The Guy Named Harrison: Book One

5

Instead of returning home to finish doing her job, Carrie tried to figure out what to wear to dinner tonight. She shuffled through her closet as Gary jumped up on her bed.

"Gary what should I wear?"

He stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth and laid on her bed. "Well that's no help."

After pondering for over 15 minutes, she pulled out three dresses to decide on. One was all white and had a very low back, while the other one was Carolina blue. She knew Harrison would love that one since it was Panther blue. The last one she pulled out was navy blue with a pink flower pattern.

"Gary, what do you think?"

The French bulldog stood up and walked over to where the navy blue dress with the flower pattern lay. "You think he'll like this?"

Gary stuck his tongue out. "I like it too."

For dinner she settled with the dress Gary chose. It had spaghetti straps and was form fitting towards the top while loosing the rest of the way down around her hips. She pulled some of her hair up while leaving the rest to hang loosely down her shoulders.

To top the outfit off, she wore a pair of black heels to try and close the height difference between the two of them. Carrie also added a sparkling diamond necklace that she got from her mom.

"Well Gary, how do I look?"

This time he barked. "I take that as I look good."

❺❾

Carrie pulled in not a minute after him. She even parked next to him. When she finished backing her Jeep in, he stepped out of his Carolina blue Maserati.

Before she could gather her phone, keys, and wallet, he had her door open and was waiting for her. "Sorry," she mumbled, fumbling for her keys she just dropped.

Harrison patiently waited for her. She looked up at him for the first time. He really cleaned up well. He was wearing white khaki shorts with a light blue long sleeve shirt with a white belt and black shoes.

"You look beautiful," he said as she hopped out of her Jeep.

Carrie blushed immediately. "Thank you. You look pretty handsome yourself."

She jumped out of her Jeep as he closed the door behind her. "Ready?"

Carrie nodded. "Yes."

Harrison let her squeeze through the two parked cars first. Then he hurried up to walk by her side. Deciding to go for it, he brushed his hand with hers. At first, she hesitated until he laced his fingers with hers. A moment later, he felt her fingers curl around his.

He loved the way her small hand fit in his. As they walked, he traced the back of her hand with his thumb.

They made their way into Olive Garden. Harrison dreaded it because he had to let go of her hand when he really didn't want to. She followed him up to the desk where he told the employees they were here for their reservation.

Not a few moments later, they were seated across from each other in a booth. Their waiter placed two menus down on the table. "I love Olive Garden," he said with a smile.

Carrie smiled back as she opened her menu. "What are you getting? I think I'm going to get the-"

"Chicken parmesan," they both said in unison before they both started laughing.

Once the waiter came back with water for both of them, they ordered chicken parmesan. "This is the best," he said as the waiter went to punch in their orders.

"Did you publish your article yet?"

"Nope. I just have to finish editing it tonight."

"Can I see the draft?"

Carrie nodded. Slipping her phone out of her wallet, she quickly logged into her ESPN account and pulled up the draft of her newest article. She slid her phone over to him.

Harrison read through her draft. He was very surprised most of it was about him. She quoted him quite a few times throughout the article.

"This looks great."

"Thanks, although I still have to edit it. It should be up later tonight."

"I can't wait to read it."

He didn't slide her phone back right after he finished reading her article. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you my number."

"Alright, give me your phone."

Harrison handed her his phone. Her jaw dropped upon seeing it. "What the heck happened to this?" She asked, upon seeing the matte black iPhone 7 with its screen totally shattered, and some spots, it was missing.

"I um... did that this morning. I dropped it off my nightstand. I know it's bad." He didn't have time to go and get a new phone today. He was too busy finding something to wear for dinner tonight.

Carrie carefully made herself a contact in his phone. Then they traded just as dinner came out. Nobody said anything else as they both ate the delicious chicken parmesan rather quickly.

❺❾

After dinner had been finished and paid for, he took her hand and led her back to their cars. "Thank you for dinner Harrison."

"Anytime."

As they walked, she dug her keys out of her wallet and unlocked her Jeep. Harrison again opened her door for her as she threw her keys, wallet, and phone inside.

When she turned around, he placed a hand on her cheek and the other on her hip and leaned in for a kiss. At the very last second, she averted the kiss and kissed his cheek instead.

Immediately he wondered if he did something wrong. Carrie avoided the kiss and he knew it. Before he had a chance to ask her what happened, she climbed up into her Jeep and closed the door.

"Again, thank you for dinner Harrison."

He watched her pull away, wondering what the hell he could've done wrong. Was it too early? Does she not like me the way I like her?

Carrie slumped against the steering wheel as she pulled out of the Olive Garden parking lot. Placing a hand on her forehead, she thought back to the final moments of their date. He tried to kiss her. And she avoided it. Carrie shook her head, she wasn't ready for it to happen again.