First Sight

by Donohue, Laura

  I sighed. There really was no arguing with her sometimes. “So things are better with Rob?”

  “Yeah, what’s going on?” Emily chimed in. “Maddy said you were mad at him about something?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” Marissa answered breezily. “We had a little chat about what my expectations were, and it’s all taken care of now.”

  “Your expectations?” I asked in disbelief. Only Marissa could get away with having a conversation like that, with a guy she’d just started dating, and have him still be interested in her.

  “It’s nothing. We’re going out to some fancy dinner this weekend. I wish I could’ve seen him last weekend, but after Friday night, I was in Florida the whole time. He sent me tons of text messages while I was gone.”

  “Well, at least we know he’s interested,” I joked. We’d all had our fair share of guys that we’d gone out with once or twice and then never heard from again. Of course, Marissa’s and Rob’s relationship seemed to have progressed beyond that point already.

  “He called me one night just to say that he missed me,” Marissa said, blushing a little.

  “That’s sweet,” I said, glancing over at her. Marissa nodded and looked serious for a moment. She adjusted her black cardigan, and as I examined her face, I realized that she really liked him. She had seemed frustrated earlier today, but if she really wasn’t interested, she would have dumped him over drinks tonight, not agreed to go out with him again this weekend. Elizabeth had told me privately once that she thought Marissa just didn’t want to be in a relationship—that she was more the type to play the field. While Marissa certainly did seem to love dating a variety of guys, I knew that she’d be happy if she found someone who was right for her.

  After trying on dresses in a few different stores, Emily had purchased a cute black eyelet sundress, Marissa had found several dresses and a pair of black stilettos, and I hadn’t bought anything. We paused on a bench to regroup and figure out where to head next when Marissa suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, I love that!” I turned to see her pointing at a hot pink bustier in the window at Victoria’s Secret. She rushed toward the display, Emily and I trailing behind her.

  “That’s totally not my style,” I said, cringing slightly.

  “Not for you silly, for me! Maybe I shouldn’t have bought so much, I could totally spend a good chunk of my next paycheck in here,” she said with a laugh.

  “Oh really? You and Rob?” I looked at her expectantly.

  Marissa giggled but didn’t say anything.

  “So that’s why you wanted to come here so badly,” I said, laughing.

  “Let’s look around,” she said.

  “Well geez, I’m not even dating anyone,” Emily protested. “You two get to have all the fun.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find someone for you,” I said reassuringly.

  “Oh, I’m so getting this,” Marissa said, holding up a sheer, black lace teddy, with clips dangling beneath it for attaching stockings.

  “Really?” I asked, looking at her doubtfully. Not only did it look complicated to put on and take off, it also looked unbelievably uncomfortable.

  “Yes,” she said emphatically. “I want something different than what I already own.”

  I shrugged. “Okay. I’m going to look around a bit.” I wandered through the store, looking at silky panties and lacy bras. It would be nice to have something special just in case. I finally found a black silk chemise, with delicate spaghetti straps and lace trim around the edges. The back was low cut, with a tie made from the same thin material as the straps. I picked out a matching black thong and took my purchases up to the register.

  “What’d you get?” Marissa asked after the cashier had wrapped my purchase up in tissue paper and neatly tucked it into the bag.

  “It’s for Travis’s eyes only,” I replied with a grin.

  “Oh, you’re no fun,” she pouted.

  I noticed Emily glancing down at her watch. “Ready to head out?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I’ve got a few things to get done for work before tomorrow morning. Nothing big, but I should get going.”

  “All set, Marissa?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I think I might be all shopped out,” she said, holding up her own large bag. I noticed Emily was holding the other bags of clothes Marissa had already purchased. “Or at least my credit card is.”

  We all walked out of the mall together. “Bye ladies,” Emily said. She gave us each a quick hug before we headed off in different directions. Emily had to hop back on the metro, but Marissa and I lived close enough to walk. My building was the opposite way from Marissa’s though, so I gave her a little hug goodbye as well.

  “See you tomorrow then?”

  “Yep, see ya bright and early.”

  I walked back to my apartment building, suddenly feeling a little sad that I hadn’t done something with Travis tonight. We could’ve been snuggling up on my sofa right now since we’d actually gotten out of work at a decent time, and now I was headed back to an empty apartment. I carried my bag upstairs and called him as soon as I got inside, not waiting for him to try calling me. Stretching out on my sofa, I relaxed against the soft cushions as I settled in to talk with him.

  “Hey, it’s me,” I said as soon as he picked up the phone.

  “Hey you,” he said teasingly, and I found myself flushing despite myself. Thankfully he wasn’t here to see me, but something about the intimate way he spoke was making me feel warm all over. “How’d shopping go?” he asked in his deep voice.

  “It was fun. Marissa bought a ton of stuff, and I got some new things….” My voice trailed off—there was no need to mention exactly what I had purchased. Maybe he’d get to see it soon enough anyway. “We had drinks beforehand. Marissa didn’t meet Emily and me until later though. Apparently she wanted to talk things over with Rob. They’re having some fancy dinner together this weekend, so I guess she’s not mad at him anymore.”

  “She’s too much,” Travis said with a laugh.

  “Seriously. So how was your night?”

  “Oh, I didn’t do much. I hit the gym after work, picked up my dry cleaning on the way home, and then heated up a frozen dinner.” I imagined him sitting in his kitchen, watching the turntable in his microwave spin around as he waited to eat. No, he wouldn’t do that, I thought with a smile. He probably stretched out on the sofa and read the sports section or turned on the news. At any rate, Travis didn’t really seem like the type that enjoyed cooking, judging from the sparse amount of food that had been in his kitchen. Maybe someday we’d make dinner together. That would definitely be more fun than cooking by myself and eating alone.

  Travis suddenly cleared his throat, bringing me back to the present. “I missed you,” he said gruffly.

  “I missed you, too.” I said softly. Between spending last weekend together and working side-by-side every evening this week, this was the first night that I hadn’t spent any time with him.

  “I’m looking forward to this weekend though.”

  “Are you saying we have plans aside from dinner tomorrow?” I teased.

  “I hope so.” I could practically see his smile on the other end of the line. We talked for a few more minutes, but before long I was starting to yawn.

  “I better get to bed, Travis.”

  “All right. You sound a little sleepy.”

  “I am,” I said, stifling a yawn. “See you tomorrow?”

  “See you tomorrow. Goodnight, Maddy.” His voice was soft, and I remembered how he whispered in my ear the other night as he lay beside me. I wished that he was here with me right now and not just talking to me on the phone, miles away in his own apartment. As I looked out my window into the dark night, I wondered if he was possibly thinking the same thing.

  “Goodnight, Travis.”

  I heard his gentle breathing on the other end of the line as I quietly hung up the phone.

  Chapter 21

  The next evening, I hurried home from work to get re
ady. It had been a relatively easy day now that our deadline had passed, and Marissa and I had spent more time surfing the Internet and wandering the halls chatting with our coworkers than getting anything work-related done. Because it had been one of those gorgeous spring days that begged to be spent outside, we’d taken a long lunch break, leisurely enjoying the nice weather at a little outdoor café. Travis and I had made plans for him to come over around 7:00, so I had a couple of hours to change and get dinner started before he arrived. I took a long shower, washing my hair with floral-scented shampoo and taking the time to carefully shave my legs. Wrapping myself in a fluffy towel when I was finished, I slathered on vanilla-scented body lotion. I put some mousse in my hair and then turned on my hair dyer, flipping my head upside down to give my hair some extra body as I dried it.

  Satisfied with the way my hair looked, I turned my attention to my makeup. I carefully drew brown eyeliner above my lashes and applied some chocolate brown shadow, followed with a few swipes of mascara. I dabbed a little concealer under my eyes and swooped some pinkish blush on my cheeks. Not bad, I thought to myself as I turned my head back and forth in the mirror, checking my reflection from different angles. Now I just needed to decide what to wear.

  I walked over to my closet, still clad in a bath towel, and riffled through the clothes on the rack. I didn’t want to be really dressed up, like I was trying too hard, but I didn’t want to just throw on jeans either. I finally pulled out a white cotton skirt with some delicate black embroidery. It was lightweight and fell to the knee in an a-line shape, perfect for a casual evening. I slipped my skirt on and pulled a black scoop neck top over my head. I didn’t want to wear heels if I was cooking, so I put on a pair of flat bronze sandals.

  I had decided earlier that because I’d never cooked anything for Travis before, there was no sense in trying a new recipe tonight and ending up with a disaster in the kitchen. By the time 7:00 rolled around, I had my tried and true favorite, chicken parmesan, cooking on the stove, with another twenty minutes or so to go. The pasta was drained, sitting in a colander in the sink, and the dining room table was set. I set a plate of baked brie and crackers on the counter, and I lit the Tahitian vanilla candles that I had on the coffee table in the living room. They let off an amazing scent and cast a warm light around the room.

  The doorbell rang at 7:05, and when I opened it, Travis was standing there with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a bottle of red wine in the other. His face lit up as his eyes met mine, and I beamed back at him. He looked especially handsome tonight, his dark hair still damp from the shower and his skin smooth, like he had just shaved. He was wearing a black, short-sleeved button down shirt and khaki pants. I wanted to laugh because it almost looked like we had dressed in coordinating outfits, since I was wearing black and white.

  “These are for you,” he said, handing me the flowers, his fingers brushing against mine as I took them. “You like nice,” he said sincerely.

  “Thank you. And thanks for the flowers,” I said, flushing slightly.

  “I brought wine, too,” he said, holding the bottle slightly up for me to see. “I hope red is okay.”

  “Red is perfect,” I said with a smile. “Come in.” I grabbed his arm, pulling him inside, and he followed behind me as I walked into the kitchen. I pulled out an inexpensive glass vase to put the flowers in. I didn’t have any that were fancy crystal, but that was the type of thing that you got as a wedding gift, not something that most 25-year-olds kept lying around. At any rate, this one worked and would have to do for lack of any other options. Travis set the bottle of wine down and leaned against the counter, watching me as I moved around the small room. I turned to give him a quick smile as I filled the vase with water.

  “It smells good in here,” he said.

  “Thanks. Dinner should be ready in about twenty minutes. We can have cheese and crackers now though. Do you want to open the wine?” I asked, glancing up at him as I tried to artfully arrange the flowers.

  “Sure,” he said easily, walking across the room to me. I handed him the corkscrew and then carried the flowers over to the dining area to set on the table. I went back into the kitchen and opened a cupboard, realizing that the wine glasses were on a high shelf since I didn’t use them very often. I kept a stepstool in the hall closet but didn’t want to drag that out right now. Travis noticed me looking up at them and was suddenly right behind me. “Do you need some help?” he asked, his voice deep.

  “Yeah,” I said, turning around. “Can you get down two of the glasses?”

  “Okay,” he replied. But rather than reaching for the glasses, he put his hands on my waist and gazed down at me. I looked up into his deep brown eyes, and he slowly lowered his head until his lips were softly brushing against mine. “You look beautiful tonight,” he said softly when he finally pulled away. My heart fluttered, and I reached up and put one hand on his cheek. I stretched up on my tip toes to kiss him again. He bent down, and I met his warm mouth in another lingering kiss.

  “Do you want me to pour the wine?” Travis asked a few moments later when we finally separated, his brown eyes gazing down at me.

  “Sure, that sounds good,” I said softly.

  He gave me a smile then carried the glasses over to the counter while I checked on our dinner. “Help yourself,” I said, gesturing to the food I’d set out. He cut a slice of the baked brie and took a bite.

  “Wow, this is amazing,” he said with a grin.

  “It’s actually really easy to make, but shhh, don’t tell anyone.”

  “It can be our little secret as long as you promise to make it for me again,” he said with a laugh.

  “Deal,” I said, smiling back at him. It felt like our entire evening had been nothing but us smiling at one another (with a few kisses thrown in), but I knew we were both just happy to finally have some time alone together.

  The kitchen timer buzzed before I could say anything else. “It sounds like dinner’s ready.” I scooped some of the pasta onto each plate and then lifted the lid off the chicken parmesan. I carefully set a piece of chicken onto the pile of pasta and then ladled some of the tomato sauce on top. I sprinkled a little extra parmesan cheese on top for good measure, and when each plate was ready, I carried them into the dining room. Travis had refilled each of our wine glasses but hadn’t sat down yet since I was still up. He took the plates from me, setting them down on the table, and he sat down as I finally did.

  “This looks really good, Maddy.”

  “I hope you like it,” I said, waiting to see his reaction.

  He carefully cut a piece of chicken, speared it with his fork, and brought it to his mouth, taking a bite.

  “Well?” I asked, looking at him expectantly.

  “This is really good.”

  “You sound surprised,” I said, laughing.

  “Not surprised, just impressed.” He grinned at me, and I took a sip of my wine.

  “This wine is delicious.”

  “The guy at the wine store helped me pick it out,” he said with a sheepish look. “I hardly know a thing about wine.”

  “Me either,” I said. “I’ve thought about taking a wine tasting course sometime but never got around to it.”

  “We should take one together,” he suggested. “That would be fun.”

  “Yeah, definitely,” I agreed. “I have the information around here somewhere. But really, how can you go wrong with wine tasting?”

  “You can’t.”

  I laughed and thought how easy things were with Travis. We were lucky that it had been such an easy transition for us from coworkers to friends to more. Maybe because we’d been interested in each other all along, always dancing around the fact that we were perhaps a little bit more than just friends, it didn’t feel strange to now be able to say that we were dating. Even so, I was thrilled that things had worked out this way. We continued to leisurely chat and eat dinner, doing much more laughing together than actual eating. Travis finished his meal before
me, and when I told him there was more in the kitchen, he stood up to help himself to seconds.

  “I can get it for you,” I said, starting to rise.

  “No, I got it,” he said easily, flashing me a smile as he walked away. “Do you want anything?” he called from the kitchen.

  “No, thanks.” I heard him replacing the lid of the pan on the stove, and I smiled to myself at how Travis had already made himself at home here. After we’d finished eating, Travis insisted on helping me clean up. He loaded the plates into the dishwasher as I filled the pans in the sink to soak.

  “Let’s go sit in the living room,” he said after we were done, gently taking my hand. I dimmed the light over the dining table as we walked past it, and we settled down on the sofa, my hand still in his. I kicked my sandals off and curled my legs beneath me, turning slightly so that I was facing Travis. His thumb moved in small circles across my skin, and I felt a rush of tingles spread through me at his touch.

  “I remember the first time I came over to your apartment,” Travis said after a moment, his deep brown eyes locking with mine.

  “When you dropped me off after happy hour?”

  He nodded. “I so wanted to walk you to your door right then, kiss you goodnight….”

  “And now here you are,” I said softly.

  “Here I am,” he agreed.

  “I wanted that, too,” I said, giving him a gentle smile. “Although at the time I really thought you were just being a nice guy though, offering to drop us off.”

  “Well,” he said, slowly lifting my hand up and softly brushing his lips against it, “I much prefer things how they are now.” He let our hands fall back into my lap and then reached out and gently caressed my cheek. His thumb brushed across my lips, and my breathing become shallow at his touch. I was captured in his gaze as he leaned forward, and my heart frantically pounded in my chest. My eyes closed as I leaned toward him, and then our lips met in a tender kiss.