Two days had passed since my unintended day trip into the glamorous world of romance novel covers and as expected Carlos Manoso had remained radio silent. Not that it surprised me a lot to be honest. Maybe I had posed some sort of challenge when I had turned him down initially and he just wanted to adjust and rebalance his self-esteem once more and therefore had been as persistent as he was.
I thanked my lucky stars that I hadn't filled in Mary Lou about that small detail since we for one would probably have ended up in a monologue filled with excitement and giddy crushing. That way, the end of that rather interesting day remained a secret and I would not have to explain to her why he hadn't contacted me. Not that I knew any more details than she did. How would I?
I was just on my way home, making a quick pit stop for groceries, when I heard my phone go off, indicating I had a new message. Juggling my bags and putting them in my car, I checked my phone, seeing a message from an unknown number and when opening it, I was surprised to find it was from Carlos.
Sorry for only getting back to you now but I had a few unplanned meetings. What does your weekend look like with regards to dinner? Let me know if you have a preference in day and time and I'll make arrangements. C.
I don't know why but for some reason his message made me smile, despite it being nothing extraordinary or unusual. I texted him back, saying that I had no plans whatsoever and any date worked for me. But since he had asked about preferences, I suggested Saturday night at around 7pm, seeing as that would give me the whole of Sunday to catch up on sleep should the night end up being a long one. And should the night turn out a disaster I had the whole of Sunday to lick my wounds before starting a new workweek.
After my message I set my car into drive and made my way across town. By the time I was home and had stored my groceries away he had already replied, confirming Saturday and letting me know that he'll make reservations and would send me the details later on.
Instead of a message I got a call the next day.
"Hi," I greeted almost cheerful into the receiver of my phone.
"Sorry I didn't get back yesterday but I tried all evening to make a reservation for any place really. So it turns out Saturday seems incredibly busy and it is impossible to get a confirmation for anything," he started off by explaining.
"Oh wow," I replied surprised, wondering what was going on. There was no holiday weekend ahead and usually people were rather reluctant in regards to eating out around this area.
"I think there's a convention in town or something," he just explained and it made sense.
"Would you like to reschedule?" I asked and heard a semi-agreeing voice on the other end.
"We could do that, or...," he answered and made a long pause.
"Or?" I prompted cautiously.
"This might seem a little unorthodox, but you could come to my place and I cook."
"Oh...um...okay," I replied, a little confused and taken aback. This was, in fact, a rather unorthodox request.
"It is not what it sounds like," he was quick in explaining. "This doesn't have to go anywhere and just seemed like a suitable alternative. If you'd like to reschedule, we can of course do that as well. I leave this entirely up to you."
Despite the fact that it was a rather unusual request, he sounded so sincere that it was a little hard to believe he just suggested it to get lucky.
"Tell me, Carlos, are you a decent chef?" I asked, amused, and heard a chuckle through the line.
"Depends on what you consider decent;" he replied equally amused. "But I do alright."
"So, what could I expect if I make my way to your place?"
"Whatever you are in the mood for. I can whip up almost anything. Unless you look for something complex like Creme Brulé. That I would probably order from somewhere," he laughed into the phone.
"It doesn't have to be Creme Brulé," I laughed as my reply. "Unless you want to impress me."
"I have a feeling you are rather hard to impress."
"Not really. If all fails a bottle of red wine does the trick."
"Not sure you should give me this kind of intel," I heard him laugh.
"Maybe I'm just curious to see what you'll make of it," I suggested and laughed into the line. I don't know what it was about him, but something made this all seem so light and simple and it felt good to just flirt easily and without any real direction.
"So, that's a yes to dinner at my place?" he asked, sounding hopeful in a way.
I thought about the request another moment and realized that there was really nothing I had to lose. He didn't seem like a serial killer and if push came to shove and he tried anything fishy, I could still make up some excuse and leave – or get Mary Lou to call me to be on the safe side. We could arrange a safe word that I could say and she would no all is well. But, of course, asking her to do that would require me to actually tell her about my plans. And more importantly, with whom I had these.
"It's a yes," I finally replied, feeling almost giddy the moment I agreed. Somehow this felt right and like the perfect decision.
"Great," he answered and despite the fact that I couldn't see him, I could almost hear the smile. "I'll text you my address, though I just realize that maybe I should have mentioned earlier that I'm not actually in Trenton. I live in Point Pleasant," he explained and sounded almost regretful.
"You live in Point Pleasant?" I asked surprised and heard just an agreeing noise coming from the other end. "By the beach?" was my next question and I didn't care that this sounded a little hopeful.
"Beachfront property actually," he admitted and I shock my head.
"You should have started with that information right away and would have saved yourself a lot of time," I admitted, amused and with a laugh. "I love the beach. Love, love, love it."
"So…. I guess we'll be eating on the patio than. With direct views ocean views."
"I might have just died because that sounds like my kind of heaven," I gushed, not caring what kind of image that might portrait.
"Well, I sincerely hope you haven't seeing as I would really like to enjoy your company come Saturday."
I just laughed at his comment and after a few more minutes of pleasant Smalltalk and joking we eventually hung up. Not even a minute after the end of the call, my phone beeped, indicating I had received a new message. His address. And the addition of him looking forward to our date.
As unusual and unorthodox as his idea had sounded at first, I couldn't help but feel excited and looking forward to the date as well. And in all the years I had been on the dating scene that had never happened. While I was never forcing myself on dates, I had never experienced jitters and being all giddy two days before the actual day. I figured, by the time Saturday rolled around, I would be a nervous wreck, hardly able to stay in control of a sane thought.
So, before I lost all my marbles, I decided I needed to call Mary Lou. Time to let her in on a few things and get a plan set up just in case. Somehow, I figured this date wouldn't just excite me and Carlos, but her as well. If not even more. That was my best friend for you.