Taking Chances

11. The Scare

At yet another fancy restaurant with this very charming man, Stevie found herself laughing when he made simple jokes, drinking wine a little more carelessly, still she was date-eating though she had eaten before leaving home so her wine would have something to land on. But she also found this man quite interesting and maybe it was because they had nearly the same job, just on different units---they were honest and they were pretty soft and loving thus far. His looks were soft, but she'd never compare him to Lindsey only because he had been beautiful to her since high school, but Ben had a sort of ruggedness she enjoyed with his hazel, nearly golden eyes and longer hair that was brown and slightly wavy.

Tonight, she was wearing a black strapless dress that went passed her knees with a short slit up the right leg. With it, a simple oversized sweater that looked quite elegant and cozy with her look, the same black stilettos while she wore her hair down like normal, makeup like normal and her regular jewelry.

"So, what are you up to?" he asked.

"What am I up to?" she laughed, setting her wine down. "I'm on a date with you, my friend," as she settled her hand over his.

"Yeah, but I just wanna know what's going on in your life. I know you have kids, but I just have this vision of you and I just wanna know what you're doing. What do you do when you get home? Do you read, sleep... What?" he chuckled.

Giggling deeply, "Well, I pop into mom mode," she shrugged, being quite frank about it. "With my two teenagers, there is no rest for me. Just mediating their fights which are often. I take care of my mother since she's my mommy and I love her and things got really tough when my dad passed away so I bought a house out in Arizona and I asked her to live with me. She's a strong lady, but she is so not the type that could make it on her own and I worry. So, I make sure she gets what she needs, I handle it all. Down time for me is at night when I go to sleep and I try to read before bed," she shrugged and made full eye contact.

He only smiled.

"You asked and you received. I'm very boring," she had to laugh.

"No, it's just fascinating. I mean, you just seem like you'd be out every Friday night and every weekend, just looking for adventure. Motherhood takes immediately since I know that's the real deal, but you don't strike me for a homebody."

"I understand and you seem a lot more introverted than you lead on," she gently rested her chin in her hand. "When I was a younger gal, I was quite the wild one. I never slept because I worked hard to make my own money while being in a band, while also getting good grades. Honestly being so involved in home, it feels good, like my teenage self is at rest. But I was young when I had my daughter. Not too young, but young enough to not have an idea of what I was doing. But you, the way you approached me at the office, you gave off a lot of energy. I bet you're the type of person to be exhausted after a long day with people?" she picked up her glass.

"Wow, yeah, that's right," he chuckled. "Being with you right now, it doesn't feel taxing however. It's fun, I think."

"Sure," she agreed. "Just means you're comfortable... I'm sorry if I am boring you with brain exercises," she smiled. "When I was starting off in college, I was in Speech Communication so we went through small group communication and interpersonal communication and you learn a lot about how the brain differs."

"When did you start crime courses?" that easily brought him forward.

"Well, Communication is something you have to take, I'm sure you are aware. But I was actually..." she paused a moment. "Okay, so my husband and I were still singing and working, my parents told me I had to go to school and they'd pay for it as long as I did. So I went, didn't know what I'd major in, but I found Speech Com really interesting and fun so it was just a green light. When Lindsey's guitar playing started to skyrocket, he was working a lot more which meant we weren't doing as much singing though that was our spare time thing. Then I found out I was pregnant, so I decided to give up music and Lindsey was bummed, but he understood why. So, after giving up on music, I was more involved in school and I was looking for work options. Communication opens a lot of doors, but I'd still have to study something else to pair with it, so I changed my major and started studying to get my criminal justice degree and I had a lot of classes done due to already having done them for Com classes. Then before I knew it, I had a Bachelor's degree in which got me in the building. Ever since then I've been going up with schooling, so I then got my Master's, doctorate and I'm working on my terminal."