Scene 8 First Date
"Hello?" He answered on the first ring. He'd been sitting on the patio waiting for her call.
"Hi. When are you picking me up.... Or do you just want me to meet you somewhere?"
She wasn't in the mood for small talk so she just got right to the point.
He found himself smiling at the sound of her voice but sensed something was wrong.
"Are you okay?"
"Just peachy. So are ya gonna answer my question?" she thought to herself that she was being unnecessarily bitchy to him.
He guessed she must've had a long day, she sounded really tense.
"Well, how soon can you be ready?"
"I thought the deal was at 8. I could probably ready by 7:15. That's the earliest," she said trying not to sound as annoyed as she felt.
"Okie doke, then I'll be by at 7:30. And wear the lavender, the scent is supposed to be relaxing," he said referring to their lunchtime interlude. "
Is this formal or can I just wear whatever?" She smiled for the first time in what seemed like hours. She too was thinking of her lunchbreak.
"Casual is fine. Just be comfortable and you'll fit in well." He had decided to take her to this new restaurant not too far from his house. It was a Cajun place and the food was great ... or at least the take out was. "Alrighty, see you in a few then," she said before she hung up.
"Kay, later." She sat there phone in hand for a few minutes trying to decide whether or not to call him back and cancel.
"Oh well, I gotta eat," she said to the kitten on the chair beside her. She got up, picked out her clothes, and jumped in the shower. She was out and dressed with her face made up in 15 minutes.
She remembered the perfume and put some on just as the doorbell rang. "You're a little early," she said surprised.
"Yeah well I figure better early than late," he said stepping inside,
"You look good enough to eat." He raised an eyebrow and the giggle she smothered.
At that point Bacardi came thundering down the hallway; Jack right on his heels.
"Will you two behave? Can't you see we have company? You'd think I never taught you any manners," she berated them.
The puppy just ignored her and ran up to sniff the shoes of the intruder. Satisfied it was safe, he rolled onto his back to get his tummy rubbed.
" Some guard you have," he said reaching down to pet the puppy.
Jack chose that moment to attack swiping at Howie's hand nearly scratching him.
"Yeah well around here things are a little different. I have an attack cat," she said laughing as he inspected his hand for injury.
"Okay Jack, he's not gonna hurt your brother, so stop being mean and go finish your dinner."
Amazingly, the cat looked at her for a just a second before trotting away. The puppy just sat on his haunches until she sent him off too.
"Bacardi you heard me, go eat!" she said firmly. He went off in the same direction the kitten had taken.
It was then that Howie heard another voice singing: *squawk* Quit playin games with my... hand dumbass!*squawk* *squawk* Quit playin games with my... hand dumbass!*squawk*
"Ronnie, shut up," She said blushing.
To Howie she said, "That would be Ronrigo; my parrot. He's pretty good at talking and now he's discovered he likes to sing."
*Welcome to the Jungle* the bird sang on...
"He's right on that score," Howie said, smothering a giggle.
"Yeah, welcome to my zoo," Aadriana said with mild amusement.
"So are ready or you need a few more minutes?"
"Nope, I'm ready when you are," she said.
*squawk Screw you guys I'm going home*squawk*Son's of bitches you fuckin son's of bitches. quit Playin Games with my hand Dumbass*squawk* Ronnie said.
"He watches too much tv, as you can tell," Aadriana said as an explanation.
"You kids behave," she called out starting towards the door.
*I'm goin down ta South Park gonna leave my...* the bird began to sing loudly.
"OK...OK Geez try not to get too loud and keep the little ones in line," she said, grudgingly walking back to put on a 5 hour tape of South Park. *Squawk* Sit Down and Shut Up! Ronnie said in answer.
"What are you just standing there for? We can go now," she said to Howie laughing and grabbing his hand.
"Can I ask you something?" He waited until they got into the car to ask his question.
"Go ahead" "Why in the hell does that bird sing 'Quit Playin Games With My Hand Dumbass?"
"It's his favorite song and he has a somewhat twisted sense of humor. You have to admit it is kinda funny," she answered laughing at his serious expression.
"So what are their names again? Unless I'm mistaken you called that puppy Bacardi."
"His name is Bacardi. I have a somewhat twisted sense of humor too. The kitten's name is Jack Daniels. And the Lunatic with the loud voice is Ronrigo."
"Wait a second ... you gave all your pets liquor names?"
" Most people don't catch on so fast but yeah. They all have nicknames though... Ronnie, Jack, and Mud Puppy."
"I'm not even gonna ask where that last one came from," he said with a smile. They reached the restaurant before either said anything else.
"AJ needs to meet him," Howie said breaking the silence, "he'd get a kick out of it."
"Meet who?" Aadriana was so lost in her own thoughts that she had no clue what he was talking about.
"Ronrigo the singing Cartman impersonating Parrot that's who," he said with flair.
"Oh," she said getting out of the car without waiting for him to open her door.
"Yeah," he continued," I can just about imagine their conversations. It'd be a pretty nice trick to play on Nicky and Bri. Kevin would probably be the least receptive ... he might kill your bird." He stopped when he realised she wasn't really paying attention.
"Hey," he said once they were seated," Aadriana? Hello? Come back to Earth."
"Huh? I... uh....oh shit. I'm sorry," she stammered, I guess I have a lot on my mind." She was blushing now.
"Stay where you are girl, don't let those thoughts creep back in until you're alone," her annoying inner voice yelled.
"Welcome back, feel free to take a load off. I mean it, if you need to talk I'm a great listener ... or so I've been told"
"Oh no, I'm fine thanks. It was sweet of you to offer though. I may just take you up on that one day," she said attempting to smile.
It came out more like a grimace.
"Are you hungry? I've never eaten in here before but they have great take out, " he said deciding on a different approach.
"Not really. I probably should eat a little something though. I always skip lunch and today was no different in that respect, she said with a sigh; remembering how it had been different.
"Just pick something. They have great gumbo here if you that helps," he said.
The waiter came and took their orders.
"Would you like a drink," he asked.
"No thank you. I have to work tomorrow," she answered.
He looked at her as if she had sprouted horns and walked away.
"What's his damage?" Howie asked, appalled.
"Forget about it."
"Okay, so why don't we do this. You sounded upset earlier and it's been established you're not gonna tell me what's wrong. Why don't you just help me figure out a way to make you smile," he suggested, with a wicked raise of his eyebrow.
"What do you mean? I told you I''m okay," she said, sounding as indignant as she could manage.
"All I meant was for you to answer me this. What is the one thing that you love to do or would love to try, that you either haven't done in awhile or just never got around to doing," he replied softly.
She thought for a few seconds and the said, "Horse back riding. I love it, I just haven't found a stable around here that looks decent enough.
"So when's you're next day off?" He said grinning, he should've known it had something to do with animals.
"I have Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays off this month. I love this new schedule," she said with little enthusiasm.
"Good, we're going horse back riding Saturday morning," he said this trying to judge her reaction.
"You don't have to do that you know," she whispered. Just then the waiter returned with their food.
"Saved by the bell," he thought.
"Will you be needing anything else, sir," the wither asked in a monotone. "No, thank you."
"Mam?" He turned to her.
"Nothing," she said voice full of irritation.
"Good," the waiter replied, before walking away.
"I can see why you always get take out. "Lurch" over there is enough to ruin any appetite. He kind of reminds me of an undertaker and with that attitude I'm sure the only tips he gets have to do with embalming," she said grimacing at her plate.
She sat picking out the pieces of sausage that she had asked not be included.
"He can't spoil my appetite. Are you gonna eat those," he asked spearing one of the pieces she had pushed aside.
"Be my guest," she said pushing the bowl in his direction.
They ate in silence for a few minutes before he asked,"How come you don't have a nickname. I mean you're name is kinda long, what do people call you for short?"
"Most just call me but my name. But some people usually just come up with their own name for me. Most of my male friends call me Angel which I don't really get. Catrina, my best friend calls me Chicken"
"Why in all hell would your best friend call you Chicken," he asked with a gleam of devilment in his eyes.
"Maybe cause I call her Turkey? It's a long story," she said, attempting a grin,
"Come to think of it she's coming down right after Christmas. I can hardly wait I really miss her."
"Will she be here for New Year's ?"
"Yup"
"Great, I'm making my reservation now. I'm going to take you guys out New Year's Eve, so don't make any other plans." He said the words with AJ's voice echoing in his mind," Be assertive... Be aggressive."
"If you say so," she said sounding sceptical.
"So how's the gumbo," he asked. "It's pretty good. This is the first I've had since moved here that I didn't make myself," she answered, still playing with her food.
"For it to be good you sure don't seem to be eating much of it," he commented.
"I told you my appetite is shot these days," she said with a sigh.
"What else do you like to do? Besides horses and cooking gumbo," he asked. He figured her appetite or lack thereof wasn't something she wanted to discuss.
"I really don't care too much for cooking but, I gotta eat sometimes. I just feel silly cooking a whole meal just for me and the animals," she said blandly.
"Well, I like to eat so maybe you can cook for me sometime," he said trying to get a smile out of her.
"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you," she said with an amused smirk. "Mayday Mayday, you are blowing this man! Do something before you crash and burn!"
He wasn't sure who's voice that was in his head this time; he spent so much time talking to himself these days they all sounded alike. It was a good analysis of the situation so he decided to try a new angle.
"You mentioned writing before, what do you write?"
"I do a little of everything. I have dozens of poems, I'm working on a few stories. Actually I co-wrote one song for a Soap Opera, and I've had one of them produced and used by an upcoming artist back home," She said with no animation.
She was still trying to figure out why she had agreed to this date... her heart just really wasn't in it.
"Do you have anything specific you write about or..." He stopped in the middle of his sentence; once again she seemed so far away.
"Hey.... Hello," he said as he waved his hand in front of her face.
She sighed again and decided to be as honest as she could.
"I'm really sorry... I have no idea why I even went through with this. My mind is elsewhere and I can't seem to focus on the here and now. There's just too much going on in my head. I'm not even hungry anymore to be honest."
"Is there anything I can do to help," he asked suddenly very concerned. "It's something that I'm just going to have to figure out on my own, but thank you for asking." She'd known he was going to say that.
"Are you ready to go then," he asked, "The atmosphere here is enough to depress a rock!"
"I didn't know rocks could be depressed but it is kind of dead here," she said a hint of a smile touched her lips at his attempted joke.
"So what're you gonna do now," he asked as they got into the car. "Probably just listen to some music ... write a little bit," she said shrugging," what about you?"
"Prolly the same thing word for word. What kind of music do you like? Besides us I mean."
She eyed him while she gathered her words.
"I listen to some of everything. I mean Gloria Estefan to Janet Jackson to Jimi Hendrix to the Stones to the Beatles to 112 to whoever. It really just depends on the song and my mood these days. I can listen to all music as long as it's good."
"So you're not genre specific then," he asked surprised.
"Not a bit. I love Classical, but then I'm crazy about Aerosmith, too. I love yall, but then I can feel Tupac, too. You see where I'm going right? It's all in my mood, the lyrical content, and how good the actual arrangement of the music," she said finally allowing herself to be drawn in to a conversation. "So are gonna let me read some of your stuff," he asked, his eyes betraying his eagerness.
"Why would you even want to?" She was slightly confused at the change of topic.
"Maybe because I want to see where you're coming from. Or, maybe I'm really just looking for an excuse to spend more time with you..... Or... Maybe I'm just bein nosy." He said all this with a devilish grin and a twinkle in his eye.
"Most likely it's all of the above."
"Sure why not, since you were honest. I have to warn you though most people tend to get scared or depressed, "she said this looking down. "She is really upset," that unknown voice resounded in his head," maybe waiting until Saturday is a bad idea."
He sat in silence for a few seconds pondering his next move. Finally he decided that whoever was in his head was on the right path,
"Since you said you're off Friday why don't we sit in my spot and write together. I can read some of your work and maybe you can give me some input on this song I've been tossing around," he suggested.
"If you think it's a good idea," she started hesitantly.
"Course it is, come on now.... Are you gonna deny me the pleasure of your illustrious critique of my meager writings?" He said the words with an expression of such seriousness; she had to say yes.
"Um ... okay well here's my number why don't you just call whenever you're ready?" She wrote down the number as they reached her building.
She was overwhelmed and slightly embarrassed, she felt the need to apologize. I'm really sorry I was such a drag tonight. I've had a really long day. It just kinda all piled up on me. Thanks so much for dinner it was really nice ... and thanks for trying to cheer me up. It was sweet of you," she said leaning down to kiss his cheek.
"Oh you don't think you're getting off that easy do you," he asked softly. "What do you..." Before she could get out the question she felt his lips covering her's. He pulled her into a kiss that erased all thought.
When he pulled back ending it, she was dazed. Her breath was coming in short gasps and he was wearing a very contented smirk.
"That was a goodnight kiss. No problems okay? If there's anything I can do to help ... anything at all; call me. I'm a really good listener; or so I've been told, so even if you just need to talk sometime..." he left the offer hanging in the air between them.
"Maybe," she said noncommitally, as she got out of the car.
"See you Friday. Goodnight Chicken," he almost giggled.
She laughed but it sounded forced.
"G'night Mr. Dorough." He watched her walk into the apartment and drove away.