The evening finally arrived after hours of preparation by
the three excited girls. Kelsey and
Caitlin were obviously enthusiastic to see their respective men for their
dates. Aislinn was slightly
apprehensively enthusiastic because Tom had sent Kelsey a text saying that he
was going to get a date for her so she could come as well – someone famous, of
course. But he never replied saying who
exactly he had found for her…just that he was an attractive man (according to
other women, as Tom would never….). So
all three girls were looking forward to an unforgettable evening – they
deserved it after the disastrous morning they had had! The men needed
to redeem themselves tonight. Kelsey’s
phone started ringing at precisely 5:00.
Confused to see that it was Tom, Kelsey answered on speakerphone, hoping
that he was not cancelling last-minute.
“Hello?”
“Hello Kelsey. This
is Tom.” Kelsey stifled a laugh at his extremely formal tone and responded in
an equally serious manner.
“Hello Tom. What can
I do for you?”
“We – your dates – are outside your door. May we have permission to knock
politely?” Kelsey almost lost it at that
request. Listening in, Aislinn and
Caitlin burst into silent laughter.
Kelsey glared daggers at them as she replied,
“Of course you may.
We will see you shortly.” She
hung up as an extremely polite knock sounded on the door. The three of them exchanged grins and went to
let the men in. Caitlin, easily the most
excited, pulled the door open. Two
slightly red-faced men stood beside a confused, but attractive young man. David grinned at the sight of Caitlin, all
dressed up in her polka-dot dress and he in his suit for their fancy dinner,
and immediately proffered his arm. She
took it and the two started down the hall, already in their own world. Tom attempted to take Kelsey’s hand, however,
the mysterious stranger stepped in front of him and claimed the hand of the
fair redhead before he could.
“Kelsey,” he said charmingly, “it is such a pleasure to meet
you! I am a huge fan…my name is Joey Richter,
although I’m sure you already knew that!”
Kelsey’s eyebrows nearly leapt off of her face – what an egomaniac!
Although, she did actually recognize him…but that was beside the point! Poor Aislinn… Kelsey pulled her hand out of
his and firmly introduced him to her dark-haired roommate. He half-heartedly shook her hand and called
her ‘Ashley’ (which earned him a glare that he didn’t even notice as he was too
busy staring at Kelsey). The two couples
caught up to David and Caitlin quickly and Tom drove them to the restaurant -
Chez Romantique, the fanciest and most romantic restaurant for kilometers. Tom had made reservations so they were seated
immediately upon entering. They were escorted to a private table lit by
candlelight. Joey reached the table
first and pulled out the chair for Kelsey (despite Tom’s meaningful gaze that
masked his annoyance). He did the same
for Aislinn, but made sure to place himself on Kelsey’s left, since Tom took
the place on her right. David and
Caitlin sat close together and began to look at the menu. Aside from those two, who had a fabulous
dinner, the meal passed in absolute awkwardness for Kelsey, Tom, and
Aislinn. Joey was obviously taken with
Kelsey, and so directed all comments toward her, leaving Aislinn to eat in
silence or occasionally converse with Caitlin (when she could be pulled away
from David briefly) and leaving Tom to brood attractively. Kelsey was just plain annoyed that she couldn’t
talk to Tom (or watch him brood!!!).
After dinner finally ended, the group adjourned to the
theatre that Tom had rented to watch “Ever After” – the men were not thrilled
at the choice of movie, but the girls were using the power of guilt as long as
possible to get their way. The movie
started. Poor Kelsey was sandwiched between
Tom and Joey. Finally, she had had
enough. She turned meaningfully to Tom
and said, “Tom, I think that the Prince is wearing buffalo briefs, don’t you
agree????” Tom stared at her blankly,
wondering if she had gone crazy. Then, he finally recognized the phrase ‘buffalo
briefs’ as being their code for ‘get me out of here now!’ and understanding
dawned in his eyes. Five minutes later,
a mysterious emergency popped up concerning Avengers
2 and Tom insisted that he had to leave right away. Kelsey, of course, was very considerate and volunteered
to sacrifice her evening to help him deal with the problem. They made their escape before anyone could question
their excuse. Aislinn leaned back in her
chair and sighed. This must be one of
the worst dates of her life. Easily. Not even a full 5 minutes later, Joey got up
and left without a word to her – she never saw him again (thankfully!). That left her sitting, alone (except for David
and Caitlin, but they didn’t count). She
looked over at them and saw that David had casually lifted his arm behind
Caitlin’s chair and was inching it down toward her shoulders slowly. Despite her inner sadness, Aislinn smiled at
how cute and slightly awkward they were, then resigned herself to trying to
enjoy the rest of the movie.
Meanwhile, Kelsey and Tom headed over to McDonald’s and
their special spot in the back of the parking lot. First, they went through the drive-thru and
bought the little apple pies. Enjoying
their dessert, they sat on the hood of the car and looked up at the stars. As it grew colder, Tom slipped his jacket off
and draped it and his arm around Kelsey’s slender shoulders without a
word. Kelsey smiled and leaned into his
very fit body. They sat there for hours, loving being close to each other and
one with the night.
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