A Chance for Sunny Skies (14 page)

I bit my lip and nodded, hoping I was also smiling. I wanted to add, "And no families" but I figured that might put up some red flags, so I kept my mouth shut.

He pulled the car into the Pizza Planet parking lot and turned it off. He got out and opened my door for me. I'd never been on a date, but I felt spoiled already. My cheeks got a little hot when he held his arm out for me again, but this time I did it the right way and threaded mine through. He squeezed my arm and we started inside.

Pizza Planet felt dark, way too casual, and all-together stupid. Despite the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen, my stomach turned and I felt slightly nauseous as we found a booth and sat across from each other. Pizza Planet? I wore a dress and he had on a suit. We should've been somewhere that sounded foreign and didn't have prices on the menus. We should've been at one of the places I'd written down. Or maybe he'd had something in mind and I hadn't even asked. Why did I have to say Pizza Planet? I smiled at him and picked up the bright laminated menu instead of banging my head on the table like I wanted to.

Brian brought out a plastic pouch from his pocket, pulled out what I assumed to be a disinfecting wipe, and proceeded to clean the table and his menu. "Want me to?" He gestured to my menu, but I scrunched up my chin and waved a hand in an I'm-good motion. "So what's good here?" he asked, finally picking up his cleaned menu.

I couldn't speak. It was official, he thought this place was disgusting. My teeth ground together. Would it be crazy to ask him to go somewhere else? To tell him that I'd made a mistake? "Ummm." I stalled while I thought about my options.

Just then I saw Rainy walk in. She nodded to me, gave me a thumbs up, and sat in a booth in the corner.

"The pizza's good," I told Brian. (Well, duh.)

He gave me a you're-joking-right look, but not in a mean way. It was more of an I-think-you-might-be-witty way.

"Could you excuse me? I have to use the restroom."

"Sure. Sure. Go ahead."

I stood up and curtsied a little (because now I was from the eighteenth century, apparently). He covered his mouth with his hand and coughed, but I could see the grin in his eyes. I got out of there as fast as I could and rolled my eyes at myself. After a quick check behind me to make sure Brian wasn't looking, I scooted into Rainy's booth and set my forehead down onto the table. Repeatedly.

"What? You guys look like you're doing great." She reached over and patted my hair.

I peeled my face off the table and raised my eyebrows at her. "We're at a freaking pizza joint in a dress and a suit."

Rainy grimaced and sighed. "Yeah, you are."

"I panicked! I just yelled it out. What do I do?" I let out a groan and put my head back down.

"Ask him if he's okay with it. If he is, stay and have fun. If not, go somewhere else. But mostly just get back there and talk to him."

I furrowed my eyebrows to show my disbelief that any of that would work. This was me we were talking about, after all. I got up to leave anyway.

"Hey," she whispered before I left. "He looks really good and so do you."

I couldn't help but smile because, yeah, he did. As I left I heard her say, "I'm going to get the most expensive pizza here because it's on my friend, Sunny" to herself which made me grin, so at least I looked happy when I returned. Brian looked up and put down his menu.

"See anything good?" I asked. Just say it, Sunny. Just ask him if he wants to leave.

He nodded. "Oh, yes. I'm a huge fan of most combinations of bread, meat, and cheese. The --"

"Do you want to leave?" I didn't yell the question, but I definitely interrupted him. I cowered behind my menu and peeked out to see his reaction. Dumbstruck. That's what it was. Eyes wide, then brows knitted, leaning forward.

"Leave? Why would --"

"Because we're all dressed up and I don't know why I said we should come here and..."

Brian blinked slowly then he reached out and took my hand in his. My whole body froze up and I almost (almost) pulled it away from him out of fear that I would ruin whatever sweet thing he was about to do.

"Sunny," he said, looking at me with those blue eyes. Oh my, those eyes. His glasses made me feel so focused on, like something in a science lab (which I know doesn't sound particularly romantic, but it was). "Like you said, I don't think it matters where we go. I'd just like to get to know you." He lifted the corner of his mouth into that half-smile. If I'd have been standing, I would've been on the floor at that point.

I think I was staring. Lost in his eyes, I gulped and said, "Right. We'll stay then." I couldn't stop looking at him, though. Opening my door, the arm wrapping, holding my hand, it was all too good. I bit my lip as I watched him look at the menu, brow furrowed. His suit looked really sexy and the thoughtful expression he sported made him even hotter. His shoulders looked broad and solid. I wanted to reach out and touch them.

Apparently as I watched him, my hand drifted to the bust-line of my dress. Brian glanced up and I froze. My fingers were in mid-fiddle with the buttons and I realize it looked like I was trying to point out my boobs.

He cleared his throat and squinted back at the menu. "Well -- uh -- everything looks very full -- er -- filling. What I mean is they all look pretty -- uh -- overwhelming." He swiped at his forehead and his face turned pretty close to the color of my hair.

For some reason, his being flustered, not being the only one who was nervous, gave me a little boost of confidence. He thought my boobs were nice (and full apparently). I could work with that. I leaned forward and delicately placed my hand on his menu.

I said, "Don't worry. I eat here all the time," while making sure my chest was in full view.

Brian's eyes flicked down and widened; he coughed slightly. He swiped the glasses off his face and started polishing them with a cloth he took out of one of his suit pockets. When he put them back on, he started naming the pizzas, even though I had just told him I was a regular.

They had a pizza named for each planet (even Pluto, for old times sake). The Pluto had like eleven different types of pepperoni and cheese on it, the Mars had a bunch of different meats, the Venus had an assortment of veggies, you get the idea. Brian was right, they were all pretty topping-ed out.

He was almost finished reading the options when he started chuckling. I narrowed my eyes. "What?"

He shook his head. "Did you see the Moon?"

I didn't even need to look because it's the pizza I always got when I went there. My mouth pulled into a half-smile as I met his eyes and said, "The Moon is made of cheese." We laughed together in a wonderful light way that made my stomach feel bubbly and happy.

"That's it. We have to get that one." Brian pushed his menu aside.

"It's good," I said, putting my menu with his at the end of the table.

A waiter scurried over to take our order. He seemed overworked, tired, and raised his eyebrows in a bit of judge-y way (if you ask me) when he noticed how we were dressed. He looked even more annoyed when I saw his name tag, noticed that his name was Steve Zander, and burst out laughing. Both he and Brian looked at each other, lost without access to my thoughts.

Through bursts of giggling, I asked, "Can I call you SteveZ?" I laughed some more and caught my breath. "Do you own a red beanie?"

He watched me, but didn't move. His face, confused but most parts cold, showed me he clearly didn't get it. I was about to feel really stupid, when Brian started cracking up across the table.

When he started doing a really slow, upper-body dance, I knew he'd gotten my
The Life Aquatic
with Steve Zissou
reference. I laughed and joined in on the awkward dancing Bill Murray did in the movie. Tears were in the corners of my eyes and Brian wasn't even making noise anymore, just a quiet laugh-breathing.

The waiter cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry, were you ready or should I come back?"

We looked at each other, sat up, pursed our lips to stop smiling, and ordered a large "Moon" pizza. When SteveZ was gone, we burst out laughing again.

"I can't believe you like Wes Anderson movies, too," Brian said, wiping at his tearing-up eyes. Then he shook his head. "No, I take that back. Of course I believe it. You love Monty Python." His face was mostly smile and his eyes connected with mine across the table.

My shoulders shrunk up to my ears. I felt like hiding as his eyes settled back on me, but I didn't. I tipped my head and smiled. I wanted to say something back, but I couldn't think of the right thing, so I looked down.

The waiter came by with waters, which was a great distraction. I unwrapped my straw and finally shoved out one of the lines I had practiced to say to him tonight. "I really like your glasses."

Brian's eyebrows shot up and he smiled. "Oh, these old things, thanks," he said, focusing on me and only me.

I sat back and breathed a little easier. The whole thing was turning out okay. I could see Rainy. She was there if I needed any advice. Brian wanted to get to know me. He was nervous, too. We had things in common. It was going to be okay. I leaned forward and started sipping the cold water through my straw. He took a drink, too, and our eyes met. Looking up as I was, I tried to give him my best sultry-doe-eyed-look, along with a smile. He smiled and bit his lip. We were doing okay. Kinda more than okay.

In my head, I went over those date discussion topics and chose one to start with. "So," I said. "What do you like to do when you aren't selling pet insurance?" I was so proud of myself for the question that I almost forgot to listen to his answer.

"Well, I'm a fair swimmer, I have a bike that I like to pedal around on from time to time, and I'm less than awful if you strap some skis to these bad boys." He picked up a large foot and wiggled it about for a second.

I was doing all of the "good listener" stuff, nodding my head, tipping it to the side, making my eyes wider or narrower as the conversation saw fit. I leaned forward and everything. "So you like to be outside?"
A great way to show you're listening is to summarize what your date said.

Brian nodded. "You could say that. What about you?"

Oh, shit. Watching TV, participating in Downton Abbey chat rooms, avoiding people, and talking to your cat in a British accent were probably not date-acceptable hobbies to mention. My fingers started to shake, so I shoved my hands under the table and looked up at Rainy. She was watching us, but I couldn't very well have an eye-and-gesture conversation with her without Brian getting a little suspicious. So I sat there and thought about what she would say. Probably something about trusting myself and looking at the good in my life.

Okay. The good, I thought. The new. "I've been doing yoga for about a month now and I'm really enjoying that."

Brian said, "Yeah, the yoga, during lunch is it?"

I nodded and paused as I thought of something else I do. "Um... I've recently done some swimming myself."

Brian's eyebrows popped up. A shared interest. He didn't need to know that my swimming was more in the for-my-life category and ended in almost drowning.

"Mmm hmm," I continued. "And a little bit of boating." There. Those sounded like hobbies. I mentally patted myself on the back.

"Wow," Brian said, looking at me sideways. "I didn't take you for a sailor."

I waved my hand in the air. "Ha, no. Um -- more like..." I thought back to the fishy boat I'd been pulled onto all those weeks ago. "More like fishing."

His head moved back in surprise. "Alright, Fisherwoman Sunny." He nodded and narrowed his eyes at me. "What would you say is your favorite Wes Anderson movie?

I smiled. This one was easy. "Oh, definitely
Fantastic Mr. Fox
."

Brian leaned back and let out a throaty laugh. I was in heaven. "No way! That's cheating. It's not his story."

I shrugged. "Don't care. It's the best." I leaned in close and said, "There's getting to be a lot of attitudes in here..." quoting the movie and giving him my best mean-girl face.

He laughed and put his hands up, "Alright, alright. I concede. It is amazing."

I nodded. "If you're such a purist, what's your favorite?"

Brian scratched his face and tipped his head. "Gosh, I'd have to say
Rushmore
." He fake-cringed. "I'm a fan of his early stuff."

"Nooooo." I leaned back and closed my eyes, then I raised my fist dramatically. "Schwartzman." I wrinkled my nose. "You like him?"

"Uh, yeah." Brian said, playfully pushing my fist down. "So do you." He raised his eyebrows and said, "He's the voice of Ash in your
favorite
movie." He wiggled big-deal fingers at me.

"Duh!" I said, laughing. "I like his voice, I just don't want to watch him."

After that, our conversation morphed from Wes Anderson to Monty Python and then to
A Bit of Fry and Laurie
. Soon the pizza showed up. The basil-y, cheesy, saucy smells rose up and into our noses and we smiled at each other. I must've been feeling pretty comfortable at that point because as soon as Brian served me a slice, I took out my fork and started cutting it up into small pieces, like I always did. I was so focused that I didn't look up until I noticed a complete lack of movement on the other side of the table. He was watching me, that same smile sparkling in his eyes, his head tipped slightly.

I froze, my stomach dropped, and I didn't feel much like eating anymore. I swallowed. "Oh -- I --"

"No," he said. He showed me that he already held his own utensils and started cutting his pizza. "I do it, too." He wrinkled his nose. "You know, the whole neat-freak part of me. I've never met anyone else who...." He shrugged and smiled.