The First Meeting

It truly was intended to be an innocent blind date, just to get out of the house and out into the world with other people. Nothing special.

Hannah pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop where she had arranged to meet this mystery lady. She let out a long breath, attempting to calm herself down. This was her first real date in a very long time.

Opening up her door, she stepped out of the car. She looked down at herself one last time. Her pants were a dark shade of blue, and were folded up several times at the bottom, because it is very difficult to find pants for shorter people apparently. She looks at her red converse sneakers, laced perfectly snug on her feet. Hannah nervously tugged at the hem of her black v-neck t-shirt.

Breathing in deeply one final time, she walked into the coffee shop. It was warm, cozy, and painted a violent shade of orange. Her eyes roamed the room, searching for her date.

Her eyes fell instantly upon her. She was more beautiful than in her profile picture. She had beautiful blond hair, and brown eyes that just radiated joy. Hannah inhaled at the sight.

Woah. She's gorgeous. I hope I look alright too. Hannah thought as she went to sit down next to her.

"Hey. Uh, well, I'm Grace." Hannah smiled at the girl's awkward and shy nature.

Hannah reached out and placed a hard on Grace's knee in an attempt to make her, and herself, more at ease. "I'm Hannah, obviously,"she said, "You look nice today."

Grace smiled, glancing down at her jeans and grey long sleeved shirt. "Ha! I was so worried about what to wear. I stood in the parking lot for maybe three minutes, trying to convince myself that I looked alright. Kind of stupid- Oh and you look really nice too, Hannah."

Hannah smiled and softly patted Grace's knee. "Thanks dude. I felt the same. Truthfully, this is my first date in long time. I'm kind of a loner."

Hannah removed her hand from Grace's knee. Suddenly, she became acutely aware of Grace. Everything about her. The way she smelled like vanilla, and how she moved closer to her when she had taken her hand off of her knee.

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true!" Grace exclaimed. "You seem lovely."

Both women glanced down nervously, mentally searching for something to say to break the silence.

"So, um, I remember you said in one of our chats, that you broke up with your husband a while ago.ยด Hannah said instantly regretting her words. "Sorry. I didn't mean to say that."

Grace looked up. "Yes, that's true, and please don't apologize. But anyways, we broke up for good last spring. He just got up and left one morning." Grace let out a half- hearted laugh. "He left me, and our daughter, flat out left."

Hannah shifted nervously. "I'm sorry. That's horrible. He didn't deserve you if he just did that. Tell me about your daughter? If that's okay for me to ask."

Grace's eyes lit with joy at the mention of her daughter. "Well, she's only five month's old. Her name is Piper. She's got green eyes, from her dad, and dark blonde hair from me." Grace trailed off her sentence. "One of my friends is at my house with her now while I'm here with you obviously. Do you want to see a photo?" Grace asked giddily.

Hannah nodded, seeing the joy in her date's eyes. Grace pulled up a photograph on her mobile phone quickly. "This is the most recent picture I've got I think." She said smiling. "She's great. I love her so much. You know, it's getting close to three, it might get busy in here soon. Would you like to back to my house? I can drive you if you want."