Will you let me in your swamp?

A fresh start.

It's been a month and I'm slowly forgetting about Gru. Mike and I set up blind dates for each other. I'm pairing him up with an old friend of mine, Olaf. It feels so great to genuinely be excited...

          I walk into the shower and turn the tap on, hot water pouring onto me like steamy rain. As I close my eyes all I can see is him. Gru, but I shouldn't. I'm about to go on a double date! I grab my breezy swamp-scented body soap. Washing the rest of him off my body. It's gonna be a fresh new start, I reassure myself. 

I hop out of the shower, and the first thing I see is my fogged-up mirror, "G+S" with a heart around it. Gru wrote with his finger when we last showered together. Oh, how I miss those days... I try to get him out of my head and even though I'm doing better I can't help the emptiness I keep feeling. No, it's going to be a fresh new start. A clean slate. I wipe the letters off the mirror and shave my 5 o'clock shadow off.

 I finish washing up and dress myself in the nicest clothes I have. A multicolour floral button-up and chestnut brown trousers. It reminds me of what I wore on my first date with Gru... A fresh new start. I change my chestnut trousers into a darker brown shaded pair with gold hems and I cuff the ankles to try something new. I once again shake him out of my head and head out the door, calling a cab to head to the restaurant.  

The calming breeze sways around me reminding me that I'm okay now. I'm having a fresh start, a clean slate, a do-over. I peep through the window and see Mike waving at me. I walk into the restaurant and I am greeted with smiles and the smell of fresh pizza. It feels so good to be okay again. 

I sit myself down next to Mike who is as expected already hitting it off with his date. I look next to me to see an empty chair, I guess they're not here yet. I look across me at Mike and his date. Just seeing their smiles makes me happy. Mike must've noticed me glancing over because he reassured me that my date was just running late.

I sit there chatting with Mike and Olaf for around 15 minutes until I hear the jingle of the door opening, out comes the most beautiful, powerful, exotic woman I've ever seen. at first thought, she was some famous supermodel and my heart starts beating faster than the speed of light as I see her walking towards our table. She sits down next to me and introduces herself.

"Hey, I'm Trish!, Trisha Paytas!" I turn towards her and she must've noticed me blushing as she grabs my hand and kisses it romantically before giving me a sexy wink. I'm in heaven.

"And you must be my lovely date!" She says in her irresistible angel voice. 

"Uh- Shrek!" I'm a nervous wreck but somehow she manages to keep the energy between us comfortable. "Shall we order?" Mike says raising a mischievous eyebrow at me, he can tell I've just fallen in love with this woman. It's like he can always see right through me.

 "My vote says yes!" She says excitedly glancing over at me. I nod and we all reach for our menus. her hand gently brushes against mine as she purposely reaches for the wrong menu. "My bad,∼" She says biting her lip slightly. I return a nervous smile and quickly glue my eyes to my menu. "I think I'll have a bowl of white rice!" She says pulling out her hello kitty chopsticks. "I'll have the same," I say looking her up and down, trying to return her flirty energy. She grins brightly and we start talking as we wait for our food.

Hours go by as we giggle and share food, forgetting we're even in public. Hours go by  but it feels like I had only just got here. I can tell Mike and (name) are getting more annoyed of us by the second but we couldn't give a care in the world. 

The restaurants closing time approaches as we finish up our dishes and start packing up our belongings. "ready to go?" Trish says still flashing her beautiful smile at me. "Ready as I'll ever be" I say, a little tipsy. We exit the restaurant and I begin walking home with her. Just being with her makes me forget about everything else in the world. We waddle home together, completely drunk, barely being able to keep a straight line until we reach her apartment. She invites me in and I'd be a madman to refuse.