Magan Vernon - The Only One

He dropped his arms and put his hand on the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to shower for our date.”

He shut the door and left me standing there, dumbfounded as usual. It wasn’t close to dinner time, but I hoped he’d get out of my apartment before then so I could get ready without him watching my every move—even though I secretly wanted to watch his every move in the shower.

Luckily John didn’t stick around all morning, so I didn’t have to attempt to get ready with him at my apartment. Not that I minded having him around, but there were certain things I wasn’t prepared for him to see yet, like my beauty rituals. Especially after sharing a small studio apartment with my sister for a week. I needed my space to get prepped for tonight.

Valerie would spend hours in the bathroom every morning, even though we were just sitting around the house. I was more laid back and usually just showered and wore sweats. But tonight was going to be different. I was ready to get out of my sick clothes and have a night out with John.

As usual, I never knew what to wear, but instead of scouring my closet, I just put on the first outfit that looked half way decent and that I wouldn’t freeze in: black skinny jeans, riding boots, a teal tank top, gray cardigan, and a flannel scarf. Valerie got the scarf for me for Christmas last year and said it was by some famous designer that I’d never heard of. I actually never wore it and only found it when I was searching through my sock drawer for a clean pair. It was probably time to drag my stuff to the laundry room downstairs, or to Monica’s. I had an irrational fear that someone was going to steal my underwear out of the laundry room and tried to avoid it at all costs.

At around six, a knock came at my door, but I was putting on the last of my lip gloss so I just yelled, “come in!”

I fluffed my hair one last time, all the while expecting him to open the door, but nothing happened. Maybe it wasn’t John?

Confused, I walked to the door and opened it. He stood there with that lopsided grin on his face looking every bit of yummy in a black NorthFace jacket and faded jeans. I thought only teen girls wore NorthFace jackets, but the way it hugged John’s biceps made it look way too good to ever be worn by some girl with braces at a Justin Bieber concert.

“I yelled for you to come in. Didn’t you hear me?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I told you, Red, I’m trying to do this the right way. I was waiting for you to answer the door like normal people do on a first date.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Since when has anything we’ve done been normal? This is probably one of the most effed up relationships or friendships or whatever this is.”

He crossed the threshold and put his hands on my shoulders and then slowly slid them down until he laced our fingers together. “Maybe normal is overrated, but I thought we could at least try this and see how it goes. It couldn’t hurt, right?”

“I guess you’re right.” I ran my thumb along his. “Does this mean you brought me flowers and chocolate?”

“D’oh” He tilted his head back and made a lemon face. “No.” He looked back down at me with the smile returning to his face. “Sorry, I fail at being a good first date.”

“I guess I can forgive you. This time.” I leaned up on my tippy toes to kiss him, but he backed away. Did my breath smell bad? I brushed my teeth twice.

“Whoa, no kissing on the first date. Well, at least not the first minute of the first date.”

I rolled my eyes. “Seriously? We’re going to go that far?”

“Yep.” He let go of one of my hands and opened the door. “But if you play your cards right you may get one later.”

* * *

We drove off campus and farther into town. The only times I’d ever gone off campus were to shop at the mall or grocery store. I may have grown up less than an hour from Central, but that didn’t mean I explored the town that much.

I had absolutely no idea where we were, but John seemed comfortable and at ease, like he knew exactly where he was headed. Nothing like a normal guy would be on a first date. Which technically we were and we weren’t. The first time we’d gone anywhere together was my doctor’s appointment and I didn’t want to think of that as a date. Nor was hanging out in my apartment and eating cheesecake afterward. Dinner for a first date sounded so much better.

“I hope you like sushi.” John pulled the car to a stop in front of a small strip mall. There was a nail salon and a used video game place flanking each side of Imperial Sushi Lounge. It didn’t look anything like an imperial place with its brick front and neon sign.

“Sushi’s good,” I said. Truth be told, I’d never had sushi. The whole idea of raw fish kind of scared me, but I didn’t want to admit that when he was trying so hard.

Before I could open my door, John ran around to the other side and opened it, offering his hand to help me out. I took it and hopped out of the Jeep. “Wow, you really are going all out on this first date thing.”

He shrugged, taking my hand in his. “I haven’t done one of these in awhile.”

“A date?” I raised my eyebrows. John was the type of guy that could have any girl he wanted and from what Monica told me he probably did.

“Yeah, is that so hard to believe?”

“Um, yeah. You’re hot and I’ve seen the way girls fawn over you at the house.”

He shook his head. “There is a difference between hooking up and taking a girl out on a date.”

“Touché.”

“And you’re the type of girl I want to take out on a date.”

My cheeks warmed at the thought. I had been trying to keep my feelings for John at bay. I shouldn’t have been thinking about a relationship when I wasn’t even a week post-op from surgery, but there was something about John that made me want to give up all my rules and dive head first wherever he wanted me to go. But the more logical part of me was still deathly afraid of getting hurt.

He opened the front door and followed in after me. Even though the outside didn’t look like anything special, the inside looked like it was straight out of Japan. The dark wood-paneled walls had white vertical strips containing Japanese calligraphy. The only lighting came from red paper lanterns that hung from the ceiling and reflected off the dark wood floor. Directly in front of us was a small pond with pretty koi fish. The rocks that circled the koi pond were stacked together behind it to form a large, circular platform which the hostess desk sat atop.

John led me to the hostess podium as if he had done it every day. I was busy staring at all the surroundings and hoped the fish in the pond weren’t going to be our dinner.

A short Asian woman with a Cleopatra-like haircut stood behind it and smiled when we approached. “Hello, you have reservation?” she asked in a high-pitched voice.

“Yeah, two for Walden.” His voice was smooth as silk when he spoke. I was surprised the woman wasn’t quivering with his every word.

She ran her long fingernails down the podium. “Okay, two for Walden.” She grabbed two menus from under the podium. “Follow me.”

She turned on her heels and for a little woman she walked very fast. I almost had to run to keep up with John’s long strides and her little feet. She led us into a large room that was probably the size of my high school’s basketball stadium. There were Japanese shoji screens lining the room, and at least twenty giant silver teppan tables had cooks standing behind them prepping food for wide-eyed customers like it was an art form.

“I thought we were getting sushi?” I asked John. I didn’t think they cooked sushi on grills in front of people, but I could have been wrong.

“We are, but we can’t just have sushi alone. You have to get some sukiyaki steak to go with it.”

“But what if I told you that I was a vegetarian?”

John came to a sudden halt as if someone just punched him in the gut. “Are you serious?” He looked at me with big puppy dog eyes.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “No, I’m definitely not, but I just wanted to see the look on your face.”

A small smile appeared on his lips and he squeezed my hand before we continued following the woman. “I’m glad I have you to keep me in check.”

“Likewise, John.”

The woman stopped in front of one of the teppanyaki tables where four other people sat: a gray haired couple and a middle-aged Hispanic couple with matching hipster glasses. I guess our date just got a little bit more crowded.

“Well, this is intimate,” I muttered.

John pulled out my chair for me and I sat down, thinking he didn’t hear me. But he did because he leaned in as he sat down and whispered in my ear, “Half the fun of these places is people-watching the other couples at the table.”

I had to admit, my curiosity was piqued. One of my favorite past times was people watching. Not in a creepy way, but in a way that a future journalist and possible author would do. When people came into the coffee shop I would watch their body language when they ordered and make up their whole life story just by what drink they ordered. A lot of them ended up being cracked out caffeine addicts in my head, but that’s because there were a lot of wired college students.

“What kind of rolls do you want?” he asked.

“Um, what?” I blinked, putting my menu down and staring blankly at him.

“Sushi?” He let out a silent laugh through his nose. “You really aren’t into sushi are you?”

I shook my head. “Oh, no, I didn’t say that.” I sighed. “Okay, moment of truth, I’ve actually never eaten sushi.”

“You’re shitting me, Red.”

I swear the old lady gasped, but looked away when John glanced at her. I guess she wasn’t used to the foul-mouthed guy.

“No, I’m not. I’ve never really had it. There’s just something about raw fish that was never very appealing to me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you say you were okay to have sushi tonight?”

I could feel the blush creeping up into my cheeks. I couldn’t think of something witty to say back, so I just told the truth. “Because you were excited about going out to eat and I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

He squeezed my hand. “You could never disappoint me.” His eyes locked on mine and I wasn’t sure if he was talking about sushi or something else entirely.

The gray haired lady leaned over John’s shoulder, smiling. “How long have you two been together?” she asked in a shaky voice.

John turned toward her. “This is actually our first date.”

“Really?” She adjusted her glasses and her eyes looked like they grew to at least twice their size.

I was about to respond and say that we had been friends for awhile or something else lame, but John was quicker to respond, putting his arm around the back of my chair. “Yep. No first date jitters from us.”

She smiled, her lips forming an almost perfect line. “Well, I think you two are destined to be together for awhile. I can tell these things. It’s like I have a sixth sense.”

“What are you jabbering about, Martha?” Her husband peered over her shoulder. For an older guy he looked like someone who was attractive once upon a time. He still had all of his hair that was combed to the side and a full white beard. He could have been a Sean Connery relative.

She glanced back at her husband. “Richard, I was just talking to this lovely couple. It’s their first date. Can you believe it?”

“Really?” He raised his eyebrows. “You two look far too comfortable for this to be a first date.”

John squeezed my shoulder. “Sometimes it just feels right being with someone.”

“Awww.” Martha folded her hands together. “I still remember our first date.” She dropped her hands. “Richard actually showed up late!”

“I didn’t show up late. You just misheard me about the time!” Richard grumbled.

Her eyes narrowed as she turned back to her husband. “I did not! You told me five and you didn’t show up until seven!”

“And I think that is our cue,” John said, turning away from the arguing couple.

“Who do you think is right?” I whispered, glancing over at the couple and then looking back to John.

“I think the guy is always wrong.” He smiled.

“You’re just using first date talk to try and impress me,” I quipped.

“Is it working?”

“Maybe.” I picked the menu back up. “But you should stop stalling and pick out some rolls or whatever for me.”

John ordered some things I’d never heard of and he assured me that none of them contained raw fish. I wondered if he was just saying that they didn’t have raw fish in them so I would try them before judging.