The Date

Tuesday was similar to Monday, except after work I went to Lauren's apartment.  She was going out with Alex and I was planning to do her makeup, as promised.  I bounced through her door, excited to help her get ready for her date.

"Aren't you cheerful?" she grumbled as she pulled a dress over her head.

"I am!  I'm excited that you're going out with him," I chirped, stepping over to zip her up.  "You, on the other hand, are acting as though you're going to a date with your executioner."

She glared at me for half a second before her grumpy facade crumbled.  "I'm so nervous," she admitted miserably.  "What if I blow it and he decides that he doesn't actually like me anymore?"

"Lauren, don't be dumb," I said.  "He's known you for how long now?  Even if you completely blow it, I don't think it will be enough to make him forget everything he's decided to like about you in the last two years.  I mean, let's be honest...how many times have you been a complete bitch to him through the years? He's seen the worst, and he's still going out with you tonight."  Oddly enough, this seemed to calm her down fractionally. 

"Okay, so what about sex?  Can I have sex with him tonight?  I hear that you're not supposed to have sex on the first date, and technically this is the first date."  Lauren was obviously head over heels for Alex, because she had completely lost touch with her normal cool-headed logic and sounded exactly like me.

"I think that ship has sailed, darling," I said with a laugh.  "If the situation presents itself and you want to have sex with him, then have sex with him.  It's not like he hasn't already sampled the goods."

"I'm being ridiculous," she said.

"Yes," I replied.  "You're being very ridiculous.  But it's refreshing, I finally feel like you have normal feelings."  She threw a sock at me and we both laughed.  "That's more like it," I said.  "Now bring your face over here."  I did a soft, muted smoky eye, not wanting anything too dramatically different than her normal look, subtly contoured her cheekbones, forehead, and jaw, and finished her off with a pretty pink lip gloss.  I tossed the gloss to her, telling her to keep it for the night. 

"It's perfect," she said, admiring herself in the mirror.  "Can you just follow me around and do my makeup every day?"

"I don't even do my own makeup like that every day," I said with a chuckle.  "I better go before he gets here.  Have so much fun, and call me!  I want to hear all about it!" I hugged her and left.

I didn't hear from her Tuesday night, but on Wednesday she sent me a text: "Didn't get home until late, I'll call you tonight!" Sounded positive.  I was excited to hear about how things went.

I waited impatiently for her call that night, but Brody beat her.  "Hey," I answered cheerfully.

"Hi," he replied warmly.  "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Working and then I planned to go to happy hour," I said.

"Skip happy hour and come to my house," he requested.  "Actually, you probably don't even need to skip happy hour.  I'm not going into the office Friday.  I have a conference call in the afternoon, but I'm taking it at home.  I want to make you dinner and spend the night with you."  I didn't have to work on Friday either.  Apparently, they figured they should only overload new employees' brains for 4 days the first week.

"I would love to, but are you sure you want to make dinner after the week you've had?" I asked.  "I can make dinner, or we can do it together."

"No," he replied firmly.  "I want to make dinner for you.  It's my thank you for being so patient lately."

"Okay, if you insist, I'll let you make dinner," I said, smiling.

"Come at about 8?"

"8 is perfect," I responded.  We said goodbye and hung up just in time for my phone to ring again.  Lauren.

"Hi!" I said excitedly.  I was literally bouncing on my couch, ready to hear about her date.

"You were right!" she replied, in lieu of a greeting.  "I was super nervous at first, but it ended up being easy and normal and so, so awesome."

"I was right," I repeated in mock awe.  "I will treasure this day forever and ever."

"Shut up!" Lauren laughed.  "I had so much fun.  It's so easy being myself around him.  But it still felt different than when we usually hang out.  I mean, it felt like a date."

"And did you bang him?" I asked.

"No.  He walked me inside and we kissed, but then we just said goodnight.   It felt like the right thing to do."

"Aw, there is a classy lady in there somewhere," I teased.

"Shhh, you'll ruin my reputation!" she said back, laughing.  She sounded so happy, and I was so excited for her.  "We're going out again on Saturday.  I almost forgot we were doing girls' night on Friday."

"Yes, we are.  We're just staying in this time though, right?"  We had talked about doing a low key girls night this week instead of going out, and I was looking forward to it.  Lauren confirmed that was the plan.  We talked briefly about happy hour the next day and then hung up.

I made it through my last day of orientation unscathed and I headed for happy hour.  Lauren, Alex, and Kinsley were already there, and I did a happy dance in my head to see Alex's arm casually slung over the back of Lauren's chair, and his head bent towards hers.  Kinsley and I exchanged knowing smiles.  "Thank god you're here," she whispered to me, as she got up to walk up to the bar with me.  "The wonder couple hasn't even realized I'm sitting next to them yet."  I laughed.

I hung out for a little over an hour, and we discussed plans for Friday night.  We were going to spend the night at Kinsley's house, since she had the most room.  We settled who was bringing what, and then I left to go out to Brody's house.  I stopped at home to change out of my work clothes and pack an overnight bag.  I grabbed a bottle of wine and cookies I had made the night before when I was bored and then set off.

Brody greeted me happily at the door.  "Cookies and wine, an interesting combination," he said, taking my offered gifts and setting them on the counter.

"That's fine," I replied.  "I'll eat all the cookies and drink all the wine if you don't like it."

He caught me by the waist and pulled me close to him.    "I didn't say I didn't like it," he murmured, kissing me.  I kissed him back, sliding my fingers into his hair and tugging gently. 

"What's for dinner?" I asked, pulling away finally.  He didn't answer.  "Um, hello?" I said, tugging on his hair again.

"Sorry, I was busy thinking about what I was going to do to you after dinner," he said, grinning mischievously.  He walked to the oven and pulled out a baking dish.  "Citrus glazed salmon, roasted potatoes, and green beans."

"So balanced and healthy," I commented.  "Good thing I brought cookies and wine!" 

"Actually, the salmon is covered in brown sugar," he replied.  "There's probably more sugar on the salmon than in your cookies." 

"Oh, well in that case, have I ever told you that it's pretty much the sexiest thing ever when a man can cook?"

"But only when brown sugar is involved?" he asked, laughing. 

I slid my arms around him from behind and kissed his shoulder.  "Nope, always.  It's just even hotter when there's brown sugar involved." 

"So I can get lazy and fat and stop trying to impress you, and as long as I cook every once in awhile, you'll still be totally turned on by me?" he asked, turning around and cocking an eyebrow.

"Whoa, let's not get carried away," I said with a laugh.  I poured two glasses of wine and we ate dinner leisurely, finishing the bottle of wine while we ate.  Brody's phone didn't ring once.

I took our plates over to the sink when we finished and started to wash them.  Brody slid his hands across my hips and kissed the back of my neck.  "Those will still be there tomorrow," he murmured in my ear, catching my earlobe gently between his teeth.

"Not if I wash them now," I said, swiveling my hips slightly against his to tease him.

"Come on," he cajoled, sliding his hands under my shirt.  "I can think of so many better ways to spend our time tonight."  His fingers slipped beneath my bra and found my nipples.  I sucked in a sharp breath, but continued to wash the dishes, enjoying torturing him.

"And we can certainly do all those things when the dishes are done," I said, smirking even though he couldn't see my face.

"You leave me no choice," he replied.  He unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans and slid his hand down my underwear.  When his fingers made contact with me, I groaned and leaned back against him, forgetting about the dishes.

"Okay," I gasped, gripping the edge of the sink to steady myself.  "You win!"

He spun me around to face him and turned off the water.  "Don't worry," he said with a grin, "I'm pretty sure you'll win too."