Sharpies and sticky notes

In which she runs into Lombardi himself

Halfway to the restaurant, I got a text from Cass.

You stormed out before I could tell you anything about tonight. You're going to Lombardi's. Meeting Jackson. Dark hair. Hazel eyes. Tall.  Very handsome. Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do ;)

Texting and walking is a lethal combination, so I carried on without replying to her text.

'Yeah, that's the reason, not that you are angry at her for using the fact that you have something against Ryan against you.' My subconscious oh-so-helpfully butted in.

Is there a place where you can buy a helpful subconscious? I'll have to google it someday when I have nothing else to do.

When I got there, I asked the waitress if anyone had walked in claiming to be waiting for someone and she led me to each table that seated people that had told her they were waiting for someone. We found Jackson sitting behind a bush. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it wasn't a bush after all, but a bouquet of flowers.

At first, thinking of the clichéd action made me want to go vomit in the nearest corner. I mean, why doesn't anyone ever think to bring a girl a set of beautiful throwing knives. If you want to waste your money, at least make it worthwhile. Like, buying someone a grenade, or a good book, or a gun, or a pomegranate...

I was so lost in my thoughts, I almost walked past Jackson, until I realized that he was waving his hand frantically and his lips were forming my name. Nevertheless, I turned around and checked behind me to make sure that he wasn't calling anyone behind me. When he saw that, he smiled at me endearingly. 

If I were forced to, or had I been in a better mood, I might have admitted that he was good looking. He was tall, broad shouldered, and well built. His lips and hazel eyes were the focal point of his face. His sepia toned skin, a few shades darker than my own, was well framed by his long black curly hair, which he'd tied back into a tight puff. I had to fight the urge to ask him to let it loose. 

As I stood there, I contemplated turning around and going home. I felt underprepared for this date. I hadn't expected that he'd be this handsome. Or that he'd have a disarming smile. 

Either way, I let the pretty waitress know that I'd found him, and thanked her for her help with a smile and walked towards Jackson who was still smiling at me as if he hadn't been doing so for a minute without a response from me.

"Hi, I'm Jackson. Cassandra's told me a lot about you," he said. 

When he stood, I caught a whiff of his cologne and damn near combusted. It was a musky scent, discreet, but powerful. It suited him well. 

"That's funny," I said, with a nervous chuckle. "I didn't know you existed till less than an hour ago when she tricked me into going on this date with you."

He laughed and kept smiling. "She told me you were funny and honest, but she never mentioned how disarmingly beautiful you are."

"How many times have you used that line?" I asked, less than impressed with his clichéd pick up line.

"Honestly, it's the first time, I wanted to try it. Did it work?"

"No. Unless you really think I'm beautiful. If that's the case, then Thank You," I said, fixing him with a smile. "But if you were just using it because it was a pick up line, then honestly, it was the worst line after 'Are you a rhino? Because you're making me horn-y' and 'You must have close resemblance to a Cigarette, because you take my breath away.'"

"You actually hear such lines? On behalf of the entire male subspecies, I apologise profusely. That being said, and the ice broken, how about we start over? Hi I'm Jackson Smith. I work as an actuarial scientist for LNC."