Chapter 3: The Date

"I'm telling you... you should have her seen her face, it was so funny!" Trish said, laughing along with her own dialogue. Matt also found it amusing, but Randy sat glumly at their table, slumped at it with his head in his hands. He'd resolved to mind his own business at the bar they occupied and basically get slaughtered.

He couldn't get the stupid bet out of his head. 'Molly frickin' Holly. Ugh.' On a brighter note, he was starting to count his blessings that he hadn't selected Trish, because her voice was getting on his nerves. And her incessant giggling was enough to drive any sane man round the bend.

"Hey Randy, cheer up!" she said, beaming a bright smile in his direction. "Is he always like this Matt?"

"He'll survive." Matt replied, patting Randy on the shoulder playfully. Randy grimaced, and turned away from them. 'At least Molly isn't here...'

He heard a familiar sounding voice emerge from the other side of the table. "Hey Trish, finally found this place... Traffic was a nightmare... Hey Matt, good to see you!"

'Great. She is here after all.'

"Who's your friend..." Molly started, but then realized who was sat next to Matt. "What's he doing here?"

"Randy? He tagged along with us earlier... is that a problem?" Matt said innocently, expecting a furious backlash from an irate looking Molly.

Molly huffed, and folded her arms. "Maybe."

"Hi Molly." Randy said, turning slowly to face the woman who'd punked him out earlier. The two exchanged a brief stare off, neither giving an inch. Matt and Trish glanced at one another, waiting for the fireworks to go off, but none were forthcoming.

Randy broke from the angered stare off and allowed himself to take in the sight of Molly. Something clicked inside of him; it was as if a different woman was stood before him, compared to the one he'd seen earlier. Her hair was tidily presented, her face was bright, her luscious lips glistened, and she was dressed in a very stylish blouse accompanied by a smart pair of jeans. She looked positively elegant, and he had no way of denying it. The slightest of smiles began to appear subconsciously on his face.

Molly's frown also subsided, when she saw the smile begin to show on the model face of Randy; he looked so debonair in his expensive suit. When she scratched away at the surface and delved past his undeniable ego, she could not refute that he was indeed a fine specimen. 'Somebody I wouldn't stand a chance with in a million years.' she pondered.

"Erm... Can I get you a drink Molly?" Randy asked tentatively. He felt uneasy about the emotions running through his veins, but wanted to test the waters. And after seeing how hot she looked when she dressed up...

"Well... Okay, why not." Molly replied. A faint smile began to appear on her face too. They proceeded to follow each other across to the bar, a move that left Matt and Trish completely bewildered in their wake.

"What the?" Trish exclaimed. "Did you drug Randy or something?"

"I was wondering the same thing about Molly... This is the same Molly that left him writhing on the floor earlier, isn't it?"

"Oh, so you know about that?" Trish quizzed him.

"Yeah..."

"And you still asked us to come out with you?!"

"Yeah... I'm crazy, I know. But you didn't have to accept..." Matt implied.

"Good point." Trish agreed. The two of them stared intently at the odd couple stood at the bar, trying to make out what they were discussing.

"Rand..."

"Moll..." They both spoke at the same time. "After you." Randy said politely.

"Okay... I'm not sorry for what I did earlier... but, I can't see any reason not to put that behind us." Molly offered a truce.

"I... Well... I guess you're right. I can be a bit of a jackass sometimes, I must admit." he responded, holding his hands up for once in his life.

"A bit?"

"Okay... I get the message, just don't hit me so hard next time!" Randy laughed and garnered a similar response from Molly.

"Hard? That was nothing..."

A sort of uneasy silence followed, as both of them felt hot under the collar. Neither was sure of what sort of territory they were getting themselves into, or what the true reasoning was for their sudden ceasefire. But neither could deny there was a spark between them, and that spark might well have ignited something much bigger than they could ever imagine possible.

"Listen Molly, what I said earlier... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said." Randy apologized. Molly saw the sadness in his eyes; he looked genuinely remorseful for the way he had acted earlier. As hard as she was internally, she couldn't help but feel bad about the way she had acted earlier as well.

"Alright, maybe I didn't need to knee you... well, you know where. Sorry." she expressed her own regret, in a bashful kind of way.

She noticed Randy hold out his palm in her direction, and thought for a split second before hesitantly placing her hand on it. Randy scooped it up to his lips; she could feel his warm breath on the back of her hand, which was enough to make her feel fuzzy inside. He brushed a light kiss against her soft skin, then released her hand, and smiled the sweetest smile she had ever seen.

"What was that for!" she exclaimed, giddy about what had just transpired.

"I just felt like it."

"Do you kiss every girls hand that you meet?"

"Only the worthy ones... Only the ones whose names rhyme..."

Molly blushed at his chat-up line, rolling her eyes at what could be construed as a corny one.

"What can I get for the happy couple?" a barman interrupted their conversation to take their order. They both picked up on his slip of assuming they were a couple and went to correct him.

"We are not a couple." was the simultaneous response, prompting a chuckle from the barman.

"It's okay, I won't tell anybody..." he said under his breath, offering a wink to each of them.

"Honestly, we're... It doesn't matter." Randy said, shaking his head. "I'll have another beer please... Molly?"

"Hmm, let me see..." she deliberated; she didn't drink all that often, but as her mood had improved somewhat over the last few minutes, she felt like rocking the boat out. "I'll have a glass of white wine please."

"You heard the lady." Randy said and in no time at all, two drinks stood on top of the counter for them. Randy left enough money to cover the cost, and some, then handed Molly her glass. "After you madame." he said in a fake French accent, which induced yet another giggle from Molly. She was seeing a totally different side to Randy's personality; and she liked it a lot.

Trish nudged Matt, and signaled towards the door of the bar. She whispered into his ear. "Don't you think we should leave these two lovebirds to it?" Matt looked at Randy and Molly, who were totally engrossed in a conversation with each other. He acknowledged Trish's idea, and finished off the last of his soft drink.

"I'll give you a ride back to the hotel if you like." he said.

"I'd appreciate that." she accepted. "I'm like, seriously stunned by those two. It's a good kind of stunned... I think."

"Definitely. You should have seen Randy's face earlier when he..." Matt had to talk himself out of carrying on, as he nearly let the details of the bet slip. "...when he was on the ground, after Molly kicked his butt."

"I can imagine! Anyway, let's get out of here..." Trish suggested, and then turned her attention to her friend. "Molly, Matt's taking me back to the hotel... are you going to be okay?" Molly gave Trish a fleeting look, and nodded to signify that she'd be fine.

"I'll catch up with you tomorrow Randy, take it easy man." Matt said to his buddy. Randy, facing in the opposite direction, raised his hand and continued his eye lock with Molly. He led Trish away from their table and they left their pals to it. 'Mission accomplished' was Matt's analysis.