Chapter Four

The next night Ross couldn’t have been more nervous. Glenn the mechanic had called Friday night to confirm their date and her address. He would be here any minute to take her out to dinner. What would they do after dinner, she wondered. Would they stay out and see a movie? Would they decide to go out for a walk? Would they decide to go back to one of their places? Maybe the date would be horrible! What if no one spoke at the table! That would be so terrible! A quiet, uncomfortable dinner between the two of them. Ugh! She couldn’t bear to think of it!

Suddenly there was a loud knocking at her door. She took a deep breath and stood up from the couch. Now was the moment of truth. He was here. She started walking to the door, her mind reeling with unanswered questions. She shook herself before she opened the door. A man that was not the auto mechanic stood there, a bouquet of beautiful white lilies in his hands.

“Are you Ms. Rosalyn Ackerman,” he asked with a high voice.

“Yes,” she said, confused.

“These are for you,” he handed her the flowers.

“Um…thank you. Who are they from?”

“Glenn,” the guy answered. He stood there waiting for something. It took her a moment to realize he was waiting for a tip. She quickly went inside and passed him a couple of small bills.

She went inside her apartment and took a quick whiff of the beautiful flowers. Lilies were her favorite flower, especially white ones. However did he know? She smiled and managed to find a vase in the kitchen. After they were resting in water, she smelled them again.

Her phone went off on the counter. The number that came up was unfamiliar, but she figured she should answer it anyhow.

“Rosalyn Ackerman here.”

“I hope you received my flowers,” the male voice on the other end said.

A smile instantly spread. “Why yes. They’re beautiful. How did you know they were my favorite?”

“The truth?”

“Preferably.”

“I read it in an article about the mayor’s family. I’m sorry to tell you that I’m no psychic, but I do a good job of trying,” he told her.

“An article?” she repeated, interested. “There was an article that mentioned my favorite kind of flower in it?”

“You’d be surprised what they write about,” he told her.

“I’ll have to take that into consideration,” she replied, settling herself into one of her dining chairs. “When do you plan on picking me up again?”

Suddenly there was a knock at her door. “Oh, excuse me one moment. Someone is at my door.” She quickly got to her feet; her cell phone was attached to her ear, and she opened the door. Standing right across from her in an outfit of all black was Glenn. He grinned the moment he saw her and turned off his phone and placed it in his pocket. His other hand moved forward, and in it were several more lilies wrapped in a white ribbon.

The phone in her hand almost dropped. She managed to catch it in time and place it in her pocket.

“That was fast,” she managed to say as she accepted the flowers.

He smiled, “You look amazing.”

Her gaze flew down to her outfit. She felt a bit weird for some reason, dressing up like this when it probably wouldn’t even matter to him. But then, she did want to impress him. Oh, how come she was all messed up like this!

He folded his arm out towards her, “Shall we?”

She nodded, “Just let me put these in water.”

The two went out to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant by the name of Cha Chas. They ate and danced and they talked. Glenn proved to be very funny and quite smart. Well, Ross thought at one point, if they went out again, he could always change. It is only the first date.

After dinner, they decided to go out to a local club. As much as Ross wanted to ride with him, she told him that she would meet him there. On the way, she thought about all they had talked about during dinner. He was twenty-three and had been working on cars since his teens. He knew it wasn’t much of an income, but it was something he enjoyed. He hadn’t attended college, but he planned on going later in life to study. He didn’t know what, but he was thinking about maybe teaching auto-tech in high school.

He told her that he was from a small town in Whitney, Texas, but moved after he turned eighteen. When he moved, he left the opportunity to be part owner of his father’s shop, but he didn’t mind. He felt that he needed to be free. Other than that, he didn’t tell her much of his family.

She, on the other hand, told him a lot about her sisters, and she even found herself mentioning her mother once and again. She did her best not to mention the woman, but something about him had her opening up more willingly. Ross even shared her dreams of becoming on a design show, creating rooms from scrap.

Before she knew it, she had pulled up to a club she had never seen before. Glenn was already waiting for her by the door. He grinned as she walked up and gave her the once over.

He said, “I swear, you amaze me every time I see you.”

She blushed, “Thank you, Glenn.”

He nodded quickly, and escorted her inside. They found a small table near the dance floor. When they had a chance to order, they both choose a light beer and continued to talk.

She turned to him suddenly, “So, Glenn Ryan.”

“Yes?” he smiled.

“Why did you ask me out? You only saw me once.”

“The truth?”

“Preferably.”

“Your legs. I couldn’t just let you walk out of my store and not see them again.”

She laughed, “You asked me out because of my legs.”

“They’re amazing!” he cried. “How could I not? In fact, I’d like to see what they can do. Get up,” he stood up and grabbed her hands.

“Get up?” she quickly got to her feet.

“Yes, we’re going to dance. See what you can really do!” He began to pull her towards the floor.

“I don’t know,” she was laughing.

The DJ was only playing fast songs, and Glenn found he had to keep up with Ross. She twirled and twisted and laughed. He really enjoyed her laugh, and the way her mouth moved when she smiled. When he first asked her out, he wasn’t sure what he’d been doing or thinking. Now though, he had an idea.

Suddenly the music slowed, along with the other couples in the room. Ross gazed up at Glenn, wondering what they should do next. They could either slow dance like everyone else, or they could go back to their table and talk.

Glenn managed to make the decision for the both of them. His hands slipped to her waist and pulled her closer. She took a quick breath before her hands went around his neck. They smiled at one another as they moved to the music.

“Not to ruin the moment,” he murmured, “but this is one of the best dates I’ve had in a long time.”

She almost froze in mid-step.

“I did, didn’t I?” he said, worried.

“No,” she shook her head. “You didn’t. Actually, I was just thinking the same thing.”

He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. It wasn’t her lips, but it would definitely do.

When the song finished, they retreated to their table. She folded her arms on the table and looked at him, “So, tell me about you. Tell me about your family.”

He hesitated for a moment. “What do you want to know?”

“Anything.”

He cleared his throat. “Okay. Well, I’m from a small town and a small family. I haven’t seen my parents in a while. I have one sister that I haven’t seen in about three years. She moved to Washington D.C. when she managed to snag a job at the White House.”

“Really?” she asked, impressed with his story.

He nodded. Before he could prepare himself to say anymore, a woman sauntered up to them wearing a slinky red dress and her curly black hair fell around her waist. She smiled at the two of them, but her inky black eyes rested on Glenn.

“Well, well, if it isn’t you,” her voice was deep and sounded like sugar. “I haven’t seen you in a quite a while young man.”

Ross glanced between the two of them, noting the uncomfortable expression in his face and body language. She cleared her throat and took a sip of her drink.

“Well, Colleen, what are you doing here?” Glenn asked, his body falling into his chair as he tried to relax. It obviously wasn’t working because his back was stiff.

“Just mingling and checking out the scene. I didn’t expect to see you around here,” she answered, placing her hands on the small table.

He shrugged, “I’ve been busy lately.”

The woman he called Colleen glanced at Ross. “Are you busy now?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact. This is Ross. Ross, please meet Colleen. She’s a family acquaintance,” Glenn introduced. Something flickered in the other woman’s eyes, but she said nothing more. Instead, she placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Hello, Ross,” the woman purred. “It’s nice to see Glenn has met someone.”

“Thank you,” Ross murmured, taking a sip of her drink.

“It’s a strange time for you to have a girlfriend, isn’t it?” The woman continued.

“Not really,” Glenn replied without missing a beat. “I think it’s a great time.”

Colleen nodded, “As long as that is how you feel.”

Someone called out her name. She turned and motioned for them to hold on a moment. When she faced the young couple, she leaned over Glenn and gave him a kiss on the top of the head. Ross stared at the woman as she walked away, her hips moving back and forth. There was obviously something Glenn wasn’t telling her, and if she didn’t find out tonight, there would be no second date no matter how well the first went.