An invitation to hang out with his favorite person? Why wouldn't he take the opportunity?!
Sure, she was shy beyond measure and he was having trouble reintegrating into society, but, baby steps, right? He'd worn a flannel long-sleeve and black denim jeans, can never look too casual.
Thinking out loud in his parked pickup, he realized he'd been stalling for who knows how long. Flip likely looked about as crazy as he was, seeing as he'd garnered a few odd looks. He gathered himself in a deep breath and stepped out. He'd been to war, seen unspeakable things…so, why was this so hard?
With asphalt below, sky blue above, and a blooming park not far from where he stood, spring was showing its happy face. Why couldn't he?
'Well,' he thought, 'here we go.'
He marched into the pretty little parlor. Classy. Wandering eyes found the prize; he smiled when he noticed her looking for him too. But, she had company.
'A friend of hers, I'm sure.'
He hadn't seen many of these people in years, couldn't say he knew them that well either. He felt his palms start to sweat.
'Maybe she preferred yellow fur over green?'
'Wait, wait.'
He saw a voluptuous woman out of the corner of his eye, strutting through the place like she owned it. (she does, but it's not an important detail here) Her soft pink figure swam in the scarlet of her dress; the vision of a heartbreaker. He laughed a bit too loud when he saw her walk up to the canary rabbit and land a kiss on the guy. Must be French. They left the table together, politely leaving the redhead in the cute pink sweaterdress.
'Nothin' to worry about now,' he thought with a jovial smirk.
He finished his stride wearing that same smile.
"Hey Flaky," he waved to her.
"Flippy!" she beamed, giving him a tight hug. "We've got a lot of catching up to do."
"What have ya' been up to these past 4 years?" He said, sitting opposite her in the cushy parlor seats.
Trying not to let her stutter get the best of her, she replied "T-trying to outrun death," she gave a nervous giggle. "You know how this town is."
"Out there it ain't all that different," he sighed. "Not during wartime at least."
He tried to change the all too morbid subject. "Have you tried anything new? Skiing, hiking, swimming?"
"I've tried 'em all." she gave a short-lived smile. "But everything new I try ends the same way. Sometimes it all feels like a wicked game."
With a pensive frown, he decided on a new approach. "If it makes ya' feel any better, this is the only town I've seen where you're guaranteed to come back." He gave a hollow laugh.
"The risk is part of the fun here." With another second to collect himself, he shared his thoughts.
"Tell ya' what. I take you out on a date. Anywhere you want. I get a little less homesick and you get someone to get'cha out of your head for a while."
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice quiet. "I'm sure you've seen enough darkness out there."
"That I have." he shrugged. "Nothin' much I can do about it now." He sighed, the sound somewhere between a laugh and a cry. "I'm just happy to be alive. Not many of my war buddies got that luxury."
He saw her face, a sort of pity in her eyes. He didn't like it. "Anyway," he coughed, not wanting to think about his grief, "you interested in that date?"
"Of course," she gave him a small smile. "I'm sure we both need a little distracting."
"You'd be brave for me?" he teased.
She laughed. "Yeah! Aand," she grabbed his hands and pulled his face all too close to hers, "I know just the place to take you."
"O-oh, that's fantastic." Flip felt his face heat up. "H-hey, before we go, could we get some ice cream?"
His smile was warm as he took a bite of his frosty strawberry treat. "I've really missed home."