Then I Saw Your Face

Danny

I knocked and, of course, eyes had to zoom to Linda's legs. And, of course, my dumb mouth spoke before my brain could think. "Whoa."
"What?"
"Nothing." Her outfit was amazing! The skirt hitting mid thigh was just asking for impure thoughts to run through this dumb head of mine.
Linda asked me about my day, then I asked her about her day. A man came out of the small kitchen, looking.... okay, so he looked like a criminal. And his name was Jimmy O'Shea. Linda's brother! She said he was washed out- I made a mental note to check if he was in the system.
Linda complimented my car, which I did not tell her it was actually Joe's. I couldn't tell if she didn't know who Henry Ford was- she said she did, so maybe it just wasn't coming to her?
*********
"I gotta tell ya I was surprised to hear you say we were eating at your place. But I'm glad we are." Linda pointed to her pasta with her fork, "this is delicious."
"I'm glad you like it." I smiled, she was adorable.
"I mean, this is, like, restaurant quality."
"No, it's not." I could tell my ears were slightly red. Later on I found out that Linda thought my ears turning red was cute. She found a lot of things "cute".
"Yeah, it is! Can I get the recipe?"
"Yeah. Um, I'll write it down and give it to you tomorrow during lunch?" I really hoped she said yes. Truth be told, I just wanted to see her.
"Sure. I'm gonna be making this, like, all the time! Where'd ya learn to cook like this?"
"My Mom. My Dad always said my brothers and I had to learn to make a nice pasta and garlic bread with a light salad for our future girlfriends." Huh? Did I just say girlfriend? That wasn't supposed to come out yet.
"That's... uh... good ad-advice." Linda blushed and looked down at her pasta.
I really did want her to be my girlfriend, but I wasn't sure if she wanted to be a girlfriend. She had said she was going to focus on herself for a while...
Awkward silence filled the air while we ate our dinner. I tried to think of something, anything to say, but nothing was coming.
"Just a question..." Linda spoke up, looking up from her pasta. "Why are we eating here?"
"Would you have preferred a restaurant?"
"No!" She exclaimed, a little too.... forcefully? "I mean, I like restaurants and all, but this is really nice, too. So I was just wondering why we're eating here?"
"Well... cause.... it's not a date, you know..."
"Right..."
"Just... two... friends... having a friendly meal."
"So... we didn't go to a restaurant cause this isn't a date?" Linda sounded confused, like she maybe thought it was a date. In truth, it probably was a date. But later on, we denied it every time someone asked about it.
"That and the fact I don't get paid till tomorrow."
"Ahhh!" She nodded, "that's always annoying. You think you'll be able to do this one expensive thing.. then whamo! No paycheck."
I smiled and chuckled at her. How was she not already taken? She was so beautiful and perfect and adorable.
"Did you make dessert too?"
"Uh... I've got ice cream."
Linda smiled broadly, "Ooh. Ice cream's always good... unless it's an icky flavor..."
I smiled at her, "Well, I've got vanilla and chocolate syrup."
"Good!"