The Way Love Changes You; Book One: Love's Firsts

4/IV: Lunch "Date" Jitters

"But, anyway, like, she's so sweet and funny. Honestly, I never would've guessed that she'd have a big heart and a great sense of humor. Humor is subjective, but to me, she was lighthearted and I grew to like that about her. Fell for her instantly, especially after seeing her big smile. She had high cheekbones, too. That was a beautiful feature."

I stared off into a daze as I kept thinking about how beautiful her face was, immediately losing track of what I was doing. I kept visualizing the mental photograph I had of her smiling face. The shape of her eyes, the roundness of her nose, the softness of her lips, the—

"Avella?"

"Hm?"

"You were explaining how your meetup with the other woman went. You had gone off to La La Land..." then Redd wheezed.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. So we got to sit and talk, but it was for a short while because she had to go to work. I almost cried because that little meetup we had wasn't satisfactory for the both of us. So, which leads to me getting up earlier than usual today and taking a shower-"

Redd snickered. "And forgetting to take out your retainer, yet again."

My eyes widened at the realization after feeling it with my tongue. "Again?! Goddamn! But anyway, if you'd stop interrupting me long enough for me to finish what I have to say...the reason why I'm up so early is because she asked me out to lunch today. We're going to this pizza place down in Greensboro, I believe. I'm honestly very excited!"

Redd dropped her sandwich on her plate in shock. "She asked you out to lunch?! Oh my god, that's so amazing! I'm so happy for you, Avella! I must ask: who's driving? You or her?"

"She is! She offered to since it was her treat! Yo, I've waited since then for this moment, and it's finally happening!" I felt myself dancing with excitement.

"Oh wow," Redd remarked. "She's a bold one. If I didn't know any better, I thought you'dbe making the first moves."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why would you think that?"

She shrugged. "Seeing how confident you are and the energy you give off, I thought you'd do all that she's doing for you. You offering to take her out to lunch, you driving, you paying the bill...y'know?"

"I understand what you're saying, but, like, you're forgetting that this is my first relationship, or at least about that much for now and will get that far if it goes well. And I'm willing to believe that this is her first one also, if with another woman. If she wants to make the first move, I'mma let her. She seemed confident enough to offer when opportunity struck, and she must've been proud. I'm already proud of her, and we barely know each other. I never thought about doing that right off. What she did took a lot of courage. That pretty much made me like her so much more than I had thought I would.

"Sometimes, even the most 'confident-looking' people are the shyest. It is sweet that you thought that I was confident, but also not when you're tying it in with my looks, let alone insinuating that I'm the 'male' in the relationship and we're not even dating."

I had to laugh. Even though I was a bit irked by what she meant, it was kinda funny.

Redd winced. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that, but you are very good-looking, nonetheless. Honestly, it's very sweet that she did it first. Speaking of which, I know you said that you two aren't dating, but have you considered giving her flowers?"

The loudest wheeze came out of me. "Redd, we're going to another city that's like an hour away. I'm not bringing her flowers on an hour-long drive because I honestly don't know how long we'll stay down there. But, like, I hope that we do stay and explore a bit and just sit down and talk. Even down to the deep shit. Like, I want us to really have a connection, y'know?"