I cleaned all day. I spent my afternoon sweeping, mopping, and dusting. My goal was perfect but I knew how far fetched that was. I continued cleaning anyways. When I took a moment and looked back at my master piece, I was over-joyed at the sight of cleanliness. The candles were lit on the table and I couldn’t help but think of how great tonight was going to be. It was my first date in three years. My first ever blind date.

I sat down at the table looking at the clock. It was only six. He said he would be here at seven. I had an entire hour of doing nothing but wait. I walked into my bathroom. While single handedly admiring my work I touched up my make-up. A little more blush here and a little more lipstick there. When I was happy with the job I did, I walked out into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of red wine. I only drank red wine on special occasions.

I glanced at the clock and it read six twenty one. I had thirty nine more minutes of waiting. I walked around straightening up magazine I had stacked on the coffee table. I decided I should vacuum once more. So, I did.

After I finished I put the vacuum cleaner neatly back into the closet. Everything was perfect, or as I knew, close to it.

Finally, the door bell ringed. I glanced at the clock noting he was 7 minutes early. I opened the door and there stood before me was a beautifully handsome man. In a dress shirt and dinner jacket. His eyes were green and the flowers he was holding were Beautiful Tulips. He was clean shaven and his hair neatly combed back. He was, in every way, my dream guy. The guy I held off for.

He smiled at me as he offered me the flowers. I smiled back and asked him to come in. He did and I took his jacket and put it neatly away in the closet. He followed me into the kitchen where I put the tulips in a vase and put them directly in the middle of the table.

“Hi, You can call me john.” He said smiling this big white tooth grin.

“Laura.” I smiled back sweetly.
We sat down and small talked for a few minutes in the living room when all of a sudden I smelled something burning. I looked into the kitchen to see smoke curling out of the oven. I ran over to it and opened it to find my roast on fire. I started to put it out when the washcloth I was waving at it caught on fire. John took the wachcloth from my hand and dropped it in the sink and calmly turned on the faucet and walked over to where on my wall was a fire extinguisher and proceeded to put the fire out.
I stood back from this and watched. He then turned to me and said, “I know this great place a few miles away. Hows about a nice dinner out and we can come back here and talk some more?”
He handled the whole situation smoothly and instantly I felt gratified that my best friend didn’t disappoint. This is what I needed. Someone to take charge and make me feel safe. John fit all the things I always thought were impossible to find in a guy.
He drove naturally to this cute little restaurant called ‘The Brick Oven’. We walked inside to a dimply lit room and the host sat us down. As I looked over the menu I looked back at him thinking how tall he was and how amazingly he made me feel. I knew perfection wasn’t far off.
“So,” he asked looking up from the menu , “Do you have any kids of your own?”
“No,” I said shyly. “I never got around to finding the perfect guy.”
“Isn’t perfect a bit extreme.” He playfully laughed.
“I used to think so. But now I’m not so sure.” I said looking at him from over top of my menu.
“What do you mean?” he asked quizzically.
“Well, I mean, look at you for instance. Your tall, handsome, and you handle situations very well. At least, that’s what I got from the roast situation.” I said slyly. “If anything, your pretty close to perfect, or so it seems.”
“Well, I used to think settling down was impossible for me also. But I met Shannon. She was great, at first. I wasn’t able to see the evil witch everyone else saw. Until one day she lashed out on me a month after we were married. Then, the next day I found out she was pregnant, but not by me.” He looked down at his menu going over the foods I already knew he’s tasted.
“That’s horrible.” I whispered.
“Yea, well, It gets better.” He said looking deep into my eyes like he could see my soul. I quickly looked away and waited for him to continue.
“She left me the next week. It was horrible. The divorce, everything.” He said admitting this to me.
“You know, you don’t have to tell me this.” I turned my head to the side.
“You have this amazing aura about you that I picked up as soon as I saw you. Almost a warm feeling. I feel at home, oddly enough, so its easier to tell you this. Trust me,” he leaned back in his chair and chuckled, “I don’t normally tell that on first dates.”
I smiled and continued looking over my menu.
The waiter finally came and took our orders and brought back a sweet tasting red wine.
We ate and had more small talk about what kinds of food we love and hate, what our favorite sport was, and who our childhood sweethearts were. I felt like by the end of the meal I knew his inside and out.
He drove back to my place and I let him in. We went and sat on the couch and talked some more. I went to the kitchen and poured some more wine, even though, it couldn’t compare to the one we had at the restaurant.
He sipped and laughed and I felt like I was a teenage girl all over again in my parents home. I watched him move and it gave me butterflies. He smiled and I felt my heart stop. He smiled back and then told me he had to leave. I walked him to the door, and he turned around before he was out the door.
“I had an amazing evening tonight.” He smiled and leaned into the side of the door. “probably the best time I’ve had in a very long time.”
I looked down as he said this, “I’ve had a nice time too.” I smiled back sweetly.
“Laura,” he asked. “I’d like to see you again soon, if that’s okay with you.” He said seriously.
“I’d like that.” He brushed his fingers through my hair and instantly I felt like and electric current just ran through my body.
He leaned in so slowly and his lips touched mine. He turned and was out the door.
I turned around and started hysterically laughing. Where was he hiding all this time at? The grocery store? The gym? Why hadn’t I looked harder? I thought.
I started cleaning up the candles and putting the roast in the garbage and just as I finished The phone rang. I picked it up and it was John telling me again that he had an amazing time. And right before I hung up he said “I think I love you”.