"A skirt is easy access, which is always a bonus."
My eyebrows shoot upwards and my mouth drops open.
"Kirsty!", I yell and throw a pillow at her, "how dare you!"
Kirsty looks up from the magazine she's reading, lying flat on her back on my bed. Her bare feet are on my wall, and she's got an ashtray balanced on her tummy while she chain smokes like a chimney. She's supposed to be offering me critical date-wear advice but so far she's been useless.
"What?"
"This is an outfit for a proper date not some kind of a... kind of...." I can't think of the word.
"Fuck-fest?"
"Kirsty! Please!"
I stomp back over to the wardrobe and pull out a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt.
"Oh real sexy Sam," Kirst rolls her eyes at my choice.
"I'm not looking for sexy, I'm looking for platonic," I pout.
"Are you going logging?"
"No," I chuckle.
"You're planning on dressing like a lumberjack though."
"Fine!" I snap and throw the jeans and flannel back in, "Eddie wears flannel," I sulk.
"Eddie could wear a hazmat-suit and still look hot," Kirst says absentmindedly.
"So could Chris," I snap and stick my tongue out at her. Two can make inappropriate comments.
Kirst sighs, moves the ashtray to the floor and rolls over to face me.
"What is the aesthetic you're after again?"
"I told you. Platonic, but not hideous. Something that will deter any unwanted advances."
Kirst looks at me quizzically.
"Unwanted advances? You want something to make yourself less attractive to Eddie?"
"Yes, as counter intuitive and ridiculous as that sounds, that's exactly what I'm going for. I don't want any distractions, just conversation."
I dig deep into my wardrobe again, rifling through years of bad fashion choices. I stumble across a collection of floaty ankle length dresses and skirts from my brief Fleetwood Mac phase when I truly believed I was Stevie Nicks, for about a month.
"Oo, how about this?" I beam, pulling out a multi-colored, floaty beaded tie dye skirt which jingles slightly when it moves.
"Is it just another Manic Monday, Susanna?" Kirst says, grimacing.
"What? It's not that bad," I hold the skirt up against me.
"Will you be telling fortunes on the side?" Kirst laughs.
I throw the skirt back in and slam the wardrobe doors.
"I don't know!" I cry, throwing my hands up in the air in frustration. This is too difficult. I feel so much pressure already. Kirst crosses to me and hugs me tight.
"It doesn't matter what you wear Sam, Eddie would want to jump your bones even if you were wearing a sack, you poor poor thing you."
I pull back and grin at her. It's not the worst hardship in the world.
Finally we agree on a black emperor line mini dress, that swishes when I walk, some black over the knee socks and my lace-up blundstones, giving the docs the night off. Kirst wrestles my hair up in unruly waves and I apply my trademark black eyeliner and lashing of mascara. Kirst stands back to appraise me.
"Perfect," she smiles gesturing for me to do a twirl, "sexy but not too sexy. Like serious sexy."
I wrinkle my nose.
"Serious sexy?"
"Yeah, like um... Connie Chung!"
"Connie Chung?!" I look at Kirst like she's mental.
"I don't know! Just someone serious, but sexy, like....that one off of LA Law then."
I have no idea who she's talking about and I'm too scared to ask. Knowing Kirst it's possible she means Blair Underwood.
We head downstairs to the lounge where Beck and Kev are curled up watching TV together. They are so adorable together I could just squeeze them both to death, they're so cute. Beck looks better than I've ever seen her since she and Kev got together, the whole drama with Nick now long forgotten. She really couldn't have found a better man than Kev.
"Woah! Sexy alert!" Kev yells. Or maybe not. Beck twists her head around to look and grins up at me.
"You look hot Sammy," she says and blows me a kiss.
"Do I? Because that's not really the look I was going for," I moan. I smooth my dress a little with my hands. It doesn't seem too tight fitting, maybe it's a bit short, coming in mid-to-upper thigh range? "I was going for platonic, the opposite of distracting, you know? Blend in!"
"It's the socks," Beck points out, "over the knee socks are an absolute sure thing every time, right babe?" she elbows Kev who has gone back to watching the TV.
"What? Oh yeah, hells yeah!" Kev takes in the socks, "I bought Beck four pairs," he grins and kisses her nose.
"Shit, really?" I ask and bend over to examine the socks, "but they're warm, practical I thought with a short dress."
"Not all men of course, Eddie may be different," Kev smiles at me with a wink. For a second I think I see the corners of his mouth twitch but then he continues, "Tell you what, why don't you ask him when he gets here?" Beck elbows Kev in the ribs again. I look at Kirst for confirmation.
"Good idea!" she smiles, "show Eddie when he gets here, see what he says." Kev nods enthusiastically at Kirst in agreement. "How long are you two staying 'purely platonic' for again Sam?" she asks with a grin.
"A whole month apparently," Kev says, "my money's still on 7.15"
I scowl at Kev and flounce off to the kitchen to grab a beer before Eddie arrives. All this talk of abstinence has made me nervous. I sit at the table and chug the beer in three mouthfuls. Beck walks in and finds me sitting with my head in my heads.
"Ignore Kev, he's just winding you up," she laughs and grabs a coke from the fridge. "So exciting night?" she grins.
"I guess"
"What's up Sam, you should be wearing the biggest shit-eating grin ever," Beck swigs her drink and lights a cigarette, "proper official date, it's so romantic," she sighs.
"I am excited, really I just sort of wish we hadn't complicated things again."
Beck looks at me with a confused expression. I try to explain the problem.
"Listen Beck, if I tell you you can't have any chocolate for a month what's the first thing you think of?" I ask her. Becky raises her eyebrows as understanding registers on her face.
"Ah, I see your point," she taps her ash into the ashtray on the table, "so change the rule, it's not written in stone," she shrugs, which is an excellent, excellent point. One I hadn't actually thought of before.
"I can suggest it," I think out loud, "there's no reason to force it right?"
"Right!" Beck beams at me and changes the subject, "anyway, Stone's got some kind of a shindig going on at his place later if you guys fancy it? We're all heading over, just a kickback, nothing special." Becky rises from the table, grabs another bag of popcorn and heads back into the lounge. I watch her go and think about her suggestion. This is a ridiculous idea to abstain for a month, I'm sure Eddie will agree. As I'm finishing the last of my beer the doorbell rings which makes me jump. I run to the oven door to check my face in the reflective surface.
"Sammy! Lover-boy is here!" Kev sings from the lounge, "don't keep him waiting! Oh wait that's exactly what you're both planning, I forgot!"
"Fuck off Kev," I hiss, smacking him around the back off the head on my way to answer the door.
"Don't forget to ask him about the socks!" he adds. What's his fucking preoccupation with my socks? They're toasty.
I shush him and look desperately to Kirst who has positioned herself selfishly between Kev and Beck on the sofa, eating handfuls of popcorn. Kirst winks and motions for me to answer the door. I tuck some hair behind my ear and reach for the handle.
-----------------------------------------
"Hi" I breeze lightly as the door swings wide open and I'm instantly hit by the full force of Vedder magnetism standing on my porch.
"Hey...wow, you look amazing!" Eddie takes a step back to take in my outfit. I notice his eyes linger briefly on my legs but he quickly looks back up into my eyes.
"You look pretty good yourself," I blush. Eddie looks like Eddie only slightly tidier which is perfect because Eddie too tidy would look weird. His hair isn't as messy as usual, it looks a little shorter, maybe an inch or two, and rests in perfect waves and curls. He's wearing black jeans, not shorts, a white t-shirt under a brown corduroy jacket and black boots. He sees me eyeing his hair.
"Er...yeah..I got it cut," he blushes, "it was getting to be...too much you know?" he smiles shyly and tucks one side behind his ear. I notice it's fully grown out now, from when he shaved it. He has really, ridiculously fucking nice hair.
"It looks really good," I murmur quietly, a little taken aback.
"Thanks," Eddie grins bashfully and looks away. Aren't we just adorably awkward?
"Do you wanna...come in? Before we go?" I ask casually, "Kev, Beck and Kirst are here..."
Eddie looks up and over my shoulder "Sure, sounds good," he says and follows me inside.
"Eddie!!!" Kev yells from the sofa, raising one hand aloft. Eddie waves back.
"Hey man, you ok?"
"I'm so good dude...really," Kev enthuses, grinning at Beck who blows Eddie a kiss.
"Hey Eddie," Kirst smiles and comes over to us. There's a split second of awkwardness where it looks like she's thinking about giving him a hug then her eyes dart towards me, "Soooo you guys are going out on a date, date?"
"Uh...yeah, we are," Eddie reaches across to hold my hand but stops himself.
"Cool, cool," Kirst nods, "where are you guys going?"
I shrug indicating I have no idea, "I guess dinner? Maybe a movie?" I suggest and look to Eddie who nods.
"Yeah, we're going to this little place I know first," Eddie explains and I feel a little burst of tiny butterflies in my tummy.
"Awesome, so what uh...what movie?" Kirst continues with the interrogation.
"Er...depends on Sam really but I thought maybe Reservoir Dogs?" he says and looks to me for some indication of preference. I nod quickly.
"Oh, I really want to see it!" I say honestly. I really do I've been reading about it everywhere for the last few weeks.
"Oh no, no, nope," Kev yells over, "terrible idea!"
Eddie and I exchange a look.
"Really, why?" I ask Kev.
"It's terrible, really really bad reviews, people walking out of the theatre bad."
"Are you sure? Mike said it's amazing," Eddie argues.
"Nah! Terrible, worst film I've seen in years, I mean i should know right?" He laughs casually. He has a point, he is a journalist after all. Kev stands up and grabs the paper, "tell you what, I'll pick something out for you..."
I look at Eddie and shrug. Kev takes his time leafing through the paper.
"Here you go....Damage, it's a fucking great movie, fantastic, I've seen it four times already and look at that, it's on at 8.30," Kev gushes, "perfect because Reservoir Dogs isn't even on til 9.25!"
"Really Kev, four times?" I look at him warily.
"Honestly, four times, right Beck?" he looks over his shoulder towards Becky who looks a little confused but then suddenly seems to agree.
"What? Damage? Oh yeah, yeah! Amazing, loved it," she grins and nods vigorously.
"You know I've been meaning to see that too, supposed to be the best film of the year I've heard," Kirst pipes up, joining in, shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth.
"It is, it is Kirst, you're absolutely right, a tour de force in fact," Kev nods solemnly at Kirst who winks. Eddie shrugs.
"Hey I'm not that into movies so whatever, thanks for the tip," he smiles, "we'll give it a shot. Damage it is."
"You won't regret it Ed, I promise," Kev grins, "oh and before you go, we were wondering, over the knee socks on women? Good or...?" he indicates me, "Sam wasn't too sure."
Eddie turns and looks at me. My socks are black and come up over my knees, theres an inch or two of flesh before the hem of my dress.
"Uh....ahem...good...good..." Eddie says clearing his throat, a pinkish tinge in his cheeks.
"Not too sexy or anything?" Kirst adds all wide eyed and innocent.
"Er...nope...they look er...very nice," Eddie answers quickly, "very um....warm?" he rubs the back of his neck with one hand awkwardly and averts his gaze.
I look over to Kev and give him a death glare. He responds with a cheesy grin back.
"Well, have a great time getting to know each other better," he smiles.
"Yeah, don't forget Stone's later if you want," Kirst calls.
Eddie opens the door for me and follows me out. Just as he's closing it I hear Kev yell.
"7.15 Sam, 7.15"