Well, shit, I thought to myself. What the hell do people even do on dates? I think I was more nervous than excited at the prospect of spending a whole evening alone with Gio. Stacey was away with Alan so I had nobody to vent to or ask for fashion advice for that matter. I'd never been on a date in my life. I was worrying about what to wear when Gio sent me a message saying that he'd be free the whole day so he thought we should go to the botanical gardens and have a picnic instead. Even though I loved picnics, I thought it was a pretty intimate thing to do on a first date. I wondered if we'd have anything to talk about and I wondered what it all meant.
I still wasn't really sure what was happening between us but I did know that I liked him. I really liked him. But I still had a few questions for him before I could allow myself to be all in. Relationships were messy things that I'd managed to avoid for my whole life but now I'd suddenly been thrown into one with somebody I hadn't expected at all. After all this time of being rejected by people that I liked, I'd never really given much thought to being with a guy.
I grew up with no self-confidence at all and feeling so insecure that it hurt. I'd been overweight for as far back as I could remember and I'd spent my whole life hating myself. Looking in the mirror made me want to cry every day and people's relentless comments ate away at me. All I could do was sit for hours in the library and study myself out of the hell-hole my parent's lives had pushed me into.
For the longest time, I always thought that there was something the matter with me and occasionally still I did but then one day I figured that I probably just wasn't ready to bring somebody else into my life yet. I still had too much work to do on myself before I could make space for anybody else in my heart. It had taken my whole life but I was finally at the point where I was slowly accepting myself the way that I was and developing a confidence I'd always been lacking.
My life as an engineer was so busy anyways. I didn't have time to try and squeeze a guy in with all the drama it would bring into my life. I'd even forgotten what it felt like to like somebody. The butterflies I felt when I thought of Gio and all his manliness were foreign to me. I was fighting the attraction I felt towards him because I didn't want it to grow too quickly but even I knew that I was lying to myself. I would just have to see how things went.
I opted for a light pink, chiffon dress that came to just above my knees. It was one of my favourite dresses because it made me feel truly pretty. The fabric was wonderfully light and the neckline showed just enough cleavage for me to still look classy. I'd washed and conditioned my hair so that I could get the curls under control and decided to leave it loose. I hadn't left my hair down in a long time so I was actually very surprised to see how long it had become. I kept it in place with a white ribbon and finished my look off with white pumps. I quickly made Gio and I some lunch before I heard a knock at my door.
"Coming!" I shouted, as I hurried from the kitchen.
I opened the door and the sight that met my eyes almost had me swooning. Gio was dressed in a simple green t-shirt that made his eyes more piercing than ever and dark blue jeans. I don't know how he did it but he always seemed to find pants with a sensationally good fit and the bulge at the front of his pants seemed to be calling out to me.
"Hey, my eyes are up here!"
"Huh? Oh!" I said, blushing.
I hadn't realised that I'd been staring so openly at him. He chuckled and leaned in to give me a hug. Once again, I was enveloped in those powerful arms of his and pressed tightly against his chest. His hands rested dangerously close to my ass and to be honest, I wouldn't have minded if they'd gone a bit lower.
"It's okay. How are you?" he asked, letting go of me.
"I'm great thanks," I replied, smoothing my dress down and trying to catch my breath
.
"That colour looks so beautiful on you," he said with a sincerity that made me blush again.
It was his turn to appraise me and he made no effort to hide the fact that he was admiring my body in my dress. He may as well have been looking at me naked.
"Sorry for changing plans on you so suddenly," he continued. "It's just a really beautiful day today and I thought it would've been a real shame to waste it."
I saw him look past me towards the picnic basket I'd packed and he smiled.
"You really didn't have to make us food you know. I've already done that."
"What?" I asked.
"Like I mean I cooked us lunch. It's in the car."
"You can cook?" I asked him, surprised.
"Well I hope so. It's been a while. Believe it or not, I actually enjoy it. It comes with being Italian! Come on, let's go."
*****
She still wasn't completely comfortable around me, I could tell. I'd been watching her for most of the afternoon and she kept self-consciously adjusting her dress and glancing at me every now and again. I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do to make her believe that I really meant no harm. While I was thinking of something good to say, I settled for just watching her. Angie really was beautiful. The pink of the dress she was wearing complemented her skin and I'd been watching the hem ride up higher and higher, exposing more of her soft thighs. I was tempted to touch them but decided against it. Eventually, I decided to beckon her towards me.
"Come here," I said to Angie.
"Sorry?" she said, her mouth full of cheese and crackers. It made me smile.
I leaned back against the tree we were sitting next to and made a gap for her between my legs
"Come here," I said again.
She looked at me hesitantly and nervously looked around to see if there was anybody nearby. I could hear a few kids laughing in the background but they weren't even in sight.
"I swear I don't bite," I told her, smiling as warmly as I could.
Eventually, she moved towards me and settled herself against my chest. It was the best thing I'd felt in a long time and I brushed a stray strand of her from her forehead.
"What's the matter?" I asked softly, looking down at her face.
"What do you mean?"
"You've been looking around like a caged animal the whole afternoon. I thought we were here to have a good time."
There were a few moments of silence before she sighed heavily.
"I don't know, I think I'm just a bit confused. It kind of feels like things are moving a bit quickly. I like you it's just that..."
"What?" I coaxed.
