A Descent into Darkness

After the Dates

Rachel and I are in my car and on the way home, still laughing from the comedy show.

"Just so we're clear," she says, playfully, from the passenger seat, "you ever say any of those things he said to me, you're dead."

"Trust me, I'm not the one who needs to be concerned."

"Oh please. What has he ever said that's anti man?"

"I'm not saying I would kill you if you quote him, I'm saying in general."

I look at her, trying for a deadly serious face. She gives me such a cute "Oh will you?" look that I crack almost immediately.

"Yeah, I doubt you could hurt me if you wanted to."

If I believed in God, I would be praying that's true.

"Seriously though, I'm so glad we did this," she says.

"Me too," I admit. I will say, I was vaguely concerned toward the start of the date that something might happen to set off my murderous side. I even deliberately got a burger instead of a steak so they wouldn't bring out the larger knife. But neither I, nor Rachel, had nothing to worry about. I didn't envision killing her once. The same can't be said for that guy who bumped me in the lobby of the performance venue, but I didn't go after him, so, no harm no foul.

"So, when we get to my place, you coming in?"

Whoa, fuck, um, what do I say to that?

"What about your parents?" is the answer I manage to squeak out.

She laughs. "My parents have been in Germany for three months, and will be for another three, so we're safe there."

"Um, I...I..."

"It's okay to say you'd rather not on the first date, Nate."

I feel my face turn red. I look down as much as I can while keeping my eyes on the road. "I'm sorry. Just...this is all new to me. Dating. Not wanting to kill you. I know it sounds cliché, but I don't want to go too fast and mess something up."

"It's okay, I understand. I actually kind of appreciate it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I was on Tinder for a while. I'm sure you know how many guys on there want nothing but sex."

"I think I have some idea." I mean, everyone knows that people on Tinder are assholes. Oh, and Veronica never shuts up about it.

"Well, it's nice to find someone who just wants to take his time and see where this goes. Though, I do have one question for you, if it's not too personal."

I perk up my ears. "Go ahead."

"Why have you not dated anyone before? Looking at you, I can't imagine girls, or boys, not judging, didn't find you physically attractive."

"Oh, they were after me for sure. But I turned them away."

"How come?"

"I had my reasons. Can we leave it at that?"

"Of course." Though she sounds curious. I have a feeling, if this turns into a long-term thing, it won't be the last I'm hearing of it. But I can live with that. I really enjoyed tonight. Rachel is officially on the list of people whom I feel no desire to kill when I'm with her. What more could I ask of someone who may be in close proximity to me for extended periods of time?

"So, what's happening with this attempted break in at your place?" she asks, thankfully moving on to a new topic.

"I honestly have no idea. The most I heard was that they have no DNA they can determine belonged to the suspect. The detectives said they would brief us if they found anything, and they haven't yet. Make of that what you will. We think it means whoever was out there is not getting caught anytime soon, and so we'll have to take care of ourselves. We have a home security specialist coming tomorrow to give us a quote for a new system."