***
It’s a date, it’s a date, it's a date.
I stood in front of the free-standing mirror in my bedroom, a towel over the top to hide my face, leaving my body open to inspection. Adjusting the dark grey collared shirt I’d finished buttoning, sleeves rolled up to my elbows, I debated removing my silver crucifix and instead opted to tuck it beneath my shirt, the top button undone to provide a glimpse of silver chain.
“Where are you going?” Auden asked from the doorway.
It was Saturday, and on the Saturdays I wasn’t working atBrowning Books, Auden and I usually watched movies or binged through British crime dramas.
“I’m going out with…a friend,” I said, leaning down to tie my shoelaces and adjust the belt on my loose black trousers.
“Nathaniel?” Auden guessed.
I nodded.
“He’s your friend?”
“Mhm,” I murmured, trying not to take offense to his surprised tone.
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll be home for dinner,” I promised him.
“You don’t know where you’re going?”
“No idea.” I stepped around him to walk down the hallway, his footsteps trailing after me. “It’s a surprise.”
“A surprise? Why?”
A frustrated sigh nearly escaped my throat until I reminded myself this was Auden, and he was just trying to understand why my Saturday off work would not be spent with him. “I will tell you everything when I get back, okay?”
“Okay.”
I cupped the back of his neck and leaned down to kiss the top of his head. “I’ll see you later.”
Auden gave me a small, weary smile before returning to the living room to watch television alone. Guilt wrapped its familiar fingers around my throat, clenching my airways as I watchedhim flick through channels without his usual ‘how about this one?’ and ‘this sounds great.’ I almost cancelled then and there, but as I opened the door to leave, I nearly collided with Nathaniel who had his hand raised to knock on the door.
“Oh, sorry!” we both said at the same time, followed by nervous laughter.
Nathaniel wore a long black coat—one he often wore on the cold days at Dawnridge. A beige knitted sweater was underneath, atop a white collared shirt. His black trousers were nearly identical to mine, though his were more slim fitting while mine were loose.
“You look…” we both started at the same time, paused, and then tried again.
“...lovely,” Nathaniel finished.
“...warm,” I said.
A nervous laugh bubbled up inside of me as I reached for my black jacket that hung by the door, doing my best not to study his red cheeks or dark pink lips kissed by the cold. He stepped aside and I shut the door behind me before following him to his car.
“So…where are we going?” I asked, trying to steady my wildly beating heart as Nathaniel opened the passenger door for me.
“It’s a surprise.”
“Still?”
“Yes.”
With a playful eye roll, I sat down and watched as Nathaniel moved around to the driver’s seat.
