Matt laughs at my reaction, but he gets to his feet too. “Maybe it’s time to start making our way to somewhere a bit drier.” he laughs.
The rain is pouring down. I’m already soaked to my skin. I can feel my hair plastering itself to my head, but I can’t help but laugh. Matt isn’t faring any better than me. His t-shirt is sticking to his body, showing me his clearly defined abs and pecs. His hair is flattened by the rain, inviting me to run my hands through it and muss it up. Ok, so he’s fairing slightly better than me then.
He gathers up the trash and takes it to the trash, and then he comes back and grabs my hand. We walk quickly towards the exit of the park, laughing and passing the bottle back and forth until it’s empty and we deposit it in the next trash we come to.
“I bet teenagers get the blame for that one.” Matt grins.
I nod in agreement. I feel like a teenager again when I’m with Matt, so maybe they won’t be entirely wrong. The rain pours down heavier and we begin to run. I hold my hand uselessly over my head. I don’t know why. It’s far too late to attempt to keep my hair dry. We jog through the park, watching as the families from the field frantically pack up as small children laugh and dance in the rain, ignoring their parent’s calling them to come on.
We run from the park, dash across the road and we finally reach the community center and burst through the doors, both of us laughing as we enter.
The room is silent as we enter and suddenly, I feel all eyes on us. I stop laughing abruptly, feeling my face turning red. The room is filled with parents and their children and they’re all staring at us. “I’m sorry,” I manage to say. “Can you point us in the direction of the cooking lesson please?”
A stern looking woman steps forward.
“This is the cooking lesson. How old is your child?”
“Child?” I ask.
“Well yes. It’s a parent and child cooking class.”
I just shake my head as I am seized by laughter again.“I think — I think I booked the wrong class,” I manage to stutter out and look over at Matt who is laughing beside me and he just shrugs and shakes his head in an, I’m as lost as you are gesture.
I can’t stay here any longer, under the angry glares of parents and the curious stares of their children. I am very much aware of the bedraggled look of myself and the wine fumes emanating from us. Not a great look around children.
I stutter out another apology to the woman and lead Matt back out into the street. At least, the rain is easing off a little now. It’s too late for my hair or makeup, but it’s nice to not have to jog anymore.
“Well that was interesting,” Matt comments.
“I can’t believe I booked a parent and child cooking class!” I laugh.
“It sure puts a new slant on the idea of you calling me Daddy,” Matt grins.
I elbow him playfully in the ribs. “Eww,” I say, wrinkling my nose.
“Hey, I’m not the one booking parent and child classes and calling it a date,” he reminds me.
I groan. “This has been an utter disaster hasn’t it?” I say. “The rain, the fucked up booking.”
“It’s a story to tell our kids one day. I’ll use it as an example to show them that this is why we don’t let Mommy make the plans.”
His tone is light and teasing, but I can’t help but focus on him talking about our future. Our kids. “You want kids?” I ask, trying to keep my voice even.
“Sure. Don’t you?” he asks.
“Well yeah I guess. One day.”
“I’m sorry,” Matt says. “I’ve come on way too strong haven’t I? I was just kidding Callie. It’s not like I was planning on proposing to you tomorrow or anything.”
I feel a tingling in my stomach at the thought of it. It’s ridiculous. Of course, he isn’t going to propose and even if he did, it’s not like I would say yes. We barely know each other. But still, it was nice to hear him planning our future together. I smile at him, not wanting it to be awkward between us, and not wanting him to think for a second he’s scared me off. “I was just thinking that if you tell our kids about this date, I swear I’ll string you up,” I say with a laugh.
“And what are you going to use to bribe me into staying silent?” he asks.
I happen to glance up as we walk and I spot the movie theatre and an idea comes into my head. Maybe we can still turn this date around. “Popcorn,” I blurt out, pulling him to a stop and nodding towards the theatre.
“Works for me,” he says.
We step into the theatre and I excuse myself to go to the bathroom to try to make myself look vaguely human again. I quickly pull a comb through my hair and squeeze the excess water from it. My makeup is beyond repair, so rather than trying to reapply it, I just wipe away the black mascara streaks that sit beneath my eyes. It’s not great; certainly not a look I would choose for a date. But it’ll have to do.
I go back to the lobby to find Matt looking at the listings.
If he notices I look a complete mess, he’s enough of a gentleman to not point it out to me. “If we want to go in now, we have two choices,” he says, pointing to the board.
I take a look. A romantic comedy that I don’t think Matt will much enjoy and I know I won’t. The other option looks good
