I brushed nervously at a piece of lint on my shoulder and tried to decide if I should go with the tie or not. I decided the tie was too formal and went with just the button up shirt with a sport coat over it.
I eyed myself in the mirror and almost gave in to my nerves. I'd been matched with Bonnielass67 at an online dating site and we were set to meet tonight.
If
I could get over my nerves.
It had been almost a year since my girlfriend had walked out on me to start seeing one of her professors. I had been so sure she was the one and had even been shopping for an engagement ring. It had taken months for me to get over the breakup.
When I finally decided I was ready to start dating again, I hadn't known what to do. I'm not the kind of guy that can go pick up a girl in a bar. It had actually been my mom who had suggested an online dating site she was trying. She'd had a lot of good things to say about it so I decided to give it a shot too.
It took a couple of days to evaluate me and offer some suggestions. The first few were not exactly what I was looking for but the third one, Bonnielass67, seemed really interesting. Just like me she had refused to put a picture. She felt it put too much weight on the physical side of the relationship and not the mental. Right away, I wanted to know about this woman.
The only drawback was, at forty-four, she was twice my age. I had browsed back through my other matches, but I kept winding up on her profile. She liked a lot of the same stuff as I did and she seemed far more interesting than the other woman.
I decided to message her. It wasn't like I was going to meet my soul mate on the first date. Maybe this could just be a practice date to get the nerves out of the way. Hell, maybe, if things went right, we'd wind up back here, have sex and then I could try for someone closer to my age.
We messaged back and forth a couple of times to get to know each other. The twenty-two year age gap between us didn't bother her one bit. I quickly found myself hurrying home from work to see if she'd messaged me that day.
After almost a month of messages we agreed to meet. I was going to meet her at Tony's, a little Italian place I knew. It was a little small, and a lot pricey, but it was some of the best Italian food around.
If I didn't stop procrastinating I was going to be late. I looked back in the mirror at myself one last time. My brown hair I kept cut short; otherwise it tended to go wild and curly. I'd trimmed my goatee down to a manageable level. I decided to wear a black silk shirt with a black sport coat over it. My ex had said I looked best in black on black and I'd decided to go with what worked.
I stared into my blue eyes, willing my mirror image to turn and walk out of the bathroom.
"You first," I told him. He just stood there staring at me.
Finally, I forced myself to turn and walk out. I grabbed my keys and left my apartment. I got down to my car and headed over to Tony's. It was the longest and shortest drive of my life.
I parked and got out of the car. I stood by my door for a second, one last burst of nervousness running through me. I took a deep breath and let it out. With feet that felt like they were encased in concrete, I walked towards the entrance.
Tony's has a little sitting area in front by the doors. The whole are is covered in fake grape vines and little by little clusters of candles. I loved stopping by, during the lunch hour, to just have a coffee and relax. It was a little too warm for dinner out front tonight but I did see one person sitting out front.
She had her back to me, giving me a chance to get a quick peek at her. She was wearing a bright red dress and had her brown hair spilling down her shoulders. The dress clung tightly to her curves and set them off magnificently. From the description she'd given me, this had to be Bonnielass67.
I walked up and, taking a deep breath, said, "Hi."
She turned to face me and... The whole world went topsy turvy.
It was my mom.
She frowned at me for a moment and then asked, "Tyler, what are you doing here?"
"Umm... I'm meeting Bonnielass67 for our date," I said, hoping that this was just a nightmare and that I would wake up soon.
"But... That's me," She said. "You're Ty216?"
I nodded and we stayed there, staring at each other for a minute before she covered her mouth and her body started to shake. It took me a second to realize she was laughing.
It felt like all of the tension had been taken right out of the night. I started laughing so hard I had to grab the back of her chair to stay up.
A hostess came out and looked at us. We must have been one hell of a sight. Two fools laughing so hard we were both crying.
"Are you okay?" She asked, making us laugh even harder.
I managed to catch my breath and wave at her. "It's okay. We're good. We'll be in in a sec."
She looked at us for a second before turning and going back inside. We got our giggling under control and I said. "Well, this isn't exactly how I thought the night would go."
"Me either," She said, standing up to give me a quick hug. "I was so nervous and now... God, Tyler, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time."
"Me too," I said. "So what now?"
"I don't know," she said. "This is all so weird."
"Yeah, it is," I said. "Well, we're here, we might as well eat."
"Are you sure?" She asked. "I know this place is a little expensive and you weren't exactly planning on eating with me."
"It's okay," I said. "I have plenty to cover it. Besides, I'll be eating with the prettiest lady here so I
can't
say no to that!"
"Tyler," she said, a small smile pulling at her lips while her cheeks turned a rosy color.
"And that color of red looks good on your cheeks," I said.
"You are such a brat," she said, looking me up and down. "But you always look so handsome in black."
"I've never seen you in a red dress before and, I have to say, you should go with more red in your wardrobe," I said, my eyes taking her in. The dress she wore plunged down between her breasts, showing off a great deal of skin. The fabric covered her flat stomach, clinging to her and not showing an ounce of fat anywhere. I came to an end just above her knees, hiding very little. I found myself feeling a little aroused by how much it showed.
"Stop staring," she said, her face a very solid red. "You're making me feel self-conscious."
I managed to drag my eyes away from her. It was a lot more effort than it should have been but somehow I did it. I offered her my arm and asked, "Shall we?"
She smiled and took my arm. We went in and got put at a small table near the corner of the dining area. The room was kept dark and the candle on our table was just bright enough fro us to read the menu. It was very cozy and romantic.
All the things I had wanted but now could do without.
"This is very nice, honey," my mom said.
"I have good taste, what can I say?" I asked.
"You obviously get that from me," she said, making me laugh.
Dinner seemed to fly by in a swirl of laughter. It had been such a whirlwind of a night; the nervousness, the surprise at seeing my mom and the joy of just being able to relax. It was nothing like what I had expected. It was better.
We shared some tiramisu for desert and then sat in a comfortable silence. I had been meaning to ask her something all night. It was a little personal and I was still struggling with it when she said, "Out with it."
"What?" I asked.
"You want to say something," she said. "You always get this little frown line between your eyebrows when you want to say something and you over think how to say it."
"You know me way too well," I said.
