“How about we just go?” Cherry says. I can hear the nervousness in her voice, but I can’t come up with any calming words.
“I’m…I’m going to clean my shoes,” I say through gritted teeth. “We’ll go then, all right?”
“Of course.”
The manager spots me as I head toward the restroom.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Orso. Dinner is on the house, of course.”
“What dinner?” I snap at him. “It didn’t even fucking arrive yet! Do you really think the cost of dinner would replace these shoes?”
“I’d be happy to replace them, Mr. Orso.”
“Fuck you!” He’s lucky there are so many people around, or I’d probably pick him up and throw him through a window. I can’t do that though—not with Cherry here. I lower my voice. “It’s probably best you just step away from me, fire that fucking moron, and consider a career change yourself.”
I walk away, leaving him stammering behind me. I shove open the door to the men’s room and lean hard against the sink, seething.
I needed this night to go perfectly. I needed Cherry to be swept off her feet and madly in love with me in record time, and I can hardly do that with rice pudding on my shoes.
“Motherfucker!” I grab a towel, wet it, and do my best to get all the crap off the Italian leather. Once my shoes are relatively clean, I stare at my reflection in the mirror.
I’ve really fucked this up.
I can’t let Cherry see me like this. I check over my shoulder, hoping for some advice from Pops, but he’s nowhere to be found. I close my eyes and spend a moment tensing and releasing all my major muscle groups until I have a bit more control over myself. With one more look in the bathroom mirror, I take a deep breath and shove the door open.
Plastering a smile back on my face, I return to the table. I glance at Cherry, who is staring at me, still wide-eyed and nervous.
“Shall we go?” I manage to sound calm, at least.
“Of course.”
The valet brings the car around, and I help Cherry in before taking my own seat, but I don’t drive off right away. I’m not even sure where to go.
“Look, Cherry…” My voice trails off and I sigh. I have no idea how to begin to repair this.
“It’s all right, Nate. Really, it is.”
“It isn’t.” I breathe slowly and try to relax my shoulders.
I need to regain control of myself before I completely fuck everything up and have to start all over again, probably with another girl. The problem is, Cherry is perfect because she’s not from Cascade Falls, and all the other women are. They already know me or at least think they do. With Cherry, it’s different. I want it to be different.
“I wanted you to have a good time tonight,” I finally say. “Nice dinner, maybe a nice drive out to the park…fuck! This is a mess.”
“Well, a calm, relaxing dinner is nice but not nearly as good of a story,” Cherry says with a chuckle. “None of it was your fault. They were just a bit overwhelmed tonight. Chalk it all up to being Friday the thirteenth.”
“Is it?” She’s right though I hadn’t thought about it before now.
“Are you superstitious?” Cherry asks. “I was only joking.”
“Maybe a little.” I sigh and manage a smile. “Bad luck or not, I want to make this up to you. Maybe we can go to a place out of town with more options.”
“It’s getting a little late for dinner at this point,” Cherry says.
My chest tightens. I don’t want the night to end before it’s even begun, but she’s right. It’s after eight o’clock, and we can’t drive to another town, find a restaurant, order dinner, and eat it before it will be way too late.
“There are some bars I could take you to.” As soon as I say it, I realize it’s a mistake. “They’re loud though, not places where we can actually talk. Not great food, either. I don’t suppose you gamble at all?”
“Like slot machines and such?”
“Yeah. There’s a casino on the south side of town.”
“I went to Atlantic City once,” Cherry says. “It really wasn’t my scene.”
“No casino then.” I rack my brain, trying to come up with a decent alternative, but Cherry beats me to the punch.
“Do you want to just go back to my place?” she says suddenly. “I mean, I’m not much of a cook, but I can keep us from starving. No long drive or waiting required.”
“Are you sure?” I look over at her, trying to read her expression. When guys say, “Come back to my place,” their meaning is usually obvious, but I’m not so sure about women.
“Why not?” She shrugs, her expression still unreadable.
A short time later, we step into her apartment, and Cherry heads straight to the bedroom to change out of her stained dress. I’m tense again but not for the same reason. I wasn’t expecting to end up at her place, and it puts all the carefully considered steps to my plan in a different setting—one I’m not prepared for, and now I don’t know what to expect. I also can’t stop thinking about the fact that Cherry is probably getting naked in the other room.
I shake my head to clear it of the images and take a moment to look around.
The apartment is small, and a lot of boxes are still unpacked, but it’s nice enough. Reid has definitely made a lot of improvements to the outside of the building, but I hadn’t been inside before. I look around for decorations or pictures—something that would give me more insight into Cherry’s personality—but all I see is a plant
