Twice the Love

4

I dialed Kirt on the phone. This was the first time I'd ever been on a date and I felt the need to talk to him.

"Hello," he said.

"Kirt, it's me!" I said, unable to calm down.

"I know, do you seriously think I don't have my own brother as a contact."

"I'm here Kirt, I'm here!" I said, completely ignoring him.

"Yeah, yeah. So are you guys at the restaurant yet?" he asked.

"No, she needed time to change. I'm talking to you from the parking lot."

"This is the problem with online dating. You never know what Katie213 is actually like."

"Oh, but she's gorgeous Kirt. Just gorgeous."

"Says the guy who's never seen a woman other than our mother."

"No really Kirt, but I actually made it. All the way to her room in Palms Crest: luxury apartment complex."

"So what's it like there?"

"You were right. We really are a lot richer than everyone else." I could feel him smirk on the other end.

"So, what do I do now?"

"Delete that stupid online dating account, and get her real phone number."

"Right."

"I don't know why you're dating trash like that, though," he said, "I could set you up with someone much nicer."

"No, Kirt. I wanna do this myself. Father never let me do anything."

"Well you lost the ten minute race, bro. Not to mention romance novels are for women. You read way too many." I chuckled, this was so him. Just then I noticed the clock. An hour had flown by right before my eyes.

"Gotta go Kirt, bye." He'd probably yell at me for hanging up so abruptly. I jumped out of the car half running back to Kati-Katherine's floor.

Arriving at the door I took a deep breath before knocking. There she stood in a black satin dress and white pumps. Pearls adorning her neck, and silver rings on her fingers. Her ruby red lips curled as she smiled. Her natural look was stunning in its self, but I felt cupid shoot an arrow through my heart as she stood in the doorway. Her hair flowing slightly because of the AC, and her dangly earings tangling with her brown curls. She had evidently curled her hair not too long ago, since it was straight the last time I saw it.

"You, uh," I stammered, "You look beautiful." She blushed looking down at the ground. Her gaze jerked back up though when I tucked a hair behind her ear. My fingers craved to touch her, but based on her reaction that was a bad idea.

"Shall we go?" I asked.

"Sure, Mr. Fane," she replied. Mr. Fane, was it normal to call your date that? Should I call her Miss- uh, darn. It struck me that I knew nothing about this woman. Her profile didn't even mention her last name. The two of us walked to my Porsche in the parking lot.

Her mouth opened at the sight of it, but immediately snapped back shut. I opened the door for her before hoping in myself. Dating was a lot more complicated than movies and books made it out to be. Do you turn the radio on? If you do what do you put on? If you don't what do you talk about? Do you just drive in silence?

I had booked a restaurant for the two of us. I suddenly longed for Kirt's advice. Katherine sat, silently staring out the window. Deciding it safest I turned on the radio, only to turn off a few seconds later, finding it a bad idea.

"So," I said. "Are you a cat person or a dog person?" Dang it; that wasn't very romantic.

"Dog person, but I don't mind cats," she said, turning to look at me.

"Same, I used to have a little Yorkie named Dewey," I lied. I had a goldfish named Dewey that died two days after we bought it. Father demanded a refund.

"Have you had a pet before?" She just shook her head. With that the conversation ended and we drove the rest of the way as though we were playing a really intense round of the silent game.

We arrived at an elegant looking restaurant, with a name I could neither pronounce nor spell. Kirt had recommended it to me. A dude who looked like Alfred, from Batman, greeted us as we entered.

"Please follow me," he said, guiding us to a half glass room with a table for two. A chandelier hung from the ceiling and a single rose decorated the table. Kind of cliche. Another waiter appeared and the two of them pulled out our chairs. We were then handed a small bell and two menus before they left.

I glanced over the menu, finding none of the dishes familiar, texted Kirt.

*Don't know what to eat! Help, please?*

*Pizza*

*They serve pizza here?*

*Yes*

Pizza sounded like a good idea, I mean who doesn't like pizza. I chanced a look at Katherine who was staring down at the glass floor at the cars driving below.

"Are you afraid of heights?" I asked, worried I'd royally screwed up.

"No, no," she said, "It's just that I've never been here before."

"So Katie, I mean-"

"It's fine," she said.

"What?"

"You can call me Katie, I don't mind."

"Well Katie is there anything you want?"

"I'm fine with anything." I rang the bell and Alfred walked inside.

"Have you decided what you want, Sir, Madam?"

"Yes, I would like one large pizza," I said.

"Any garnishments?" Toppings? What toppings did she like?

"No thank you," I said, "Plain is fine." The pizza soon arrived, and we started eating.

"Would you like my phone number?" I blurted out, "Or it's probably better if I have yours." She looked momentarily confused.

"Don't you already have my number?" she asked.

"That information is not included. You must have noticed they didn't give you mine." She shrugged, pulling her phone out of her bag.

"I guess they didn't," she said, "My number's 760-888-5656." We dined peacefully and I dropped her back home. I did it, I had taken someone out on an actual date.

*Note: that is a random number I made up.