Date Night

When Amari walked out of her room, my mouth went dry and my palms got all sweaty. I was married to that woman. Had children with her. Yet looking at her now made me feel like I did the very first time we went out. She was just in jeans and a t-shirt then, but still she managed to put me at a loss for words like now.

I wasn’t expecting all the kids to be at the house when I arrived. Then when Bynni and Elphie started giving dating guidelines, I understood why all of them were there instead of just the two she’d asked to babysit. It was good to see how much the girls supported and cared about Amari. I did stop to wonder how much of their rules were for fun and how much were them looking out to protect their mom from being hurt again given our history. Amari was in a good place in her life. I could tell the difference in her, she was no longer simply putting on a brave face pretending things were better than they were.

I hesitated on walking over to her. We were being watched and it was a little strange. I thought being alone with her once we left the house would make things easier, but I was wrong. The scent of her perfume filled the space and it made me want to bury my face in her neck to get more of it. I’d missed that scent. She’d stopped wearing it for a while, I guess it reminded her too much of me. I was pleased she’d put it on again even if it was making it hard to concentrate.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Because you haven’t said anything since we left the house and you have a death grip on the steering wheel.”

“Oh.” I wiggled my fingers, letting the blood flow again. “I’m just trying to make sure I remember all the rules I was given.” I glanced over, giving her a smile.

“Sorry about that. If I had known, I would have given you some warning.”

“Don’t worry. It’s all in fun.”

The rest of the drive was quiet. We’d spent months talking on the phone, but now that we were together, we couldn’t think of anything to say. I hoped that we’d relax more during dinner or this night had the potential of turning into a really bad first date.

“I’ve heard good things about this place,” I told her as we walked up the plank walkway of the Purple Rose. It was a new restaurant in town, only open for about three months, but it had amazing reviews.

“The girls all approved of your choice. I’m really surprised they didn’t try to call for family dinner so they could come along.”

After we were seated, I took a moment to drink in the sight of her. My eyes lingered on her ringless hand. Neither of us wore our rings for nearly a year now, but I still remembered the pang of sorrow I felt when she first took it off. I’d told her that I’d met someone, not to be mean, but after all our issues with communication, or the lack of communication, I felt she should know. I could tell the news upset her, but she smiled and told me she hoped I had a good time. The next time I saw her, the rings were off. I wasn’t actively looking to date anyone when I’d met Lena. She was the agent of a house I toured when I’d considered buying a place. I ended up staying where I was. I was surprised when she called me up about a month later and asked me out to coffee. When I thought about it, wearing my wedding ring while I dated other people wasn’t right, so I took mine off as well.

She shifted nervously in her seat. “Why are you staring at me?”

“I’m not.”

“I’m pretty sure continuously looking at a person, barely blinking, is called staring.”

“No, it’s called appreciating beauty.”

She smiled and that awkward block of ice was broken. We talked, we laughed, we enjoyed each other’s company. Things were relaxed and easy similar to our phone calls.

Sitting across from her all night, she felt so far away and I had a need to touch her. To make sure she was real. Her hand rested on the table, I reached out for it.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For coming. I debated on whether or not I should have done this. I mean, you’re at a good place, we’re at a better place and I wasn’t sure if this would mess it up or something. But I don’t know…it just felt like the right thing.”

She smiled. “Thank you for asking. I understand, I was worried about it too, but talking to you again has been nice. Tonight has been nice. I’m trying not to read too much into it, but I’m glad you asked me out.”

“I’m glad you said yes.”

“So what time is your curfew again?” I asked, laughing.

“I don’t know,” she replied, giving a laugh of her own. “But I’m not ready to go home yet unless you’re tired of me already.”

“Nope, how about a nice moonlight walk at the pier?”

“I’d like that.”

Being with her; holding her felt good. It felt right, but I needed to not get ahead of myself. So much had happened between us, things we hadn’t dealt with still, that I didn’t want to make the same mistakes. I didn’t want to lead her on or hurt any more than I already had. Like she said, we didn’t know where this was going so it was best to take things slow. Not force things or put expectations on anything. We were getting to know each other again, and that was a step in the right direction.

“I should probably get you home.”

“Why?” Her voice held the same disappointment that showed on her face.

“Because if I keep you out too late, you might not be allowed to go on a second date.”

“Will there be a second date?”

“Yes. If you’re willing.”

Amari smiled as she looked up at me. “I’d like that.”

It took all of my will power not to kiss her. I could tell she hoped I would, but I didn’t trust myself. I wasn’t as afraid to touch her on the car ride home so I held her hand for the duration. We both laughed when the porch light flipped on as soon as we pulled into the driveway.

I held her close, committing the feel of her body to memory for the night.

“You’re not going to kiss me are you?”

“If I did, I’m worried I’d break rule number one.”

“And what was that?”

“No nookie on the first date.”

Her entire body shook when she laughed. She stretched up to kiss my cheek.

“Good night Marcus.”

“Good night Amari.”

***A/N***

The Purple Rose is by fredbrenny. I only did very minor edits on the wall color.

The Pier Point Boardwalk is by calmorezoo