Zac
My palms were sweaty and I was so glad I had a jacket on to cover up the underarm sweat I was sure had sprung up on the walk to Kennedy’s shop. I was early, of course. I was always early to things, and my brothers were always late. So, I had gotten pretty used to waiting around for them. But this was different. I was sure she was already a little wary of this date, what with me being so secretive about myself and all, and the last thing I wanted to do was show up ten minutes early like an overeager loser. So, I went in a nearby Starbucks and picked up some mints in case I chose something particularly pungent to eat for dinner. I wasn’t planning on kissing her, but even talking could get bad in that situation. I forced that thought from my mind and walked around the block a few more times, being sure not to walk in front of her shop, not that she would know what I looked like anyway.
At one minute until seven, I stopped in front of a closed bank with reflective windows to be sure that my hair was appropriately disheveled looking and that I didn’t have any food on my face and my zipper was up. Once I had passed my own inspection, I took a deep breath and started down the street. I stepped in front of her shop, taking in the window display full of interestingly dressed mannequins in vintage-wear and breathed deeply. My hand closed over the doorknob and I pulled the door towards me so I could step inside. The place looked empty and only the security lights were on, enough to keep the shop lit at night to ward off intruders, but not enough to make it feel homey. I cleared my throat, but no one responded.
“Hello?” I called out, “Kennedy?” I heard heels clicking in the back of the store and then she appeared in the doorway that led to a back room. She looked exactly like her picture with reddish brown shoulder length hair, fantastically quirky fashion sense, and a little half smile. A smile that dropped as soon as she saw me.
In those first few seconds, I just knew that she thought I was hideous. I should have worn something different. I probably looked like a slob. Who in the hell would wear Converse sneakers on a first date; never mind the fact that I wore a brand new nice pair of jeans, button-up shirt, and a dress blazer. I had thought that I looked good, that I looked like me but-
“You’re Zac Hanson,” she said, her light blue eyes open wide. I waited for her to breathe and had to wait for almost thirty seconds before she shook her head as if trying to wake herself and she laughed, “I’m sorry, that just wasn’t what I was expecting your secret to be.”
“Thought I was deformed or a serial rapist or something?” I asked with a little laugh.
“Those were two of the options, yes,” she said, grabbing her purse from behind the counter and coming forward with her hand extended, “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” I replied, shaking her hand. Honestly, I was a little surprised that she had recognized me so quickly. It wasn’t like we were on MTV all the time any more. Our fan base was big and strong, but ever since we’d gone the indie route, we just hadn’t cared about the mass public exposure any more. What it meant to me was that she just might have listened to our music before, which was definitely interesting. Had I really gone through all the trouble of joining and paying for eHarmony when the first girl I went out with might be a fan anyway?
“It’s so strange, I just read an article about your band the other day. That’s why I recognized you,” she explained, “No offense, but I really didn’t know that you guys were still making music.” I could feel the relief flood through my body. It wasn’t that I would have written her off if she was a fan, but knowing that she wasn’t made things feel so much better.
“A lot of people don’t, and we’re okay with that. We love making the music we want to make and we have a lot of fans who support us, and they get new people hooked on us as well,” I said as headed out of the store. I watched as she locked up the shop.
“Well, I guess I’ll have to check it out now,” she said. I nodded as we kept walking, “So, where do you want to go for dinner?”
“I don’t know this area very well. Any suggestions? I’m up for pretty much anything,” I told her, immediately wishing that I would have looked up SoHo restaurants online to at least have a few suggestions. We’d decided to play things by ear, but now I was afraid that I was coming off as a little too nonchalant.
“Would you be into a place like this?” she asked as we passed a particularly stuffy looking restaurant. I peeked in the window and shook my head at her.
“Do I really look like the kind of guy who would want to eat at a place like that?” I asked with a laugh, gesturing to my outfit, “I don’t think I’d even make the dress code.”
“Well, do you like Asian food?” she asked, a smile forming on her lips. Before I knew what was happening, I was squeezed in the back corner booth of Mooncake Foods eating edamame and waiting for my charred hanger steak to arrive. The restaurant was crazy and I loved it. And better yet, I was really liking Kennedy. She was funny and told me all about her family and her sister’s perfect family. She told me about opening her shop and how she’d gotten on the map. I heard about her crazy best friend Russ and all of the insane blind dates he’d set her up on over the years. And in return I told her about our last tour, my crazy huge family, my strange living situation being just down the hall from my brothers, and then I told her about how why I had joined eHarmony. I’d already heard her answer to that question, so I thought it was only fair that I do the same for her.
“It’s just really hard for me to have anyone willing to give me a chance to show them who I really am. So I thought that eHarmony would be a good way to try. I really am sorry about how secretive I had to be, but I just wanted to make sure that anyone who looked at my profile gave me a fair chance. And I’m really glad you did,” I told her, watching as she took a bite of her tuna burger.
“I’m glad I did, too. I was really nervous about tonight, about the whole eHarmony thing in general, actually. I didn’t want to admit that I needed it, but I really did. Russ was definitely right. Again,” she laughed.
“I was afraid to tell people that I had signed up. Afraid they’d think I was-“ I started.
“Desperate? Or pathetic?” she interrupted. I nodded. “I was worried about the same things. I mean, I know that online dating doesn’t have the same stigma it used to have, but there are still people who get weird about it. I just wanted to give it a try and see where it got me.”
“Me too. And I definitely didn’t expect to find someone I wanted to meet in person so soon.”
“Same,” she said, looking down at her empty plate.
“You’re not too disappointed, are you? In me, I mean,” I asked.
“Why on earth would I be disappointed?” she queried, sounding kind of offended. I rushed to clarify.
“I just meant that as much as I want to be, I’m not just some random guy. I guess I would just hate for you to be scared off before we have a chance to really get to know one another, because I’m having a really good time. I like talking to you. The fact that you’re ridiculously pretty doesn’t hurt things either.” She flushed red, obviously a little embarrassed at my compliment, but I wouldn’t have taken it back for anything. She was pretty, and smart, just like she’d seemed from her profile.
“I’m not scared off. Not yet at least,” she teased, “It’s so funny, though. You look almost exactly the way I imagined you would, just from your profile.”
“Really?” I asked curiously. She nodded.
“Only, I thought you’d have longer hair. And now that I know who you are, I’m really surprised it’s so short,” she said.
“Yeah yeah,” I said, laughing despite myself. I usually hated when people gave me a hard time about not having long hair anymore, but for some reason, it didn’t bother me that Kennedy had done so. I could tell that she was nervous to be on our date. I was, too. But something about her seemed so effortless. I could just tell that even though it was our first date, she felt as comfortable with me as I felt with her. Part of me wanted to delve into the wide variety of crazy stories I had, but knew that I needed to keep many of those locked away for a later date. I had the feeling that there was going to be a second date and I needed to have things to talk about when that happened.
When it came that pivotal point in the night when neither of us could pretend to be picking at the scraps of food left on our plates, we were forced to leave the restaurant and either find something else to do or go home. It was after ten o’clock already I found when I checked the time on my cell phone after depositing my wallet back in the inside pocket of my jacket after paying for dinner. I wasn’t really surprised, though, because we’d been talking nonstop since we sat down.
Talking to Kennedy was easy. I felt like I could tell her anything and did tell her a few stories that it had taken me months to tell some of my past girlfriends. I just got the vibe from her that she wouldn’t judge me, and unless she was the best faker in the world, she didn’t.
We stood outside the restaurant and I watched the way the slight breeze tousled her hair. She kept absentmindedly pushing it back into place as we talked, trying to decide if we wanted to do anything else.
“Oh god, it’s almost ten thirty!” she exclaimed, looking down at the thin silver watch on her wrist, “I’m so sorry, I have to go. We get new inventory in tomorrow morning and I have to be at the shop at six.”
“New inventory day? That sounds pretty exciting,” I laughed, “The unpacking boxes and all, I mean.”
“I’m used to it by now,” she shrugged with a little smile, “And I make Russ do all the dirty work of lugging things in from the trucks.”
“Well, at least you guys have a system,” I said, and then I started to feel really sad. I did not want this date to end. I took a deep breath and prepared to be brave. “I really want to see you again soon. Would that be okay?”
“Absolutely,” she said, “When?”
“Would it be okay if I brought lunch into your shop for us some time this week?” I suggested.
“That sounds great. How about Thursday?”
“I’ll be there,” I smiled.
“So what are you going to bring me?” she asked. I shook my head and shoved my hands in my pockets.
“It’s a surprise. You picked this place so the next one’s all mine. You don’t have any food allergies I should worry about, do you?”
“Nothing I’m aware of,” she said, “I’m really not picky.” I didn’t know what to do next. Was it right for me to give her a hug? It was definitely too soon for a kiss, even though I would not have been opposed had she initiated. But she just stuck out her hand and smiled at me. When I took it, she stepped forward and brushed her lips gently against my cheek. She smelled like vanilla.
“I’m really glad we were matched,” I said, knowing it was terribly cheesy, but meaning it wholeheartedly.
“So am I. And I’m glad we’re seeing each other again this week. I had a great time tonight and wish it could last longer but-“
“I completely understand,” I interjected, not wanting her to keep feeling bad.
“Well, there’s a cab. I should get going,” she said, “Nice to meet you, Zac Hanson.”
“No longer the mystery man,” I chuckled. She shook her head lightly before biting down on her bottom lip a bit.
“I’ll see you on Wednesday,” she said, moving to open the back door.
“I thought we said Thursday.”
“Let’s make it Wednesday,” she smiled shyly, looking suddenly very introspective, as if the comfortable bubble we’d been living in for the last three hours had popped.
“Wednesday it is,” I told her, “Goodnight, Kennedy.”
“Goodnight, Zac,” she replied and with that, she was in the cab and driving away. I started to make my way to the subway, wishing that I could remember every word we’d spoken, but so much of it was a total blur. I had butterflies for the first time in a very long while and I resisted the urge to call Matt to tell him how the date had gone. It felt somehow like I had to tell someone or it hadn’t happened. All my strange feelings about eHarmony were now gone and I had to laugh to myself as I headed down the stairs from the sidewalk. The system really did work on some level. I didn’t know if Kennedy and I would date for a long time, or if we’d become serious. But we were definitely compatible in a lot of ways. I hadn’t had that easy of a conversation with a woman in years and it seemed that a lot of our ideals and beliefs were aligned.
I sat down in a seat next to a door and thought about what I would take when I met her on Wednesday for our second date and smiled even bigger, if that was possible. I had been the one to request the second date, but she had suggested it happen earlier.
“I guess she thinks we’re pretty compatible, too,” I thought to myself as the subway churned to life and started to take me home.