The PulseTeam, Book One: Origins

Chapter One: The Date

Part One: Picking Up Alitia

Oh. My. God. This is the best ribeye steak I've had in a very long time. Sure, the butler makes a mean steak, but there's no steak like Dad's. I figure I could finish off that last piece, but I know that the right thing to do is call my girlfriend, Alitia, over so I can share it with her (literally). Instead of calling her over, however, I take the portions of our dinner that I know she likes, put it in a picnic basket, pack up my picnic supplies, and call her to see if she's available for tonight.

It's 8:00, and I pull up to her house in my metallic black trimmed in blue 2010 Chevrolet Camaro. I knock on the door, and I see Alitia, who is about a foot shorter than me out of heels, has shoulder-length blonde hair, skin lighter than my own light skin, and brilliant blue eyes open it. She asks me to come in, and I do. Her father actually likes me for some strange reason. I do not know why, but hey, all the better for me, you know?

He extends his hand for me to shake it, and I do, making sure it's not too tight, and not too loose, but very firm. He says to me, "Hello, young man. Alitia told me that you were going to pick her up to take her out."

"Yes, sir," I reply, "I am."

He checks his watch and says, "Alright then, have her back home by 10:00."

I say to him, "She will be inside this house by 10:00, Mr. Addams. No later. You have my word."

"Okay," he says, "I'm trusting you to take care of her."

Then he turns to her, hugs her, and says, "Be back soon, and stay safe, okay sweetie?"

She replies, "I am 15 years old, daddy, and quite capable of taking care of myself. And if I can't do it--" she points to me "--the sixth degree black belt here will."

He pulls away and says, "Alright then, get going! You both are wasting time standing around here. Now go, and have a good time. But not too good."

I open the door for Alitia to go out first, as I was taught, and we head to my car. I open the car door for her, and I tell her that where we're going is a surprise. Mr. Addams waves goodbye to her, she waves back, and after we get our seatbelts on, I drive off.

Part Two: The Surprise

We pull up to this candle-lit, really (in my opinion) romantic looking beach setting, but she doesn't see it yet, because I told her to close her eyes and don't peek until I tell her to.

When I lead her to where I want her to be, I tell her to open her eyes. She gasps in what I'm assuming is amazement, looks around, and says to me, "Oh my god, David, this is amazing! How-- how did-- how did you do all of this without people noticing?"

I reply, "I didn't do this without people noticing. I simply set this place aside for us."

She responds, "And you never cease to amaze me, David."

After we get finished eating (yes, we), we take a walk on the shoreline of the beach barefoot and just talk about us. I say to her, "So, Tia, what do you think about us so far?"

"Oh, I don't know," she replies. "I think we're really good for each other."

"I think so, too," I say. "Hey, Tia."

"Hmm?"

"I've got another surprise for you tomorrow at school."

"You and your surprises, David."

"This will be the best one yet."

She reaches up and ruffles up my relatively short brown hair and says, "Well then, my beautiful Green-Eyes, I can't wait for it."