This is it. I thought to myself as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I was wearing a brown skirt paired with a long white sleeve top. The outfit was put together with a long-length necklace that fell against my chest. The overall look was simple, yet classy at the same time.
Opening the sliding doors of my dresser I started looking for my knee-high black high heels.
Peter was coming to pick me up at six today. I wasn't sure what to expect since he didn't tell me where we were going, but he did admit part of it would be outdoors.
When the interphone rang loudly in my apartment, I had just finished zipping on my boots. Checking my watch, I read six on the dot. He was right on time. Smiling to myself at his punctuality, I quickly answered, telling him I would be right down. Deep breath.
I could feel my heart thumping in my chest, threatening to come bursting out. I hadn't been on a date in a long time and it was making me nervous. Taking the purse I had prepared on the counter, I quickly checked its content one last time. Mints, lip gloss, keys, money, phone, and my external battery. This was all I would need, I think. I didn't want to carry too much if we were going to be moving around a lot.
"You look nice," I heard him say as I was locking the door to my apartment. Oh no! My movement froze momentarily but I quickly regained my composure. Please tell me he didn't notice!
"Hey," I greeted Kyle awkwardly.
"Are you going out with the girls?" he asked curiously.
"Not exactly," I answer before quickly adding "I'm running late, I'll talk to you later," as I rushed down the stairs. Our eyes had barely met through this encounter. Even now, I didn't dare look back, this unexpected meeting had been awkward enough without seeing his reaction. Kyle wasn't dumb, I'm sure he had put the pieces together before I was even out the door.
"Well have fun," I heard him shout with a somehow tense voice from our floor above. I didn't bother to answer as I swiftly exited the building. Maybe I could pretend I hadn't heard him.
"Hey!" Peter greeted me excitedly.
"Hey!" I answered. Peter had pulled his hair back with gel, making it look sleek. He had paired a simple black long sleeve shirt with brown pants and sneakers. I had to admit he looked good.
"You look ravishing," he complimented similarly to Kyle. While they had both complimented me. I had to admit one had made a larger impact than the other. Enough about Kyle, tonight is about Peter, I chastised myself. I had promised myself to give Peter a fair chance by not thinking about Kyle during this evening.
"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself," I teased playfully. He chuckled shaking his head. "So where are you taking us tonight?" I questioned, ready to find out what his plans were for us this evening.
"Just a little more patience Kat. You'll see soon enough," he answered with a charming smile. The silence was killing me.
"I'm not that good with patience," I admitted playfully "Consider yourself warned Peter." I continued.
"Understood," he simply answered, still not caving in.
"Fine," I grumbled while following him to what looked to be his car.
He took the time to open the passenger side door for me. I could get used to these kinds of gentleman-like gestures. It made the whole evening more romantic.
We exchanged small talk while he drove us to the surprise destination. He revealed that the rumors about me were mostly positive. Most people couldn't believe how long I had lasted as Sandra's assistant. I guess I had broken all records by surviving more than two months already.
We laughed about the company cafeteria man that was always making to most disturbing jokes. The ride was fun and just what I needed to relax.
The car finally came to a stop in a remote parking lot. It wasn't those far away from town creepy motel parking since it was quite crowded. Peter quickly walked out and moved around the car to open the door for me.
"Well thank you, dear," I teased, amused by the romantics. Once again he let out a chuckle. I'm glad he was receptive to my terrible humor, otherwise, it would have been a very long night.
As we walked closer, I recognized the colorful lights of the fair. The sound of laughing children and winning 'dings' from the basketball machine reached my ears. I hadn't been to a place like this since I was in college and couldn't wait to play. On second thought, let's stay real far from the game section. I'm highly competitive, which isn't always the best façade I want to show for a first date.
"What would you like to start with?" he said, as his kind eyes bore into mine.
That was a tough question, should I tell him I wanted to go for some action games like shooting at targets or darting at balloons? Or should I go for something calmer like buying some cotton candy? Stop overthinking! This is ridiculous, just be yourself.
"How about we start by piercing some of those balloons?" I suggested, pointing at the stand where a teenage boy was failing miserably at darts. The poor boy was getting visibly frustrated while his assumed date was telling him it didn't matter. I guess he had set out to get her a stuffed animal but was still far from the required score. A+ for persistence.
"After you milady," he returned, referring to earlier when I had called him 'dear'.
The evening was spent playing various games. We had started with the darts but had quickly moved on to spinning cups and more thrilling rides. By the time we finally took a break my hair was a mess, but my smile was permanently engraved on my face. This was fun.
Yet, I was also grateful Peter hadn't tried taking my hand or placing his arm around my shoulder.
"Shall we get some tacos?" Peter offered, gesturing to the Mexican stand next to the ferry wheel.
"Absolutely," I answered, this sounded perfect. I was glad we didn't go to some fancy place. It wouldn't have been a great place to get to know him. It would have probably created a more serious and tense atmosphere compared to the carefree one we were having at the moment.
Once we were seated with our food at a picnic table, we didn't hesitate to dig in. It had been a long night and we were both hungry.
"This is delicious!" I exclaimed. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I was hungry or simply the amazing mixture of spices concocted by the chef but this taco was by far the best one I had ever eaten.
Peter laughed at my surprised attitude. Before reaching out to my face. "Here let me get that," he said lower his voice while swiping something from the corner of my mouth. My body tensed slightly from his move. While he didn't seem to notice my reaction, I did. It felt odd. There wasn't any shyness or blushing. Just uneasiness and awkwardness on my part.
This was simply a confirmation of something I had started to notice throughout the night. Peter was a great guy, we had laughed a lot and spoken about many different subjects, and even if we were both equally competitive at games something was missing. I didn't feel like we clicked, there wasn't any romantic attraction. I didn't doubt we could become great friends, I simply didn't see us turning out to be anything more.
Later that night, when we arrived back in front of my building, we exchange another few sentences, before he started leaning forward slightly. Fuck! I quickly reacted by moving forward and kissing him on the cheek. It was smooth enough to pretend I hadn't noticed his move and bold enough to seem like I was the one that initiated something.
"I'll see you on Monday! Thanks, Peter, I had a great night" I waved goodbye as I walked back into my building.
Once I was safely back inside the building, I let out a breath I had been holding. This had been a close one.
"That good eh?" Kyle's voice resonated.
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