Walking the Gallows ✔️

Chapter 4

Her home was a lot more spectacular than he had expected. It was a big cream house made of brick and concrete. There was even a fountain in the center of the driveway. The hedges were neatly trimmed as if they were only freshly cut. Vines from the trees ran up the side of the house elegantly. She also had a garden but it was more for flowers than fruit. Andy smiled wondering if she were the one that tended to them.

It had been five minutes since Andy had pulled up to her house in his new car. He stayed outside the gates, not wanting alarm Charlotte of his arrival. He followed the general protocol of first dates: flowers in hand, shaved face, dressed in a suit, some unusual clear liquid in his hair that flattened it to the side and made it gleam in the light. He turned with his back to the house to lean over the door of the car as he broke into a nervous sweat. The bundle of flowers fell to the back seat of the car as he puffed in and out the crisp air.

A part of him wanted to flee from the situation as he recalled a time as a teenager when he first went on a date. The girl had given him the wrong address on purpose, and he waited until the police had been called when the real owner of the house had noticed him lurking at the property. He never really knew why the girl did it. Maybe for some game she wanted to play, it could have even been a way to stay well away from her. Either way, he never spoke to her again. The twisted joke had knotted itself in Andy's stomach every time he thought back to it. Surely nothing as childish would happen with Charlotte. After all, she approached him first.

His mind went a million miles per minute, considering every part of his attire and entrance. His suit was an almost black colored blue and a necktie to match. The jacket was buttoned in two places in his midsection. He had rechecked it almost as many times as he had checked his shoes and hair. As well-dressed as he was, nothing could shield Charlotte from his short height. She would notice that for sure. His dress shoes had a slight heel but it wasn't more than a quarter of an inch. His freshly shaved face also revealed a very baby-faced man. Without a stubble, he looked no more than twenty-five years of age.

"Andy?" The voice gave him a sudden jolt that leaped him back into reality. He turned around surprised and stopped as he came face to face with his date. She gave him a small but genuine smile as her eyes took him in.

"You could have parked by the house, silly." Andy smiled, his mouth still partially ajar from shock. His eyes gazed at her beautiful curly brown locks and dinner dress. There was something different about her eyes. They were outlined in something that made her stare so much more intense. She was a glorious sight to see.

She made a gesture with her hands pointing to the car, but he couldn't quite comprehend in his star-struck state. She giggled at his goofiness, and he felt his cheeks go even redder. He noticed how his heartbeat pulsated through his neck as she took his hand and used it to open the passenger seat door. Andy was mortified. Formality was a very old subject to him and had evolved into something closer to an alien. He sighed silently to regain some confidence before walking back to the driver's seat.

It was as he was pulling onto the road he realized the smell. A flower he couldn't quite place had blessed her with its scent. It swept over him and the car despite it being a subtle scent. He wondered silently where she had applied to herself. Did she use a spray bottle? Did it stick to her clothes? Or was she one of the women who lightly dabbed it behind her ears and neck? Andy smiled with a mixture of anxiety and excitement while he drove.

He hadn't noticed her hand move to lightly graze and draw patterns over his pant leg. Her sudden touch almost made him jolt the car off the side of the road. Her forwardness had made a lump form in his throat and the beats of his heart quicken. Part of him felt as though he were having a heart attack. In his panic, he was curious to know whether her lightly blushed cheeks even compared to his now reddened face.