Amy POV
May 13th
"—No…no, no. NO!" I kept repeating over and over again as I was slowly shaking my head back at Hernandez.
"How many no's was it? 11?" He asks raising an eyebrow at me, he had a small one sided smile on his lips "Amy it is just-" Hernandez continued
"NO!" I stood my ground "I am not doing blind dates. I am not blind date material!"
"It is not really blind date, because you kind of know the guy" he reasons back
"Know the guy?" I shook my head and took my bag off from my shoulder and now held the bag in my hands in front of me "No, I don't know him. All I know is that you and him were on the academy together and that he is now working in SWAT. I have never met him in person."
"You are both the same age, both on the force, he's single, you're single too"
"That instantly makes us a match made in heaven? Besides, I am not single" I reason back to him
"Yes, you are" he says back sternly yet with a soft tone, knowing it was still sensitive subject for me "You are a single mother. You have been for last 2 years. I know, it doesn't make you a perfect match, but you have something in common you can both talk about. I hate to be the one who says it, but Amy, you need to start to move on"
I swallow back a lump in my throat. I hated to admit it, but deep down I knew that he was right.
"Lloyd is a good guy. You know I would never set you up with a douche bag or a jerk. He is a hard working guy, respectful, he has a good sense of humor, he is kind and a great cook" he counts off his good traits, basically trying to sell this blind date for me
"I can't" I say back, but I don't sound too convincing, I glance to ground to avoid his look
"You can. One date. One! His treat! Tell me one good reason that you can't and I will leave you alone" he says and waits for me to answer. But I don't answer, I remain silent.
"For the last two years, Callie has been in the center of your life, you have put her needs in front of your own needs ever since Aaron died. Amy, you need this. One date, nothing has to come out of it."
I stood there frozen in front of Hernandez, trying to think of one good reason I can't do this. But nothing pops in my mind. I have been putting the dating off, but I guess I have finally come to the place where I can't avoid it anymore. Deep down I do want to have a night out. I just never imagined I would start this off with a blind date.
I want to feel the way I did when I was with Aaron. I want to have a date night. I want someone to hold me at nights before I fall asleep and I want someone I could wake up next to every morning. I want the feeling of being loved back. I miss that. Callie is amazing and I love her a lot, but she is a 16 year old kid. I want that person to be in a form of a 40 something male, who could also give me the benefits.
I was sitting at kitchen table with Callie, eating dinner. My left elbow pressed on the kitchen table, fist pressed against my cheek. With my right, with the fork in my hand, I was pushing the green beans around my plate. I was in my own little world. Basically just trying to get the courage to talk to Callie about this date thing. Ever since I agreed to this blind date thing after my shift, I can't stop thinking about. My mind is just playing out all kinds of ways how this date could turn out. The good and the bad.
I snap out of my thoughts when Callie waves her hand in front of my face and calls out to me "Earth to mom?"
My head snapped up and I looked up to her. Callie tilts her head one side, puts her hands down on the table, on both sides of the plate and asks me "Did you hear what I said?"
"Sorry" I shake my head back "No, honey, I didn't. I'm sorry" I apologize sincerely "What was it that you said?"
"Not important" she said watching me closely "What is with you today? You have been weird ever since you got home today. Everything ok?"
"No...I mean yes, I am a fine" I try to reassure her
But Callie's fear didn't let go so easily "You are not sick, aren't you? You have to tell me if you are!"
"I'm not sick" I reach for her left hand on the table and give her a little squeeze
"Then what is it? You know this trust thing goes both ways, right?" she moved her left hand so now she was holding my hand in her palm "You have been pushing those beans around for the last 10 minutes. What is it, mom?" she sounded so concerned about me
I give her a warm smile back "I want to talk to you about something"
"Am I in trouble?" she asks instantly
"That right there, needs to stop being the first thing that pops in your mind when I say that we need to talk" I still feel saddened that she feels that way
"Sorry, old habits die hard I guess" She smiles back at me "Are you giving me the rights to drive the car back? It has been 2 months already"
"No, not about the car. You are still forbidden to drive the car" I got that part out of the way
"I wanted to talk you about..." I start of slowly "I wanted to know how you would feel about me going on a date?"
"You have a date!?" she sounded way too happy about that "With who?"
"Okay, so I assume you are okay with me going on a date" I say carefully, watching out for any small response from her that would say otherwise
"I am more than okay with that mom. You need a date night. You need at least few hours away from me" she chuckles "You have been putting my needs and me in front of your own for the last 2 years. You need to start thinking about yourself too. I am so excited for you mom!"
I was so glad she was okay with that "It is this Friday"
"That is in 3 days!" she exclaimed out loud surprised by the fact that it was that soon
"I know. I am already having a small anxiety attack" I admit to her and then let out a small, awkward chuckle "Anyhow, it is kind of a blind date" I add warily
"Kind of? How can a date be kind of a blind date? Either it is or it isn't" she says and I see confusion in her face
"Well, I kind of know the guy. He is one of Hernandez friend. He has told me a lot about him, but I haven't actually met him in person so…" I explain to her
Callie nods back to that "Do you know what he does for a living?"
"He is a cop. Actually, he works in SWAT now. For the last year if I am correct"
"Ooo…another cop. He is probably all muscular and hot if he is in SWAT" she has this naughty smile on her lips as she says that
I take back my hand back slowly "Okay, you should not be this excited about a 40 something old male"
"You are right" she says with a disgust look on her face, but then it quickly once again turns back to excitement "Do you know where he is taking you?"
"Not taking me anywhere. We have agreed, through Hernandez, that we both will drive ourselves. With that said, I will not be home this Friday evening, probably for few hours. So you will have the house to yourself, but no parties allowed!"
"Where are you going to have this bind date?"
Callie did have a lot of questions. It felt like she has been preparing for this moment. Like she has already written the questions down. I never would have imagined that Callie would be my number 1 fan on this one. In a way I was really happy and glad that she was okay with me dating. It made this whole thing just a little bit easier for me.
"Some restaurant called – C-level lounge" I say and finally pick up my fork and continue to eat
Callie reached for the phone that she had put on the far side of the table once we had started to eat dinner
"Hey, you know the rules!" I say reaching for her phone. She evades my hand and keeps clicking on it
"Hey! Do you want me to take the phone away for another month?" I ask in a slight threatening tone
"I am looking up this C-level…restaurant thing" she replies back not taking her eyes of the screen in front of her
How come I haven't done that myself? I am the one going on this date, yet my kid is the one to actually think and look up this place. What if it is like really fancy place? Then I will need a new dress. Shopping is clearly not my thing.
"4 and a half stars. Not bad" Callie reads out a moment later
"That's good, right?" I ask not knowing about all the stars and restaurants too much. I don't really care about stuff like that, because I am not that kind of person who goes out to fancy restaurants often. I have been to few fancy restaurants with Aaron, to celebrate our wedding anniversaries, but that was way back.
"The best you can get is 5" she comments and keeps scrolling down
"Hmm, then it is probably really fancy place, right?" I ask back curious
"It says here that the cuisines is seafood. It is good for romance" she moves her eyebrows up and down once she says that last part
She continues to read the reviews "Best if you have a seat at the window. Amazing look on the sunset and a superb view on the downtown of San Diego. Excellent serving, amazing food. I actually don't see one bad review, mom."
"Where is this place exactly?" I ask curious, I have never heard of this place before
"Harbor island 880" Callie says and then adds "And it does say here, that this is pretty fancy place. So that is a yes to new dress" she has a small grin on her face
"Ugh…I hate shopping" I say and put piece of cut of pork chop in my mouth, chewing sadly
Callie finally puts the phone away "I am bad at fashion. You are bad at fashion. We both hate shopping. We have no idea what is hot this season" she replies back
"What are you getting at?" I ask still chewing after she counts off how much we both are unlike any other woman who likes shopping and spending money on clothes
"Maybe we should call in for backup" she places her elbows on the table, crossing her arms
"And with back up you mean…what exactly?" I raise an eyebrow at her
"You know exactly what I mean" she says with a mischief look in her eyes
"No…no" I say once I realize what she was talking about. I put the fork and knife down
"Mom, you have 2 days to find a dress. We both know that we would need more time than that if we want to do shopping on our own. She can help. She knows fashion inside out! She lives for fashion" she takes a small pause as she reaches for the glass of milk and takes a small sip
"Fun fact- did you know that she was the costume designer for the Christmas school play this year? Also I heard there was something between her and the lead role. Incident surrounding panties in locker and kitties on school paper..." she continued once she places the glass back down
"Callie…" I said warning her
"You need her. No need to deny it now. You have no other choice, mom" Callie convinced me
"Ugh…fine" I give in "But I am not spending more than 200$ on this thing" once I say that, Callie just starts to laugh at me
"Oh, mom" she shakes her head at me "You better take all of your credit cards with you"
Mariana POV
I was lying on my bed, reading my English class book that we need to read for next class, when my phone rang.
It was pretty late – 9:52 PM, I was surprised that someone was calling me this late. I reached for my phone on the nightstand quickly, so the ringtone wouldn't wake up sleeping Frankie.
The caller ID read – Callie. I certainly would not have guessed that.
"Hey" I pick up "What's up?" I ask her quickly before she can say anything back
"Hey, sorry for calling you this late. I hope I didn't wake you…" she says worried that she woke me up
"No, I am awake. Doing my reading for school" I reply back, reassuring her that she didn't wake me up
"Good! Um…listen, we kind of need your help. We have a….fashion emergency" Callie explains to me
"Okay, it is getting interesting. I am all ears…" I said with a smile on my lips, sitting up on the bed, eager to find out what it is that they need my help with