The Lovely Loveless

Chapter 4: Logan

One Month Ago.

Nobody in their right state of mind uses the phrase, "Fifth times the charm!"

But here I was talking myself up in front of mirror for the fifth time, wondering if this is the last first date I'd ever have, which can be interpreted in two vastly different ways. Fun fact, 34% of women between the ages of 18-29 are single. 

I chose to wear a collared shirt, blue stripes on the front and a pair of nice blue jeans. My hair was detangled with a comb from it's usual curly style to a bit more laid back. I had tried to style it that way a least, it was rather thin and hard to manage. It didn't help that it was a light brown color which looked wispy in certain lighting. I looked at the blue eyes in the mirror. The outfit appeared a bit too cheery, especially for a first date. But I didn't try to be cool, it just didn't suit me. 

I put on my glasses and coat.

It seemed I was really going through it all again. I picked up the keys from the entryway hook, transferred from my college dorm. 

I could hear my heartbeat in my throat. I had decided the perfect way to spend my fleeting weekend was by going ice skating with some girl off a dating app that I had never met before. There was a small rink open on Saturday afternoons in a few towns over that I had never been too, but this was my midwestern themed idea. She seemed into it and it seemed like a good way to "break the ice." We both would drive separately and meet there, she lived about thirty minutes away so she offered to meet in the middle. 

It wouldn't be long until we met up, and barring a car accident there wasn't much that could keep me from her. I left about fifteen minutes earlier than I needed to. 

There was no traffic as always. 

It seemed whenever you really did want something to stop, it never quite does, and all green lights on the way there made me really contemplate if the world was conspiring against me. But nonetheless, here I was about ten minutes early to a date standing outside an indoor hockey rink. My anxious thoughts ran and I kept noticing people. A mom and her son, her teenage son dragging an expensive hockey bag on the ground while a younger sister held open the door for another family. I entered the building not quite knowing where anything was. They always had to make event centers hard to navigate it seemed. Two younger women sat on stools at the main concessions stand, probably college students.

The bathroom was to the right at least. I stayed put at the entryway, watching as other people showed up. I scanned the area, searching for distractions in the chaos that bubbled inside my mind. Two little boys watching the game that was going on down at the rink in the far corner, a small lookout spot with glass windows. They were probably waiting too, for practice to begin. Wish I could've done something like played a sport. But no, always thought they were useless because I wasn't going to become the next LeBron. 

Couldn't be much longer until the girl I was supposed to meet showed up. 

Five minutes until she would be officially late to the date. Perhaps that wouldn't be all that bad, her not showing up, maybe if it was just me and the ice I wouldn't crash and burn so badly. I knew I would fall today but that wasn't what I was actually afraid of, it was her actually showing up to the date I invited her on. 

There were two rinks inside the arena, one currently flooded with people and the other used for practice. Several little boys dressed up in full hockey gear, speed skating to the detriment of those around them, especially the couples which look like they had never seen ice before let alone skated on it by their pained looks on their faces and wobbly legs. Several experts in the middle were twirling about regulated to their own special section, the figure skaters.