“It’s not the Garden of Hesperides, but then who wants to eat golden apples and dodge a dragon. This garden is a much better option.”
Had the rocker just compared this place to Hara’s garden? Impressive. But then again, he frequently managed to surprise me.
“It’s gorgeous. How did you do all this?” I asked as he took my elbow and led me toward the gazebo.
“I have my ways.”
He was always so guarded. I shouldn’t have expected him to actually tell me how he’d managed to get a large elaborate gazebo into the middle of a deserted field and then cover the place with lights.
The three steps on the gazebo were lined with white lights. A small round table sat in the center of the covered area. A silver tablecloth draped the table and there were two chairs placed around it. A bouquet of some kind of exotic flowers I’d never seen sat in the middle of the table. The glass vase even had lights inside. He had really put a lot of work into this. I was suddenly very thankful that I hadn’t worn jeans.
“What are you thinking?” He asked close to my ear. I shivered from the warmth of his breath against my skin.
“I’m thinking you must really want to impress me or either this is something you’ve invested in to bring all your first dates on.” I was teasing of course and I smiled at him as I said it so he’d know I wasn’t being serious.
“Never realized how sexy a smart mouth could be,” he replied.
Soft music began playing from speakers hidden in the corners of the gazebo. Dank held out his hand, “Dance with me?”
I slid my hand into his and he pulled me against his chest. This was different than our first dance at the club. It was sweeter, more sincere. Less about attraction and more about connection.
“Pagan?” Dank asked softly against my ear.
“Yes,” I replied resting my chin on his shoulder thanks to the height from my heels.
“Will you promise me something?”
That was an odd request. I thought about it a minute then nodded. “Yes.”
He let out another heavy sigh. Something was bothering him tonight. “One day you’ll need to remember this. Remember how this felt. I need you to tuck this memory close inside and hold onto it.”
That was by far the oddest thing anyone had ever said or asked of me. He almost sounded like he was dying. “Um, okay,” I replied hesitantly.
He let out a soft chuckle, “I’m sorry. Sometimes I get a little too serious.”
No kidding. He took my hand and lifted it in the air and twirled me around. I decided I’d forget his ominous request for now and enjoy the most romantic date I’d ever been on.
After the song ended Dank walked over and pulled out a chair for me. “I know it looks like we’re out here all alone but I don’t intend to starve you.”
I looked around and sure enough a man in a tuxedo came walking out of the woods carrying a silver tray and two glass bottles of Coke.
Smiling back at Dank I said, “I can’t believe you set all this up.”
He winked at me. “I wanted to make a good impression being as this is our first official date.”
“Well, you blew any other first dates I’ve ever had out of the water already so sit back and relax.”
Dank laughed as the waiter placed the Cokes in front of us and opened them. He lifted the lid on the silver tray and then took the two glasses of ice and put them beside or bottles.
“I don’t know how you could even think I’d ever be able to forget this,” I said in awe as the server set chocolate covered strawberries in front of us.
“Good. That’s the idea,” he replied.
***
It had almost been a whole day since I’d seen or heard from Dank. He had brought me home after our date last night and I’d half expected him to be waiting on me outside the dorm this morning when I walked out. Then I’d been expecting him to be waiting on me outside the building of our first class. But he hadn’t shown up for literature again. After lunch when he still hadn’t called or shown up I began to wonder if I’d done something wrong last night. Since the first day we’d met he had managed to show up at least two times a day. I’d thought after the evening we’d had he would be around even more. I had looked forward to seeing him. I’d almost texted him several times but I’d refrained. He had my number.
Now that the sun was setting and he hadn’t bothered to even text I decided last night might have meant more to me than it had to him. Maybe that really was a set up for first dates. Maybe it hadn’t meant anything more to him.