33 – The Way It Is

Passing through the kitchen, Felicity grabbed the phone on its second ring. "Hello?"

"Hey," came Ben's voice. "Are you busy tonight?"

Still feeling prickly about their last conversation in her backyard the night before, Felicity toyed with the phone cord. "I was going to go out with Shelly and the girls. Why?"

"I was thinking you and I could have dinner at Laurenzo's."

She felt her eyebrows shoot up. "You can't get in there without a reservation in advance."

"My mom knows the owner. I had her pull a couple of strings."

Felicity heard the smile in his voice, and a delighted little shiver ran up her spine as she imagined the smile that must be on his face. "Uh… Okay. Let me call Shelly and tell her I'll make it another time. When do you want to do this?"

"Meet me there about six-thirty?"

"Okay." Felicity said goodbye and hung up the phone beaming. She made a quick call to Shelly, who not only understood her backing out of the girls' night, but told her that she had better provide details as soon as she got home.

Felicity went into the living room, where her father was watching a news report. "Dad, can I borrow the car tonight?"

"Sure, honey. What for?"

She beamed. "I have a date."

Edward Porter made an admirable show of fatherly nonchalance. "Oh. That's great, honey. The keys are by the door."

Felicity gave him a kiss on the cheek and hurried upstairs. The first thing she did upon entering her room was to go through her closet and wade through an assortment of clothes. Outfit after outfit was pulled from her closet and tossed on the bed for consideration. Then she narrowed them down as best she could.

I didn't realize how few nice outfits I have. Biting her lip, she studied each of the three outfits laid on the bed. Of the lot, the only one she liked enough was the dress she had bought for her first college party. The awful party where everyone heard my tape to Sally. Ben was so nice about that, pretending like he hadn't heard it. She picked up the dress. "Maybe without the sneakers this time."

Instead of sneakers, she chose a pair of black sandals she had bought on her recent shopping trip with Shelly. Coupled with her necklace from Ben and a dash of her mother's perfume, she felt she was making a good start. When her hair wouldn't cooperate, she decided to leave it down. I hope he likes it.

- - - - -

"More water, miss?"

"Uh, no. No thank you."

The waiter started away.

"On second thought," Felicity added, catching his attention, "maybe just one more glass."

"Certainly," the waiter smiled, filling her glass again.

When he left, Felicity turned her gaze back to the empty chair across the table. Soft classical music played over loudspeakers she couldn't see, punctuating the fact that there was no one at her table to talk to. She checked her watch. Six-fifty. Maybe he's running late. She spread her hands across the linen tablecloth, flattening out invisible wrinkles. He didn't say exactly six-thirty. He said "about."

She'd called his house from the pay phone, but the answering machine picked up. She'd left a short message saying she was at the restaurant. So far, he hadn't called back.

The waiter came by a third time at seven o'clock. "Miss, can I get you anything else?"

Felicity cast a look across the table at the empty place setting. "You know what? I think I'll have the chicken Caesar salad, after all."

"Excellent, miss." The waiter headed away.

When her salad came, Ben still hadn't arrived. I wonder if something happened. She sighed and started to eat.

"Felicity Porter?"

She looked up. Standing over the table was a young man with wavy brown hair and a familiar face. She thought fast, and was reminded of a shy boy in her high school Math class. Felicity beamed. "Ryan Stetson! How are you?"

Ryan grinned and sat down in the chair across the table. "Good, really good. I'm going to UCLA, but I'm home for the summer. It's been so long since I saw you! Are you here with someone?"

"Well, I was supposed to be, but something must have come up, because he isn't here yet. Are you here with anyone?"

"I was, but we finished dinner and she went home."

Felicity raised an eyebrow in amusement. "She?"

Ryan laughed. "My mom. It's her birthday."

"Oh. Happy Birthday to your mom, then."

- - - - -

Ben pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant with his nerves on edge. She's probably gone by now. He wasn't sure if he felt guilty or relieved.

When he made the plans with her earlier, he was still riding on the resentment of Kurt's attitude. Felicity didn't deserve any of that crap. She deserved a nice dinner and nice things and decent conversation…or, at least, better conversation than he'd given her the night before. When I walked out like a total idiot.

He looked at the single rose lying on the passenger seat. Bundled with some green stuff and little white flowers in cellophane, it sat there like a silent demand to go through with his plan. He'd never given a girl a rose in his life, but he figured if he was going to have a date with Felicity, he ought to do it right. Do something right, for once, anyway. He picked up the rose and got out of the car.

The closer he went toward the building, the more uneasy he felt. Not about her, and certainly not about any of Kurt's commentary on her, but about himself. This wasn't his kind of restaurant, and that was the basic problem. We're total opposites. With a sigh, he walked into the building.

He gave his name to the woman at the podium in the lobby, and she directed him toward the table he'd reserved. Ben was surprised to find that Felicity hadn't left already. He walked into the back of the restaurant, past a pedestal with a flower arrangement on it. When he rounded the flower arrangement, he saw Felicity already sitting with someone at the table. Ben came to an abrupt halt.

She was laughing. She looked beautiful. Who the hell is that guy with her? He glanced at his watch and saw that it was past seven-thirty, well over an hour after he'd told her to meet him here. Part of him wanted to go over there and ask what that guy was doing in his seat. The other part saw how much fun she seemed to be having, and he hesitated. Well, you're the jerk who stood her up, he thought to himself. Did you think she was going to sit there by herself and keep waiting for you not to show up?

He hadn't started out intending to arrive late. First, it had been annoyance with Kurt for the comments about dating Felicity. Then, he kept thinking about what Jason had said. They were different. For the most part, he liked that about Felicity.

But he couldn't help thinking that maybe that guy sitting with her right now, who hadn't stiffed her for a date, was meant to be sitting there instead of him. Things happen for a reason, Felicity had told him once.

And now my friends hate your friends, she'd said also.

Maybe there was a reason for that, too.

With a sigh, Ben stuffed his rose into the flower arrangement and turned to leave.