For the rest of the afternoon, while I worked on various projects and had three online meetings, I wondered if I’d hear back from him. We hadn’t set a specific time when I could expect him to respond with a yes or no. I had wanted to, but it wasn’t fair.
The hours stretched on. By four, I convinced myself that I would not be getting a message from Hal today, and that patience was my friend. As long as the answer wasn’t a no, it could be something for a later time.
A final meeting for the day took place in one of the conference rooms, and I was mid presentation when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Was it him? With difficulty, I continued, wanting to check the screen but needing to do my job. Sometimes being an adult held little charm.
After I completed my presentation, I asked for questions, and, unlike most times, there were many. I might have rushed a little and been unclear. Unacceptable, but once I answered them all, they seemed satisfied, and I exited into the hallway and pulled out my phone. The business number that was listed on the company directory.
This is my personal phone, in case you’d like to contact me from yours regarding our earlier conversation.
I had a private one. But I never carried it with me, in the habit of using my business cell. It was in the car, and I got there at the speed of light, texted the number, and received a reply.How is Saturday for dinner?
Chapter Seven
Hal
It was date night, and I wasn’t sure where we were going, but it didn’t really matter. I was going out with August, the man I’d been thinking about nonstop since before I knew his name. He’d told me it would be a surprise, and that made it extra exciting.
I appreciated how clear the communication was this time. From the beginning, he let me know it was a date. I didn’t have any ambiguity to work through. Ernie said there was none the first time either and that it was all me, and that was probably true, but August removed my need to do that this time.
He also gave me a way out if I at all felt uncomfortable dating him while working in the same place. When he told me I could simply decide it wasn’t for me and that nothing at the office would change, I believed him. I’d had bosses in the past who’d hit on me, and rejecting them didn’t always work out for the best. I would work longer hours or be moved to a different shift, and, in one case, my evaluation mentionedcustomer complaintswhen none existed.
That had been back in my retail and college days. I’d been very lucky, and nothing like it had occurred since getting my first big-boy job. Still, I knew it happened every day to someone; the field didn’t matter.
The only thing I knew about our date was that were going to dinner, not to play. While we hadn’t talked about the fact that he was a daddy and I was little, he was Jovan’s friend and I was Ernie’s, and that pretty much made our preferences unspoken knowledge.
That was why I didn’t feel bad putting on my unicorn onesie under my jeans and blue button-up. No one we saw would know that was what I was wearing, and, if the night went well and weended up taking off some clothes, he wouldn’t mind. He might like it. And if I had it completely wrong, and he wasn’t a daddy, he knew about daddies and littles and wouldn’t judge.
I stood in front of my bathroom mirror on a chair, snapped a picture, and texted it to Ridge.Is this fine?
I really needed to have a full-length mirror, but when I was replacing hinges and light-switch plates, mirrors would have to wait.
He texted back before the chair was put back in the living area.You look great, unless you’re going someplace fancy then throw on a tie.The last thing I wanted to do was wear a tie. It was the thing I hated most about my job, both here and at the last office. No, thank you.
I sent him back a heart emoji and waited for August to pick me up.
I’d offered to meet him there, and the first thing he asked was, “Did you replace your tire yet?”
I had not. The price of it was significantly higher than I thought it would be, and since I wasn’t using it for work, I hadn’t been in too big a rush. When he insisted on coming to get me, I agreed, but now that the time had arrived, I felt embarrassed. There were so many wonderful places in the city, and I was not living in one of them.
Yes, it was within my budget, and aside from some cosmetic fixes, most of it was functioning, and the neighborhood was safe, but it was hardly what you would call a nice place. I told him I’d meet him outside, but he said he’d come up despite me telling him it was multiple flights of stairs.
He buzzed up, and I let him into the building. I was glad that even though they didn’t have a doorman, they had a system to make sure random people didn’t just wander through the building.
I opened my door for him, and he had a large gift bag in his hand. “A first-date present.” He handed it to me.
I didn’t know if I should hug him, shake hands, or what? Instead, I hugged the gift to me and stepped back, allowing him in.
“Can I open it now?”
He nodded, and I reached inside and pulled out an adorable stuffed unicorn. It looked like the one on my onesie, and I didn’t think before pulling up my shirt to show him. “Twinsies!”
His eyes went wide, but not as wide as his smile that followed. “I see that. I’m glad you like it.”
“I love him!” Possible names were already running through my head.
I gave him the super-quick tour because there were no long tours in a place this small. Then we walked downstairs, ultimately strolling the short distance to the restaurant he’d picked out.
It was a pleasant night, much nicer than the one when we met, and the conversation flowed easily between us. He explained to me why he picked the place. It was a small, family owned restaurant that had home-cooked meals with a menu that changed by the day, depending on what the chef decided to make. When we sat down, we were told the four dishes we had to choose from. There was a fish, a chicken, a beef, and a vegetable-based meal. I picked the chicken because it was chicken Parmesan, and I was always down for that. August had the steak tips.
