One by One

Chapter 3- A place meant for two

A dress, a skirt, shorts? God, I hate picking out clothes. I take out a halter dress, I bought last summer and only wore once. It was pale pink and it was short, really short. I'm going to show you my ass kind of short yet I'm hiding it and you'll never be able to see it kind of dress. Perfect. Dev doesn't like me wearing too much make-up because he says he loves the real me and that brightens up my day all the time. So I apply a little bit of mascara, a tad bit of blusher and lipstick. Just to give me that I'm on a date kind of look. Great. I gather my things in a clutch bag and head downstairs. I grab my ballet flats and head out when I hear my doorbell. Take a last glance at myself in the mirror and love what I see. I didn't have long hair but neither did I have short hair that was the bit that infuriated me most of the time. "Frank! I'm heading out with Dev!" I yell from the doorway.

"Ah. Alright dear! Stay safe!" he yells back from the kitchen (His favorite spot in the house).

"I will," I yell again.

"Hey. Wow," Dev says as I open the door. He was wearing a tie and a flannel and of course, his "chuggy-wuckys". His hair was messy, just the way I liked it. His eyes and smile? The parts I loved most about him.

"Wow right back at you too, stranger," I chuckle. He smiles at me for a while then takes my hand in his and we head into his old Volkswagen.

"Alright stranger, where we headed?" He smiles as he starts his car.

"We are headed to the park," I mutter, feeling pleased.

"The park? Alrighty then. To be honest, I'm actually really excited", he says like a child getting a new video game, then takes my hand in his and puts it on his lap.

"Yup, the park. You're going to like what I have planned for you," I say, excited as well and quite pleased with the way I thought this out. This is going to be one hell of a night to enjoy.

"Okay, Brades," he smiles.

We reach our favorite parking spot and he helps me get the door. I smile knowing Pete and his hotdog stand stayed back for me. "Hotdogs, nighttime, waterfall, wet grass, chilly breeze, you had some thought about this didn't you?" he gleams, amused.

"Only because I think of you more than anything else and I know how much you love this sappy romantic stuff," I tease him and we laugh.

"Alright you two, there you go. Enough to last you the entire night. Don't get carried away," Pete jokes. Pete has been selling his hotdogs for as long as I remember and they're the best I've ever had. He was legend. You hear the same story every time you prolong your stay. I've been selling my hotdogs in this very park since your parents were children. Ah, bitter sweet memories. When the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor, I was there. I saw everything. You children are lucky, stay that way now.

"Bye Pete, thank you!" I call out as he leaves. "Now, for the second part of this evening", I beam knowing he will love what else I have planned.

"Second part? The suspense is killing me. God, you intrigue me," he whispers into my ear. I take his hand into mine and tell him to close his eyes.

I bring him to the flower garden where all the statues of disfigured angels are. I never got the concept of it all but it looked cool, so I guess no one actually bothered asking. I spent the whole afternoon decorating the place with lights and candles and a little picnic mat. I even brought a radio in case the crickets were getting boring. It was a breeze knowing no one was going to come-by and disrupt the entire thing I spent 2 hours doing. No one usually came by this way, the ducks and the lake were a hotspot, not the flower garden in autumn. "Okay, open them," I whisper then make my way to the center of it all to watch his expression.