One Step at a Time

Hey, my first member review, I\'m honored. Glad you like it so far.

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Liz got to the restaurant a good fifteen minutes late and she stumbled out of her car into the parking lot. The black top was glistening from the late summer storm earlier in the day and she made her way quickly across it to the building. She climbed up the cobblestone steps to the entrance, but paused before entering. Instead she carefully peered into the front window to see if Jake was already there. He was.

“Of course he is.” She said to herself. “I am late after all.”

He was made up a bit neater than the first time they met. Instead of cargo pants and a jacket he was wearing dress pants with an open black blazer over a white, button up shirt and no tie. His hair was still messy and he remained unshaven, however. “Must be his look.” She thought. Her eyes changed focus and she caught her reflection in the window and the only thing she could think of was ‘plain.’ She was wearing a simple blue, knee length dress with a black jacket over it, but like usual, no make up. Not too mention she was wearing her glasses this time around and she was always self-conscious whenever she reveled them to somebody for the first time.

She also noticed him checking his watch a couple times and she knew she had to go in, but at the moment she just couldn’t make herself. For a couple more minutes she paced along the iron rod railing, which seemed like an hour to her. She found herself in front of the doors again and finally decided to start the night. With a deep breath she pushed through and looked over to where he was sitting. She looked both ways nervously as if she was crossing a street and made her way over to him.

He spotted her before she got to him and he stood to greet her and she responded with a shy smile. “Sorry about being late.” She apologized as she crossed her arms in awkwardness.

Jake shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.” He then quickly eyed her up and down. “I guess I under-dressed.”

Liz forcefully accepted the complement even though she was sure he was being modest. A waitress approached them and offered them to a table. They followed her into the dining area to a small, two-chair table on the side. Jake politely pulled one chair out for Liz and she thanked him, slightly blushing at the gesture. It wasn’t every day that she witnessed the lost art of chivalry first hand. He then took his seat and the waitress handed them their menus. “I’ll be right back with some water and bread sticks.” She explained before leaving.

Jake glanced at the menu for only a moment before placing it down on the table. Liz looked up at him oddly. “You already decided?”

Jake nodded back. “Yeah. I usually get the same thing every time.” She looked back at him with a quizzical expression. Jake noticing gave the answer. “The garlic lemon chicken.”

“Not very traditional Italian.” She replied.

“Neither is the cheese burger.” He quipped back. This drew a small giggle and relaxed her a bit. After a minute she put her menu down as well.

“I guess I’ll get the angel hair pasta.” She said. The waitress came around finally and placed the basket of bread sticks in the center of the table and handed them each a glass of water.

“Have you two decided?” She asked, pulling a small tablet from one of her apron pockets. They stated their choices and the waitress took back the menus, telling them the meals will be ready in a bit. Jake laid his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his clasped hands, looking across the table at Liz.

“I see you’re wearing glasses this time.” He commented.

Liz shifted uncomfortably in her seat and bit her low lip some. She dumbly hoped that he wouldn’t notice, but how couldn’t he with it being such an obvious difference? “Well, yeah… um, I knew I would be reading tonight, so I needed them…” She explained quietly. “I really hate them, though.” She added.

“Did you ever think about that eye surgery?” Jake asked. He was determined tonight not to have any awkward pauses, no matter how lame the conversations got.

“Yeah, actually, but I’m too squeamish about eye stuff. I could never do it. That’s why I don’t wear contact either.” In her mind she thought she was rambling and stopped there. She began looking around the room and at other people, seeing what they were up to. Jake realized this was the start of one of those pauses he vowed to avoid.

“So, what do you do?” Jake immediately kicked himself within for asking such a stereotypical ‘first date’ question, but if it was going to rid them of the silence he would go with anything.

“I, uh, work at a book store.” She answered. “And I’m taking some writing and computer classes at the university.”

Jake chuckled a little. “The opposite of me. No college and I work at a video store.” She gave a small smile at the comment, but didn’t respond to it. “Do you like reading then? Choosing a book store to work at and everything?”

“Kind of... I wouldn’t call it a hobby or anything.” Liz started fidgeting with her napkin a bit. “Too be honest, my mind wanders too much for me to sit down and do any real reading. I just can’t concentrate well like that…” She was a little embarrassed as she confessed that. The only thing she could imagine was him thinking she was just some ditzy girl.

“I get that.” He replied. “I kind of had the same trouble back in school. Of course school wasn’t my best subject… being cooped up in a small room all day just isn’t my thing.” He finished with a nervous laugh.

They had been talking for longer than they thought. Before they knew it the waitress returned with their dishes and placed them down in front of them, sliding over their glasses and the basket to make room. The two of them were pretty much quiet as they ate; only occasionally brining something up. As long as there was something to preoccupy them they were more or less fine with the silence. Suddenly Liz looked startle.

She put her fork down and reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a cell phone. It vibrated in her hand again as she held it and flipped it open to see who it was. “I’m sorry… I have to take this… I’ll be right back…” She said as she left the table. A few minutes passed and Liz finally returned. Jake looked up at her and was about to ask about the call when she brought it up herself. “Um… I have to go.” She said timidly. “That was my parents… their car broke down on the side of the road, so I’m going to pick them up.”

She was quiet for the moment as she sat down and pulled her keys from her handbag. “Normally I wouldn’t do this, but it’s pretty dark out now…”

“I understand.” Jake said. “Um, did you want…”

Liz cut him off there. “Uh… look… it was nice of you to do this, but… you did it just because you felt guilty… and, I just don’t want you wasting your time with me.” Her voice became almost unnoticeably shaky. “It probably would have been better if I didn’t call since you’re not even interested… never mind. I’m sorry, I’m just rambling. Um, I’ll pay for my half…” She was noticeably flustered now as she started to shuffle for her wallet.

“No, no… it’s okay.” Jake said, a look of astonishment evident on his face. “It’s okay…” He said again. Liz again said that she was sorry about everything and walked off to get her parents. She felt absolutely horrible about what she did, what she was planning on doing at the end of the night anyway, but with this abrupt end it just came out sloppy and rude.

Jake remained seated and leaned back as he took a sip of his water and placed it back down on the table. “Well, that went incredibly well.” He stated to himself sarcastically, with a disgruntled tone to his voice.