Today would've been a normal day at the Odds & Ends, west of Bleaker Street, but it's not. Far from it and not what one expects from a shop housing adventures, rather today it's hardly an adventure. Something different and even more alien, at least for Ripley.
It's their first date, an actual date, they've been going out on small dates for a couple of weeks now, here and there, and now it's moved towards actual dating. It's rather unusual, considering that normally they're involved with conspiracies, aliens, the whole planet imploding, but here it is.
Tonight, the two are set to dine at the Rockefeller.
Despite the name, it's hardly a fancy place, it got it's name from the owner.
Ripley showed disinterest in fancy restaurants and for Matt, he didn't care for them either, especially the prices they charge.
In the small dates they've had in the weeks leading up to this, they haven't discussed personal things quite, yet.
Matt wanted to build up to this point where they're both comfortable enough to ask them, Ripley especially.
Ripley's slowly getting the hang of dating.
It did help that she knew Matt for a while and felt more comfortable around him. It's a weird feeling that she's mulling over the fact that if this continues, he'd be her… boyfriend.
It's alien to Ripley and she met plenty of aliens.
Matt's taking it in stride, of course, but it helps he had experiences dating.
Despite this, he's just as nervous as she is.
Even though they knew each other and shouldn't worry, it daunts him, so.
Working out the details, the two decided to start personal questions small, something that they can live with out in the open.
Should this continue to go well, they'll work out the next details for the next set of personal questions.
They've been working out what to say to each other, privately, of course, and after this, in theory, they shouldn't have problems conversing. It'll be no different than an afternoon chat during a lull in business. In theory.
The questions tonight would've been something easy enough for them to discuss. Just something that pertained to what happened over the year, go from there, and that's about it.
The date after this wouldn't have any personal questions involved, it'll just be a regular date. Matt didn't ant to overload each other with questions so soon after the other. Small steps and all.
Since it is early to say for certain, if this worked out favorably, the two would've needed a way to let Karen and Arthur know what happened during the six-month hiatus they've been on.
It's going to be a helluva reaction from Karen when she finds out that the two began dating. She'd have a field day with the knowledge and badger them for information.
So, until then, mum's the word, and they'll work out the details then if it worked out.
Arriving at the Rockefeller, the two seated near the back, and looked through their menus.
Not fussing over clothes, the two wore their usuals.
Matt's wearing his usual tweed, white collared shirt, black bow tie, and black suspenders.
Ripley's wearing her usual long sleeve black velvet jacket with gold buttons, underneath a band shirt, and a plaid skirt over her trousers.
Looking through the menu, they ordered their appetizers, drinks, and spent the time looking through the entrées.
The waiter came back with their drinks and they ordered their entrées.
When he left, the two began talking.
"Well, how're you feeling?" Matt asked Ripley how she felt.
Ripley admitted, "Not used to it, it's weird. You'd think all the times I spent with you at the shop I would've had this to bat by now."
Matt chuckled as he brought his drink towards him.
"Don't stress it," Matt encouraged her. "You're doing fine."
Ripley sighed as she brought her drink towards her.
Matt began with, "Well, I've always wanted to ask you this. When you came over to my parents' house on Thanksgiving, did you really go all the way out that way for drinks?"
It seemed overkill that Ripley went through the trouble for alcohol.
Drinking from her cup, Ripley pulled the straw away from her mouth, and explained to Matt what happened.
"Admittedly, I only wanted bourbon and he didn't have any. Not the kind I drink, at least. So, he called around for me and found the store that sold it. So, I took the cab over there and got some. That favor I told you, I got it because I got the cabby some drinks, too. He had a rough year and I might've felt bad for him, so I thought some drinks would've cheered him up. I got the brandy from him, sort of a thanks. When I realized where I was, I figured I'd give the brandy to you and your family. I didn't expect your mam to talk me into staying," Ripley regaled her tale.
She went to Mr. Whiskers, looking for her usual poison, and he didn't have any in stock. He tried to sell her other brands, but she didn't want them, she only wanted the one. Calling around, he found the store that sold them, and had the owner hold the allocated bottles for Ripley. Coincidentally, the store's in the general area near Matt's childhood home, so when Ripley got the bourbon and the cabby some wine, she ended up realizing this.
Since she didn't care for brandy and Matt told her about his Thanksgiving tradition with his family, she'd figure she drop it off at his parents' place and go home with her bourbon. Of course, Matt's mum talked her into staying, and it was awkward for her sitting in the chair that would've been preoccupied by Diana had she went to Thanksgiving with Matt.
With her answer, Matt slowly nodded, as he realized what happened.
"So, since we're on the topic, why were you happy to see me?" Ripley asked her own questions regarding Thanksgiving. She remembered Matt looking happy to see her and not just because he didn't think she'd step out of her shop for the holidays. Her presence left him speechless and she's impressed he started talking normally before she left.
Matt smiled as he admitted he didn't think she'd show up at the Thanksgiving party. Granted, he's happy she did, but not just because he was happy, she didn't stay cooped up in her shop. Diana's constant absence took a toll on Matt and Ripley showing up helped ease it. Having her there made it less miserable.
"When I said I appreciated you coming out, I meant it," Matt told her.
While it was series of coincidence, his father and uncle drinking the second bottle of brandy, them running out, and Ripley showing up with another bottle, Matt's happy that she showed up. Even if it wasn't what Ripley intended, she'd only wanted to drop it off, it worked out for the both of them, he felt.
He shared Thanksgiving with a good friend of his and Ripley spent time out of the shop.
"Well, no problem," Ripley replied.
Their appetizers came and the two shared them as they discussed the next topic that they agreed upon.
It's nothing to write home about, just something about each other that they've been wanting to know for a while. They learned things regarding childhood scars and the like, Matt got a kick out of hearing the tale about how Ripley ended up with ruined trousers courtesy of Jamie. There was a festival and her, Jamie, and Mercy went. Mercy worked a stall selling baked goods she made the night before and hid from Jamie, so it was mostly Jamie and Ripley having a bit of fun in the festival.
Something or another happened and Jamie's miscalculation on a toss sent a bowl of hot lard flying in the air and landed right behind Ripley while she was looking at something. It didn't touch her skin, so she wasn't burnt, but her trousers weren't so fortunate. It's because of this that Jamie wasn't allowed to play lacrosse. Ripley had to leave the festival and throw off her trousers before the lard set. Jamie bought a new pair for her to make up for the pair he ruined. It gave a new meaning to a certain insult that now became a running joke between them.
"Sure, make light of my pain," Ripley watched Matt giggle like a school boy as he heard how lard ended up on her bum. "You know how hard it is to find good pair of trousers that don't get holes after a wash?"
Matt stopped giggling and nodded. He knows that pain well, part of the reason he's been buying clothes from Ripley, old stuff didn't wear out like the new stuff did.
"Long as you weren't burnt," Matt pointed out to her.
Ripley then joked, "Would've been a pain in the arse, then!"
The two continued to talk about their childhood mishaps and so forth, it's amusing to hear about how each other got into trouble, and the difference between them in that regard. Matt was mischievous and Ripley's a self described, "puckish rogue."
It nearly made Ripley laugh when Matt told her the time he'd spilled makeup on himself when he fooled around in his parents' bedroom as a child. His mum was angry with him when she found him covered in her mascara and powder. Spent the whole night cleaning him from top to bottom and threatened to put makeup on him, blush, and all, if he ever did it again.
"Hm, I'd say you're a fall," Ripley poked fun at him and he asked about herself.
"Nah, Mercy was into that stuff, not me. I wouldn't know a thing about makeup other than using it for warpaint," Ripley acknowledged that she wouldn't wear makeup and never dabbled with it in her childhood. Mercy asked her once or twice if she ever wanted some, but Ripley declined each time. She never saw the draw for makeup, other than warpaint material.
Matt mused he'd love to see Ripley wearing a warpaint made of makeup and she admitted she almost did for a costume, but Mercy wouldn't let her borrow her makeup for it.
"I'll never understand people who pay that much for it," Ripley complained the main reason that Mercy wouldn't lent her the makeup, because of how expensive it was in the first place. Small quantities with big price tags, something Ripley never understood. Mercy refused and Ripley had to do something else for her costume.
"Me neither, seems a bit of a waste," Matt admitted.
Granted, his understanding of makeup came from his dates and his family, but that's about it. Never saw the appeal of them either like Ripley.
The topic changed and it's something of a curiosity more than anything. Matt's curious about Ripley's birthday. She knows his, but he didn't know hers.
"Come on, it's just a date," Ripley motioned with her hand as she grabbed the last bit of the appetizer.
She never fussed about her birthday, even when she was in the other universe, didn't seem like a big deal to her. It's a day shared by millions of others, there's hardly any uniqueness to it.
Matt felt differently and told her that it was still her day.
It was up to her to make it unique.
"Rip, what's wrong with one day where you're the focal point?" Matt inquired about Ripley's disposition to having a birthday.
Ripley told him, "The focal point, mostly. I don't know, I don't know what the fuss is about."
Matt's confused about her belief that her birthday isn't important and just another day that she happened to been born on. He professed that she could've easily done anything on her birthday and she points out, "If I wanted to go somewhere, I'd go any time, not wait for my birthday."
She saw the look in his eyes, the confusion, and she sighed.
"I have a reason for not wanting to celebrate my birthday," she admitted to Matt. "It's… it's the day where I got some bad news and just soured the whole thing for me. It's stupid, I know. But I just never wanted to celebrate my birthday, again."
Her birthday, her last birthday that she ever celebrated, had her given news that Jodie wasn't unable to adopt her like she'd hoped. She hoped it was her birthday present, more than anything in the world, but unfortunately, it didn't come to pass, and it made Ripley extremely bitter. Bitter enough to forgo the idea of birthdays for most of her life. Broken-hearted, during her last birthday, Ripley refused all presents, even the one by Jodie, and refused to acknowledge her birthday, ever again.
Indeed, it's childish now, she's older and wiser, and knew it wasn't Jodie's fault that she couldn't adopt her. Yet, she felt that if she celebrated it, now, it made her look more foolish than she already was.
"Can you at least tell me it, I'm not going to badger you about it. I just wanted to know," Matt saw the look behind her dark eyes as they showed her demure.
Ripley sighed as she finally told Matt, "November. November 14th, 1985. Okay. I might've acted like a goof when I had to do a thing for class about our birthdays and found out I shared it… with the Doctor. One of them."
One of the school projects had students research their birthday and if there's any famous people that shared them. It wasn't the normal schoolwork that they're used to, just something a substitute teacher recommended to keep the class calm until the bell rang. Ripley found out she shared her birthday with one the Doctors and admittedly reacted excitedly. It wasn't the one she hoped for, but the fact she shared her birthday with at least one really helped her cheer up.
Matt found it fascinating and Ripley admitted that she wished she didn't giggle like a schoolgirl when she found out.
The waiter came by, refilled their drinks, took their empty plates, and said that their entrées was coming out soon.
When he left their table, the two restarted their conversation, and continued going through the chosen questions that the two picked out for this date.
They learnt more about each other and then the entrées came and the waiter set them down in front of each other.
When he disappeared, the two began to dine on their entrées and shared theirs with each other. As they dined, they talked, and towards the end of their entrées, the two discussed the course of actions.
"Well, that was our actual date," Matt said as he wiped his hands with the napkin. "What do you think?"
This was their first actual date and depending on the reception, there'd be more to come.
Ripley proceeded the date thus far.
They've had small dates before this one, so she's grown comfortable with the idea of dating, and the personal questions worked out favorably for the first actual date. Both learned a great deal about each other that they'd normally wouldn't know.
"I enjoyed it," Ripley affirmed what she felt to Matt who smiled brightly.
The waiter came by to collect their plates and refilled their drinks, he'd then asked if they'd like dessert, which the two agreed to share a dessert milkshake with a piece of cheesecake stinking out of the top.
As they waited, Matt couldn't control his smile, internally he's dancing. Cautious, of course, but he couldn't help it.
Once more, the waiter returned with the milkshake and sat it down gingerly in the centre of the table, two straws sticking out in opposite directions.
The two opted to take out the cheesecake and split it between them and ate it before they went ahead and sipped on the milkshake.
As Matt sucked through his straw, he noticed it wasn't coming up, and tried to force it. His mouth concaving slightly as he sucked on the straw, whatever clogged gave and splashed his face with a creamy caramel sauce.
He grabbed his napkin and quickly wiped off the mess, as he did, he noticed Ripley covering her mouth, stifling her laugh.
"Mistakes happen," Matt mustered as he patted his cheeks.
Ripley nodded, still holding a hand over her mouth.
She never liked showing her smile, despite the small dates they've gone on. One date, she told Matt, she never liked her smile, and didn't want to show it.
He hoped that'll be a question he can ask her the next big date they'll have.
The milkshake was no match for the two as they finished it to barely a puddle at the bottom. Waiter came with the check and the two split it.
Waiting for a receipt, it gave Ripley an opportunity to thank Matt for the date. He lightly blushed as he smiled. Ripley held a hand over her mouth as she chuckled lightly.
"Don't turn invisible on me," Ripely teased him and he couldn't help but gesture as there's a smile on his face.
Returning to their table, the waiter handed them each a copy of the receipt, and thanked them for coming to the restaurant.
Pushing themselves out of their seats, the two departed from the restaurant. Heading back to his beetle, Ripley sat in the passenger seat as Matt entered the other side. Turning over the engine, the beetle chugged along the road, back to the shop. Along the way, they listened to music, and even though it's not music Ripley's familiar with, she liked it all the same.
Coming to a stop in front of her shop, Matt stood by the door with her as they spoke about their date. He couldn't hide the excitement he held over the success of their date. Ripley tried to be subtle about it, but he spotted a smile hiding on her face.
"Well, I'll be sure to come up with more things to do," Matt offered.
There's many things coming to mind, but Matt needed to calm himself, and get them organized. He still wanted Ripley to have time to process everything going on.
Ripley acknowledged and replied, "I can't wait."
Matt couldn't hold back the goofy smile as he looked at her.
Something occurred in Ripley that she didn't expect herself to do and it surprised Matt when she leaned forward and gave him a kiss on his cheek. It caught Matt off-guard, but in a good way, and turned as red as she did when they realized what happened.
Ripley reflexively apologized, but turned a brighter red when Matt returned the kiss, and lingered near her face. He pulled away from her and the two shared a hug.
The two talked for a few minutes and Ripley saw him off. He couldn't help but nearly dance his way back to the beetle. Ripley stayed near the door, bright red as the scene played back in her mind. She didn't herself to do that and yet, here she was, redder than a hydrant. The red in her face slowly faded as the beetle pulled away from the curb and merged into traffic.
As the beetle disappeared, Ripley entered her shop and headed straight up to her flat. She readied for bed as the date's still on her mind.
Ripley was about to head to bed when she heard a knock on her flat's door.
Baffled, she went towards it, and peaked through the peephole to see a woman peaking in, a look on her face.
Opening the door, Ripley spotted Jodie eagerly standing in front of her.
Jodie wanted all the details about tonight's date.
Guess even time machines have a weakness for gossip.
THE END