Petitioprincipii Part I

I usually do not write this directly without metaphors but this one just begs for it:

I can not mention her name out of respect so we're going to go with "she" or "woman". (I hope you are not reading this. I just had to do it, sorry.) She was hesitant to believe and stay or to forget and walk away. She stood there. I stood there. At guard but also willing to drop it at any moment, waiting for the right (or wrong) word to be spoken. We both knew that one of us might not be there tomorrow to speak even right or wrong. We were old enough. The conversation took place as follows (or as close to it as possible):

Man (I) : I like your hesitance.
Woman (She): I am 34.
Man: I will hold your hand and please react as naturally as possible.
Woman: As in?
Man: No pretense.
Woman: No premise.

I thought she had said "promise" but she had actually said "premise". Man holds Woman's hand.

Woman: That's too tight but it's ok.
Man: Should we stop talking about it?
Woman: No, we're old enough.
Man: But words will ruin it, no?
Woman: No, that's your own past. Don't curse this by what has happened before. We will talk.
Man: We just met.
Woman: We will talk before we "have" to talk.
Man: Thank you. That's like this thing called petitio principii.
Woman: I know. We're avoiding it.
Man: You know what petitio principii means?!
Woman: I said I was 34 and I read books.
Man: I love that word. I mean, yes, the word is cute but the meaning.
Woman: It's beautiful.
Man: You know there are two types of it. Both as puzzling.
Woman: Yes.
Man: Are you fucking with me?
Woman: The conclusion comes before the premise OR the premise is the consequence of the conclusion.
Man: Are you trying to make me fall in love with you?
Woman: I said no premise. (smiles)
Man: I thought you had said "no promise"
Woman: I said premise.
Man: It took me years to even come close to understand petitio principii.
Woman: It's the closest thing to the word "love". It might even be a better word for that feeling.
Man: Literally, it means "looking for a beginning" but it supposes there's already an end in place and it's like..uh.. swimming backwards.
Woman: No, no. It means "looking for a premise". That's different from a beginning. Principii means premise in Latin.
Man: Then it doesn't suppose there's an end.
Woman: No, but it supposes a conclusion which has already been accepted by both parties.
Man: Are you talking about love or logic?
Woman: It's the same thing. It's like saying magic and work are different. They are not.
Man: It is so strange to me that we're talking about petitio principii. I think about it all the time. I write about it. I am trying to understand it. I am always trying to explain it to someone and I inevitably fail. I've never met anyone who knows the word even.
Woman: Me, too. Me, neither (laughs) It is so hard to explain because when you are trying to explain it, you are once again in petitio principii.
Man: Fuck.
Woman: How did you come upon it?
Man: An exgirlfriend told me. Claire.
Woman: Did she know what it meant exactly?
Man: No, she just liked the way it sounded.
Woman: Petitio principii.
Man: Stop it! Aristotle's version is written on the wall at my apartment.
Woman: Some people say it means "begging the question"
Man: That's an easy way out.
Woman: I agree. If that was all it meant, we wouldn't be here talking about it. We'd either be fucking or I would've been home already.
Man: I am still holding your hand.
Woman: I once read in a dictionary that it meant "false dilemna" and then after that it said "perfect solution"

Both laugh.

--to be continued (I need to sleep a bit)-