untouchable

A date

I was a little startled to be shaken awake suddenly out of my peaceful slumber the next morning,

"Cassandra wake up...hey wake up!"

I open my eyes reluctantly,"what?".

"Cassandra...travis is downstairs..he says you guys have a date ?".

My eyes fly open at that,I sit up, squinting my eyes from the bright light coming through the windows in the room,

Tasha digs through the bedroom closet,looking for something,

"So?",she asks looking over at me in question," you have a date?".

I knod," yes I do,I just forgot,...we're going for breakfast."

She knods"nice,... well your going to need something cute to wear and I have the perfect outfit for you",she brings over jeans and a yellow blouse.

I smile,getting up and taking them into the bathroom,I shower,brush my teeth then comb my wet curls out before getting dressed,I check myself out in the mirror, I look nice and the outfits not too fancy or slummy either but it's still wearable with my sneakers.

I come out and go downstairs,walking into the kitchen I find Tasha and Travis there laughing,

I pause in the doorway watching them,I don't want to interrupt but tasha notices me since she's facing my direction,her eyes go to me and then travis turns around too.

Tasha smiles,sitting her coffee cup down,"Well well well,look at you gorgeous".

I pull on my blouse feeling uncomfortable.

Travis thankfully speaks standing from his seat at the kitchen counter," I guess we should get going, I don't wanna end up making you late for work".

I knod grabbing my bag and he follows me out.

When I go to open the passenger side door of his truck,he reaches ahead of me and opens it instead,"allow me".

I step back so he can open it,and then I climb in,he shuts my door before going around to the drivers side.

We pull out and head to where ever he's taking me for breakfast,the trucks full of silence until he says,"you look really nice by the way,...I didn't get to say that earlier because I was a little speechless haha".

I raise my eyebrows glancing at my outfit,it's not even fancy and he's speechless? I hope he's not just being nice.

I knod,"thank you...",and look out the window in silence.

We pull up to a diner in town and I'm confused when he tells me he'll be right back as he hops out the car and runs inside. Okay then.

He comes back out with a bag of food platters,then he pulls out of the diner parking lot without a word. I wonder if he can see the looks I'm throwing at him.

We now pull up to a park that runs along a river,he parks facing the water and gets out,so I guess this is the final destination. He comes to my side quickly and opens the door.

"Here we are",he says.

I look around, there are some people jogging and strolling about or just sitting on benches. He walks us over to some tables by the water,and puts the bag of food down on one before pulling out a chair for me to sit in,then he sits across from me,taking out our food and handing me mine.

"Hope you don't mind,I went ahead and chose for you,I just know what's good there, I'm a regular".

Checking out the yummy smelling food in my platter I knod offering a smile.

I start eating silently,for one I'm hungry and also I don't know what to say. I do notice the big smile on his face though and that he keeps glancing at me but makes an effort to not outright stare.

"So ...hows your job going?",he asks.

I chew my pancake then shrug,"fine...,I fussed at a customer my first week".

He pauses eating,staring at me,"really?...".

I knod

He leans forward on the table,"well,how did that go?".

I grimance,"well,I didn't get fired".

He knods chuckling,"good,...I'm glad".

"So what about your job,how's things at the fire station?",I ask.

He finishes chewing a bite before answering," it's great,lives are being saved and people are following orders".

I knod,"good",though the thought of him running into a on fire building makes me squirmish.

I look down at my food hoping my feelings don't show on my face.

He clears his throat,"I hope you know your an incredibly strong person cassandra...".

I just stare at him,well I'm not sure what to say to that.

"....thank you".

He knods,"And...I would like to know how you ended up homeless,but I don't expect you to tell me your life story on the first date,so just know I do want to know,whenever your ready".

I look out at the water and just knod.

I like that he does want to know and that he's not avoiding my situation.

We eat our food and make light conversation the rest of the date,and come the end of the date I'm very glad that I came and can't wait til our next...,wait,I can't assume there's a next date.

He confirms there will be though when he drops me off at work,"Saturday night,dinner, what do you say?".

I smile,"yes",I say and I shut his car door walking inside,his smile stuck in my head.

I don't think about my shelter check in for that night or any other obstacle that could get in the way, just his smile.