My Escapade

I bit my lip as I hit the “Send” button on my phone. I paced anxiously in my kitchen as the phone rang.

“Hello?” a hesitant voice answered.

“Hi, this is Alison,” I said, trying not to sound nervous.

“Alison! How’re you?”

I smiled. “Good, and you?”

“Good, good.” I heard a faint noise in the background, then Jaxin said, “Hey, listen. I was thinking that we should go out sometime. Say, tomorrow?”

Saturday. That would work. “Yeah, sure!” I said enthusiastically.

“How’s six look?” he asked.

“That works!”

“Alright,” he said, and gave me the name of the restaurant and the address, which I furiously scribbled down.

“See you tomorrow,” I said.

“See ya.”

“’Bye.”

I stared at my cell phone after hanging up, wondering just what was going to happen.

--

I walked into the posh restaurant, “Per Se.” I had looked it up online, and it turned out to be the fourth most expensive restaurant in NYC. Their prices were jaw-droppingly high.

The hostess greeted me. “Name?”

“Ramirez?”

She looked down at her podium, then nodded and grabbed a menu. “Follow me, please.”

She led me over to where Jaxin was sitting. He looked gorgeous, as always. His hair was messy in an organized why. He was wearing a button down shirt with dress pants and dress shoes.

I fidgeted in my blue dress. Back when we had been best friends, his favorite color had been blue.

“Hi,” I greeted him.

He turned around and looked at me. “Oh, wow.” He got up out of his seat and gave me a hug. The contact made my heart skip a beat, and I resisted the urge to slap myself. “You look… oh, wow.”

I laughed. For the first time, with him, it was a real laugh. “Thanks. You look really nice, too.”

He smiled and sat down, and I did the same.

We made small talk as we looked over the menu. The waitress arrived, and we ordered drinks. Once she came back with the drinks, we had decided to order. I decided on the Terrine of Hudson Valley Moulard Duck Foie Gras (which I could barely pronounce), and Jaxin decided on the same.

“So, we didn’t get to talk about you when we first met,” Jaxin said while we waited for the food.

Because I grew up with you. “Oh.” I wrinkled my nose. “My life was really boring.”

He smiled. “So was mine.”

I rolled my eyes. He wasn’t making this easy. “Well, I grew up in Georgia. Macon, Georgia,” I added, before he could ask. “I lived with my sister, my mom, and my dad. Went to high school. Got sick of it there, came up here for college.” I shrugged. “My life in a bundle.”

He laughed. The night, surprisingly, went without a hitch.

When the bill came, Jaxin wouldn’t let me see how much, but I’m pretty sure it was about four-hundred bucks. We left and caught a cab. He walked into the building with me.

“Well, I had an amazing time tonight,” I said, and I had.

Jaxin grinned. “Me, too. We should do this again.”

I nodded. “Sure.” I unlocked my door.

“Well, goodnight,” I said, and he leaned in for a kiss. I gave him a peck, then walked into my apartment and shut the door.

I touched my lips, shocked that I had actually kissed the guy who had impacted me far beyond belief, and shivered. I looked out of the peephole and noticed Jaxin touch his lips, then smile and walk away.