Peggy walked into her office hung up her coat. She saw that the light on her answering machine was blinking, so she pressed the message button.
"Hey, Peg, it's me, Declan," came the voice from the machine, "I was just ... kinda wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me over at Dillenbeck's around ... I dunno ... around one? Well ... umm ... if you can make it, that's great, and if you can't that's okay, too, so ... umm ... I hope to see you there. Bye."
Being the psychiatrist that she was, Peggy had gotten into the habit of analyzing every voice she heard. Declan's message on the answering machine was no different. She noticed that he seemed a bit nervous.
Why would he be nervous?
Peggy shrugged her shoulders and made a mental note to meet Declan at Dillenbeck's Cafe.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Declan waited at Dillenbeck's Cafe at quarter to one. At about 12:30, he had gotten too anxious to wait in his office, so he decided to get there early, just in case Peggy came early, too.
Of course, he knew that she wasn't going to come early, especially since the phrase "around one" usually implied that it wouldn't matter if she was late. He mentally kicked himself for not being specific about the time.
After about five minutes of waiting, Declan realized that the wait was even more agonizing when he was at the Cafe than in his office. If he wasn't staring at the door, he was staring at his watch, making note of exactly how many minutes it was until one o'clock.
Declan was going to ask her out, or at least get as far as telling her how he felt. Now he was starting to have mixed feelings. Part of him was excited, thinking about how perfect she was and the fact that he was *actually* going to ask her out. Another part of him was thoroughly terrified of what might happen. How would she react? What would she say? This part of him was almost certain she would say no.
It suddenly hit him that he had no idea what he was going to say. He had been so relieved to get that answering machine message out of the way that he had forgotten to think about what would happen when she was actually there in front of him. Now the eleven minutes and forty seconds he had until one o'clock didn't seem like enough.
What if she came early? He just knew he wasn't going to be ready. He had no idea what he was going to say and at the moment his plan was to try to get away with small talk until Peggy noticed something was wrong.
Well, actually nothing was wrong. A better way to put it would be to say that something was on his mind, something that had been on his mind for years.
He hadn't forgotten that beautiful and smart-mouthed girl in the front row of Dr. Hess's lecture hall. He never would forget it and he knew that he had to say something about it.
Declan glanced down at his watch. It was five minutes to one! He still had no idea what to say. It wasn't the subject he could just bring up casually. He could just imagine ...
"Hey, Peg, how ya doin? You know how I wanted to ask you out back in college? Well ..."
That wouldn't work.
The sight of Peggy walking through the door of the Cafe immediately brought Declan out of his thoughts. He nervously fidgeted with his fingers as she walked up to the register to order her food.
As Peggy walked toward him, Declan struggled to look nonchalant, but he had a feeling he was failing miserably.
"Hey, Peg," he said, forcing what he thought was a casual smile. The look on Peggy's face suggested to him that she wasn't being fooled.
"Hi," Peggy replied, "is there any reason you asked me to lunch?"
"Well ..." Declan began, "I just haven't seen you in a while and ..."
"You saw me yesterday," Peggy pointed out.
"I ... well, I ... I didn't really get a chance ... to talk to you ..."
His response was followed by a 'okay, so what's *really* going on?' look from Peggy, which he tried to ignore.
"So how are you doing?" Declan managed to get out.
"Declan," Peggy ignored Declan's question, giving him a warning glare.
"What?" Declan knew what was coming.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" she said this slowly as if she was talking to a particularly thickheaded kindergartner.
Declan took a deep breath. He had to tell her sooner or later, and it would be a good idea to get it out. "There's something I wanted to tell you," he said.
"What?" Peggy was obviously getting exasperated by Declan's strange behavior.
"Well, I --"
"Excuse me, did you order the hamburger?" the waitress asked.
"Yeah," Declan said as she placed the plate in front of him.
"And you had the Chicken Caesar Salad?" she asked Peggy.
"Yes," Peggy responded.
"So what were you going to tell me?" Peggy asked as she poured dressing over her salad and took the first bite.
"I ..." Declan stopped for a second, but then got up his courage, "I have feelings for you, Peggy," he said finally.
Peggy almost choked on her salad, but managed to get it down her throat. "What?!" she asked incredulously.
"Hey, Peg, it's me, Declan," came the voice from the machine, "I was just ... kinda wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me over at Dillenbeck's around ... I dunno ... around one? Well ... umm ... if you can make it, that's great, and if you can't that's okay, too, so ... umm ... I hope to see you there. Bye."
Being the psychiatrist that she was, Peggy had gotten into the habit of analyzing every voice she heard. Declan's message on the answering machine was no different. She noticed that he seemed a bit nervous.
Why would he be nervous?
Peggy shrugged her shoulders and made a mental note to meet Declan at Dillenbeck's Cafe.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Declan waited at Dillenbeck's Cafe at quarter to one. At about 12:30, he had gotten too anxious to wait in his office, so he decided to get there early, just in case Peggy came early, too.
Of course, he knew that she wasn't going to come early, especially since the phrase "around one" usually implied that it wouldn't matter if she was late. He mentally kicked himself for not being specific about the time.
After about five minutes of waiting, Declan realized that the wait was even more agonizing when he was at the Cafe than in his office. If he wasn't staring at the door, he was staring at his watch, making note of exactly how many minutes it was until one o'clock.
Declan was going to ask her out, or at least get as far as telling her how he felt. Now he was starting to have mixed feelings. Part of him was excited, thinking about how perfect she was and the fact that he was *actually* going to ask her out. Another part of him was thoroughly terrified of what might happen. How would she react? What would she say? This part of him was almost certain she would say no.
It suddenly hit him that he had no idea what he was going to say. He had been so relieved to get that answering machine message out of the way that he had forgotten to think about what would happen when she was actually there in front of him. Now the eleven minutes and forty seconds he had until one o'clock didn't seem like enough.
What if she came early? He just knew he wasn't going to be ready. He had no idea what he was going to say and at the moment his plan was to try to get away with small talk until Peggy noticed something was wrong.
Well, actually nothing was wrong. A better way to put it would be to say that something was on his mind, something that had been on his mind for years.
He hadn't forgotten that beautiful and smart-mouthed girl in the front row of Dr. Hess's lecture hall. He never would forget it and he knew that he had to say something about it.
Declan glanced down at his watch. It was five minutes to one! He still had no idea what to say. It wasn't the subject he could just bring up casually. He could just imagine ...
"Hey, Peg, how ya doin? You know how I wanted to ask you out back in college? Well ..."
That wouldn't work.
The sight of Peggy walking through the door of the Cafe immediately brought Declan out of his thoughts. He nervously fidgeted with his fingers as she walked up to the register to order her food.
As Peggy walked toward him, Declan struggled to look nonchalant, but he had a feeling he was failing miserably.
"Hey, Peg," he said, forcing what he thought was a casual smile. The look on Peggy's face suggested to him that she wasn't being fooled.
"Hi," Peggy replied, "is there any reason you asked me to lunch?"
"Well ..." Declan began, "I just haven't seen you in a while and ..."
"You saw me yesterday," Peggy pointed out.
"I ... well, I ... I didn't really get a chance ... to talk to you ..."
His response was followed by a 'okay, so what's *really* going on?' look from Peggy, which he tried to ignore.
"So how are you doing?" Declan managed to get out.
"Declan," Peggy ignored Declan's question, giving him a warning glare.
"What?" Declan knew what was coming.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" she said this slowly as if she was talking to a particularly thickheaded kindergartner.
Declan took a deep breath. He had to tell her sooner or later, and it would be a good idea to get it out. "There's something I wanted to tell you," he said.
"What?" Peggy was obviously getting exasperated by Declan's strange behavior.
"Well, I --"
"Excuse me, did you order the hamburger?" the waitress asked.
"Yeah," Declan said as she placed the plate in front of him.
"And you had the Chicken Caesar Salad?" she asked Peggy.
"Yes," Peggy responded.
"So what were you going to tell me?" Peggy asked as she poured dressing over her salad and took the first bite.
"I ..." Declan stopped for a second, but then got up his courage, "I have feelings for you, Peggy," he said finally.
Peggy almost choked on her salad, but managed to get it down her throat. "What?!" she asked incredulously.