Contrast

It occurred to her that they were much like the individual houses that they occupied. His was dark and closed in with a stony entrance that could feel cold and foreboding, even though there was warmth and comfort within. Hers was bright and sunny and open with overflowing flower pots on the front step. His had many doors and passageways and thus was labyrinthine. A shortcut to the living room from the porch, she thought, and returned through the dining room and kitchen to find him where she left him, stretched out and leaning back in his chair with his sandaled feet up on the table. Her house was far more straight forward. Once you entered, the living room was to the left and the dining room to the right. You could see beyond the sunroom to the deck in the backyard from where you stood near the front door. As they chatted online she could picture him in his office with the large window that faced the street. A deep and cozy room with a fireplace and a pair of wing chairs. She wondered if he was imagining her in a similar fashion, seated at her computer in her office on the high-backed fuchsia office chair. A vivid and cheery room packed with toys and mementos that was decorated haphazardly in every color of the rainbow.