****
I had awoken to the day with only a little bit of the icky feeling of the night before. Mostly because I was totally looking forward to the afternoon picnic Scott told me he had planned for us in the park. I thought it was a perfect first date activity and was happy he had thought of it.
I spent the morning making myself cute for my date with him. He had only ever seen me at rehearsal and in costume, and I definitely wanted to make an impression on him as my normal, non-theater self.
The intercom buzzed as I was finishing up my makeup. I ran to the door and pushed the button, “Hello?”
“Hey, Kylie, it’s Scott.”
“Hi! I’ll buzz you in.”
“Thanks.”
I buzzed him in and ran back to my room for one last peak in the mirror before he showed up at my door. I grabbed my bag and flung it over my shoulder and opened the door when I heard him knock.
I opened the door to find Scott looking hotter than I had ever seen him. Granted, most of the times I had seen him had been in a monkey suit, so I guess anything was a step up from that. But still, he was probably one of the best-looking guys I had ever met with his sapphire eyes and blond hair a la Paul Walker-esque, and I felt lucky that he would want to spend time with silly, little me.
He stood there with a picnic basket in one hand, a blanket tucked under his arm, and a look of happy surprise on his face, “Wow, Kylie, you look great,” his face was all smiles.
I smiled back, pleased with his response to my normal non-theater self, “Thanks so much! You definitely clean up nicely yourself.”
“Can I help? Carry the blanket or something?” I asked as we walked down the stairs and out the door into the bright sunny day.
“Nope, but I might need some help crossing the street. If you wouldn’t mind holding my hand to guide me across, I’d appreciate it. I’m older than you think I am, and I might fall.” he said slyly with a wink.
I laughed, “Oh, jeez. Well, in that case I guess I’d better.”
He shifted the blanket to his other arm and took my hand. Warm waves of excitement rippled through my body and those pesky tingles had showed up again. I really needed to get a handle on the tingles. They threw all rational thought out the window.
Walking with him hand in hand felt like the most natural thing on earth as we walked the short walk to Central Park. Our lighthearted camaraderie was effortless and we played off each other like we had known each other forever. It just felt nice and comfortable and perfect.
We found a shady spot just a little way away from where a bunch of guys were playing football. Just close enough to watch if we wanted to watch them, but far enough that it wouldn’t be a distraction either.
He set the picnic basket on the ground and we spread out the blanket. We sat and he opened the basket to unload the items inside. He brought out cheese and a small baguette, apples and grapes, smoked salmon, and a bottle of wine with stem-less wine glasses.
He uncorked the wine, “Would you like some?” he asked ready to pour.
My mind raced. What was I supposed to say after all the thought and preparation he had put into such a nice picnic? How could I refuse?
But I knew that I had to, even if it would be awkward.
“Umm, I actually don’t drink wine, or any alcohol,” I said with a wince.
He cocked his head, “Oh, I should have figured. A lot of dancers don’t drink… healthy diets and all, I guess. That’s ok.” He smiled and poured a glass for himself.
“Well, actually it’s really not because of that.”
“Oh? Why then?” he asked curious.
“It’s because I’m Mormon, and I’ve never drunk a drop of alcohol in my life. It’s just something I chose not to do a long time ago.” My heart was beating out of my chest. It was so hard to try to explain religious things to someone in a city full of people with so many differing opinions and beliefs.
I waited for the inevitable rejection. Yes, there were Mormons in New York City, and the new-ish temple had brought a little more exposure to our religion within the city, but we were still few and far between among the millions that lived here and we were still pretty foreign to a lot of people.
He looked surprised, “That’s cool. The family that lived right next door to me growing up was Mormon. Great family,” he grinned, “So you have pretty high standards, huh?” He asked.
“Yeah, I guess I do.”
He nodded, seeming reflective, “I also brought a couple of bottles of Perrier, so no worries about the wine.” He fished out the emerald bottles, opened one and poured the sparkling water into the other stem-less wine glass and handed it to me.
He was silent for a minute while we ate, “So, I kind of liked the Mormon girl that lived next door back in high school and asked her out once. But she said she couldn’t go out with me because she was Mormon, and wanted to date only Mormon guys.”
“Yeah, a lot of Mormons do that because we are taught that we should eventually be married in our temple for eternity to another Mormon. It’s just easier to date within the religion than without because of that.” I explained as best as I could.
“So, why did you agree to go out with me if that’s what you believe?” He looked a little pained to ask the question.
“Well, I guess because I couldn’t see how it would be a problem. We’re friends and I enjoy your company. And I’ll admit, there is definitely chemistry between us,” he still looked confused, so I went on, “The guys that I go to church with wouldn’t do all this, in fact they do very little in regards to dating, and I really appreciate that you felt like I was worth it to actually make an effort for me. It’s such a nice change to be treated so well. So why wouldn’t I want to go out with you?”
He grinned and his confusion seemed to lift, “Ok, fair enough. And you are definitely worth it, Kylie. Those guys have no idea what they’re missing out on,” he said taking my hand again before continuing, “And I like that you have high standards. It’s refreshing. It’s not easy finding girls like you in this city.”
Ok, so Scott was awesome. Really awesome. He was so down to earth and had really seemed to try to understand and respect where I was coming from rather than just blowing me off because of what I believed. And not only that, but he actually liked me more for it. Now, that was refreshing.
I squeezed his hand to let him know just how much I appreciated his thoughtfulness.
“So, can I feel the horns on your head now?” He asked trying not to laugh.
I rolled my eyes and pushed his arm playfully, “Seriously?” I said laughing trying to act offended.
“Kidding, kidding… I’m not that dumb,” he said throwing his hands up in surrender.
Laughing, I turned my head towards the football game for a brief second and realized I knew the guys playing. They were guys from the ward, and it looked like one of them had just noticed me, too, while I was laughing with Scott.
Crap, it was Jake.
And Eli.
And Damon.
Jake nudged Eli, who nudged Damon, and they all looked over at me at once. Jake waved. I plastered on a fake smile and waved back trying not to freak out.
“Who’s that?” Scott asked.
“Oh, just some friends from church,” I said as nonchalantly as I could. I really wanted it to seem like it wasn’t a big deal that all three of the guys I had kissed last night were walking over to invade my date with Scott.
I had to keep my cool. I could handle this. No prob.
“Hey, Kylie,” Jake called as they approached the blanket.
I waved and called back, “Hi,” still wearing the fake smile with just a tad of apprehension.
They stopped just short of the blanket and I greeted Eli and Damon as well.
I decided I should probably introduce Scott, “Guys, this is Scott. He’s a friend from work,” I said casually. All three shook his hand and introduced themselves.
“So, picnic, huh?” Jake asked, his bro
w furrowing.
“Uh, yeah,” I replied quickly, “It’s such a nice day.”
I mentally crossed my fingers hoping they would just go back to their game without making a huge deal out of my date.
“So, is this a date?” Damon asked. The mischievous gleam in his eye wasn’t a good sign that he would just leave it alone. I gave him the look.
“Yeah, actually it is,” Scott replied. His tone was a little bit territorial.
“Dang, Ky, you work fast!” Jake said sarcastically. He folded his arms.
What was going on here? He shouldn’t be mad. I mean, he’s the one that didn’t ask me out. I was pretty sure that making out was the only thing on his agenda with regard to me.
Eli’s head whipped around to face Jake’s, “Wait, how would you know she works fast?”
“He’s not the only one that knows,” Damon chimed in under his breath.
“Dude, she came over to my place last night.” Jake exclaimed.
“She was at our place, too.” Eli countered.
I groaned.
I couldn’t stop my head from darting around to all four men. Eli was glaring at Jake and realization had just dawned on Jake with Eli’s damning admission. Damon was smirking and the jerk was probably thinking it was some seriously great entertainment at my expense. And then there was Scott. He was just sitting there with a disappointed look on his face.
He cocked his head a little, looking me in the eye, and then shook his head. He stood up sighing as Eli argued with Jake, and Damon enjoyed the show. He gathered up the picnic and placed everything back into the basket.
I stood up with the sick feeling that our date was definitely over. He picked the blanket up off the ground and folded it haphazardly. I had no idea what to say and just stood there awkwardly watching him.
He finally pulled me aside, “Kylie, I don’t want to be rude, but I just can’t stay. I’ll be honest. I thought you were different than the other girls. I’m just really disappointed that you’re not,” he shook his head again, “I don’t know what else to say.” He gave my hand a little squeeze and left me standing there with the Neanderthals that had just ruined the best date I’d had in years.