The mystery arrives at noon on the dot. I’ve been ready for an hour, not because he was supposed to be there earlier but because I wanted to have plenty of time to make sure I looked okay.
When I open the door, he looks me over and smiles slightly. He takes my hand and pulls me after him to his sleek sportscar. He is wearing a striped button-down and jeans, so we must not be going any where fancy.
But when he takes an unexpected turn and pulls into the McDonalds parking lot, I can’t help but express my shock.
“You’re kidding right?” I ask him when he parks right in front of the building.
“No,” He looks completely serious. “Do you care?”
“No, no,” I say quickly. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“Do I not seem like the kind to eat out at McDonalds?” He questions.
“Not on a first date,” I state, looking out the window.
“So this is a date?” He smirks at me and my eyes widen in horror at my admittance. Sure, he basically told me that he was attracted to me, but he never made it clear that this was a date.
“I-I mean, I guess-“ I start to back myself up but he cuts me off.
“We can call it a date,” He winks at me. “That’s quite alright with me.”
I smile and nod at him as we get out of his car and enter the red and yellow painted building. I follow him to the front where they wait to take our order. He steps up first and orders a Big Mac and a side of fries. He steps to the side and motions me forward to place my order. I order a salad and a chocolate milkshake.
“Salad?” He asks.
“I’m a vegetarian.” I explain. He nods and we stand side by side in silence waiting for our food.
While standing there, my conversation with Zoe comes back to me and I decide to take the silence as an opportunity to ask his name.
“What’s your name?” I blurt out after urging myself to finally speak. He turns to me quickly and furrows his eyebrows. I start to worry and feel like I shouldn’t have asked. But then again I think I deserve to know his first name considering we’re on a date. He continues to look at me, but I challenge him and stare right back.
“Theo,” He says after a while, still looking straight into my eyes, but it feels more like my soul.
Theo, Theo James.
I take mental note of his name and how it flows off his tongue and out of his lips. I know I’ll be bombarded with questions from Zoe so I need to remember everything.
“I like that. Theo...” I test the name out for myself. It may just be my imagination but it seems like after the name slips off my lips, the corner of Theo’s mouth turns up into a smile before it falls.
