You Turn Away From All the Things That I've Been Trying to Say

I'm standing in front of my closet, trying to decide on a outfit for my date with Austin. I don't want to go too casual, even though I know he's going to be super casual. Morgan walks in and sits on the edge of my bed, eating a bowl of cereal. I pull a white top out of my closet and show it to her.

"What do you think of this?"

"That's cool. Where did you get that? I have never seen you wear that before." She says.

"I don't remember." I slip the top on. It's soft and kind of drapey and the back is cut out. I pull on some faded jeans and go to my shoes. I pull out my black suede, knee high boots and pull them on, which adds a few inches to my height.

"Well, how do I look?" I ask Morgan.

"Hot."

"Good enough for me." I walk down the hall into the bathroom and start my make up. When that's done, I put on a pair of large gold hoop earrings. Morgan walks into the bathroom as I spray myself with my Chanel number 5 perfume. She raises her eyebrows.

"Oh my God, you're putting on the Chanel." I flip her off, which makes her laugh. We walk out of the bathroom and I sit down on my bed and grab my blackberry, checking the time.

"What time do you have to be at his house?"

"Uh, seven." I answer.

"You should get going then. Don't wanna be late." She stands up and walks out. I grab my black leather bag and follow her out to the living room.

"OK, call me when you're on your way home. Take care you." She says, giving me a hug.

I go out to my dark grey Mazda-3 and get in. Austin's house is only a half hour away from mine and if I hit all the lights right, I'll make it there in twenty minutes. When I get a few minutes away, I call his number to make sure I know what house I'm going to. He gives me the address and hangs up. I have a feeling he's not ready, which makes me smirk. I pull into the driveway and park in front of the big garage. The house is big, but not a mansion. There's a fenced off area that I'm assuming is a pool area. I get out of my car and walk up the sidewalk and up to the door. I ring the bell and I can hear his shoes clicking on the floor inside. The door opens and he smiles big when he sees me.

"Hey, you look great. Come in for a second, I have to get my wallet and shit." He says. I follow him into the foyer and he moves past me and up a set of stairs directly across from the door. The whole house has wood floors and the decor is a mix of modern and non existent. There are pictures lined up on the floor against the walls in the living room. I can hear him moving around upstairs and a few minutes later, he comes down the stairs.

"So, this is where the rock star lives." I joke.

"Yeah, overwhelming isn't it?" He says, "I haven't gotten a chance to move in, we've been on tour so much" I nod and he opens the front door and I go out in front of him.

"My car or yours?" I ask.

"Mine. I don't think I would fit in that little shit." He hits a button on his key ring and the garage door opens. There is a brand new black Tahoe in the garage. We walk in and I go to the passenger side and open the door and hop in. He inserts the keys and pulls out of the garage and were on our way. I notice a cd on the dash and pick it up. Kings of Leon. I smile.

"I love this cd."

"I know. It hasn't left this player in like, months. It's great."

We make small talk the whole way to the restaurant and he pulls the SUV into the parking lot and the valet comes around and takes the keys from Austin. We get out and walk up to the door. He holds the door for me and I smile.

"What a gentleman." He laughs and gives the hostess his name for the reservation and she leads us to a booth in the corner. We sit down across from each other and he orders a glass of red wine. I do the same and the girl leaves our table.

"How was your day?" He asks, looking genuinely interested.

"It was OK. I love my job, but I hate the people I work with, but I guess that goes with the territory."

"How did you get into wardrobe management?"

"I love music. And I'm useless at anything to do with it. I came here wanting to be a photographer but that doesn't pay well, so I had to get a job fast. After a few tries with a million other jobs, I found one that I liked. How about you?"

"I've been playing music since I was like, fourteen and I knew way before that that this is what I wanted to do. It's everything that I wanted it to be. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else." I smile.

"It's nice to see someone so enthusiastic about their job."

"Well, I don't really think of it as a job."

The waitress comes and takes our order and we talk the whole time we wait for our food. Austin is very easy to talk to. He laughs and makes jokes and makes it very easy for me to say whatever I want without feeling guilty. I have a tendency to make people flinch when I talk because I'm a very blunt and honest person, but he just listens and gives his opinion on whatever it is that were talking about. We eat and drink one more glass of wine. He looks at me as he drinks.

"I have a confession to make."

"What?"

"My license might be suspended." I feel my eyebrows raise into my hairline.

"Might be?"

"It is. DUI a few months ago." He says.

"Why didn't you tell me that before we got into the car. I would've drove."

"I don't know. I was a little embarrassed. Are you mad?"

"No, but I'm driving back." He smiles.

"Deal."

He pays the tab and leaves the waitress a nice tip and we stand up and walk out of the restaurant. He throws his arm around me on the way to the valet pick up.

"Aren't you cold in that shirt?" He asks.

"No."

"Well, I'm going to pretend to keep you warm then. Because I like having my arm around you." I roll my eyes.

The valet brings Austin's truck around and we get in and I drive back towards his house. He's watching me drive with a half amused look on his face. I catch him looking.

"Are you scared of my driving, Winkler?"

"No, just watching."

"You're giving me a complex. I don't want to crash your car."

"I don't care. But if you're going to crash it, total it." I roll my eyes again.

"You sound like my father." He laughs. I pull into his driveway and he hits the button to open the garage again and I pull the truck inside. We sit in the truck for a few moments and hop out. I grab my purse from the backseat and walk around the back of the truck where he is standing, lighting up a cigarette.

"Thanks for dinner, I had a good time." I say.

"I did too. Wanna do it again sometime?"

"Yeah, totally."

"OK baby, I'll call you."

"OK." He comes over and gives me a big hug and I return the hug. When he pulls away, I smile at him and walk over to my car. He watches me get in and he closes my door for me. I wave and pull out of the driveway.

I call Morgan almost as soon as I get on the road and tell her all the details of the date. I feel like it went really well and I had a great time. Austin was a really nice guy and I would love to go on another date with him. We had great chemistry and that is kind of rare for me.

In the morning, I wake up and stare up at the ceiling. I hear my phone short ring with a text message. I pick the phone and look at it. It's from Austin.

"Hey baby, I just wanted to tell you again how much fun I had last night. I have rehearsals all day today and I'll call when I get out, maybe we can catch a movie? Have a good day at work."

Morgan walks in and jumps on my bed. I hand her my phone and she reads the message.

"Well, that sounds promising."

"I know. I'm excited." I can tell I'm smiling from ear to ear.

"When do I get to meet this guy and put the fear of God into him?" She teases.

"Oh my God, with that attitude, never." She laughs.

"Two dates in two days, that's pretty serious. This guy must be totally into you, babe."

"I like him a lot." I say.

"Good, I'm happy for you. At least one of us is dating."

"You'll find a good guy, babe." I pat her hand and she laughs.

"Says the girl who's been on one date."