Chapter two:
Daryl waited patiently outside of the restaurant, it was a warm Georgia day and he was already coated in a thin layer of sweat. He had been nervous all morning, he changed his outfit about a dozen times and combed his stubborn hair and wished it to be tamed for once. He thought briefly about buying flowers for her but decided that was a bit too much for this simple lunch date. He leaned up against the brick wall awkwardly, glancing both ways down the street every few seconds in search of any sign of her. He looked to the massive clock on one of the nearby buildings and it read "12:10", he sighed heavily, hoping he hadn't been stood up like the people on TV. Ten minutes passed by and he was thinking about just leaving, but just as the thought entered his mind a small van pulled into the parking lot. He smiled briefly when he saw Carol step lightly out of the passenger door. She saw him standing against the brick wall and waved at him with a forced smile on her face, he waved back and walked over to her. She was fumbling in her bag to find some makeup, a worried look covering her face. Ed had beat her that morning, giving her a black eye, she noticed Daryl walking over to her so she quickly began applying powder to her slightly puffy eye.
"Hey," Daryl greeted her as he approached her, his gaze quickly landed on the darkness under her left eye. She sighed heavily and gave him a wary look.
"I'm sorry, I look like a mess," she muttered as she put her makeup back into her bag.
"Nah, ya' look just fine," Daryl reassured her, she smiled weakly up at him. He decided not to push the topic further, he hardly knew the woman so it wasn't his place to ask where she got her black eye from.
"Well I'm starving," he said with a smile as she placed her purse over her shoulder, "let's go eat," they began slowly walking to the entrance of the restaurant, Carol walking a few steps ahead of Daryl.
"Haven't ever eaten here before," Daryl commented.
'Well it really is a lovely place to eat," she said with a grin, "I take my daughter Sophia here to eat sometimes," she added as they approached the door, Daryl walked quickly ahead of her to grab the handle and opened the door for her. She couldn't help but giggle at the effort he put in to be a gentlemen to her, a grinned slightly at the sound of her laugh.
"Hello," the hostess greeted them with a smile, "table for two?" she asked.
"Yeah," Daryl responded awkwardly, he had never really been to an actual sit-down restaurant before so he didn't quite know the routine. The hostess nodded and guided them over to the booths, she set two menus on the table and moved back so they could sit down. Daryl sat in his seat stiffly, looking at Carol as he did.
"What will you two have to drink?"
"I'll have a water," Carol said simply with a polite tone.
"I'll have a Pepsi," Daryl grunted, he would have asked for a beer but he didn't really feel like drinking. His hands fidgeted in his lap as the hostess wrote down their comments and walked briskly away.
"So," Carol said after a few minutes of silence, "what do you do for a living?"
"I work at the meat packing factory down the road," he responded, a slightly embarrassed look on his face, "how 'bout you?"
"I work at the elementary school, I'm a teacher there," she responded sweetly, "a third grade teacher," Daryl nodded.
"So, do ya' like teachin'?" Daryl asked.
"I love it," she laughed, "children are so fun to be around, I love my students so much," Daryl grinned to himself, he liked how passionate she seemed about teaching, it was cute to him, "how do you like it at the factory?"
"it's alright," he responded blandly, "but me and Connor try and make it somewhat bearable."
"Is Connor that man you were with at the bar yesterday?"
Daryl laughed, "Yeah that was him."
"He seems nice, you guys seem pretty close."
"Yeah, we are," Daryl paused, "don't have many friends," he frowned slightly.
"Same here," Carol smiled at him in a caring way, "that's why we must cherish the ones we have," Daryl nodded in agreement. Their waiter soon approached them with their beverages and sat them down at the table.
"You two ready to order?" she asked.
"I'm ready, I'll have a Reuben with a side of potato wedges" Carol responded, "how about you Daryl?" he hesitated and looked over the menu quickly.
"I'll have a bacon cheeseburger," he said to the waitress, she nodded and wrote down the orders before leaving. Daryl sighed and grasped his glass in his hands. Carol freed her straw from the paper wrapping and placed it into her ice water. Daryl watched her with curious eyes, she caught his gaze and Daryl looked away quickly, a red tint coming to his face.
"You've never been on a date before have you?" she asked with a sneaky grin.
"Not really," Daryl said gruffly, "so I guess I don't really know how the whole thing works," he sighed, looking down at the contents of his glass, "I'm sorry if I'm not the best date," Carol laughed and lightly placed her hand on his, he flinched slightly at her touch. She didn't seem to mind though.
"You're doing just fine," she laughed, "don't worry about it, jut be yourself," Daryl nodded as Carol removed her hand from his.
"So tell me more about yer' teachin' and such, I'm sure that's a hell of a lot more interesting than the factory," Daryl added in attempts to direct the conversation to her, he really did want to know more about her.
"Well," she began, "teaching can be pretty difficult at times, I mean just the other day I had to clean up vomit from a student and separate two fights," she laughed, "but I guess it's pretty worth it in the end, I try and give them a good experience," Daryl nodded.
"Don't know if I could do that," he laughed gruffly, "I'd prolly go insane from their constant yappin' all the time," Carol smiled at his response and he couldn't help but stare at her eyes as she did, damn was she beautiful.
"You should stop by sometime," she suggested, Daryl froze at her words, was she already asking to see him again? Carol noticed his stiffness at her comment, "you really don't have to if you don't want to, it's just a suggestion," she said solemnly.
"Oh no!' Daryl responded quickly, "I would love to!" he said maybe a bit too eagerly.
"Great!" she grinned, "I'm sure the school wont mind if I have a visitor, I think the students will like you," she laughed. Daryl swallowed hard, what the hell had he gotten himself into? Soon the waitress came back with their food and set the plates in front of them.
"Enjoy," she said with a smile before leaving them once again.
"This looks really good," Daryl said with a happy tone before grabbing the large burger in his hands.
"They do have amazing burgers her," Carol commented before she began to bite into her sandwich. Daryl nodded and took his first bite, enjoying the lovely mix of meat flavors and cheese, he was defiantly going to come back her. There were a few moments of silence as they ate, as their eating slowed down they began talking again.
"Damn this burger is good," Daryl groaned, his face reddened slightly at the way he spoke, but it really was fucking good.
"This sandwich is pretty great as well, you should try one of the potato wedges though," she suggested as she motioned to the slices of potatoes on her plate.
"Alright," he said hesitantly before reaching over to her plate and grabbing one, he bit into it and decided it was super good as well, "these a fuckin' good too," he said before finishing the slice, Carol laughed, making Daryl's stomach flutter at the sound. They talked for about fifteen more minutes before Carol glanced down at her watch with a look of shock.
"Oh my gosh, I really should be going now," she said urgently, they had paid the bill moments before but Daryl didn't want her to leave just yet.
"ya' sure?" Daryl asked, he wanted to spend the whole fuckin' day with this woman, but he understood she had things to do.
"yes," she sighed, "I'm so sorry," she said as she got up quickly from her seat, Daryl got up quickly as well and followed her out the door. The hostess saying goodbye to them as hey exited.
"When am I going to see you again?" Daryl asked as he struggled to keep up with Carol's fast pace.
"How about you come to the school at 2:00 on Friday? You said you got off work early on Fridays," Carol suggested, Daryl nodded and within seconds they were at her van.
"Well, um," Daryl began, "have a good say I guess?"
"You too," Carol replied with a smile, she kissed him in the cheek quickly, making Daryl freeze with a shocked expression on his face. Carol giggled in response and got into her van. They waved goodbye to each other, leaving Daryl standing in the parking lot with a shocked expression on his face.
