Date Night (Continued)

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"So how was your week and, er, and your day?" he begins.
"The week has been fine. Yeah, it was a bit demanding but generally quite okay..."

“That’s good to hear… Mine has been busy, but not so exhilarating. In fact, I have just been finishing up today on some stuff I had begun in the middle of the week with one of my buddies. On-going stuff, you know…”

“Yeah, I get it. It happens to me too. Quite a lot.”

She now remembers that she has not gotten the full details of where he works and what he does. So wisely, she navigates around the topic… 

The waiter comes in with her drink, asks if she may need something else, and after she reiterates that she is okay, they continue with the conversation… 

“But I can help you sometime you know; just a little - that is if you think I can be of help…”

“Oh, (he smiles frailly), some of this stuff we do ain’t cool for people like you.:”

“Oh! What? Ati it ain’t cool for guys like me? Kwani what’s the work about? Because the only thing I’d really really mind doing is one which involves me staying up the whole night; because I really DO value my sleep.” (She had decide to avoid being too formal in her manner of speech in order to create an atmosphere of freedom between them.)

“Hah, it may involve that – staying up all night yeah, but not entirely…”

“Not entirely!? So I am in danger of losing my sleep day-on-the-end - that is if I come to offer help?”

“Yes and no. You may only be required to work deep in the night in the name of killing datelines; apart from that, you’ll be cool.”

“Okay, I won’t mind that if it puts food on my table and a little cash in my pocket for myself and a few others…”

“But I also think you guys take it too seriously when we ladies look the way we do – it entirely doesn’t mean that we can’t navigate through life and work on a few weird projects so long as they are genuine, decent and give us a honest way of achieving our goals. A lady is gotta be a lady, you know”

“Yeah, I get it, but you guys dent our minds and make us imagine things.”

“Things? Hah. What manner of things?” she quips.

Curiously, she is now slightly leaning on the table and is feeling freer as the conversation proceeds. He too is relaxing in his world and is feeling like she should be the kind of lady he is looking for – having a great degree of intelligence and an ability to both stimulate the mind in conversation and keep the air less ionized.

“I’ll talk about it in length sometime. What do you wanna take for dinner? They have everything in order”

She picks the menu and gazes at it (knowing at the back of her mind that it is just for formality). At this time, he is staring at the countenance of her face, the enjoinment from her hair, to her eyes, to her cheeks, her chin and down to her neck... his heart races profusely...

 

“Mmmmh, please make the order for me. I’ll be okay with whatever you pick.”

He now stretches his neck and looks around to spot the waiter who had previously served them. He sees him bending near the counter, wiping a table right below it but a meter or so apart. The waiter notices his gaze and comes back to take his order – and because it was a pre-prepared dinner, and that he had proposed a few possible meals, he picks out two out of the five possible ones he had informed the restaurant that he might take...

“I hope you love the place…”

“Yeah, the place is cool… in fact it is a lot better than I had anticipated.”

“Have you ever been here by the way?”

“Not really, but we have a tendency of analyzing every place in town by face and service value with the girls… and comparing what I had heard and what I am seeing, it is way better than what our analysis had depicted”

“You mean you and the girls do this a lot huh? I thought it was only a dudes thing…”

He now wishes to add in “I hope I can meet the girls soon” but hesitates because it may not be a good idea considering that it is only a second date…

                                               

“Yeah, girls gotta do what they gotta do.”

“So I guess you may propose to me some great places to visit with my buddies, right? We prefer places that are less noisy, more natural and with an artistic sense and amber. You know of any within town?”

“Hah, yeah; and we’ve been to several too.”

“Mhhh, it seems you guys know to have a good time, yes?”

“That’s what we are here for: live for God, serve people, serve the nation and have a life.”

The next part of the conversation is detailed with names of restaurants and hotels in the proximity of town and the kind of services offered. Meals are served in the course of this airy conversation of bits and lengths of auric descriptions. There are unlimited exchanges of smiles, glances, gestures and thoughts making an observer like myself admire the date...

The air is warm with sounds of calming music in the background and mixtures of smells from desserts and foods, nature and cocktails. There are a few waiters walking around receiving orders from various clients, making the place void of disturbance and commotion. Their table is exclusively located - far from the entrance but where they can see everyone coming in and going out. It is well set, and from her observation, their services are okay.

Photo courtesy of www.3dlabz.com

She steals a glance at him as he is looking away with a fork in hand...

"He is a great guy! Oh yes he is: much better than my memory had imagined him earlier on..."
"Maybe this one will work" she continues in her mind.
"Yeah, our first date was rather unprecedented" she continues... "It was almost hurried, and almost not hurried… and although I liked it, it was harder to understand by face-value what type of guy he truly is... Today, this moment right here feels more relaxed, organized and planned for… this is…”

“By the way, are you into music?” he asks, bringing her back to consciousness.

“Yeah, I sing. I love great music too. Great music.”

“You sing? I have not imagined you singing… Have you ever sung before an audience maybe?”

“I sing in church.”

“Oh, that’s cute. I mean, that is really great… So I suppose you have a preferred music style, right?”

"Yeah, I am into Afro-fusion, folk and soft rock, all Gospel all the way..."

"We seem to share the same taste in music then... like that song playing ion the background is one of my favorites"

She listens keenly and hears Francesca Battistelli's "If We're Honest" playing in the background... 

"Ooooo! That's my girl right there!" 

You see, she is not that into dating. She believes in one thing: God will bring her her guy, and she’ll like him, and they are going to have a life together. she hates dating and dropping guys because that is not her game. Frogs (that's what they call previous guys in relationships, right?)or whatever, she doesn’t believe she has to kiss so many of them in order to meet the right guy. Yeah, there is a RIGHT guy, just not a Mr. Right. BUT there is the RIGHT guy. This is what she has always and relentlessly preached to her friends: there is a RIGHT guy, but he may not be the fairy Mr. Right. Frogs? No, frogs are not her problem, staying focused on what she needs is where the point is.

The evening moves on well and three hours down the line, they have known a good chuck of each other. He has talked a bit about his personal life and she has shared a few things about hers.

..............................

As they realize that their time is well spent, he requests that they leave.

She picks up her bag and he then leads her to the door-side. 

He then picks up his phone and calls his deals buddy to bring him his ride.

As they wait outside the restaurant, he holds her hand as they together they gaze at the city lights.

It is now 8pm and a cool breeze is starting to wave through the streets making the weather chilly and dense. The city is incredibly different at night - almost as if it is a different place from what they always see during the day.

After 5 minutes or so, Sam arrives and hands over the car keys to him. 

He opens the door for her, closes it behind her after she is seated and drives her home.

After they arrive, he parks the car across the road, helps her cross to the other side and requests to escort her to the gate, which she apprehends but later gives in to his prodding.

While nearing their estate gate, he holds her hand, looks into her eyes and quietly tells her, “I had a great time today; I hope you won’t mind us meeting again…”

She blushes. “I had a great night too, we’ll talk later. Please text me to inform me that you arrived home well and safe... Good night”, she responds.

He watches her after the gate is opened until the security guy closes it again... and he remains standing for a while contemplating his next move... Should he meet Sam before going to his place? "No." He decides to head straight for his place.

 

………………………………..

She opens the door, throws her bag with the keys at the table, takes off her shoes and runs straight for her bedroom holding her phone in her hand. 

For the time being, she doesn't change into her night gown. She doesn't have to. She doesn't feel like.

She clutches her pillow tightly. So tight that if it was juicy, the sap would ooze out.
She is so happy and terrified at the same time. She wants to scream.
Momentarily, she puts the volume on her sub-woofers slightly higher than she always does during the night. Volume notch 5. Alright, she doesn't want to wake her neighbors up - those nosy neighbors. 

"Allow me to love you like in the movies but as God wills…” she had expected him to say as he held her hand just a few minutes ago. She had expected him to quote the words in the movie they had been talking about. She had wanted him to. So much.
She had wanted to so badly jump and (so badly - oh yeah) kiss him.
He had made her feel goofy. Goofy? Yeah, goofy.
So she picks up the phone and decides to call Jane.

“Hi pumpkin!”

“Heey! Why the excitement? It is the date, huh? Thitima ya mapenzi imekunyeshea, huh?”

“Haha, I can’t probably give you the whole story right now. Let's meet up on Monday at lunchtime maybe? or tomorrow after church? Girl, I need to give you the whole story.”

"Tomorrow is cool with me."

“Okay, that’s cool. Sleep tight, pumpkin.”

"You too sweetheart..."

…………………………….

He never talked about the date, except for telling his buddy Sam: “I think I am almost getting someone to replace you half the time I am free… I think.”

His friend Sam had just laughed.

He knows a few things about love and relationships, and so within his mind he wished his buddy all the best. But he'll talk this over the way guys do.

"New found love and old wine are one and the same thing", he thought.

Bonface Morris.