Circles - Post Malone

Thirty Seven

"If we are just going to the park why did you have us dress up in all this shit?"

"You don't like me in this suit?"

"I never said that...I am just saying the logic does not fit."

"It was on the list."

"List?"

Austin sighs then reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a poorly folded piece of paper and hands it to her. Dahlia takes it gingerly and opens it up with even more caution. In very messy handwriting there is a heading that reads 'The perfect date' and then a list of Five things.

1. Dress nice. (Make an effort)
2. Ice cream and ducks
3. Picnic by the lake
4. Walk hand in hand
5. Ferris wheel kiss

Dahlia tries to hide her smile, but it's impossible. This is the cheesiest, sweetest thing anyone has ever done. Her stomach is full of butterflies. She folds up the paper and hands it back to Austin. "You are very confident with your presumption that I would be putting out on the first date. I don't dish kisses out freely you know," she says and walks off to the nearby ice cream truck. "I have no doubt, baby," Austin says catching up to her.

"What flavor ice cream?"

"Vanilla."

Austin orders two cones and then they head down to a large pond that has tons of ducks. There are people selling bags of duck food so they get two bags and sit on one of the benches, slowly throwing food at the ducks. "Why ice cream?" Dahlia asks. Austin shrugs and then swaps their cones. "I don't like mine," Austin says then takes a big lick of his newly acquainted ice cream he stole from her. "I saw it in a movie once. A guy took a girl on a date and they had ice cream. Had a good ending so I figured it would be a good idea," he says.

"Really? Because by the way you are screwing up your face with each lick of that ice cream makes me think otherwise."

"I hate ice cream."

Dahlia bursts out laughing and rolls her eyes. "And the feeding of the ducks?" she asks. Austin shrugs and drops some more duck food at his feet. They have got quite a crowd of ducks in front of them now. "I read it in a magazine. Supposed to be romantic, but I have to say the crowd we are drawing is making me a little nervous," he says and throws some food a distance away hoping to disperse some of the ducks. It does not - it only draws more. "Give me your ice cream. There was a trash can a few meters back. I will throw it away," Dahlia says. Austin hands his ice cream to her and she wades through the ducks and then over to the trash can.

She hears a little shout and turns around to see Austin still sitting on the bench but now with his legs pulled up to his chest. Ducks still everywhere but now also a great big swan standing in front of him.  Dahlia should save him but she stops to take a few pictures of him on her camera first. "Dahlia, I don't know what the fuck this is - but it is not a duck! It fucking hissed at me!" he says. He looks slightly traumatized. There is no way Dahlia can get to him now. The amount of ducks has doubled already. "It's just a swan, Austin. Chuck as much food as you can and then dive over the back of the bench," she suggests. Austin does and Dahlia has her camera ready as she takes a series of action shots of Austin's self-rescue attempt. He brushes his suit off and then walks up to her.

"That swan tried to kill me."

"You are dramatic."

"It hissed, Dahlia."

Dahlia lets out a laugh and then brushes off some dirt and grass from his cheek. Austin sighs heavily. "This date is a joke. I should have just let 101 take you. He would have treated you well," Austin complains, brushing more grass off his suit. Dahlia wants to melt at how much Austin obviously wants this date to go well. "What do you think he would have done?" she asks. "I don't know. He probably would have let you wear what you wanted for starters then taken you to some fancy show in one of those fancy theaters and I bet he would have taken you to a restaurant that you have to make a reservation at...something like that," Austin says. "That does not sound like something I would enjoy," Dahlia says. Austin perks up at her words. "Really? What would be your idea of a good date be?"  he asks.

"Well," she says stepping closer to Austin and letting him rest his hands on her hips, "my idea of a perfect date would be to be shoved into a germ-infested staff toilet and dressed by two borderline psycho twins then meet my date in a back alley. Ice cream would be a must and if we were in a park I would like to feed the ducks. A picnic near a lake and if all goes well there may be a kiss at the top of a Ferris wheel...does New York have a Ferris wheel? Oh, and I would like to walk hand in hand everywhere. That sounds like a pretty good date to me."

Austin smiles and then leans in to kiss her. Dahlia should stop him. Make him work for it but who is she kidding? It's Austin - she would give him whatever he wants. Her knees are already weak by the time he pulls away. She is so very much in love with him. The only thing that would make this date more perfect would be the knowledge that he too was in love with her. He takes her hand and starts walking leisurely along the large pod edge towards a large grassy area Dahlia knows is popular for picnics.  "I feel kind of bad...about 101," Dahlia says suddenly. She does not know why she feels like that. She has been very good at shutting down her feeling while growing up - a survival tactic she thinks.

A few months back she would not have given 101's feelings a second thought but now, well now she feels a little bad. "Don't. I introduced him to 102. She bakes her own bread and likes to paint," Austin says. Oh well, that's good. Seems things have a way of working themselves out for the best. Austin leads her onto the grass and then toward a large oak tree. From a distance, she can see the twins fussing over something under the tree. Austin shakes his head and mumbles, "useless fuckers," under his breath. He lets off a loud whistle that catches both twins' attention. They look over at Austin and Dahlia walking toward them then scurry off. "I worry about the friends you make," Dahlia says. "I have a thing for collecting little strays," he says trying to hide his smile. Idiot.