Serendipity

"Well don't you look pretty," my mom complimented me as I came downstairs, "Doesn't she Jonathan?"

"She does," he smiled, "And you can call me Jon if you'd like."

"Well Jon, you too have fun."

I took his arm as we headed out the door. He opened the car door and shut it, probably trying to make a good impression. Well he definitely was. I smiled, watching him drive. He looked so serious, it was a nice change.

"Don't look so serious," I teased.

He shrugged, a small smile forming on his lips, "It's just me I guess, I've always been serious."

"Not a bad thing."

"What about you? Are you a serious type girl or are you crazy?"

"Kind of in the middle. I just like to have fun but I know when to be serious too," he held the door open for me as the hostess lead to us our table outside.

"So Jonathan are you excited about starting your hockey career with the Blackhawks?" I waited for him to answer.

"Yes I am excited but at the same time nervous."

"You will do great, they are lucky to have you."

He grinned, "Thanks, that's the nicest thing anyone, beside my mom, has said to me."

We both started laughing. He was easy to have a conversation with and was actually really fun to talk to. The waitress came back to take our order.

"So is hockey your favorite sport?"

I nodded, "Loved it since I was still in my mom's stomach," we both laughed.

"So what's your favorite food?" he asked, taking a drink of water.

"Pizza, you?" I smiled. I didn't realize until now how cute he looked in his light blue plaid shirt.

"It's a tie between pizza and bacon cheeseburger."

The waitress came back with our food, "I feel so under dressed compared to you."

"Not even, you look nice."

He smiled, going back to eating, an occasional question in between bites.

"If it's okay with you, I had something else planned," he blushed a little as he shut the car door for me. I just smiled slightly nodding as we drove in silence.

He pulled the car into the lake parking lot, holding his hand out to me we walked down towards the shore. He laid a blanket down.

"Star gazing?"

"Yep," he smiled patting the spot next to him. "I know so cliche."

I giggled, "I love the stars."

"This one of the best places to see them."

We laid there in silence, his hand on top of mine. We barely knew each other but it feels like we do. It's a hard feeling to describe. It's almost unreal, like this shouldn't be happening.

"Do you believe in fate?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the sky.

"Sort of, do you?"

I nodded, "I do."

He didn't say anything else, neither did I.

"There is one more thing I wanted to do," He grabbed onto my hands as he pulled me up from the ground. The car ride wasn't as quiet as the first time.

"Was it worth almost $700?" he asked, looking over at me before the light turned green.

I laughed, "I think so but it isn't over yet. Where are we going anyway?"

"Ice cream," he just smiled. We pulled into Sargent Sundae, I hadn't been here in a while. I sat down on the curb, my cookie dough blizzard in hand as Jonathan took a seat next to me.

"I've had a lot of fun tonight," he smiled, shoving a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

"I did too, one of the best I've been on."

"I don't want it to end," I just smiled, not sure what to say. "And this doesn't have to end yet," he pulled a pen out of his pocket for me to write my number down. I was a little on the fence about it but I wrote it down anyway. What's the harm, I already went on a date with a stranger. As I went to hand the slip of paper back to him, the wind blew it away.

"Blake?" he asked when I didn't say anything.

"Its not meant to be," I said above a whisper.

"It's just windy," he looked a little concerned. "Yes it is, there is a reason all this happened."

"The only reason we were on this date was because my mom paid for it."

"No, this is an act of fate. Have you not had this feeling, like this is where you were suppose to be all night?"

"Yeah, and fate is telling us to back off."

"If fate didn't want us together then why was I in that auction, why did I end up on this date with you and not any other girl in this town?

"I don't know but it's just a feeling.

"What if that feeling is wrong? What if you are just afraid, we can't just walk away with with no names, no phone numbers no nothing. Fate isn't going to deliver my information to your door and it's not going to give you mine."

"Do you have a five dollar bill?" I asked as he fished around in his pocket, pulling out a bill. "Now right your name and number on it."

He looked at me, confused, "You are a strange girl."

I took the outstretched bill and ran back up to the window of the ice cream place. I handed them the five, buying a bottle of water.

"What was that for?"

"When that five dollar makes its way back to me I will be able to call you. You will hear my voice and then you will know it's fate."

The car ride was pretty quiet until Jonathan broke the silence, "This isn't fair, we have to write your name and number down on something don't we? It's the only fair thing to do."

"You've got a point, I'll write my name and number down on a book when I get home and sell it to a used book store in the morning."

"That's it?"

"I can't tell you because then you will want to go inside to find it."

"I'm leaving for Chicago in a less than a month this so isn't fair. You can't have the best night of your life with someone and leave it up to chance."

"See even more of a reason, you would be in Chicago and I would still be here. It's not we would even be together."

He just looked at me, mostly like I was crazy but there was a hint of disappointment on his face as well.

"Well I had a great time tonight, thank you so much," I smiled, shutting the door behind me.

"You're crazy!" he yelled after me.

I just turned, smiled and waved from my front steps before disappearing into my house.