Old Me

19 - Dinner

I stepped onto the porch and following Michael to his car. Like a gentleman, he opened the door for me and waited until I was seated before gently closing the door. I buckled my seat belt while he walked around the car and got in.

He placed his keys into the ignition and started the car.

"You look beautiful by the way," he said pausing to look at me while fastening his seat belt.

"Thank you," I said knowing I was probably blushing like a tomato.

He looked good too. He was wearing a pair of ripped skinny jeans and a loose hoodie. His hair looked freshly cut as his fade was smoother than it was yesterday. And his facial hair was trimmed.

His Cologne was musky and the smell was comforting as we drove down my street.

"So, what movie did you decide on?" he asked, glancing over at me at the red light.

"I thought you were going to choose, no?"

"Well, I don't know what kind of movies you like, and I didn't want to choose something you wouldn't really enjoy."

"Well, I like action. Or rom-com. Sometimes comedy. Depends on the cast."

"Okay...okay...how about Guardians of the Galaxy? Did you ever watch any of those?"

"Yeah...sorry."

"Um, okay no worries. What about Late Night?"

"Um, who's in that one?"

"The actor from The Office, Mindy Kaling. It came out a while ago, but it looks really good. She, Mindy Kaling, actually wrote it I think."

"Okay, yeah, that sounds good. It's a comedy I'm assuming?"

"Yeah, comedy."

"Okay, cool," I tried to pay attention to where we were driving so I could see where he lived.

I was getting nervous and was sweating despite the cool temperature of the car.

A silence fell between us, and of course, my stomach decided to growl obnoxiously causing Michael to laugh.

"Hungry?"

"Yeah," I said, embarrassed that my stomach had to be so loud.

"Well, good. Because so am I. Do you have any requests? I was thinking Chinese, but honestly, anything is good with me."

"No, Chinese sounds good to me. Are we going to order in or pick it up?"

"I was thinking we could order in, but pick up would definitely be faster."

"Okay, sure."

"Awesome," he said nodding.

I watched discreetly as he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to some beat in his head while he drove.

"You know you're pretty cute when you're staring," Mikey said smirking at me.

"What? I wasn't staring, I was just observing," I said laughing as if he was joking.

God, Bea, can you be any more creepy. I wiped my sweaty palms and stared at the road.

"I'm teasing you know," he said softly, "I like making you squirm."

We pulled into a parking lot and found a space near what I assumed was the restaurant we were going to be eating from, Mandarin Wok. Once the car was in park, I unbuckled my seat belt and climbed out of the car before he could open my door for me. I swung my purse across my chest and waited for Michael to lead the way.