Chapter 22
XXXXXXX
The rain was pouring down as Danny stepped out of the cab and straight into a pothole. 'Shit!' he thought to himself. His right pant leg was now soaking wet. He made his way onto the sidewalk and under the awning. He was already running fifteen minutes late because he wasn't allowed to drive yet and it had taken forever to get a cab due to the rain. On top of that his umbrella refused to stay up. Deciding that there was nothing he could do about it now he made his way into the building.
He arrived on her floor and his wet shoes made sloshing, squeaking noises as he walked down the hall. When he reached her door, he ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to make it more presentable, and rang the doorbell clutching the bouquet of flowers tightly in his right hand.
A few moments later the door opened and Emma appeared. Danny, who already thought she was beautiful, was positively breathless at the sight of her. She was wearing a white silk blouse and a black skirt that was tight in all the right places.
"Hi." She smiled at him.
"Hi." Danny replied as drops of rain rolled down his face.
"Wow, come in. Let me get you a towel." She waved him into her apartment.
"Oh, these are for you." Danny said as he handed her the flowers.
"Thank you, their beautiful." Danny knew she was lying because the flowers were sopping wet and the tissue paper was stuck to stems but he was grateful for the lie. Emma clutched the flowers to her as she took Danny's coat. She walked to the hall closet and pulled out a towel handing it to him. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Danny began drying himself off.
"I'll just go put these in…. more water." She winked as she pulled the flowers away from her chest and started to the kitchen. That's when Danny noticed a big green smudge on her blouse.
"Uh, um, your blouse." Danny winced as he pointed to her. Emma looked down at the huge stain. Apparently wet tissue paper not only shrinks but the color smears as well.
"Shi…um, that's okay." She looked at the flowers and gave Danny a small, forced smile. "It's fine. No big deal, I can change." She started down the hall, yelling back. "Make yourself at home; I'll be just a few minutes."
Danny groaned; he was late, wet, and his thoughtful gesture just ruined her very nice blouse. Grumbling, Danny dried his hands on the towel before moving on to his hair and face. Deciding that at least his ass was relatively dry he sat down on her sofa so he could attempt to dry his pant leg. As he was doing so he noticed that they were starting to get green streaks. Cursing, he looked at his hand that had been holding the flowers and sure enough, they were green. He looked at the towel: green. 'SHIT!'
He frantically searched his mind for some way to clean up the mess when Emma walked out of her bedroom, took one look at him – and started laughing.
"Sorry, you look a mess. Hang on." She held a finger up for him to wait while she disappeared into another room. She came out with a box of wet wipes and sat down on the coffee table in front of him, handing him the box. Danny gratefully grabbed a handful and cleaned his hands. She was grinning at him the whole time.
"Sorry about your blouse; and your towel." Danny gave her a small smile while she looked at him intently, as if studying his face. She snickered and reached for a wipe.
"Come here." She grabbed his chin and moved his face towards her. Danny suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. She then gently wiped his forehead and temple. Danny noticed that she had freckles on her nose and her eyes were green like summer grass. "There, that's a little better." She pulled back and showed him the wipe and it was smudged with green.
"Thanks." He whispered.
They stared at each other for a long moment before Emma spoke up. "So, Kermit, where are we going for dinner?"
Danny was jolted back to reality and told her that they were going to a great new place uptown. They made their way downstairs talking casually. The rain had let up and Danny was able to hail a cab in a matter of moments. He hoped this was a sign that his luck was changing.
They got in the cab and Danny gave the driver the name of the restaurant. He turned towards Emma and asked, "So where did you grow up?"
Emma held her hand to her face and replied, "Um…Ramsey, New Jersey, you?" She spoke like she was trying to hold her breath.
It took Danny a moment to figure out what the problem was when he finally noticed it – B.O. He met Emma's eyes and they both grinned realizing that it was the cab driver who smelled. Actually, reeked would be the better term. Danny held his hand to his nose hoping to suppress the odor. Emma laughed and started to try and roll down the window but the handle wouldn't budge.
"Sorry Miss, that window's broken." The odorous cabbie explained. Danny reached for his when the driver added, "Both of them."
Danny and Emma's eyes met in fear when she announced, "You know darling, the rain has let up; why don't we walk?"
Danny grinned and replied, "That's a great idea, dear." He turned to the driver and asked him to pull over.
The cab stopped, Danny paid him and they both rushed out. As the cab drove away, he turned to Emma and said, "Oh, my God. What was that smell?"
Emma laughed and replied, "I have no idea. I've autopsied bodies that smelled better."
"It was like sweaty gym socks, armpit and wet dog." Danny laughed.
"Mix in a little sewer water and you've identified it."
They laughed a moment longer before deciding to walk a bit.
"So how far is the restaurant?" She asked.
"Um, twenty-two blocks." Danny replied.
She stopped and looked at him hard before turning her attention to her high heels and saying, "Yeah, we're gonna need to catch another cab."
Danny smiled, held up his hand and a moment later another cab pulled up. They got inside, after they were sure there were no bodily odors emitting, of course.
"So, Danny," She leaned back into the seat and grinned. "Have you always been a New York boy?"
They heard a cell phone ring and the cabbie answered it in Russian. Danny turned his attention to Emma and answered her, "I was born in Miami but I've lived here long enough to be considered a New Yorker."
Emma smiled at him and was about to speak when their cab driver started shouting into his cell phone. They didn't know what he was saying but he was pretty adamant about whatever it was. They tried to make conversation over the din of the Russian's argument but it was futile. Suddenly the cab came to a screeching halt and pulled over into an alley. The driver got out of the car and continued yelling into his cell phone.
Danny and Emma just looked at each other in disbelief. This cannot be happening Danny thought to himself. He got out of the car to try and talk to the cabbie but the Russian had walked to the end of the alley continuing in his tirade. Danny turned back the cab to see Emma had gotten out. She tilted her head indicating that they should just walk the remainder of the way.
As they walked Danny could see Emma was in obvious discomfort at walking 15 blocks in high heels but she never reflected that in her tone; she was still fun and engaging as they talked about what they liked about living in the city, their siblings, and careers. When they finally arrived at the restaurant, the waiting area and bar were jammed pack. Emma stayed back as Danny made his way to the hostess who was talking to another couple. Danny glanced at his watch; they were twenty-eight minutes late for their reservation.
When he finally was able to talk to the hostess she informed him that she had already given away their table. Danny glanced back at Emma who was leaning against a pillar rubbing her foot. Desperate Danny turned to the hostess and did something he would normally never do: he begged.
"Listen: see that woman next to the pillar?" The hostess craned her neck to look at Emma. "This is our first date and it has been a disaster just trying to get here. I'm hanging by a thread and I really like this woman. Can't you please, please find us a table?" Danny then gave her his best puppy dog eyes.
She looked him over and said, "Disaster, huh? Is that why your forehead is kinda green?"
Danny touched his head and smiled remembering that Emma called him 'Kermit.'
"Yeah."
She looked him over carefully before smiling and telling him to hang tight; she'd find him a table. Ten minutes later, Emma and Danny sat down to dinner.
All was going well. Their food had arrived, they were having a great conversation and Danny was in the middle of telling her a story when he waved his arms for emphasis and knocked a glass of red wine all over her cream colored dress. Danny grabbed a napkin and tried to dry her but she told him she was alright and excused herself to go to the ladies room. As she walked away, Danny saw the hostess looking over at him, shake her head and laugh.
The rest of the night involved Danny apologizing and Emma saying it was fine. When they left the restaurant, Danny looked at the cabs passing by and then at Emma and said, "What do you think? Third time lucky?"
"Sure, I'm a risk taker."
Danny hailed a cab. When it stopped, before letting Emma anywhere near it, he talked to the driver to ensure he was calm, spoke English, and odor-free. Once all that criteria had been met, they boarded the cab just as it started raining again.
"I'm really sorry about your dress." Danny apologized.
"Don't worry about it. It's an old dress." She said as her purse started ringing. "Sorry, I gotta get this." She answered her cell and Danny couldn't help but think that this was one of those dating tricks known as the 'fake emergency': a girl goes to the bathroom and calls her friend to ask her to call with a fake emergency. When he heard Emma tell the caller that she would head over to the hospital right away he was positive that's what this was. Not that he could blame her.
She asked the caller to hold and she told Danny. "I'm so sorry. I have to go to the hospital. There's a problem with one of my patients." She told the driver to head over to St. Andrew's.
When they arrived at the hospital, Danny reached for the door handle when Emma told him to stay in the cab where it was dry.
"I'm sorry for how tonight went." Danny said.
Emma smiled at him and said, "Don't be. This was actually one of the best dates I've had in a really long time." Danny looked at her in disbelief. "Besides, after tonight, the next date has to get better right?" She leaned over, kissed him softly on the lips and exited the cab and walked into the hospital.
"And that was our first date." Danny finished as the entire team was still laughing, especially Martin who was hearing the story for the first time. "Look laugh if you will, but I'm here to tell you that cab rides can change your life."
Sam and Martin eyes met as Martin thought that truer words were never spoken.
