Good Things

dates & planes

I chose a simple, brown, suede dress and white sneakers. I wasn't thrilled to see Evan again, but I had left my number and brought it on myself. Regardless, I had been eager to see what was in store.
"Good brunchtime ma'lady," Evan greets me as he opens the cafe door.
"Good brunchtime to you as well, sir," I tease.
We go inside to a small booth near the window. As the time edges closer to order, I begin to sweat. Evan doesn't seem to notice, his brow furrowed at the menu.
"Hello! I'm Renee I'll be your server. What will you have to drink?" The overly enthusiastic waitress looks me dead in the eye.
"Oh. Um I'll just have water. Thanks," I smile.
"And I'll have a Dr. Pepper please," Evan mumbles without looking up from the menu.
"Okay those will be right out!"
I feel Evan's eyes on me as I watch the waitress walk away.
"Yes?" I raise my eyebrows.
"You look so much prettier when I'm not drunk," Evan grins as he continues to stare. "You look different, you act different. It's intriguing to me. I've never met someone quite like you," he puts his hand on his chin.
"I hope it's good," I nervously force out a chuckle.
He smiles back at me with every single star in his eyes.
The waitress comes back with the same enthusiasm, plus drinks.
"Who's ready to order?"
"Um I am. I'll have the double cheeseburger and a small fry please," he closes his menu and hands it to the woman.
"And for you dear?" She looks at me expectantly.
"Oh. I'm not hungry. Thank you," I fold up my menu and turn to see Evan looking baffled and concerned. The waitress nods her head and scurries to the kitchen with our order.
"Are you sick? I can take you home," he offers.
"No I'm just not hungry," I lie.
"Who goes to a cafe on a date and doesn't get anything to eat?" He laughs to himself and nudges my hand a little. I force a laugh.

The rest of the date runs smoothly, Evan only makes the occasional joke or pickup line. We laugh and laugh until I think I'm gonna be sick.

"Okay, okay. Stop please," I beg him in between laughing fits.
"I'm just saying. Goats don't like professional skaters," he throws his hands up in fake submission.
"Oh no," I say as I begin to laugh harder. "Stop!" I plead as pains take over my abdomen. People have begun to look our way as Evan and I continue laughing. He puts one finger to his mouth as he tries to calm us both down. Our loud giggles slowly dissolve into smaller, quieter ones. When our laughter dies out completely, he reaches across the table to me.
"I really like you Josephine," he says.
"I really like you too, Evan," I blurt out. I quickly look away from his dead-on eye contact.
"Would you be interested in going on a second date? There's a small movie theater nearby and we could grab dinner before watching a movie," he suggests with expectant eyes.
"I would love to, but our plane takes off tomorrow afternoon at three."
"Bummer. Where do you live?"
"Arizona. Very lovely place," I mumble, upset about leaving.
"Where in Arizona?" He questions persistently.
"Uh, Glendale."
"Do you know where Tempe, Arizona is?"
"Yeah, my university is there."
"I live there!" He exclaims a little too loudly.
"Wow. Who would've guessed," I smile.
"We could see each other there," he grabs my hand eagerly. "My friends and I go home on Thursday. That's two days away. We could have dinner on the ninth!" He squeezes my hand.
"Yeah that would be awesome!" I say, excitement filling me. It seems as though fate doesn't want us to just be a little fling. 
He sits back, still holding my hand, and closes his eyes. After several awkward minutes, he sits back up and opens his eyes.
"What was that?"
"I was imagining me and you," he remains casual, as if it's totally normal.
"Oh," I give him an awkward smile.
The waitress brings us our check and Evan whips out his wallet to pay for his meal. We stroll out of the diner, hand in hand. As I climb into my car, Evan leans through my open window and kisses my cheek. I feel the redness in my cheeks spread and we say our goodbyes. He jumps into his beat up pickup truck and waves. It takes three tries for the engine to start, and Evan Gatton drives away.

The next morning at four, I throw on my swimsuit and bike to the beach. I lay out my towel and my water bottle and run to the crashing sound of the waves. Still too dark to see, I feel the sway of the water around me. When I begin my walk back to shore, the first light of the day is breaking the horizon. I lay in the sand and feel it against my skin for a while. When the sun is fully above the horizon, I walk back to the water, rinse off, and leave the beach.
When I arrive back at the hotel room, Savana is sprawled out on the bed, her blonde waves in a tangle. Amily sits at the desk on her laptop with a mug of coffee in hand.
"Hey. Where have you been?" She doesn't even look up.
"The beach."
"Ah. I heard you leave but Savana isn't responsible enough to be left alone," she jokes. "I totally understand."
"Our flight leaves earlier than we thought," Amily looks at her computer with a concerned expression. "It was scheduled for three on our tickets but there's no flights leaving at three on the website. We're gonna have to leave here at seven if we're gonna make it to the airport early enough to figure out what's going on." The clock read 6:30 a.m.
"SAVANA! FLASH SALE AT VICTORIA'S SECRET!" Amily yells. Savana jumps out of bed and begins getting dressed almost immediately. Amily barely suppresses laughter and her face grows redder the more Savana rushes.
"What time does it end?!!" Savana panics, "I won't be ready in time!"
"We have to leave at seven!" I pretend to be eager about the fake sale.
Savana begins rummaging through her suitcase in a tizzy. "Get in the car! I'll be out in five!" She practically hisses. She throws on a pair of blue stilettos, keeping up her typical dressy style. Amily and I look at each other and laugh.
"What's funny?"
"There's no sale," Amily finishes her words just to in time for her laugh to break loose. Savana stands, shoulders slumped, looking confused.
"Explain."
"We have to leave for the airport at seven. Our flight got changed and we needed you to hurry and get dressed," I explain through giggles. Savana grabs clothes off the floor and throws them into her suitcase without saying a word. We make one quick run through to be sure we have all of our things, and walk out of our hotel.
"You guys are really cruel, you know that?" Amily and I just look at each other and smile.
We board our plane and jet off to home.