Learn To Love Again

Chapter 6

It was almost 6:30 by the time I got home. It had been really hard to get a taxi that early and the station was farther away from my house than I'd thought.

When I finally got home, I made some coffee and started reading a new magazine I had started but never got the chance to finish.

I was in the middle of reading an article about a new fashion collection when my phone rang. It was an unknown number but I answered anyway.

"Hello."

"Hey, Anna," The voice sounded somewhat familiar.

"Who is this?"

"It's Malcolm. Monique gave me your number."

My breath itched in my throat. "How can I help you?" I managed to say.

"I would like to take you out to dinner." He said it nonchalantly, as though he was talking about the weather.

My heartbeats quickened. "Excuse me?" I said in a shaky breath.

"Would you like to have dinner with me? Tonight? About eight?"

I thought about it for a while, a bit annoyed at his nonchalance. What harm could there possibly be in just having dinner?

"I'll let you know," I told him, forcing casualty into my voice.

"Okay."

He hung up and I sat there, staring at the screen of my phone. I decided to call Monique; get some girl advice. She picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, girl. What's up?"

"You gave Malcolm my number?" I asked her.

"Yeah. He said you treated his dog and that he needed to contact you but forgot to get your number. Why?"

I cleared my throat. "He asked me out to dinner," I said blankly.

She let out a loud shriek, then I could hear her dialing a number and soon another voice joined in conference.

"Hey, guys." It was Erika.

"Malcolm asked Anna out to dinner!" Monique exclaimed in an excited tone.

"Shut up! Really?!" Erika said before they both started shrieking together. I had to push the phone from my ear to avoid damaging my eardrums.

"You guys act like five year olds," I said when I brought the phone back to my ear. "So do you think I should go?"

"Of course!" They both said in unison.

"Don't you think its a bit too soon?" I asked.

"More like too late," Monique said. "It's been over two years. What more time could you possibly want?"

I sighed. She was right. Besides, it was just dinner.

"Want us to chaperone?" Erika asked.

I laughed. "What am I, ten? I'll be fine. See you later guys."

"Bye."– Erika.

" Have fun."– Monique.

As I called Malcolm to confirm, I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. I quickly pushed it away when he answered.

"So I'll pick you up at eight tonight?"

I was a bit taken aback by his answer but nodded, then realized he couldn't see me and answered:

"Eight it is."

*****

I scanned my closet with my eyes, trying to figure out what to wear. I finally decided on a knees-length black dress with sleeves down to my elbows and a small V-cut at the neck.

I rubbed some moisturizer into my freshly done wash and go, which was a little pass shoulder length, and used some edge control and a bobby pin to hold one side away from my face, then fluffed my soft, bouncy curls. I then applied some mascara and nude lipstick before pulling on a pair if strappy black wedges.

I was looking myself over in the mirror when I heard the honking of a car horn coming from outside. I quickly grabbed my black clutch from the bed, checked to ensure my keys were inside, then hurried out the door, locking it behind me.

A navy blue Audi was parked in my driveway and Malcolm leaned against it, wearing a dark suit and looking handsome as ever. He stared admiringly at me for a while before entering the driver's seat and starting the car.

I stood there, not sure what to do. Why hadn't he opened the door for me? Maybe he was going to open it from inside.

It was when he honked the horn again that I decided he wasn't going to and opened it myself.

Patrick always opened the door for me.

"You look gorgeous," he said as I entered the car and closed the door.

"Thanks."

*****

He took me to a fancy restaurant outside of town. It was dimly lit and had slow background music. We were lead to a table close to the back where I intentionally waited to sit, just to see if he would pull out my chair. He didn't. I was a bit disappointed but decided it was no big deal. Not every man had to pull out a woman's chair.

Patrick always pulled out my chair.

After we were seated, we quickly scanned the menus and made our orders.

"So..." He said. "Tell me about yourself."

I took a deep breath. "Uh... Well, as you already know, I'm a vet. I love animals but–"

"I love animals too, but mostly dogs," he cut in. "Pixie's the only one I own though, that's the one I brought to your office. I couldn't handle another."

I smiled. "Well, I don't own any pets. I can't really handle the pressure of being responsible for a living thing."

"I know what you mean. It's like having a child. I once left Pixie with my neighbors and I could hardly work that day. I was worried sick."

I smiled again, then continued to tell him about myself. "I enjoy skating and sometimes I like–"

"I don't even have time for activities. I'm a lawyer and I work very long hours. I just made partner and now it's especially pressuring for me at the firm."

I sighed. "How about you tell me about yourself," I said blankly, since that was what he was already doing.

"Where do I even start?" He began. "Okay, I..."

I listened as he went on and on about himself.

Patrick never talked that much about himself.

I mentally kicked myself for always comparing him to Patrick. Maybe it was normal to like to talk about yourself. I hadn't been in any serious relationships before Patrick and I didn't really have much knowledge on what men should and shouldn't do.

I listened as Malcolm continued to carry on about himself in that beautiful voice of his and admired the way his handsome face lit up when he talked about something exciting.

Patrick would've stopped talking by now and let me speak.

________________________________________________________________________

A/N:

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