House Sitter

The Date

She was already at a table when I arrived. I wondered why she'd picked a table near the back, away from the front windows - was she trying to keep people from seeing that we were meeting? The restaurant was narrow and deep but it wasn't too busy - she was sitting alone at a table for four. I watched her as I snaked my way between the tables. She was on her phone, tucked away under the lip of the table, and the harsh white glow of the screen cast severe shadows on her face. Did she not want me to see who she was texting? Her hair was straight and messy, she hadn't done anything to it, and she was wearing a cream cable knit sweater. I was right not to have dressed up, apparently.

I had a terrible case of the butterflies as I got closer and had the impulse to just turn right around and leave, but she looked up from her phone and spotted me. Her smile quickly fell into a mask of concern, her brows knitting together and her mouth vanishing into a thin line. She stood up from behind the table and came to meet me.

"Hey," She said as we hugged, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah," I lied around my sore tongue, my throat thick from lack of use - I hadn't spoken to anyone since I screamed at the pizza guy the day before. I held onto her. God, she felt good. She pulled away.

"How are you?" I asked. I pulled out a chair and started to sit down but she stayed standing, so I got back up to my full height.

"What happened to your face?" She asked, and her cool, soft hand touched my cheek.

We froze for a moment. I hadn't expected her to touch me so quickly. She seemed to realize that had been a mistake and I felt her hand pull away a fraction of an inch, though it stayed on my face.

"Oh, I, uh," I had to look away from her eyes. My heart was pounding, "I pulled a shelf down..." Truth is easiest, I decided.

"I guess you did!" She finally pulled her hand away and sat down.

I sat too, "Been here long?"

"Five minutes." She said, wrapping her hair back behind her ears, "We never actually said when to meet!"

We laughed together, "Yeah, well, we were never good at making plans." I said.

"Yeah." Awkward pause. "It's cool we're finally here!"

"For sure, I'm glad to see you."

"Oh," Her face twitched just a bit, "I meant, like, it's cool we're here at Brookline-"

"Oh!" I said, too loud, "Yeah, yeah, me too. I'm excited to try it. I've always wanted to try it."

"I know, yeah."

Another awkward pause. Where was the damn waiter?

"How's the house?"

"Ah, good," I said, "It's got a-"

"Can I get you two started with any drinks?" Here he was!

Here we go, I thought, "We'll have two Old Fashioneds!" I declared smoothly.

"Oh," She said, "I'll just have water, thanks."

The waiter tried to make a joke out of it "So, two Old Fashioneds for you, big guy...?" He dropped it when he clocked my broken up face.

"Just one I guess." I ordered flatly.

"Okay." He left.

"You're not drinking?" I asked.

"No." She said, taking a sip of water and avoiding my gaze.

A pause.

"You were telling me about the house."