After my shower and pulling my hair up into my hairdo of the pandemic—a messy bun—I head downstairs to search through all the stuff I just bought, being thankful I’m not a squirrel.
When my phone goes off, I don’t even look to see who it is when I answer, saying, “Hello?” after I take a big bite of a banana.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?” Drew says, all drawn out and slow.
I chew faster, saying, “Hold on,” and then swallow. “Sorry, I took a bite of a banana right as you called.”
“Thinking of me, were you?” He laughs.
“I said bite, not lick. I really hope you’re not into the whole biting thing because that might be a little out of my forte.”
I’m rewarded with my favorite thing about him. His throaty laugh.
“Hey, do you have plans tonight?” he asks, and I instantly laugh out loud.
“Well, first, I am going to march in the women’s rights parade, and then I’m going to go see my favorite band tonight. I’m so excited! There’s going to be thousands of people and mosh pits and all these crowds everywhere. I’d offer for you to come, but”—I sigh—“sorry, it’s sold out.”
“Damn, and I really wanted to be in a mosh pit tonight. I hear that’s the absolute best way to get this virus. Especially if the people next to you are screaming and singing along, spit flying out of their mouths. That, mixed with their sweat while literally being on top of each other, sounds like my dream night.”
I can’t stop my giggling. I love that he plays along with my sarcastic ways.
“But seriously, I’d like to take you on a date, quarantine-style,” he says.
“Quarantine-style? Why does that sound like I should be concerned?”
“I have an idea, but …” he drawls out his last word.
“There’s always abut,” I tease. “If it’s too good to be true …” I trail off.
“I need your address. I promise I won’t come in or even come close to you. I just … well, it’s a surprise.”
“So, let’s see … you want to take me on a quarantine date that contains a surprise and butts …” See, I told you, I have the maturity level of my students.
“Okay, maybe not butts. We’ll save that for later.”
I sigh dramatically. “Fine. You just took the best part out, but I guess it will do.”
I give him my address, and we agree to six o’clock, though I have no idea what I just agreed to.
* * *
Six o’clock rolls around, and I nervously tap my fingers on my counter, wondering what this date will look like.
The Ring app activates, and when I open it up, I see Drew walking up to my porch. He has something in his hand, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what it is. I wait for him to ring the doorbell, so I don’t come off too eager, but he doesn’t.
Instead, he places whatever he’s holding down and walks away. I stare into my phone, moving closer to it to see what’s going on as he walks down the steps and to his car, which appears to still be running.
He places his hands in his pockets, and the video hits its time limit and shuts off.
Damn video!
I run to my front door and look out the peephole. He doesn’t move but just stands there, like he’s waiting for something.
Did he see my Ring? Is he expecting me to come to the door without him actually knocking?
I bite my lip in thought, but before I can make a decision, I see another car come to the driveway. The sign on top of the car shows a local Italian place.
Drew talks to the guy, and I watch as he hands Drew one of the packages out of his bag. Drew grabs something out of his car, hands it to the guy, and then points to the door, saying something else. The guy nods, taking the other part of the delivery to me.
