Blind Date

Chapter 1 • Just A Number

After changing my outfit four times, I scrutinize the final product in my full-length mirror. I'm hoping my size twenty jeans that promise to flatter in all the right places, a pretty lace-embellished blouse and my comfortable platform sandals will make an understated wow.

I check out my makeup one last time, fixing a small lip gloss smudge and I give a satisfied nod to my five-foot-four reflection. My phone dings and I walk over to my desk where it's been charging. I clear the notification informing me that my driver is out front and I grab my purse.

"Here goes nothing."

The fifteen-minute drive goes by achingly slow, making every second feel like a minute long and I nervously run my thumbnails back and forth over each other. It's been over a year that I've went on any kind of date and if this doesn't go well, Gemma will never hear the end of this.

Being told that I'm not pretty enough to date or that if I lost weight I'd have loads of guys wanting to date me doesn't exactly make me want to get back out in the dating world again. And the only reason I agreed to this blind date is because I know Gemma wouldn't set me up with an insensitive jerk.

"Here you are, ma'am."

The driver brings the car to a stop and I look out the window, exhaling a nervous breath. I thank him, simultaneously opening the door and I step out onto the sidewalk in front of the café.

Since it's mid-afternoon on a Saturday, the shopping area is bustling with people enjoying their weekend time. Running my hand through my shoulder-length blonde hair that I intentionally left down, I look around the patio tables right out front of the café and I spot him with a single long-stemmed rose on the table.

I exhale my nerves and walk over to the man sitting by himself with his back toward me. From what I can tell, he decided to go casual as well with a black shirt, black skinny jeans, a caddy hat covering his brown hair and I stop a respectable distance next to him.

"Excuse me. Are you Harry Styles?"

He looks up at me and grins, pushing his thick black oval-shaped sunnies further up his nose.

"Depends. Are you Joy Jenning?"

"Yes, and you can call me JJ, all my friends do," I answer with a smile, extending my hand. He doesn't respond and it's like a lightbulb goes off. "Oh . . . you're-"

"Blind?" he finishes my question and I nod in answer. "You just nodded. Didn't you?"

His dimpled smirk lets me know he's not offended or taking this too seriously.

"Yeah," I admit, taking a seat in the chair across from him at the small rod iron table. If I hadn't just made a fool of myself, I'd focus on how the metal arms are digging into my hips, but this is more important. "I'm so sorry, Harry."

"Don't be," he simply says. "This is all I've known. I'm used to it, but I realize it can be a shock to some people. We don't have to do this, the date, I mean. If you'd like, I can leave."

He reaches for his folded sight stick on the table and I place my hand on his forearm.

"No, please don't leave. Unless you want to, of course."

"I'd rather not," he muses, relaxing back into the chair. "I've cleared my entire afternoon and this is really good coffee."

He smiles in my general direction and I smile back, realizing he can't see me return the smile.

"Gemma dropped me off, in case you're wondering. I live with her and her boyfriend. I'm in the guest house, though. Completely separate. I like my independence but that's about as independent as my mum and her will let me get."