It's Been Awhile

First date

Beep

Beep

Beep

Okay! I get it! I need to be up! You can stop yelling at me, alarm clock. I really need to change my alarm!

My hand reached over to my phone and slid the front screen to stop the beeping. I pulled it off the charger and brought it into the bathroom with me. Choosing the playlist of the morning, I started getting ready.

I threw on a black skirt that stops right above the knee and a whit blouse with a black, leather collar that I tucked into the skirt. My purple highlighted hair was in lose curls with my bangs twisted to the side. I put on a light layer of makeup consisting of; foundation, eyeliner, mascara, a burgundy lip, and of course eyebrows. I threw on my burgundy Doc Martins and was on my way to a meeting.

I don't have to dress as nice as I am today when I'm in the studio but, the first half of today is a meeting with a new client. We will just go over the album. The vibe, the genre, and (in my opinion the most important) the story behind the songs and message behind the album in general. It's really important that we are on the right page to get exactly what their looking for.

I was half way to were I needed to be when I realized, I have a date with Hannah Hart today. If that doesn't make me nervous, I don't know what will. My stomach flipped and palms started to sweat. I looked at the clock on my dash. 9:25 five minutes from the meeting and two hours and thirty-five minutes until the date.

Okay Lily, calm down. Focus on the meeting first. The meeting makes you money. The date is just a date... That happens to be with Hannah Hart. I bet she's a sweetie. You got nothing to worry about! So what if you haven't seen anyone in about six years! So what if you haven't seen a woman in longer! It's not like you're straight all of a sudden because of time! Wait... Can that happen?! Lily! Calm down! You're here anyways!

I was nervous. But not about the meeting. I had a couple of minutes to spare and spent them lowering my anxiety. When I finally pushed the date out of my head I walked into the building.

~*~*~
The meeting went well. I learned all that I need to know and I think that this record will turn out pretty great. Hopefully it's not like a Disney TV show: great concept, horrible execution.

I had half an hour to get to the coffee shop. That's actually perfect timing. It takes about that long to get over there. The only problem is, well, thirty minutes to work up my anxiety. I just blared my music and hoped it would block out my thoughts. It worked well enough.

~*~*~
The coffee shop was a small shop wedged in between a hairdresser and a book shop. The logo was a white silhouette of a cup and saucer with a vine-like design surrounding it, and the words "more than a drink" in cursive underneath it.

I was starting to think that I lived in a hipster part of town. A tiny coffee shop, a second-hand book shop, and a record shop. Yup, definitely hipster.

I walked into More Than a Drink and the smell hit me. I have always loved the smell of coffee. I met the person I thought I was going to marry in a coffeehouse. The stores aroma brought me back to that event. I was on my own sitting at a counter against the windows with my laptop in front of me and my caffeine next to me. I was writing a paper when he sat down to the right of me and started working his charm. The rest was history. I just wish that I could have seen where we ended up. I might have saved myself a lot of heartache.

A hand on my shoulder, coming from behind, knocked me out of my memory. "Lilyann, hey," The woman responsible for erasing my daydream and my earlier anxiety attack had said to me.

"Hey, Hannah. Sorry, just kind of got lost in thought," I said to explain my weird behavior.

"That's fine. Umm, let's go order, shall we," she seemed just as nervous as I was. She was wearing almost-black skinny jeans with a light denim, button up shirt that was buttoned all the way to the collar. It sent off ever blue eyes and made her swoon worthy. Yeah, definitely didn't turn straight.

"Sure. And I just have to say that you look really nice," I said as we started walking towards the counter.

"Thank you. I must say that you look great yourself," she replied and then turned to the cashier and ordered, "and whatever she wants," she gestured towards me. Flattered, I ordered my drink and stepped to the side to wait for it.

"I could have payed for my own," I said to her as we waited. "But, thank you."

"I asked you out. I pay. And you're welcome," our drinks came while she was talking. As we looked for a seat she said,"Not that I don't like it, but you didn't have to dress this fancy."

"Oh," I said looking down at my outfit, "I just came from a meeting."

"What do you do?" Her face moved into a curious expression that let me know that she genuinely wanted to know.

"I'm an audio engineer. For the past five years I've been touring with musicians doing their sound."

"Do you still do that, or have you stopped?" I could tell that she was listening and really did want to know.

"I recently stopped. I had gotten an offer from a recording studio here in Las Angeles. I loved touring but it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. So, I took all of my stuff out of my parents house and move across the country."

"Where are you originally form?"

"Just outside of Cincinnati. Ohio was good to grow up in but, I knew that I didn't want to stay there. I love it because it's my home state, but I don't think I could live there forever. I'm a traveler at heart, what can I say?" I shrugged and took a sip of my coffee.

"I understand. I probably wouldn't move back to San Fransisco. I mean, I loved it there but, I just don't think I would want to live there again. Visit, definitely. Live, no."

"Really, after college I didn't truly live with my parents. More, my stuff did. It was either pay rent when I was actually there or pay rent every month regardless of wether I was there or not. The first one sounded like a better option. I saved my money for when I wanted to settle down."

"So is that what you're doing? Settling down?" She made this genuine face. One that was curious, trying to understand me.

"In away, yes, I guess I am. I took the job offer as a sign that it was time. It was time to wake up in the same city, heck the same state, every morning. I needed the change though," I said with a small smile. When I made the decision to move here I didn't see it as "I'm leaving this lifestyle" I saw it as "I'm going to live this one."

"Do you have any pets?" I was kind of glad for this subject change. I could finally get her talking instead of me rambling on about my strange life.

"I do not. However, I would like to get a Hairless Cat at some point in my life." Her face turned to show her disgust and I started laughing.

The rest of the date went like that. Simple questions about our everyday life that we would turn around on the other person.

At one-o'clock I looked at my watch. "I should really get going. I need to be in the studio by one-thirty," I said with a sigh. I really didn't want this to end. I could talk to her for hours.

"Oh, okay. I understand," I could tell that she was just as disappointed as I was. "I'll walk you to your car then."

"Okay," with that we got up and started towards the door.

When We got to my car I turned to Hannah and said, "I had a really great time."

She smiled almost as big as I was and said, "So did I."

"Umm. Do think I could, like, get your number?" I said nervously.

"Of course!" We exchanged numbers.

"I really did have a great time," she said as her arms reached out to hug me.

"I did too." The little hug had butterflies erupting in my stomach.

That was my first date with Hannah Hart.