The Date – No, the Dinner Not a Date
Everything, I can’t have by Robin Thicke pulsating salsa beat triumphed throughout Gracie’s home as she blew out the candles and opened the windows of her house to let the fresh summer breezes defuse the scent of roses that generally dominated her home. Dinner was warming and Gracie wanted her dinner’s scent to be want danced in the air with the breeze.
Gracie’s golden brown face was cleaned of makeup except mascara and a light shade of lip gloss and she had her black hair with it’ brassy auburn streaks tied back in a neat hair clip in the back. This was a feat as her hair was chin length and took hair cream and a small amount of gel to get it to cooperate. It was time to go to the hair dresser or a relaxer touch up to her wavy roots.
Gracie was in her bedroom putting on a small pair of red crystal cylindar shapped earrings and had just slipped feet into her ruby studded thongs when she heard the doorbell ring. Giving herself one last quick look at her face she smiled making her light amber eyes sparkle and applied a light spray of her rose scented body mist she left her room and touched the door handle to open it just as Ronnie rang a second time.
Gracie opened the door just but did not take her hand off of it nor did she move to let him enter. She smiled and said, “Good evening.”
Ronnie, after a brief surprised look, smiled back and said, “Hey Gracie.” He saw his beautiful Grace dressed casual chic and not in a slinky evening dress as he had imagined her to be in. She was far too beautiful to him to be dissapointed.
Gracie still smiling took all of Ronnie in, from his fresh hair cut and close smooth shave to his silk black dress shirt that clung to his every muscle. She liked how his dress pants fit with a not too loose look and grazed over his black leather dress shoes. His thick black eyebrows framed the top of he eyes with pupis so dark they looked black and long thick lashes that made him look almost pretty but his hard jaw line stopped that from being the case. He was dressed for a date. The bottle of wine and flowers topped off his date look.
Ronnie’s brief surprised look was due to Gracie’s casual appearance. He thought this was a date not just dinner hanging with a friend. He saw that Gracie did give attention to her appearance as her outfit hugged all the right places but she didn’t have her hair done with her usual curls and her face wasn’t as he had always seen it when she came home from work with makeup. The scent of pink roses did whiff through the air but he wasn’t sure even if it was on her or just the scent of her home. She looked fresh, shower fresh and comfortable. The confidence she exuded was there even when she was not all made up in her professional attire.
Ronnie was pleased and Gracie could see that but she wasn’t letting him in till he asked.
“So, is dinner being served on the front porch?” Ronnie asked with humor in his eyes.
“I’m not fond of mosquitoes so I’ve set dinner up in the sunroom,” Gracie said
“I can’t get to the sun room with you blocking the entrance of the door,” Ronne said.
“Then figure out how to move me,” she said with daringly.
Now Ronnie new he could pull a smooth move and walk up on her and with a kiss while backing her away from the door entrance. He also figured he’d come off sexually hungry and would turn her off. He opted to go with a simple request.
“May I please come in Gracie?” he asked.
Gracie leaned forward and kissed Ronnie on the cheek and said, “Thank you for letting me give you a hard time. Of course you can come in!” She moved from the entrance and let him in.
Gracie walked Ronnie into her well lit home. The light breezes that blew in caressed the sheers that hung from the large windows in her home. They went to the sun room where Ronnie was slightly disappointed not to see the round supper table that usually was in the room with 4 chairs. It was over in the corner with its chairs stacked next to it and on the floor was a huge round rug with a short wooden structure covered with a purple satin cloth, elevated just enough for people sitting on the floor to use as a table.
There were large, brightly colored imbroidered pillows all around it and beautiful stoneware dinner setting for two was on it.
Gracie could see from his expression something was wrong.
“You don’t like it do you?” she asked.
“It’s beautiful Gracie,” he answered with a grateful smile.
“But?” she asked raising one eyebrow.
“But nothing,” he answered clapped his hands and rubbed them in a motion of excited preparedness. “Let’s eat.”
Gracie walked up to Ronnie entering his personal space and looking him straight in his eyes asked. “You can tell me or I can tickle it out of you.”
Ronnie laughed. As appealing as the idea of being tickled by Gracie was, he thought it ludicrous of her to use it as a way to get information from him. As ludicrous as him sitting on the floor in his good dress pants to eat dinner.
“Why the floor Gracie when there is a perfectly good table over there to eat on? I’m all clean and you’re putting me on the floor.”
It was Gracie’s turn to laugh and she did. “Nobody told you to get all dressed up to come over here. It’s a simple chicken dinner with pudding for desert not lobster and cream bru le.”
Gracie stepped back and away from him opening a way to the table. “Sit down and roll them sleeves up and tuck one of them napkins in your shirt and relax,” Gracie ordered with warmth in her voice.
Ronnie smiled, shrugged and did what he was told as Gracie went to get the dinner from the stove and place it on a trivet that was on the floor next to their intimate table for two.
The dinner went well and Ronnie enjoyed himself after he got over the idea of getting wrinkled. He found when dinner was over and he rose from the table to helped her put everything in the kitchen that he wasn’t as wrinkled as he thought he’d be. He helped her load her dishwasher after rinsing them and she put the pillows back in the window seat of the bay window room that the sunroom resided.
“Let’s sit out on the back porch a bit,” Gracie suggested as she pulled the pudding parfait’s from the refrigerator. It was a screened in porch she had built on to the back of the house due to her love of being outside but hated misquitos.
They sat on swinging on the glider seat as they talked. Ronnie spoke of the contract work he had and some of the wonderful restorations he was privilege to be a part of and head. Gracie talked about her love of Spanish culture from the food to the flamingo guitar music she’s been playing the past 3 years and her goal of traveling to every Latin culture she could. She has already been to Mexico twice, spent 2 months in Spain and spent a summer in Brazil.
“Look at you girl, that’s a lot of traveling,” Ronnie said and added, “I’ve only been to one Latin land. I went every summer throughout college for Spring break.”
“Really where was that?”
“Miami,”
They both laughed at the truth of those words.
“So will you play me something?” Ronnie asked, “Which guitar should I bring you?” Ronnie asked the last question because in every room except the kitchen and bathroom Gracie had a classical guitar hand crafted from the countries she visited. In the sunroom alone she had 3.
“Not tonight Ronnie, another time.”
“So there will be another time?”
“That’s totally up to you Ronnie.”
Ronnie thought about this for a moment. Then in a coy voice asked, “So when do you want to make dinner for me again?”
“I will tell you what I want to do. I want to take a walk Ronnie. Will you walk with me around the block?”
“Sure.”
They walked quietly at first around the block. Ronnie noted it was a very long block, that he estimated was a mile round trip.
“How long is this block walk?” he asked, more to start conversation again.
“A mile and three quarters,” Gracie answered. I run it twice each morning.
It’s my twenty minute workout.”
“I hit the gym about 4 days a week myself,” Ronnie said and then confessed. “I know I should do more aerobically but weights and toning with my mat workout is all I have patience for. I guess the bike riding I do is aerobics.”
“Definitely,” Gracie agreed. “How often do you ride?”
“Once or twice a week, as it is my weekend thing,” Ronnie answered and went on. “I ride with a couple of my buddies from college that still lives in town.”
“Wow that’s great you all keep in each others lives that way. I never went to college so I never got to form those sort of bonds.”
“No way,” Ronnie said now truly shocked by this news, “I would have thought you went to college.”
“I did temp work straight from High School and got all my training on the job. When the computer industry took off, I taught myself how to work the most used applications and I got fortunate to get jobs where I was trained on servers and minor computer coding and application designing. I learned enough to get where I am working for the number one law firm in the world. I’m studying Project Management to make it to the next phase of my climb up the corporate ladder.
“I know I am doing things the long hard way but, I liked to have fun with my friends to spend another 4 to 8 years in school after high school was out of the question. So I worked part time and on temp jobs the first 5 years after high school.”
“Well good for you Gracie. Living by your own rules is something I can respect.”
They walked a few mores steps in silence getting closer to Gracie’s home.
It was there that Gracie saw a figure approaching quickly from across the street.
“Gracie honey, Gracie,” Lexy called waving frantically.
“Oh dear,” Gracie sighed annoyed.
“What is it?” Ronnie asked intrigued as he could see the scantily clad woman wobbling toward them. “You don’t want me to meet your neighbors?”
Gracie nudged him in the ribs and whispered, “Find a way to rescue me if this last more than 2 minutes.”
Ronnie took the hint and went up the driveway, pretending to take a call on his mobile as Gracie and her neighbor met at the apron of her driveway.
“Oh, Gracie Honey,” Lexy whined embracing Gracie as though they were close companions. “Lucky ran off again. I just don’t know what to do with that dog. He’s a runner you know.”
The smell of liquor greeted Gracie before her alcoholic neighbor. Gracie patted her back and gently pulled the emotional woman off of her. “Well, Lexy as I said before you need a higher gate than you have and a stable one that actually locks and not pressure rod gate.”
“Yeah you buy me one and I’ll put it up,” the stay at home and collect alimony and child support for one 17 year old child, never working a real job woman replied back with a laugh.
“That is funny,” Gracie said laughing with her.
Lexy stopped laughing and looked serious and said, “I saw you were taking a walk and I wondered maybe you saw him.”
“Awe, no I am afraid I didn’t.” Gracie said with real concern in her voice. She hated the thought of an animal wondering the streets as it may become a victim of a car. Even living with a crazy owner was better than wondering the streets looking for food.
“I got to go find him.”
“Lexy, maybe you should put some clothes on first. That nighty can be seen right through when you pass under the street lights. You don’t want some weirdo messin with you.”
“I should be so lucky,” Lexy laughed again at her own non funny joke. She stumbled away calling for her dog.
Gracie walked up her driveway to join Ronnie who had ended his fake phone call. “I really can’t stand that woman. She is everything in a woman that I can’t stand.”
“Well it’s a good thing you’re not dating her than.” Ronnie said trying to lighten her mood.
Gracie smiled and said, “Cute. Ronnie’s got jokes,” as she threw fake jabs at his stomach.
Ronnie grabbed her around her waste and pulled her to him. She stopped jabbing and put her arms around his shoulders.
“I had a really nice time with you tonight,” Ronnie whispered into her ear.
“I did too. I am glad you came and sat on the floor with me,” Gracie said.
He laughed and pushed her gently from their embrace. She, was wearing the rose scent. There would be a next time he thought looking into her happy face. Next time he would be the one showing her a good time he decided.
“Good night Gracie Tanner,” Ronnie said.
“Good night Ronnie Eastwood,” Gracie said and walked to her side door and let herself in with her key. When he heard the door locked behind her Ronnie got into his vehicle and drove out away from her home. As he drove away and looked in his rear view mirror he saw Lexy dragging, whom he hopped was Lucky by his caller back to her home.
Ronnie pulled to the side of the street and sent Gracie a quick text.
(Lexy found Lucky and both are headed home)
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