Seven
A Date with the Devil
I spent most of Thursday afternoon shopping with my mom. As much as I complained about it before, I needed her expertise in finding something to wear on my first official date. I ended up with a very low-cut black top and a sexy pair of slimming boot-cut jeans. We finished it off with a cute, black necklace that almost touched my cleavage and dangly earrings. Mom tried to convince me to get my hair done, but I refused.
“Are you going to tell me about him or not?” Mom smiled an unnatural-looking smile as we sat at her favorite ritzy restaurant.
“There’s not much to tell really. He came into the store. Then I saw him later at the café and he just asked me out.”
“Oh come on, Lilly. More than that happened. Don’t you know anything about dishing with the girls about guys?” she laughed.
“OK, fine.” I sloshed my straw around in my drink. “He’s really hot, like, super-hot, and he has the most gorgeous green eyes I’ve ever seen. You probably wouldn’t like him though. He’s not rich, but I like that about him. He works at his dad’s garage and yes, he still lives with his dad, but they kind of own everything together.”
Mom didn’t flinch, which I found extremely unnerving. She should be going on and on about dating a poor guy and how he was probably only after my money. I pushed harder to try and break her silence.
“He doesn’t wear expensive clothes or anything and if I’m not mistaken he drives an old car. Like, really old…I think, but money isn’t everything, right? I mean, as long as he’s a nice guy.”
“Whatever makes you happy, honey, and you’re right, as long as he’s a nice guy, that’s all that matters.”
I stared back at her like she had just shot fire out of her ass. Something was definitely up.
“What’s wrong, mom?”
“Nothing’s wrong. Why?”
“Come on, now. What are you playing at?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Please! By now you would’ve already been going crazy about me dating some penniless guy and blah blah blah. You know, the usual we’re rich and above him comments. What the hell?”
“No, I know you’re lonely, Lilly, and if this guy makes you happy, then I’m happy. Now, can we please order something? I’m famished. What kind of wine do you want?”
Maybe mom was going through menopause or something. I’d have to be sure to Google the symptoms when I got home. I’d never heard her speak so level-headed. People change, though, and maybe my mom was going through some emotional changes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing.
We ate dinner in an almost silent state. It was really odd. She didn’t comment on anything except to say that she thought I looked really nice in my new outfit and that I was sure to make him drool. I laughed at that one. Why would anyone drool over me?
*****
On date day, the hours seemed to stand still. I couldn’t wait until he picked me up and took me out. This whole thing was so new to me. It’s been way too long since I felt excited about a new development. It was always the same thing over and over again for the last year or so. I was slowly becoming a hermit who only came out for work and the occasional girl’s night out.
At about six thirty, I went into the store bathroom and refreshed my hair and makeup. Shannon agreed to close up and drive my car home for me so I didn’t have anything to worry about, except looking my best. I was in the middle of applying a fresh coat of lip gloss when I heard the little bell over the door jingle followed by Shannon calling my name.
I shoved my powder compact and lip gloss back into my little black purse and then patted my hair down one more time. As I walked out behind the counter Shannon turned to me and mouthed, “Oh my God—hot!” I couldn’t help but smile.
That’s when I saw him again.
He was leaning against the counter all sexy looking with a pair of loose fitting jeans that hung from him hips and a black Henley shirt. He turned to look at me and I could swear I saw something in his eyes that said, “Wow.” I blushed and looked down at myself one last time. He held out a single white rose and I took it from him and held it to my nose.
“Thank you…it’s beautiful.” I smiled up at him.
“You’re very welcome.” His eyes dropped to my cleavage.
“If you want, I can put it in some water when I get home. That way you don’t have to leave it to die in the car,” Shannon said.
I handed her the flower and then smiled back at Devin. My very first flower from a guy, you know that bad boy is getting dried and crushed between the pages of my journal.
“I know roses are kind of typical, but I figured you’ve probably gotten like a million lilies in your life,” he said.
I chuckled to myself on that one. If only he knew. No lilies for Lilly!
“You ready to go?” he asked in that creamy, mocha latte sounding voice of his.
I know I know! Stop with the food already!
“Yes, I’m ready.”
I ran over closing with Shannon real quick to make sure she didn’t forget anything and then followed behind him to the door. He held the door open for me and as I was passing by I heard Shannon yell.
“Have fun, kids. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, or better yet do everything that I’d do!” she laughed out loud at that.
I rolled my eyes and felt my face turn red. Devin chuckled softly to himself.
On the walk to his car, he placed his hand on my lower back and I suddenly felt like all my skin was melting off of my body. The heat from his hand went through my shirt and straight into my spine. It was such a sweet moment in time and I was kind of sad when we finally got to his car. I felt his hand leave my back as he opened the car door for me.
“It’s not much, but it’s mine,” he said apologetically before he closed my door and ran around the front of the car to the driver’s side.
Before he could get into the car, I whispered out loud, “It’s perfect.”
It was perfect to me. It wasn’t a brand new vehicle, but it had character and small touches all over that reminded me of him. I had seen enough flashy cars in my life and this, as far as I was concerned, was a real car. Just like my old Honda, a real car, with scratches and dents—a car that had lived, and if I wasn’t mistaken, it was an older sports car, just like I had said before. Nail on the head baby…nail on the head.
Remembering the day in the café when he had asked me out made me wonder again why he wanted to take me out. I couldn’t for the life of me see this incredibly hot guy being attracted to me. Me! Large Lilly, the fat girl in class, the loser who hid behind mommy and daddy’s money—at least that’s what the kids at school used to say. I had to stop thinking these things. I wasn’t in high school anymore. I wasn’t large Lilly anymore. I just needed to remember that…even repeat it to myself all night if I had to.
After jumping in and starting the car, he turned to me and smiled as he revved the engine. I felt my cheeks heat up, and for a second I worried that maybe this date was bad for my blood pressure. Lord knows I was feeling a little flushed just looking at his sexy smile.
“I believe I was correct about the old Mustang named Bertha,” I said, as I hoped for a sudden change in mood.
“Nope, her name’s Lucy and she’s a Camaro.” He smiled sweetly as he caressed the dash of the car like it was an actual female.
I’d never wanted to be a car more in my life, if that’s what it took to have him softly caress me that way. I silently wished to be a car—I was big enough to be one. I wanted to imagine myself purring every time Devin got inside me and took me for a ride. Unfortunately, all I could see was me drunk with chocolate smeared across my face singing the Transformer’s intro “Robots in Disguise!” into Shannon’s broken box fan.
“So, where do you want to go? I was thinking dinner and a movie, but it’s completely up to you if you wanna do something else instead.”
“A movie sounds fun. I wonder what’s playing.”
We stood out front and looked at all the movies playing. There really wasn’t much to choose from. There was a sappy chick flick, which I’m sure any other girl would choose, but that I had absolutely no desire to see. Then there was the new slasher film that was supposed to be super gross with lots of blood, sex, and action...I was dying to see it.
“It’s up to you, but I don’t mind blood and guts in case you’re wondering.” I shrugged, as I hoped he’d man up and pick the slasher flick.
There was no way I was going to admit that I wasn’t like every other normal chick he’s been out with. So instead, I just hinted that I’d rather see the scary movie.
“It’s OK if you wanna see the scary movie instead of the chick flick. To be honest, I’m glad. I hate chick flicks.” He laughed and I felt myself relax.
“Yeah, me, too. No girly tears and drama for me.”
“My kind of girl.” He winked. “Come on, let’s get the tickets.” He grabbed my hand and I followed him to the ticket line.
His hands were warm and hard, and they made my chubby hands seem small. I liked the fact that he was so much taller than me and his hands were so much larger than mine. Again, he made me feel small and I loved feeling small for once in my life. Callused rough spots rubbed against my soft hands and instead of turning me off, I imagined how nice those rough spots would feel against different soft parts of my body.
He paid for the tickets and then we went inside where he paid for the popcorn and the drinks. I felt awful. Here I was loaded, with more money in my personal bank account than he’d probably make in his whole life, and yet he was paying for everything. I didn’t say anything. He’d probably hate it if I offered to pay. He was entirely too proud for that and the last thing I wanted to do was make him feel like he was poor or something.
Soon we were settled into the movie theater with our popcorn and drinks, watching the previews. I wasn’t as nervous anymore, but I couldn’t help but notice the few females who kept looking at Devin. It made me feel like they were looking at us and I couldn’t help but feel like they were wondering what the hell he was doing with me.
We sat and watched the movie. I felt like a dumbass every time I jerked when the scary killer jumped out of nowhere. Whenever I’d jerk, he’d reach down and squeeze my knee. I loved it. It was like he was reassuring me that he’d protect me if the killer jumped out the screen. I’d never had anyone treat me that way before. It was a small action, but it was huge for me.
His deep chuckle vibrated my shoulder as I covered my eyes when things got too bloody. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good scary movie, but some things are too much.
There was one point when we stuck our hands in the popcorn at the same time. I pulled my hand back like the popcorn container was full of snakes and he flashed his “I know you want me” smile.
When we got up to leave he held my hand and I felt like I was in high school again. Holding hands isn’t something I’d ever experienced before tonight and it made me sad to think of all the things I’d missed as a teenager. I’d be sure to make up for all those lost things now, though.
He opened the car door for me and I slid in. He smiled before shutting the door and making his way around to the driver’s side.
“OK, so where to now?” he asked.
“Where ever is fine with me,” I answered.
“Are you always this easy?” he asked, before he busted out laughing. “You know what I mean…not like that. I mean so easy to get along with.”
It took me a minute to catch on to what he was saying before I started laughing, too.
“I know what you mean. OK, fine—um—what about putt putt?”
“Now that’s more like it! Be prepared, I’m the putt putt king!”
The rest of the night was a blur. We had so much fun. I was so comfortable with him. We laughed and picked at each other. He ended up not being very good at putt putt after all and that was comedic in itself. He spent most of the night being a complete gentleman: Holding fences open for me, getting me something to drink, holding my putter while I pulled my hair out of my face. It was amazing.
Later, after I’d won like three rounds of putt putt, we decided it was getting late and left. We talked the entire drive back to my apartment. He asked me questions about myself and I could tell that he actually cared about the answers—he wanted to get to know me.
He answered my questions as well.
“What grade’s your sister in?”
“Jenny’s in tenth grade. She’s a hand full that’s for damn sure. I swear she’s got the mouth of a forty-year-old sailor. Just the other day she got in trouble at school for calling her math teacher an old bitch.”
I laughed. He had no idea how lucky he was to have a sibling that he was so close to. Something about having a baby sister around really appealed to me, even if she did act like a boy.
“Tell me about your dad. Are you guys close?”
Apparently, his dad, Herald, could charm the pants off any lady in town and fix an engine with his eyes closed.
“Sounds like you’re a lot like your dad,” I smiled.
“No…I’m not.” He didn’t smile back.
I dropped the subject of family when he seemed to get tense and changed the subject to classic cars. I watched as he very animatedly talked about his favorites. He was absolutely adorable when he was accidently being himself and not the sexy playboy.
All in all, it was one of the best nights of my life. I was sad when I saw that we were parked in front of my apartment. I didn’t want the night to end.