Their Redemption

2: First Date

Malcolm

I have been eyeing that little cutie pie since she started working at the cafe three months ago. Apart from the excellent coffee and pecan sweets, she’s the reason I still go there. Coffee spots in Charlotte have nothing on that little spot in Pineville, but seeing her is the highlight of my morning. She’s so beautiful. Her brown skin is flawless. She has no blemishes whatsoever. The way she smiles when she greets customers makes her more breathtaking. Her line is always busy, and that’s why Serena usually takes my order. When I finally saw her alone yesterday, I couldn’t resist asking her out. I’ve been wanting to for a while and now I finally know her name; Veronica. I’m so glad she texted me yesterday. I’m looking forward to getting to know her.

I leave my loft and head straight for The Capital Grille. After I gave her my card, I made reservations for us to meet here. It’s about 5:45 p.m. when I arrive. I check my phone and I have a text from Veronica. I hope she doesn’t cancel.

Hey. Sorry, I’m going to be a little late. I’m having some car trouble but I promise I’m on my way.

No problem. As long as you get here, I’ll be happy.

I sit at the table and let the hostess know my guest will be here soon. About twenty-five minutes later, I see her walk into the restaurant. I can’t exactly tell what she’s wearing, but her braids are in a high bun and she has a full face of makeup. She sees me and I wave my hand at her to let her know where I’m at. As she gets closer, I stand to greet her. I thought she was beautiful at the cafe. I was wrong. She has on a form flattering, hip gripping, off the shoulder black dress. The dress is floor length, but it has a slit on the side to show off one of her beautiful legs. She has on some open toe stilettos and her toenail polish is white. She looks damn good.

“Hey,” I say to her as I stand and pull her chair out for her.

“Hey! Thank you for grabbing my chair,” she smiles.

“You look amazing. My name is Malcolm,” I say as I sit down.

“Yeah, I saw it on your card. You already know my name,” she laughs. “It’s nice to formally meet you though, Malcolm.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Veronica.”

I can’t help but to stare at her.

“You know it’s impolite to stare,” she laughs.

“It is. I apologize. You look so good. I want to take in every detail about you.”

She blushes and it’s endearing watching her blush. A waiter approaches us and asks what we will be ordering. I already know what I want.

“I haven’t looked at the menu yet,” Veronica says.

“Give us a few minutes,” I tell him.

“No problem. Do you know what you’ll be drinking tonight?”

“I’ll take a Bohemian cocktail and a water,” I say.

“And what will the lady have,” the waiter asks after writing my drink.

“Um, I’ll take a lemonade please,” she says.

She looks over the menu. Her eyes get wide as she looks at the prices. She must not be used to eating at a fancy restaurant.

“Get whatever you want,” I offer. “Get an appetizer and main course if you want that. It doesn’t matter how expensive it is.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely! I’ve been wanting to take you out for a while and I won’t cheat you of good food.”

She smiles and nods at me. She looks over the menu again.

“I think I’m ready to order now,” she smiles.

The waiter brings our drinks and I let him know we are ready to order.

“What have we decided we’ll have tonight,” he questions and I answer with my order.

“Let me get the seared tenderloin with butter poached lobster tails.”

“And for the lovely lady,” the waiter asks.

“I’ll have the filet mignon, please,” she says politely.

“Excellent choices. It will be a while but I’ll go put this in for you,” the waiter smiles before leaving.

“Veronica, tell me about yourself,” I say after turning my attention back to her. “How old are you?”

“So, I’m eighteen,” she exhales. “My birthday is April 12 and uh… I graduated high school about three months ago and you already know that I work at the coffee shop.”

“Eighteen, huh? Good thing I didn’t order a bottle of wine for us,” I chuckle.

“Wine,” she questions. “How old are you? I noticed you ordered a cocktail.”

“Well, I’m twenty-six. I graduated from high school and college a long time ago. Are you taking a break before going to college?”

“Oh, I don’t want to go to college, much to my mom’s despair,” she mutters and shakes her head. “I’m still figuring out what exactly I’m going to do in life.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” I tell her. “You’re young so you got time to figure it out. What is it you think you want to do,” I ask.

“Well… I’ve always dreamed of owning a nightclub. I want to create a place where people can have a good time and forget all about their troubles even if it’s for a couple of hours, but I suck at math so I’m not sure how the financial part will work out. I also want to pole dance,” she says shamefully.

It’s all over her face that owning a club is her dream, but she showed shame when talking about pole dancing. If she’s into pole dancing, she has a very sassy and sexy side to her. I’ll wait to find out that side of her.

“Well, you know what I do. I have my master's degree in business management and administration. If owning a nightclub is what you really want to do, I don’t mind teaching you the ropes. I think we can check into some pole dancing lessons, too,” I respond, smiling at her and her face lights up.

“Really? No, no. I can’t ask you to do that. We just met,” she cringes.

“I don’t plan on this being the only date I take you on,” I laugh. “Even if I wasn’t romantically interested in you, I’d still help you with it. After all, stuff like that is part of my job. But for you, I’ll do it on the house,” I wink at her.

She lets out a cute giggle and replies, “Well, if you insist, sure. I’ll gladly take lessons from you.”

She turns red after she says it because she’s subtly flirting with me.

“You know, I was afraid to ask you out,” I tell her.

“Why?”

“I didn’t expect a good-looking woman like yourself to be single.”

“Oh stop,” she says.

“I’m serious! You caught my eye the first time I saw you at the cafe.”

The waiter brings our food. Veronica immediately digs in, but she’s trying to eat classily. She’s trying to impress me, and it’s cute as sh!t.

“You don’t have to be cute for me,” I chuckle. “Eat your food how you want.”

She looks at me surprised. She shakes her head and laughs at herself.

“You are a cute little Roni,” I smile at her.

“Did you just call me a tenderoni,” she asks as she tears into her steak.

“You’re eighteen. What do you know about a tenderoni?”

“I know that if you find a tenderoni that’s right for you, make it official; give her your love,” she sings and her singing voice is quite pleasant.

“Okay, okay. You know what it is. So you know once you find a Roni you never give her up,” I sing back at her.

“I do. Also, do me a favor and don’t sing again,” she laughs.

“Damn. I sounded that bad?”

She nods yes at me and continues to laugh. Seeing her laugh is heartwarming. Her laugh is infectious and if she thinks I’m funny, that works too. We finish our food and continue to laugh and talk. This night couldn’t get any perfect. The waiter comes back and takes our plates.

“And what will we be having for dessert tonight,” he asks.

She looks at me and her eyes say you’re the one that’s paying.

“Only if you’d like something,” I tell her.

“Can we get the flourless chocolate espresso cake? It sounds really good,” she says.

“It is. I’ll bring that out to you shortly,” the waiter says as he rushes off.

He brings the cake about fifteen minutes later. Veronica takes the first bite and I see her eyes roll.

“Mm, this is so good,” she moans in delight.

Now I have to taste it. The cake is mixed with hints of cocoa powder and fresh raspberries, and it’s quite delicious.

“It is good. You chose well,” I say to her.

I try to keep from smiling at her, but I can’t help myself. As we finish dessert, the waiter brings me the check.

“I hope you both had a lovely evening tonight,” he says after handing it to me.

I open it and the bill is $136. I take out my card and hand the check back to the waiter. He gets a $20 bill as a tip. Veronica is trying to figure out how much this date cost me. I wouldn’t have suggested this place if I knew I couldn’t afford it. I eat here all the time and I’ve been dying to have a date here. The waiter returns with my card. I stand as she stands.

“Let me walk you to your car,” I say.

She reaches for my hand and I happily take hers. I walk her to her car. It’s an old Honda Civic. She turns and faces me after unlocking her car door.

“Thank you for tonight, Malcolm. This was a lovely evening with you,” she says.

“I’ve enjoyed my evening with you tonight as well. You know, I don’t plan on giving you up, sweet little Roni,” I wink at her, making her face turn red from blushing so much. “I’ll text you tomorrow, because I would love to see you again.”

“Yeah, I’d like that too, Malcolm.”

“Drive safe. Let me know that you got home safely so we can schedule another date.”

I want to kiss her so badly. I kiss her hand instead.

“I will,” she smiles.

I walk to my car. She hasn’t left yet. I can see her sitting in her car cheesing. She enjoyed tonight as much as I did. I drive straight back home and anxiously wait for her text. I take off my clothes and lie on my bed. She said she wanted to pole dance. I know it’s too early to think about s*x, but damn if the thought of her dancing on a pole doesn’t sound enticing. I fantasize about being seduced by her. She has an amazing body and a beautiful face to go with. My d***k gets hard and I jerk off. Thinking about her makes me nut so fast. It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced a woman’s touch. When she extended her hand for me to take her to her car, it sent shivers down my spine. I clean myself up and lay back in my empty bed. About thirty minutes later, she calls me. Without delay, I answer.

“Hey Veronica. I was just thinking about you. What’s up?”

“Heyy. I know I was supposed to text but I called for two reasons. One: I really wanted to hear your voice again,” she giggles.

“Oh, I get it. You want me to sing for you,” I jokingly say.

“God please no don’t sing,” she laughs. “Second and more seriously, I was wondering if you could maybe come over to my house tomorrow.”

“You want me to meet your family already,” I tease her.

Damn, it’s only been one date. I don’t mind. I’m probably moving too fast but I’m won’t let her slip away from me. We need to be exclusive ASAP.

“I do. My mother seems to object me being with you, so I’d like for you both to meet each other. I want her to see the man I see. But it’s not dinner or anything like that,” she stammers.

Wow. She went home and talked about me with her mom. Her mom is probably objecting to the fact that I’m twenty-six.

“That’s no problem. Maybe afterwards we can have a second date,” I suggest.

“Okay. Let’s do that. I’ll text you my address and what time to come.”

“Alright, my little Roni. I’m glad you made it home safe and I’m glad you called me. Can’t wait to see you again. Have a good night, beautiful,” I say.

We hang up and all I can do is smile. I like where this is going and I’m excited about what’s coming.