gothic Aesthetic of INTJs this week, but I need a little more time with that one. Plus, with Valentine's Day approaching, this one is topical.

Now, while my usual MO is to take someone else's article on a subject like this and comment on it, I decided I would write an original piece. Part of my inspiration for this one comes from my frustration with dealing with normal/regular people at work, as well as my frustration with the whole-lot-of-nothing I find on dating sites. So in the spirit of my frustrations and Valentine's Day, please allow me to give you seven tips for dating INTJs. Please note: this is not an exhaustive or comprehensive list.

1. For the Love of God--Think!

I know some personality types may struggle with this first one, but just because you're a Feeling type, that doesn't excuse or preclude you from using your brain. I'm not saying you need to be Feeling type but hold the Feeling, but you will have to put your feelings aside sometimes and think. One of the largest annoyances INTJs face living in the world is how thoughtless everyone seems to be. One of the reasons why INTJs are so good at strategy is because we find ourselves thinking about and predicting other people's thoughts--basically, we're thinking for others, and we can get really tired of it. So before you jump to a conclusion or ask what may be a stupid question, give yourself pause and ponder it for a second, especially if it's regarding your INTJ's behavior. There is a method to the madness.

2. A Little Bit of Distance Goes a Long Way

This is another one I'm sure some people will struggle with, and it isn't 100% true for INTJs. Sometimes we can be huge cuddlers--just don't draw attention to it!--but if you find your INTJ leaving the room every time you enter or is turning away from you or seems detached from the conversation you're trying to have, that is a sign your INTJ wants to be left alone. You shouldn't take it personally though as all INTJs require some time alone every day. It's quite relaxing and soothing for us. And if you really need us, we're not inflexible monsters; just explain that you need us to listen and we'll be there for you. But when this isn't the situation, remember the rule that "absence makes the heart grow fonder" because it does.

3. Hey! Listen!

Usually, INTJs are the ones that listen. Part of the reason is that we hate to interrupt, or that we think the solution to your problem is obvious so we have no need to say it, but another part of it is that one of our most important love languages is quality time. As a result, we're fine and dandy just being with you as you talk, but rest assured, you are not talking at us. We are listening, gauging, and learning.

However, whenever we do speak, you should keep your ears open. While I did admit that some of our largest frustrations come from people not thinking, another great frustration to us is how people are the grand architects of their own demise and that if they just listened to reason, they wouldn't be in such dire straits. Not to mention, since we listen so attentively and learn every little thing we can about you, you should really do likewise as it will make us feel appreciated and heard. We're also one of the few types of people who say what we mean, but we sometimes have a bad habit of being vague about it because we think what little we say should be extrapolated into the obvious. By keeping your ears open and your brain ticking, you'll manage to avoid a lot of unnecessary friction with your INTJ.

4. The Dichotomy of Cold Rationale and Raw Passion

Trust me, INTJs hate paradoxes and logical fallacies just as much as anyone, but this is an occupational hazard of being an INTJ. When it comes to everyday life, we try not to let our feelings get involved in a situation. Faced with a particularly challenging conundrum, we'll consider everything from the smart perspective and sometimes from the safe perspective, which in our minds is the right and truthful perspective(s). Ergo, there's no need to involve feelings.

However, the flip side to that is our passion. Sure, we can do a job exactly as it is outlined, but chances are we won't continue to do said job if it's boring or meaningless from the eternal perspective. Sure, we do a lot of things "by the book," but that's because we feel that is the best course of action. And when it comes to things we don't understand, such as the poor choices made by people, we can get quite hopping mad. In our lives, factual truth and absolute correctness are everything because when you act from such a position, you're never wrong or have to worry about pain or misfortune... and this is a perspective that we'll fight for tooth and nail!

5. Why Change a Good Thing?

Predictability and surety are beautiful things. With them, you always know where you stand and what to expect. Not to mention, it's just the most efficient way of going about things. Changes often bring challenges, uncertainties, and upset the order of things. As a result, you should expect your INTJ to like to keep things a certain way all the time. This usually extends itself to the times your INTJ eats meals at, what he likes to eat, and where he likes to keep his personal effects. Some things, especially the small, mundane things, just don't need to be messed with as there's nothing to be gained in doing so.

6. Evolve, Ascend, Transcend

Oh! Psych!

Turns out, not everything in an INTJ's life is stagnant. It's absolutely true that we like to keep our spoons in one specific drawer and fold our socks a certain way, but when it comes to big things, like traditions, we have a tendency to challenge them.

Now, don't think ill of us--we don't challenge traditional beliefs to be upstarts, we usually do it because we don't understand the reason behind it. When I was younger, I would often wear my hat indoors, partly because it was an awesome hat so why would I, but also because the belief that by doing so, it implied I was in a rush to leave didn't really cut the mustard with me. If a hat or jacket is a part of my look, why can't I keep them on regardless of where I go?

But on a different level, INTJs do believe in constantly improving themselves, whether that be by gaining knowledge, expanding horizons, sharpening our brains, or even working out and strengthening our bodies. This mostly has to do with the feeling that being "ordinary" is absolutely abhorrent to us, and we want to do as much as we can to not be like everyone else. Additionally, we're obsessed with perfection and we can constantly see areas in our life that need improvement. We're not the sort of person to say come cliché bull like, "I'm perfectly imperfect"; no, we're much more likely to say "'Nobody's perfect' is just an excuse for laziness". I mean, look at it like this, even if you aim for the moon and miss, you'll still land among the stars.

7. Show Us We're Wanted and Needed

Lastly, when you're dating an INTJ, you'll have be conscious of our Outsider Complex. Truth be told, due to our conflicting thought processes and our exceptionally high standards for everything, it's very easy for us to feel out of place everywhere and as if we don't belong anywhere. Most people can't understand us or are not interested in doing so, and since we don't exactly stick out socially, we often get the feeling that a social gathering would be exactly the same way without us, so why did we bother showing up if no one cares?

This is where Feeling types can shine, especially those who have Fe as their dominant or auxiliary function. INTJs have no difficulty knowing that they're important to the world, that what they can and will do will have an impact, but we also need to know that we have an impact in the personal lives of those closest to us. In order for us to form the strongest bonds with a person, we need to feel needed, wanted, and appreciated. And not just for our mental capabilities, but for everything we bring to a relationship, even the emotional support.

Conclusion

Like I said above, this is by no means an exhaustive or comprehensive list, and in fact, not all INTJs will agree with everything said here. Some INTJs will never understand feelings and some understand them better than most Fe's. That's the most important thing to remember here: MBTI isn't an all-encompassing, cheat code that instantly unlocks the secrets to every person on the planet. However, this should give you a few helpful tips in navigating a relationship with an INTJ.

***

For my next post, I hope to finally have the Gothic Aesthetic of INTJs up. If I don't, then I'll try to get out more Quick and Dirty INTJ Thoughts as I am sitting on a mountain of those. 

Until then...

Keep writing, my friends.

More About Bryan C. Laesch:

Amazon: My Author Page
Facebook: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
Patreon: Bryan C. Laesch

Instagram: Bryan C. Laesch
Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar

Five Reasons Why INTJs Struggle with Dating

Hey, everyone.

So this post is a bit of a doozy. I knew what I wanted it to angle toward, but I had no idea how to do it, make it cohesive, and make it appealing to other people. That's rather ironic because when I came up with this post, it was during my own eureka moment in which I realized I didn't care... well sort of. Eventually, it occurred to me that I should tell you all about my eurek-ous discovery by making it one of five reasons why INTJs have problems with dating. Now, all these reasons are legitimate, and there are plenty more, and even googling "INTJ and dating" yields some interesting results itself, but my post will focus itself on these select few. 

1. No Reason to Care

This was my eureka moment. See, there was a cute girl at work whom I wanted to court. Unfortunately, she was resigning, so I had to be quick in my approach. On her last day, I was going to lightly tease her about how I could take her out to mark the occasion, but since she hadn't followed through on coming to my young adults group, she obviously couldn't keep her word, which would light a fire under her ass to keep this commitment. Anyway, the day arrived and I had wanted to talk to her, but as she was talking to another co-worker, something in me snapped. Their conversation was inane--really inane--and a part of me didn't care. Like, really didn't care. It told me to leave and I did, but I immediately rued my decision because... I still cared. How is that possible?

Well, in the days that followed I realized that I cared about dating her, but I didn't care about any of her stories or happenings in life when she hadn't shown any interest in me. I mean, I would care about such things, but first I would need a commitment from her.

This may sound confusing, selfish, or ass-backwards, but I think INTJs suffer from this duality in many of their interactions with others. We're not incapable of empathy, but if someone isn't willing to put the effort into it, whatever "it" is such as a relationship, fixing their lives, or improving themselves, then we're not going to waste our time and energies being concerned for that person. They've made their bed, and they can lie in it.

And so too it is with dating or courting. We do care for our partners--more than you can imagine--but we're not going to give just anyone the time of day. Our attention and concern has a price, and if you're not going to pay, we ain't selling.

2. Selective

In the past couple of days, I've seen a handful of videos on YouTube going into why dating in the modern world is so difficult. Despite whatever the presenter of the vid says, the comments are chock-a-block full of MGTOWs laying the blame squarely at the feet of women, claiming their standards are too high and unrealistically so. I've seen the comment "80% of women are chasing 20% of the men" more than once.

Now, this doesn't mean we shouldn't have standards. In fact, I saw plenty of men commenting with their required standards for women which included things like "having no more than 5 sexual partners" and "not having children outside of wedlock." In fact, these are standards I can get behind, although I would change the former comment to "having no more than 1 sexual partner," but most of the grief seems to come from men who claim they are moderately good-looking and have better-than-decent incomes, but because so many women are looking for a loaded Prince Charming right off the bat, these men go without dating.

Perhaps these men are right and many women's expectations are too high, but getting back to the point and as I have said before, INTJs have high standards. We are very selective and exclusive individuals. As it's been said, "all of our friends have passed a secret test." Does this mean INTJs have committed the same folly as so many women in the world? Perhaps, but considering there are INTJs out there who have found meaningful relationships, it's more likely that since INTJs tend to, or at least try to, live up to their own standards, we have less trouble finding someone to match our standards because both partners share the same mentality.

But my point is that INTJs are selective, and in a world where more and more people are willing to let themselves go because no one else is bothering, it becomes more and more difficult for INTJs to find someone to date.

3. Different End Goal

Perhaps one of the most curious things I've ever heard and read about relationships is that they should have a goal. Apparently wanting to be in a relationship just so you can have someone to cuddle isn't a goal. That is to say, no dating for the sake of dating. Although I'm fairly certain many people have "happily ever-after" on their relationship to-do list. For most people, that means a lifelong, happy and healthy marriage.

However, INTJs are not most people. Like I've said in other posts, we often take pride in being different. And in my research on INTJs and dating issues, I found a forum where more than a few INTJs were in polygamist relationships, which I find completely unacceptable. The way I see it, if you're a person worth dating, then you deserve to be someone else's one and only, and not being shared. The only people who partake in polygamist relationships are the self-absorbed and the worthless.

But I must admit that I don't necessarily fit the mold of the ideal conservative boyfriend/husband. Men who are raised in conservative and/or practicing Catholic/Christian households are expected to do certain things in a marriage. Most notably, it's expected of us to have children, to work at least a standard 40 hours a week, and allow our wives to be stay-at-home mothers and housewives. For myself however, I don't want children, and since my ideal career is that of a writer, I don't want a wife who's only skill is Home Ec. As a writer, I can work from home, and writing is a fickle career--sometimes I write 2000 words in an hour, and sometimes I struggle to write 500 in two hours. But because of both conditions, I am able to stay home and most likely find time to take care of the things that need doing, i.e. dishes, laundry, and cooking.

Although I desire to be married someday, I have no need for a stereotypical housewife or stay-at-home mom, and to be honest, if I'm Stephan King-successful, I'd be downright pissed if my wife did nothing but lounge around all day spending my money. I'm not saying she couldn't have the benefit of my money, but she has to bring something to the table. Even if she doesn't have a career, she still needs a passion in her life. True, you can be passionate about raising children and keeping the house clean and comfortable, but again, that's not my desire despite growing up in a conservative and Catholic atmosphere where I'm likely to find many women like that.

INTJs often don't want the "usual thing," which lends even further to our dating problems.

4. We Do Fine Alone

Perhaps one of the biggest obstacles INTJs face in dating is our proficiency at being alone. While there's nothing wrong with self-sufficiency, it does tend to give off an air of disinterest. Plenty of people like feeling like they're needed, as if they are essential to some sort of dynamic. It's one thing to be wanted, but when you're needed, that means there's something out there that can only be done by you. Hell, even with as much as I scoff at the idea of fate, I still like the idea of being needed by someone.

But INTJs are self-sufficient masters. I once read that INTJs often "convince" themselves that they don't want to be in a relationship, but I don't think that's true. I think many of us want to be, it's just we're not willing to sacrifice the self-sufficiency we've honed over the years to let someone into our lives. It sounds strange for me to cast dispersions on this ability, but a relationship is made of two people. True, one may be submissive to the other, but that doesn't mean the dominant partner rules all aspects of the relationship as if the submissive partner is an inanimate object.

Another issue to this self-sufficiency problem is that INTJs have the "my way or the highway" mentality. Again, this works very well when you're alone; you can make all the lateral decisions you want and only have to deal with the dissatisfaction that comes from a wrong decision from yourself. But when you add another person to the equation, things become a bit more complicated, and INTJs don't really do complex in their social lives.

5. Impatience

I'll admit that I'm not entirely sure about this one, but for myself, I know that I am quite impatient with many social interactions and formalities. The one that really gets me about dating is the "getting to know you" part. The modern dating rules seem to recommend that it is better to get to know a person outside of a romantic scenario before moving onto the courting rather than trying to combine the two. I find this to be absolute rubbish because what's the point then of those first few dates? I thought that was the point.

Another thing that ticks me off is the FORD method. For those who don't know, the FORD method is the recommended way of dealing with small talk. FORD stands for family, occupation, recreation, and dreams. Now, while I love the hell out of the last two,  I don't really care about family and occupation. The reason for this is because occupation tends to be rather simple; not many people have as complicated a career path as yours truly, and the thing about family is that it can take a while--a long while. Families are complicated, there's a lot of history to unpack, especially in a family such as mine. My father is one of ten children and my mother is one of four, three of whom survived to adulthood, and that doesn't even begin to cover my cousins.

The other problem with family and occupation is that they're mundane. People get excited about what they do for fun and what they dream about, but in many cases a person's job is just a job, and as for family, well, to be honest, unless I'm dating you or you're a close friend, I don't really care about your family. That's a case of I need a reason to care, or it needs to be objectively interesting. When I first meet a girl, I'm not really interested in her parents or siblings; I'm more concerned about whether or not we have chemistry. Now, if she and I did have chemistry, then I would be interested in her family because I would want to know what sort of people I could end up calling my "in-laws."

But my point here is that I'm impatient with today's dating standards and rules. I can follow the rules of fifty years ago just fine, but that's because I've got the girl in front of me, I have her undivided attention, and if the date goes well, there might be a kiss at the end of it. With no kiss on the line, what the hell do I care? I know that sounds cold and selfish, but I don't have the patience to muck around with being "friends first." Maybe on a back-up girl, but not on a first choice. Not to mention, I'm not really in a rush to get married. I understand that it can take three to five years to get to know somebody. So I prefer that "getting to know you" period be a part of those three to five years rather than outside of it.

***

Whew! I'm sorry this took so long to write and get out, but it was worth the wait. Even if you don't agree with what I've written, at least it is written well. Even a movie with a terrible plot can be mildly saved if it's technically good.

And if want to make sure you keep getting excellent piece of writing after excellent piece of writing, please join my mailing list. And with the generous support you can give me through Patreon, I'll have a reason to care about how well I write.

For next week, I'm not really sure what I'll do. There is one idea, but I'm struggling with the material, so perhaps I'll cover five jobs that INTJs don't want, but can still do better than you. Until then...

Keep writing, my friends.

More About Bryan C. Laesch:

Amazon: My Author Page
Facebook: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
Patreon: Bryan C. Laesch

Instagram: Bryan C. Laesch
Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar

Flash Stories & Poetry Day 34: Romance "Bewildering Benjamin"

 

Hey, everyone.

Sorry this wasn't up earlier. Saturdays are always difficult to write on for some reason. Hopefully, after the holidays, things will get easier. We'll see.

Wheel of Genres, turn, turn, turn! Tell me the genre I will discern!





Today's genre is... Romance!

Cool. I actually romance... to an extent. Like I don't tend to like the movies on the Hallmark channel, but I do enjoy in my video games and anime. I don't know what the difference is. And writing romance in my own books is one of my favorite things to write. Let's see if I can spark that magic on my blog.

Thirty minutes on the clock: 30:00. And... go!

It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon. The birds were chirping, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the freshly fallen snow looked like a postcard. It was too bad then that Elizabeth had volunteered to help decorate her church that day for Christmas. She looked longingly out of a window in the church hall while assignments and partners were being given out. "Elizabeth!" someone called.

"Here!" she said.

"You'll be hanging garland today. You'll need to head down to the old school rooms and fetch the boxes. Room 105, I think it is. Benjamin will help you out."

"Okay," said Elizabeth. Then a crank in her mind turned over. "Wait? Benjamin?"

"That's right," said a manly voice next to her.

Elizabeth turned and faced Bewildering Benjamin, the strangest fellow in the entire parish.

"How do you do, Elizabeth?" he said. "I am Benjamin."

"It's a pleasure," she said uneasily.

"Well, then, we better get a move on." Benjamin led the way, taking long strides into the hallway that connected the hall to the school.

Elizabeth followed a good nine feet behind him. Benjamin had had a reputation speaking little, and often staring at people. And when he did speak, he was often curt and direct. Most people ignored him, but they couldn't deny he had a true devotion to the Lord. He came to church every week, sat in the same pew, and always volunteered when he could. This made him appear devoted and docile which had won him the favor of the pastor and the little, old church ladies.

Elizabeth had never spoken to him; she had only seen him church. She couldn't substantiate any of the rumors of his queer behavior. She had never seen him stare, but the few times they had had accidental eye contact, there was a strange neutral, but also far away look in his eye. Where was he in his mind when he did that?

"Here we are," said Benjamin suddenly. "105." He grabbed the doorknob and moved forward. "Ah!" he said, ramming his shoulder into the door.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine."

"The door's locked?"

"I don't think so," said Benjamin, trying the knob again. He struggled to turn it.

"I'm pretty sure it's locked. I'll go get some--"

The knob clicked and the entire door shuttered.

"There we go," said Benjamin, opening the door.

Elizabeth gaped. "How did you know it wasn't locked?"

"It didn't feel locked. There was give in the knob."

"Oh."

"Let's find those boxes of garland." Benjamin stepped into the classroom and flicked the light switch, but nothing happened. He tried it a few more times. "Great. Well, at least it's sunny today."

Despite the fact the lights weren't working, the room had large paned windows on the other wall. There was more than enough light to see.

"So, where's the garland?" asked Elizabeth.

Benjamin turned to face the wall next to them. It was actually a chalkboard that ran the length of room. But above it was an area that looked like it was being used for storage. There were dozens and dozens of boxes. "Guess we got our work cut out for us," he said.

"I'll say," said Elizabeth, stepping up to the wall. The chalkboard was slightly taller than her and the entire storage space was above her head. She lifted her arm and her hand barely touched the bottom of the nearest box. Benjamin on the other hand was able to look at the storage space in the eye.

"I guess I'll hand the boxes down to you, and we'll conduct a search that way."

"I suppose."

Benjamin grabbed the first box and handed it off to her. Elizabeth set it on the ground and then took the next box from him. When they had a few of the boxes down, they inspected their contents. They found decorations, but they all looked Hawaiian themed. "What is this?" asked Elizabeth.

"Vacation Bible School decorations," explained Benjamin.

"Oh."

"But, why would they keep them alongside their Christmas decorations. That's weird."

"That is weird."

Benjamin and Elizabeth put the boxes back, and searched the next few in the same manner. Again, they weren't the right decorations. They had the same problem with the next selection.

"Oh!" whined Elizabeth. "This is stupid."

"This is inefficient," admitted Benjamin.

"There must be fifty boxes up here."

"Easy."

Elizabeth pouted. This would take a lot of work before they even began decorating. She looked over at Benjamin. He had that blank stare again. "Benjamin. Something wrong?"

"Hm? No. I was just thinking that if the shelving... space? Up here was strong enough, I could pick you up and put you on top of it, then you could look for the garland up there."

"I... don't like that idea."

"Okay."

"If only we had a step stool."

"There might be one around here."

"Where?"

Benjamin turned the other way and checked the closet that would have used to keep the teacher's supplies. He stooped down and stood back up, balancing something on this hand. "Yo," he said.

"Incredible," said Elizabeth, looking at the folded up step stool. "How did you know?"

"I didn't. It was just a guess."

"A very intuitive guess."

"I suppose," said Benjamin, handing her the step stool.

Elizabeth opened it up and climbed it. She was now able to see into the shelving space. "This is much better," she said, checking a box's contents.

"Glad to have helped," said Benjamin, checking boxes himself.

A silence fell among them. Elizabeth couldn't stand it. She felt terribly awkward, but she didn't know what to talk about with Benjamin. She didn't have any starting points. If only there was some place to start.

"Is that your natural hair color?"

"What?" said Elizabeth.

"Is that your natural hair color?"

Elizabeth grabbed her long, red hair. "Yes."

"Very nice."

Elizabeth got a bemused smile. "Why?"

"I like red hair. I wish more women had it. I actually went to school with quite a few red haired women. They've all died their hair now. Terrible shame that."

"Why?"

"Because natural redheads are so rare! No redhead should ever die her hair."

"Oh." Elizabeth smiled to herself. "You like my hair?"

"Yes."

Elizabeth waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. Elizabeth was a little disappointed. She really wish he had said more about her hair. She reached up for a box and paused for a minute, looking at him. He was so passive, and yet, he wasn't cold as ice. His opinion on redheads had quite strong. "Do you... do you ever look at me in church because of my hair?"

"Sometimes. Other times it's because I'm looking at your... your... um, never mind."

Elizabeth looked at Benjamin. He looked nervous and a little embarrassed. "Looking at my what?"

"Never mind. It isn't important."

Elizabeth bit her bottom lip and smiled. He was checking her out. She giggled to herself and went to grab the next box, but her hands missed. She faked herself out and as she went to grab the shelf's edge, her hand fell between two boxes, and she tipped over the stool. She cried out.

"Are you alright?!"

"My hand's stuck! I can't get it out." Elizabeth's hand got stuck between the two boxes and with stool tipped over, she was now dangling over the shelf by her arm.

Benjamin rushed to her side. He tried to move the boxes apart, but they wouldn't move due to boxes on either side of the them.

"Hurry!" whined Elizabeth.

"Um..." Benjamin looked at Elizabeth's hand stuck between the two boxes. He then looked down at her and squatted. He grabbed her around the hips and lifted her up. She was able to move her hand deeper in and then up and out of the gap. Benjamin set her down.

"Ow..." said Elizabeth, rubbing her hand.

"Are you hurt?" asked Benjamin. He grabbed her hand and examined it, before turning it over and looking at the back of it.

"No, I'm fine," she wailed.

"Do you want me to kiss it?"

Elizabeth looked up at Benjamin; he was grinning like an idiot and snickering. Elizabeth looked down at her hand and smiled herself. Not only did he have passion, but he also had a sense of humor. "It couldn't hurt," said Elizabeth, lifting her hand.

Benjamin stopped laughing. But then he gingerly took her hand in his fingers and brought it to his lips, kissing it ever so softly.

Elizabeth was terribly embarrassed. "Thank you," she squeaked.

"No problem."

Benjamin didn't say anything else to her as he right her step stool and started working again. Elizabeth quickly set about her work too. She had no idea how to comprehend what just happened. Bewildering Benjamin, the strangest man in the parish, had just kissed her booboo. And he did it so tenderly, Elizabeth thought he might have been in love with her. Is that why he was always looking at her in church, or did he just think she had a great butt?

After a few more minutes of silence, Elizabeth snapped. "You're strange," she said.

"That's not news to me."

Elizabeth jumped.

"They call me 'Bewildering Benjamin,' ya know? Credit to them for the consonance, but I prefer to think of myself as being esoteric or eccentric. Well, whatever. But, why do you say I'm strange?"

"Well, you're really quiet..."

"Oh. So for the same reason the others say it, huh?"

"Well, yes, but you're more than quiet. You're funny, opinionated, and... charming."

"So?"

"Well, no one would've guessed it from the way you act."

"Silence is just one of my personality traits. We can't all be one-trick ponies. Besides, aren't there multiple facets to yourself? Are you just a girl with red hair?"

"I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm not upset. I was just making a point. I'm sorry if you thought I was yelling."

"You weren't yelling. It's just your words seemed a little harsh. But... your tone was perfectly reasonable." Elizabeth shook her head. "You are bewildering. You can make something mean sound perfectly normal."

"I'm a man of many talents."

Elizabeth smiled. "I guess so." She grabbed a box that was a little deeper on the shelf than the others. It was heavy, so she had shimmy it over to the edge. It was also taller than the others, so she had to tip it on its side to open it and get a look inside. But as she tipped it, it turned out to be heavier than she thought. It slid forward and hit her in the face. She squealed, and thought she was going to fall over, but an arm around her back caught her. Then with one hand, Benjamin pushed the box back onto the shelf.

"Are you alright?"

Elizabeth sulked. "No..." she said, rubbing her forehead.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Mainly my pride..."

"Well, there's nothing I can do about that."

"But it does hurt up here," she said, pointing to the center of her forehead.

Benjamin grabbed her hand moved it away. He then used his other hand to brush her hair away as he kissed her on the forehead. He looked at Elizabeth with just a hint of a smile. "All better?"

"It also hurts here," she said, pointing to a spot below her right eye.

Benjamin leaned in and kissed her below the eye.

"And here," she said, touching her left cheek.

Benjamin kissed her there too.

"And this," she said, pointing to her lower lip, "has been achy for a while."

Benjamin stepped closer to Elizabeth, putting one hand on the side of her face and the other on her hip, pulling her closer. He then kissed her for so long and so passionately, Elizabeth actually lost herself within it. When Benjamin pulled his face away, he gave her one or two more small pecks before resting his forehead against hers.

"I think we should get a move on," she said, trying to convince herself.

"Just one more," said Benjamin, moving his lips in again.

***

 

Okay. I'm not going to say stop the clock because I definitely wrote over. There's no point in pretending I didn't. That was an hour and 15 minutes. What can I say? I was into it, and there was a lot to set up if I'm honest. When it comes to romance scenes, you have to write them so that your audience can understand why these two people want to kiss each other, and I didn't feel like I could justify that in 30 minutes. So, that's that.

 

Anyway, that's it for today. If you want to use the wheel I made, you should be able to access it here. And if you have the time, please check out my books for sale on Amazon which you can find through my author page. The link is below. Also, I reworked my Patreon page, so why not give it a look and consider becoming my patron. I would appreciate it.

Keep writing, my friends.

More About Bryan C. Laesch:

My Works:

Amazon: My Author Page, My Influencer Page
Facebook: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
Patreon: Bryan C. Laesch
Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar