What exactly do you wear to a date where the guy tells you to bring your dog?

 I looked through my suitcase at the small selection of clothes I had to choose from…and it wasn’t much. My stomach lurched at the thought, and I missed my closet back in South Dakota, with its large assortment of floral dresses and wedge heels.

 I decided on jeans and a pink t-shirt…it was pretty casual, yes, but the jeans were tight and the shirt was low-cut, so it would look pretty flattering, at least. It was a good way to look hot without implying that I had tried too hard to look hot. I put my hair up in a high ponytail that showed off my cheekbones and made the brown curls of my hair bounce happily. I put on my favorite lipstick, a shade somewhere between mauve and pink, and some gold eyeshadow, and kept the rest of my makeup low-key. I finished it off with a simple pair of pearl earrings that had belonged to my great grandmother, and a dainty silver heart necklace. Casual, but cute. I found Maggie asleep on Sabryna’s bed, completely unaware that we had an important outing on the horizon.

 I pulled a yellow sparkly ribbon out of Sabryna’s craft drawer and tied it around Maggie’s neck, and she wagged her tail happily.

 “Perfect,” I said, attaching her leash. “Now we’re all dolled up, eh?”

 I smiled as I walked out the door of Sabryna’s apartment complex and made my way towards the Torver offices. I had that lovely pre-date glow about me…I assumed this was the kind of feeling you can only really get when you know that there’s a handsome man eagerly awaiting your arrival. It was refreshing and new, and I loved it.

 It was a pretty afternoon, unseasonably warm for this time of year, and the faces of the people around me knew it too. Maggie wasn’t the only dog being taken out for a long walk in the afternoon sun, and people were out jogging, eating outside the restaurants for the first time in ages, or just wandering around to see the sights. It was the first time I had really seen Seattle in the full swing of things, and I started to understand why people had such an affection for the city that I was still seeing as only grimy, miserable, and over-caffeinated.

 I walked a little while longer until I got near the Torver Corporation offices, and then I saw Cassidy standing over on the corner with a smile on his face. I waved at him excitedly and quickly jogged over.

 “Hey!” I said, when I got over, and Cassidy hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.

 “Hey yourself,” he said, and then bent down to Maggie. “And hello to you too!”

 I smiled, and Maggie wagged her tail excitedly. She had a good instinct when it came to people, I’d found…except with Ben, who she had never been very fond of for some reason. Cassidy looked stunning as usual, which was no surprise. He wore a light blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and dark navy jeans. There was always a polished crispness to his clothes that I loved, like he ironed them and hung them up—it was obvious that he had not grown up like the American boys I had gone to school with, the ones who would throw on wrinkled basketball shorts that had been sitting on the floor for weeks.

 In a brief but heart-stopping motion, I felt Cassidy take my hand in his, and we began walking across the street. I loved the feel of his hands already…they were thin and muscular, unlike Ben’s softer, pudgier ones, and they had a delicate strength to them that made me feel safe and warm. And then of course, there were all the thoughts I had going on underneath the surface about those hands, imagining all that they could do when they traveled to other places.

 “So, where are we going?” I asked, and Cassidy only smirked.

 “It’s a surprise, but I promise you’ll love it,” he said with a sneaky smile.

 “What makes you think you know me so well?” I asked.

 “You underestimate me,” Cassidy laughed, giving my hand a quick squeeze, and I felt my heart race again.

 We turned a few more corners until we got to a tiny red brick café at the end of a street. The yellow lettering on the front said Annie’s.

 “Annie’s?” I asked. “What? You think just because I’m a country girl I like mom and pop restaurants?”

 Cassidy laughed. “That’s not exactly what it is. You’ll see.” I raised my eyebrows with skepticism.

 We opened the door and walked in, Maggie included.

 “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. “I mean, I love dogs, but you’ve got to admit this is some pretty extreme city hipster bullshit, Cassidy.”

 “Well of course,” he said. “But why not enjoy it?”

 Cassidy had taken me to a cupcake shop. A cupcake shop for dogs. The tiny store was run by bright-faced teenage girls wearing paw-print adorned hats and t-shirts and was decorated in more dog-themed items than I even knew were possible. The walls looked like they were decorated by an old woman who loved dogs, (poodles especially, I’d noticed) and were filled with all sorts of ceramic figurines and plates featuring, you guessed it, more dogs. The counter at the front had a selection of cupcakes made from dog food and were decorated with tiny baked dog treats. It was insane. I could never imagine a place like this where I was from. These people would be laughed at and would be out of business in less than a month in South Dakota.

 “Let’s pick one out for Maggie,” Cassidy said, approaching the counter happily and very normally, and as a strange reflex, I simply burst out laughing.

 “What?” Cassidy said, and I noticed some of the girls behind the counter staring at me.

 “I don’t know,” I said, giggling. “It’s just, two months ago, I would have never imagined I would be hanging out with a ridiculously hot British guy in a cupcake shop for dogs. I mean, that sounds fake to me.”

 “We have eight different kinds of human cupcakes available as well,” the girl behind the counter clarified, as if this was the kind of thing she had to say a lot. “They come in vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, lemon, red velvet, and dulce de leche.”

 “Thanks,” Cassidy said, and ordered a red velvet for him and a dulce de leche for me, along with a bacon bits delight cupcake for Maggie. I could hardly stop smiling, whether it was Cassidy or whether it was the absurdity of the cupcake shop, I would never know.

 “And now,” Cassidy said as he held the door open for me. “We go to the park.”

 I laughed as I let Cassidy lead the way down a series of more city streets until we got to an area I hardly recognized. And there, in the center of this grimy, gray city, was a beautiful green park. I could have cried.

 “Oh my god,” I said, before we had even reached it. “I don’t think I’ve seen this much green in an entire month.”

 The park was very organized and purposeful in the way that city parks are, with all of the trees and plants organized in geometric displays. It was not a place of nature that was already there and modified for human enjoyment, the way parks were back home, but a piece of nature that had specifically been built as a sanctuary for people living in the city. Everything here had a human purpose: there were wooden benches along walking paths and biking trails, playgrounds for children of all ages and stages put up for concerts or plays. Funny modern art statues were scattered around the place, adding peculiar splashes of color and shape where you would least expect it, and a large fountain with a statue of naked woman pouring water inside it was situated at the center of the park. There was a definite city sensibility to the place.

 I still adored it.

 Cassidy took Maggie’s leash from me for a moment and let me wander about a little bit, examining maps and flyers detailing upcoming events at the park. I decided I would have to come here more often.

 Cassidy took my hand again and led me over to a park bench overlooking a small duck pond (which was notably devoid of ducks). He got out the bag of cupcakes, handing me my dulce de leche one before putting Maggie’s on the ground in front of her, which she happily devoured in seconds. He gave Maggie a scratch behind the ears before picking up his own red velvet cupcake and digging in.

 The sunshine was warm where we were sitting, and I beamed as I felt Cassidy slip his arm around me, and suddenly I felt warm inside and out. I was surprised, to be honest. I didn’t think that Cassidy would have been capable of such a serious and thoughtful date. He knew how much I adored Maggie and missed being outdoors, and had been thoughtful enough to find a ridiculous cupcake shop for dogs and then take me to the most beautiful park in the city. I supposed he really was as serious as he said he was, or was at least very good at this.

 “So, what is your story, anyways?” I asked, nibbling on my cupcake. “It sounded like you had absolutely everything back home. Why on earth would you come here?”

 Cassidy stared out into the distance and sighed. “Everything at home was suffocating,” he said, letting his mind wander into the past. “Have you ever seen Downton Abbey?”

 “Yeah.”

 “It was worse.”

 I laughed. “It was a little bit like that for me at home as well, actually,” I said, reaching down to happily scratch Maggie behind the ears. “But it wasn’t about wealth and snobbery. It was about…smallness.”

 “Smallness?” Cassidy asked. “What do you mean?”

 “Oh, I don’t know,” Eliza said. “Everyone in my hometown expects my loyalty to it, to that way of life. Little American towns like mine are dying out fast, and sometimes I feel like the weight is on my shoulders to keep it going.”

 “At least you didn’t give up a title,” Cassidy nodded. “I gave up being an earl, for fuck’s sake. I mean, am I crazy for doing that? Am I ungrateful?”

 “I don’t think so,” I said. “It’s not fair to be told to who to be and what we represent. It is suffocating. Everybody deserves the chance to run, the chance to stretch out a little and find their purpose, instead of having it told to them. We should only have to have responsibility over ourselves.”

 I smiled, surprised at how deep this conversation had gotten already. Cassidy was even more surprised, however, at how much he and I had in common. It turned out you didn’t have to have aristocratic blood to have a legacy your family wanted you to fulfill. Even in my tiny, middle class house, I had been expected to be a certain person, and to keep a certain way of life going. I had been expected to marry a boy from my church and to go every Sunday, to take a job at the town factory and then quit when I had a good number of children. To the people I loved in my community, I was the hope that their past would carry itself on into the future. But that wasn’t my job. And it wasn’t Cassidy’s job to uphold the traditions of a fading English aristocracy he hardly cared for either.

 “To being ourselves, for ourselves,” Cassidy said, holding his cupcake up to me in a mock toast. I clinked mine up to his and took a bite with him, laughing.

 The sun began to set, but our conversation was still going strong. Cassidy was full of stories: tall tales about pranks he played during his posh British school days and various things his friends had done when they were completely drunk. I had my own stories as well: not as colorful, but usually just as funny. Usually men like this, ones that broke rules and partied and walked through life without a care bothered me, but not him. There was a warmth to Cassidy that was undeniably good, and it was this kindness that made me feel as if I was already sitting on a delicate precipice to love. However, it was getting late, and it was time to head back home.

 “Let me walk you home,” Cassidy said. “To Sabryna’s, I mean.”

 “Thanks,” I said. “I had a great time, honestly. And everything you did for me, and Maggie, to make us happy…it was very sweet. I would love to do it again sometime, if that’s alright with you.”

 “Always,” Cassidy said, and in a quick motion he leaned down and kissed me on the lips, deep and lovely and full of promise for the future. I was already weak in the knees, then he took my hand, kissed it, and held onto it as we made our way home. I was swooning.

 Cassidy was charming and sweet underneath his bad boy exterior, and I found myself wanting more of him in every way. For the first time in forever, I felt excitement and novelty on the horizon, just waiting to be discovered.

 I found myself feeling rather sad when we reached Sabryna’s apartment complex. I didn’t want this long and lovely afternoon to end. I wanted it to stretch on forever, into night and into morning. The air was still warm and the sunset lit up the city in a way that was strikingly romantic, and I could have danced with him right there.

 “Well,” Cassidy said, smiling. “I guess I’ll see you at work, new girl.” He winked, and I nearly swooned again.

 “I guess you will,” I said, winking back, my heart still racing at a thousand miles per hour.

 “Just one thing first,” Cassidy said. He came closer until I was backed up against the wall of the building, threaded one of his hands through my hair, and kissed me.

 This was not the chaste kiss we had shared before we had left the park, but a different animal entirely. This kiss was ravenous and exhilarating, and I gasped as Cassidy gripped my waist and pulled me tight against him. I moaned as he moved his lips down to my neck, and I was about to suggest we go back to his place when I heard a familiar voice in the distance.

 “Eliza? What the fuck?”

 My heart, which had been racing only seconds earlier, had suddenly frozen to stone in my chest. It was Ben.

 “What the fuck man?” Ben yelled at Cassidy. “That’s my fiancée. What the hell are you doing kissing my fiancée like that?” Cassidy was so shocked by this turn of events that he barely even registered Ben’s fist coming at him, and seconds later they were in an all-out fistfight.

 “Stop!” I yelled. “Ben! Cassidy! Stop! Please, I can explain, I really can!”

 Oh shit. Could I?

 “Who the fuck is this, Eliza?” Ben yelled. “How long has this been going on?”

 “You’re engaged?” Cassidy exclaimed, looking genuinely heartbroken, and by god, I could not remember ever feeling worse.

 Cassidy was stronger than Ben by far, and I grimaced as I watched him push Ben into the brick wall that we had been making out against only minutes earlier. Cassidy held him up for a few seconds, ready to punch him square in the face, when suddenly Ben kicked him in the groin and he toppled over, allowing Ben to hold Cassidy down and punch him in the face repeatedly. I winced, trying to think of a way to make the fighting stop but unsure of how to interfere without getting hurt.

 Ben was still holding Cassidy down, and I saw blood running down the side of his face.

 “Ben! Stop!” I yelled. “Please, just stop!”

 I finally managed to pull Ben off of Cassidy, who was lying in a heap on the pavement looking absolutely awful. I gasped when I saw him and kneeled down to wipe the blood off of his face with some Kleenex.

 “Get up, Eliza,” Ben said. “Leave him.”

 “No just,” I shook my head, trying to find the words. “Just let me clean him up and explain, okay?”

 “Explain what? How the fuck do you explain this Eliza? That you’re cheating on me? Please.”

 I ran to Ben for a brief moment and put my hands on his shoulders, trying to calm him down.

 “Look, I understand that you’re angry.”

 “You think?”

 “But please, just go up to Sabryna’s apartment and wait there. I promise I’ll explain everything,” I said.

 “I’m sure you will, Eliza.” Ben scoffed, turning to go inside. “I’m sure you absolutely fucking will…bitch.”

 I ran back over to Cassidy, who was still lying bleeding on the sidewalk.

 “Are you alright?” I asked, propping him back up. “I’m so sorry about—”

 “Your fiancée? You’re engaged?”

 I bit my lip nervously. “I’m afraid so. It’s uh…it’s kind of a long story. I promise I’ll explain the rest later.”

 Cassidy looked at me angrily, the brightness in his eyes fading to a deep stone blue-gray. “I really don’t think there’s anything else that needs explaining, Eliza.”

 I felt my heart sink as Cassidy stumbled to his feet, holding onto the wall for balance. His blue button down that had looked so flawless an hour ago was now stained with blood that was still dripping from his nose. He looked like a complete mess, and a devastated one too.

 “Let me call you a taxi” I said, helping him find his balance. “Let me at least—”

 “You’ve done enough,” Cassidy said, looking at me coldly. “I’ll walk.”

 My stomach lurched as I watched Cassidy turn down the street and stumble home. In a matter of minutes and some dreadfully unfortunate timing, I had managed to lose everything. And upstairs was Ben, waiting to remind me again of the long line of mistakes now stretching out behind me.