Heart Shaped Spotlight

Nate: Wow, I’m impressed.

Me: ?

Nate: Going out to have dinner with a stranger might make some people anxious.

Me: Honestly, I'm just going to ply her with alcohol and find out all of your dirty secrets.

Nate: Good idea. You know that I’m an open book for you.

Me: There is some joke in there about the book of our lives having seven years worth of pages stuck together, but I'm too tired to find a poetic way to say it.

Nate: Awww. That is super adorable.

Me: Well, I guess I'm going to go get ready for my date, if she’s available. Have a good night.

Nate: I just know you'll have an amazing time.

He sent me Lora's number, and I fired off a text asking if she was interested. It sounded like Nate had already contacted her, and we agreed to meet at the restaurant at seven. Luckily it was only a few blocks away, so that I could walk.

As I approached the glamorous looking cream and gold restaurant façade, I saw a fairly short girl with half green and half black hair. It was parted in the center between the colors, swinging in a bob just under her chin.

As she turned toward me, there was no way I couldn't notice her positively enormous breasts. They balanced out her ample hips, giving her the figure of a curvy animated doll. Instead of making her look overtly sexy, she seemed more like a sweet earth mother type. I grinned at her in surprise.

"Trisha!" she squealed, running toward me. Then she froze. "I'm a hugger. Is that alright?" I nodded, then she threw her arms around me. Hugging her back, I felt almost instantly giddy.

"I can't believe I'm finally meeting you," she grinned, actually bouncing up and down. “I feel like I already know you, in an abstract way."

"Then you'll have to tell me all about yourself to start us off," I laughed.

We walked into the restaurant, which was even fancier than I had expected. Warren must have spoken with the owner at length. I hadn't thought to call ahead to check the reservation, but my name was on the list, and we were set up instantly at a beautiful table in the front window.

Wine, appetizers, and sparkling water appeared and disappeared before us in waves while I learned about Lora’s degree in medieval history, her jobs as a serving wench at various Renaissance fairs, and her love of camping.

Then our dinners arrived, and we needed a moment of silence for the beautiful food sculptures on our plates.

"Damn," Lora whispered, somehow making the word contain at least ten syllables. "How did you set this up?"

I gave her the shortest explanation of this meal being a thank you note.

Lora's head cocked to the green side, causing her hair to swing. "It's so funny that you ended up working in radio, and Nate ended up working in music."

"Yeah," I shrugged.

"You don't think that's a sign?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't really believe in signs," I shrugged. "More like a happy accident?"

She shook her head, her smile accented by her purple lipstick that was somehow still on. "I don't know, it certainly sounds like you two were meant to be."

"So I take it Nate has mentioned me a few times?" I asked cautiously.

She laughed. "If by a few times, you mean every single day from the second I met him." Lora looked into my eyes, then around them. "Why does that make you frown?"

"I don't know. I don't like the thought of him having wasted so much energy thinking about me. I try to look at the positive side of things, so I guess he got some good songs out of it. But what if he never found me? He wasn't so obsessed that he would have wasted his entire life, right?"

Lora leaned forward. "I am not telling you this," she said emphatically, pointing her finger at me like a strict teacher. Then she softened. "We made a deal a month ago. I made him agree to wait three days after the last show of the contest, then move on with his life." My loud sigh of relief apparently amused her. "You like the thought of him moving on?"

"No. Well, yes. I'm glad there was a plan in place. Do you know what I mean?"