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Second Tale:
First Date
Synopsis: Carl feels sorry for his dad who hasn't been able to move on since his divorce. So he steps in to help by introducing his father to a dark, dreadlocked beauty. Will things work out well in the end?
All of the photos in the museum started to blend into one big, uninteresting picture as Rick navigated the halls of the place. He had brought his son here to try to get him enriched in culture but what culture, he did not know. He sure didn't understand some of these paintings. He paused in front of one that was all blue swirls and white dots, not knowing what the hell it was supposed to mean. "What happened to simple portraits of dead guys?" he asked his fidgeting son.
"I don't know," Carl answered by his side. "But dad...this is boring. And my feet hurt."
Rick could only agree with his son. He wished he could have thought of something more interesting to do while he had him.
This was the last day of the weekend that Rick had custody of his son. The divorce with his wife, Lori, had been messy but it had been inevitable. In her opinion, anyway. In his opinion, it seemed as if she simply wanted to be free of him so that she could be with his best friend, Shane. So Rick had lost two important people from his life in one go. This all had been a year ago and he still couldn't quite get over how things had gone down.
Carl looked up to see that his father was barely concealing a hurt expression. It made Carl feel bad, but he couldn't lie about having a good time. Because this place was just not fun. He scuffed the heel of his new boots against the floor and waited for his dad to either force him through the rest of the gallery or go back toward the exit.
The longer his father just stood there, the more Carl wanted to start up a conversation. To get them laughing like they used to do together. But every time they saw each other, it seemed as if there was getting to be less and less that they could talk about. Being together seemed to be becoming more of a strain. Carl felt as if it was his fault. That he wasn't around enough and his father was becoming more distant. He worried about his father whenever he left and had to leave him alone for days at a time.
He blamed his mother a bit whenever he noticed the differences between his two parents' houses. There was laughter and happiness at his mom's house but his dad's house held only silence. It was smaller too. He felt like he should be angry at his mother for making things become this way but he couldn't quite bring himself to resent her. He knew that she hadn't been altogether happy with his dad. Now she was. She was happy with someone else. And he hated the feeling of guilt he had when he was happy too.
As Carl twisted his head around to find something interesting to look at, his eyes landed on sky blue. A dark-skinned woman with dreadlocks was standing at the end of the hall and she wore a pretty blue dress that clung to her skin and hung just past her knees. She had her arms folded across her stomach and she was looking with serious focus at a painting in front of her. Carl got a sudden idea. His mom had found happiness by being with another man. Maybe what his father needed was another woman. Then maybe he could smile when he was at his house too.
"Dad?" Carl asked.
"Hm?" His dad turned to him with a questioning expression.
"Have you thought about dating again? Since mom?"
Rick stared at Carl, not knowing how to respond. The question had taken him by surprise. "Why do you ask this?" he asked, planting his hands on his hips. "Did your mother put you up to asking me that?"
"No, dad," Carl responded. "She doesn't talk about you." Carl could tell he had said something hurtful again from his dad's slightly wounded expression. He rolled his eyes, wishing he could learn to soften his words a little. "No," he said. "I was asking because I think you should think about dating again. Mom has moved on and...I want you to do things besides work when I'm not here."
Rick turned back to the painting. "I'll worry about my love life, Carl," he said. "You just worry about schoolwork. How are you doing in school these days?" Rick wanted to talk about anything besides what they were talking about. He hadn't even thought of dating anyone else since the divorce. He couldn't. That's why it had hurt so much more when Lori moved on so quickly. And with Shane. It had come as a surprise to him but what hurt even more is the fact that whatever feelings they shared must have been brewing for quite some time. Because they hadn't hesitated.
"Dad." Carl's voice pulled Rick from his saddening thoughts.
"What?" he asked.
"What do you think about that woman over there?" Rick's eyes followed in the direction that Carl was pointing in until they landed on the woman in the blue dress. She had moved closer to them at this point, still absorbed in the images that hung on the walls of the museum. Rick was first taken by how the bright blue stood out so nicely against her dark skin. And she was very fit. His eyes traveled down her toned arms and legs. He quickly looked away.
"Carl," he warned under his breath. "Drop it. This instant."
The woman moved closer to them until she was only a painting away. "Mmm...Nope," Carl replied. And before Rick could stop him, Carl had moved around him and tapped the woman on the arm. Rick stepped forward to grab him just as the woman turned around. She looked between the two guys, a curious expression on her face.
"Hi," Carl said. "Do you think my dad is handsome?"
The woman turned her body to face him, giving him her full attention as a small smile of perplexion raised her lips. "Uh...?"
Rick felt like melting into the floor from embarrassment. Gripping Carl's shoulders and burning at the face, he rushed to apologize. "I'm sorry," he said. "My son can be a bit..." He stopped there. His hectic mind couldn't find a word.
The woman stared at them curiosly, not knowing what was happening but she decided to play along. Her eyes swept across Rick's embarrassed face and she chuckled before focusing on Carl again. "He's quite handsome, yes," she responded. "Why?"
Carl smiled up at his father with an expression that said 'See?!' before he turned back to the woman. "Are you single?" he asked.
"Carl!" Rick dug his fingers into his son's shoulders again and sent the woman an apologetic look. "I'm sorry," he said. "My son is being a bit rude-"
"Oh, that's right. I'm sorry. I am," Carl rushed to say. "I should ask you your name first."
The woman chuckled again as Rick gave his son another warning. "My name is Michonne," she said, reaching her hand out to give Carl a handshake. He shook her hand and then she reached her hand out to Rick. He took it, still apologetic. "And yes," she said, looking at Rick. "I am single." She let her hand linger with his for a moment before taking it back. Rick could only stand and blush.
"Good," Carl said with a smile. "You should take my dad out on a date."
Michonne's eyebrows raised. Things were escalating quickly. This was definitely one of the strangest days she had had in a while. "Well, I can't," she responded.
Rick was surprised to find that he was disappointed. He hadn't even noticed the hopeful smile that had appeared on his face until it was sliding off.
"Because I don't even know your names," Michonne continued. "I told you mine but you didn't tell me yours." Carl and Rick shared a relieved smile that she wasn't actually rejecting them and Michonne couldn't help but to smile at the father and son duo.
"I'm Carl."
"I'm Rick."
Michonne nodded. "It's nice to meet you Carl and Rick."
"My dad has another day off from work tomorrow," Carl said, moving things along. "You two should go out then."
"Are you free?" Rick asked. He wasn't sure when he became an active participant in this thing. It just happened.
"I am," Michonne said. She silently reminded herself to cancel her work meeting for tomorrow. A date with a handsome country man didn't come around very often. "Where should we go?" she asked Carl.
"I don't know," Carl said with a shrug. "You two figure it out. I can't do everything for you."
Michonne laughed. She liked this kid. Rick gave his son's shoulders another hard squeeze for being too rude but his eyes were stuck on Michonne's smile. She was beautiful. "Let's exchange numbers," Rick offered. "So that I can contact you."
Michonne pulled her cell phone out of her clutch and handed it to Rick while he pulled his out of his pocket and handed it to her. They programmed their respective numbers into each other's phones. "So I'll see you tomorrow. Michonne," Rick confirmed as they handed their phones back to each other. Their fingers brushed against each other and they were both very aware of it.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Rick," she responded flirtatiously.
When she left, Carl and Rick watched her go. Carl's thoughts a little more innocent than Rick's. "We did it, dad," Carl said, proud of the both of them. "You are actually gonna call her tomorrow after I'm gone, right?"
"Yeah," Rick said. He clapped his son on the shoulder. "Let's go, Carl." A small smile lifted his lips. It was the first time in a year that his mind didn't linger on Lori or the divorce but instead on the sway of a mysterious woman's hips. He now actually had something to look forward to.
When the next day came, however, and Carl was well on his way back to his mother's house, Rick's doubts began to set in. He started to wonder if this Michonne had been playing along solely for Carl's sake. What if she wasn't interested in him at all? Maybe she didn't even expect him to call.
Rick stared at the number in his phone for a couple of hours until he finally decided to just go ahead and call it. If she didn't really expect him to call, she probably would have given him a wrong number.
"Hello?" Her voice answered on the third ring.
Rick felt nervous and excited for the first time in years. "Hi," he said. "This is Rick. From the museum."
Michonne chuckled. He could see her smile in his mind's eye. "I'm aware," she said.
Wanting to know if she truly wanted to go on a date with him, Rick decided to give her a change to let her off the hook. "Yesterday..." he said. "My son was in a weird mood. He's had it a little bit tough since I divorced my wife...I just wanted you to know that we don't really have to go out tonight if you don't want to."
There was silence on the other line for a moment and Rick hoped he hadn't said anything wrong. "...Do you not want to?" Michonne's voice finally asked.
"Oh, no! No! Yes!" Rick said hurriedly and vehemently. "I definitely want to! I just – I didn't want you to feel pressured-!"
Michonne smiled, finding his forceful denial flattering. "Good," she said. "Because I want to as well. Do you have anything in mind for us to do yet?"
"I was actually hoping you'd have something in mind," Rick answered playfully.
"God. Where's Carl when we need him?" Michonne joked. "We need him to plan out our entire evening. He had it all figured out."
Rick laughed. "Yeah." He scratched his brow with his thumb. "Well, I haven't been on a date in a while but...maybe we could do the tried and true method of dinner and a movie."
"That sounds good," Michonne agreed. "What time should I meet you and where?"
Rick gave her the name of a restaurant in Atlanta and told her to meet him at seven. When they hung up, he let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding and smiled happily. He was really doing this.
He spent the next few hours reserving the restaurant, getting dressed, and wondering what he could talk about to keep things interesting. By the time he reached the restaurant, his nerves had reached a new level. It didn't help when Michonne showed up in a gorgeous cream-colored dress that bared her shoulders and reached her knees. Her hair was pulled up into a fancy up-do.
Rick hurried around to her side of the table when she approached and clumsily pulled her chair out. He was aware that a few heads had turned in Michonne's direction since her entrance and he felt like he needed to make it clear that she had made the right choice in choosing him for a date.
Michonne thanked him and sat down. "It's been a while since a man has pulled a chair out for me," she said, as Rick settled into his seat.
"Well..." Rick searched for something witty and charming to say. "You- you deserve it. You're beautiful."
'That wasn't good at all,' Rick silently reprimanded himself.
Michonne smiled at him. His shyness was cute. "Thank you. You're not too bad yourself."
"I know," Rick flirted. "You think I'm quite handsome."
'That was good,' Rick congratulated himself.
Michonne smiled at his words. "I have to know," she said. "Was all of that your son or did you put him up to it?"
"Oh, no," Rick said. "It was all Carl. I'm glad that he saw you and made a move. I don't think I would have been able to approach you if it wasn't for him."
"Why not?" Michonne asked.
"You're way out of my league," Rick explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Michonne's eyebrow quirked. She was more than a little bit flattered but she thought he was selling himself short. Those blue eyes of his held an intensity that he didn't seem to be quite aware of. Especially when he narrowed them and squinted. Like he just did. Michonne crossed her legs, surprised by a sudden wave of arousal that shot through her body. 'Damn Michonne, pull yourself together,' she thought to herself. 'It's true that this is your first date in a while but don't go acting too excited. This is still a first date after all. Maintain your image.'
"What do you recommend?" Rick asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. "This is my first time at this restaurant. I'm not exactly from Atlanta, you know."
"I know," Michonne responded, picking up a menu.
Rick's brow furrowed; he wasn't sure how he should take that. "How?" he asked.
"You're wearing a dress shirt with jeans," Michonne explained simply.
Rick glanced down at his outfit. "Is something wrong with that?" he asked.
"No. Nothing's wrong with it. It's perfect." Rick could only blush again as Michonne stared deeply into his eyes. He wanted to look away but he couldn't. They were only pulled out of each other's gazes when the server came around.
"Are you two ready with your drink orders?"
"How does red wine sound to you?" Rick asked Michonne.
"I don't think I should have any alcohol," Michonne said. Her eyes fell briefly to Rick's lips. "I'll just stick with the water," she said to the server, tearing her eyes away from Rick before he could tell where her thoughts were going.
"Red wine for me," Rick ordered.
The dinner the two shared was good but short. At least Michonne thought so. When they were done and hailing a taxi outside, Michonne wanted more time to talk. She had heard all about Carl, his likes, his dislikes, and she had told him about her work, her likes, and her dislikes. But she wanted to know more. She felt like she could talk to him all night.
"I don't know if I want to go to a movie now," Michonne said as they slid into the taxi. She sat closer than needed to the man who had just given her good conversation for the past hour. There was something about his sweet and gentlemanly nature that she just wanted to corrupt. She wanted to reach the intensity behind his eyes.
The cloud that Rick had been floating on disappeared from under his feet. He thought that they had been having a good time. But now she was saying she didn't want to continue the date? "You don't?" he asked.
"Not in a dark movie theatre where we can't talk," Michonne said.
Rick turned to her, his eyebrow raised. It was only then that he noticed how close she was to him. A hopeful feeling and a smile lifted one side of his mouth. "So you're not calling it a night then?"
"Not even close," Michonne replied playfully.
She gently placed a hand on his chest. Rick glanced upwards to see the taxi driver sneaking peeks at them in the rearview mirror. He placed his hand on hers. "What did you have in mind then?" he asked softly.
"I'd still be okay with a movie..." Michonne said. "Just...maybe at your place?"
Butterflies formed in Rick's stomach. He gently removed Michonne's hand. "My place is far away," he whispered.
"That's okay," Michonne replied.
"I think it's better if we don't go..."
Michonne pulled back. "Are you calling it a night?"
"I don't want to," Rick said. "I just..." He was afraid of going home with this woman. She was the first woman he had developed interest in since Lori.
Michonne sat back against the seat. 'Damn it. I got too excited,' she thought to herself. 'And I didn't even drink any alcohol.'
"Let's just go to the theaters," she said. "I got a little ahead of myself."
Rick tilted his head in Michonne's direction. "No," he said after a while. "Let's- Let's go back to my place."
"Are you sure?" Michonne asked.
"Yeah," he said. "I'm sure."
It took thirty minutes for them to reach Rick's house and ten minutes for him to second guess himself and his decision. When they made it inside his house, he hurriedly busied himself in the kitchen by popping popcorn and getting sodas ready. He had left Michonne in the living room to browse through Netflix to see if she could find something worth watching.
He came back to see that she had already settled on something to watch and was sitting patiently, waiting for his return. He chuckled as he sat the bowl of popcorn and sodas on the table in front of the couch. "Maybe I should have forced you to go to the movie theater after all," he said. "You look much too overdressed to simply be sitting on my couch."
Michonne's eyebrows hitched but she kept the flirtatious remark that came to her mind to herself. Instead, she grabbed some popcorn and put it into her mouth. "Mmm..." she said. "Extra butter."
"So what have you found?" Rick asked, taking a seat on the couch. He made sure to leave a small space between himself and the beautiful woman beside him.
"Edward Scissorhands," Michonne replied. She covered the space that Rick had left between them until her body brushed against his.
Rick was aware of every point of contact. He chuckled. "Really?" he asked, trying to act like her nearness wasn't affecting him.
"Yeah!" Michonne said. "I love this movie. I can watch it over and over."
Rick chuckled again. "Okay."
"I'm going to cut the light off." Michonne stood up and did just that. Rick tried to take that chance to shift away but that did nothing to help. When Michonne returned, she sat just as close to him as before. She was getting close to him on purpose.
When the movie started, Rick tried to focus on it but he was more interested in the flowery scent that was coming from Michonne's skin. He wondered what kind of products she used to smell so good. With the darkness giving him courage and her proximity giving him confidence, Rick gently slid his hand behind her back and pulled her closer still. Michonne took that as an invitation to get more comfortable. She slid her shoes off and curled her feet up onto the couch. Rick's hand was now resting lightly atop her hip.
They both continued to watch the movie in that position, enjoying the feeling of being cuddled together. Michonne didn't dare to move.
"I've had this sofa for eight years," Rick said. "It's one of the things I actually got to keep after the divorce. So I did. There are a lot of memories connected to it. Memories with my wife. My son. When we were happy..."
Michonne listened to Rick speak. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked.
"...I feel guilty," Rick admitted. "About enjoying having you here now. On the couch that I bought with my wife."
"You know it's against the rules to talk about past relationships on a first date, right?" Michonne asked.
"I know..." Rick sighed. "And Carl would probably say I'm ruining things right now, but my wife was just such a big part of my life for so many years. She's the only woman I've ever...been with."
"Well, you know what I say to that?" Michonne asked, her voice was a whisper in his ear.
"What?" Rick asked, turning to her.
"It's time for you to get some new furniture..." Michonne ran her hand to the inside of his upper thigh. "Or it's time for you to make some new memories..." She ran her hand to his crotch where she felt him harden. "Either way it's time for a change." She pushed her lips against Rick's and he inhaled deeply before returning the kiss with passion.
Rick marveled at the fullness of her lips and the very taste of her. It was so different than kissing Lori. He pushed his tongue into Michonne's mouth and turned toward her. Her hand had started to create delicious friction against his hardness and he was hungry for her. He gripped her hips and pulled her closer against him.
After a while, they pushed away from each other, needing to breathe. "Wait," Rick said, getting his senses together now that he wasn't being enticed by her lips and tongue anymore. He removed her hand from his crotch. It took all of his willpower to do so.
"What is it?" Michonne asked.
"I want to...be respectful to you..."
Michonne laughed. "It's okay, Rick," she said. "I'm not a teenager and I'm not one of your country girls. You don't have to be a gentleman with me. In fact, I'd prefer that you don't." She palmed his crotch again. Rick sucked in a breath, his arousal growing, but he removed Michonne's hand again.
Michonne stared into his eyes for a moment, the blue reminding her of the blue in the gallery last afternoon. It was beautiful. She knew he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. She pulled her wrist from his grasp and undid his zipper. Rick didn't have the strength of will to deny her three times.
His breathing grew heavy as she pulled his erect member free of his jeans and he watched her with lust-filled eyes as she straddled him. The skirt of her dress rose to her thighs and Michonne moved her panties to the side before lowering herself onto Rick's shaft.
Rick groaned and let his head fall back against the couch as her tight warmth enveloped him. Michonne watched the pleasure play across Rick's face as she slid the walls of her womanhood up and down the length of him. She rolled her body as she bobbed up and down on his member, causing Rick's mouth to fall open on a strangled moan. Michonne's eyes clouded over at the arousing sight and she began to move faster atop him. Rick grasped her hips as her ride atop him grew more frantic.
Michonne's breathing came out in quicker and shorter gasps as she moved closer to her climax. Rick began to buck into her every time his length sank fully into her warm, wet center. "Ohh, god," he groaned. Michonne rode him faster still until she felt herself bursting from within.
"Ohh!" she screamed. "Oh, yes! God! Rick!" She shuddered atop him. Her tightening walls bringing his own climax forward.
Rick panted to catch his breath as Michonne collapsed against him. He held her, stroking her back languidly. "I want to see you again," Rick whispered in her ear.
"Of course," Michonne replied. "You think I wouldn't see you again after tonight? Your son would kill me!"
Rick laughed.
Michonne moved off of him and began to straighten her dress, pushing it back down to its rightful place. "So do you think you can think of something besides your wife when you look at this couch from now on?"
Rick stared intensely over at Michonne. The image of her putting her dress back into place after making love to him wouldn't be leaving his mind anytime soon. "Definitely," he rasped.
"Good," Michonne said. "And we'll continue to work on it." She sighed and snuggled back into Rick's embrace to finish watching the movie. "I should have had that glass of red wine after all..." she mumbled.
"What?" Rick asked.
"Nothing."