Author's note:
Thank you for reading! I am new at this and appreciate you. Enjoy!
Adrian stood outside the coffee bar, his heart beating out of his chest and up into his throat, and checked his phone. It was 7:57 p.m. He wondered if he'd ever been this nervous before in his life. He couldn't recall. Anything, really. His mind was unfocused and overwhelmed. He pulled at the hair behind his ear, and tried to take a shakey big breath. "It's just a first date you dork."
This earned a strange stare from a woman he didn't notice who was walking around him and into the shop. It brought Adrian back down to Earth. It wasn't just another first date. Not at all. He'd had plenty of those and while they were always a bit nerve-wracking it was nonexistent compared to the pressure he was putting on himself now. They'd been speaking for weeks after he answered her ad. First over email and then on the phone. Tonight was the night their schedules had finally aligned and she had been quite clear in her expectations for it. But that was only part of the pressure.
Mostly it was Margot. He had never connected with someone so strongly and quickly before. Adrian was hopelessly crushing. He had never gotten the attention of a woman of this caliber before. His eagerness wrestling his nervousness. He checked his phone again. 7:59 p.m. Fear of being late overrode the anxiety and he steeled himself. Now or never. He stuffed his phone into his pocket and pulled open the door.
Despite its location geographically inside of a strip mall, inside of
The Sapienza
was all old-world warmth. Adrian had never been here before, never even to this side of town. His Uber ride had been long and it had given him plenty of time to overthink and overanalyze. It was no wonder he felt like a nervous wreck, but the low lighting here and din of conversation was bracing. He took strength from the crowd of people having normal nights and normal dates. If he was lucky maybe this would be the start of a new normal for him too but he didn't dare dwell on it. Dreaming too much made him nervous.
Margot wasn't hard to find, the espresso bar wasn't very big. Dressed just how she described, a houndstooth peacoat and red hairband, and sitting in a cozy part of the bar at a table for two, she had spotted Adrian as well. She was short and curvy, almost head shorter than Adrian, but the predatory look she was looking at him with made him feel like the small one. He maneuvered across the room and pulled the chair across from her out before introducing himself.
"Hey... ah, hello Margot. I'm Adrian, obviously... it's so good to finally meet." He stammered.
She just smiled and nodded for him to sit. Then, sitting in silence they just drank each other in. She had seen plenty of Adrian at this point but only sent had him a single picture, a professional headshot, in return. She kept locking eyes and it was flustering him, making him nervous like he was still standing outside in the cold. There was hunger in her eyes that would consume him then and there. He looked down instead, uncertain where he should be staring, willing himself to think of something to say. Much to Adrian's relief, she made the first move, reaching across the table and taking his hand.
"You look very nice tonight."
It made Adrian blush. He was wearing light grey slacks and a green polo. They were both a little too small, and he felt underdressed and young next to Margot. He didn't even know what she was wearing under the coat she had on. She continued, "You're bigger than I expected. Taller, broader, you look so sturdy. It makes me really happy."
Adrian tried to reply but there was no oxygen left in the room, ostensibly. He felt flustered, and knew he had start to blush. Margot smiled wickedly and squeezed his hands, like she was trying to pulse energy back into him.
"I should've had you stand next to your fridge for scale. It will make things even more interesting. Why don't you tell me about your day."
So Adrian did, it helped that it wasn't anything special. it suddenly relaxed him to talk about the mundane. His work, his lunch. He looked at Margot while he spoke, appreciating her heart-shaped face and green eyes. Eyes that had softened enough to start pulling him in head-over-heel. Had anyone ever looked at him like this? He couldn't recall, and felt like he was getting lost again. He asked about her day and her work. Just being physically present with her after building it up so much to himself was intense, he needed to keep his head above water and hoped just listening for a bit would help.
She talked about her day, Adrian watched her mouth. It did not help.
They sipped their coffee. She's ordered him a sweet cappuccino of some sort, it was a good distraction. Adrian was feeling good. He'd just started mulling what next generic ice-breaker to throw Margot's way when he looked and caught the return of the hunger in her eyes. it stopped him cold. Her voice had a harder edge when she spoke.
"Frankly, I'm finding this quite boring."
Adrian felt like he'd been punched right in the diaphragm. He almost felt himself physically reel. Boring? He certainly hadn't heard that on a date before. As far as dates went, this one had been off to a fine start.
"I-- what do you mean?"
"This feels like a waste of my time. Especially the chit-chat, the pleasantries, all this slow dance--"
"I'm sorry I'm just nervous and--"
"And I'd rather be fucking you."