Date Time, Charlotte’s Day.

“Last week in ‘Date Time’ we followed Grey through his day before dating Charlotte. This week we join Charlotte as we change perspective and see how her day went. I hope you enjoy this little experiment thanks to Marla for the Challenge.”

I wrote this story for the following prompt.
Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie – Wordle — Water, Mention, Newspaper, Clip, Impetuous, Tohubohu, Extreme, Ruminate, Caress, Angle, Kick, Surprise
Pensitivity’s Three Thing’s Challenge — Injury, Most, Romantic
Your Daily Word — Savour
Word of the Day – Vision

Date Time, Charlotte’s Day.

Ever wake up feeling like you’d slept too long? I did this morning. I rolled over and to my surprise, it was 10 AM. Why hadn’t my alarm trilled? Oh, yeah … I had a day off to savour. ‘Why?’ As I sat in bed I knew I was missing something. Then it dawned. ‘Grey.’

Just the thought of that name was enough to make me ruminate. ‘You met him on the internet, he could be dangerous.’ ‘But he was so nice, our first date will be romantic and special, right?’ ‘That’s being impetuous, Charlotte; you haven’t met the guy in the flesh. He might be evil to the extreme, he might cause you injury or worse.’ “Oh, shut up, brain!” I groaned as I managed to kick myself out of bed.

I paused to address the mewing at my feet. Scooping Cyrus my Persian cat into my arms, I tickled his belly on the way into the kitchen.

With him gobbling his breakfast on the counter, my eyes roamed to the clock. Somehow an hour of my day had gone already. It’d be date-time before I knew it. It was only 11 AM and already the anxiety was making me nauseous.

Deciding upon a wash, I grabbed my onesie and entered the bathroom. Turning on the shower, I undressed and stepped beneath the deliciously warm water. Leaning at an angle against the wall I allowed it to flow over my back and relax me. It failed, for the most part, my mind wandered back to the date. ‘He’ll be nothing like his picture. He’ll be twenty years older and look like Shrek,’ I thought.

Stepping from the shower, I dried off and pulled my onesie on. Staring at myself in the mirror, I began to caress my auburn hair into a ponytail as I pushed the water from it.

‘You might not like him. What if he doesn’t like you?’ said the voice in my head

I explored my features in the mirror even squinted to blur my vision and make myself seem prettier. I found myself picking out every blemish and spot my smooth features.

‘Yes, you have to hide all those with makeup or he’ll be repulsed!’

Leaving the bathroom, I busied myself tidying the apartment. ‘Has to be clean and tidy in case he comes back for coffee. Wouldn’t want him to think I’m a slob.’

As the kitchen clock ticked past 1 PM, my nerves rattled up a gear. Only six hours left.

 The newspaper boy had been, I made a lunch of cream cheese and crackers and sat to read. It seemed every page had a mention of something to do with the date.

‘Woman vanishes after dating a man for the first time.’

‘Date night ruined as car ploughs into a restaurant.’

‘The Tohubohu Section — Ten tips for impressing your lover on that first date’

‘Scandal as Hollywood celeb dates …’

“Bloody hell! This date’s going to kill me with anxiety!” I breathed as I rolled the paper and tossed it in the bin along with my crackers. There was no way I could eat with my stomach churning like a washing machine on a spin cycle.

Every time I looked at the clock after that another hour had gone by.

By 3 PM I was curled on the sofa with the TV on. I had Bejewelled on my tablet too. I’d failed to beat a level and couldn’t tell you what was happening on the TV either. My mind was on a place called Café Picoso. It was a little Italian place I’d chosen for our date. ‘Should I have let Grey choose?’ ‘No, he let me pick the place so I’d feel safe.’ ‘What if he doesn’t like it there?’ “Shut up, brain! It’s going to be fine!”

5 PM two hours to date time. I took another shower in the hope of washing off my anxiety. It failed miserably. My hands were shaking so bad I struggled to control my curling tongs as I put flowing curls into my auburn hair. I broke a hairclip in the process making it worse.

I chose a sultry blue cocktail dress and stood in front of the mirror. “Yes, that’ll do – it’s quite pretty, isn’t it?” ‘No, he’ll hate it?’ I thought. “Why, it gives my bum a good shape. Men like that don’t they?”

‘He won’t like the colour, remember?’ said the voice in my head.

Panic gripped me and I fled the bedroom. Snatching my phone from the coffee table. Engaging PartnerFinder.com I found my conversation with Grey.

‘What will you be wearing so I can find you?’ Grey had asked.

‘I’ll wear a pretty red dress for you.’ I’d replied.

Looking at the blue cocktail dress I was wearing, I gasped. “Thank you, brain. You did something useful for a change!”

Dashing back to the bedroom, I proceeded to try on all three of my red dresses a bunch of times before settling on the first one I tried. It was a satin dinner dress which suited me well, I thought. Adding a touch of red lipstick and a spray of my rose and Jasmine perfume and I was ready to go.

I left my apartment and walked the half-mile to Café Picoso. I’d always love the white and gold façades of the romantic eatery. My phone told me I was fifteen minutes early when I arrived. I wondered where Grey was as I came to a stop outside.

‘He probably won’t come. You should hide inside. If he sees you out here, he might drive right past!’ “Oh, shut up, brain! He’ll —”

My focus fell upon a white Vauxhall Zafira. ‘That was it! That was the car Grey said he was driving — he’s here!’ “Why are you driving straight past?” My heart was thumping a million miles an hour as I watched the car make a left turn into the car park.

Now, what should I do; wait here or go around to him? ‘Wait for him here, he must have seen you.’ ‘Yeah, maybe that’s why he went …’

 My phone rang in a text message breaking my thoughts,

‘I’m running late, Charlotte. I’m going to be about fifteen minutes,’ it read.

Intrigued, I set off toward the car park, ‘So, I see,’ I text as I walked up behind him. I could see had a nice bum inside those jeans. His sports jacket was handsome too. He seemed to be shaking, I could feel his anxiety from five feet behind him. I don’t know why but it left me feeling calmer.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

He turned to face me with a shaky smile. “I … er… well. I’m er … you … Erm —” he babbled to me and blushed in the cutest way.

I couldn’t help feeling bemused and smiled at him, “Well, that explains a lot.”

“I’m so sorry. I saw you looking beautiful around the front and panicked. There’s a suit shop in the mall. I was going to buy a suit so I wouldn’t embarrass you.” Grey glanced at his car. I knew he was thinking of doing a runner.

‘Now, don’t come off strong and scare him,’ I thought. ‘But, this is a good chance to have some fun.’ I walked over to him, tilted my head to one side and examined every inch of his outfit. Giving him a look of silent fascination, I said, “You’ll do.”

“I —I will?” he stuttered.

“Sure, I don’t expect you wear expensive suits for me,” I reached and kissed his cheek, enjoying the smell of his aftershave. “You look perfectly handsome.”

Grey blushed scarlet and looked as he might self-combust. “T-Thank you. Shall we go in and order some delicious food?”

“Yes please.” I rubbed my belly suddenly feeling half-starved as we walked back toward the restaurant. “I’ve been so nervous I haven’t eaten all day.”

Grey laughed. “Really? That makes two of us.”

“Then we need to make a promise.” I looked his way as we reached the road.

‘Oh, boy. Now, I’m in trouble,’ Grey looked uncomfortable and appeared to be trying not to fall over his feet. “What promised would that be?”

“Let’s promise not to run away from each other. To not feel embarrassed and to have a lovely date,” I challenged looking hopeful. I so wanted this to be a good night.

“That I can do.” Grey opened the restaurant door with a dip of his head, “After you, milady.”

“Why thank you good, sir.” I simpered as I entered the café. I knew then this would turn into a special night.

The End

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Thanks for reading my friends.

There’s more in the Poetry Corner, Poetry Nook, and the Short Story Collection

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