“You do that; we'll see what Mrs. Dobbins across the road has to say about it!”
“Is she gonna come out with a double-barreled shotgun pointed at me? With an army of cats trailing behind her?” he asked with a cheeky grin and a wink.
“Everett!” I exclaimed with mock shock. “She isn't a crazy old cat lady! I can’t make any promises about the shotgun, though!”
He chuckled.
“You know I'm just kidding.”
“I know, I know. How was your first full day at JFK?”
“Ah, there was a lot to do. It's always crazy busy at the beginning of the academic year. But I think I'm gonna enjoy it there. The staff is fantastic and the deputy principal is a real great guy. Yeah, it's gonna be good.”
“Good to hear! Well, I saw your garage light on and I just wanted to come over and say hi.”
“Oh, where were you?”
“Just at this little Irish pub called MacFey's. It's a great spot. My coworker, Graciela, it's her birthday tomorrow, so we just had a quiet birthday drink to celebrate.”
“Oh, so you were slamming tequila shots and chugging beers through a funnel, huh?” he said with a playful smile.
“Yeah, as you can see, I'm totally wasted right now,” I replied with a laugh. “Well anyway, I better get back to my house. Another early start tomorrow morning, and a long day of work lies ahead.”
“Yeah, I've got an early start too,” he said. “So, I guess this is where we say good night.”
I looked at him, and our eyes locked for a while, and an intense look passed between us.
“Yeah... This is where we say good night.”
I smiled, and so did he, maintaining eye contact all the while, and I could feel a powerful sense of attraction crackling in the air between us.
“Good night then, Everett,” I said as I turned and walked off.
As I got to the street, though, I heard him jogging up behind me.
“Wait, Vivienne,” he said as I turned around.
“Yeah?”
“There's something I forgot to ask you.”
“Okay, what is it?”
A look of sudden shyness, almost, came across his face, and he looked down at the ground.
“Would you, uh, would you like to go out with me, say, for dinner and a movie on Friday night?”
I smiled.
“That sounds lovely. Sure... it's a date.”
Chapter Six
Everett
I couldn't deny I felt a rush of excitement as soon as Vivienne said “yes” to my invite to go out on a date. I had been thinking about her all day, and had been seriously tempted to message her, but with everything I'd been caught up in, it had been tough to get a moment to myself, and then when I finally did have time, I figured it would be a bit too late.
Thus, imagine my surprise when she came strolling up my driveway late at night to say hi. It had been the perfect time to ask, and she said yes. We made plans, and I was going to be sure to stick to them. I had to make a good first impression.