Page 56 of After the Storm

As I pullinto Audra’s driveway, my palms are sweating so bad that I can feel them losing resistance against the steering wheel. I pull my palms to my thighs and wipe them on my shorts. I’ve never been so nervous in my life. I don’t really know why. We’ve been going on what most people would call ‘dates’ for weeks. Still we never called it what it was until now. I pull out my phone to let her know I’m at her house but then I decide I want to do it the proper way. I undo my seat belt and hop out of the Jeep leaving it running.

I grab the blue flowers off the dashboard that I got for her and take them to the door. I ring the doorbell and wait patiently for her to answer the door. A minute or so passes and finally the knob turns and my girl opens the door. She stands there in a black dress that looks like velvet and hugs every curve of her body. Where I would normally find her in sneakers or a pair of combat boots, she’s got on strappy black sandals. Her hair, which is normally worn natural, is curled and pulled out of her face.Goddamn.

I had plans. I ran this night through my head a million times to make sure I could get every single thing perfect. I don’t know why I didn’t consider the fact that she might open the door looking so stunning that I wouldn’t be able to speak. Say something. Tell her she looks beautiful. Tell her you’re excited for tonight. We rehearsed this in the mirror.

“You okay?” she asks looking at me and even her makeup is different. It’s all the dark shades it normally is but tonight there’s glitter like a halo above each eye. She looks like something I dreamed up. I clear my throat, buying myself an extra second to think of something to say.

“You look… I’m excited—” I stumble over my words. Fuck. “I got you flowers.” I finally force out a coherent sentence.Was that so damn hard?Her face lights up when she takes them from my hand.

“Roman, you’re so sweet. You didn’t have to do that. Are these wildflowers?” she asks with the most round puppy dog eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re completely glassed over and that’s when I realize she’s going to cry.

“Yeah, they’re wildflowers. Auds, why are you about to cry?” I ask. She looks up at the sky, blinking the tears from her eyes.

“No one has ever bought me flowers and they’re my favorite. How do you even know they’re my favorite?”

“I just know you, I guess,” I say with a shrug. I leave out the bit where I asked her years ago and tucked the information away in my head hoping and praying that one day I’d have a reason to buy her flowers. I take her hand and walk her to the car. She looks so perfect that I’m not sure I’ll be able to tear my eyes off of her to drive the damn car.

“You look beautiful,” I say as I open her car door and help her climb into the Jeep.

“You don’t look bad yourself,” she says with a wink. I think that’s what it was supposed to be anyways. I don’t tell her that she actually just blinked at me really aggressively.

As we walk into Driftwood, Audra’s eyes scan the whole building top to bottom. The ceilings are tall and the entire inside is built in dark woods. The place is filled to the brim yet the building isn’t particularly loud.

“Are you sure we’ll be able to get a table?” Audra asks, looking in at all the people sitting already. It’s so busy I understand why she asks.

“Yeah I’m sure. I made reservations the night you told me you would be free tonight,” I admit. Her cheeks go rosy and she smiles to herself. I tick a mental box to tell myself I impressed her with another thing tonight. The waitress takes us to our table and brings us each a glass of wine. I purposely got a table by the windows that overlooks the harbor. It’s crowded with boats, but still dolphins roll between them. If there was a way I could have paid for that to happen tonight, I would have. Instead, I was just lucky enough.

“So what do you normally talk about on first dates?” she asks, sipping her wine.

“Me? Or people in general?” I ask, hoping she means in general.

“Yes, you.”

“I don’t go on dates. This is my first one,” I admit. I’m thrown off by the smile that forms on her face.

“Mine too.”

“I assume people talk about themselves, their job, what they want out of the relationship, their goals, things like that.” She sits there for a moment thinking.

“Well, you know me better than anyone else, and you know what I do for work. All I want out of the relationship is you, and my goals are,” she pauses to think. “To be determined.” All I heard was she wanted me. I think I blacked out after that, and nothing before that really mattered in comparison to the feeling the words left in my chest.

“You’re all I want out of it too, Auds,” I say, pulling her hand into mine across the table. It’s risky for us to be on a date in public when there are so many people we’re hiding it from. It doesn’t feel risky though. It just feels right.

The rest of dinner is perfect just like I’d hoped. We talk and laugh while we eat. The dolphins play in the harbor. Audra watches them with the biggest smile on her face. I think for the entirety of dinner the only time she wasn’t smiling was when she was taking a bite of food. A weight is off my shoulders, knowing this is going well.

“Do you want to walk around downtown Charleston? It’s really beautiful if you never have,” I ask, holding the Jeep door open for her.

“I’ve been to Charleston but never really got to explore. I’d love to.” So I drive us to Battery Park and find some street parking. I round out the corner of the Jeep and open the car door for her. The side of the road is lined with street lamps and palm trees, and across the street is the Charleston Harbor. We walk through the park and out the other side where you can actually see downtown. Horse-led carriages pass us by on the street.

“I never realized how historical Charleston is,” Audra says, eyes bright and scanning every inch of the scenery around us. The houses are old and beautiful. I remember my mom bringing me and Ares through here all the time growing up. Pointing out all the pieces of Charleston and how much she loved it. We walk up Broad Street and up to Chalmers Street to show her the old cobblestone street. She’s mesmerized by the history and beauty of it all. Most people are. Otherwise, why would they keep these cobblestones?

“How do you know so much about Charleston?” she asks, swinging our interlocked fingers between us.

“My mom’s always been obsessed with this place. Brought Ares and I here all the time and pointed everything out to us.”

“Sounds like your mom,” she says. I don’t think she’s stopped smiling since we got out of the Jeep. We make a big circle and pass through the French Quarter on our way back to the park. The way she lights up walking through Charleston has me wondering if she’d like to live here. I wonder if she’s given any thought to where she wants to settle down.

“Would you ever want to live here?” I ask. She gives a half-hearted shrug.

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