Second (or First) Date

I sent Justin a text a couple days after I had talked with my friends and we arranged to meet for dinner. He was free that night, so we decided to meet at the restaurant at 7:30. Since that was only a couple hours away, I immediately began rummaging through my dresser drawer for a nice blouse. The choices all seemed so mundane. What color do you go with for a redo date? Do you dress more modest or try to show him what he's going to be missing if he doesn't shape up? I honestly didn't know how I felt about Justin anymore, which made my clothing choice seem pretty secondary to another choice I would have to make by the end of the night.

While I normally stick to my own wardrobe for most occasions, I decided to walk down the hall to my sister's room. She is three years younger than me, so when she was in high school, I would always catch her coming home from school in my favorite skinny jeans or newest tank top. It infuriated me. As of recently, though, she reached an age where she can now afford to buy her own nice clothing. So, the tables have turned. Well, they've evened out.

I began looking through her dresser at various blouses when I realized that the restaurant Justin and I were meeting at was borderline fancy. My sister works part time in a financial office, so she has some pretty nice dresses. I settled on a casual dark purple one that complimented my figure, without being even remotely scandalous. I needed Justin to remain focused, but also wanted to look attractive. Obviously.

I arrived at the restaurant a few minutes late and saw Justin sitting at the bar, nursing some brown liquor.

"Hey there," I said to Justin as I gently put my hand on his upper back. I decided that I was not going to come in with any negativity. I would continue to be upbeat, the same way I would be on any other date and especially how I would be on a second date with a guy I liked.

"Hey," Justin replied as he got off the bar stool and pulled me in for a big hug. Even though I was nervous for the date, I suddenly felt a sense of relief as he tightly gripped me for a few seconds. The warm embrace reminded me of how I felt before Justin seemed to go psycho.

Justin grabbed his drink and we walked over to the hostess who was ready to seat us. Once we sat down, I started scanning the menu. The longer until the conversation started, the better. However, he seemed to have the opposite feeling.

"Look, Caroline," Justin started as he laced his fingers together on the table. "I didn't mean to freak you out the other night. I just felt like I was getting played. I mean, who doesn't get text messages, right?"

I opened my mouth to respond. He had a good point, because people who say they don't get your text messages are liars, but I had triple checked my phone the next morning after my hangover subsided and I definitely didn't have any messages from Justin.

Justin cut me off, though. "I was actually talking to a buddy of mine the next day and it turns out he didn't get any of my messages either. I went to the store and there was some sort of issue with it. So really, I'm so sorry. That was 100% my fault."

I nodded for a few seconds as I thought about what I wanted to say next. I looked up and saw the waiter bringing over waters. He asked if we were ready to order.

"Do you want the spaghetti and meatballs you were planning on getting at the other place?" Justin asked with a wink. It was kind of sweet that he remembered such a small and relatively insignificant detail from that night, even though I've always found it annoying when a guy tries to order for a girl at a restaurant.

"That sounds great," I said with a smile. He ordered the same and we continued with our conversation.

"What do you mean you thought you were getting played?" I asked.

Justin took a sip of his liquor. "Well, I'm starting to, I don't know, really like you, I guess." He seemed so nervous, which oddly made me feel good. I wasn't sure if I slept with him too soon, but apparently that only made him more concerned that I wasn't going to take this serious. "And I don't want to scare you away or make you hate me," he continued. "I freaked out and I'm just glad you're giving me another chance."

I reached across the table and lightly ran my fingers over his. "I like you, too, Justin." He looked up at me and the right side of his mouth curled into a smile.

"So we good?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said as I leaned back in my chair. "Can we just, um, take things a little slower?" I asked. I wanted to get to know Justin and I accepted his apology about the freak out, but I still wanted to proceed with some level of caution.

"Whatever you say, boss," he said as he finished his drink and rubbed his hands together. "I guess you won't be coming over after dinner then?"

I hesitated for a moment. I didn't even know how this dinner would go so I hadn't really thought about it. I figured it wouldn't be a good idea, especially after I made it a point to take things slower.

"Well, I have a long day tomorrow," I lied.

"No problem. I'm not putting out anyway," he said with a smile. "You're not going to get the milk without buying the cow." We both laughed. All seemed good in the world of Caroline and Justin.