Lemon Cake

Chapter Thirty-Six

If Tulip was tasked with describing her date with Austin in one word it would have six letters and a suffix. Boring. Yep, that was the word. She had extremely high hopes since whenever they did hang out during the times when their relationship was just a stream of late-night hookups they had fun. They had similar tastes; loud surroundings invigorated their senses, music could never be too loud, and being around crowds of people sparked happiness.

Tulip wasn't one-hundred perfect a social butterfly but she loved a good concert, a long sweat night on the dancing at a stylish upbeat club, or a food festival where she could try out new exciting food concoctions. Hell, if he took her to a strip club she didn't think she'd complain. She'd eat some wings, drink some beer, and dance along with the performer from her comfy seat. She was really in need of one thing, some high-paced adult fun.

She loved Sidney but she craved some time where she could just be herself and not have to fulfill all the titles and traits the guardian of a young child had to. Did that make her a bad person?

Unfortunately, Tulip wasn't at any of those places. There weren't swarms of people emitting a cacophony of conversations that gave way to bursts of laughter throughout the venue. Nor was there music that sprang off the walls and vibrated against her bare legs igniting a sway to her hips and a bounce to her shoulders. And for the food situation, it just wasn't allowed in these hallowed halls. Nope, morsels of nutrition or crumbs of artificially flavored corn stuff couldn't be smuggled in the building where she stood. She just had to keep tossing Altoids in her mouth as she stood in front of a wall trying to understand what the artist was trying to convey from the random, multicolored strokes on a canvas.

Yeah, that's where she was on a Saturday evening. The Houston Art Museum. It was a great place where one could indulge in culture and ooh and ahh at Van Goughs and other very esteemed artists whose names she could list from the top of her head or a couple of minutes strolling through rooms while killing time before a meeting or an appointment when she was downtown. But it was not where she wanted to go on a date. Those were on Sidney's List of Joy especially The Museum of Natural Science and the Children's Museum.

"So..." Tulip ambled to the next canvas as light classical music fluttered around them. "Is this all?"

"What do you mean?" Austin asked fiddling with the big-faced watch around his wrist as if he was deep in thought. "Isn't this like...um sophisticated and fancy but I mean...you know...I have somewhere else planned...for like eating and food. Yeah."

She blinked at his last words as she claimed the space in front of him with puzzlement on her face. "What the hell does 'like eating and food mean' Aren't we eating the food or are they two separate things?" He moved to speak but she jumped in with, "Nevermind. I'm just goin' to be upfront and honest. This is..." She gestured around them and even though there was a random person deeply entranced with a canvas of multiple dots it still had to be said. "Is mind-numbingly boring. I'm about to fall asleep standing up so I hope you have a contingency plan because this ain't it."

"Wow!" Austin's hand went to his chest as he took a staggering step back. "Bluntly honest, huh."

"Yes." She smiled and took his hands in hers trying to soften the sting of her words. "What's going on with you? Why would you pick this as the first stop of our date I think we need to walk through your plan because if this is an example of what's in store for us we need to pull out our phones so we can come up with something else."

"But I wanted to surprise you." He gripped her hands tighter briefly glancing over her face as the click of heels on the marble floor announced another soul had entered the room. "I wanted to step up and satisfy your high standards. I'm not used to dating someone like you and Jasper is—"

"Excuse me, what?" She twisted her face stepping back and creating space between them. "What does this have to do with him?"

Austin let out an audible sigh as he released her hands and turned away from her. Once he collected himself. "I Googled Jasper Young and the SOB is loaded. He's a fucking millionaire, Tulip and if I have to compete with him I have to step up my game and treat you to the finer things."

"What the fuck?" She said and her words received a snarl from a lanky man meandering by. She gestured for him to move along and he did just that with an annoyed huff. "Compete? Who said you need to compete with Jasper? Not me. So, stop, and who do you think bought this and this..." She pointed to her exquisite gold hoops attached to her earlobes then the designer clutch in her hand and the equally lavish heels that had a triple-digit price. "Not you. Not Jasper. Me. I swiped my debit card for all this. I used my funds to sustain my way of life. I don't need you to provide for me or anyone else. You understand."

"Uh, yeah." He nodded with a slight smirk. "You got your own money so you don't need my money."

"Or want but..." She jumped in. "If you want to give me a gift I'm cool with that. If you want to treat me, that's awesome, and don't do that again."

"Do what?" He asked as she slipped her hands in his once more.

"Google people in your personal life." She pulled him closer to her and hooked her arms around his neck as she stood body to body. "It just stresses you out which is why I never looked up Sidney's mom."

"Never." His eyes widened as he locked his arms around her waist.

She shook her head. "Not once. I'm trying to blaze my own path and not try to copy Amelia King." She sang the woman's name as if it was the moniker of royalty. "I want to learn about her through the lens of Sidney and from what I know and see she was a good person so..." She bounced up on her toes. "Can we have an authentic Austin and Tulip experience you know like we've been having for the last three months?"

His lips crooked up as his sight traveled to her lips and she knew they were thinking the same thing but she shook her head because that wasn't happening right now.

He let out a light chuckle that she matched with a bright smile. "What do you think about ax-throwing?"

"As long as they're not being thrown at me I'm down with the shit." She said. "But your girl is hungry so I'mma need a leg of something; chicken, duck..."

"What about brisket nachos..." He twirled her around. "...with homemade tortilla chips, ice-cold beer, and gelato."

"I say...yes, yes, yes!" She exclaimed with sheer excitement and happiness as she fell back into his body not caring whose ear she caught.

"Great because I know just the place to make all your dreams come true." He led them to the museum's exit and she was overjoyed to finally be chucking the deuces into the quiet place. He was about to make her dreams a reality. What woman didn't like a dream maker? He just might get a little treat at the end of the date. 

Do you think Austin has to worry about competing with Jasper?

Why do you think Austin decided to Google Jasper? And how do you think it will affect his relationship with him?

Was it important for Tulip to let Austin know that she didn't need anyone else's money to sustain her life and her taste for finer things?

Do you think Austin and Tulip's date will get better? 

What's your description of a great date?