I was ready to go at 7:30, sitting in the living room wearing a pink off-the-shoulder sweater and some nice khakis with my essential black boots. I was nervous, only half paying attention to the show that Gwen was watching. Another trashy MTV dating show, “Next” I think. Even though I would have normally been entertained by it, all I could think of was how petrified I was.
“Would you calm down? You’re making me nervous!” Gwen exclaimed, giving me an exasperated look as I unknowingly tapped my foot loudly against our hardwood floors.
“I’m sorry, I’ve just never been on a real date before. Like a date-date!”
“You’ll be fine. Just be yourself. He’s obviously interested, so just be the Esme we love and you’ll be great! Maybe you’ll even get a kiss good-night!” she teased, poking my side. I shot her a look and rolled my eyes.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. We talked for the first time ever a few days ago, I don’t see kissing in my near future.”
“But I’ll bet you’ve thought about it,” she smiled. I couldn’t help but return her grin as I leaned back and sunk into the cushion behind me.
“He has the most gorgeous lips I’ve ever seen. Especially his bottom lip. Holy shit, I want his mouth all over my body.”
“Whoa there, tiger! What did you just say about getting ahead of ‘ourselves’,” she mocked, making quotation marks in the air with her fingers. I reached over to lazily slap at her before smiling and closing my eyes.
“I said nothing about my sick day dreams… and night dreams.”
“I’ll let you have your dreams. Just don’t tell me about them,” she said, turning the volume down a bit, “But I for one can’t wait to meet this boy! I think I’ve probably seen him around campus, but I never really noticed him. Good thing for you we have contrasting taste in men.”
“But we can at least admit the attractiveness of each other’s lusty objects. Like Braeden… definitely doable.” Gwen laughed loudly and threw a pillow in my direction.
“That gorgeous hunk of man is all mine!”
“I know! I’m just saying that while he isn’t necessarily the type I usually go for, I will admit that he’s very attractive.”
“Fine,” she said with a laugh, turning the volume back up and sitting back. I loved how comfortable Gwen and I were talking to each other. Our banter had developed nicely throughout the course of our friendship.
As I was sitting there, distracting myself by thinking about my friendship with Gwen, a knock sounded from the front door. Gwen and I looked at each other before silently standing. I primped quickly, turning upside-down and shaking my head, attempting to fluff my straightened hair. Gwen smoothed it for me and checked me over before giving me a thumbs up and sitting back down, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. I made my way to the door taking deep breaths and counted to five before opening the door.
There he stood, looking amazing in a pair of nice dark jeans, a navy button up shirt, and a dark brown jacket. My breath caught in my throat and for a second I thought I was going to start stuttering or something. Thankfully he saved me and spoke first.
“Hi Esme. You look beautiful,” he said, giving me a big smile. I felt all of my nerves melting away as I looked at him.
“Thanks. You look great,” I said, stepping aside and pulling the door wider, “Come on in while I get my coat.” He smiled and came inside. Gwen couldn’t help but turn around sneakily to get a look at him. “This is my roommate Gwen. Gwen, this is Zac.”
“Hi, Gwen. It’s nice to meet you,” he said politely, giving a little wave in her direction.
“It’s nice to meet you, too. Take good care of my roomie tonight,” she said.
“Gwen,” I warned under my breath as I snatched my purse off the back of the couch. I heard Zac laugh quietly behind me.
“Will do. I’ll bring her back in one piece,” he said before turning to me, “Are you ready to go?” I nodded, hopefully not too enthusiastically and followed him out the door, trying to ignore the overly aggressive thumbs up Gwen started waving around in the air with both hands after Zac had entered the hallway.
“So, where are you taking me tonight?” I asked, falling into step beside him. He looked sideways at me and grinned.
“Now why would I tell you that? It would ruin the surprise,” he said dramatically. I laughed.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was a surprise,” I teased, looking up at him. He was so tall next to me, I couldn’t help but think of what it would be like to be held by him. As my mind started to shift to a daydream, I remembered Will Smith telling Kevin James in “Hitch” that day dreams were for private time. Maybe hiring a date doctor wouldn’t be such a bad idea…
“Well it is,” he stated as he opened the car door for me. Point number one of the night earned by Zac. He opened doors. No guy I had ever dated had opened a car door for me. I climbed into his black Scion and watched as he closed the door and trotted around the back of the vehicle to get to his own side. He opened the door and climbed in, looking at me before turning the key.
“Are you taking me to our special place?” I asked, smiling goofily at him. He chuckled and pulled away from the curb.
“Yes, I’m taking you to the library,” he said, “Now will you just sit back and enjoy the drive?”
“I am enjoying it. I just want to know where you’re taking me.”
“I’m taking you to a nice dinner at the old folk’s buffet, and then we’re going to clean out dog kennels at the pound. Would you just wait and find out? Geez,” he laughed, “Has anyone ever told you that you’re kind of a pain in the ass?” I feigned shock.
“No, they most certainly have not! I’m a perfect angel and everyone says so.”
“Oh no you’re not. I’ve seen you at parties, you’re no angel.” Huh?
“You’ve seen me at parties? When?”
“All this fall. Out there on the dance floor getting freaky.” I had no idea what to say. Sure, I’d seen him at parties, but he hadn’t even known I existed then, right?
“You’re such a liar.”
“Are you denying attending parties?”
“No, I’m just shocked that you noticed me there. I didn’t think… never mind.”
“Uh-uh. What were you going to say?” Shit.
“I just figured that even though I’d been noticing you, that you hadn’t been noticing me, too.” I was suddenly unable to concentrate my eyes on anything other than the handle of my purse.
“Why wouldn’t I have noticed you? You were my library buddy!”
“Yeah, whom you didn’t speak with until, um, this week,” I teased.
“I know, I was just waiting for an opportunity to do so, and you provided it when you toppled onto my table,” he laughed. I put my face in my hands.
“I was really hoping that that wouldn’t come up. I was just a little nervous, and my big feet got in my way.”
“Why were you nervous?”
“Noooo reason,” I said, looking out the window only to find his reflection looking at me.
“It’s okay. I thought you were cute, too,” he said, attempting to ease my nerves. I glanced over my shoulder at him.
“I never said I thought you were cute,” I smiled, turning back to sit in my seat properly.
“Oh, you didn’t have to. I saw you staring at me all the time.”
“Well, that means that you were looking at me, too, so where does that leave us?”
“At the very beginning, Esme. At the very beginning,” he said cheesily, putting the car in park. I hadn’t even realized that we’d stopped. I turned to look out the window and couldn’t help it as my mouth stretched into a huge smile. “Is this okay?”
“It’s perfect. How’d you know it’s my favorite?” His mouth dropped open.
“This restaurant can’t be your favorite. It’s my favorite! I discovered this place!” With that he got out of the car. I almost reached for the door handle when I remembered that I was out on a date with a guy who was actually a gentleman. He opened my door and reached out his hand to help me out. I took it and stepped out. Point two of the evening. He really was doing well so far.
“Well, it is pretty out of the way, but the food is so good, and the-”
“Breadsticks! Olive Garden can kiss this place’s ass!” he interrupted. I didn’t mind. I loved how casual he was being with me. If this relationship went anywhere, I knew it could at least head towards a friendship, and while that wasn’t want I wanted per say, it was definitely better than nothing. He placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me towards the front door. We entered ‘Gallo’s,’ and Zac went immediately to the hostess, asking for a table for two.
They seated us in a secluded corner, obviously picking up on the fact that we were on a date. Zac looked like a little kid about to get his favorite candy when they placed the basket of breadsticks in the middle of our table with a bottle of red wine. He told them that we needed some time to look at the menus and with that we were alone again.
“Do you want some wine?” he asked, picking up the bottle and tipping it in my direction.
“I’d love some, thanks,” I replied, watching him as he carefully filled our glasses. He was eyeing the breadsticks, but was clearly waiting to take one out of politeness. “Should we crack open this basket?”
“I think we definitely should,” he said, unfolding the napkin that covered the breadsticks. We each took one and began idly chatting for a few minutes while we ate and drank our wine. I felt the warmth from the wine spread through my body after only half of a glass. Wine was a weakness for me. I made a mental note to not have much more.
“So Esme. What’s your major?” he asked, obviously knowing that the question was corny, but also wanting to know the answer nonetheless.
“Psychology.”
“So you want to be a psychologist or a psychiatrist?”
“A psychologist. I like talking to people and I don’t want to be responsible for people’s medication. That’s not my thing. So I’ll be headed for grad school after graduation.”
“Me too. I have to figure out what the hell to do with a History major.”
“Aww. You could teach, or write books, or…”
“Yeah, exactly,” he laughed, “But I can’t help that it’s what I’m passionate about. I love finding the ways that history repeats itself. I’ve always thought it was fascinating.” I couldn’t help but just sit there and smile at him. He suddenly looked embarrassed. “I sound like a huge nerd, don’t I?” I shook my head.
“No, I find it refreshing, actually. To find someone so passionate about their major. I feel like a lot of people just choose a major because they have to, not because it’s what they eat, sleep, and breathe. Hell, I’m not even sure I feel that way about Psychology.”
“Then why have you stuck with it?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I love my major. I’ve liked all of my clinic work and love my classes, I’m just not sure that it’s my passion.”
“You’ll find it,” he said. We chatted throughout the entire meal, getting to know each other better. I learned that he had two brothers, he was from another Chicago suburb, just like I was, and that his favorite movie was ‘Armageddon.’ He learned that I was an only child and that my favorite movie was, embarrassingly enough, ‘Titanic.’ I had received only a little bit of teasing for that one. Dinner went off without a hitch. I didn’t even spill anything on myself, a big accomplishment. He paid and we headed back out towards his car. Once we were inside, he turned it on and then turned towards me.
“Where to now?” he asked, his cheeks pink from the winds that had just picked up and the wine we had drank.
“There’s more?”
“You’d better believe it! It’s only ten. I’m not letting you go home yet, I’m having too good a time.”
“Me too. I have to say, I don’t care what else we do, this has already been great.”
“Hmm. Well, I’d say that we could go for a walk or something, but it’s getting kind of cold. We could go out for a drink or we could do something fun.”
“Ooh! Like bowling?” He laughed.
“I think bowling sounds perfect. But I must tell you, I am a very excellent bowler.”
“There’s no way for you to be better than me. Didn’t I mention that I’m minoring in bowling?”
“No, you must have skipped that part.” With that, we were off to the closest bowling alley. After donning the grotesque shoes and choosing bowling balls, we headed for our lane and got situated. Zac entered our names in the computer and I was up to bowl. The truth of the level of my bowling skill was quickly revealed as it went almost immediately into the gutter. I was terrible and always had been.
“What happened to the bowling pro?” he laughed, picking up his ball and smiling at me as we passed.
“Okay, so maybe I’m not quite as good as I let on.” He bowled and only got one pin. “And apparently neither are you.” He came to sit beside me, our legs touching due to the closeness of the seats. It suddenly got very warm in the bowling alley.
“And how macho would I have seemed if I had told you that I’m the worst bowler in my family. Ike, my oldest brother, he’s the best. Taylor, my other brother, is almost as bad as I am.”
“What are they like? Anything like you?”
“Why, want to know in case we don’t work out?” Work out? He was thinking longer term than tonight? Maybe I was scoring points in his book as well.
“No, I’m just curious,” I said, unable to stop the blush from taking over my cheeks.
“Well, Ike is a stock broker. I have no idea what that entails, I don’t understand a word of what he tells me about his job. I’m not business minded at all. Taylor is in grad school for English. He’s always been the nerd of the family.”
“It sounds like you’re all really different.”
“We are, but we work… for the most part. They actually room together in a condo and I usually stay there over breaks. My parents are great but it’s great to just visit them and spend the rest of the time with Tay and Ike.”
“I understand. Since it’s just me and my parents I don’t get that luxury. They’re good for the most part, but I get sick of the typical questions.”
“How’s school?” he chimed in.
“How’s your roommate?”
“Why aren’t you dating anyone?” he said, a tinge of bitterness to his voice.
“You get that one, too?” He nodded.
“I haven’t dated much here at Harper. I haven’t had the best of luck for the last few years.”
“Me either. I was starting to get a bit jaded. I’m glad you saved me from that.”
“I’m glad, too,” he said, “It’s your turn.” I smiled and stood before bowling yet another gutter ball. We bowled a frame and then headed out. He drove me back to my apartment and even walked me up to my door. I searched my purse for my keys as we started down my hallway.
“I had a really great time tonight, Esme.” He looked so sincere and sweet I almost couldn’t stand it.
“Me too. Thanks for asking me out.”
“Do you think we can do it again sometime?” he asked as we stopped in front of my door.
“Definitely. I’d be disappointed if we didn’t,” I said honestly. He breathed a sigh of relief.
“I was hoping you’d say that. Good night. I’ll see you on Monday,” he said, leaning forward to press a kiss to my cheek.
“Good night, Zac,” I replied, wanting nothing more than to touch my hand to the place he had just kissed. I used self-restraint and unlocked my door instead. He was halfway down the hallway when he turned around.
“Esme! I almost forgot!” he said, running down the hall back towards me, “Can I have your number?” He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at me hopefully.
“Of course!” I rattled off the numbers to him and we said good-bye again. This time he left for real and I finally pushed open the door. I closed it behind me and leaned up against it.
“Wow…” was all I could say to myself. I could hear Gwen shriek something unintelligible from her room before running out towards me. I gave her the rundown and couldn’t stop grinning the entire time.
“Do you think he’ll ask you out again?” she asked, staring at me wide-eyed and expectantly.
“He already asked me if it would be okay if we went out again and he asked for my number.” She shrieked again, this time practically attacking me with a hug.
“I knew it!” she exclaimed, hugging me again. I just smiled, glad of her confidence. I hadn’t been so sure as to how the date would go. I had been worried that Zac wouldn’t live up to the expectation I had developed of him in my mind. I wanted so badly for him to be wonderful, and he had been. He really had been.