There. Ball’s in her court.
The wait for her reply is longer than I would have liked. Did I say something wrong? I pace the living room with my phone in hand, refreshing the screen every few seconds. Finally, the chat bubble pops up, and the notification dings again.
Moonlight Massacre? B movie, but it’s at the cheap theaters, and there are tons of open seats. Practically empty. They serve alcohol and regular food, too, so we can do dinner and a movie in the same place.
So, a horror flick. That’s promising. Either she’s tough enough for scary movies, or she’s willing to let me be “the man” and comfort her for the creepy scenes. I like my options there.
What time? I’ll message the sitter.
The little chat bubble dots roll for a moment before she answers.8?
I shoot Becky a message and wait. And wait. And wait. Damn that kid, having a life on a Friday night. I need to know if she’s available before tomorrow!
When Becky replies to the affirmative, I scramble to confirm with Iris.8 works! It’s a date!
Damnit. The exclamation points were probably a bit too much.
An official date? I like that. See you tomorrow! <3
Cool. So I didn’t go too far with my punctuation.
God, I feel like a freakin’ kid again. Getting all excited for a date with a pretty girl—except this time around it means arranging a babysitter. That wasn’t an issue when I was a teenager.
It takes less than ten minutes to order the tickets online. I make sure we’re in the very back, right in the middle. Prime movie-goer territory, and honestly prime make-out territory if I play my cards right. If that’s not what she wants, cool, but I’m not about to give some random theater viewers an extra free show if that’s what Iris is into. We’ll keep whatever we do private.
She was right about the theater being almost empty. Only a handful of seats are claimed, and the ones that are all sit near the front of the theater. No one within a five-aisle radius of us. Excellent.
When Hailey wakes up in the morning, I’m in such a good mood that I make her chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream smiley faces on them. She gobbles them up while I sip coffee and debate making a run to the store for some flowers or candy or something. Is that too much for a first date with a neighbor?
“Daddy?”
“Hm? Yeah, honey?”
Hailey looks up from her empty plate. “Aren’t you gonna eat any pants-cakes?”
If I’m being honest with myself, my stomach’s so tied up in knots over this date that I’m surprised the coffee is staying down. “Daddy’s just not hungry, baby.”
“How come you were kissing Miss Iris?”
Oops. I had hoped she wouldn’t ask about that. “Daddy likes her, Hailey. He thinks she’s pretty. Don’t you think Miss Iris is pretty?”
She shrugs. “I guess so. Do I have to kiss her too?”
I do a spit-take and start coughing. “N-no, baby. You don’t have to kiss her.”
Hailey giggles. “Daddy spit out his coffee!”
Yeah. Real funny. Good thing I hadn’t gotten dressed for tonight yet. I sigh and pull off my stained shirt. At least it was just a plain white under. I can probably bleach out the coffee if I get to it quickly.
The day passes with agonizing slowness. I can’t concentrate on getting anything done around the house, so I just play dolls with Hailey until Becky arrives at seven. I asked her to come early so I’d have time to get ready. Now to take a quick shower and throw on something presentable.
I realize all too late that I don’t have much in the way of presentable clothing. I’ve got plenty of jeans, a couple pairs of slacks for formal occasions, and one pair of beat-up khakis that have seen better days. I guess I never bothered to get myself something midrange for a casual movie date. I pick out a pair of jeans without any rips in them, then go on the hunt for a decent shirt. Button-down? Polo? Henley? I don’t want to outdress Iris, but at the same time I don’t want to embarrass her by underdressing. I finally settle on a light blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows. I’ve heard that drives girls wild for some reason. I don’t see the appeal, but hey, if that’s what chicks dig, I’m in.
I give Hailey a hug and kiss goodbye before walking over to Iris’s house. I could have driven, but I felt that would be silly. I can walk her to my car from her door, rather than driving one house over. That would be a waste of gas.
When Iris opens the door, my jaw drops clear to the sidewalk. She’s wearing a vintage-looking dress that cinches at the waist and flares at the hips. The top of the dress has a crisscross pattern to the fabric, which hugs her tits and lifts them to gravity-defying heights. I have a sudden urge to motorboat the exposed cleavage, and I bite my lip to hold back from doing just that.
“Wow!” I give out a low whistle. “I am woefully underdressed.”
