“Are you ready?” I hear as my hazy mind starts to surface from dreamland. “Don’t you dare be late to this, Raegan!” the voice of my mother rings out.
People must know that you can’t hold someone accountable for their actions when waking a person up before their alarm goes off. Especially when you still have ten more minutes. Ugh! This is why I never liked living under the same roof as my mother. Once she’s up, the entire house needs to be up along with her.
After hitting the snooze button multiple times, I get up, shower and lotion my entire body to smell like cherry blossoms. Going into my closet, I find a short sleeved plum dress that hits above the knees and pair it with nude heels that’ll make me break my neck if I fall, along with black earrings and a black clutch. Sexy but classy, I think. Looking down at my watch shows me that I have thirty minutes, so I put on some light makeup and curl my hair to give it that beachy wave appearance. I slip on some lip gloss, grab my purse, and I’m out the door with time to spare.
My Lexus pulls up to The Slanted Porch, and I take in the view. It looks like it used to be an actual home but was turned into a restaurant. I carefully get out of my car, not to show anyone my goods, and walk into the restaurant. I’m met right away by the nice hostess who seems to still be in high school.
“Hello, welcome to The Slanted Porch. How many are in your party?” asks the little hostess whose name tag says: CeeCee.
I view around the place hoping to see my mother but don’t. The place is pretty dead at the moment, being slightly early for the dinner crowd.
“I’m not sure, I’m waiting for my mother, Carly Burns,” I say as an explanation.
“Oh, yes! Your party is already here. Follow me, please,” CeeCee says and quickly moves to the opposite side of the restaurant where there is only three tables available.
One is being occupied by a guy in his late twenties, early thirties, if I had to guess. When CeeCee passes up the empty table and stands next to the guy, I gulp. She did not do this to me! I’m going to murder her in her sleep!
I must’ve spaced out because the guy, who looks as though he just strutted off a runway, is now standing staring at me with a confused expression on his face.
“I’m guessing you didn’t know this was a date, did you?” The guy asks holding his hand out for me to take. “I’m Ian Hastings.”
Finally, getting my bearings and my good manners back, I slip my hand into his and say, “Raegan Walker.”
We both sit down at the two-person table as CeeCee takes our drink order.
“I’m really sorry about all this. I had no idea Carly and my mother would blindside you. Your mother’s been raving about you for years and when you finally came to visit, my mother thought that it would be an excellent idea for us to meet,” Ian informs me. He has a sweet smile. The wider it gets, the more his dimples show.
“It’s fine.” I wave off. “Should’ve known she was up to something when she mentioned driving herself. She never drives anywhere in the evenings alone.”
“Well, it’s nice to finally meet the mysterious Raegan Walker.” Ian gives me an award-winning smile. Yep, loving the dimples.
Ian is very handsome in a surfer, pretty boy way. Blond hair and green eyes, perfect teeth, and a muscular build. He would definitely produce pretty babies. My roommate use to say that if you don’t see yourself making beautiful babies with your date then excuse yourself to the bathroom and find the nearest exit.
“I hear that you just graduated from MIT. What are your plans now that you’re done with school?” Ian asks after our waiter shows up and we place our food order.
“Right now I work as a computer analyst and consult with various companies,” I vaguely say. Telling people I hack into systems for information isn’t received well.
“So you’re a computer genius?” he questions and I give a little nod. “It’s nice to know someone who is since I’m always screwing things up and getting viruses on my laptop.”
“Porn sites will do that to you,” I tease, and it makes him burst out laughing making me follow.
“I think we’re going to get along real well, Raegan,” he states as our food is delivered.
We dig in and fall into easy conversation.
“Did you always want to be a doctor?” I ask after I try a bite of his steak that he says is the best he’s had in a long time and I have to agree.
“Always. I remember as a kid finding hurt animals and trying to fix them the best I could. In elementary school, a kid fell off the monkey bars and landed on his arm. I knew it was broke and rushed over to stabilize it before the teacher got to him. I remembering following him to the nurse and helping wrap it up until the parents came. Every chance I got to help someone I did,” he says so passionately.
“That’s amazing. I can almost picture you running around recess with a medical bag in hand,” I say.
“You wouldn’t be wrong,” he laughs. “Are you an only child or do you have siblings?”
“Only child and I hated it,” I admit.
I have to say I’m having a terrific time talking with him. He’s funny, smart, and actually acts like he’s interested in what I say. He tells me that he only has a few months left of his residency at the hospital and then he’ll be hired on as a full time general surgeon. He works crazy hours right now, but everything should slow down in about two months. He tells me about a sister that is my age who is married and has a niece who is two years old. The way he speaks about little Annie is really quite adorable. I love kids and can see myself one day having a few.
When the check comes, he quickly pays. Glancing down at my watch I notice that we’ve just spent over three hours talking. The restaurant is full with people now as we head out.
