Chapter 5

 

When Jared sees Anna, dressed in a faint pink knee-length dress and nude pointed toe heels, he lets out a sigh of relief. Throughout the days leading up to tonight, he’s been nervous. Now, he realizes he had no reason to be.

 

What’s the second date going to be like?

 

Where should I take her?

 

Will she stand me up at the last minute?

 

Those are only three of the million questions that ran through his mind. Now, as he watches Anna walk towards him and sees the smile on her face as she catches his eyes, Jared realizes that he’s been worrying for nothing. He’s letting his nerves get the best him, and he’s so very tempted to smack himself on the head. He’s forty fucking years old. And he’s acting like pre-school boy who’s never had an experience with a girl before. There’s just something about Anna that both relaxes and nerves him. He feels at ease with her, unafraid to talk to her about anything, but at the same time, the anxiety is still there. He wants to make a good impression. He always wants to make a good impression, even to those he isn’t interested in.

 

“You look beautiful,” he says when she walks up to the table. He’s certainly telling the truth. Anna may not fall under his box of ‘Women I Usually Date’, but there are different kinds of beauty, and Anna is beautiful, just a different, sweeter kind.

 

This time, he’s made reservations in a Japanese restaurant, complete with a sushi conveyor belt and an ellipse-size table they share with the other customers. He stands up from his seat as he leans forward to give her a hug. Usually, he prefers kisses on the cheek, but Anna hasn’t made a gesture to show that she welcomes those.

 

“Thank you,” she says, and Jared feels a bit lighter when he sees a blush creeping up her cheeks. He takes that as a good sign.

 

He waits for her to take a seat before he sits back down on his stool. Then, they start reaching over the sushi packs passing by them. From sashimi to deep-fried rolls, Jared and Anna end up laughing by the time they realize that there’s a mountain of sushi before them.

 

“Can we even finish this?” Anna says, chuckling in disbelief at how much she’s gotten from the conveyor belt. Her excitement has gotten the best for her. It was just too cute to reach for the sushi. It’s a different experience than ordering off the menu; it’s an experience she won’t mind having again, and being with Jared makes it better.

 

“Oh, haven’t you seen me eat?!” Jared teases, feigning a tone of disbelief. “Sushi barely makes a dent in my appetite. I’ll probably order some tonkatsu or gyudon later on.”

 

“Well, you certainly don’t look like you eat the world,” Anna says in return. “And I mean that in a good way.”

 

In that moment, Anna tilts her head to the side and catches Jared’s eyes. There’s a shine in his hazel brown eyes as they look at her, and his heart does a little flip flop. It’s a refreshing feeling, Anna complimenting him, no matter how small the compliment. Their first date had been the getting-to-know portion. They learned about one another’s back stories, work lives, career growth, hobbies, volunteering interests, and so on. Now, on their second night out, they’re more relaxed around each other, with Anna turning on the charm and acting a little flirty with the compliments.

 

“Well, thank you,” Jared says. “You’re making an old man like me very happy tonight.”

 

“Ha,” Anna says, covering her mouth, as she lets out a hearty chuckle. “Old man my ass. You have more game than men my age…”

 

“Wow Anna, keep the compliments pouring…” Jared then teases, his boyish grin reaching the tips of his ears.

 

Anna shakes her head, but there’s no missing the smile on her face. “I’m sure you get enough compliments from the women in your life…” He’s caught a little off guard when she asks, “So have you gone on other dates using the app?”

 

Jared’s lips tighten for a second at the surprise question, but then, he easily softens the tightness in his face as he says, “I haven’t. You’re probably the first and the last.”

 

Anna tilts her head down a little bit, as she tries to hide the red tint threatening to surface on her cheeks. Softly, she says, “You’re not the first, but you might definitely be the last.”

 

And with that, there’s a tug in Jared’s heart, a tug he hasn’t experienced in a long time. It’s been long since he last truly loved, but there’s no story to tell there. He doesn’t walk to talk about a love he found and then lost. Get back to the present, he then says, reminding himself of the beautiful woman sitting beside him who seems to be reciprocating his feelings.

 

After they devour all the sashimi and sushi rolls and finish a bottle of sake, Anna and Jared are ready to leave the restaurant and head back home. It’s exactly like the last time, during their first date. Jared walks Anna up to her unit with him following closely behind. She leans her back against the door of her apartment and gives him that lovely smile of hers. When their eyes meet though, they realize that something’s changed. Anna’s forest green eyes are more glazed, mistier, and her auburn hair falls in messy voluminous waves as if she ran her hand through and through. Jared, on the other hand, hitches his breath when it takes her too long to give him a ‘goodnight’ or a one-armed hug. It’s as if she doesn’t want the date to end yet, and so, he tries his luck and closes the distance between their lips.

 

Jared’s eyes fly open when Anna responds back to the kiss.