Balance Beam

A couple hours passed and I found myself to be tipsy rather quickly. My eyes lowered to the bar top and I counted a total of fifteen shot glasses between Giselle and I. Granted, Poppa Campbell had already cleared the counter top once before. My gaze turned to Giselle and I watched as she absentmindedly twirled some of her bangs as she stared off into space.

God, she was such a beautiful creature. In my slightly-intoxicated state, I found myself gawking at her but she didn’t seem to notice at the moment. Her bright hair reminded me of strawberries and tonight I caught a whiff of her strawberry shampoo when her shoulder brushed up against mine after I cracked some silly joke. She was a pale woman, despite her Italian descent, but it suited her nonetheless. Giselle did, however, have the Italian curves and she was shorter than average. But she was still beautiful, the epitome of what a woman should look like.

Giselle wasn’t just beautiful on the outside. In the total few hours that I’ve ever spoken to her, the majority of that time being tonight, she has convinced me she is a decent girl. Unlike most girls in their early-twenties, she uses her manners and respects her elders. Even when she’s being sarcastic, I can tell by the way she giggles that she’s only joking and means no harm.

I like the girl too much already and it was only the first date.

“I have an idea,” Giselle said leaning towards me with a big smile on her face. I couldn’t help but smile back in return, her smile was contagious. “Are you hungry? I kinda am.”

I began to chuckle uncontrollably at her. She didn’t state much of an idea at all. Was she that drunk? I mean, we did drink a great amount of shots. My stomach grumbled and I thought that food sounded like a good idea right now. Then it dawned on me that I knew exactly what the hell Giselle was talking about.

“There’s a decent restaurant just around the corner,” I suggested. She smiled at me.

“Perfect. I’m going to go to the ladies room, I’ll be right back.”

I stared after her as she walked towards the restrooms. She was quite the package. I flagged Poppa Campbell over to pay for the drinks. He insisted on calling us a cab and I thanked him as he did so. I’m sure Giselle didn’t feel like stumbling around drunkenly in her boots. Yeah, I noticed her shoes. Like I said before, I like the girl too much already.

“We’re just waiting on the cab to get here,” I said to Giselle as she reclaimed her seat.

She smiled at me. “I insist on you letting me pay for it since you paid for the drinks and are going to pay for dinner.”

I shook my head violently at her. “Don’t be stupid Giselle, I got this. All of it.”

She placed her hand on my arm, leaning on it. “Oh come on,” she pouted. “Think of it as a congrats on such a good magazine issue.”

“No,” I said sternly. I was a dick about many things towards women. But I never made them pay for anything if we were out together. Well, within reason of course.

“Well Bram, I don’t care what you say. I am going to pay for the cab. If you don’t want me to, then you can walk,” she said matter of factly.

Poppa Campbell was clearing off our shot glasses and began laughing at what she said. This only made her smile. I groaned loudly and looked over at Poppa. I begged him with my eyes to say something to Giselle to get her to shut up about paying for the damn cab.

“Hun, let the boy pay for all of it. He’s suppose to on the first date!”

Giselle just smiled at him silently, nodding her head. Finally, she had given up the fight. I watched out the bay-window and saw the cab pull along the curb. We said goodbye to Poppa Campbell and I thanked him once again for calling the cab for us. Giselle lead the way outside and we slipped inside the warm cab. I quickly told the driver where to go and we were on our way.

The ride was ridiculously short and we arrived outside the restaurant quickly. I paid the cab driver and then stepped out into the cool night. The chilly air sobered me up a bit as I held my hand out to help Giselle out of the car. She even seemed to have regained her composure. We entered the building and was immediately greeted by the toasty air and delicious smell of food. We were quickly seated and left to look over the menus after the waiter brought us our drinks.

“This place is classy,” Giselle said as she sipped her water and looked around. We made eye contact and I smiled at her.

“It’s one of my favorites,” I grinned before turning my attention back to the menu.

Soon the waiter returned to take our orders. Giselle ordered just a salad and I asked for the steak. Just as fast as he came over, he left to get our order placed. I took a sip of my Coke and looked around briefly before looking at Giselle. She was still drinking her water as she took in her surroundings.

Our food came and we began eating immediately. The food was delicious and we were somewhat quiet as we ate. Giselle did ask me things about my job and about Quinn. She even asked me how I enjoyed that scrumptious meal she made me and if I was going to return her pan back to her. I had chuckled and told her absolutely. This girl was something else, I had to give her that.

Dinner ended too soon and I cursed myself for letting a yawn escape. Doing so made Giselle want to call it a night. I didn’t argue with her because I had learned earlier there was no point in doing so. I paid for dinner and we decided to walk back since we had sobered up now that our stomachs were full.

“I enjoyed tonight Bram,” Giselle smiled as she wrapped one of her arms around my own.

I smiled back at her. “So did I. We’ll have to do it again sometime, soon hopefully. Maybe even Janis and Quinn would like to meet by then?” I suggested.

Before I knew it, the two of us were standing in front of her door. She was fiddling with her keys, avoiding eye contact with me. I scratched the back of my neck nervously and smiled at her as she looked up at me with those emerald eyes.

I wasn’t sure if I should kiss her or not. Throughout the entire date we hadn’t been too touchy feely. Then again, it was the first date, after all. Fuck it. I forced my lips gently against hers and cupped her cold face in my hands. I was stunned when she kissed back almost immediately. She pulled away too quickly for my liking and we stared at each other.

“Have a good night Bram,” she smiled as she turned to unlock her door. I nodded and smiled back.

“You too, Giselle. Hope to see you soon,” I responded.

She smiled at me once more and waved before slipping into her apartment. Turning on my heel, I strutted towards my apartment with the biggest grin plastered on my face.