Our Hill of Stars

06 Date Night

E L I

Oh man, she looked way too hot to be waiting for the likes of me. The heels, the dress, the hair, she was gorgeous. She smiled at me from her barstool, but she had the look of a panicked deer. I did my best to swagger up to her but felt utterly foolish as I pulled out the stool next to her.

The bartender set a napkin in front of me. "Jack and Coke," I said.

I tried not to stare at Ashlyn too much. Playing it cool was the order of the night. When she texted me about drinks tonight I practically danced around my garage. I planned to text her the next day, asking for a date in a day or two, but she came right out and asked me the same day. It thrilled me down to my core.

Ashlyn had a light pink martini in front of her. I could see the lipstick smudge on the rim even in the dim light of the piano bar.

"Thanks for coming out on such short notice," Ashlyn said. She blushed a little and ran her finger down the martini glass's stem. I watched, enthralled, as her long graceful fingers gripped the glass. I shook myself from my reverie.

I'm so glad you asked me so soon, my heart beats for you, I thought. "No, I'm glad you did. I might have lost my nerve to ask you first." I winked at Ashlyn and she blushed.

The bartender placed my drink in front of me. He'd garnished it with a cherry.

"Oh I love maraschino cherries," Ashlyn said. "I've never seen one in a Jack and Coke."

I picked out the cherry by the stem and held it out for her. "I don't really like them." It's a lie. I love them but seeing her light up when I offered it made me feel good about giving it away. I would give away a million cherries to see that same look of delight in her eyes again.

"Thank you!" She popped it into her mouth and dropped the stem on the napkin. "So, how was your day?" She leaned forward on the bar, rapt with attention for anything I was about to say.

"I worked this morning before I came over. Then I hung out with my little sister. I owed her a game of Mario Kart. She's a ruthless kid, though."

"Does she launch the blue shell? My friend, Sadie, she will intentionally fall behind just in the hopes she gets it, and then she uses it for a more dramatic victory."

I laughed and she joined me. The piano player started playing Billy Joel's Piano Man, Ashlyn swayed to the music.

"Billy Joel fan?" I asked, taking a sip of my drink. The bartender had gone heavy on the whiskey, maybe he knew I was on a first date and needed the courage. Or maybe he wanted to see me make a fool of myself so he could swoop in on Ashlyn. I pushed that thought away. I was being paranoid.

"I love all types of music. I could just listen to it under the stars for hours." Her voice took on a wistful tone. I could never get tired of her voice. It was so entrancing, and it seemed like everything she talked about, she talked about with a great passion.

"I love to listen out in my garage when I'm working on cars. But it does get annoying when those ads go on forever."

"Right? I don't need a three-minute Tampax ad while trying to listen to The Kinks."

"Yeah, I guess Lola doesn't really need Tampax."

A silence followed. Maybe I had overstepped my bounds with a joke about Lola, but then Ashlyn laughed again. It was a full-throated laugh, she even slapped the bar top.

"That's a good one." She took a sip of her martini, smiling through the drink. "So you work on cars? What kind of cars?"

"Any. I do oil changes for people on the cheap and I help fix up classic cars. It's just a little side business I do. I work on my own motorcycle and cars too. I used to race on country roads for a bit of extra cash."