“Yeah,” I responded breathlessly. “Wow.”
“You’re pretty wow yourself.” She had a small smile on, but then she frowned. “Are you sure this is okay? I know not being here makes you nervous.”
“Believe me that is not the main thing making me nervous right now.” I pulled from behind my back the bouquet of long-stem roses I’d sent Milli out for. “And yes, I’m sure this is okay.”
Her eyes lit up as she took them from me and smelled them, looking back over her shoulder briefly, which produced Tamryn and Kelly behind her. She handed them over and said, “Would you be willing to put them in water for me?”
“We’ll take care of it,” Tamryn said, then looked past Avion to me. “You look handsome.”
“Thanks mom.” It was oddly embarrassing. I imagined when most guys went to pick up their first dates, it was to battle withtheirmom, their own mom.
Thankfully, Kelly caught how embarrassed I was and set her hands on my back to push me out the door. “You kids have fun. We’ll see you!”
I was relieved when I reached out for Avion’s hand that she obliged, and we walked away from the room. My breaths were rapid and shallow as we walked, which Avion must have noticed, because when we got on the elevator she laughed and said, “Wow. You really have never done this before?”
“Not like this,” I said.
She tilted her head. “Like what?”
“Like this. I’ve taken women out on dates before. To dinner here or there, or maybe a show. I’ve always mostly just done exact what was necessary to get to… sex. I know that makes me sound horrible, but I’m not a relationship guy. I don’t have a very decorated dating history. I don’t really count being a teenager and taking girls to the mall.”
“Do you still think you aren’t?” Avion asked. “A relationship guy?”
My impulse was to bail, because in the past, when women asked about dating or relationships, I took the opportunity to make it very clear I wasn’t interested in anything long-term. Avion was different though, and Milli telling me that I was treating her like a hooker shook me loose. She was more than that to me, and I needed to make sure she knew that, even if I didn’t have a definition for my feelings yet.
“I’m getting there,” I said, reasonably nervous, but also calmer than I thought I would be, simply because it was true. “Turns out I know someone worth switching it up for.”
A huge smile crossed Avion’s face and when she looked away coyly, I let out a sigh of relief.
Just keep it up, Giovanni.
My newest car was a white Dodge Challenger perfectly detailed and cleaned inside and out, and this date was its inaugural run. For safety, I did have a quick way to contact Milli if I needed to, but I’d planned the date to be drama-free, and that’s what I was hoping it would be.
There was a building in Times Square that was privately owned by a man KGP had designed for in the past. Back when we first worked with him, he offered to let me use the rooftop if I ever needed it, as it had an incredible view of the Hudson river from what felt like atop the entire city. When he said it, like with many of my former clients, I just stored it mentally in a bank of similar offers I’d been given, but almost never used. I accessed that mental bank when I was preparing for my date and figured Avion would love the sight from the top of the city.
Kelly I had reach out to another one of our earned favors, a world-class chef whose restaurant we designed a couple of years ago. I had a table and lights set up on the roof and ordered him to cook us a fancy, delicious, multiple course dinner.
“Mr. Raines,” Dan, the man who owned the building, met us on the ground floor. Of the things I’d ordered to greet us, Dan had gone above and beyond to lay down a white, underlit runner from the front doors back to the elevator. “Enjoy your time.”
“Thank you, Dan.” He opened the front doors for us and I could see Avion’s eyes fluttering all around the building. “This is one of mine. I only have a few since Punk does most of our architecture, but Dan was in my graduation class in high school, so I handled it personally.”
“I’m really dense about architecture, but it’s a beautiful building,” she said. “I love the way the light shines into it.”
That made my heart soar. “That was the main thing I had in mind when I designed it.”
“Really?” She looked at me with a gentle smile. “Well, mission accomplished.”
There was someone else waiting at the elevator, who pressed the button for us, opening the doors immediately. He motioned us on and then reached around to press one of the buttons before stepping back out and leaving us alone inside. We hadn’t been holding hands walking in, but Avion reached over and took my hand in hers. It was a little clammy and I wondered if she was as nervous as I was.
Not that she had any reason to be. She really was perfect in every way.
The rooftop was also more extravagant than I’d requested, but in a good way. There was a single table with a white tablecloth atop it, a lit candle in the center, and place settings for food in front of both seats. The same white runner as the floor down ran from the elevator to the table and wrapped around it, the only difference here being rose petals sprinkled along it. An open top canopy was situated over the table with chiffon drapings laced with lights spiraling down it.
Even I had to admit it was stunning.
The cityscape formed the perfect backdrop and Avion looked on with wide eyes as we walked towards the table.
“It’s incredible,” she said. “Thank you.”
