Katie's Cafe

14

Friday rolls around pretty quickly, and I've been looking forward to this all week. I'd chosen to go with a simple pink dress, boots, and a denim jacket that I'd borrowed from Hannah to wear for the date.

I go downstairs to meet Tom, who's parked outside waiting for me. He opens the car door so I can get in and I'm happy to see that he's brought Max along with him tonight.

There's a lot of people already at the park when we arrive, so we set up our little picnic area with a decent view. He's brought enough snacks to feed us for a week.

Max lays quite happily between us when the movie starts to play on the big inflatable projector screen. I wish I had a garden because I'd definitely get one of those.

"So tell me something, what's your all time favourite film?" I ask him quietly.

"Mean Girls," he quickly answers really seriously.

"You're joking, right?"

"Okay, it's Back to the Future," he laughs.

I'll admit, he almost had me there for a second. Not that it's not a good film, but that answer caught me completely off guard.

"That's a better answer".

"What about you?"

"The Thing. I'm a sucker for a classic".

"You do have good taste".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh my God, this is my favourite bit!" I grab his hand in excitement after a while when a pretty gruesome scene comes on.

"I think this part gave me nightmares when I was a kid. It was so terrifying".

"Something must have changed. I mean, you must have to deal with some pretty awful sights in your line of work".

"More often than I'd like. Do you remember that case I was telling you about before, and those men that were being targeted?"

"Yes, what about it?"

I try to act like I'm vaguely interested in what he's saying, but in truth I was all ears.

"The other day when we bumped into each other outside of that hotel, I was there to question a man that was friends with all the previous victims. He even had the same tattoo on his hand".

"Really?"

"And here's the worst part. That night when I got called back into work late, it was because he was found dead in his hotel room by one of the cleaners".

There's a slight pang of guilt knowing someone had to come across his dead body eventually, and they'd probably be left traumatised by it.

"No way!" I try to act shocked.

"It looks like the killer strangled him to death with his own belt, cleaned the room, then took any evidence with them, including the murder weapon".

"So it's got to be this same woman again, right?"

"Yes, and now we're looking into a previous murder case as well that may somehow be linked to all of these ones".

"That's so crazy".

"This was the first time the killer has slipped up though. We also found traces of lipstick on the latest victim's body".

Shit! I thought I got it all off.

"It's entirely possible that she may have written something on his chest that could give us a possible motive for all of these murders".

I have the sudden urge to get up and run away as fast as my legs can carry me, but I'm too scared to even move so I try to focus on watching the rest of the film.

That's when I look down and realise that I've never taken my hand away from his and we've been sitting here holding hands the entire time.

"Shall we get going then?"

I practically jump up off the ground and let go of his hand the second the movie credits start rolling at the end.

"What's the rush?"

"No rush. I'm just a little cold, that's all".

"Here".

He stands up and takes his jacket off, kindly wrapping it around my shoulders to warm me up. The smell of whatever cologne he uses invades the air around me. Damn he smells really good too.

"Thank you".

He lets me hold Max's lead on our way back to his car while he carries everything else in his arms.

I try my best to keep a relaxed facade while I think about how stupid I'd been for leaving traces of lipstick on that bastard. Hannah would say 'I told you so' if she ever found out.

"Are you okay?" he clearly notices my mind is elsewhere while he's putting everything into the boot of his car.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just wondering if I'm the first woman you've dated since your wife?"

I honestly have no idea where that question came from, but nevertheless, I was curious to know the answer.

"No. I went on a few dates with a woman that I used to work with months ago, but it never went any further than that".

"Oh right".

"Why do you ask?" he takes Max from me and puts him in the back seat of the car.

"Maybe I'm the insanely jealous type?"

"Something tells me that a young woman who looks like you do has never had any reason to be jealous before".

"That's not entirely true. I have to watch all the female customers at the cafe ogling you whenever you come in every morning," I laugh.

"Well I can assure you, I'm not looking at any of them".

He gets a little closer but I don't back away this time like I normally would from any other man.

"So who are you looking at?"

I take a step forward myself to close the gap between us.

"Only you," he says so sincerely.

It's like some outward force takes over me that I hadn't ever felt before when I reach my arms up around his shoulders.

He leans down so our lips meet, his are unexpectedly soft, and his kiss is like something out of an old romantic Hollywood movie.

I don't think I've ever been kissed like this before. It's so tender and honest with no motive behind it.

"You did want me to kiss you?" he asks after he pulls away, trying to read the current expression on my face.

"Yes I did," I giggle like an idiot because I seem to have forgotten everything, including how to form a full sentence.

"Come on, I'll drop you off home," he says still smiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The very second I step foot back into the apartment, Hannah practically dives on me like a baby monkey.

"I need gossip this instant!"

"We kissed," I can feel myself still blushing.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" she jumps up and down screaming with joy on my behalf.

"Calm down," I laugh at her stupidity.

"How was it anyway? Who kissed who first?"

"It was nice, really sweet, and it was definitely mutual".

"So you're seeing him again, right?"

"We didn't talk about it, but I really hope so," I can't seem to stop myself from smiling.

"I know you might not think that a detective is exactly ideal boyfriend material for you right now, but I haven't seen you this happy in years. It's nice to see you smiling for real again".

What is happening to me?

I was supposed to be using him for information, but he was somehow reeling me in. This was unfamiliar territory for me, and it makes me seriously anxious.