Mallory
I put the finishing touches to my make up, and ran my fingers through my curls. The all important second date was finally happening, and while I might be a respectable 30 years old, I felt like a lovesick teenager. The first date had gone so well, but I had almost given up hope of ever seeing him again, after we kept having to postpone and reorganise another date. Now it was finally happening and I had butterflies in my stomach at the very thought of seeing him again.
Tonight I was going to ask if he was free for Watson's party, and if so, I was hoping he'd come as my date.
A buzz on my intercom alerted me to the fact that he was here, right on time. I buzzed him up and took one more look in the mirror as he made his way up the stairs. "Hey Mallory," he said as I opened the door. He leant forward and kissed me on the cheek. "How are you?"
"Hi Logan, I'm great thanks. You?"
"I'm fantastic, glad that we have finally managed to make his date happen," he said, smiling.
"Me too! I am all set, shall we make a move?" I didn't know where we would be going on our date, Logan had said that he had an idea and wanted it to be a surprise.
"Sure, let's go. We can take my car." I followed Logan down the stairs, butterflies fluttering away. Nobody had been more surprised than me when Logan Bruno had asked me out on a date. He had come into the Stamford Public Library, where I worked, looking for a book, and he recognised me immediately. I had never known him that well when we were kids, he was Mary Anne's boyfriend, and even though he was an associate member of the BSC, I couldn't honestly say that we were friends. I had been at an age when being around boys was kind of embarrassing, and I certainly wouldn't have held a conversation with him. When Logan and Mary Anne broke up, the BSC didn't see Logan much, and he was two years older than me, so our paths didn't cross at school. I had therefore been surprised that Logan even recognised me, never mind ask me on a date. We had had a short, polite chat about what each of us were now doing with our lives, during which I managed to ascertain that he was still single, and when he left, I thought to myself what an attractive man he had grown into. I never thought for one minute that he would come back to the library two days later and ask me out on a date. I said yes immediately, then went home and called Jessi, to check it was OK to go out with a friend's ex.
"Of course it's OK!" Jessi had said laughing.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Shall I try you why? Firstly Mary Anne went out with Logan when they were essentially children. She dumped him years ago! And secondly, technically you are no longer friends with Mary Anne. We lost contact with her years ago, so you can't let it be a factor!"
I could always rely on Jessi to be sensible and calm me down. And of course, she was completely right.
I was glad I had listened to her. Our first date had been great, we didn't run out of things to talk about once, and there was no awkward moment at the end of the date. Logan kissed me on the cheek and said that he would call me the next day, which he did. And now we were finally having a second date. We chatted easily on the way to wherever it was we were going, and then suddenly, we were there.
"There's an outdoor cinema here this weekend, showing classic movies. Tonight is "Bringing Up Baby." I remembered you telling me how much you like Cary Grant, so…"
"Wow, Logan! It's perfect!" I said, beaming with joy. Before I knew what I was doing, I had leant in and kissed him.
"I'm glad you like it Mallory," he whispered in my ear, and we walked hand in hand to a spot on the grass. Life had just got very good indeed!
