Each day Charlie rode his bike by the Manning house. He pedaled slowly, wondering if Jordan was there or not. Finally, four days after they'd met, Charlie was rewarded. As he turned onto his street, he spotted Jordan coming towards him on the sidewalk, pushing Michael in his stroller.
She saw him and smiled. "Hi Charlie!" She waved at him. Charlie came up to them and stopped. He was happy to see her. "Hi yourself! How have you been?"
"Busy!" Jordan laughed. "Mrs. Manning had me taking Michael to a play group for a few days. But he didn't like it very much. He prefers adults to other children." Jordan smiled at him.
"What are you doing now?", Charlie asked.
"Oh, not much", Jordan smiled, "It's a beautiful day. We are just enjoying a walk."
"Mind if I tag along?"
Jordan's heart skipped a beat. "I would like that."
"Let me go put my bike up.", Charlie said, "I'll be right back."
Jordan watched him pedaling to the beautiful Craftsman house. She looked down at Michael, who was holding his plastic dinosaur. Thank goodness he'd had his nap. Jordan reached into the bag on the stroller and got Michael some Cheerios. She put them on the tray of the stroller. "Be a good boy." she told the baby.
She straightened, and saw Charlie walking towards her. She smiled. He grinned back.
Charlie and Jordan walked in silence for a few minutes.
Charlie wanted to break the ice. "So how long have you been in child care?" "Just for a month. I haven't been in L.A. very long. So what do you do for a living?"
"I teach math at Cal Sci."
"Really? Wow." Jordan had no idea what to say.
"Where are you from?" Charlie hated to get into him being a math genius.
"Georgia."
"Wow, that's pretty far to babysit." He grinned at her.
Jordan laughed. She liked him.
They walked on.
"Umm," Charlie faltered, "I wanted to ask you if you'd like to maybe go out one night."
Jordan stopped pushing Michael and looked at Charlie and smiled. "I'd like that."
Charlie's face lit up. "You would? Great! How about Friday evening?"
"Are we going on your bicycle?" Jordan grinned.
Charlie's smile vanished. "Umm..."
"Oh, hey, I was just kidding!" Jordan felt mean. "We could take my car", she offered.
"Are you sure?" Charlie seemed hesitant. "I only have my learner's permit."
"Well sure!" She smiled at him. Somehow knowing that he didn't have his license didn't surprise her. "Why not? So where are we going?"
"It's a surprise.", Charlie smiled smugly. "You'll have to wait and see."
Jordan grinned at him. Shyly, she touched his arm. "I'll give you my phone number when we get back."
Charlie smiled. "That would be great."
Friday evening Charlie was trying to get ready. He was nervous. Alan and Don were pretending to play Scrabble. They were talking low, so Charlie couldn't hear them. He heard them laughing. Charlie knew they were thoroughly enjoying this, and it annoyed him. He was going on a date. Big deal. He stepped into the room and they turned to look.
Charlie was very neatly pressed, and in his best sport coat.
"Well, look at you, "Don remarked. "You look great, Buddy."
"I should have bought film for the camera", Alan grinned at him. Don started laughing.
"Very funny." Charlie pouted.
"Aw, C'mon Charlie. We're just messing with you." Don told him. "So," Don continued, "Did you get her anything? Like flowers?"
Charlie froze. Flowers?
Alan and Don laughed heartily. "I'm just messing with you, Charlie!". Don said again, realizing that Charlie was beginning to get upset with him.
Alan and Don tried to stifle themselves before Charlie really got upset. Teasing was one thing, but there was no need to get him all upset just before his date.
At 7 P.M., Jordan pulled into the Eppes driveway. She saw the front door open, and Charlie walked out. Jordan saw him immediately and was impressed. His crisp blue shirt was perfect with his coloring. Over the blue shirt was a nice dark jacket, and Jordan noted with amusement that it was not covered in chalk dust. He really looked handsome she thought. She smiled at him. "Hi Charlie!"
"Hi", he smiled at her, "Please come inside just for a minute. I'd like you to meet my father and brother," Charlie told Jordan.
"I'd love to", she smiled, She stepped out of the car. Charlie's eyes widened when he saw her. "Wow," he said. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She had on a cream colored dress, off the shoulders. She grinned at him. "See? No baby food stains." Charlie laughed.
She hooked her arm into his and he lead her into the house.
Alan and Don were surprised to see Charlie leading his date into the house. They stood up as the door opened.
"Jordan, this is my father, Alan Eppes, and my brother Don Eppes."
"Hi Jordan, it's a pleasure to meet you", Alan said warmly.
Jordan smiled and shook their hands. "It's so nice to meet y'all. Charlie has told me so much about y'all."
"All good I hope?" Don laughed, "How are you?", Don flickered his eyes to Charlie, who was looking rather pleased, Don thought.
"Fine, thank you. What a beautiful home you have, Mr. Eppes." Jordan smiled at Alan.
"Actually it's my house." Charlie said. Jordan was surprised.
"Oh, really?." Jordan had no idea what to say.
"Well, it's getting late, " Charlie said, glancing at his watch.
"It was so nice to meet you both." Jordan smiled. She looped her arm back through Charlie's, and they headed towards the car.
Alan closed the door and looked at Don. "Y'all?", Don asked.
Alan grinned at his oldest son. "Charlie did mention she is from Georgia."
Charlie led Jordan to the car. She smiled and handed him the keys. "You have a learner's permit, and it's not dark yet. You're driving."
Charlie laughed nervously, and accepted the keys. He hoped that he didn't get distracted and hit anyone.
Jordan was curious about the destination, and worried she was over dressed. But she decided to just relax and enjoy being with Charlie.
They chatted as they drove. Charlie pointed out different places of interest as they passed them. Jordan hadn't really had the opportunity to tour the city yet, so she was fascinated.
At last they arrived at the restaurant where Charlie had made reservations. "Well, here it is." he said, and smiled at her. Charlie opened Jordan's door and crooked his arm at her. "Shall we?"
Jordan slid her arm through Charlie's and smiled at him. They walked inside through the huge doors of the restaurant.
Jordan grew wide eyed at the hand blown chandeliers, and murals covering the walls. "Oh Charlie, this is lovely.", she breathed.
Charlie looked at her happily. "I wanted our first date to be special."
Tears welled in Jordan's eyes. "It would be special no matter where we went."
Charlie smiled. Everything was perfect.
As the evening went on, Charlie and Jordan talked and laughed over their halibut. Charlie told Jordan about going to Princeton, leaving out the the fact that he had never fit in. He told her how he and Don had both graduated on the same day.
Jordan told Charlie about her job back home, cashing checks in a small family owned store. How she had always dreamed of living in LA. Then as luck would have it, Kevin Manning's lawyer was a close friend of Jordan's family, and so he had recommended her when Mary decided to go back to work.
She told Charlie about her tiny apartment. Charlie told her how he had bought his parents' home without his father realizing that he was the buyer.
As they rose to leave, Charlie reached for her hand. "I have something to show you,"
Charlie led Jordan out the side doors of the restaurant, and they stepped out onto the veranda. They stood and looked out. The moon peeked through the weeping cypress trees. It was breathtaking. A chilly breeze made them shiver. Charlie took off his jacket and put it over Jordan's bare shoulders, and then put his arm around her. She leaned against him, turning a little to face him. Their faces were inches apart. She looked up into his shining dark brown eyes, and her stomach fluttered. "Thank you, Charlie." she whispered. "Tonight was..." she didn't get to finish. Charlie leaned down and kissed her.