I had a difficult time working the next day. I kept thinking about Steve and wishing he were 15 years younger. I only had to work 8 hours that day, instead of the usual 12. Because of that, I was able to go to meetings that night and see him. He asked me at one point if I was going to stop by the shop the next day, I said I was. He said he needed to talk to me about something then. Of course, I wondered, pondered, and worried about that until the next afternoon.
That evening, at the meeting after the meeting, Steve made Susan sit next to him and I sat on the other side of Susan, even though I wanted to sit next to him. People there started talking about the Halloween party they went to the evening before. Someone asked Steve what he did, Steve said, "I had a date with an angel." (doesn't that sound corny?). There was more discussion, and this same guy asked me if I was out with Steve. I was kind of embarrassed, I wasn't ready to go public with our "relationship", but I said I was. I found out later that most of our friends had figured something was going on between us, with the way we kept looking at each other.
Whatever Steve wanted to talk about with me the next day, I'll never know, although I have a sneaking suspicion it had to do with how he was feeling about me. I was very anxious when I went to his shop, it's just as well that he didn't bring it up because I wasn't ready to deal with my feelings and I probably would have screwed things up. He did tell me that he and Susan had an argument Saturday night when he got home. She was like a daughter to him and he was worried about some of her choices and involvements, I guess. That was why he'd had her sit next to him the night before. I worked the next day, which was Tuesday, Halloween, 1995. The census was low and we ended up closing one side. I asked if I could take a vacation day the next day, I had an in-service to attend and it lasted most of the morning. Of course, that wasn't my main motive. I had initially wanted to work the morning and get cancelled the next afternoon and go visit Steve, but he had told me he had a doctor's appointment at the VA at the time. I was disappointed because I'd wanted to see Steve before leaving town Thursday. So now I was able to go see him in the morning before the meeting at work. It also meant I was able to see Steve that evening, which I did.
