"Awesome, it's a date!"
Joe couldn't believe he was finally going to meet the woman he's been talking on the internet with over the past few weeks. His roommates Rick and John were happy that Joe finally had a date lined up and wouldn't have to hang out with them another lonely weekend.
"Is it weird to meet someone for the first time at an airport?" Joe asked.
"She's pretty trusting to have some rando drive her home without meeting them first. I'd say that's a great sign." John responded.
"You might even get lucky this time!" Rick teased.
Joe rolled his eyes.
"Yeah yeah, I know it's been a while. After two years of striking out, I've learned not to expect anything to happen on the first date. I'm just happy to be going on a date, even if it turns into her ending the date once she gets home. At least she gave me a chance."
"We're all rooting for you here." John smiled. "Can't let all that work at the gym go to waste!"
The noise in another part of the house grew louder.
"3, 2, 1. HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
Joe felt this year was going to be different. Although he didn't believe in fate, he was very optimistic.
Joanna seemed to be perfect. She was beautiful, smart, knew multiple languages, was studying to be a scientist, and to top it all off she also hated sports as much as Joe did. All Joe had to do was make a good impression on her and maybe she'd at least go on a second date with him.
* * *
The low rumbling of jet engines filled the air.
Joe waited anxiously in the parking lot of the airport for the text saying that Joanna had landed. He also wondered if this first meeting was a good time to bring up the fact that he was a virgin, mostly. Joe did have a girlfriend a few years ago whom he had attempted to finger and eat out a few times with as well as one quick blowjob that didn't really go anywhere. Joe was not the most sexually experienced person in the room but he decided that was not a thing you bring up within minutes of meeting someone on a first date.
His phone dinged and vibrated loudly in his lap.
"No turning back now." he said nervously to himself.
Joe circled the airport twice but it felt like forever. With his heart beating faster at every turn, he was beginning to wonder if this whole thing was all just a setup. Maybe there was no date, just some cruel prank his roommates were playing on him to get him out of the house for the day. That made more sense than someone willing to go on a date with him, let alone trust their safety and transportation needs with.
All of Joe's doubts about the validity of the date melted away when a cute and curvy twenty-something blonde wearing glasses standing next to luggage flagged his car down.
Those doubts now turned to anxiety about having to drive Joanna safely home while maintaining his cool on the first date. It would not be a good date if he got into an accident because he couldn't stop staring at her.
"Ugh, that plane ride sucked!" Joanna exclaimed.
"I'm sorry it sucked. I'm Joe by the way, nice to finally meet you in person."
"Oh, sorry to vent to you right away but I had the worst person next to me on the flight." Joanna strapped on her seatbelt. "They talked the whole time for six hours straight. I thought that flight would never end."
"I'm really happy that it did and that you are here safe and sound." Joe turned on the radio. "Do you have any music listening preferences?"
"No, I'm pretty open to most music. Anything would be better than someone talking your ear off about what the best fallout shelter is in a nuclear apocalypse."
They continued to chat while classic rock played in the background.
"Are you hungry?" Joe asked.
"Yes, very hungry. I'm still new here so I don't really know what's around yet. I also need a few things from the store before going home, if you don't mind the extra errand. We can even grab some ingredients and I'll cook some dinner for us, how does that sound?"
"Perfect!" Joe was excited at the thought of a home cooked meal. It had been a while since someone cooked for him without having to go to a restaurant.
"It's the least I can do to thank you for picking me up from the airport." Joanna smiled.
After stopping briefly at the store, Joanna guided Joe to the university-run apartment complex for graduate students. It looked much nicer than the crowded dorm situation he was expecting to see.
"Do they make you sleep in bunk beds?" Joe asked jokingly.
"Of course not, we get our own room." Joanna smiled. "All that rhythmic creaking in the middle of the night would really wake up your bunkmate. They need that sleep to graduate."
"Do you have any roommates?"
"Just one but she is staying with her boyfriend for the night so we'll have the place to ourselves."
Joe couldn't believe his luck. Maybe Rick was right after all. Joanna was really easy to talk to, even if Joe was nervous talking to her the whole time, the conversation kept flowing easily. This was turning out to be one of Joe's best dates and it only got better as the night went on.
Joanna placed a freshly cooked plate of food on the kitchen island and cracked open two bottles from the fridge. "I hope you like mushroom risotto and lemon shandy for dinner."
"I love mushrooms but I don't really like alcohol that much." Joe breathed in the smell of the delicious risotto. "But I'm willing to try anything."
"This is basically lemonade with beer in it. Enough sweetness to taste good and enough beer to get you fucked up if you try hard enough." Joanna took a big gulp.
"Sounds good, cheers to trying new things!" Joe clinked bottles with Joanna.
"Wow, that tastes real sweet, just the way I like it." Joe was grateful that Joanna had similar tastes in food and beverages. "Thank you for turning me on to shandy and for this delicious dinner."
"My pleasure. It's not everyday I get to cook for someone and introduce them to something new." Joanna finished her drink and risotto. "What do you want to do after dinner? It's still winter break so the campus will be mostly empty. We could go exploring and I could show you around?"
"That sounds great!" Joe was excited to spend more time with Joanna. "I love exploring when no one is around. It feels really calming and private while paradoxically being very public and exciting. Like you're some sort of spy, sneaking around."
After putting the dishes in the sink and the bottles in the recycling bin, they both put on some heavy jackets and went out into the night.
* * *
Joe and Joanna walked around the campus for hours. They went to every landmark the university had and tried sneaking into every unlocked door they could find. While a bit tiring, it was an excellent way to get to know each other. They talked about all sorts of topics, from hallucinogenic mushrooms to the pros and cons of space travel. As p.m. turned to a.m. and the night grew colder, Joe thought of a way to get closer to Joanna.
"My hands are getting pretty cold. Do you want to test a hypothesis I have?"
"Sure, as a scientist I'm obligated to test any ideas that come my way." Joanna grinned. "What is your hypothesis?"
"If we hold our hands together, we can generate more heat than if they were apart."
"Ok, let's test it." Joanna grabbed Joe's hand tightly.
"I think it's working." Joe said. "But we'd better do multiple experiments just to be sure."
