And Then She Was Gone

Your Color Lacks Conviction

"Boring. It lacks depth, and its weak tones are no doubt a reflection of a lack in strength of your character." he quipped back.

"Excuse me? It is a color of strength! It's close to the color sage which is coveted by ninja warriors in Asia!" she said in mock defense. "Most certainly trumping your weak choice of the day." she said firmly with a grin.

"Excuse me? Hot pink is bold and vibrant, and with its outspoken nature is able to hide and disclose many closely guarded things through its distracting nature. And in addition, mint green is like Sage, but is most certainly not sage."

"You're a barbarian, you know nothing." she said back as if she was done trying to get him to realize the gravity of his uninformed decision.

"Well, what I do know is that there is a nice little restaurant tucked away near the far end of the town with a perfect up close view of the mountains, but since I lack commitment, I may abandon the notion I had of taking you there." he said in jest, as he continued forward in the vehicle, diverting off the main strip of the town and heading into previously uncharted territory she had yet to investigate.

"A person who likes hot pink for the briefest of moments would be that petty." she challenged his empty idle threat, not withholding the excitement she had as she looked around at the new scene, taking in the homes distributed throughout the tree checkered landscape.

"You know, you're pretty aggressive for someone so little." he said, moving the topic off the colors, and trying to get a further rise out of her as he enjoyed her quippy nature.

"I'm not little, you're just freakishly large." she said back with a rivaling remark.

"Freakish is a bit harsh. I would say handsome and strong fits a little bit better." a smirk rising to his face.

"And herrreeee we go." she said a hand flippantly rotating in the air. "Now we've come full circle. Now I know that your jobless, bail out on your friends and are a relentless playboy. All proven by your egotistical comment on your own appearance." satisfaction reeling in her features and she playfully prodded along.

"But I am attractive." he retorted, "I would be lying if I said I wasnt and it's not a bad thing to acknowledge what you posses." he said with a shrug.

"See you didn't even deny it!" she said with a mock glare and a smile she was trying to stifle on her face.

"And you didn't deny I was attractive. Does stating the obvious make me egotistical and give you cause to leap to such conclusions?" he said eyes still on the road as he made a turn heading down a gravel road lined with trees, at the end of it a large home which appeared to be modified into a bed an breakfast coming closer into frame.

Her playful demeanor seemed to be cut down immediately as her cheeks grew red from his bold statement. Suddenly having no sarcastic remarks or playfully prodding words to produce. All her flirtatious conversation beginning to erode away at his directness about his attributes and how she viewed them.

"See? Mint green, a weak color and easily muted." he looked over to her after putting the gear in park and a grin on his face as he gave another eyebrow arch in a mocking manner. "And your assumption about hot pink, or more so theory, being proven wrong as I kept with my commitment to deliver you here." a hand motioning to the place where they were to eat lunch.

"Well..." she said quickly looking over to the bed and breakfast eloquently named Sleepy Mountain B&B, "Sometimes, a colors specific attributes can betray its inherent nature." her awkwardness resolving as she unstrapped herself from the seatbelt and heaved the heavy door open so she could get out.

With a laugh he followed her in suite, all the while thinking to himself how well this was going. Considering it their first date, even though it was not explicitly stated, and she most certainly was not aware of it. "Come on, this place is great, we'll get a table by the windows." he said taking the lead and heading up the steps of the B&B and stepping on the veranda which wrapped around the home and contained a multitude of rocking chairs for  the viewing pleasure of the travelers inhabiting it.

They walked into the lobby where they were greeted by a hostess standing at the podium, her eyes growing wide in recognition as she saw his tall form waiting to be seated. "Mr. Stone, we weren't expecting you." she said a light anxiety brewing within her as she shuffled papers in front of her looking for reservation details.

"I wasn't expecting to be here." he quickly replied, putting her at ease. "I was hoping to have my usual table."

"Of course, let me just run back, I believe its occupied but it wont be more than a minute." she said with a quick nod and then disappeared down the long white hallway and between the large white washed double doors.

"We shouldn't make people leave their table." Elizabeth said with a frown, as she stood slightly behind him. Watching him closely in distraction as he reached back to his hair and pulled out the band holding the half ponytail in place and quickly pulled up all his hair into a tight bun. The back of his neck exposed and revealing the faintest line of black above his collar, showing that a tattoo was beneath the rest of his clothing which Elizabeth stared at in curiosity. 

"I do alot of business here." he said quickly, looking back at her reassuringly. "It's better for her sake that we sit at that table, otherwise if her manager saw me in another spot she would get chewed out." a shrug forming on his shoulders.

"What do you do?" she said with interest, taking obvious note of the situation that had just presented itself before her.

"Uhhh.. alot. I manage several companies, their trades are all diverse in nature, but the one that brings me here frequently is the water plants in city limits. I don't own them yet, but I'm close to it. Therefor, I conduct business meetings with their leadership team in this restaurant regularly. It's got a beautiful view and great food." he said rather dismissively as all of this was no big deal.

"Several companies?" she said with wide eyes in shock. She had no idea she was in the presence of a successful business man and now the expensive clothes and vehicle were all starting to make sense.

"Yeah." a hand going lazily into his pocket as he looked at her, seemingly bored as the conversation had diverted to him. "But I guess that puts another hole in one of your theories, I'm not jobless." he added with a smirk.

He's not jobless, but he most certainly was a playboy she thought to herself at the revelation of the disgusting amount of money he probably had combined with his physical features. This little adventure was definitely turning very interesting, but a guard quickly began to form within her as she would not be another victim to his devil penis magic.

"Mr. Stone," the waitress interrupted as she returned back to her podium with two menus in hand. "Your tables ready."

"Excellent." he said with a light smile towards the young woman, invoking a light tinge of jealousy within Elizabeth to which she could not explain. "Lead the way."

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