For the next couple days, Marisa spent almost all of her time at the hospital in case they received any word from Dr. Tyler. Finally on the third night, Marisa came home. She was surprised to find Maggie was there. She was sitting on the dining table drinking a cup of tea while doing some work in her folders she brought with her.
“May May? What are you doing here?”
“One of my coworkers brought a whole bunch of freshly picked blueberries with her to work today. Thought you might like some.”
“Mmm, that’s sounds wonderful. I haven’t had homemade blueberry pie in a long time. Or maybe I should make some blueberry jam.” Maggie laughed.
“You can make both. I bought plenty.”
“You did?” Marisa peaked into the kitchen. She was shocked to find a huge plastic bag stuffed with blueberries on the counter.
“Geez! That’s enough blueberries to make at least 3 pies and 2 jars of jam! Where in the world did your friend get so many?”
“Actually, her uncle runs a popular blueberry farm up in the mountains. I heard he had a super good harvest this year.” Maggie explained while sipping her tea.
“I guess so. By the way, where is everyone?”
“Your mom’s in the middle of dusting the house, Conner’s playing his video games as usual, and you dad still isn’t home yet.”
“I see. Well, I’m going to take a bath. Even though it’s been three days, I still feel like I’m covered with blood.” Maggie smiled.
“Too bad you don’t have a hot tub. You could have a never ending hot water soak.” She teased. Marisa just laughed.
“Don’t even joke. Having a hot tub would be way too much work. As a stay home mom, Mom’s got enough to worry about. She doesn’t need anything else to keep clean.” With that said, Marisa headed upstairs to take a nice long soak. After a while, she came back rubbing a towel over her head.
“Feeling better now?” Maggie asked.
“I sure do. Nothing in the whole wide world beats hot clean water.” Just then, her mother called from the kitchen.
“Marisa, could you give me a hand please?”
“Coming.” Putting her towel down, she walked into the kitchen leaving Maggie to her work.
“What’s up, Mom?”
“Could you please make a salad for everyone? My hands are tied trying to do 10 things at once.”
“Sure thing. Hey May May, you staying for dinner?” Marisa called out.
“Yes please. Jarred’s going to be home late tonight. So I’m on my own for dinner and I really don’t feel like going home and heating up the leftovers.” Marisa chuckled as she started to slice up some lettuce.
For a while, everything was quiet. The only noise that could be heard was the stew boiling and the knives cutting. Maggie just sat quietly at the table working. Suddenly, Marisa’s cell phone, which was right next to Maggie, stated to go off. The sudden sounds caused Maggie to jump out of her skin.
“Hey Macy! Why didn’t you warn me that your phone was right there?! It scared the life out of me!” Marisa quietly laughed under her breath.
“Oh, sorry about that. I just forgot. Would you mind answering that for me? It’s probably just someone from the hospital.” Maggie formed an annoyed look on her face as she reached for the buzzing phone.
“Yeah right. Just forgot my foot.” With that, she grabbed the phone.
“Hello, you have reached doctor air head’s number.” At first, Maggie just sat there. Just then, she formed a surprised look on her face. Looking towards the kitchen door, her surprised look formed into a sneer.
“Oh, why hello Thomas. What a coincidence. Marisa and I were just talking about you.” Meanwhile in the kitchen, Marisa, who could hear everything, formed a petrified look on her face as her body just froze.
“Yes, yes, she misses you too. She was just telling me how she can’t wait to see you again.” On hearing that, Marisa dashed out of the kitchen leaving her mother behind laughing quietly to herself. Marisa stormed into the dinning room.
“What are you doing?! Are you out of your mind?!” She screamed as she desperately tried to grab the phone from Maggie’s hand. Maggie just laughed as she pushed Marisa back. Finally, Marisa was able to get the phone.
“Hello?! Thomas?!” She stated frantically.
“Yes, I’m here. It sounds like you’re having a party over there.” Marisa tried to straighten herself up.
“Right, sorry about that. May May’s having dinner with us tonight and I was just helping my mom in the kitchen when you called.”
“I see. Did I choose a bad time than?”
“No, it’s fine. I just didn’t have my phone with me and didn’t expect you to call.”
“So does that mean you really were talking about me?” Marisa’s face turned bright red.
“No! Not at all! We weren’t talking about anything! May May was doing some work at the table while I was helping my mom.”
“I see. So than does that mean you really aren’t anxious to see me again?” By now, Marisa’s face was as red as a tomato.
“No! It doesn’t mean that at all! I do want to see you again!” At that moment, Marisa’s whole body just froze as she realized what she had just said came out totally wrong. Thomas’s dead silence only made things worse. Maggie wrapped her hands over her mouth trying not to laugh.
“Ah! I meant that in a good way! I didn’t mean I’m desperate or anything like that! I just...well... you know what I mean right?” Finally, Thomas let out a chuckle.
“Yeah, I understand. I’m just giving you a hard time.” Marisa slowly settled down.
“No, it’s not you. If a certain someone hadn’t gotten all weird on me. None of this would have happened.” She stated while giving Maggie an evil glare. Maggie just hid her face in her folder and laughed. Just then, she heard Thomas take a deep breath and slowly let it out.
“The truth is, I’ve been really wanting to see you too.” Marisa gasped as she heard him say that.
“I was just thinking. Do you have any plans for Friday night?” Marisa thought for a minute.
“No, not that I know of.”
“In that case, would you like to go out to dinner with me or something?” On hearing that, Marisa’s whole body just froze. Her voice failed her as her eyes remained wide open.
“Of course, if you’ve got things you’d rather be doing than---”
“No!” Thomas paused as he was surprised by her sudden response. Marisa clenched her phone as she tried to pull herself together.
“I would love to go out with you. I was just...so happy I blanked out for a minute.” Thomas smiled.
“I’m glad to hear that. How about I pick you up around 6:30?” Marisa smiled.
“That sounds good. I’ll be ready.”
“Great. Well, I’ll see you then.”
“Okay. Good night.” With that, Marisa put down her phone. Unable to take the suspense, Maggie rushed up next to her.
“What happened?! What did he say?!” At first, Marisa just stood there with a big smile on her face as she gripped her phone.
“He asked me to have dinner with him Friday night.” At first, all remained quiet. Suddenly, Maggie let out a loud scream that ended up shaking the whole house.
“EEEK!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!! You did it, Marisa! You got Thomas to ask you out on a real date!!!” She cheered as she threw her arms around her.
“I really didn’t do that much.” Marisa stated as she struggled to break free.
“Ah!!! This is just too good to be true! You’ve finally found someone special in your life!” Marisa blushed as she tried to find room to breathe.
“I wouldn’t put it like that. We’re just going out to dinner that’s all. Now would you please let go? I can hardly breathe.” Finally, Maggie let go and started dancing around the room.
“Ah! This is so exciting! Marisa has a date! Marisa has a date!” She cheered as she rushed out of the room. Marisa leaned on the table and straightened herself up.
“Shesh, if she keeps this up, people will think she’s gone crazy.” Marisa looked at her phone and smiled.
“I’ve never been on a date before so I don’t know what to expect. Still...I can hardly wait.”
The next day after work, Marisa and Maggie went to the mall.
“May May, are you sure about this? Do you really think I need a new fancy outfit just to go out to dinner? I figured I would just raid my closet.”
“What are you kidding? Of course not. This isn’t just any dinner. This is the first real date you’ve ever been on. You can’t just pick out some dusty old clothes. You need to look your absolute best.” Marisa blushed.
“My clothes aren’t that bad.”
“That’s not the point. The point is that every girl who’s going on a date for the first time needs to see it as an opportunity to make herself into a better woman. One who’s not afraid cut loose and face the world with a smile.” Marisa gave her an annoyed look.
“May May, I’ve seen people completely transform themselves just because they hope to leave an impression of some kind. You should know better than anyone, that’s the last thing I want to do.” Maggie let out a laugh.
“I know. I’m just saying that you shouldn’t totally blow such a big chance at trying something new like wearing a dress or something.” Marisa’s face turned bright red.
“A dress?! Is it really necessary to go that far?!” Maggie couldn’t help but laugh.
“I don’t mean anything major. I mean something fancy yet simple. Like this one.” Maggie pulled out a pretty red dress that had a knee high skirt with little beads along the top. Marisa thought for a minute.
“I guess it’s cute and all, but red isn’t really my color.” Maggie thought for a minute.
“Yeah you’re right. Wearing red on the first date is a little too strong.” Marisa formed an annoyed look on her face.
“That’s not exactly what I meant.” After looking a little more, Maggie pulled out another dress.
“How about this one?” Marisa looked at it. It was a green dress with brown spots all over.
“No, I do think green and brown is a good color combination, but I’m not that crazy about polka dots.” Maggie rolled her eyes.
“Picky picky. Now which one of us is being choosey.” Marisa rolled her eyes. Just then, she spotted something in the corner under the clearance rack. She walked over and pulled it out. It was a pretty purple dress with a knee high skirt and a diamond pendant in the middle shaped like a flower. Just for fun, Marisa held it over herself and smiled. Maggie looked over and spotted her.
“Oh my gosh! That dress is perfect!” Marisa’s face turned bright red.
“What?! But I was just looking at it! I wasn’t planning on trying it on or anything!” Maggie gave her a funny look.
“Oh really? And what pray tell is wrong with this one?” Marisa looked it over.
“Well it’s...umm...”
“My point exactly. We are so trying this one on.” Before Marisa could stop her, Maggie dragged her into the fitting room. A few minutes later, Marisa came out wearing the dress. Maggie squealed.
“Eep! This dress has to be the one! It’s looks so perfect!” Marisa’s face turned bright red.
“Perfect?! Are you kidding?! The straps go around my neck leaving my shoulders and back completely bare!” She stated throwing her hands over her shoulders. Maggie rolled her eyes.
“Than we just have to find something to go with it. Like a jacket or something. Wait here, I’ll be right back.” With that said, Maggie took off. Marisa sighed.
“Shesh, doesn’t she ever quit? Just because strapless things work for her doesn’t mean they work for me.” Looking over at the mirror, she admired her dress. She did have to admit that this dress was pretty.
“Girls have to take advantage of their first date to try something new, huh? What about guys? I’m sure Marcus and Yoshi will try to help Thomas find something to wear if he hasn’t already picked something out. But still, for guys they just wear fancy shirts and pants. I know girls are very different from guys when it comes to choosing clothes, but a dress like this? I’ve never really worn dresses to a lot of places. Even when I started working at the hospital as a nurse I wore pants with my uniform instead of a skirt. I wonder...what will Thomas think of me wearing a dress?” Though she was still unsure about it, Maggie convinced her to buy the dress along with a little white jacket to wear over her shoulders. As she anxiously waited for Friday to come, she buried herself in her work.