The jazz club was filled with many couples, drinking and laughing as Frederick and Carolyn sat to the side of the small stage where the night's entertainment played various old jazz favorites. They had talked a bit about their families; it had been a bit hard for him to open up about how estranged he had been from his family in recent years, but once he had opened up to her it seemed like everything poured out of him. She hadn't seemed to be put off when he spoke about his work with some of Baltimore's most notorious monsters.

She had actually seemed interested in what he had to say. He had kept a keen eye on her facial features and body language and she had seemed to be genuinely open to his conversations.

He had been interested in what she had to say. She'd told him that her mother had passed away when she was still in junior high school. She'd told him that her father had just recently passed from lung cancer after a life dedicated to smoking Pall Mall cigarettes.

Everything seemed to be going perfect for the first time. She hadn't brushed him off. She hadn't made up an excuse about her friend going into labor like the last date he had months ago had done to him, leaving him there to pay the bill while everyone had watched her get up and leave.

Carolyn had become perfect company. He never thought that the cute little waitress from a little diner could make him smile.

Frederick looked over to the woman that had actually asked him out, an act that had taken him by complete surprise. He had taken in her curves in the white dress while she wasn't looking. He smiled at her; she'd managed to never actually catch him checking her out.

She looked like she was enjoying his company. Her smile was bright and her eyes sparkled as she looked away from him and to the band playing a Frank Sinatra song in an attempt to mix things up. He watched as she swayed to the music in her chair. He wanted to ask her to dance, but none of the other couples had gotten up and he didn't want to bring attention to his slight impediment and embarrass Carolyn.

He watched as her eyes seemed to dance over the stage as her smile grew larger. She was so beautiful that he couldn't understand how he could have ever thought she was just the cute little waitress that brought him coffee.

Carolyn seemed genuine and he really needed for her to be genuine. He'd spent so much time alone that it had become common place. He didn't have the time to feed a pet or give it the attention that it would need so he'd always come home to an empty house. He'd decided months ago that he'd live the life of a lonely bachelor while drinking coffee at the diner, but now he was contemplating how life would be so perfectly different with Carolyn in his life.

That had been before he and Carolyn had actually started speaking and having conversations when the diner was getting ready to close down. The conversations were always what he looked forward to and now they were exploring the possibility of having deeper, meaningful conversations.

His smile brightened as he looked at the small imperfect scars on her face. He could see them both together sitting on his couch drinking coffee together, snuggling together in bed watching A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve, he could see her trying to sing La Bamba to him like she had done for her co-workers while they strolled across a beach while on vacation, and he could see them just simply being happy in each other's company like things seemed to be now.

That world could be wonderful if she could ever fall in love with a schmuck like him. Being in Carolyn's company made the world seem smaller as if it had been made just for the two of them.

The feeling was new to him. He had one love in college, but she'd wrecked him. He hadn't felt like it was just the two of them like he was feeling with Carolyn Long. She'd entered his life with a cute smile just to sneak him free coffee.

"I'm really glad you said yes, Frederick," he heard Carolyn announce as she quickly turned to him. He watched her smile widen as she reached out to him and placed her hand on top of his.

His name on her lips sent chills down his spine. Colleagues had said his name with such disdain; she said it with genuine sweetness. Her hand on his sent chills down his spine and for a moment he lost all sense of time as he felt her fingers lightly dancing over his flesh. It sent momentarily dirty, bedroom thoughts through his mind.

"I'm glad you asked," he answered as he cleared his throat in an attempt to rid himself of those thoughts, "I've been meaning to ask you on a date for a while, but," he rolled his eyes ever so slightly and gave her a half smile, "most women brush me off, and I was afraid you would have said no."

He had no idea why he had been so brutally honest with her. He moved his free hand to take a drink of his bourbon in an attempt to rid himself of the awkward embarrassment that he felt inside. His cheeks reddened against his will as he downed the rest of the bitter brew in his glass.

"Why on earth would I say no to you," she asked with a chuckle as she removed her hand from his and took a drink of her rum and coke in a successful attempt to relieve him from the embarrassment that he had felt rush through him, "I was worried you'd say no to you."

He almost choked on his bourbon as her words registered in his mind. She'd actually been worried that he would say no to her.

She really did like him as much as he liked her! He'd been waiting his entire life for a girl like her to come into his life just like the old Foreigner song that his teenage self had been so obsessed with.

His heart beat quickened as that fact registered within him. He could finally escape the dark clouds of loneliness if he could keep her in his life.

"Undoubtedly we were both wrong about each other," Frederick said as he watched her give him a soft smile.

"Undoubtedly," she replied in a teasing tone as the music ended from the stage.

His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest like that dumb Big Bad Wolf in that old cartoon that his cousins had watched endlessly through their childhood.

"Who'd have thought that an old office girl turned waitress would finally get a date with a handsome doctor," Carolyn teased.

"So that's where all the office girls have run off to," he heard himself joke as he bravely reached for her hand and held it within his, lightly rubbing his thumb against her skin like she had done to him, "maybe I should start telling all the bachelors in the psychiatric circle that beautiful, bright young office girls have run away to work at old diners."

"Careful, Dr. Chilton," she said with a large smile as she looked down at his hand upon hers, "They may try to nab me away from you."

"Where's all the beautiful couples at," the lead singer announced to the crowd as he scanned the small club.

Frederick looked up to stage, finally looking away from his date, as the jazz singer looked through the crowd. He felt comfortable holding her hand upon the table.

"Isn't love a beautiful thing," the man asked to the crowd and he was answered with clapping and a few ye-haws from a few drunken men in the back of the crowd, "That's what I'm talking about!"

He looked back to Carolyn and watched as she continued clapping and smiling at the man on stage.

"Like look at this couple right here," the jazz singer announced as he pointed to the table beside them and the light shown upon the elderly couple, "How long you been together?"

"This is our first date," the older man answered with a light chuckle as he reached over to grab his wife's hand.

"First date," the jazz singer asked with gleeful disbelief.

"Every day together is like our first date," the elderly lady said with a chuckle as she patted her husband's wrinkled hand, "but tonight is our 49th wedding anniversary."

The crowd clapped at the answer and several awes could be heard from several of the women that surrounded them.

"Aww," Frederick heard Carolyn whisper as she turned back to him and patted his own hand, "They are so cute!"

"And you come here," the jazz singer asked in teasing disbelief and laughter escaped the audience once again, "Nah, but seriously you two are beautiful! Love's a beautiful thing."

Frederick felt the hot light down on him as the entertainer made his way to them.

"How long you two been together," he asked, "and don't give me no shit about first date! I can already hear the weddin' bells playing at the church across the street."

He watched as Carolyn laughed. He waited for her to let go of his hand, but she never did. She looked over to him with a sparkle in her eyes and then back to the entertainer and shook her head as she informed him that it was indeed their first date.

"What you talkin' bout Willis," he asked and the crowd chuckled at his impression. The singer looked over to Frederick and shook his head, "Look man, I don't know what it is you got, but whatever it is, you are one lucky man!"

He smiled at the man's words as he turned to look at Carolyn who seemed to be enjoying the attention that was being given to them. The bright light intensified her beauty as he looked at her. She really was a vision in white and the bright light only made her look more of a stunning angel than he had originally believed.

Why had he ever thought that she was just cute?!

"Look at this girl," the man demanded of Frederick, "You see those eyes?"

Frederick smiled as he looked into her shining, bright eyes.

"She's got the shine man, you better hold on to this one," the jazz singer announced as he backed away from the two and moved back to the center of the stage, "Let's hear it for the shine people," clapping radiated through the club, "Here's a song dedicated to all the couples out there."

Frederick watched as Carolyn shyly looked down into her lap and closed her eyes as her cheeks reddened. He couldn't help but smile at her embarrassment just as the band started to cover What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.

He felt like the world had grown smaller between them. He'd just been thinking about how his life would seem like a wonderful world with her in it, and the jazz man had talked about her shining eyes, and then played the wonderfully beautiful song about a bright future that loneliness could not blacken.

"You wanna get out of here," he heard her ask with a coy smile painted upon her face, "I have a lemon pie that I bought from the diner at my place if you want desert before we say goodbye."

He smiled at her and nodded as he reached for his cane and paid the tab. They left side by side holding hands as the song continued to play them out. He could smell her soft perfume as they walked side by side and he could feel her warmth radiating through her body as he held her hand within his.

He'd never had a date that was so nice before. It was so different. He'd never been invited into a girl's home for pie before and that little sentiment brought a proud smile to his face.

He was doing well for his first date after a long drought. The next hard part would be their parting kiss. He wasn't so sure if he was ready for that part yet. He was a talented kisser, but he'd always had a hard time warming up to someone before he gifted them with one of those amazing kisses of his.

...

Her house was just outside of town in a little suburb and it hadn't taken long for him to arrive. She had told him that her father had left her the house after he had died. The house was cute. Shrubs grew in front of the porch which gave the house an old Southern charm about it.

He walked her to the door with his cane in hand and stopped as he watched her dig into her purse for her keys. As she did so, she was thanking him for the good time that she had with him. He leaned on his cane as he watched her jiggling with the door knob.

"I haven't had a good time like that in a very long time," she admitted with a sigh as the door finally unlocked.

Frederick smiled at her and grabbed her hand before as she opened the door and entered her home. She pulled him inside and closed the door behind him. The house was dark and the only light that cast upon them was the artificial light from the porch. He watched with studious eyes as she looked down at his hand and then slowly turned her attention on to him. He watched her eyes fall from his eyes and look at his lips as she waited for him to make the first move.

"I could not have asked for better company," he informed her as he edged closer to her and gently pushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. He watched as her smile slowly faded as she closed her eyes and looked to the ground as if fear had found her.

He felt a strange sensation overcome him as he leaned closer to her. He looked down at her features as she waited for his next movement. He watched her nostrils flare with each intake of air she took. He could see the small scars as he looked down at her in the artificial light that escaped from the porch light.

"Carolyn," he said as he placed his hand under her chin and silently pleaded with her to look up at him with her beautiful, shining eyes.

He felt relief overcome him as she looked up to him and whispered with a husky tone, "I've had the hugest crush on you for so long. I really like you, Frederick," she shook her head as she leaned in closer, "I really want this to work between the two of us."

He smiled at her. She was truly genuine.

He closed the space between them and whispered, "I have something to tell you."

He could see the slight worry and confusion come over her face as he a moment to beat between them in an attempt to come off as dramatic to her.

"What is it," he heard her ask as her eyes travelled back and forth from his eyes to his lips.

He knew she wanted a kiss, but he wanted to make her sweat just a bit longer. She looked so kissable as she looked at his features, silently pleading for him to close the space between the two. The urge to kiss her passionately was rushing through his veins.

"I don't smile a lot."

"What," she asked with a confused chuckle, "You've been smiling all night with-"

"I was smiling because of you," he admitted.

His co-workers could say that he was full of himself or that he was a jerk. It was just part of the job. Outside of his career, he was lonely and starving for attention and care.

The urge to kiss her overpowered him as he watched her eyes glisten from his confession. He leaned inward and placed his hand upon her cheek. He softly kissed her lips as his hand slowly travelled down her throat and lingered at the crook of her neck, where it stayed caressing her warm skin. Her lips were soft and the faint remains of rum still lingered on her lips for him taste. He could hear her breath catch inside of her chest as he moved his lips upon hers. He pulled away from her for less than a moment only to resume kissing her. He felt her hands touch his stomach and linger there as the soft kiss continued on for a few seconds longer.

He had never wanted anyone to touch or see his stomach, but he felt a tingling sensation move through his surgical stars as her hands grazed over them through his shirt. He removed his lips from hers and placed a small kiss upon her ear just before lightly nipping at her earlobe.

Something was so different about this experience than anything he had ever experienced before. No words needed to be spoken as he felt her hands move from his stomach and up his chest were his heart beat like thunder across the land.

He watched as she looked up at him and smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him, successfully closing the remaining space between the two of them.

He could feel the smile on her lips as she kissed him again with the same passion. There was no battling for dominance. It seemed as if they were made to kiss each other. Their lips moved as if they had practiced beforehand. He felt a red hot surge of lust bolt through him as he tasted the rum on her lips and listened to the soft moan escape her.

He dropped his cane to the floor and placed his hand against her shoulder and lightly pushed her back into the wall. Their kiss broke for only a second before they returned to each other. His knees shook as he kissed her against the wall. She stood on her tip toes and her legs shook as they bent from their awkward position against the wall as their kiss deepened.

Frederick felt her break the kiss and look down to his fallen cane. He felt electricity running through his body like lightning had touched down between them.

"Do you need it," she asked through shaky breaths as she looked away from his fallen cane and back to him.

"Not like this," he whispered through choppy breaths into her ear as he placed another soft kiss upon her lips and smiled at her before asking softly, "Can I see you again?"

He watched as she smiled at him and whispered as if he had taken her breath away "Please."

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