Almost Perfect

Stacy didn’t have to wait long before they pulled up into a crowded parking lot. She had recognized it but had never been there before, it was a city park.

“What are we doing here?” She asked him as he parked the car and started to get out. She followed suit and looked at him over the top of the car, she could barely see over it.

“It’s a movie in the park,” He smiled at her as he walked around to the trunk and pulled out a large blanket and a bag full of snacks. “They’re showing some old horror flick, I thought it would be cool.”

“Fun! I’ve never been to anything like this!” Stacy was thrilled at another new experience and happily took Adam’s hand when he offered it.

They walked into the crowded park after Adam paid for both of their tickets, easily finding a spot slightly off to the left of the large screen. They set up their blanket and Stacy looked through the large amount of snacks he had brought with them, the bag had candy, chips, popcorn, and beverages for the two of them. Adam had certainly put some thought into the date and the young woman could hardly stop smiling.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom before it starts,” Adam told her, he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her cheek before standing up and heading off in the direction of the bathrooms.

Stacy was checking her phone, quickly sending a text to Sam when someone said her name.

“Stacy?” The male voice asked.

Stacy looked up from her phone and her heart leapt into her throat when she saw who it was.

“Joe,” She replied, very little emotion in her voice.

“I thought that was you!” He grinned at her, opening his arms like she was going to get up and hug him.

Stacy made no move to stand up so he dropped his arms, “So uh, how have you been?” He asked, trying to brush off the awkward moment.

“Joe, you shouldn’t be talking to me right now,” She told him, “I still have a restraining order against you.”

“Stacy that was a lifetime ago! You can’t still be mad!” He laughed it off like what happened in the past was no big deal.

Stacy looked around, hoping that Adam was on his way back from the bathroom but she saw no sign of him. She hadn’t exactly told him about Joe and what had happened in the past but she was sure if Adam came back Joe would leave her alone.

“Just please go away,” She tried to ignore him by looking back at her phone, starting to read Sam’s response to her text message.

“Hey, that’s no way to talk to your ex-boyfriend! We used to be in love, how can you treat me this way?” He asked, his voice slightly rose.

Stacy continued to ignore him by looking down at her phone but he kept prodding her.

“Stac, come on, I just want to know how you’ve been! What have you been up to?” He asked, trying to be friendly again, “I tried to get in contact with you for months, I’m sorry for what happened between us, I miss you.”

“Joe, please leave me alone.” Stacy spoke again, looking up him again. Her voice was starting to shake, she was angry that by some crazy coincidence he was in the same place that she was after a year, when she was having a wonderful date with Adam none the less.

“Just talk to me then! I just want-“ Joe was cut off by another male voice.

“Hey, I believe the lady asked you to leave her alone.” Stacy’s head turned to see Adam standing behind her, the tension in her body instantly relaxed at the sight of him.

“Oh, hey bro, I’m just an old friend of Stacy’s,” Joe extended his hand to Adam, who made no move to shake it. “Wait a minute, you’re Adam Levine! You’re the lead singer of Maroon 5!”

“Joe, please just go.” Stacy said once more, her voice was softer this time, almost pleading with him.

Adam gave Joe a stern looking, just daring him to object.

Joe looked at Stacy once more and then at Adam, he clenched his fists before letting out a loud huff.

“See ya around,” He muttered before leaving the couple alone. Stacy watched his figure retreat through the crowd before he took a seat on a blanket on the right side of the screen, much farther towards the front of the large group of people.

Stacy let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in while Adam situated himself next to her.

“Who was that?” He asked, placing a hand gently on the small of her back.

“That,” Stacy took a deep breath, “That was an ex-boyfriend of mine,” She shook her head, as if trying to erase the memories from her brain.

“I take it the relationship didn’t end well?” He asked her softly, he was leaning in towards her so they could talk quietly amongst themselves.

“He was the jealous type; he used to get really mad when I would talk to any guy, including my guy friends.” Stacy was the kind of girl that had a ton of guy friends, she had her close girlfriends as well but she was naturally drawn to hanging out with men, she always had been. As long as Adam could remember, her best friends tended to be guys. “One night, he got so angry when he found out that my best guy friend Mike and I went out for dinner that he flew off the handle, he hit me, and I had a black eye for weeks.”

“What?” Adam’s voice rose and his body tensed. “The mother fucker….” Adam trailed off as he looked through the crowd at Joe.

“I broke up with him after that, I wasn’t about to stick around when he could be so dangerous.” She shook her head, “He didn’t take the break up well. He started stalking me, showing up at my work, calling my friends and family asking where I was at all hours of the day.” Stacy glanced at Adam to see how he was taking the news, his eyes were wide and his face expressed concern. “I had to get a new job, I got a new phone number, and I moved into a new place. I had to all but change my name so he couldn’t find me. I ended up getting a restraining order against him so that he couldn’t hurt me anymore.”

“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” Adam embraced Stacy, he was surprised that she had gone through such a traumatic experience. She was one of the best people he had ever known, why would someone want to hurt her?

Stacy shrugged, looking into his eyes, “It’s over, and I’m safe.” She looked in Joe’s direction, “I haven’t seen him until now. I was kind of hoping to never see him again.”

Adam nodded in agreement, “Well I’ll never let him hurt you again.” He meant his statement whole heartedly. He wanted to protect her.

She took a deep breath and let it out before smiling at him, “Thank you.”

Adam returned the smile before kissing her lips briefly. Just as they were pulling away the large screen lit up. The night sky was slowly getting darker and the sun was just about set when the movie began.

Adam made himself comfortable on the blanket before Stacy snuggled up against his side with her head on his chest. She was never a huge fan of scary movies, she always freaked herself out when she went to bed at night, and her mind would play tricks on her.

Even though it was an old cheesy movie it still managed to make Stacy jump from time to time, causing Adam to laugh and her to giggle at each occurrence.

“I had no idea you were such a jumpy person,” He whispered to her halfway through the movie.

“I’m horrible, the littlest things make me jump!” she laughed. “I don’t watch too many scary movies for that reason.”

“I’m sorry, if I had known I wouldn’t have brought you here,” He was apologetic.

“No! This has been one of the best dates; as long as you’re here I don’t mind watching them. I just couldn’t watch one alone.” She reassured him, it had truly been one of the best nights out she’d had in a long time.

The couple watched the rest of the movie in silence. Slowly sitting up on their blanket when it was over, looking around as everyone packed up their things.

“This was really great Adam, I loved it.” Stacy smiled as she helped him fold up their blanket. When they met in the middle with their two ends Adam reached an arm around her and pulled him tight against her.

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” He whispered, he looked deeply into her eyes, he could get lost in the blue brilliance of them. He leaned in, kissing her passionately. Stacy went up on her tip toes to deepen the kiss, putting one arm around his neck, each of them still holding onto the blanket with their other hand.

After they pulled away Stacy leaned down to pick up her purse and the bag of snacks, allowing Adam to take her free hand in his and lead the way. As they were exiting the grassy area of the park Stacy felt eyes on her. She looked around before her eyes landed on Joe, he was leaning against the bed of his truck, watching them.

“Adam,” She tried to be discreet. “Adam, he’s watching us.”

“Hmm, what darling?” He asked, he was too blissfully happy to pay attention to what was going on around them.

“Joe, he’s watching us!” She told him quietly, you could tell by her voice she was alarmed.

Adam followed her line of vision and his eyes landed on Joe. He didn’t try to hide the fact that he was watching the two of them when his eyes met Adam’s. Adam’s hand tightened its grip on Stacy’s, “What the hell is his problem? Do you want me to go over there and talk to him?”

Stacy looked up at Adam, seeing how serious he was, “I don’t think that would do any good. I just don’t want him to follow us back to my place. He can’t know where I live.”

“I’ll take you back to my place then,” Adam told her.

“I’m not so sure he should know where you live either. He’s dangerous Adam,” Stacy was clearly frightened.

“I’m going to go talk to him, you go get in the car. Lock the doors ok?” He nodded in the direction of his Porsche and handed her the keys. Stacy hesitated for a moment but then agreed. She kissed his cheek and walked quickly to his car, glancing over her shoulder to see what was happening. Adam was slowly making his way towards Joe when she climbed into the car.

“Look man, I don’t appreciate the way you’ve been watching us tonight.” Adam said as he approached Joe. “You need to leave Stacy alone or I’ll get the police involved.”

“They’re not going to do anything,” Joe laughed, “That restraining order is a year old. They won’t even give a shit.”

“The restraining order is in place to protect her; they will most certainly give a shit if you break it.” Adam spoke, his voice was deep, warning the other man that he was serious.

“Look dude, I’m just hanging out here by my truck. I’m not hurting anyone,” The look in Joe’s eye was almost psychotic. He looked like he wanted to strangle Adam right then and there, making Adam even angrier.

“Just stay the hell away from Stacy, move on with your life.” Adam made his hands into fists now, the muscles in his arms tightening, “She broke up with you for a reason, it was over a year ago and you need to let it go.”

“Fuck off bro,” Joe shook his head, “You think some little punk ass rock star is going to scare me?”

“I’m not here to scare you; I’m here to warn you that if you mess with her, I will take you down.” Adam would not let this asshole hurt Stacy, she had been through enough.

Joe scoffed in Adam’s face before turning his back on the singer and climbing into his truck. He started it up and noisily screeched his tires as he pulled out of his parking spot. Leaving Adam standing there amongst the exhaust.

He made his way back to Stacy, who was still sitting in his car, her head down as she looked at her phone. He tapped on the window, making her jump slightly before she reached over and unlocked his door.

“I’m so sorry Adam, you shouldn’t have to deal with this-“ She was about to continue but he cut her off by placing his lips to hers.

“Stop it right now,” He told her, “I just want to make sure you’re safe. I don’t want anything happening to you.”

She gave him a small smile, “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

He nodded before starting the car and heading in the direction of her house. They rode most of the way in silence. It wasn’t until they turned onto her street that Stacy spoke up.

“Do you want to stay with me?” She asked him. The night had been almost perfect and she didn’t want it to end.

“I’d love to,” He grinned, glad to have the drama of the night behind them.

After they made their way into her home, both of them were hit with the exhaustion of the night. They decided to change into PJs and watch a movie in bed. Stacy put on a pair of boy short panties and an oversized t-shirt while Adam just stripped down to his boxers and they climbed into bed, snuggling up together while the movie began to play.

“Today was amazing,” Stacy whispered.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Adam looked down at her, a small smile playing on his lips. “I can’t remember the last time I was this happy.” He told her, he meant it too. The date had gone perfectly and he hoped there would be plenty more in their future.

“Me neither, thank you Adam.” She said softly, leaning into kiss him. “Good night.”

“Good night, beautiful.” He kissed her forehead before both of them sunk down deeper into the sheets and fell asleep.