Since you've been patiently waiting…
Saturday was sneaky as Saturdays usually are. It took forever to get there and it got there in the blink of an eye at the same time. Dannie had carefully planned both what she would wear to work that day and what she would wear out that night. She tried to go with cute but comfortable, and as she would find out later, it was a good thing that she did.
As the day dragged on, all Dannie could think about was the upcoming evening. She and Steve hadn’t yet worked out the logistics of getting there; Dannie had just assumed that they would leave from work in their respective cars. The perma-grin that was attached to Dannie’s face was a dead giveaway that something was up in her world.
“You’re awfully chipper today, “Lori observed.
“Well, yeah. It’s Saturday and I have a date, I think.”
“What?!?!” Lori squealed. “Were you even going to tell us?”
“Probably not,” Dannie said as she stuck out her tongue and walked away.
Chuckling to herself, Dannie’s perma-grin changed to an evil smirk without her knowing it. As she walked towards the stairs, she saw Steve coming down.
“Hey, Dannie.”
“Hi Steve.”
“Listen, about tonight, is it okay if we stop by my place so I can change and then leave from there? You can leave your car and I’ll drive if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure, that sounds great. I have clothes in the car.”
“That’s my girl, always prepared.”
Were it not for her dark complexion, Dannie would have flushed a wonderful shade of red before she could mumble something about checking the bar and run upstairs. Once at the top of the stairs, she damn near fell back down them in the excitement of the moment. The rest of the day would fly right by, she was sure of it.
As expected, Dannie’s day ended in the blink of an eye, the shake of a tail, and every other cheesy cliché that’s out there. She ran into Steve as she was making a last round of the store.
“Almost ready, D?”
“Just about. Maybe fifteen more minutes.”
“Okay then. I’m going upstairs to have a drink. Meet me there?”
“Sure.”
Dannie finished up with all of her tasks and the butterflies started migrating south to her stomach while the rest of her migrated north to the bar. She pulled up a spot next to Steve and ordered a drink. They chatted a while and finished their drinks. Noticing the empty glasses, the bartender stopped over to see if refills were needed.
“I’m good, thanks. Do you know how far I have to drive to get home?” Dannie queried.
“No idea,” replied the bartender, but at the same time, Steve whispered “About 10 minutes.”
And the Oscar goes to…Dannie for acting like she didn’t just have a heart attack. Was he serious with that comment? Dannie was just plain floored, but somehow managed to laugh it off and suggest that they get going. Steve agreed that it was time to go, so they tipped the bartender and headed over to Steve’s place. When they arrived, Steve offered his bedroom so Dannie could change which she did as quickly as she could. Once she was dressed and ready, Dannie watched some TV while Steve got ready.
Steve emerged from the bedroom looking more fantastic than Dannie had ever seen him. It was just jeans and a t-shirt, but boy did he look great in them. The dark hair, the light eyes, the tattoo creeping out of the top of his shirt, it all had Dannie aflutter. He asked if she was ready to go and she answered in the affirmative. As promised, Steve drove them down to the club.
It was obvious that Steve had been to this club before since he had a ‘usual’ parking spot. Dannie wondered how he remembered, but she was soon to find out. Steve was kind enough to pay the cover for both of them and ushered Dannie inside.
The club was a little dark and smoky but otherwise clean. It looked like the opening band had just finished so they were right on time. In the moment that Dannie had taken to look around, Steve had somehow snuck away to the bar and was already returning with beers for them both. Steve handed her the beer with one hand and started dragging her to a table with the other.
“Come on, everyone’s over there.”
Everyone?!?!? Dannie was not prepared for that. They wound their way through the throng of people and made it to a table that was full of beer and people. Right away, Dannie recognized the other Steve, but the rest of the people were strangers. This was so unfair, Dannie thought to herself. Steve never even mentioned that there would be a bunch of people there that she’d be expected to socialize with, but, always up for a good time, Dannie made the best of it.
Introductions were made and drinking commenced. The band came on and Dannie enjoyed them a lot. She enjoyed them enough to pick up their CD, although it would be tough to say that it was simply for the music and not a memento of the evening. Steve’s friends took Dannie in and made her feel welcome, and by the end of the evening, she knew a little something about everyone and vise versa…..