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Evan
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“What are you all dressed up for, dude?” Greg asks as he walks into the living room and notices my dress pants and a button-up shirt. I’m wearing my standard work outfit, but it’s unusual for me to be wearing it on a weekend night. “You’re not going to a funeral, are you?”
“No, not a funeral,” I answer. “Sophia and I are going out on a date to celebrate her birthday early.”
“That’s cool,” Greg says. “Are you guys officially a couple? Like exclusive and everything?”
I bristle at Greg’s casual question. He’s still not completely forgiven for acting like a d-bag the other night when we were bowling. He didn’t seem too worried about our relationship status when he was telling Sophia she sucked at bowling.
I reply, trying to keep the ice out of my tone. “Not officially, I guess.”
He sits there, waiting for me to elaborate. I continue, “I haven’t asked her to be my girlfriend, mostly because I’m trying to take things slow. I am thinking about asking her soon, though.”
“Nice, just don’t blow it by waiting too long,” he says and then walks into his bedroom and shuts the door.
Alone with my thoughts, I reflect on Greg’s comment. It wasn’t the most subtle advice, but he does have a valid point, I suppose. We’ve been dating for just over a month. Am I moving too slowly?
Despite my worries, it does seem like things are progressing at a nice pace for us. I have to admit that I like Sophia more and more every day. It makes sense that we become boyfriend and girlfriend sooner than later. And if I’m honest with myself, I’m probably putting it off because my last relationship ended so disastrously. Getting cheated on leaves its mark, and I am not eager to get burned again.
After the epic failure of that first meeting, Greg and Sophia haven’t seen each other again. It seems like Greg might have gotten his excessive drinking under control, but I’m still not willing to risk another embarrassing event like the bowling night.
Greg still seems supportive of me dating Sophia, even though he barely knows her. Just like tonight, he’s asked about her from time to time and has stopped making jokes about ‘chicks.’ He even offered to write up a workout plan for me when I mentioned that I was getting bored with my weight routine at the gym.
I shout a quick goodbye towards Greg’s bedroom door as I leave to go pick up Sophia. When I get to her place, she opens the door, looking even more incredible than usual. Her hair is piled on top of her head, with a few curls around her face. Her red dress hugs her body in all the right places.
“Wow,” I say, “you look amazing! I’m not sure I want to share you with anyone else tonight,” I joke. “Can we just go to bed now?”
She blushes and says, “Sorry, you’ll just have to wait. This dress cost enough that I need to get at least a few hours of use out of it before it ends up in a heap on my bedroom floor.”
“That’s fair,” I say, smiling, “but just know that I’ll be counting down the minutes until I get to take it off you. In fact,” I say, coming up with an idea, “let’s play a game tonight.”
“What kind of game?” she asks, looking intrigued.
“Every time I scratch my nose, it means I’m thinking of taking your dress off later tonight. No one else will know what it means, but even if we’re across the room from each other you’ll know that I’m thinking of you.”
She laughs and says, “Sure, that sounds like fun. What does it mean if I scratch my nose?”
I think for a moment and then say, “Maybe it could mean that you wish you were kissing me. How does that sound?”
“Yeah, that’s good,” she says and continues, “By the end of the night people might be offering us allergy pills thinking we’ve got some major hay fever.”
I laugh and lean in to kiss her. Over the last month, we’ve created a bit of a routine when I come to pick her up. Sophia doesn’t like to get lip gloss on my mouth when she kisses me, so she waits until I’ve kissed her before putting it on. She’s at the mirror now, putting the final touches on her lips.
“Let’s get going,” I say, putting my hand on the small of her back and heading out the door with her.
We walk into the bar and there’s a table with balloons in the far back corner. Sarah and Alex are there, along with a few other friends that Sophia has met over the years. We work our way through the forest of tables and eventually reach the party table.
Sarah has gone all out with little party favors, nameplates, and even confetti sprinkled all over the table. I take Sophia’s coat from her and place it on the back of a chair. As I’m taking off my own coat, Sophia starts saying hi to everyone who is already there.
As more people show up, we end up pushing two tables together. With it being fairly early in the night, our party area is the most animated section of the bar.
Sarah grabs Sophia and takes her over to the jukebox so they can start choosing songs. This is one of their favorite places, so they wave a familiar hello to the bartenders as they walk past the bar. I feel a stab of pride when both bartenders check out Sophia as she walks past.
She’s mine, so hands off, fellas, I think to myself with a smug grin.
Over the month that Sophia and I have been dating, I’ve gotten to be pretty good friends with Alex. He tends to be a bit reserved when he’s around new people, but he really opens up once he gets to know you, and you get to appreciate how funny and genuine he is.
We chat as the girls continue looking through music on the jukebox. He asks me, “Did you get Sophia something for her birthday?”
“Yeah,” I answer, “I got her a locket with the letter S engraved on the front. It’s nothing too fancy, but I saw it at the store and I instantly thought of her, so I knew it was the right present.”
“Let me guess,” he says, “you put a picture of your face in the locket so she has you near her heart.” He says this lightly, without any malice or facetiousness.
I laugh and respond, “No, I figured she could decide what she wants to keep near her heart. If that ends up being me, then I’ll gladly take that place of honor.”
He smiles and says, “You two seem to be getting pretty serious. Are you officially a couple yet?”
Feeling some déjà vu from Greg’s earlier questions, I answer carefully. I’m very aware that whatever I say to Alex will likely make it back to Sophia.
I say, “I’m trying to take it slow. We’ve both been hurt in the past, so I want to give us plenty of time to trust each other. Once it seems like we’re both ready, then I’ll talk to her about taking things to the next level. For right now, we’re still getting to know each other and enjoying each other’s company.”
Alex seems to respect that answer but doesn’t have time to respond because the girls have made their way back to our tables. “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey is playing on the overhead speakers and I have to laugh.
“Let me guess,” I say, “Sophia got to choose the first song.”
“Wrong!” Sarah looks amused and says, “She got to choose ALL the songs! She IS the birthday girl after all! I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready for some drinks. Should we do some shots?”
Sophia shakes her head and says, “No, let’s keep this low-key. I mean, you guys can do shots if you want, but I’d rather not wake up with a hangover on my actual birthday.”
The server comes over and I order a cranberry and vodka for Sophia and a beer for myself.
I look over at Sophia, who is talking to a friend at the end of the table, and scratch my nose when we make eye contact. I want to take you home and take your dress off, my signal says to her. She smiles and scratches her nose back at me. I want to kiss you right now, her signal says to me.