Hart Hunter

First Date

Shawn couldn't remember the last time he was this nervous before a first date. Then again, he couldn't remember when he'd last been on a real first date. Not some casual thing, but something more meaningful. Even without Maya complicating everything, this date with Katy felt like something with potential. Throw Maya in, and Shawn might have been freaking out. What should he wear? Should he be fashionably late, or was that not cool anymore? Did guys still pay for everything on dates, or would that get her talking about charity again? Maybe they should split everything so she doesn't have a reason to be annoyed with him? Unless the fact that it was a date meant that if he didn't take the check she'd be mad? Was he overthinking this? Probably. Did he know how to stop? Definitely not.

After trying on about a dozen different outfits, Shawn settled for a light blue button up and navy blue blazer. Staring at himself in the bathroom mirror, Shawn had to resist the urge to bang his head on the wall. Why did dating suck so very much anyway? Putting yourself out there over and over again, without a single guarantee sucked. And of course there was Maya. If Shawn screwed this up he couldn't help but feel like it would cost him Maya. He knew rationally that Katy had never tried to stop him from spending time with her daughter, and yet the stupid feeling persisted.

"New plan," Shawn told his reflection. "Separate the two. Go out with Katy. Don't think about Maya." Shawn felt like he'd been very firm with himself and hoped it would work.

Shawn checked the time. If he left now he'd been only about... an hour early. Yeah, probably not a good idea. Best to distract himself a little before. He could watch tv or read something, maybe tidy or work. He had photos to enhance and blogs to write. Yes, lots of ways that he could kill some time so he wasn't embarrously early.

And Shawn tried all of them, but within moments he realized he was good for nothing but pacing back and forth. This was ridiculous. He'd seen Katy so many times already. He should not be this nervous! Finally, Shawn decided to screw it and just left. Early was better than ancy, and he was definitely overthinking it.

It was a relief to be in motion. Shawn drove the long way there, and then Shawn parked near the food truck. He turned off the engine but didn't get out of the car. This was just as good a place to wait than any. The park they'd decided to meet at was beautiful today, with the sun shining from above and birds chirping in the trees. Shawn took a deep breath and realized that being here was actually calming him down. He'd made the right call in not staying home to pace. Of course, being so early meant he'd skipped breakfast, and the food truck was looking mighty appealing. Katy wouldn't be here for another half hour so Shawn got out and went to get a hot sandwich.

As he ate, Shawn walked through the park, taking in the trees, engraved benches, and children playing far off in the distance. Sitting on one of the benches, Shawn read the engraving. It read 'In memory of Linda and Andrew's 60 years of marriage.'

"Laugh in my face why don't you," Shawn told the bench. "I bet you two were last generations Cory and Topanga. This Linda probably loved him from middle school and gave up Yale for him... unless maybe it was Andrew who got in. You know change it up a little. Either way, you two were probably pretty darn happy for those six decades and now you get a bench... if I'm lucky I'll get a pencil. A cheap pencil that would probably just said 'SH-Best friend to happiness, but sucked at it himself.'" He paused, and then added a little pathetically. "There's no need to include more than his initials because it's the other people with the interesting story you want to hear about, and we both know it."

"Kinda long for an engraving."

Shawn froze, his heart suddenly hammering. Oh no.

"Especially on a tiny pencil."

If ever he wished there was a moment when the earth would swallow him whole, it was this one. Shawn didn't dare turn round.

He heard gentle laughter before she spoke again. "Are you pretending I'm not here?" Shawn nodded, but then with a sudden jolt of bravery, he turned to see Katy standing a few feet behind him.