A Collection of Odds & Ends

Could Have Been Worse (Chris Evans)

this was written off of a prompt that someone had left on http://chrisevans-sexualfrustrations.tumblr.com

I was bored, so I took it and did the best I could with it.

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The restaurant where they sat was quietly humming, strangers around them engrossed in chatter and tales of their day. A waitress in a crisp white shirt and black pencil skirt had approached them shortly after they had been seated, offering to bring them whatever drinks they preferred. Put on the spot, he panicked, Chris had quickly ordered the only bottle of wine he could think of in the moment. The kicker was that the waitress assured him they actually had the $9 bottle on hand.

Great. Fucking wonderful!

Here he was, Chris Evans - movie star, heartthrob, and all around nice guy ordering the cheapest bottle of wine known to mankind. So much for impressing his date.

If she was shocked or flabbergasted by his request, she never said anything. Instead she politely asked for a water to go along with it, smiling sweetly at the waitress before the other woman waltzed away. Recovering from the embarrassment that he was feeling, Chris cleared his throat and folded his hands slightly in front of him.

Ask her a question, you idiot! His inner voice screamed at him.

There she sat, polished and poised. Her dark blue dress flattering her eyes and her gorgeous smile. A woman like Dana Raymond deserved more than a $9 bottle of booze. Shifting in her seat, a little uneasy, Dana quietly cleared her throat. Pity, she really had nothing to say.

"How about them Red Sox?" Chris finally opened his mouth and the words just came tumbling out. Baseball? He slapped himself mentally, ah well maybe it was something they could find common ground on?

"I'm sorry, I don't follow football." Dana answered with a slight frown.

Chris's eyes went wide and his forehead creased in utter shock. Shaking his head he chuckled lightly. "Oh no, no. No, no. The Red Sox are baseball."

"In that case, I don't follow baseball either." Dana replied shrugging. "Um, how has work been?" Nobody actually liked talking about their job - even famous movie stars - but it was something to go off of.

"I'm not allowed to talk about it." Chris informed her. "Contracts and all that."

Truthfully, he could have given more of an answer but he didn't want to talk about work.

When he had agreed to go out with Dana, as a favor to his sister; who assured him that he would absolutely love her friend, this isn't how Chris saw their night going. He had planned to take Dana to dinner and then, maybe if that went well, he was going to take her to an art exhibit downtown. His sister had told him that his date was big into modern art.

"So, Dana." Chris spoke up, leaning in a little closer. "Tell me, do you have any siblings?"

"No." Dana shook her head with her short answer.

"Right." Chris stressed his answer, desperately trying to find something else to talk about. Oh boy, this waitress needed to hurry up, Chris needed a distraction and he could tell that his date wouldn't mind one either.

"Children? Crazy ex-lovers I need to know about? Any cats?"

"Excuse me?" Dana blinked rapidly. "What kind of questions are those?"

"I panicked." Chris held up his hands in defense. "If it makes you feel any better, I really have nothing to talk about."

"Well this is awkward." Dana breathed, forcing a smile as she attempted to pass it off as a HAHA. "I have nothing."

Gently rocking back and forth in his chair, Chris gazed around the dinning area. Nobody really seemed to notice the awkwardly silence couple sitting in the middle of the room. Good. Nobody wanted that shame looming over them. Quietly sitting across the small table, Dana's gaze wandered around before coming back to land on Chris. A polite smile and there she went again, staring off into space.

They were adults, they had been on enough first dates that this shouldn't be so damn hard.

What seemed like an eternity of sitting, Dana perked up a little when she saw their waitress coming back. Chris turned slightly to see their waitress, Dana's water and two wine glasses on a tray, with the joke of a wine in her hand. The distraction was welcoming, to say the least.

As distracted people often do, Chris spoke without much thought as the shabby frosted bottle was placed on the edge of the table.

"Thank you, Mom." Chris blurted out before he could stop it. "Ma'am." he corrected, hoping nobody caught his slip.

"You're welcome." The waitress continued to smile, acting as if nothing had happened. Man, she was a better at acting than Chris.

Wincing, Chris slipped her a bit of an extra tip as she collected her tray and asked them if they wanted to see a menu. Was eating really even a good idea at this point? Chris wasn't entirely sure, like a gentleman he let Dana make the call.

"No, thank you. Maybe a few more moments?" she glanced from Chris to the waitress. Chis nodded in agreement and off the waitress went. Leaving them in their own mess, once again.

"Drink?" Chris sheepishly gestured to the bottle of wine.

"No, but thank you. Chris, there is no easy way for me to say this. I think I have to leave." Dana announced, pushing her chair back.

A blessing and a curse had just bestowed itself upon him. Sad that his date - if you could call it that - was leaving him; Chris was relieved that this shit show was almost over.

"I'll drive you home." Chris shot up.

From the second he moved everything seemed to unravel in slow motion. Hitting the table with his knee, Chris watched in horror as the cheap bottle of wine skittered sideways. Unable to move, he watched as it tipped, flowing from the top of the bottle, down over the table and onto Dana's cream colored, no doubt very expensive jacket.

Suppressing a scream of shock, Dana whimpered and clutched her jacket. "No." she held a hand out as Chris tried to make an advance. "I'm fine. I'll call a taxi."

This was her way of telling him to stay the fuck away from her and to never talk to her again, Chris was sure of it. Watching his date walk away, her coat stained red and her purse clutched in her hand, Chris felt his heart sink. Carly was going to kill him over this! In his defense, it could have been worse!