A fresh start

Chapter 7: the date

"They say the only way to survive in a zombie apocalypse is by being the survivalist of the fittest, but working alone will only get you so far. Working as a team can accomplish anything...Not me of course, because I prefer working alone. That's just me."

Hey everyone, we're back with chapter 17. Hope you enjoyed that little quote of mine just then, just something I made from scratch. Anyway, how's everyone doing? Hope you're doing good, and just remember, the weekend is here soon and what better to celebrate than a good-old chapter from us? Enjoying reading.


By the time Lee was done getting himself prepared, it was 5:52 PM. The walk to Carley's house was only about five minutes away, but he was debating on whether or not to leave now. His brother Blake would sometimes tell him it was cool to be "fashionably late," but Lee wasn't sure.

He decided to be perfect and knocked on the door the second his watch reached 18:00 PM. He waited patiently until the door opened and standing before him was Carley, looking as beautiful as ever. She was wearing a light blue blouse with a black skirt that went down to just above her ankles. She also had on just a little bit of dark eye shadow.

Lee had to shake his head quickly to keep from staring, and offered her a smile. "Hey. You ready to go?"

"Yep, been looking forward to this date." Carley replied with a smile as she grabbed her purse and stepped out of her house, locking the door behind her.

Lee and Carley held hands as they proceeded over towards Lee's cars. Lee, being the gentlemen he is, held the passenger door open for Carley.

Carley thanked him and got inside. Lee got into the driver's seat and began traveling downtown to where this new restaurant was. They had a good bit of business, mostly families, so the reviews must have been true.

"I decided to try this place out, that's okay?" Lee inquired.

"As long as it serves good thing and good service, that's perfect with me." Carley replied with a small smile across her face. She decided to sit back and enjoy the ride as Lee drove them to the location of their data. "So-o-o-o-o-o..."

"So-o-o, how are...things?" Lee wanted to know.

"They're good." Carley merely nodded in response. This conversation was getting awkward. "So-o-o how's the university?"

"Glad to be out for the summer," Lee replied. "Well...Monday I have to go back for some things, and THEN I'm out. How's the job?"

"My boss is still a bit of bitch, but I think I'm beginning to get on her good side." Carley answered. "But it's going good."

"That's great," Lee commented.

The drive to the restaurant only took a few minutes since it was not that far away. Once the restaurant came into view, Lee announced this to Carley. "Looks like we're here."

The two pulled into the car park and exited the car and proceeded towards the entrance to the restaurant. Lee held the door open and allowed Carley to walk in first that earned him a peck on the cheek. The two approached a man standing behind a stand who greeted them in a friendly manner.

"Good evening, sir, madam. May I ask if you've booked a table for tonight?" he inquired politely.

"Yes. Everett, party for two," Lee responded, his cheek tingling after receiving that short kiss.

The host looked down the list for a few seconds until he found his name. "Ah, yes, booth for two. Please follow me and I'll escort you to your booth."

Lee and Carley were escorted to their booth and both of them sat down opposite from each other. The booth was quite comfortable and this restaurant looked quite fancy. No wonder it got good reviews. But Lee would not judge it until he tried the food.

"A waiter will be with you shortly. Please enjoy yourselves and enjoy your meals." the host informed them before he made his way back to his previous position.

"I hope you like Italian food," Lee told Carley as he picked up his menu.

A minute or so later, a waiter came over with his notepad. "Hello, my name's Shawn and I'll be taking care of you tonight. May I start you off with some drinks?"

"I'll have a Dr. Pepper," Lee spoke up, and turned to Carley.

"And just water for me, thanks." Carley requested.

"Alright, I'll be back momentarily," Shawn wrote on his notepad and walked away.

While he was gone, Lee and Carley began to look at the menus. Lee did not eat Italian food that often, but that did not mean he did not like it. Plus, they served other food as well.

"Hmm, the lobster looks very tempting." Carley admitted, either speaking to herself or Lee.

"Get anything you want," Lee told her. He took a look at his own menu. "I like this herb chicken and pasta."

"Sounds delicious." Carley agreed as the two set down their menus and just at perfect timing when Shawn returned with their drinks. "We're ready to order now. I'll have the lobster please."

"I'll have the chicken and pasta, and could we also have some rolls, please?" Lee requested.

Shawn set their drinks down and wrote down their orders. "Okay, your food shouldn't take long, and your rolls will be out in the next few minutes," he told them, and walked away again.

Lee stirred his Dr. Pepper around. "So...any plans for the summer, other than Macon?"

"My parents asked me if I was interesting in going to their summer home for a while, but not sure that I will because I got no-one to go with." Carley answered after she took a sip of water. "Other than that, I'm not sure what to do."

"Oh," Lee nodded. "As for me, I'm not really sure. I think Ed and Diana want a neighborhood get-together for the fourth of July."

"All of the neighbors?" Carley asked. Lee nodded in response. "That could be fun, but whole neighborhood includes Lilly and Larry."

"I overheard Lilly saying something about going out of town then," said Lee. "So maybe it won't be a disaster."

"Maybe." Carley agreed. "Before you moved in, Lilly was actually a good person once. But ever since her dad retired, she just hasn't been the same."

Lee frowned as he took a sip of his soda. "Any chance you know what happened?"

"Nope." Carley simply answered. She decided to change subject since this was their first date together. "Enough about Lilly. What is there to know about Lee Everett that I don't already know?"

"Well, you know I like history," Lee stated. "Sometimes I go to a museum just for fun...usually after Omid blabs about how great it is."

Carley chuckled quietly to herself for a few seconds. "Sounds fun. What made you want to become a teacher at the university? Has it always been a dream job?"

"I always wanted to teach history, ever since I graduated high school," Lee told her. "My mom and dad weren't too keen on it at first, since they wanted me to help run the family business, but they eventually accepted me when they realized that I was old enough to make my own decisions."

A different waiter came by and placed the rolls, along with some butter, onto the table and left. They each took a roll and broke it in half. Lee continued the conversation. "So, I want to know about you. When did you become a reporter?"

"About four years ago." Carley answered as she took a bite out of the bread role shortly after. "Before that, I had a job as a waitress at a local bar, but it wasn't really my thing. My friend Steve told me about a job as a reporter and I decided to give it a try. At least I would know someone there."

"That sounds nice," Lee commented. "I guess part of the reason for becoming a teacher was to meet new people. I don't mind that most of the time."

"Sounds like a good enough reason to me." Carley replied before taking a sip of water. "Lee, not that I'm ungrateful or anything but what made you want to take me out to dinner?"

"I just thought it would be nice for us to get to know each other a bit more," Lee replied as he broke his roll into a smaller piece. "Our work can take up a bit of our time, you know? We don't get a chance to speak on weekdays."

"Really?" Carley grinned. "Well Lee, I can certainly say that I am enjoying myself so far."

A few minutes later, Shawn came by holding their tray of food. "Alright, I have lobster here, along with the herb chicken and pasta," he told them, setting the food down in front of them. "Enjoy."

"Thank you," Lee answered, and Carley nodded.

The two dug into their food but they would occasionally stop to speak to one another and get to know each other a little better.

"So, American history, huh?" Carley spoke out of the blue after she took a bite out of her lobster. "Sounds interesting."

"Yeah, even when I was a kid I was glued to it," Lee explained as he gathered a forkful of pasta. "Not exactly sure why. Anyway, what was college like for you? What did you study?"

"I studied a course in Art for a year and did learn to paint some pictures, but it wasn't really my dream. And after that, I took a two-year course in computing, but I was no good at it." Carley answered. "And believe it or not, Doug was there. What are the odds of being in the same neighborhood?"

"Maybe I can see some of your work sometime, if you've kept any of it?" Lee inquired. "And Doug. I bet he graduated with that major." He chuckled.

"I think he got that high that he probably skipped over a couple of grades." Carley chuckled. She remembered when she first met Doug again in their neighborhood and since then, they have become great friends. "Yeah, I kept a couple of more paintings. I'd be more than happy to show you."

"That'd be great," Lee responded. "So, anything else you'd like to share?"

"Well, this may sound a little silly, but when I was younger, I dreamed of becoming an actress." Carley admitted, keeping her voice down slightly to avoid the other people listening in, but it did not make a difference since they were strangers. "I guess I kind of came true. I am on TV."

"I guess dreams can come true in many different variations," Lee smirked, shrugging lightly. "When I was younger, my mom would play the tuba in my ear whenever I wouldn't get out of bed in the morning. It always worked. I was never a morning person."

"Something we have in common." Carley grinned. "My younger sister use to wake me up in the morning by jumping on my bed. And if that didn't work, my mom would walk inside and whack a wooden spoon against a frying pan."

Lee couldn't help but laugh. "Seems like we both come from crazy families. To add on, I wasn't allowed to lock my door."

"I didn't even have a lock for my door." Carley replied before taking another bite of her lobster. "I tried putting a chair there once, but my sister decided to climb through my window. I knew I should have closed it."

"Siblings...you got to love 'em," Lee shook his head, thinking about his brother Blake. He grabbed another bread roll and spread some butter onto it.

Before long, the two of them had finished their dinner and were pretty full. They debated on getting dessert or not.

"You want dessert?" Lee offered. "We can share, if you'd like."

"Sounds good to me. I don't think I could eat one on my own." Carley agreed after cleaning her mouth with her napkin.

At that moment, Shawn returned and picked up their plates whilst asking if they were done with their meal or wanted further.

"We'll split a dessert, if that's all right," Lee responded. He turned to Carley. "Chocolate cake okay?"

"Sounds good to me." Carley answered.

Shawn wrote it down and walked off. The slice of cake didn't take long, and a few minutes later he placed it in front of them. "There you go. Enjoy."

"Thanks." Carley thanked and picked up one of the two spoons rested on the table.

The two began to take small pieces of their cake together until there was not a crumb left. Lee sighed and wiped his mouth with a different napkin, Carley did the same.

"Wow, this has turned out to be a romantic dinner." Carley admitted as she rubbed her hand against her stomach. "Thank you, Lee."

"Hey, it was no problem," Lee told her with a smile as he paid the bill, also leaving the tip despite Carley's offers. He stood up and walked to the other side of the booth, holding out his hand for Carley to take. She accepted and stood up, and the two began walking out of the restaurant.

"Have a nice night," Shawn waved them off.

"Thanks, you too," said Lee.

The two got back into Lee's car and checked the time to see it was 20:30 PM. Since their neighborhood was not too far away and they had Saturday coming up tomorrow, there was no reason to rush home. Instead, the two sat in silence and enjoyed the drive there.

When they made it back to their neighborhood, Lee pulled in front of Carley's home. Now it was time for the end of their date which Lee was glad it went well. He could have sworn at least one thing would have gone wrong.

Before Carley left the car, she leaned over towards Lee and shared a kiss with him on the lips for a couple of seconds. "Thanks for a great time, Lee. Give me a call sometime."

"Uhh...sure," Lee responded with a small grin, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

Carley smiled at him and climbed out of the car. Lee made sure she got inside okay before heading home himself. He was grinning like an idiot as he pulled into his driveway a couple minutes later. He decided to tell Kenny what had gone on in the morning. After all, he had asked several times when he would get together with Carley.

Since it was Friday night, he had nothing better to do for a while and had no reason to stay up late. He decided to relax on his couch and switch on the TV for a while.

Lee ended up flipping channels until he eventually settled on the news. Nothing terrible or even remotely interesting was really going on, but for some reason he ended up watching it anyway.

As he was watching the news, the weather began to rain again and this time, quite heavily. It caused the signal on his TV to go out.

"Great," Lee muttered. He decided to just go to bed, knowing that the power would be back on in the morning. Plus, he always enjoyed falling asleep listening to the rain. As he drove off into a peaceful Lee, he could not help but feel that this date had gone perfect with no mistakes.

Just the way he wanted and in the future, he was definitely looking forward to more dates with Carley.


And that brings us to the end of this chapter, folks. Lee and Carley's date turned out to be a successful one and I got the feeling they will continue dating in the future. Next chapter will be here this Saturday.