Let's Be Mature About This BN (4 page)

Why am I thinking about this again? Haven't I thought this out time and time again? I'm tired of being so serious! Seriously!

"Sydney, don't open your eyes yet. Let's make this like a surprise makeover. Go in the room and put on the dress and the heels. Let me know when you’re done and I'll come in and help you put the jewelry on and then we'll have a big reveal!" Elizabeth clapped her hands together merrily. "Oh! And don't you dare ruin it by peeking into that old mirror in there. Now go!"

I tiptoed into my room because I didn't want to wake Sara. I put on the red dress, careful not to get any of my makeup on it as I slipped it over my head. I buckled the silver heels on and hobbled around my room a bit until I felt comfortable in them. "Okay Liz." She came in and put the silver earrings in my ears for me and strung the necklace around my neck. It had a crescent moon charm on it. Ironic, since I was going to a place called
Thai Moon
. When Elizabeth closed the clasp behind my neck and stepped away from me she had tears in her eyes.

"Oh, keep it together, you baby." I grumbled.

"Go, go, go," she whispered as she ushered me back into the bathroom. There is where I saw what she was all choked up about. I didn't even look this nice when I went to my senior prom! I raised my hand and waved at myself to make sure that what was in the mirror was me. The reflection waved back. Elizabeth had put soft curls in my hair and they softened my face a lot more than my usual bob. My eye shadow was smoky and my lips were glistening with a pink tinted gloss. The red dress made my skin glow and complimented my figure too well, in my opinion. It still looked rather nice on me. My mom popped in out of nowhere. She was still in her scrubs from work and her long braids were up in a bun. "Sydney, honey! You look amazing! He is going to have to roll his tongue back into his mouth." I gave her a little frown. How did she know I was going on a date? Mothers. I turned back to the mirror and smiled.

CHAPTER FOUR

Maybe he should wear the green bowtie. He chuckled, thinking of some smart remark Sydney would say to him if he did. It would bring out his eyes though. He decided on the green long sleeved sweater that had a silver stencil of a laughing Dionysus, god of wine and social merriment, on the front. He pulled on some Gap jeans and put his stainless steel Fossil watch on his wrist. He stood inside his walk-in closet and wondered if he should wear a jacket or a blazer. He decided on a light gray jacket with thin tan pinstripes and then slipped some light brown Asics onto his feet. He ran some gel through his hair to give it that wet, lustrous Banderas effect. The whole time he was getting ready, combing his hair through, spritzing on some Calvin Klein cologne, he repeated the same phrase in his head:
She's never been on a date before
.

If she had never been on a date, was she a virgin? She doesn't act like an innocent, naive virginess. He didn't want her to fall for him simply because he was the first guy to pay her this much attention. He didn't want her to fall for him at all at this point. During the earlier phone conversation he had been tempted to just call the whole thing off. However, he didn't want to hurt her feelings. He decided to keep it cordial and formal. He'd show her how a guy should treat her on a date and sort of guide her towards a good life path. He'd send her on her way, like pushing a young bird out of the nest so that it may fly. "Great", he muttered as he left his apartment with mixed emotions.

When he parked his car in the parking lot, walked up to the front of the
Thai Moon
restaurant and saw Sydney sitting on a bench outside the doors, he quite suddenly forgot all about his premeditations.

A cool breeze was blowing and it had that fresh salty smell of the ocean. She stood up from the bench and smiled sweetly at him. She looked so beautiful. Her outfit immediately made him conscious of his breathing and blood circulation. Before he knew it he was holding both of her hands in his and smoothing his thumbs along them. Then he pulled her towards him a bit, leaned towards her and kissed her on the temple, inhaling the smell of a flowery shampoo and her perfume. They grinned at each other for a few seconds.

"Red looks amazing on you," he complimented.

Sydney smirked looking into his green eyes. "That's why I wore it."

Gavin shook his head. "You can't take a compliment, can you?"

Sydney shrugged. They began walking to the door of the restaurant and she whispered to him, "That ass looks amazing on you." Gavin looked at her shocked and his face grew hot. "You just can't take a compliment, can you?" she teased. Gavin couldn't believe he was actually blushing! He needed to get a hold of himself. Holding her hand and kissing her was not part of the plan. He took a deep breath and lectured himself on how he was supposed to be her counselor or whatever.

The hostess directed them to one of the candlelit tables and Gavin pulled out Sydney's chair for her. They were smiling across the table at each other when the waiter bounced over.

"Hey guys. What can I get for you this evening?" He was no more than five feet tall with spiked up dirty blonde hair and his lips seemed stuck in a model pout. His uniform of black vest over a white shirt and black pants all fit snuggly, especially his pants, and his hands were on his hips as he waited for them to order.

"Could we both have a glass of Pinot Blanc and start off with the calamari as an appetizer?" Gavin said.

"Oh darling, good choice! The calamari is absolutely delicious. And the sweet red pepper sauce compliments it beauuuutifully." He turns to Sydney, "Girlfriend, they are da bomb!" He giggles, twirls around, and bounces away from their table.

"Girlfriend?" Gavin repeats.

"Da bomb?" Sydney adds. They both laugh. "I love how just because I'm black I'm everyone's 'girlfriend'."

"I like how you thought I was part of his crowd." He smirked shaking his head from side to side.

"What do you mean?" Sydney questioned and picked up her glass of water to take a sip.

"Um, you thought I was gay. Remember?"

The water she was drinking was diverted directly into her trachea. Sydney sputtered, coughed and then took a few deep breaths.

"Are you alright?" said an amused and concerned Gavin.

"I? How? When? …You're not mad at me?"

"Well, I'm embarrassed and a little hurt, but definitely not mad at you."

Sydney's eyes were red from coughing. However, the tears in her eyes were because she was humiliated. How could she be so dumb and mean? What would he think of her now?

"I'm such a smartass sometimes and I say things not thinking that the person could really get their feelings hurt. I'm sorry I questioned your intelligence. I’m sorry if I offended you."

"It's fine. Trust me," Gavin assured her.

"Sir, Ma'am, your wine?" Their waiter poured them both a glass. "And your calamari. Enjoy!" He pranced away. Sydney looked at her wine glass and laughed.

"What?" Gavin said smiling.

"I can't drink this," she said between chuckles. "I'm underage, remember!"

Then Gavin started laughing, too. "Now, that I think of it, I can't drink it either. It'll interfere with my medication."

"What's the medication for?"

"Umm, depression."

"Aren't we all?" Sydney smiled. Gavin shrugged. "Well, Gavin, it's the thought that counts. Thank you for this lovely wine. It looks like it tastes very good." She laughed.

"I don't know what I was thinking," he said, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I got carried away with having a nice dinner and I just forgot..." he trailed off, thinking of how he forgot a lot of things when in Sydney’s presence. He forgot she wasn’t his age, he forgot he wasn’t ready for another relationship, and he forgot he was mildly depressed. “You can drink your wine. I won't tell on you," he joked.

"No. I won't drink knowing that you can't."

"Honestly, don't hold back because of me."

"How 'bout we both just take a sip. A sip won't hurt you, right?" Sydney then took a rather long sip which was really more of a gulp. Gavin carefully sipped his. "Well," Sydney sighed, "it's not at all what it's cracked up to be, is it?"

"No," Gavin laughed. "Let's dig into the calamari."

"What exactly is it?"

"Battered and deep fried squid."

Sydney peered into the basket. "So those right there are tentacles?" She asked curiously. Gavin nodded. She took a fork and picked a piece of calamari, dipped it in the sauce and took a bite. "Mmmmm, they're good."

"I'm glad you're not grossed out," Gavin said and took a bite of his own calamari.

"I'm going into the medical field. I would hope it would take a lot more than this to gross me out."

"When did you know you wanted to work in the medical field?"

"When did I know?" Sydney chuckled. "I finally knew it was my true calling when my mom said to me 'You are going to be a doctor one day, Sydney, and things will be easier for you'. I suppose it's the smart thing to do."

"But what do you
want
to do?" he wondered aloud.

"I don't know," she answered and gave him a smile that she hoped would come off as 'I'm not worried about that' even though she was.

When the waiter, who they were now calling the Thai Fairy, came back to the table they ordered fresh squeezed lemonade, Massaman Curry chicken and shrimp Pad Thai. Sydney tasted some of Gavin's Pad Thai which he playfully fed to her and she fed him a few forkfuls of the curry. It was all just too cute, really.

"I thought about wearing my green bowtie. How do you think I would have looked in that?" Gavin asked.

"I would have thought you looked absolutely dorky and mouthwateringly adorable. Of course I wouldn't have said that to your face. I probably would have only told you about the dorky part." She smiled, her brown eyes glistening with the light of the candle.

"Yeah, I figured. Why are you such a meanie?" He teased.

"I have to get them before they get me." She said seriously, waving her knife and then stabbing it in the air. She then laughed at her gesture.

"Maybe, I don't know, maybe that might be why this is your first date. I'm not trying to be hurtful or anything I just...I'm saying that if you weren't so defensive you’d have been on hundreds of dates with dozens of willing men." Gavin smiled trying to take the edge off of his statement.

"You have a point but that's not it. It’s something else, I think." Sydney said and then nodded in agreement with herself.

As she ate her last few bites of food Gavin's cool green eyes studied her face. He didn't want to end the date on that note. Why didn't he just shut up? A part of him tried to justify his statement by pointing out that he was being a good friend and 'mentor' to give her some advice on how she could be in a nice relationship with a good guy her own age. The other part was hoping she'd let down her guard just for him. He could tell his reserve was slipping when he actually thought to himself that the way Sydney chewed her food was cute. He paid for dinner and they decided to stroll down the boardwalk beside the restaurant.

CHAPTER FIVE

It was dark except for the strings of yellowed Christmas lights draped along the edge of the railings on the boardwalk.

When they got to the end of the boardwalk they peered into the dark water below. The moon was hiding behind thick clouds so the sky was a deep bluish black with only a few visible stars. The breeze had picked up speed since the beginning of the night and was threatening to blow out all of Sydney’s curls.

"Are you cold?" Gavin asked. "Here take my jacket," he said before she could answer.

His jacket was already off when she said, "No. I'm fine." Gavin was holding the jacket up and trying to put it around her shoulders when she stepped away. "Honestly, I'm fine. I didn't say no to be coy. I'm really not cold at all."

Gavin stood there for a second and looked her in the eyes. She looked away from him and back down to the dark water. He shrugged his jacket back on. "Even if you aren't cold, would it have hurt you to allow me to feel like I could make you comfortable? Or is a guy giving a girl his jacket too cliché for you?"

Still looking at the water she shook her head.

Gavin’s face softened. “Are you mad at me about what I said in the restaurant?”