Just A Coffee For me

Chapter 5: An Attempted Ride Home

Dean got there 5 minutes before my shift ended. He came inside, ordered a beer, and sat down at the bar. I was washing off the rest of my tables and sat down next to him.

"Hey. You're a little early."

"Yeah. I had nothing to do. My class ended but Sammy's still in it. He'll be done in 'bout an hour. Hey, do you want to go someplace. We can go do something if you want. We'll go somewhere or go eat something," he looked at me and smiled.

"Are you asking me on a date?" I blurt out.

He choked. Oh my god. Wrong thing to say. I am so mortified. I was just curious I swear.

He laughs.

"Sure if you want to call it that." He takes a drink of his beer. Oh my god.

"Um...alright let me clock out." I walked away and went to my card, pulled it out, put it in the puncher, pulled it back out and put it in the other slot. This man, that I hardly know by the way, just asked me out on a...I don't really know what to call it. A date? Me and a friend going out but not as anything serious. A gathering. Wait no. That sounds like a cult thing. I walk back towards him as he's taking the last swig of his beer. He sets it down and grabs his jacket and we head out the door. Once again I get on the back of the motorcycle and grab on to his sides as he starts the bike. It roars to life once again and it purrs. He lifts up the stand and we're off once again. We get back on the freeway. I bury my face in his back and he smells good. Like a musky, sweet stench. He smells like cologne. I don't think I smelled that the first time we met. I smile at the possibility that he put on cologne for me. Wait what am I doing? I don't even know this guy. Or at least I hardly know this guy. Or we're friends?

I look at what we pass by. We pass trees and cars. The sky is a beautiful blue for the fact that it's December. It should be getting gray soon. And it should start raining which I absolutely love. I love the sound of the rain on the roof of my apartment. It helps me sleep. I watches the cars zoom by and we take the exit off of the freeway. I dot know where we're going for this "date." He turns on a couples of streets and we are at the mall.

"We're at the mall? We're both in college." I meant to say that we were both poor, but I think he got the gist of it.

"It's okay. I had something else in mind anyway. Come on."

I followed him. We didn't walk through the actual mall. There was actually a sidewalk that went somewhere different. We went down that road and it lead to trees and benches. Then I see something. It's a rink. It's a damn ice skating rink. This guy... I think he really thinks it's a date. I blush and he takes my hand and leads me towards the rink. We pay for our skates and we sit down on benches to tie our shoes. We sit opposite of each other and I take off my sneakers and slip on the skates.

"Have you ever been ice skating?" I ask him. He's bent down over his shoes. He's concentrating on how to loop the shoes. He looks up at me and looks dead serious.

"No." He smirks. "And I'm guessing you haven't either"

"Actually I have. When I was little I went to New York to go to my cousins wedding. At the reception they had an ice skating rink. I fell so many times, but I got used to it."

I remember it clearly. I was about 7. It was cold and we wore our huge jackets and fuzzy socks to avoid hypothermia or a few amputated toes. My mom had helped us ice skate. The first time I fell she helped me get up and get back out there. After that I got up by myself to try and make my mom proud. It was fun and the next day our butts were sore.

"You realize if I fall I'm taking you down with me?" He proclaims.

"You can hold on to the hand rails. That's where the beginners are." I say in a mocking tone. He sticks his tongue out at me like we're five. But it funny the way he does it because he scrunches up his nose and makes his freckles stand out.

"Alright let's do this," I say as I stand up. I wobble a little but I get the hang of it after.

"Hey are the blades sha- OW. Son of a bitch. Don't touch the blades." He looks up at me with complete seriousness.

"Yeah. They're sharp, what did you expect?"

"I thought they were gonna be dullish. Not that sharp."

I chuckle to myself. I walk, more like waddle, to where he is.

"Is your hand okay?" Taking his hand in mine I examine the wound on his finger. It's really not that bad. It's like a paper cut. He winces when I touch it.

"Oh quit being a wimp."

"I'm not being a wimp it really hurts." He makes a pouty face that makes him look like he's five. I can't look at him without laughing. He stops after I get a bandaid from the front. I place it on his finger and wrap the sticky adhesive around his finger.

"I don't know. Can you go on? Can you Dean attempt to ice skate?" I challenge him.

"I don't know. I might need some help. You have to stick by me." He gives my hand a squeeze. I pull my hand away and cross my arms. I don't know how I feel about this.

"Alright let me finish this really quick." He finishes tying his shoe and stands up.

"Alright let's do this."