The Path Not Taken

Chapter 9: February 2004

The doorbell rings and Kate runs downstairs, still pulling on one of her heels and clasping the back of her earrings as she does so.

"Coming!" She says, holding the railing as she hops down them on her one shoed foot.

As she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she sees Brandon through the sheer curtain on the front door window and is able to get a sneak peek moments before opening the door.

He looks very handsome in a pair of black dress pants, a mint green button down shirt and a dressy grey wool jacket. He isn't wearing a tie, but with one button undone at the top and a white undershirt underneath he is just the right amount of sexy.

As she opens the door to shyly smile her greeting the butterflies begin a dance in her belly and the heat rises to her face.

He smiles in return and there is that signature dimple.

"Hi." She says.

"Hi yourself." He replies, his smile traveling to his eyes - the green of which complement his shirt - melting her insides and calming the butterflies within.

"Shall we?" He continues, bending his arm in a gesture for her to join him as he heads towards her front walk and out to where his car is parked on the curb in front of her apartment.

"We shall." She says slipping her own arm through the crook of his.

As they walk she notices the mingling of his minty breath - she didn't notice him chewing gum and she was genuinely curious if he'd just brushed his teeth and swished mouthwash before leaving his house or if he had a bottle of Binaca in his pocket. Did guys still use breath spray? It seemed like such a dated concept... - and an alluring cologne scent. She didn't know a lot of cologne scents, but this smelled familiar, and her Olfactory memory kicked in. Her older brother had a friend who had worn a cologne that smelled like this and she'd be willing to bet this was the same scent.

"Is that Joop cologne you're wearing?" She asks, immediately realizing that she sounded an awful lot like a jeans commercial from the 80's with a similar catch phrase.

He laughs, clearly thinking the same thing.

"It is! Unfortunately my Bugle Boy jeans are still in the wash." He finishes his sentence with a wink.

As they arrive at his car, he stops at the passenger side door opening it for her.

"Thank you," she says, patting down the back of her dress as she lowers herself into the car seat to ensure it doesn't ride up as she does so.

After she is fully seated and buckled in, Brandon gently closes her door and moves to the driver's side, opening his own door and joining her in the car.

"Nice car!" She says, although she knows very little about cars.

Her own car was a 1988 Chevy Celebrity with bench seats and no stereo system. Brandon's car - a 2003 Toyota Corolla with room for 18 programmable radio stations, a cassette player AND a CD player, power windows and locks and heated leather seats - had bells and whistles her car could only dream of and wouldn't know what to do with. Still, it had character. For instance, if the driver needed to adjust the seat to reach the pedals, the passenger was moving on up as well. One of her front headlight bulbs was also constantly popping out and was primarily held in by electrical tape, a result of a fender bender she'd been in a few months prior and hadn't had professionally fixed yet.

"Thank you," Brandon says as he eases the compact vehicle out of the spot. "With all of the back and forth to work and school I needed a more reliable vehicle. I don't currently love the car payment, but I looked at it as an investment. The amount I was paying for upkeep and maintenance alone on my old car was much more in the long run than the monthly car payments I now have. Having a car with a warranty isn't so bad either!"

"That's great! I need to get better about saving my money because my Celebrity won't last forever and I'll need a plan when the time comes. Which will probably be sooner rather than later. I'm in the same boat you were in with my car and it's definitely at the mechanic more often than not these days."

Did Kate really just use the word "plan"? She'd spent most of the last two years of her life - her "post college" life - living day to day without thinking much about a plan or the future. The idea of a "plan" was a foreign concept.

"Let me know if you ever want company car shopping. I love cars and once you narrow down what you're looking for in a car, it could be fun to browse and test drive. When you're ready."

"When I'm ready." She says in reply as he steers his car off of her street and onto the main road heading toward the highway. "Where are we going, by the way?" She asks.

"It's a surprise but I think you're really going to love it!" He says, turning to her only briefly before returning his gaze and concentration back to the road.