Living Silently

Rendezvous

"Noel"

A date was such an odd concept to me, I had never been on one. I was so confused as to what to do for it. We're we splitting the bill, were we going to have sex after this. Was I ready for sex, how would the twenty-five-year-old virgin conversation go with him. I lay on my bed letting thoughts just pass through my head making me more and more nervous. It wasn't helped by Chloe throwing clothes everywhere in an attempt to arrange a beautiful outfit for me to wear. Also, she had my older brother Joseph who we called JoJo on the phone. He wasn't too happy that I was going on a date with a guy he hadn't met which was right on brand for him. He had always been overprotective of the both of us, but he was definitely overprotective of me. I had always been quiet and shy which made me an easy target for bullies growing up. JoJo would continuously be in fights protecting me, and I knew he would do the same for his son or daughter whenever they were born.

"Noel are you listening to me, make sure that nigga pays for the food," he said aloud in his gruff voice.

"And don't bite your fingernails," Chloe said while looking at an all-black outfit she had picked out for me. JoJo was telling me how he should treat me and Chloe was focused on me not ruining the dinner.

"Fine I get it; I need to get dressed now so goodbye. JoJo, please make sure to tell Chanel I said hello and that I sent her baby clothes," I said aloud.

"Alright call me when you get back, love you," he said before hanging up. I turned to Chloe who was still standing there looking at me.

"Don't you need some rest for your job interview tomorrow," I asked her as I slowly lifted my body up. And moved towards the clothes that she laid out. I reached out and rubbed my hand over the soft black ribbed knit fabric not able to remember when I bought the garment. The jeans were ripped which wasn't the most comfortable thing to wear in the mid-December weather.

"I'm sleeping in your bed tonight so I need for you to hurry up and get dressed," she said before walking out and closing my door. I took a deep breath before walking into my bathroom and turning the shower on and took my clothes off before taking a quick shower and jumping out then taking care of my hygiene and primping my hair to make it look like an organized mess. When I was satisfied by what I saw reflected back in the mirror, I walked back into my room and strolled over to my dresser and grabbed a matching black pair of underwear and slipped them on and then moved to place my clothes on and my black suede Chelsea boots. When I was done, I sprayed some honey body spray, grabbed my wallet and keys then walked out my room to my living room where Chloe was waiting with a happy smile on her face and a little bit of jelly doughnut filling.

"You look amazing you just need a little bit of lip balm," she said walking me to the door where I had a table with my going out essentials which included a stick of chapstick. She grabbed it put it in my hand and pushed me out the door closing it behind me. With that, I knew there was no way she was letting me back in the apartment. I huffed before making my way down to the lobby and then to my car to drive to them. My legs were cold when I made it to this upscale Asian restaurant which was Austin's favorite type of food. He oozed confidence but not in a careless way that would make him come off as cocky and immature. I stepped out of my car seeing my date in front of the restaurant looking in my direction. He was wearing a black leather coat and tan sweater along with darker jeans that weren't baggy but weren't skin tight at the same time. He looked at me and waved his hand at me as I made my way over to him.

"Hey, you look amazing. Hope you're hungry because I'm starving after my long day at the station. We can talk about that later let's go grab our table before they give it up," he said and opened the door for me to walk in. The restaurant space was open and lit with candles and dimmed amber lights overhead. It smelled like delicious food and a low roar of people having conversations and music that you would hear in kung-fu movies played in the background.