LAVENDER
The scent of lavender was overpowering. I wanted to sneeze, but I couldn’t. I had to try to hold it in as long as I possibly could. It wouldn’t look good if I sneezed all over the girl of my dreams on our first date; especially since our faces were so close to each other.
She leaned back in her chair and stared at me with her big, blue eyes. She looked as though she was expecting me to say something or to do something, but I wasn’t sure what. I sat down on the other end of the table and smiled at her. She smiled back, but seemed confuse. What did she expect of me?
“Are you ready to order?” the waitress asked immediately stopping by our table.
“Yes,” I answered and gave my order.
The waitress looked at my date expectantly.
“Uh, no… I’m not ready, sorry.” She stammered and ducked her head into the menu.
Oops. I got ahead of myself there.
“I’ll put his order in and come back.” The waitress stated.
“Wait to put my order in please!” I shouted to her, but I didn’t think she heard me.
Emily scanned the menu. Her eyes darting from one side of the menu to the next. I couldn’t tell if she was actually reading it or if she was just nervous and was giving herself something to do.
“Sorry about that.” I cleared my throat.
“That’s fine,” she didn’t bother to look up at me.
Great. I screwed it up all because I was hungry… at dinner.
“You should get the salad.” I blurted.
She slowly peeked over the top of her menu and lifted an eyebrow at me. “Excuse me?”
“It’s really good.” I shrugged. “Salads are… good.” I turned my head the other way awkwardly.
“Are you trying to tell me something?” she put her menu down flat on the table and glared at me over the candle light.
“Uh…” I stared at her with wide eyes. Was she implying that I was implying that she’s fat? Is that how girls think? How did she get that when I told her that the salad is good?
“I just meant that they have really good salads here. You don’t have to get it if you don’t want to. I just thought it might be something tasty to start off with.” I explained as best as I could hoping that wouldn’t cause her to be even more angry with me.
“You could have offered me the steak like what you’re having.” She snapped.
“But then we can’t share our food and be romantic like in Lady and the Tramp.” I smirked trying to be smooth. Girls loved Disney movies, didn’t they? They loved romantic guys, didn’t they?
She looked at me with disgust and buried her face in her menu once more.
I groaned to myself. I clearly was not doing too well.
The waitress came over and placed my food in front of me.
“It’s here already?” I exclaimed.
The waitress didn’t answer and turned to my date.
“I’ll have the spaghetti.” She ordered.
“So you do like Disney.” I confirmed.
Emily stared at me as though she thought I was an alien.
“Never mind,” I took a bite out of my steak.
Emily stared at me with her mouth slightly gaped open. She furrowed her eyebrows at me into a glare, but I didn’t notice until I shoved the fifth piece of steak into my mouth.
“Oh…” I swallowed a mouthful of meat, “did you want me to wait until your food comes out?”
“No, by all means.” She said with no emotion.
“Okay,” I shrugged and continued eating. “I mean, it’s in front of me and who knows how long it’s going to take for your food to come out. I don’t want my food to get cold.”
She leaned back in her seat folding her arms across her chest. She turned the other way not looking at me. I sensed that she was feeling annoyed by something, but I didn’t understand what. She couldn’t expect me to wait for her food to come out… then mine wouldn’t taste good. She should have just gotten the salad like I recommended.
The moment I finished my steak was the moment the waitress brought out Emily’s food. She turned to me and took out her notepad and pen once more.
“Dessert?” she looked at me.
“Oh, no thanks. I’m stuffed. We’ll just have the check.” I smiled and she walked away.
I looked at Emily, who was glaring at me from across the table.
“Oh… you didn’t want dessert, did you? That looks like a lot of spaghetti. You might get too full.” I don’t know why I kept talking.
She glared at me harder.
Did she think that I just tried to call her fat again?
The waitress brought over the check.
I picked it up and put down the exact change plus a small tip. Then I leaned back in my chair and shrugged.
“Take your time. I’m in no hurry.” I stated.
Emily pushed her plate out of the way and wiped her mouth with her napkin. “I think I just lost my appetite.”
“Oh, okay.” I stood up not thinking anything of it. “Are you ready for the movies?”
“Actually, I think I just want to go home. I’m not feeling all that well.” Emily stated.
Well, that was pretty convenient for her.
“Okay, I’ll drive you home and see if my friend wants your ticket.” I whipped out my cell phone and then immediately put it away before doing anything. I noticed her staring at me and if looks could kill, then I knew I would be dead at that very moment.
I smirked at her and then lead the way out of the restaurant. It was a long drive home. What in the world was wrong with me tonight?
Sunday Morning
An abandoned house. A heist. A new puppy. Lost Love. From unbelievable to true-to-life, this flash fiction collection will take you to many places and get to know various characters. With no two stories alike each is thought-provoking, emotional,...
