When Greg arrived at her house, his mind was reeling. Beth had never cooked a meal for him. She had to be planning something. He parked the car, stepped out, and took a moment to organize himself. He found himself skipping steps as he ran up the stone stairs leading up to her front door. When he reached the top, he rang the doorbell, and waited. From somewhere deep within the house, he thought he heard a voice. It was muffled, but he was able to make it out.
"Come on in! I'll be down in a few."
He opened the door and stepped inside, waiting for his hostess to show herself. The smell of lavender and rain welcomed him before Beth even had a chance. That was one thing he loved about her place. The small house was always clean and smelled of lavender and rain.
Her walls were painted various shades of blues and grays. The solemnity of the color scheme was broken up by the framed Far Side cartoons that she had hanging in strategic locations. She never ceased to amaze him.
His eyes drifted around the room until they came to rest on the staircase located directly in front of him. The stairs led up to her bedroom and one of her two bathrooms. He thought he heard footsteps somewhere up at the top of the stairs and he tried his best to see where they were coming from. He fought the urge to go up and find her, and did his best to wait patiently. A few moments passed and Beth showed herself.
She was wearing loose fitting khakis and a low cut, fitted red shirt that hung just off her shoulders. Her hair was done up beautifully in a bun that rested on the back of her head, and she was wearing a pearl necklace and matching earrings. She was beautiful, and he told her so.
"Beth, you look great. But you didn't have to dress up for me." Greg spoke with a hint of laughter in his voice. The two of them had a sort of contest going. They were always trying to get the other to laugh. And most of the time, they succeeded.
"Now Greg, what makes you think I was dressing up for you? I have a hot date who's supposed to be here any minute now."
Greg seized the moment. He turned away from her and walked out through the front door. A few seconds later, he burst in through the front door. "Hey sexy, I heard you were waiting for me."
Beth couldn't help herself. She tried so hard not to laugh, but it happened despite her efforts. When she had finally regained her composure, she told Greg to follow her into the dining room.
He followed as she led the way, and when he saw the table, he started to smile. She had set her small table like he had set his for their Valentine's Day meal. She had two long-stemmed red roses beautifully set in a vase in the center of the table, and on either side of the vase, she had a lit candle for effect. Soft music was playing in the background and as he soaked in the moment, he realized just how much he really loved her. At both place settings on the table, there were silver covers that Greg could only assume hid the meal that he was about to share with her.
They sat down together and after a few minutes of idle chatter, she invited him to lift the cover off of his plate. He thought he saw a hint of a smile in her sparkling brown eyes as she spoke, but he dismissed it, as she was usually finding humor in one thing or another. When he lifted the silver cover, he burst out into laughter and fell out of his chair. Her serious façade melted as she in turn began to laugh. She asked him if he was okay and she was answered in the affirmative by more laughter. When he was finally able to gather his senses, he sat back down at the table and began to eat with her. Underneath all of the beautiful décor she had so carefully laid out, she had prepared him a meal of French toast and scrambled eggs.
"Beth, may I ask you something?"
"Sure, go right ahead."
"Scrambled eggs and French toast?"
"Hey, you got a problem with my cooking?"
"No, no, there's no problem. I was just curious, that's all."
"It was either French toast or bagels. And I figured that French toast was a little more impressive than a bagel."
Greg started to laugh again. "Beth, I think it's fantastic. I would have been happy with a bagel, but this…this takes some real skill. I don't think I could even make French toast look this good. I'm really proud of you."
Beth knew he was humoring her, but she couldn't help but smile as he complimented her French toast.
When they finished their meal, she stood up and turned the volume up on her stereo, the slow songs filling the room. She pulled Greg out of his seat and invited him to dance with her. He accepted the invitation and they began to dance. All the while, Greg wondered what had prevented him from asking her. He had fallen in love with her almost immediately and she had reciprocated his feelings the whole time. Greg was simply glad he had finally asked her. They didn't sleep at all that night. They spent the night watching movies of all sorts: comedies, mysteries, and even some chick flicks. They didn't stop watching movies until dawn broke. And when it did, they climbed onto her roof and watched the sunrise together.
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